How Do I Run For Office & Who Can Help?

Posted on May 25, 2011 by ryanborek

The definitive How To on getting elected, from the people who do it every day.

The biggest questions in all of politics, along with the topics we receive the most requests for and offers to write, is “How to run for office” and “Who can help me run for office.” In order to encourage efficiency, a topic we are very interested in, it seemed expedient to combine the two into a single article. This article will include step-by-step instructions on how to run for office, as well as side notes on how to receive help with these.

Decide to run, and be ready to win.

It may seem silly to mention, but this is really the first major step. Lots of people say they’re going to run for office, but not many do it. Therefore, the first step is to say “I am going to run for office” and mean it. While you may think you’re ready to hold the office, realize it is a time-consuming and lengthy process that requires dedication and determination. You won’t be able to do it as a part-time job and win, and in some cases you may be taking a major pay cut–some city positions pay less than $40,000.

Decide what to run for.

Again, a simple one, but pretty important to your campaign. If you want to run for President of the United States, your campaign and tactics will be noticeably different than running for school board. It’s always easiest to start running for local office, like city council or even mayor. You can run for a few hundred to few thousand dollars, which is easy to self-finance or receive from donors–even with micro-payments of a few dollars. You also require significantly less polish (in terms of issue awareness and public presence) than for a state-wide or federal level campaign.

Look into the requirements for the position you are running for.

This involves seeing what limitations are involved, such as age or residency requirements, as well when the next upcoming election actually is–which is obviously pretty important. Federal House of Representatives has an requirement of 25 at the time of election, Senate is 30, President is 35. You must live in the state you wish to represent for Representative or Senator, and be a citizen for seven or nine years, respectively. Vice President’s cannot be from the same state as the President. Other than that, each office is determined by the state or local laws, and you’ll have to check with your State Election Commission for information, Office of the Secretary of State of your state, or use Google.

Find a core campaign team. Convince them to help you win.

You will not be able to run your campaign yourself, except in the case of very limited hyper-local elections. The Candidate (you) is more of a commodity than a workhorse at this point, and your time is best spent elsewhere than giving out directions to volunteers, reporting to the FEC or SEC as necessary, and so on. There are three parts of a campaign team that are critical to winning any election. Local elections may be able to combine two or all of the jobs into a single person, but it’s generally inadvisable.

Candidate – You
Campaign Manager – Your boss. Manages the campaign, events and activities, appearances, and the candidate.
Treasurer – Your other boss. Manages finances and reports to the FEC/SEC.

It’s remarkably easy to find people willing to help, but remember that you are putting the hopes and dreams of your entire campaign in these people’s hands. While your girlfriend or husband may be willing to help you out, they may be more useful as volunteers compared to professionals–even if those professionals are volunteers too. Know a CPA or finance manager, or someone with an MBA? These may be the friends you need now. Can’t find anyone? Consider hiring them. Expect to pay for the results you expect to receive–high quality costs high dollar. Consider college students.

Determine your issues. Develop arguments for them, and arguments to support them.

Perhaps you’re running to support fiscal responsibility or restructure the business environment? Maybe you got pissed off your local city government banned smoking? This may be your personal reason to run, but if it doesn’t resonate with the voters in your area, you will not win. While the ultimate way to determine your issues is to commission a public opinion poll, there is also the internet and it’s various pollsters (Rasmussen, Gallup, or your favorite news station). The key however is that you must find out what issues are important to your soon-to-be-constituents, and develop your plan to solve/destroy the issue at hand. Then, you must develop your plan to respond to questions, concerns, and outright discrimination against your plan. Soundbites are great, unless everyone is asking why exactly disconnecting the television lines into your city will help with the deficit–be prepared to deflect this in the very same sentence that you propose it. The popular maxim is “If you’re defending, you’re losing.”

Research your opponent. Prepare to destroy them.

Ultimately, there is only one winner in the election, and that is you. This means, your opponent has to lose, and if that’s going to happen you’re going to need to know how to do it. Research their issues, how they’ve responded to your issues, and develop counter-arguments. Find dirt, and be ready to be vicious. You might want to run a clean race, but there’s absolutely no guarantee that your opponent will–and negative ads work for a reason. Check out their website, YouTube their name, and search your local paper and news stations for quotes, videos, and the like. This will be your decision and it’s a big one, generally considered ‘bad politics.’ However, under no circumstances should you simply decide not to prepare for this–while everyone says that this can turn off voters, so can an attack ad you never respond to. Ultimately, a positive campaign is best but it may be impossible.

Get To Marketing.

