A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 1VISIT US ONLINE 6 VIRTUES OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS 12

LIVING LIBERTYNOVEMBER 2009 | WWW.EFFWA.ORG A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION

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T hurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Hirsch ruled on October 23 that the Secretary of

State had not violated federal requirements for voter registration procedures in a complaint brought by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation.

In June 2008 the Freedom Foundation filed a complaint on behalf of volunteer researcher Bob Edelman against Secretary Reed for violations of the federal Help America Vote Act. HAVA requires states to create and maintain an accurate statewide voter registration list. Mr. Edelman discovered more than 16,000 registrations between January 2000 and March 2008 by people who would not have been 18 by the next election, which is the legal age for voting. Records show that 108 of these individuals unlawfully voted 127 ballots over the same time period, including four votes in the February 2008 presidential primary.

In our complaint we requested that the Secretary of State adopt procedures to prevent ineligible registrations from being accepted and added to the statewide voter registration database.

The complaint was initially dismissed by an administrative law judge in August 2008, and state Director of Elections Nick Handy upheld the decision the next month. The Freedom Foundation then filed a petition for judicial review in Thurston County Superior Court.

Unfortunately, Judge Hirsch affirmed the previous administrative rulings after hearing arguments from both parties.

by Michael Reitz

We believe the Secretary of State’s procedures are allowing ineligible, underage voters to be added to the voter registration list, which is a violation of state and federal election law. We think the Secretary has an obligation to prevent inaccurate registrations—not merely to correct them if they occur.

This is a continuing problem. Despite the Secretary’s assurances, auditors have continued to add underage registrants to the voter rolls—including 16-year-olds—and each improper registration poses a threat to the accuracy of future elections. This is a simple problem with a simple solution; but without better procedures the Secretary leaves a significant gap in the security of our voter rolls.

The case can be appealed to the state Court of Appeals, and we are evaluating this option.

Judge rules for secretary of state in eff’s

underage voter case

Reitz was inteRviewed about the decision on the Glenn beck PRoGRam. to view the inteRview visit:

www.effwa.oRG/voteRcase

2 LIVING LIBERTY

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Evergreen Freedom Foundation PO Box 552

Olympia, WA 98507(360) 956-3482

Fax (360) 352-1874 info@effwa.org • www.effwa.org

VOLUME 19, Issue 11

EFF’s mission is to advance

individual liberty, free enterprise and

limited, accountable government.

this issue

Publisher:Lynn Harsh

Editors:Steven MaggiRich Frias

Layout:Joel Sorrell

NOVEMBER 2009

LETTER FROM LYNN | by Lynn Harsh COME “INSIDE” WITH ME FOR A FEW MINUTES . . . NEW POLITICAL TROUBLES DOWN IN THE VALLEY | by Scott St. Clair ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE UNDERCUTS PUBLIC RECORDS ACT by Michael Reitz

BECK EVENT HAS LONG COATTAILS | by Scott St. Clair VISIT EFF ONLINE

THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND | by Diana Cieslak THIS MONTH ON RADIO FREE WASHINGTON | by Stephanie Lund CREATIVE DESTRUCTION IS GOOD FOR GOVERNMENT, TOO | by Jim Chrisinger DEMOCRATS SET SIGHTS ON HIGHER TAXES | by Amber Gunn

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES . . . OR IS IT TEACHER-PARENT CONFERENCES? by Diana Cieslak INVESTING IN AMERICA’S FUTURE | by Lasse Lund EFF BEGINS ITS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

DIARY OF A FREEDOM LOVING MOM | by Judy Parkins A JOURNEY INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE

VIRTUES OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS | by Trent England WHAT WILL YOU REMEMBER? | by Juliana McMahan

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner,

but from their regard to their own interest.”

– Adam Smith

FACTS, MYTHS AND TRADEOFFS

www.effwa.oRG/sunshineonschools.com

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 3

unimpressed with “twittering” and find “social market-ing” slightly more than annoying. But it doesn’t matter. We will still create printed material, and our mission not only remains in place, we have enhanced it by shap-ing all our projects around specific elements in our mis-sion.

We need to reach the people who will get their news, stock market reports, and send pictures back and forth to each other via their iPhones. (Okay, I do this, too.) We get about ten seconds to make an impression and keep them looking. We do not have time for them to wonder who we are and be confused about our mission.

Changing things is time-consuming and requires some explaining. That’s why I don’t even move furniture once I put it where I want it. It takes weeks for my body’s automatic pilot to operate properly in the middle of the night when furniture isn’t where it used to be.

But this is about building a movement powerful enough and smart enough to take the ideological hill. We need to expand our numbers, particularly among young people. I doubt you will notice too many changes, but the ones you will see are for the purpose of clearly communicating who and what we are, and reaching new audiences.

I’ll end with our mission and our vision. They are con-frontational to some, but they will never change.

These are words worth fighting for. We here at the Freedom Foundation shall continue that fight. And we hope that you will choose to continue to fight along-side us.

Letter from LynnLETTER FROM LY NNby Lynn Harsh

Come “inside” with me for a few minutes . . .

F ew among us like to live with ongoing confronta-tion. It’s not healthy. Good leaders, whether in a

home, office, organization or community group, are marked by their ability to avoid unnecessary confron-tation.

Sometimes confrontation can be avoided by providing important information in a context the people around us can understand. It might be as simple as listening more carefully.

But when it comes to compromising principles or deal-ing with ideological bullies, confrontation is unavoidable and necessary. In these cases, smart people think about how to accomplish the end goal with as little personal or collateral damage as possible, remembering that the people with opposing points of view are fellow human beings. Honestly . . . they are!

Behaving in a civilized, legal manner should not be confused with wimpish, indecisive action. Our ideologi-cal opponents occupy the top of the hill right now. The goal is to replace them and their ideas with principles that protect individual liberty, a free marketplace, and limited government.

Accomplishing this is no small feat, and it will require a movement made up of many people and organizations. This movement will never be as orderly as we’d like, because (and this will come as a surprise to liberals) no one person or organization tells us what to do and how to do it. If they tried, being conservatives and libertar-ians, we’d be incensed!

Some movement leaders will disappoint us; some will say outrageous things from time to time; some will miss important opportunities.

We need to get over our quest to find the perfect move-ment leader. He or she doesn’t exist. The very nature of the job requires personalities that don’t fit into a tidy box. Mature leaders try not to distract unnecessarily from the larger goal; they endeavor to behave like ser-vant-leaders. But golly gee whiz! Some days or months or years, it just doesn’t work out that way!

