Making your voice heard

With the legislature back in session, it is time to make your voice heard. The past 6 months we have been talking about improving government. Finally you have the chance. This session the Student Freedom Project will be posting and informing the college community about up coming bills and chances for you to go talk to your legislator about the specific bill and make a real impact on the issue you care about. The topic we will be forcing on is higher education and issues that pertain to young adults.

Check up from time to time to see whats going on in your government, also if you would like to be put on our email list contact me at Asmith@effwa.org and i will make sure your kept up to date on the bills your care about.

State of the Union

 For those that have seen it here are the links: State of the Union

The future was the focus, of Obama's State of the Union address. Can we better our schools? Can we fight to preserver the future of our nation? Obama compared our national issues and national mood to that of the cold war when the Russian sent Sputnik into space. Obama called us to action, to reform and to press forward on innovation and creation, what he said are the American ideals, and building block of our great nation. But can we accomplish these goals? With the method currently in place i say no.

GOP's response: Rep. Paul Ryan 

The president asked us to champion innovation, but yet he can't hand failure. If we are in a race to create the jobs of tomorrow, we are going to have more failures then successes. As we have already seen the federal government will not let up on the regulation and taxation that stifles innovation and growth. So will the Bill Gates's of tomorrow be able to risk it all in pursuit of their dream? The odds are no.

The federal government and state governments has demonstrated a fear towards things in which they do not control. They believe that they have to create jobs and stimulate the economy but the truth is they can not. The government can not create jobs any better then a teacher can do their students homework. If the Obama administration really wants to spark the grown and innovation of American entrepreneurship all they have to do is step aside and let those with the dream be free to risk and created the jobs of tomorrow.

The national deficit can only be address if spending and entitlements are addressed. I only hope that with the federal government divided as it, that the grow of entitlements and wasteful spending are addressed. but then again I'm a realist and the only "innovation and job creation" i see coming our way from the federal government is more regulatory organizations, and staffers to running them.

For additional commentary on the address follow the link to the right: Rep. Eric Cantor  

The Northwest Alternative Goes to print.

The Northwest Alternative student paper is now live! looking for it in Pullman, Washington and Mosco, Idaho.
The northwest Alternative is a Conservative Libertarian, independent forced paper. Written for students by student. Check them out on Face book or on Blogger.com  Below is a link to their blog

www.NW-alternative.blogspot.com

The Decline in Education

In a USA Today report a study found some shocking data about the level of education in higher education.

"Nearly half of the nation's undergraduates show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college, in large part because colleges don't make academics a priority....After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change. Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago, the research shows."- USA Today

If you been to a college campus these days you sadly can see how this is very true. Education in general is being push to produced more higher education graduates. Like most government related products lowing standards are a lot easier then increase the difficulty. For when you lower the bar everyone a winner right?

Facts like this are not all that uncommon, studies have shown that students entering the workforce after college are increasingly unprofessional and unprepared for the tasks at hand.  People are not raised with the idea that they are responsible for their work, and that the quality and timeliness of there work does effect the outcome. People expect their teachers to hold their hands through college, then have their bosses hold their hands through the work world. Whatever happened to individual independence, and motivation to succeed? I guess holding people accountable and forcing people to think instead of just repeating information is now un-America.

Like most things in life time has a habit of fixing our own mistakes. With more students at college graduating to find that jobs are fewer and far an between people will start waking to reality. If not there is always government jobs available

Student Freedom Project Research Study

This week I'm on the Washington State campus in Pullman researching the students views on America and American politics. The goal of my study is to learn more about the students views on the future of American and there perceptions on current issues. People on both sides of the political spectrum claim to be fighting to make American a "better" place. But oddly they never really talk to the next generation about what they want to see changed or implemented. It's often hard to get reliable data, but the goal of the study is to create a real picture of the fears and the motivation that the next generation of leaders will deal with.  The student will be a combination of student interviews and general survey questions. If you would like to get involved in the study contact me at Asmith@effwa.org.

New Event

Join us for a day of training and education about the Washington State Legislature. Our elected officials have admitted that they “have no plan” for fixing our state budget, so it’s up to us as citizens to provide them with the leadership and solutions our state needs to get back on track.

* Hear viable budget solutions from the Freedom Foundation’s top experts.
* Discover the secrets of the legislative process.
* Customize your learning experience! Pick from 3 learning tracks.

SeaTac DoubleTree Hotel - January 15, 2011

Get Your Tickets Now!

Vancouver Hilton - January 29, 2011

Get Your Tickets Now!

9:00 am - 4:00pm

Early Bird Special - $30.00

(Register before January 1, 2011)

Stories from the Nanny State: The Return of the lokos

If you haven't heard or don't remember, Four Lokos was banned in a number of states because of an alcohol-related fiasco at Central Washington University (Four Loko Ban). Last week in a press release, the makers of Four Lokos announced they have a new recipe approved by the government and will be selling the beverage in stores next year.

From the press release issued by Phusion Project, the makers of Four Lokos:

"Our reformulated products (without caffeine, guarana and taurine) were approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and we've received similar approvals from nearly all of the states in which we do business. We've begun shipping into the states in which we've received approvals for reformulated Four Loko."-(Phusion Projects)

So before you know it, we will have the sweet nectar of Four Lokos back in our lives—caffeine-free this time.. (Lets just hope people don't realize that you can simply buy a Red Bull and combine it with Four Lokos to get almost the exact same product as before.) The state ban on Four Lokos—like a number of actions by the government lately—really amounts to nothing more than political posturing.  As soon as word got out about the ban, the sale of the product skyrocketed. A number of stores couldn’t keep the product on the shelves. In college towns, stores would only sell Four Lokos in packs of 24 or more.

The ban became an amazing marketing ploy for Four Lokos. Not only did sales increase dramatically, but the brand name is now forever enshrined in the hearts and minds of college students and alcoholics alike everywhere.

Four Loko's ONE - Nanny State - ZERO