This will involve you only marginally, but you must be involved. Here are the major points:

Develop a campaign message
Get a logo and slogan (Slogans are very very powerful–don’t be skimp)
Get a website. Even a WordPress website. Make sure you can accept donations. Contact Us for help.
Buy your name (preferably the last name) for your website.
Make a lot of videos. Put them on your website and YouTube. Include verbatim text beneath each one.
Get a facebook, twitter, etc. and use them very often.

If you need assistance, you can Contact Take A Stand and we can help, or direct you to someone who can.

Get Databases

Databases are lists of voters, sometimes divided by party, issue, age, sex, or any other sort of factor. You can do this yourself–if the number is low enough–from former FEC.gov filings, buying the lists online, from the local party office, and other sources. Buying lists can cost you from $10 per thousand names to several hundred per thousand. Disregard the ones who have never voted. You may start out wanting to energize these people and that’s great, but your job as a candidate is to get a majority of the votes, not awaken the electorate. Look at those who vote every time there is an election, and try to persuade them to vote for you, and then leave them alone until the election. Go to the less reliable voters and determine whether they support you. If they do, add them to the group you never bother again until very near the election. If and only if they are undecided, knock on their doors, send them mail, send volunteers, etc. Don’t waste money and time talking to people who have already decided who to vote for. And please, please don’t waste money talking to people you know are going to vote against you. Sometimes you have to make assumptions if you can’t get to every voter.

Start Asking For Money To File.

This is difficult, and there are a lot of candidates who choke here. You must be willing to ask for money to be in Office. Period. Elections cost money, and you’ll learn this as soon as you start worrying about the Filing Fee. Don’t contact a PAC or your party for filing fee money, either–they aren’t going to give money to someone who can’t afford the filing fee. This will be your first major step as a candidate, as well, as you will have to convince your donors that you are not only worth voting for–you’re worth paying for.

Start getting signatures, if you must.

Most elections require you to submit a petition with a % of the past year’s voter’s signatures in order to prove you are a viable candidate. This depends on the office, location, and laws independent to you, and you’ll find out when you figure out the requirements for your position whether you’ll need this step.

File the paper, pay the fee.

The fees for filing tend to be around 1% of your annual salary, though this is not definite. In South Carolina you will pay 1% of your annual salary for each year of office, which is $10,440 to run for Senator for example. In some states you must pay the state or local party to be on their primary ballot; such as Arkansas, which charges $15,000 to be on the GOP ticket for President. This can be expensive, especially for Federal elections. Submitting your petition goes in this step, usually.

Announce, loudly.

Announce your intention to run for office in a big, splashy way, preferably with lots of press and people. Spend some money on a nice venue, or get one donated in-kind. Call in every favor you have for this. If you don’t come out of the gate firing, you risk being an also-ran.

Disclose, quietly.

You may have some skeletons in your closet. If there’s even the smallest chance it can be found out (a criminal record, a video of you doing something terrible, a book where you admit you did cocaine, etc) admit it immediately, openly, and to a small and poorly read newspaper or blogger in your district. It’s better to be able to say “I disclosed that a year ago, let’s move on” instead of watching as you are paraded around as the newest example of Scandal in Politics. Most people will forget in a year, so get that year behind your campaign start.

Begin Fundraising Earnestly

Get yourself in front of everyone. Everything from the Knights of Columbus, Rotary, Retirement Communities, PTA’s, and any possible group that has meetings. The more people you can get in front of, the better. If your budget allows it, think about hiring a campaign consulting firm. Send letters of introduction to every PAC that has similar beliefs to yours, and some that don’t. Expect to be required to answer a Candidate Questionnaire–or have your Campaign Manager expect to answer it on your behalf. Take A Stand sends out a very thorough questionnaire (that changes every six months, cheaters!) and publishes it to our membership, as well as uses it for the basis of donations. This money is the lifeblood of your campaign. Ask family, friends, acquaintances, and random people at the store.

Start A Volunteering Program

If money is your blood, volunteers represent your arms, legs, and eyes. They can go door to door,put signs in their yard, give signs to other people, operate phone banks, stuff envelopes, cheer you on at crowds, find donors, give you a house to meet donors at, give you space to use as an office, etc. Volunteers are the ones who do all the really hard work, are your most ardent supporters (For those in marketing, these are your evangelists), will often be some of your largest donors, and are absolutely essential to any campaign. As mentioned above, your girlfriend or husband will probably be here.

Coordinate Major Volunteer & Donor Pushes

If we haven’t made it clear, money and volunteers are what you need. Coordinate massive volunteering activities and donor events. Time spent here is time spent winning. Things Volunteers can do:

Graphic Design, Jingles, etc
Stuffing Envelopes
Calling voters for Get Out The Vote (GOTV), public opinion polling, or donations.
Door-To-Door evangelism
Stapling signs
Blowing up balloons
Cheering at Rallies!
Catering
Hosting Events
Pulling in donors for events
Distributing Leaflets
Writing the Editor
Everything Else

At the same time, you need to hold events across the entire district/state/country that you’re campaigning in. Volunteers will help by catering and hosting these events, but you have to show up, be charming, and convince them to give you money. Don’t be cheap when it comes to getting your donors to give you money, or they’ll be cheap in donating.