Since our objective is to occupy the heights, which our opposition currently controls, how do we switch places with them? Make no mistake: the route from here to there is not pretty or pleasant, but it is doable.

Having truth on our side is not enough. It is the indispensable starting place and the reason for our persistence, but it won’t win an ideological war by itself. To win we must accurately assess the lay of the land: resources, timing, influence, conditions, and leadership.

Taking the opposition head-on is usually foolish, because we rarely have overwhelm-

ing superiority—in numbers or resources. But we can almost always employ the element of surprise.

Here at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, we think often about these things. I mull over them routinely. And that brings me to another issue—the name, Freedom Foundation. You may have noticed we are minimizing the word “Evergreen” in many of our new publications. Our logo will also change as well. Let me tell you why.

We are not winning the war of ideas because we have yet to reach and persuade enough people to tip the politi-cal and economic scales toward limited government, free markets, and individual liberty. Several years ago, we identified the groups of people we felt would shape the future, and determined those we could reach and must influence.

They mostly respond to visual, digital media. They know very little about the definitions and impact of freedom beyond how it impacts their personal, immedi-ate lives. Their attention-spans are fairly short and they are used to being entertained. Have I described some of your neighbors, family and friends?

We recently surveyed many people in the categories we want to reach. Our name and look, while not bad, did not catch their attention. They described our beautiful torch as a woman’s flowing hair. The word “Evergreen” instantly branded us in people’s minds as an environ-mental group; which would be perfect if we were princi-pally going about that business. After spending several minutes on our website, these people were still confused about who and what we are, and said things like, “Free-dom from what? Who are these people? Is this a gov-ernment agency? Is this a school?”

But they liked the visual appeal of our site; and 100 percent of the people surveyed returned to it—an almost unattainable percentage. Once they were told what we do, they were pleased and wanted to have more informa-tion. We were very happy to receive those results.

We must cut through life’s clutter and capture the minds and hearts of a larger share of the electorate. They will not spend five minutes on our website try-ing to figure out who we are. Forming successful visual images and words not only increases our visibility, it

helps create emotional bonds with people and their daily lives.

It’s difficult for many people to understand how this could be so important. After all, we like to hold books in our hands. We are

“ We must cut through life’s clutter and capture the minds and hearts of a larger share of the electorate.”

Mission: To advance individual liberty,

free enterprise and limited,

accountable government.

Vision: We envision a day when opportunity,

responsible self-governance and

free markets flourish because citizens

understand and cherish the principles

from which freedom is derived.

4 LIVING LIBERTY

hy is a campaign for a zero-salary hospital commissioner

position generating nearly $59,000 in contributions? Incumbent Mike Miller has raised that much in his race to stay on the board of commis-sioners for King County Public Hos-pital District No. l, the oldest and larg-est in Washington state.

The district owns and operates Valley Medical Center in Renton and employs one of the highest-paid public employees in the state. CEO Rich Roodman’s salary was $900,000 last year.

What about the picture of Miller at VMC with hospital staff that appears in his campaign ads in area commu-nity newspapers? This and other uses of publicly-owned facilities and public personnel for campaign purposes are under investigation by the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).

The picture itself is now under scrutiny since, it has been alleged, several of the medical professionals in it were unaware it was going to be used in Miller’s cam-paign ad. Some in the picture are said to actually sup-port his opponent, Dr. Aaron Heide.

VMC has also received recent attention for a secretive $1.73 million special retirement payment to Roodman. The payment and the process by which it was made came under strong criticism from the Washington State Auditor in a controversial draft performance audit.

Reached by telephone, Miller refused comment say-ing, “I have no interest in providing you with any infor-mation whatsoever.” He then hung up.

According to PDC records, Miller, a banker, had raised $58,585.00 in cash contributions as of October 19. He’s spent just one-third of that despite the election being less than three weeks away.

Miller’s challenger, Heide, a vascular neurologist and former VMC employee, has raised a scant $30 from one contributor. He has nearly $3,500 in in-kind contribu-tions, all out of his own pocket, for campaign signs and the like.

According to PDC reports, Miller has no in-kind con-tributions.

A review of Miller’s contributors shows that most of them have financial ties to VMC. The list is top-heavy with contributions from medical specialty-practice groups, hospital employees, and organizations and peo-ple who do business with VMC. Few, if any, look to be ordinary citizens with no financial ties to the hospital.

Valley Radiologists of Federal Way contributed $12,000 and Valley Anesthesia Associates of Bellevue contributed $10,000 in two separate contributions each.

D.W. Harper Group of Santa Ana, Calif., an insurance brokerage firm that specializes in risk management for health care organizations, made two contributions total-ing $4,500, the most recent being for $2,500 on October 16. A call to the firm’s president, David Harper, asking for comment has not been returned.

In addition to refusing comment on his campaign, Miller has also refused to debate his opponent. He can-celled one scheduled joint appearance with Heide, and he has refused to re-schedule. According to the Heide campaign, Miller’s refusal was because he was “too busy.”

This sparked a protest last week across the street from VMC by two Heide supporters, one of whom was dressed in a chicken suit and held a sign that said, “Mike Miller chickened out of the debate!”

The other protester, Bernadette Rice, passed out lit-erature in support of Heide and write-in candidate Cory

Cappelletti, a Renton Fire Department employee, who is opposing incumbent board member Carolyn Parnell.

Rice works as Heide’s office manager but stressed that she was doing this on her own time and of her own voli-tion. While she has known Heide for three years, she’s lived in the hospital district for decades, and she’s had it with the board’s lack of openness and transparency.

Addressing herself to Miller she said, “If you’re going to run for office, you need to be available to answer questions.”

“If Mike Miller refuses to follow through with a debate, what else will he chicken out on?”

Rice’s frustration was echoed by Cappelletti, a sec-ond-generation Renton resident. “Valley is a model of how not to let the public know what’s going on,” he said. For him, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the $1.73 million payment to Roodman, who is still on the VMC payroll.

Disclosure of the payment and its amount came only after the Washington State Auditor conducted a perfor-mance audit of VMC and two other public hospital dis-tricts. A draft of the audit was highly critical of the pay-ment and other executive compensation perks accorded to Roodman as well as VMC’s lack of transparency generally.

