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
HIGHLIGHTS from the BLOG:
As you know, California's environmental regulations are among the strictest...
The Adam Smith Foundation would like to congratulate Let Voters Decide on successfully...
Environmentalists are constantly working to pass liberal measures to interfere...
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 13, 2009
Thousands Rally for Fair Tax
KRCGJune 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 22, 2009
MO OKs Eminent Domain Petitions for Signature-Gathering
St. Louis Business JournalThree initiative petitions that would restrict the use of eminent domain to governmental entities have received approval to gather the signatures required to appear on Missouri's 2010 ballot... (read more...)
January 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...)
September 24, 2008
Candidates clash over court plan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCHJEFFERSON CITY - Missouri's two candidates for governor clashed Tuesday on how the state chooses its top judges. (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 20, 2008
Here comes the judge (debate) one more time
Here we go again.
One year after conservative Republicans began firing SCUD missiles over the way Missouri picks judges, they've begun rearming for the same fight this year - just in time to make it a scintillating issue for the fall elections. (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...)
April 10, 2008
Adam Smith Foundation Praises House Members for Acting to Cut Government Waste
(Jefferson City) - The Adam Smith Foundation today applauded the Missouri House for passing HJR 70. The organization further praised House Speaker Rod Jetton and Representative Allen Icet for leading the charge to cut government waste and reign in government spending in Missouri. (read more...)
April 3, 2008
Adam Smith Foundation Praises House Members for Acting to Prevent Judicial Taxation in Missouri . Calls on Missourians to Contact Senators
(Jefferson City) - Adam Smith Foundation leaders today applauded the Missouri House for moving one step closer to preventing judicial taxation in Missouri. (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...)
February 12, 2008
Improving the way we choose judges
Missouri Plan has chance to again be a model to the nationRepublican Gov. Matt Blunt started complaining months ago about the way Missouri selects many of its top judges. It's called the Missouri Plan and has been touted as a model since adopted in 1940 to end back-room political deals. (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...)
November 14, 2007
Adam Smith Foundation Urges Supreme Court to Reject Appeal in School Funding Case
(Jefferson City) - The Adam Smith Foundation urged the Missouri Supreme Court today to reject any appeal by school districts who want the Supreme Court to strike down Missouri's system for funding public schools.
The Adam Smith Foundation's statement comes on the heels of an announcement by more than 200 school districts that they would appeal the decision last month by a lower court to uphold the school funding system. The Adam Smith Foundation is vocally opposed to judicially imposed tax increases and has argued that school districts should be investing tax dollars in their schools rather than in frivolous lawsuits. (read more...)
October 21, 2007
Observers Watch Missouri Judge Selection Process
Weekend Edition Sunday - Missouri's system for choosing judges has been so popular that more than 30 states have adopted the "Missouri Plan." It's a process that uses a non-partisan commission to choose three finalists for a vacancy. Then the governor chooses from among the finalists. Voters participate in a retention vote one year into the judge's term. Some special interest groups say the system lacks accountability and needs to be changed. Political observers from outside Missouri are watching closely to see what will happen in the state that developed the blueprint that so many other states use to choose judges. (read more...)
September 20, 2007
Elliott/Adam Smith Foundation letter in St. Joe supporting Shields for questioning Stith
Last week, state Sen. Charlie Shields called Missouri Supreme Court Justice Laura Denvir Stith before the Senate Rules Committee to answer serious questions. The St. Joseph Republican took this unprecedented step in response to equally unprecedented allegations that the Appellate Judicial Commission - chaired by Stith - had engaged in secrecy and backroom dealings in replacing Justice Ronnie White on the Missouri Supreme Court. (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 23, 2007
Back by Popular Demand
The Adam Smith Foundation Re-Launches Radio Ads(Jefferson City) - The non-paritisan, not-for-profit Adam Smith Foundation announced today that it has re-launched their recent radio ads and is intensifying its efforts to remove partisanship and corruption from Missouri's judicial selection process. (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
Saint Joseph News-Press Agrees that Change is Needed with Judicial Selection Process
Updating this plan: A more open society expects more from the Missouri PlanShow-me staters are rightly proud of the "Missouri Plan," a national model for selecting appellate and urban circuit judges.
Enacted in 1940, the plan was designed to take the corruption of political bosses operating behind closed doors. It works. (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 15, 2007
Adam Smith Foundation Announces New Radio Ads
(Jefferson City) - The non-partisan, not-for-profit Adam Smith Foundation announced today that it had begun radio ads to intensify its efforts to remove partisanship from Missouri's judicial selection process. (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 22, 2007
Adam Smith Efforts Mentioned in Kansas City Star
as abortion. Then came guns, gay marriage and stem cells.The next issue to rile up Missouri - activist judges.
"Shine the Light on Judicial Activism," demands a new billboard that sprung up last week outside Jefferson City . "Say No to an Activist Court."
That's only the latest example of mounting conservative frustration with state judges and, by extension, Missouri's much-copied nonpartisan judge selection 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
Missourians Encouraged to Take Action:
Stop Judges from Legislating from the Bench(Jefferson City) - The non-partisan, not-for-profit Adam Smith Foundation announced a new outreach effort for Missourians who want to stop judges from making laws from the bench instead of simply interpreting laws as is their outlined purpose in the Constitution. New billboards in several cities encourage and empower citizens to contact members of the Appellate Judicial Commission and say NO to an Activist Court. (read more...)
December 31, 1969
Stand up against out-of-control spending!
The Adam Smith Foundation urges you to call your legislators to tell them you will not stand for any more frivolous wastes of money.
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