Thank Everyone

This is more of a continuous step, but it has to be said. I have worked on many a campaign where the volunteers feel unappreciated. They will often not feel like stuffing an envelope is a valid assistance. Thank them, and make them feel important.

Buy Lots Of Things

Purchase your name on things. Bumper stickers, buttons, yard signs, posters, magnets, placards (for street-side or rally waving), literature, and more. Send these to everyone who will take one. Use volunteers to get them in people’s hands.

Consider An Intern

If you like drink when you go to “networking” events or fundraisers, do yourself a huge favor and hire an intern (of the same sex as to prevent any kind of temptation or alleged misconduct) and have them drive you home and get the names of people you talk to. This is a common practice and will save you from a campaign killing DUI.

Don’t Drink Much (Don’t Do Anything Else Either)

One video of you being completely smashed can destroy your family-friendly aspect. One staffer who says you groped them, flirted while married, or did a bunch of heroin in the back room can destroy your chances at winning. Generally speaking, be irreproachable while on the campaign trail. If you can’t be, do it at home or with (very) close friends. Depending on the office, one photo can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, so consider everything before you do it.

Prepare for the Debates

You will almost certainly be required to debate, whether your opponent is there or not. You might be debating local town halls, detractors, competitors in the primary, the incumbent, or a reluctant volunteer or voter. Be prepared, be concise, and be poised. You must convince a majority to vote for you, and this is how you’ll do it. Take it seriously. Debate at every opportunity. Learn the difference between a debate and an argument.

Pre-GOTV

You’re not going to want to waste time and money on this. It’s understandable. However, make sure your GOTV technology works. Lots of campaigns have experienced headaches because of Nextel-like walkie-talkie technological fails, logistical nightmares, poor organization and planning, and similar issues. Do a dry-run, on as large a scale as you can. It’s better to discover the issues early and know how to fix or work-around them instead of finding out when the election is on the line.

GOTV

The days before an election, put your money, your volunteers, and your staff into overdrive. Consult a lawyer beforehand to determine the legality of certain practices in your area. Sometimes, canvassers are not allowed to directly advocate a certain candidate. Depending on budget, there are many different tactics:

Door-to-Door Canvassing Through Targeted Districts
Internet Canvassing Through Entire District (MeetUp, Facebook Events, etc)
Voter Registration Booths
One-On-One Candidate Interaction At Events
Transport Canvassers & Voters To/From Voting Places
Poll Watchers & Street Sign Wavers
Walk ‘New Voters’ Through The Polling Process
Write Individualized Letters To Key Voting Demographics
Go Digital: Have Online Voter Contact Forms That Can Be Updated By Volunteers
Engage In Text Messaging Voters
TV, Radio, and Print Ads

Ultimately, it is in-person contact that will drive votes. Studies suggest that multiple contacts (in-person, phone, and texting) can increase voting likelihood by up to 40%.

Keep Youth Voters On The List

Your lists will say this is wrong. Your manager may hate it. But those youth voters who have never voted show up as “Non Voters” because of the fact that they have never had the chance to vote. Contact them, cherish them, and convince them to vote for you.

Win!

You can’t guarantee a win, but with these steps you can do everything right. That’s the best advantage you’ll give yourself.

I’m Scared Of This, Help Me!

Take A Stand helps candidates and campaigns win elections. We can help yours, or direct you to someone who can. Contact Us, and after a preliminary conversation and questionnaire we can assist with getting you elected.

I Want To Help Get People Elected!

We love assistance. We might be hiring, we absolutely die for donations, and we’re always looking for guest bloggers. We can also funnel donations to your favorite candidate legally.

Osama Bin Laden Killed – What Happens Next

Posted on May 1, 2011 by ryanborek

Osama Bin Laden has been confirmed killed in a firefight with US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 1st, 2011: 9 years, 7 months, 21 days (3520 days) since September 11th, 2001.

President Barack Obama came out at 11:35PM and spoke, saying “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against [Osama Bin Laden] in Abbottabad, Pakistan.” He followed up with “His death does not mark the end of our effort.”

Let us here at Take A Stand offer congratulations to those service members fighting today for our freedom on their momentous achievement, and condolences to those who were affected by this and all terrorism–whether in an attack or fighting against it.

Yet, President Obama made certain statements that will almost certainly be called into suspect later today or this week. First, his “at my direction” statement above, which very clearly suggests that the spoils of the war he has spoken vehemently against can be laid at his feet. “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam” was mentioned, which I am certain will be used on talk shows for weeks. Servicemen who have been tossed aside by this administration will certainly enjoy “These efforts weigh on me every time I…look into the eyes of a service member who has been wounded.”