The draft recommended that VMC avoid similar pay-ments in the future. It also questioned whether bonuses paid to Roodman were for attaining improved perfor-mance goals or for what it called “typical CEO duties and responsibilities.” It also said, “Valley may be pay-ing near maximum payouts for performance that has not significantly increased year over year.”

Board Chair Don Jacobson, a retired union business agent, disputed the findings. He also criticized the State Auditor’s Office for making the draft public. “They vio-lated their procedures by leaking the draft,” he said.

Board member Anthony Hemstad is incensed at the payment and its timing.

“In tight financial times, for this commission to be making our public hospital CEO the highest paid public official in the state is ridiculous,” he said. “We have a duty to be prioritizing funds to actually provide health care, not paying huge CEO salaries and ‘retirement’ bonuses five years before the CEO retires. This was nei-ther transparent nor a good use of public funds.”

Heide agreed. Patient care should be at the top of VMC’s agenda, not what the CEO gets paid, he said.

“Focus more energy to retain good nurses than an over-paid CEO.”

“Nursing ratios are being cut, other skilled positions are being cut, and he’s taking millions,” Heide said referring to Roodman. “How does that improve patient care?”

The payment has also been condemned by the union representing skilled hospital technicians.

During Roodman’s tenure as CEO, political contro-versy has been no stranger to VMC.

In 2005, the hospital district floated what was described as an “emergency” tax-increase measure that raised dis-trict property taxes 50 cents per thousand dollars of val-uation. No voters’ pamphlet was issued for the election.

In 2006, an annexation proposal that would have nearly doubled the size of the district was put on the bal-lot much in the same way as the 2005 tax increase, again without a voters’ pamphlet. Barely five weeks before the election, area citizens got wind of it and organized an opposition campaign.

A misleading ballot title that failed to mention annexa-tion would result in a large tax increase to property own-ers in the proposed annexation area became the subject of a court challenge. A judge ordered the ballot title changed to include tax-increase language. The measure was crushed at the polls by a 94 percent “no” vote.

In 2007, the PDC settled a lengthy complaint against the district that alleged the 2005 and 2006 campaigns were illegally financed with public funds. In what was perhaps the largest fine against an individual in the his-tory of the PDC, CEO Roodman was ordered to pay $195,000, with $75,000 suspended so long as the fine wasn’t paid with public funds and that he committed no similar violations for the next four years.

VMC’s insurance company paid the fine.While VMC officials continue to deny any wrongdo-

ing, PDC documents contain a detailed list of individual infractions and the amounts of money involved. The May 2007 staff report concluded with a recommenda-tion that the matter be referred to the Attorney General’s office for further action because “the remedies available to the Commission are insufficient given the number and significance of the apparent violations.”

According to a source within the hospital, VMC ran up close to $200,000 in legal fees fighting the PDC com-plaint and an additional $100,000 fighting one filed by a citizen. It was only when faced with referral to the Attorney General for possible criminal action did the district settle. The citizen-initiated complaint was dis-missed by the PDC.

The PDC reached the settlement with VMC and Rood-man in October 2007, just prior to the November general election. Running for re-election were board members Gary Kohlwes and Carole Anderson. Both were defeated by reform candidates, Sue Bowman and Anthony Hem-stad.

In what may be a foreshadowing of Miller’s race against Heide, Kohlwes ran a well-financed campaign —he had nearly $31,000 in the bank—against a chal-lenger who reported no cash contributions. Anderson and Hemstad were financially evenly matched, with each having around $31,000.

In December 2007, the board amended Roodman’s employment contract to provide the enhanced retirement benefit if he stayed on the payroll until he reached 60. The board claimed that this was to encourage him to remain. No dollar figure was mentioned, and according to the board minutes, it appears that much of the

Wby Scott St. Clairnew political troubles down in the valley

“In what was perhaps the largest fine against an

individual in the history of the PDC, CEO Roodman

was ordered to pay $195,000, with $75,000

suspended so long as the fine wasn’t paid with public funds and that he committed no similar violations for the

next four years.”

Continued on page 5

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 5

ob McKenna, please call your office.

While the Attorney General is a self-proclaimed advocate of open government, his office is quietly undermining the cause in court.

In January, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Armen Yousoufian, who twelve years ago sought to obtain records about taxpayer funds used to build Qwest Field. Justice Richard Sanders, writing for the majority, said, “The unchallenged findings of fact demonstrate King County repeatedly deceived and misinformed Yousoufian for years.” The court ordered that stiff penalties be assessed against King County to compensate Mr. Yousoufian for the county’s wrong-doing.

The Public Records Act (PRA) allows courts to impose penalties on agencies that violate the Act, with the penalties ranging from $5 to $100 a day for documents wrongfully withheld. In his Yousoufian opinion, Justice Sanders laid out factors for courts to consider when determining what penalty should be imposed. The decision also suggested that trial courts should start at the midpoint of the penalty range, adjusting up or down based on each factor.

The decision was hailed as a major breakthrough for the cause of open government, and a push for courts to impose more serious penalties for PRA violations. Those who regularly request public records and watch this issue agree that when a violation is found trial

courts tend to start at the lower range and work up. For example, in the Yousoufian case, widely seen as one of the most egregious violations of the PRA, the judge originally imposed a mere $15 a day penalty.

Unfortunately for the ruling, Justice Sanders was subsequently determined to have a conflict of interest in the case and the Supreme Court agreed to rehear the case.

The State of Washington, though the Office of the Attorney General, filed a “friend of the court” brief for the rehearing, which was argued in mid-September.

Astonishingly, the Attorney General’s brief attacks the Supreme Court’s January decision, particularly

the guidance for imposing penalties. The Attorney General argued that penalties should be left entirely to the discretion of trial judges, and asked the Supreme Court to throw out its new multi-factor test. The State also protested the presumption that penalties should start at the mid-point of the penalty range. (The brief claims that the State’s interest is simply in open government, ignoring fact that the State and its subdivisions will be subject

to the penalties according to whatever framework is determined.)

Presented with this opportunity, it’s disappointing the Attorney General’s Office played the role of chief apologist for agencies rather than advocating for a system that would deter agencies that are willing to ignore the Public Records Act.

by Michael Reitz

Attorney General’s Office undercuts Public Records Act with “friend of the court” brief

discussion surrounding the retirement benefit took place in executive session, which was closed to the public.

