Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Searcy TEA Party- UPDATE
*Update: The date of the Searcy TEA Party is August 27th.
*Update: Confirmed speakers:
- Tom Cox, candidate for U.S. Senate
- David Meeks, candidate for the 2nd Congressional District.
- Curtis Coleman, potential candidate for U.S. Senate
- Kyle Reeves, former alderman and potential Searcy mayoral candidate
- Nicholas Horton, candidate for Ward 1 Alderman
- Caleb Lites, Central Arkansas political pundit
- Derek Glover, candidate for Ward 3 Alderman
- Scott Biddle, founder of "Searcy Friends of the Voters"
- Carl Nutter, Searcy Alderman
- Richard Caster, Director of the Ozark TEA Parties
- State Rep. Dan Greenberg
- Joseph Wood, Treasurer for the Republican Party of Arkansas
- Dr. Cheri Yecke, former Secretary of Education in Florida, Minnesota, and Virginia
- Randall Young, Chairman of the White County Republican Committee
- Dan Hodges, local businessman and potential mayoral candidate
For more info, join this event on Facebook!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Let the people of Searcy VOTE!
Do you believe in the right to vote? Do you support the people of Searcy and their desire to vote on the recently passed "A&P Tax?"
Join this Facebook group to show your support: Let the people of Searcy VOTE on the A&P Tax!
Join this Facebook group to show your support: Let the people of Searcy VOTE on the A&P Tax!
Yard Sale Ordinance: Passed
As predicted, the Searcy city council passed the yard sale ordinance on Tuesday night. This is a sad day for freedom in Searcy. If freedoms so basic, so essential as the right to enterprise can be stripped away at the whims of elitists, what else are we in danger of losing?
We have already lost the freedom to burn, freedom to have certain animals, and now the freedom of yard sales. What's next? Losing the right to design our own yards?
How much longer will we tolerate this type of conduct from the people who are supposed to represent us?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Is this the end of yard sales in Searcy?
When I think of America, I think of summer baseball games, hot dogs, apple pie--and yard sales. When Mayor LaForce and her elitist cronies on the city council think of America, they think of taxes, regulations, and bigger government. When they think of yard sales, they think of one more thing that they can control.On Tuesday night, the city council will vote on an ordinance that reportedly would limit each household to 8 yard sales per year. Homeowners would only be permitted to have 2 sales every quarter. Violation of the yard sale ordinance--which includes sign regulations, regulations on what items can be sold, and regulations on yard sale locations--could result in a fine up to $200. Click here to read the ordinance in its entirety.
According to the language used in the ordinance, the mayor believes that the current state of yard sales in Searcy has warranted "an emergency clause," meaning the ordinance would take effect immediately upon its passage. They claim that this ordinance is "necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and welfare, an emergency is hereby declared." (I sure hope no one is endangered by the sale of my old sneakers)
Also troubling: "Merchandise for sale at a garage sale shall be limited to used property and not property purchased for resale owned by those persons participating in the said sale."
Therefore, if Code Enforcer Mike Cleveland rules that you intentionally purchase something for resale (new or used property), you will be fined up to $200.
Let's be frank: this is outrageous. This ordinance never should have even been discussed, much less produced and put onto the council's meeting agenda. This is America! (or at least it used to be) The freedom to have a yard sale is more than just a general freedom--it is the right of every American to participate in free enterprise.
It used to seem that government was taking away our freedoms one-by-one. These days it seems more like 'ten-by-ten.' The loss of freedom begins here with regulating (and essentially eliminating) yard sales. It ends with lawn height regulation and home parking regulations--these restrictions are already very common in big cities across the country. The liberal elites in our city will try to implement them all of them.
Is this what the citizens of Searcy want? Do they want Mike Cleveland and his gang from Code Enforcement running around, measuring yard signs and sifting through their goods?
It is shameful that the council would even discuss this matter; I can hardly think of a more unamerican proposition. After all, what freedom is more essential than the freedom to engage in enterprise and provide for yourself and your family?
It is time for the voters of Searcy to stand up and tell the mayor and her liberal friends, "No more government!' We will not sit idly by while the government continues to strip us of our freedoms. These are our freedoms: if we do not defend them, we will certainly lose them.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
*Update: A&P Tax debacle
When the A&P Tax debate first began in Searcy, I insisted that the tax was nothing more than a penalty on Harding University, its students and their families: the tax raised the rate on prepared foods and drinks by 1% and the rate on hotels to 3%. Since Harding students provide the bulk of revenue for local restaurants and Harding parents fill hotels, this sure seemed like a tax on Harding to me.
I mobilized the Harding College Republicans and we conducted a phone survey, calling all of the alderman and asking them to vote against the tax or, at the very least, let the citizens of Searcy vote on this issue. This was an eye-opening experience for all of us. Many of the alderman were appalled that we had bothered them and almost all of them dismissed our pleas as irrelevant and 'fabricated.' Alderman Steve Sterling dared to argue that "the tax is a good idea because you pay this tax anyway when you go eat in Little Rock" (I am still sorting through that logic).