Yet the most mentioned addition will most certainly be “Tonight let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11.” Almost certainly this will be, correctly, read as a campaign speech statement.This is certainly a momentous occasion, as the number one enemy of the United States has been killed. However, President Obama’s claim of ownership over the war and killing of Bin Laden will likely be called into greater focus.

The three biggest effects of this, however?

Travelers overseas are at great peril. With the death of Bin Laden, it is probable that any European–but especially American–travelers will be targets for retribution. If you are planning an overseas trip, it is important to seriously reconsider your trip, or at the very least consider security measures.
Sleeper cells within the United States or other countries are likely to attempt to carry out their mission, regardless of their stage of planning. Major terrorist targets should take extra precautions.
There will likely be an internal fight for the successor to Bin Laden. Which of his many followers gets to be the rightful leader? Is his ‘martyrdom’ going to strengthen the cause of Al’Qaeda?’

Note: The US State Department announced a travel warning to all American travelers less than 45 minutes after this posting, supporting Point 1.

These are serious concerns. A battle for succession could possibly destroy Al’Qaeda, but may strengthen it. We will probably see attacks against civilians overseas, and possibly attacks on targets stateside and overseas. Most worrying? We might see a new leader who can use this death to spring forth a whole new wave of anti-American attacks. A marytrdom campaign could re-spark the anti-American sentiment among extremist Muslims, and will certainly bring new donors and recruits to the network.

Please strongly remember that this is the largest win in the War on Terror, and as such will likely have a reprisal from our enemy. Use caution and exercise responsibility when traveling.

Additionally: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told Guantanamo Bay interrogators the terror group would detonate the nuclear device if the Al-Qaeda chief was captured or killed, according to the classified files released by the WikiLeaks website, supporting Point 2.

Osama’s Compound Online: Click Here to see Osama’s Compound.

How Can My City Be More Efficient?

Posted on April 26, 2011 by ryanborek

It’s the buzz-word of the month: Budget. While there is no single way to get the country to be fiscally responsible, there are a couple very interesting ways with which a city or town can reduce operating costs, reduce their deficits, and over time even make a profit. This would allow the city to focus taxes on the important jobs instead of consistently worrying about money issues.

As a quick note, there is a contact form at the end of this post. If you’d like your city to adopt some of these policies, follow the instructions at the end.

There are three major ways for a city to increase efficiency:

Purchase Improvements

1. SunMast

The SunMast helps achieve the environmental goal of zero-emission lighting by generating its own clean, solar electricity. Integrated into the body of the 8m mast are 480Wp of highly efficient solar cells. All electricity generated is exported to the grid.

The SunMast is connected to the grid. It exports electricity to the grid by day and only imports it if needed by night. Because the SunMast does not depend on batteries, which deplete quickly and require maintenance, it provides a 100% reliable approach to road lighting.

The SunMast can be used with any type of standard outdoor lamp. This is so that designers and engineers are free to choose the best type of light for the application. The mast can also be used with existing stocks so that older functioning lamp heads can still be re-used.

The SunMast has been designed specifically for use in Northern latitudes. By integrating solar cells vertically into the mast, the design is not only more streamlined, it allows for a larger surface area from which to generate energy. Also, we’re using a new breed of low-light sensitive PV cells that don’t require direct sunlight, but work optimally with cloud cover.

2. Solar Powered Trash Compactors

The BigBelly Solar intelligent waste collection system keeps your environment cleaner in several ways: lower unnecessary fuel usage and vehicle emissions, reduced litter, and improved recycling.

By automatically compacting prior to collection, the BigBelly system reduces trash collection vehicle trips. At an average of 3 MPG, trash collection vehicles are among the most fuel inefficient ever designed. 80% reductions in collection trips yield comparable savings in fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

The cleanest gallon of fuel is the gallon you don’t have to burn at all.

BigBelly solar compactors feature an enclosed design that reduces odors and keeps litter neatly contained – off our streets and out of our parks, waterways and beaches. The enclosed design also cuts down on pest issues by preventing access to their food sources – when the “food” goes away, so do the pests.

Customer experience has demonstrated that the BigBelly recycling kiosks encourage proper separation of trash and recyclable materials, reducing cross-contamination and increasing the value of the recyclables. Increased recycling helps divert material from landfills and saves on dumping related costs.

The BigBelly system delivers all of these benefits using 100% solar energy – a free, abundant and non-polluting renewable resource. Customers have been extremely pleased with the enthusiastic response from the users of their BigBelly systems.