The draft audit criticized VMC’s rationale and ques-tioned whether it made sense to provide an incentive to someone with a long tenure—Roodman joined the hos-pital in 1983—in a tenuous economic environment.

In 2008 the board implemented an ethics code that dis-sident member Hemstad regarded as an attempt to stifle robust debate and prevent public disclosure of informa-tion that might be embarrassing to the board.

The new code came in for strong criticism in a Seat-tle Times op-ed from a bi-partisan trio of local elected officials. It was also analyzed by William Maurer, the executive director of the Seattle office of the Institute for Justice, a nationwide public-interest law firm that repre-sents litigants in free speech cases.

Maurer wrote that some provisions of the code “are prior restraints on speech and are content-based and vague.”

Hemstad tried to get the board to revise the code to take Maurer’s analysis into account, but his effort was rebuffed.

In February 2009, payment of the $1.73 million retire-ment benefit was authorized by a vote of the board, but still without mention of a dollar figure. Hemstad voted against the measure. Roodman remains on the payroll.

Ballots for the Miller-Heide race have been mailed to King County voters.

New Political Troubles Continued from page 4 . . .

R

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6 LIVING LIBERTY

As an example, McMahan pointed to the next big Freedom Foundation event, a November 13 dinner and presentation by Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who is often called America’s last capitalist.

Mourdock, who sued the federal government to prevent the General Motors and Chrysler bailouts because the deals violated existing bankruptcy laws by unlawfully penalizing secured creditors in favor of unsecured creditors, had a long career in the private sector with energy-related companies before becoming state treasurer.

Tracking data for the Freedom Foundation Website and blog experienced tremendous spikes. EFFWA.org normally receives 20,000 to 23,000 visitors per day.

Around the Beck event time frame, that number soared to 100,000. It now averages around 60,000 per day.

Similarly, LibertyLive.org, the Freedom Foundation blog, had previously averaged 7,000 hits per day. It went to 30,000, and now averages 18,000. Comment posts have also jumped, with many of them national in origin.

An example of the new blood is volunteer Jenna Sanders, a 23-year-old woman who, until a week before the Beck event, had never heard of the Freedom

Iby Scott St. ClairBeck event has long coattails

t’s been over a month since the Evergreen Freedom Foundation brought Glenn Beck to Seattle’s Safeco

Field for its biggest event ever. What are the results? May I have the envelope please . . .And the winner is . . . Freedom, Liberty, and the on-

going struggle to advance them.While attendance at the event hit

nearly 7,000, its impact reached far beyond those who attended. Freedom Foundation CEO Lynn Harsh’s two appearances on The Glenn Beck Show on Fox News were seen by over 3 million viewers (Beck’s ratings for August per TVBytheNumbers.com), giving the organization its broadest national exposure ever.

Her comments about the Foundation and her analysis of the left-wing, anti-business animated film, The Story of Stuff, resulted in calls from across the nation to the Olympia office asking questions and providing tips as to where it’s been shown, especially in schools.

According to Foundation Director of Development Juliana McMahan, the Beck event has resulted in hundreds of new members. She described the response as “overwhelming.”

“Not all the results are in,” she said, “but we expect the Glenn Beck event to have long coattails.”

Foundation and knew little about Glenn Beck. Her interest in politics prompted a friend’s suggestion that she participate.

“It was great to see the excitement displayed by all the attendees,” she said. “I assisted for a while in helping escort the handicapped onto the field, and I met a lot of sweet people who were just so excited and thankful to be there.”

“I’m glad I was able to participate. I think the Freedom Foundation is such a neat organization, and I’m glad I know now that Washington state has SOME conservative think tanks.”

Jenna is also active in politics as the personal assistant of a political candidate in south Snohomish County.

The Foundation’s Citizen Action Network, a coalition of community-based volunteers, saw its membership double. After hitting 1,000 in August, membership now stands at over 2,000, with the increase attributed to the Beck event, said Lasse Lund, CAN Director.

Similarly, Citizenship and Governance Director Trent England said that attendance at First Principles training classes, where basic concepts of American government and citizenship are taught, has also doubled from an average of 25 to 50 people per class.

“The neat thing about Glenn Beck is that he talks in terms of principles instead of just policies,” said England. “He knows you have to lay a foundation before you can build anything.”

The foundation laid by the Beck event is one of increased awareness of the Freedom Foundation, new partnerships and members, and heightened interest and enthusiasm toward the cause of liberty and freedom. Not a bad result.

effwa.orgOur website

libertylive.org Our blog

ReportCardWa.com Scores for each Washington School

TaxSleuth.comFind out about local and state taxes

WaSupremeCourtBlog.comRead about the latest decisions

105Days.com105 ways to cut the State Budget

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Find out more by visiting us online:

effcan.org Our Citizen Action Network

FlunkedtheMovie.com Our award-winning Educational Documentary

FlunkedSolutions.com How to make a difference

SkooledOnline.com Get “Skooled” by Dr. Ben Chavis

GetFree.tvOur video podcast

RadioFreeWA.comOur official radio show

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 7

n March 4, 1776, the British

awoke to a startling sight—for-

tifications on Dorchester Heights. Conti-

nental cannons stared down on the British

army in Boston.

Two weeks later, the British evacuated

Boston and withdrew to Nova Scotia. The

Continental Army marched to New York

City.

Recognizing the differences between the

two armies is pivotal to understanding

our Revolution. The British were an army

of career soldiers; the Continentals were

newly-organized citizen soldiers. Many had

to take time from soldiering to go home

and see that the land and people they were

fighting for were taken care of.

After the British landed on Staten Island

in New York, General George Washington

sent this reminder to his men:

“The hour is fast approaching, on which

the Honor and Success of this army, and

the safety of our bleeding Country depend

… Remember … that you are Freemen,

fighting for the blessings of Liberty—that

Slavery will be your portion, and that

of your posterity, if you do not acquit

yourselves like men.”

Hostilities began in full force on the

night of August 26th. The British, led by

Generals Clinton and Cornwallis, secretly

victoR davis hanson – Victor Davis Hanson is a war historian and classicist who was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush in 2007.

mike schindleR – Mike Schindler is a Navy veteran who founded Operation Military Family, an organization committed to developing resources to help support and strengthen military marriages and families.

thoR halvoRssen – Thor Halvorssen is a film producer and human rights advocate who The New York Times has described as a “champion of the underdog and the powerless.” Halvorssen’s most recent production, 2081, is the retelling of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, and premiered at the Seattle Film Festival in May of 2009.

hese weekly web shorts feature Dr. Ben Chavis, the controversial and successful founder of the Ameri-

can Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, CA. Dr. Ben’s unorthodox techniques and no-holds-barred atti-tude have helped underprivileged students achieve some of the highest scores in California.

