Week in Review: Socialism, How Quickly We Forget

Thirty years ago, the world watched as the light of freedom pierced the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall crumbled. But three decades after that momentous event, the tide of socialism is rising again—on our very own shores. The Goldwater Institute is standing firm in defense of liberty to ensure our free society remains strong, and we are achieving great success all across the country.

In the Goldwater Institute’s newly released 2019 Liberty in Action magazine, we revisit the fall of the Berlin Wall and what it meant for freedom around the world. We look at the threats to our liberty today, and we share reports about how the Goldwater Institute is working to defend and expand freedom across the United States.

Just as Senator Barry Goldwater dedicated his career to standing strong in defense of freedom, we at the Goldwater Institute know that liberty isn’t a talking point. It’s action—and we’re living it out in everything we do and fight for. Together, we’re achieving incredible results, and we could not do it without your support. Click here to download a copy of the 2019 Liberty in Action magazine.

 
Goldwater Defends Arizona Taxpayers from Illegal Sales Tax

The Goldwater Institute was in court this week to defend taxpayers from having to pay an illegal sales tax.

In late 2017, Pinal County, Arizona, voters adopted a tax to fund road construction and improvements to infrastructure. But as Goldwater Institute Vice President for Litigation Timothy Sandefur argued this week in the Arizona Court of Appeals, that tax violates state law.

For one thing, the tax only applies to retail sales—but Arizona law doesn’t allow counties to impose taxes just on retail. What’s more, the County’s tax contains a special carve-out so that it applies to low-price items, but not to sales of single items that cost more than $10,000. You read that right: The tax applies if you buy dog food at Walmart, but not if you buy expensive items like new cars or jewelry. That isn’t just unfair; it’s also illegal.

Read more about the case and watch video of Sandefur’s oral argument here.

 
Defending Military Spouses and their Freedom to Work
 
While politicians of all stripes talk of the need to “create more jobs,” about one in four jobs in America requires an occupational license—a government permission slip to work. Military spouses are hit particularly hard by this rampant overregulation, but the good news is that states are stepping up to defend their freedom to work.

A new article in Military Spouse magazine reports on how Arizona is leading the way in reforming licensing requirements by being the first in the nation to universally recognize out-of-state licenses—a law authored by the Goldwater Institute.

“It really is the entire family that serves,” said Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey in an interview with Military Spouse. “And when you have a spouse that’s relocated across state lines when they are part of protecting and defending our country…and they’re not able to enter the workforce, everyone sees the injustice there.”

Read more about the issue, including an interview with Randy Kendrick, a member of the Goldwater Institute’s Board of Directors, here.