A city with only 50-99 trash cans collected up to 4x weekly will see an estimated cost savings of $400,000-600,000 annually.

• Collection frequency reduction from up to 4x a week to less than 1x a week
• Capital payback in the vicinity of 3-4 years
• 10 year cost savings of $400,000 – $600,000
• 40-60 Tons of C02 emissions saved annually
• 4,700-4,900 gallons of fuel saved annually

3. Tall Building Wind Turbines

Wind farms are the fastest-growing form of electricity generation. They are here to stay, but they are not a “new” technology.

For centuries, wind was utilized to provide power to sailing vessels. More recently, farmers used wind power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to pump water, grind grain and, sometimes, generate electricity.

The integration of wind turbines onto the tallest buildings in a city is not a simple procedure, but it is a cheap and potentially effective one. Hybrid wind & solar systems provide more consistent year-round performance and reduce the need for back-up generation. This system provides more consistent year-round renewable energy production. These systems are modular and can be expanded easily.

For local governments, installing clean-energy systems such as wind turbines are the first step in setting an example for their entire community about the importance of decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels.

Local schools can take advantage of the turbine’s operation to teach important lessons in science, math, civics and the environment. Your government may even choose to set up a kiosk in public areas such as city hall or the courthouse to demonstrate the turbine’s operation and energy-producing capacity.

Just as important for the future of your town or city, using wind energy helps attract businesses and residents who want to be part of a green community that’s doing its part to move toward energy independence.

It’s important to note that poor installations will not recoup their costs for decades, and it’s important to hire a wind analyst before beginning to find the best locations. However, when installed, this could power all the public buildings, while putting power back on the grid during off hours.

4. Neighborhood Gardens

This is a unique proposition started primarily by non-profits and church groups, but a municipal government would have the resources to better implement it.

A neighborhood, or community, garden is a plot of vacant unused land owned by the city that is given over for farming for three explicit purposes:

Giving (or selling at cheap cost) to the local shelters to feed those who suffer from poverty and hunger. This reduces the burden on taxpayers.
Supplementing school and public building menus with fresh local produce. This allows students and workers to be healthier and ‘green,’ as well as reduces costs.
Lowering emissions with “Buy/Grow Local” opportunities. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.

A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

But wait! How do you grow the food?

Students from local schools.
Local volunteers from groups such as 4H.
‘Community Service’ seekers.
Local church and civic group volunteers.
Members of the shelters who benefit from the food.

Still not convinced? Visit this link and see how it changed a community.

Privatize Services

Privatization is not new. Cities have been privatizing services for over 50 years. However, there are common pitfalls associated with privatization that tends to scare off cities unfamiliar with it–mostly due to poor contracting that tend to actually increase costs. This isn’t a fault of the process, merely the politicians in charge.

Why Privatize?

Government managers use privatization to achieve a number of different goals:

Cost Savings. Competition encourages would-be service providers to keep costs to a minimum, lest they lose the contract to a more efficient competitor. As a conservative “rule of thumb,” cost savings through privatization typically range between five to 20 percent.

Improved Risk Management. Through contracting and competition, governments may better be able to control costs by building cost containment provisions into contracts.

Quality Improvements. Similarly, a competitive process encourages bidders to offer the best possible service quality to win out over their rivals.

Timeliness. Contracting may be used to speed the delivery of services by seeking additional workers or providing performance bonuses unavailable to in-house staff.

Accommodating Fluctuating Peak Demand. Contracting allows governments to obtain additional help when it is most needed so that services are uninterrupted for residents.

Access to Outside Expertise. Contracting allows governments to obtain staff expertise that they do not have in-house on an as-needed basis.

Innovation. The need for lower-cost, higher-quality services under competition encourages providers to create new, cutting-edge solutions to help win and retain government contracts.

What To Privatize?

Accounting, financial and legal services;

Administrative human resource functions (e.g., payroll services, recruitment/hiring, training, benefits administration, records management, etc.);

Core IT infrastructure & network, web & data processing;

Risk management (claims processing, loss prevention, etc.);

Planning, building and permitting services;

Printing and graphic design services

Road maintenance;

Building/facilities financing, operations & maintenance;

Park operations and maintenance;

Zoo operations and maintenance;

Stadium and convention center management;

Library services;

Mental health services and facilities;

Animal shelter operations and management;

School construction (including financing), maintenance & non-instructional services;

Revenue-generating assets (garages, parking meters, etc.); and

Major public infrastructure assets (roads, water/wastewater systems, airports, etc.)