LONG ISLANDThe Battle of

by Diana Cieslak

moved 10,000 men and artillery behind

the American lines. Washington arrived

to see the American General Lord

Stirling stand his ground with 250 men

while allowing the rest of his force to

retreat to Brooklyn Heights. Stirling’s

troops made six attacks against the

British, while Washington mourned,

“what brave fellows I must this day lose!”

Roughly 300 Americans were killed

in the Battle of Long Island, and over

1,000 were captured. Nine thousand

battle-weary citizen soldiers remained,

trapped at Brooklyn Heights. The East

River channel was behind them, and

before them was a professional force

more than double their size. The lives of

the men—and of the newly independent

nation—were at stake.

Washington made the monumental

decision to evacuate the men from Long

Island. Under the cover of fog, the entire

Continental Army boarded flatboats for

Manhattan Island. The British awoke to

find not a single Continental soldier.

The Continental Army lost the Battle

of Long Island, but they passed on

something more valuable to posterity:

the American regard for freedom,

for honor, and for life, liberty, and

the pursuit of happiness.

When faced with tyranny and

death, our forefathers persevered. It

falls to us to do the same.

For the rest of the story, tune in to

Origins of Freedom at radiofreewa.com.

Origins of Freedomwww.radiofreewa.com T

www.skooledonline.com

by Stephanie Lundthis monthon Radio fRee washinGton . . .

You can also tune in on Saturdays at 12:30 PM, Sundays at 8:30 AM, and Fridays at 2:30 PM to:ktRw-am 630 (Spokane/Northern Idaho)

You can listen online at:

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8 LIVING LIBERTY

he private sector experiences “creative destruction” every

day. Economist Joseph Schumpeter popularized the term, describing the process of innovation constantly cre-ating new products and services and effectively destroying existing ones as a result. New companies and jobs rise, others trans-form, some disappear. Fortunes and futures are made, and lost.

Recent political debate has asked whether founder-ing banks and auto companies should be swept away or transformed in bankruptcy or government receiver-ship of some kind to make way for new entities that can deliver better products, services, and jobs. That debate, while spirited, does not challenge our foundational belief in the value of creative destruction. We wouldn’t dream of living without it.

Creative destruction means more and better choices for almost everything we buy. It means more value for each dollar we spend. It creates whole new industries and human potential. As much as anything, the value Americans place on the innovator and entrepreneur distinguishes us from the rest of the world. Creative destruction is the not-so-secret of our success and a primary reason so many seek our shores. We know the risks—now more than ever—and how harshly they can be felt in lost jobs and evaporating investments. But our societal DNA tells us that the upside potential out-weighs these costs over time. We are an entrepreneurial people.

If today’s crisis creates doubt for you, live a while in a society without creative destruction. As a Foreign Service Officer in Czechoslovakia before the Iron Cur-tain fell, I witnessed plenty of destruction, none of it very creative. Few products, less choice, abysmal ser-vice. People typically carried an empty “perhaps bag” with them. “Perhaps” there will be bananas or oranges somewhere I pass today. Entrepreneurial activity flowed in other channels. Czechs cynically noted that “he who does not steal from the state steals from his family.”

So now is a good time to ask: why do we only talk about creative destruction in the private sector? Why

don’t we want—indeed demand—the dynamism of cre-ative destruction in the services we receive from our governments? Why don’t we expect better value for our tax dollars? Why aren’t our governments constantly creating and destroying, trying different strategies and methods, and adopting those that work best? Why can’t we have more entrepreneurial government?

We need it now more than ever. How can we afford not to be more entrepreneurial? To continue to spend our tax dollars in the same old ways and expect different results is insanity, paraphrasing Einstein’s definition.

Courageous leaders around the country are pioneering more entrepreneurial government. Three examples:

State of Iowa drivers license stations set a customer service standard: for a routine drivers license renewal, you should be in and out within 30 minutes. If you’re not, you don’t pay the fee.

overnor Christine Gregoire has made an abrupt aboutface

regarding higher taxes, just as she did after her election in 2004. Prior to the 2008 election, the governor was quoted repeatedly saying that higher taxes were “not on the table.” But this fall, she is singing a different tune, telling reporters that there is no fat left to cut.

“There are no good options because the cuts are either social services, corrections, health care or education,” she told the Seattle Times.

In her mind, and in the minds of Democratic leaders, that is probably true. Their attempts to be all things to all people have resulted in a budget almost completely lacking in priorities and overall statewide goals. When legislators fail to build budgets around core functions of government, trying to figure out what to cut is a crap shoot. To compound the problem, last year legis-

A Department of Transportation sign shop imple-mented “gainsharing.” The eight sign shop workers were challenged to find savings during the year. Their incentive was keeping for themselves 25% of the sav-ings achieved. After the final accounting, each worker took home a check for $5,000 and the taxpayers gained more than $120,000. And the savings were ongoing.

Several governments have successfully out-sourced work through “managed competition,” taking bids from private, public, and non-profit sector entities, and get-ting the best deal for citizens and taxpayers.

If we know how to do government this way—and we do—what’s keeping it from happening everywhere, now?

Inertia. Fear. Lack of vision and confidence. Resistance from the people who benefit from the way it’s done now, inside government and out. And a media environment hostile to entrepreneurial government.

You get what you reward. In government today, we above all reward compliance with rules. We reward lon-gevity over performance. We punish failure, without which creative destruction cannot exist. There is practi-cally no upside potential motivating people in govern-ment to innovate, risk, and improve value. The down-side dangers are swift, severe, and all too familiar.

When we demand and reward entrepreneurial govern-ment, including creative destruction, we’ll get it.

The essay above is adapted from a longer piece available on the EFF website. To view it, please visit www.effwa.org.

Jim Chrisinger is a career public servant who pioneered government innovation and accountability for two Iowa Governors, Republican Terry Branstad and Democrat Tom Vilsack. In other roles, he was a Foreign Service Officer during the Velvet Revolution in Prague and a legis-lative aide to Congressman Jim Leach. Chrisinger is now a Senior Partner with The Public Strategies Group. He also teaches strategic public management in the Masters in Public Administration program at Iowa State University and speaks widely on government transformation. He can be reached at jim@psg.us.

lators used approximately $5 billion in one-time funds (including federal stimulus dollars and raiding various dedicated accounts) to “balance” the budget. As a result, many of the hard choices were simply pushed forward to the next budget.

