Week in Review: The 'Jobs' Promise the Government Keeps Breaking

Employees at Ford Motor Company will head into this Labor Day weekend with pink slips in their hands, among 3,000 workers in Michigan to be fired from the auto manufacturer as part of its plans to shift toward producing electric vehicles at the government’s behest. And the layoffs are happening despite Michigan taxpayers paying Ford $100 million in exchange for an unrealized pledge to invest $1 billion and create at least 3,030 jobs in the state—a deal that was announced just two months ago.

“When it comes to corporate subsidies and the failed promise of job creation, the story isn’t a new one,” Goldwater Institute Director of Communications Mike Brownfield writes at In Defense of Liberty. “The problem lies in politicians who hand out taxpayer dollars in the name of creating new jobs. History shows that simply doesn’t work.”

“It’s up to taxpayers to stand up to these handouts and demand an end to the endless subsidies coming out of their pockets,” he adds. That’s why the Goldwater Institute is standing alongside taxpayers and showing the nation how to beat these government giveaways. Last year, the Goldwater Institute won a massive victory for taxpayers’ rights when the Arizona Supreme Court reinforced the state Constitution’s Gift Clause edict—taxpayer dollars must be spent for the benefit of the public. And the Goldwater Institute will never stop challenging illegal subsidies and showing the nation how to win.

Read more at In Defense of Liberty.

A $1,300 Book List?

Two moms sought the same simple information from the Fort Worth Independent School District: what books will children be reading in school? But when they filed public records requests, the district told them both it would take a whopping 84.5 hours of labor and cost $1,267.50 to produce book lists.

Now, as the Daily Caller and The Daily Wire have highlighted to their millions of readers, the Goldwater Institute is stepping in to hold the school district accountable. One of these moms, a member of the Goldwater Institute’s American Freedom Network (AFN) of pro bono attorneys, filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Office challenging these prohibitive fees, which violate state law.

Around the nation, the Goldwater Institute is empowering parents to shine a light on what’s happening in public school districts. The Goldwater Institute’s new OpenMyGovernment.org guide gives parents the tools they need to file effective public records requests, and the AFN stands ready to help parents in every state access the information they’re entitled to. Moreover, the Goldwater Institute’s academic transparency reform requires public schools to post learning materials online so that parents can easily access them within seconds.

Read more from Goldwater Institute Legal Programs Manager Kamron Kompani at In Defense of Liberty.

Goldwater Urges Supreme Court to Protect Free Speech

The government should never require people to join an organization or pay for someone else’s politics to do their jobs. But in 30 states, lawyers are being forced to do just that—in violation of the First Amendment’s free speech and free association protections, and despite recent Supreme Court precedent that makes it clear similar requirements in the union context are unconstitutional. That’s why the Goldwater Institute filed a brief this week urging the Supreme Court to hold that mandatory bar associations flout the Constitution.

Compulsory bar associations aren’t regulatory bodies; they don’t just ensure attorneys are qualified and behave ethically. They’re trade associations, which means they should not be able to force lawyers to pay for their political and ideological speech in the form of mandatory dues.

The Goldwater Institute’s brief comes in a Wisconsin case where the plaintiffs say it’s unconstitutional to force lawyers to fund bar associations, or even to force them to join those associations at all. It’s time for the justices to protect the First Amendment rights of attorneys across the country by ending this practice for good.

Read more from Goldwater Institute Staff Attorney Adam Shelton at In Defense of Liberty.

Arizona’s premier liberty event returns for an in-person celebration on Friday, October 7, and you are cordially invited!

The Goldwater Institute is successfully working daily in capitols, communities, and courtrooms to defend and strengthen Americans’ freedoms. In celebration of our accomplishments, we invite you to attend the 2022 Goldwater Institute Annual Dinner —”Winning The Fight For Freedom”—featuring radio host and best-selling author Glenn Beck.

You can find out more about our Annual Dinner and RSVP here.