Credit to Reason Foundation for certain privatization content

Renovate Services

Automate & Web-enable Services

In the quest for revitalization, city governments must first put in place technology that will initially provide the capability of stabilizing their financial infrastructure. This same software should give decision makers immediate access to massive amounts of data that will allow the facilitation of a long term vision for growth and prosperity. But technology is not a panacea, its role is only to automate the operations involved in achieving those goals. To rationally resolve financial instability the big picture of municipal budgets needs close examination. Local government budgets are dominated by two primary cost categories. Those categories are payroll/payroll related expenses (50 to 60 %) and procurement, supplier and vendor contract spend (25 to 30 %). This reality means that 80 to 90% of all operational expenses are labor and supplier spending. In order to responsibly manage a government’s budget and avoid massive layoffs city leadership must focus intensively to utilize technology that will automate and web enable the procurement, accounts payable and treasury operations. The result will produce cost containment, new revenue generation, as well as real time access to data.

There are many many groups that help with this, from CfA, Civic Commons, and more.

Also, most governments have huge amounts of data on things such as population, crime, property values, etc. They can use GIS tools, like ArcGIS to model certain outcomes by comparing best practice from other successful schemes in different cities against their own socio-economic situation.

Integrate The Community With Issues

There are a few very cool companies with a simple idea: Empowering residents to identify civic issues (public safety, quality of life, & environmental issues, etc.) and report them to city hall for quick resolution; an opportunity for government to use technology to save time and money plus improve accountability to those they govern; and a positive, collaborative platform for real action.

Imagine grabbing your phone and informing your city about abandoned vehicles, broken fences, graffiti, potholes, illegal dumping, dangerous areas, and more.

Plus, there’s an added and very real bonus: this can be utilized by the city to notify the user that submitted problems were resolved, communicate with all users, and offer news and announcements posted by the city.

Optional: Sponsorships

Sponsorship tends to come across negatively, however done tastefully they can be seen as profitable to the company while raising revenues for the city, which can then be spent on revitalization efforts, school improvements, or more.

What do you sponsor? Well, everything from sports fields & community center gymnasiums, to public garden maintenance and the distribution of pick-up bags for pet waste. The City of San Diego’s Corporate Sponsorship Program has become a national model of municipal marketing, generating $16 million in revenue and enhancements since 1999. Cardiac Science, a developer of cardiology products and services, has been the city’s “Automated External Defibrillator Partner” since 2001. The revenue from that partnership operates and sustains San Diego Project Heart Beat, the city’s Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program, which strives to improve the survivability of sudden cardiac arrest victims by making AEDs as accessible as fire extinguishers in city and county facilities, healthcare facilities, schools, businesses and tourist attractions. According to Cardiac Science representatives, San Diego Project Heart Beat has deployed more than 4,800 AED units, which have helped save at least 65 lives.

Would anyone mind if the “City Fair” was called the “City Fair presented by Google” if it meant their were more jobs, better education, and more responsive police and fire forces? Would you particularly care about driving over “Comcast Bridge” in order to drive without potholes? Depending on willingness of the community, look at opportunities such as underwriting of fitness or cooking classes, use of facilities for corporate events, sponsorship recognition at events, and visibility on city vehicles or mailings.

So How Does Your City Get Involved?

Obviously, something this size doesn’t happen overnight. The best way to get your city involved?

Visit Congress.org’s Local Government Page and find your local representatives (Mayor, Council Members, City Manager, etc)
Send each of them a letter, call each one, or email each one with a simple message:

”

Take A Stand has researched several possible avenues for our city to decrease any deficit, increase revenue, make our city more appealing to companies and new residents, and improve our area’s ‘green’ appeal. Some avenues are free or cheap, and many will increase the sense of community among our citizens–lowering crime, and making our city a better place to live. As a civic organization, Take A Stand is pleased to offer our city free assistance in finding companies and organizations that will assist us, as well as with ideas and information gathering. Contact them online at http://ThePeopleStand.com or by phone at 202-681-2827.

Take A Stand will explain the information they need to forward the maximum amount of information to you, and ensure that you receive and understand the benefits of each.

These improvements include a couple very interesting ways with which a city or town can reduce operating costs, reduce their deficits, and over time even make a profit. This would allow the city to focus taxes on the important jobs instead of consistently worrying about money issues.“

We will explain the information we need to forward the maximum amount of information to your city officials, and ensure that they receive and understand the benefits of each. Remember that the more people you have send letters, call, or email, the more likely your city will respond!

Please consider a small donation to Take A Stand to help us better communicate with these organizations.

Donald Trump Announces Intention To Consider Possible Run

Posted on April 22, 2011 by ryanborek

It’s the most talked about political campaign in 2012, usurping the formerly ubiquitous Palin’12 Campaign, drawing more air time than his Reality Television show, and it’s probably not even real.

Donald Trump, the most visible real estate magnate in America today, has announced–nearly every four years–his intention to possibly run for the highest office in the land, President of the United States. But is it a sincere intention? There are a few major issues in the way.