Legislators expected to have a problem when they started writing the 2011-13 budget; but decreasing revenue, increased caseloads, lawsuits and other prob-lems have pushed part of that problem into the cur-rent 2009-11 budget. We are facing a $1.2 to $1.7 billion deficit for the current budget. Unlike the fabricated $9 billion shortfall that was used to attempt to scare every-one into accepting higher taxes during the 2009 legisla-tive session, this budget deficit is as real as they come. The state is projected to close the budget period well into the red, even including all reserves and the state’s constitutionally-protected rainy day account.

Something will have to be done to bring the state’s budget back into the black. The 2010 legislative battle

will be a standoff between those who want to accom-plish this with higher taxes and those who want legisla-tors to prioritize spending with the resources they have.

The tax hikers’ song-and-dance will go like this: “Washington’s ‘all-cuts budget’ last year was disastrous. People are dying. Seniors are starving. We can’t absorb any more cuts. State employees are people too. It’s time for taxpayers to share in some of the pain.”

Tby Jim Chrisingercreative destruction is good for government, too

Gby Amber Gunndemocrats set sights on higher taxes

Continued on next page

“Why don’t we expect better value for our tax dollars?

Why aren’t our governments constantly creating and

destroying, trying different strategies and methods, and

adopting those that work best? Why can’t we have more

entrepreneurial government?”

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 9

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Higher Taxes Continued from page 8 . . .

The reality, of course, is that taxpayers are sharing in the pain. Last year, the legislature approved $590 million in new or increased taxes and fees. This figure includes various budget games the legislature played that resulted in stealth tax increases, such as their raid on the dedicated liquor account, which obliged the liquor control board to mark up the price of liquor to the tune of $80 million. In addition, workman’s compen-sation rates are scheduled to rise 7.6 percent. This is a de facto tax increase, since business owners don’t have a choice about who they insure with.

As the budget problem wors-ens, the call for tax increases will grow louder. A large deficit helps to give legislators the political cover they

need to push for tax increases. After all, it’s an easier sell to highlight the concentrated groups of state ben-eficiaries that have been hurt by existing cuts, arguing that dispersing costs among many more taxpayers will

hurt less. But as long as legislators

are still funding the removal of derelict crab pots and allowing college presidents to charge taxpayers for someone to do their dishes and to take out their trash, they’ll not get one ounce of sympathy from me.

EFF has offered 105 ideas for balancing Washington’s budget, stimulating the econ-omy and eliminating waste. These ideas include scrapping

prevailing wage laws, eliminating the general assistance unemployable program (we already have workman’s

compensation and social security that cover disability), scrapping various cultural commissions, privatizing state liquor stores, cutting economic development pro-grams (which wouldn’t be necessary if the state focused on keeping taxes and regulations in check), bringing health care premiums for state workers in line with the private sector and giving state agencies flexibility to perform and deliver results by implementing a charter agency model in Washington.

All of our ideas can be found at www.105days.com. Now is the time to reboot state government, as Gover-nor Gregoire herself said. If lawmakers cop out on that charge when it is needed most, does anyone really have any illusions that they will try again when the state is flush with cash?

Lest lawmakers so soon forget, over 5,000 people showed up at the Capitol Campus on April 15 to protest tax and spending increases—and that was just Olympia! Thousands more stood up all over the state. Legislators would be remiss to ignore them.

10 LIVING LIBERTY

he school year is flying by at its usual rapid rate. For most

schools, the first round of parent-teacher conferences have already happened or are about to. These meetings provide a unique opportu-nity to closely examine these two key players in the arena of education.

Historically, parents raised their own children. Schools were expected to provide intellectual stimula-tion, skilled instruction, and opportunities for character development through working with others, learning dis-cipline, the value of hard work, etc. Today, the state has taken the reins, delegated child-rearing to teachers, and alienated parents from the process.

How? As the public education system has been bull-dozed into a bureaucratic corn-maze of voicemail options, parents are increasingly isolated from what goes on in schools.

The more bureaucratic the system becomes, the less incentive parents have to take responsibility for their children. Conversely, the more parents give up that responsibility, the more the state will assume it.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Even so, there would still be cause for optimism if teachers were uniformly qualified, willing to accept the input of their community, and free to implement meth-ods that would meet student needs. This is not the case.

Last summer a group of Seattle parents reclaimed responsibility for what goes on in the classroom. They sought funding and applied pressure until they got the National Council for Teacher Quality (NCTQ)—a non-partisan, independent research organization—to con-duct a study of Seattle Public Schools.

Entitled Human Capital in Seattle Public Schools: Rethinking How to Attract, Develop, and Retain Effective Teachers, the report hits more than one nail on the head. Their findings on teacher evaluations speak volumes on the lack of structure to ensure quality in the classroom. NCTQ reports that, “In the most recent school year, only 16 teachers out of a workforce of 3,300 received an unsatisfactory evaluation, 0.5 percent of the workforce.”

Their recommendations are groundbreaking in their familiarity and simplicity: 1) Consider student achievement the most important

indicator of teacher quality.2) Include more levels than “satisfactory” and “unsat-

isfactory.”

Tby Diana CieslakParent-Teacher Conferences … or is it Teacher-Parent Conferences?

3) Don’t give teachers a “satisfactory” evaluation just because they tried (without results).

4) Conduct random classroom observations.5) Hold school principals responsible for the evaluation

ratings they give.Using Seattle as a case study, the “system” doesn’t lend

itself to “attracting, developing, and retaining effective teachers.” Far from it.

But what about the teachers who are highly qualified and highly effective? Unfortunately, they lack the free-dom to use methods that best meet students’ needs.

In our over-regulated system, teachers are given historically unprecedented responsibility for raising their students, yet they are denied the flexibility to effectively address student learning needs. In fact, effective teachers are better off not drawing attention to themselves. Were the thousands of pages of state regulations thrown at them, their short affair with success would quickly end.

NCTQ’s evaluation recommendations would go a long way toward improving teacher quality and fostering a climate that recognizes and rewards excellence.