Unfortunately, my assessment of the A&P tax was even more accurate than I knew at the time: it has recently been discovered that the A&P Commission is considering taxing the Harding cafeteria, and of course they will, if they can sort through all of the red tape surrounding this 501-C3. Therefore, not only will Harding students be penalized when they go out to eat, they will also be penalized when they eat on campus.
Alderman Sterling has told me repeatedly that the A&P Tax is a "participatory tax." For Harding students, the choice seems to be #1. Pay the tax and eat or #2. Die.
Once again, the elitist politicians in the Searcy city government have overstepped their bounds. They have given the A&P Commission, a group that is altogether unaccountable to the people of Searcy, far too much authority.
It is time to give the power back to the people.
I mobilized the Harding College Republicans and we conducted a phone survey, calling all of the alderman and asking them to vote against the tax or, at the very least, let the citizens of Searcy vote on this issue. This was an eye-opening experience for all of us. Many of the alderman were appalled that we had bothered them and almost all of them dismissed our pleas as irrelevant and 'fabricated.' Alderman Steve Sterling dared to argue that "the tax is a good idea because you pay this tax anyway when you go eat in Little Rock" (I am still sorting through that logic).
Unfortunately, my assessment of the A&P tax was even more accurate than I knew at the time: it has recently been discovered that the A&P Commission is considering taxing the Harding cafeteria, and of course they will, if they can sort through all of the red tape surrounding this 501-C3. Therefore, not only will Harding students be penalized when they go out to eat, they will also be penalized when they eat on campus.
Alderman Sterling has told me repeatedly that the A&P Tax is a "participatory tax." For Harding students, the choice seems to be #1. Pay the tax and eat or #2. Die.
Once again, the elitist politicians in the Searcy city government have overstepped their bounds. They have given the A&P Commission, a group that is altogether unaccountable to the people of Searcy, far too much authority.
It is time to give the power back to the people.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Searcian awarded DC Scholarship
Published:
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 6:44 PM CDT
LITTLE ROCK - Nicholas Horton of Searcy has been awarded a Patrick Calhoun Leadership Scholarship for 2009. The scholarship will send four Arkansas students to The Leadership Institute's Youth Leadership School in Arlington, Va. in July.
The scholarship's purpose is to prepare young Arkansans for leadership, advance conservative principles, and build a vibrant two-party system in Arkansas. Founded by Morton Blackwell, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan, the Institute's Youth Leadership School has been described as “the boot camp” of politics. The scholarship is sponsored by Rick Calhoun, a Little Rock investment banker, as a tribute to his late father, Patrick Calhoun, a political reformer in the 1960s from Conway County.
After skipping his senior year at Harding Academy, Horton enrolled at Harding University in Searcy and will graduate this month with a degree in Public Administration.
Horton co-founded Libertas Exemplar, a political newsletter at Harding and is a member of the American Studies Institute, Phi Alpha Theta history honors society, and Students In Free Enterprise. Horton served two terms as both Vice Chairman and Chairman of College Republicans at Harding University.
Horton is a member of the White County Republican Committee, volunteers as a baseball coach, and is involved in the worship ministry at his church. He will begin studies for an MBA from Harding University this fall and is currently campaigning for Ward 1 Alderman in White County. He is the son of Tina and Tony Horton of Searcy.
Carter Ford from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; Caleb Lites from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway; and Richard Caster of Mountain Home are the other Calhoun Scholars for 2009.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 6:44 PM CDT
LITTLE ROCK - Nicholas Horton of Searcy has been awarded a Patrick Calhoun Leadership Scholarship for 2009. The scholarship will send four Arkansas students to The Leadership Institute's Youth Leadership School in Arlington, Va. in July.
The scholarship's purpose is to prepare young Arkansans for leadership, advance conservative principles, and build a vibrant two-party system in Arkansas. Founded by Morton Blackwell, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan, the Institute's Youth Leadership School has been described as “the boot camp” of politics. The scholarship is sponsored by Rick Calhoun, a Little Rock investment banker, as a tribute to his late father, Patrick Calhoun, a political reformer in the 1960s from Conway County.
After skipping his senior year at Harding Academy, Horton enrolled at Harding University in Searcy and will graduate this month with a degree in Public Administration.
Horton co-founded Libertas Exemplar, a political newsletter at Harding and is a member of the American Studies Institute, Phi Alpha Theta history honors society, and Students In Free Enterprise. Horton served two terms as both Vice Chairman and Chairman of College Republicans at Harding University.
Horton is a member of the White County Republican Committee, volunteers as a baseball coach, and is involved in the worship ministry at his church. He will begin studies for an MBA from Harding University this fall and is currently campaigning for Ward 1 Alderman in White County. He is the son of Tina and Tony Horton of Searcy.
Carter Ford from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville; Caleb Lites from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway; and Richard Caster of Mountain Home are the other Calhoun Scholars for 2009.
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