Conservatives Aren’t Trump-Friendly

In a poll taken this past week (April 15-20) The Donald came in tied for first place among GOP contenders with Huckabee. However, a break-down of the numbers show that Trump leads 21% among moderates and liberals, while Huckabee leads 18% among conservatives. This suggests that Trump appeals to the middle of the electorate more than the fringe elements that the exceptionally radical Huckabee is favored by. This is fine in a general election, but primaries are won by those who can garner the largest amount of votes in the Primary–and the people who vote in Primaries tend to be very conservative. The only real card in his favor is that McCain–considered a RINO by many–managed to win, so perhaps there’s a chance.

And it explains why…

Trump Is Joining The Radical Fringe

Trump has made several statements that seem to be ‘Birther‘ in nature. This certainly appeals to the farthest right elements of the GOP, but is generally seen as a ridiculous statement by the moderates–who Donald is strongest with right now. Not many people will agree that this is the best platform from which to spring a national Presidential campaign, and it’s difficult to imagine that any campaign manager or staff on hand during the exploratory phase wouldn’t be revolting or resigning amidst it.

This is one of the reasons that…

The GOP Is Out To Get Him

Thanks to the fact that the GOP establishment thinks 1) Trump isn’t serious, and 2) he’s alienating the moderates who are the key to the general election, they’re out to damage his image as a candidate. The fact that he may be serious and not a publicity stunt scares them even more, as it’s questionable he could win against Obama if he stuck only to the farthest extremes. The fear is that Trump’s radical statements will be associated with the GOP as a whole and give Obama the chance to go completely far-left liberal without any worry about re-election.

There’s Business Involved (NBC’s Side)

NBC gets over 1.2M viewers each week for Trump’s The Apprentice each week. They want to renew the contract and keep making ad money. However, if Trump runs for office there is the concern that the Equal Time Rule will force NBC to give an hour each week to every other candidate as well. I consulted a few broadcasters and the response was split between “No, they wouldn’t” and “They might have to.” While it’s not very concrete, NBC might choose not to renew the $3M per episode contract they have with Trump in lieu of this possibility.

As an addendum: One Broadcast insider tells me that the delineating factor would be whether the show could be classified as “political” or not. If Trump used the time to campaign, NBC might have a tough time. If not, they should be just fine.

There’s Business Involved (Trump’s Side)

As above, Trump makes $3M per episode–roughly the same amount of money he would earn during a full 8-year term as President. Trump has stated that he will announce a statement regarding his Presidential bid at the end of the last episode of this season’s Apprentice. Some analysts suggest this may simply be a bid to increase his viewership in order to go to the NBC negotiations with higher ratings and larger demographics, and be able to demand a larger payday. On the other side of the token, however, a lot of Trump’s business is hurt by China’s money manipulation, and he does have an interest in curbing that. The question really seems to be “Is it more profitable to curb the Chinese, or increase weekly payouts from a television show?”

Ultimately, it comes down to whether we would vote for him. Will we vote for the savvy businessman who might be able to reconstruct the country’s dying economy and return faith to the shell-shocked corporate world, or will we choose to ignore the guy who got roasted on Comedy Central? Will his far-right statements lend him the Primary to deny him the General, or–like Obama’s rampant drug use–fade away from the collective memory?

Tune in to The Apprentice to find out, apparently.

Discrimination Is Good

Posted on February 24, 2011 by ryanborek

Every day, the corporate, academic, and journalistic world daily espouse the fact that discrimination is a terrible thing. We need more diversity in the workplace, in our schools, on television. Commercials must include at least one black, one Asian, and one woman. Businesses founded by minorities are of a higher quality and produce better products than those run by others. Immigration must be open and free, illegal immigrants should be given citizenship. Anything else is discrimination.

However, we discriminate daily and without compunction. Discrimination is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. When you date or marry, you are discriminating against all others to the exclusion of that one person. A stretched analogy, perhaps, but accurate nonetheless. We do this discrimination for friendships, business partnerships, and more–without thinking of it as such. But clearly there is a difference, right?

Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or religion is bad. There is no reason for someone to be hired over another due to the color of their skin, the timber of their voice, the organs they possess. However, hiring on that same basis is just as discriminatory. To say that we will deliver money, employment, and education solely due to a specific class you belong to is just as terrible as refusing for the same. The individual experiencing the discrimination is different, but the discrimination exists the same.

All things being equal, would you rather have a job where you are the ‘token’ affirmative action choice, or would you rather know you had the position based on your merit and ability?

The calling cry is “Diversity!” However, this is not diverse. If you have a room full of evangelical hard-line Christian Creationists, does it make them more diverse to include black, Asian, and female Creationists?