A group of Seattle parents reclaimed responsibil-ity and applied pressure. NCTQ’s study was the result. What comes of it will fall back on those parents and their level of commitment to quality public education.

he Evergreen Freedom Foundation is pleased to welcome Victoria Williams to our staff as our

Leadership Fellow for the next year. The Freedom Foundation has always sought to pass the

torch, identify and raise up the next generation of young leaders. In the past, we have hosted college juniors and seniors as summer interns at our offices, giving them an understanding of what must be done to ensure that our

INVESTINGin America’s

Future

freedoms remain intact and how to accomplish those objectives. Now, through our Citizen Action Network, we are expanding our Young Leaders program to include a one-year fellowship position, giving one individual the chance for in-depth education and experience with us at the Freedom Foundation.

For our 2009-10 program, the main focus of the fellowship position will be on College Outreach. American colleges and universities of today offer a terribly one-sided view of things, often emphasizing only a so-called “progressive” mindset unchecked by the principles our country was founded upon. If our country is to remain one of the great beacons of hope for the world, we must reach our young people and ensure that they learn these principles. However, that is no easy task. Young people are growing increasingly apathetic to the characteristics of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice; instead choosing to pass on accepting responsibility and then expecting government to take care of them. They need to be “awakened” to their true role in society and lead their peers to do the same.

Victoria brings a unique set of skills that enables her to lead college-age people to have this “awakening” to personal responsibility. Having recently had a similar experience herself, she has since dedicated her time to

engaging others in conversation about their beliefs and challenging them to think about them to their very core. She is well-versed in the latest social technology, the main way that young adults stay connected to each other, and uses it to great effect. In addition to engaging with students online,

Victoria will also be spending time with them on campus, partnering with existing student clubs to host a variety of different “Experience Freedom Project” events. She will also be working with these same leaders to provide EFF-created resources that will benefit their clubs in their activities.

Our goal is to increase the number of freedom-oriented minds and hearts on campuses across Washington and give them the tools they need to help others experience the same dynamic shift.

e f f b e Gin s i t s f e l l o w s hiP P RoGR a m

by Lasse Lund

was born and raised in Portland, Oregon —the best city in the world—the eldest

of five children. My parents homeschooled my brother, sisters and me all the way through high school, believing it wasn’t the government’s job to educate their children. Our weekly trips to

the library turned me into a voracious reader.

After an extended foray into liberalism, I got tired of being nagged by my libertarian and conservative

friends about my political beliefs and decided to do a little research. Unable to truly uncover the basis for conservatism via traditional news sources, I ended up reading the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Suddenly this whole personal freedom thing made a bit more sense. (My friends now like to brag that they “turned me conservative,” which I find hilarious.)

This past summer I started blogging and have actually been receiving quite a bit more response from people than I expected. I am also notorious among my friends for being a Twitter addict. I enjoy being able to state an idea succinctly through social media.

I love studying, especially history and philosophy. I have a tendency to devote hours of research to any topic I am interested in, be it thermodynamic entropy or Shakespeare. This spring I completed my first novel. Currently, I’m editing the first and writing my second.

A true Pacific Northwest girl, I love reading, biking, photography, cloudy skies, and amazing views. Running is also a favorite—the rainier, windier and darker, the better! I am very much looking forward to my time in Olympia because, from what I hear, it rains a lot.

T

I

A PUBLICATION OF THE EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION 11

diary

a journey into the twilight zone

of a Freedom Loving Mom…b Y J u d Y P A R k I N S

R emember Rod Serling and that eerie, knowing look on his face as he wel-

comed viewers to experience something we didn’t think was possible? Can you still hum the haunting Twilight Zone music? Remember Serling’s opening monologue? “You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimen-sion. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas…you have just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.”

I assure you the story you are about to read is true. It happened to me a few months ago when I called to make a doctor’s appointment and found I had unknowingly unlocked the door to a dimen-sion beyond my imagination.

It started innocently enough. I got married last sum-mer and immediately moved to a new city. With the move came the need to establish those key relationships that make a strange city feel like a community. I found a new hair stylist who loves to talk about her dirty, rot-ten, cheating ex-husband. I found a new nail salon with my favorite pedicure chairs and English-speaking TV. I found a pharmacist that calls to remind me to renew my prescriptions. I found a compatible walking part-ner that, like me, is always too busy to walk. I got my punch card for Value Village that earns $5 for every $25 I spend. Finally, I found the Les Schwab Tire Cen-ter with the cute guys that race to my car just to ask if they can help me. By Christmas I was settled in and feeling comfy.

But as Rod Serling would have astutely pointed out, all was not as it seemed. After a couple of emergency trips to the local Urgent Care Clinic, I realized I needed to establish that one last key relationship—a primary care physician. No problem. I had a referral. I also Googled primary care physicians by zip code and then picked up the phone to make a “new patient” appoint-ment . . . or did I?

Receptionist: Hello. Dr. Friendly’s office. May I help you? (Not the doctor’s real name.)

Me: Hello. My name is Judy Parkins and I just moved to the area. I am looking for a primary care doc-tor. Is Dr. Friendly taking new patients?

Receptionist: Yes, she is. We were notified by the Urgent Care Clinic that you would need a follow-up appointment and we have scheduled you for next Thurs-day at 10:00 am.

Me: Wow! Really? I only asked the receptionist at the clinic for suggestions. I had no idea she chose one for

me. Did you notify me of the appointment? I haven’t seen anything in the mail or received an email.

Receptionist: I don’t know, Madame. Do you want this appoint-ment?

Me: I’m actually working in Olym-pia on Thursday. Can we change the appointment to Friday?Receptionist: No . . . how about

Wednesday?Me: Fine. I would like to follow

up with the doctor about an ongoing issue. I also have a couple of other things I need to talk to the doctor about.

in a question about my sinus infections. She’ll never know!

Receptionist: I’m sorry, Madame, I can’t do that. Can I schedule you for Friday the 24th at 8:15?

Me: I want a “new patient” visit!!!! You know, the appointment with all the forms to fill out and the list of existing conditions I have to check off. I want to pee in a cup! It is my right as a patient to stand on the doctor’s scale and be shocked at how much weight I’ve actually gained this year!

Receptionist: Exasperated long pause . . . Do you want the Wednesday appointment?

Me: Equally exasperated long pause . . . No. I would never in a million years schedule an appointment to see this doctor. I am, however, very curious. What if the doctor and I were in the exam room together? Let’s say I went crazy and asked, maybe five or six questions —going way over my three minutes? What would the doctor do?

