Government Accountability
Back-room deals and closed doors are not the stuff of free governments. Our work is making governments more transparent and accountable to citizens.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchants books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them.
Its taken a while, but policy-makers across the nation are embracing this idea.
Phoenix--The City of Phoenix has paid more than $100,000 to attorneys from the law firm of Fennemore Craig to defend the City in a legal challenge filed by the Goldwater Institute. This taxpayer-funded legal counsel is above and beyond the City of Phoenix's Law Department of 250 full-time attorneys and support staff.
Darcy Olsen, president and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, criticized Phoenix's cavalier use of taxpayer resources, saying "Even Marie Antoinette would find this spending excessive."
PHOENIX - The Goldwater Institute released its fourth annual Legislative Report Card today. As Arizona's most comprehensive analysis of legislative votes, the Legislative Report Card measures each legislator's votes against the yardstick of the Arizona Constitution.
A new national report card skewers Arizona's economy despite the state's high employment growth and population gains in recent years.
Arizona earned D grades on the economic report card published by the Corporation for Enterprise Development in all three key areas: economic performance, business vitality and development capacity for the future. Those are the same grades Arizona earned from the group last year.
PHOENIX - The Goldwater Institute received today a generous grant of $25,000 to establish the Ronald Reagan Fellows Program. The gift will allow the Goldwater Institute to provide internships to nine Reagan Fellows annually. Mr. Dean Riesen, sponsor of the new program, stated, "I am honored to present the Goldwater Institute with this gift. It is a tribute to President Reagan's faith in future generations and will help those generations carry on the great work he began."
An old proverb holds that half a loaf is better than none. But what do you do with less than half a loaf?
Special to the Tribune
The East Valley's legislators scored well on the Goldwater Institute's 2003 Legislative Report Card, which grades legislators according to their commitment to free markets, limited government, rule of law, individual liberty, and individual responsibility.
In fact, East Valley Districts 18, 19 and 22 had the highest averages for the state. With one exception, none of those districts produced a legislator with a score lower than 60 percent, which translates to an "B-" on the Institute's (rather generous) grading scale.
"If you give a mouse a cookie," a popular children's book says, "he'll want a glass of milk."
Simply put, this is standard behavior for legislators: Afforded an inch of responsibility by voters, they soon seize a foot of authority.
Who can keep track? With state legislators introducing nearly 1,000 bills each session, it's almost impossible to keep an eye on what our representatives are up to.
That just changed. On Monday, we release the Goldwater Institute's 2003 Legislative Report Card, analyzing legislative votes on 191 bills. We rank legislators from A to F according to their commitment to school choice, responsible fiscal and regulatory policy, and respect for the Constitution.
Dear Laura:
In the hearings conducted at the Legislature, almost all that attend and testify are individuals who represent agencies and departments of government. This appears to be a violation of the separation-ofpowers doctrine that is supposed to be for the preservation of liberty of citizens. What impact do such activities have on legislation? And are we, the citizens, paying for government lobbyists to work for the interests of these same agencies and departments?
- Ken from Mesa
Dear Ken: