Issues
Click to read more about the positions that the Adam Smith Foundation was created to defend:
- Judicial Reform
- Government Accountability
- Education Reform
- Tax & Spending Reform
- Protecting Private Property
- Responsible Health Care Reform
- Stopping Irresponsible Regulations
- Standing Against Forced Unionism
- Standing Up for Direct Democracy
HIGHLIGHTS from the BLOG:
Yesterday, the Missouri House of Representatives passed two key labor reform...
Over the course of the past week, both the Missouri House and Senate have made...
Today, the Missouri Senate Small Business, Insurance, and Industry Committee...
In the Press
September 4, 2009
What did they expect?
Southeast MissourianIt is hard to avoid news about protests at town hall meetings where liberal politicians are advocating the Obamacare health care proposals. (read more...)
August 19, 2009
Fraud by Trial Lawyers Taints Wave of Pesticide Lawsuits
Wall Street JournalCHINANDEGA, Nicaragua -- After responding to a radio commercial seeking former banana-plantation workers for a lawsuit against Dole Food Co., Marcos Sergio Medrano thought he might be entitled to some money. He says an American law firm convinced him that a pesticide used on the Dole-operated banana plantation where he had worked years ago had made him sterile. (read more...)
August 11, 2009
As I See It: Health Care Bill Language Clear as Mud
Suburban JournalsDo you think your representative in Congress should know what he or she is voting for? Do you think they should not only read legislation, but understand what it says and the impact it would have on their constituents? (read more...)
August 2, 2009
State Should Eliminate its Income Tax
Columbia Daily TribuneThe recession has dominated economic news of late. As with any downturn, there is an opportunity to re-evaluate the structure of the economy and try to create a situation that will produce the most future growth. More specifically, what is the best tax structure for the Missouri economy? (read more...)
June 12, 2009
Fair Tax Supporters Prepare for Rally
KRCGApril 18, 2009
Missouri Brakes - The Sue Me State Reconsiders Judicial Selection
Wall Street JournalMarch 11, 2009
U.S. Term Limits Rips Missouri Proposal to Change Term Lengths
Springfield News-LeaderMarch 11, 2009
Missouri Plan has Turned Too Secretive
Columbia Daily TribuneMarch 3, 2009
Missouri's Term Limits Aren't Broke, Don't Need Fixing
Southeast MissourianJanuary 2, 2009
Replacing Income Tax Would Lower Revenue Volatility
St. Louis Business JournalAs each month passes, Missouri's fiscal outlook gets bleaker. The state started the fiscal year on July 1 with a balance of $833 million. As tax revenues plummet, however, the Office of Administration says it's likely that the majority of that surplus will be gone by the start of fiscal year 2010. Incoming Gov.-elect Jay Nixon's transition team anticipates a revenue shortfall this fiscal year of at least $340 million... (read more...)
October 30, 2008
State Courts in the Balance
The Wall Street JournalThe November 4 ballot will feature an unusually high number of judicial races that could tip the balance of several state supreme courts. The trial bar senses an opening in what may be a Democratic year and is pouring cash into the races to reverse what has been a nationwide legal reform tide. (read more...)
August 23, 2008
Without Judicial Merit
The Wall Street JournalSeveral readers sounded off yesterday on our August 14 editorial on the American Bar Association's new proposal on judicial selection. We especially liked the rejoinders from ABA President Thomas Wells and Bert Brandenburg of Justice at Stake, claiming that their idea for lawyer-led commissions is nothing but high-minded, nonpartisan, good government that is already working beautifully in many states. (read more...)
August 14, 2008
The ABA Plots a Judicial Coup
The Wall Street JournalSome bad ideas never seem to die, especially in the hands of a crafty attorney. That's the story now playing out at the American Bar Association, which voted at its annual meeting this week to endorse a version of "merit selection" for federal judges. What we have here is the latest lawyer-led attempt to strip judicial selection from future Presidents. (read more...)
June 16, 2008
Show Me Better Judges
Let's be blunt: Judges are important. They wield enormous power. They make decisions that can trump our legislature's lawmaking -- or overturn a vote of the people on a ballot measure. Judicial activists are the most powerful -- and often most dangerous -- government officials. (read more...)
April 24, 2008
FREE SPEECH UNDER ATTACK
Contact your local Senator and urge them to oppose HB 1763. The bill, which has already been passed by the House and is now near passage in the Senate, presents a serious threat to free speech by making it more difficult for hard working Missourians to amend the constitution. The constitution is the ultimate voice of the people and, as we have witnessed in recent years, there are some issues that are so important they must be decided directly by the people. (read more...)
April 23, 2008
Adam Smith Foundation Uses Tax Freedom Day to Encourage Missourians to Demand Tax Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Contact: (573) 636-6060(Jefferson City) On National Tax Freedom Day - the day Americans have earned enough income to pay off their total tax bill for the year - the Adam Smith Foundation encouraged Missourians to demand tax cuts from local, state and federal officials. National Tax Freedom Day falls on April 23 this year... (read more...)
March 24, 2008
Adam Smith Foundation Urges Missourians to Support Eminent Domain Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE(Jefferson City) - In response to last week's Supreme Court ruling against property rights, Adam Smith Foundation leaders today urged Missourians to get involved to ensure eminent domain reform is on the 2008 ballot. (read more...)
March 20, 2008
JOHN GRISHAM'S JUDICIAL APPEAL
The Wall Street JournalTruth may be more complicated than fiction, but try telling that to John Grisham. The bestselling author of legal thrillers, Mr. Grisham has built his career on sensational stories with real-world political undertones. Wallpapering airport bookstores now is his latest book "The Appeal," which spins the tale of a corrupt chemical company CEO trying to "buy" a judge to get a better verdict. This is possible, the story goes, because the system of judicial elections has made justice itself impossible. (read more...)
March 10, 2008
Adam Smith Foundation Condemns Missouri Bar for Asking Judges to Engage in Political Activity
(Jefferson City) - Sources within the Missouri Bar have given The Adam Smith Foundation access to information being distributed and sent via e-mail by appellate and circuit court judges urging legislators, business leaders and lawyers to oppose Missouri Plan reforms. (read more...)
December 22, 2007
Missouri Compromised
(Wall Street Journal) Missouri is putting on the gloves for round two over the state's system of judge selection. Nominally designed to keep politics out of judicial appointments, the state's Appellate Judicial Commission has instead marched Missouri's courts steadily to the left. (read more...)
September 12, 2007
Supreme Court Showdown in the Show Me State
Human Events Front PageConservatives have good reason to celebrate the changes on the United States Supreme Court wrought by the appointments of John Roberts and Samuel Alito. The Court's new direction -- away from a "living constitution" and towards judicial restraint -- is the result of decades of work by those who believe in the rule of law. Unfortunately, they cannot rest on their accomplishments at the federal level, for the ideological disciples of Earl Warren and William Brennan have turned their attention to the nation's state courts. Frustrated at the federal level, these ideologues are engaged in a mission to transform state supreme courts into the engines of judicial activism necessary to support their liberal agenda. The current battle over the Missouri Supreme Court is a paradigmatic example of this disturbing trend and what conservatives are doing to fight back. (read more...)
September 11, 2007
JUDGE STITH TESTIFIES
Top 10 Questions Missourians Demand She Answer(Jefferson City)-Today the Adam Smith Foundation released questions for the Senate Committee on Rules to consider regarding the proceedings by the Appellate Judicial Commission in replacing Justice Ronnie White on the Missouri Supreme Court. Chief Justice Laura Stith served as Chair to the secretive Appellate Judicial Commission and that Commission has put her forth as the representative to testify. (read more...)
August 30, 2007
Show Me the Judges
Wall Street Journal EditorialFor the latest proof that you can't get politics out of politics, see the battle in Missouri over how the state selects its judges. All three branches of that state's government are arguing over a system that was designed to protect judicial independence from the rowdier environs of democratic elections. What it now has is worse. (read more...)
August 28, 2007
Quiet Process of Choosing Supreme Court Judge Anything But
By: Brent MartinThe normally quiet process of selecting a candidate for the Missouri Supreme Court has become anything but quiet. An advertising campaign has been started as Governor Blunt and Republican legislative leaders are raising questions about the process.
The Adam Smith Foundation has launched a radio advertising campaign against the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan. A dramatized conversation between a man and woman ushers in accusations that the Appellate Judicial Commission violated the "spirit" of Missouri's Sunshine Law by holding "secret meetings" to choose the three finalists for a vacancy on the State Supreme Court. (read more...)
August 19, 2007
Adam Smith Foundation Featured in Townhall.com Column
Behind Closed Doors - How Missouri Makes Judges by Paul JacobWe are told not to ask how sausage is made. We often postpone telling our children where babies come from. But democracy's a bit different, isn't it? I mean, aren't politically interested citizens entitled to know where their judges come from, and why?
So why are adult voters in Missouri kept in the dark? (read more...)
August 16, 2007
Process for new judge mustn't be left to elite group of lawyers
Springfield News-Leader Op-EdTom Shupe Jr.
We are grateful the editors have allowed us to respond to Tony Messenger's recent column attacking the Adam Smith Foundation, particularly in light of the fact that we were never contacted or asked to provide comments in advance of the column's publication. Contrary to Messenger's error, we are a Missouri foundation funded by the contributions of ordinary Missourians who, like us, believe that government should operate in the light. When Missourians are given access to information about how their government does business, they are also given the ability to hold that government accountable. We are sure Messenger agrees. (read more...)
August 2, 2007
Judicial Selection Process Hijacked:
Special Interest Group Reverts State to Pendergast Era Secrecy(Jefferson City) - The non-partisan, not-for-profit, Adam Smith Foundation, recently uncovered disturbing information demonstrating that a majority of the seven members of the Appellate Judicial Commission have close ties to the hefty special interest group of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA). MATA opposes litigation reform and its members have reaped millions of dollars in attorney fees for lawsuits ranging from tobacco litigation to sexual discrimination claims. (read more...)
July 28, 2007
Court Applicant Shares Wories; Governor Denied Info From Panel
Republican Mark Mittleman took issue with questions regarding his view of "activist" judges.(JEFFERSON CITY) -- An applicant who was not chosen in the panel to fill a Supreme Court vacancy shared concerns Friday about the interview process, as Gov. Matt Blunt was denied detailed information from the special judicial panel. (read more...)
July 27, 2007
Judicial Process Continues to Roil Missouri
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS(Jefferson City) - The political tension gripping Missouri's judiciary grew more apparent Thursday as rival interest groups lambasted and lauded the three finalists among whom Gov. Matt Blunt is to appoint Missouri's newest Supreme Court judge.
A group advocating an overhaul in Missouri's judicial selection process denounced the three candidates as "blatantly liberal." A group defending the status quo praised the trio as "diverse and well-qualified." (read more...)
July 25, 2007
Non Partisan Court Plan Devolves Into Partisan Court Sham
System is Broken, Obsolete, and Overtly Political(Jefferson City) - This evening the non-partisan, not-for-profit Adam Smith Foundation expressed its disgust with the blatantly liberal panel announced by the Appellate Judicial Commission. "Today the Non Partisan Court Plan proved it has devolved into the Partisan Court Sham" stated John Elliott. Clearly, the 'non-partisan' court plan has ceased to fulfill the intent of its namesake. This panel not only fails to reflect the broad spectrum of applicants, but as an insult to all Missourians it blatantly disregards the original intent of the plan which voters approved to remove political agendas from the judicial system. (read more...)
July 21, 2007
Excessive Tax Haul Belongs To The People
By John ElliottI find it enlightening to see how quickly letter and editorial writers across Missouri are to push our elected leaders to return to the failed, antiquated policy of excessive spending as the sole means for solving problems. It seems to me that the government can never be satiated, that it can never spend enough of our tax dollars. (read more...)
June 26, 2007
Adam Smith Foundation Launched
(Jefferson City) - The Adam Smith Foundation is proud to announce its official launch as an organization committed to promoting conservative principals and individual liberties for Missouri. Our Foundation seeks to provide Missourians with information they need to hold their State and local elected officials as well as activist judges directly accountable for their actions. (read more...)
December 31, 1969
Legislature Attempts to Weaken Initiative Rights
This session, the legislature is considering a variety of bills that will extremely restrict citizens' opportunity to take the lead on legislative issues through the initiative process.
Missourians' initiative rights are extremely important and must be protected. Initiatives are an important tool for citizens to use when the legislature refuses to take action on important issues, and we must ensure this tool remains a viable option for Missourians to use.
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