Receptionist: Long pause . . . I really don’t know, Madame, what the doctor . . . or the nurses would do. Do you not want the Wednesday appoint-ment?

Me: Click.As a committed conservative wanting to under-

stand the issues around health care reform, my phone call to Dr. Friendly’s office made me realize

two things. First, I am guilty of taking the freedom to choose my primary health care provider for granted.

Never again! It is the free market system operating in health care that allowed me to hang up on Dr. Friendly’s receptionist and go straight to the Yellow Pages! I have a choice, and choice is always empowering.

Second, to have intellectual integrity in the health care debate, let’s be honest and admit to a couple of reali-ties in the current system: As in any industry, there are greedy practitioners sometimes masquerading as Dr. Friendly; and health insurance companies operate for profit, which impacts their willingness to pay claims. OK. I’ve said it out loud. Now, given the realities, what are the best ways to protect consumers and make health care more accessible? The core economic principle that must be protected is the consumer’s power to choose, and I do know that those nine terrifying words, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help,” are absolutely not the answer!

I wonder why Rod Serling never made a Twilight Zone episode about government-run health care? Maybe even Serling didn’t have enough imagination to write that one!

Receptionist: I’m sorry that will not be possible. The doctor only talks about one condition per visit. Any more than that takes up your allotted three minutes.

Me: Excuse me. Did you say three minutes?!Receptionist: Yes. I’d be happy to schedule you for

several appointments right now. What about two weeks from Thursday?

Me: Wait a minute. Three minutes? I have an allotted time of three minutes? Are you serious?

Receptionist: Yes, Madame. The doctor was very clear at our last staff meeting. Would Wednesday the 22nd work for your second appointment?

Me: I’m confused. I am asking for a “new patient” visit. Surely those take more time than three minutes. Let’s just schedule a “new patient” visit and I’ll sneak

12 LIVING LIBERTY

Among the Founding generation and even the Continental Congress, certainly there were those who were not humble, who did not look to their posterity or respect history, who failed to be prudent. Yet the men and the deeds we most remember were ideal examples of these traits.

America was never inevitable. The Founders knew that as well as anyone could. They succeeded partly because they did know that, and did recognize both the difficulty and importance of their task. Their model of humble, prudent, historically aware statesmanship remains a model for every aspiring leader, in America and beyond, to remember and emulate.

oday many Americans are searching for principles, for per-

manent things. Some of these slabs of bedrock are identified and much dis-cussed, but others garner less atten-tion. It is these principles, less spo-ken of yet important still, that are our subjects here. These are things that set apart the American Founders, and that we would do well to uphold.

Perhaps the greatest virtue of the Founders, or what most sets them apart from their revolutionary peers, is their humility. King George remarked that if George Washington really surrendered power after winning the war, Washington would be the greatest man in the world. Later, the system of government the Founders devised was intended to check the power that they would then assume. James Madison in Federalist Paper No. 51 reminds those in government and everybody else that none of them are “angels.” The Founders time and again limited themselves because they understood that the very best political leader will always be, in a certain sense, only the lesser of two evils.

This recognition was buttressed by the Founders understanding that they occupied just one spot on the great human timeline. Looking forward, they were deeply conscious of their posterity. Future generations

ow! It’s hard to believe the end of this very memorable

year is fast approaching.Much of the year is still fresh in

my mind, but what will I remember ten years from now? Will I remem-ber how President Obama pushed through his liberal agenda faster than I ever thought possible? Will I remember that “we the people” slowed down the government take-over of health care? Will I remember the nationwide Tea Parties or the 6,000-per-son event with Glenn Beck held at Safeco Field? Or will I remember it as the year my dear grandmother died?

What will you remember?Only time will tell what the history books will

record—if accurate history books are available at all.

Ten years ago it was 1999 and we were all preparing for Y2K—the greatest un-fulfilled prophecy in recent memory—the predicted computer meltdown when the calendar rolled-over to 2000. It’s the year I moved houses (although not cities). But who was the President? I’d have to do some math to remember that. What was the big issue in Congress? No idea at all. I might be able to dredge it out of my memory with the proper stimu-lus, but it’s nowhere near the top.

No matter what I do or don’t remember in the future, I know that it is important for me to stay informed about what is going on in the present. The little things we do can make a big difference, especially when we work together with other like-minded, caring individuals in our community.

That is why I love the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s monthly Living Liberty newsletters and issue-specific email lists. The monthly newsletter gives me an overview of things I don’t hear about anywhere else. The issue-specific email lists let me sign up for

would be relying on them, and they knew it. People they could not know would look back to them and scrutinize their decisions and motives. Thinking so far ahead also reminded them of how much they did not know, and even made them question which of the things they thought they knew would eventually be proved wrong.

The Founders’ respect for the future flowed naturally from their respect for the past, for history. Nearly all of the Founders had studied classical and European history, often reading early accounts in original languages. They knew Tacitus, Polybius, Plutarch, and so many others.So well educated was their generation that they could use pseudonyms like Brutus and Publius. And many of the histories they read told the stories of great men, great wars, and great states for the very purpose that readers might learn from the failures and be inspired by the victories.

One lesson of history that the Founders learned well was the importance of prudence. This idea might be called “careful common sense” or “acting reasonably and deliberately.” Prudence is the opposite of rashness, of “going off half-cocked” or “shooting from the hip.” It took more than a year after war began for the colonies to officially declare their independence; yet they focused on the tasks at hand (chiefly managing the war effort) until the time was really right. Their patience paid off when the final decision was essentially unanimous.

VirtuesOf Our Founding Fathers by Trent England

T

Wby Juliana McMahanWhat will you remember? the topics I’m interested in hearing about. And I always

know the updates will be timely and relevant.Keeping my family, friends, and neighbors informed

about what is going on is as easy as giving them a Christmas present that will last the whole year long…a gift membership to the Evergreen Freedom Founda-tion! At a special introductory rate of $25 you can give a one-year gift membership to those hard-to-fit people on your Christmas list.

This is also a great resource for children or grand-children who might be more interested in the latest video game rather than what is going on in Olympia. Consider challenging them to read our monthly Liv-ing Liberty newsletter. Pick one article to discuss with them. Help them engage in what is going on around them, things which will change the course of our nation and ultimately their future. Give them a full year to remember!

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“America was never inevitable. The

Founders knew that as well as anyone

could.”