There is no better example of a truly diverse group than veterans. Veterans encompass all class of wealth, race, gender, religion, beliefs, and more. There are Democrats, Republicans, and Socialists; Billionaires and poverty-stricken illegal immigrants. Yet we have no laws saying that veterans should be hired over all others, and often not even a higher positioning in the interview process.

Yet it is required that a company have a certain percentage of minorities instead.

Discrimination has reached the point where investigating a foreigner from a terrorist-sponsored country is considered discrimination based on religion, or, if they’re not a Muslim, than skin color.

Conservatives like to call attention to Israel’s near bulletproof (literally) airport screening system. While this system cannot be instituted easily in the United States due to the overwhelming size and number of flights compared to Israel’s single airport (Ben Gurion) the fact of the matter is that Israel managed to achieve such an impressive anti-Terror statistic by engaging in smart discrimination. No, the Arab man wearing traditional garb is certainly unlikely to be a terrorist, and should feel upset that he is forced to endure such indignities.

The question then is “Is there a way to discriminate properly?” A strange question, perhaps, but the one that needs to be asked.

I am positive the answer is “Yes.” The first step is a major overhaul of the airport security staff, who are underpaid, undertrained, and usually uncaring. Training on how to identify a stressed individual, learning common foreign languages, even how to recognize suspicious activities. And then discriminate based upon that.

The counter to this is likely to be “If we allow, or encourage, discrimination, how do we ensure it doesn’t run rampant?” Affirmative Action was enacted because of the fact that minorities were discriminated against. Yet our response was to swing the complete opposite direction and force companies to hire less qualified applicants for fear of an equal opportunities lawsuit.

There must be a middle ground. I haven’t arrived at the end yet to know what it is. But as we move forward, we have to move beyond discrimination as a taboo subject, and onto seeing certain discriminations as good.

Because discrimination isn’t unequivocally bad.

Ron Paul’s Silver Medal Loss

Posted on February 23, 2011 by ryanborek

Conservatives, libertarians, and young independents across the country are buzzing with energy this week, after a Presidents Day moneybomb for Texas Rep. Ron Paul‘s LibertyPAC raised $750,000 to round out the end of February.

Along with recent trips to Iowa and a planned stop in New Hampshire for the first time in three years, things are finally heating up for a prospective Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign.

But read between the lines and Paul is only doing what Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson, and others have already been doing for the past few months.

Due to campaign finance law, candidates can raise as much money from donors as possible and tour the country unencumbered as long as they haven’t declared. In other words, Paul may already be running. He just hasn’t announced it yet.

No doubt Paul is delaying his announcement for this reason and a litany of other concerns as well. Even more complications are promised on the campaign trail. Yet, far more basic than any of that is one key question. A question so deceptively simple that it betrays its endless ramifications, both real and imaginary.

One question, in which his whole operation hinges on a complete and honest answer:

How viable is Ron Paul?

At once, I ask that you try and divorce yourself from any gut reactions you may have to this inquiry; it is not a yes-or-no answer. There are no clear-cut responses.

Four years ago, when we Paul supporters were starting from scratch, building a grassroots network, a fierce online presence, and raising significant cash, all at once, believe it or not, I would have probably answered in the affirmative.

It would prove to be a long, uphill battle, but if McCain could come that close to the presidency, why couldn’t Paul?

On paper, they were similar enough. Here they were, both men in their early 70′s, both straight-talkers with over 30+ years legislative experience. And McCain, despite a slow start, turned his campaign around after wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida to eventually become the presumptive nominee.

Since McCain lost the general, however, he has largely sunk into obscurity. Meanwhile, Paul’s had prodigious success.

After he could barely book any media appearances in 2008, Paul had 60+ of them a year, for the past two years.

Where pundits and news anchors laughed him off their shows, now they were inviting him to be guest host.

For the first time ever, Paul’s Federal Reserve audit bill, H.R. 1207, got out of committee, gained over 320 co-sponsors and was included in the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul act.

He racked up impressive straw poll wins at CPAC two years in a row, lost to Mitt Romney by one vote at SRLC, then shocked politicos everywhere in a 41-42% Rasmussen match-up against Obama. And last month, he again came in second to Romney in a New Hampshire straw poll.

In light of all of this success, his odds must surely be better next year than 2008, right? It would be absolutely counter-intuitive to suggest anything else!

Alas, that isn’t true.

Even with the credibility Paul earned in predicting the recession, godfathering the Tea Party, or pushing for greater transparency, he does, in point of fact, have major baggage.

I don’t mean baggage of a conventional sort. There aren’t any skeletons in his closet to the best of my or anyone else’s knowledge. (There were some spotty incidents with his newsletter, but I will come to that later.) His legislative record is solid. His values have always been consistent.

No. The problem is elsewhere.

And I believe it’s far worse than most of his supporters would readily admit.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I intend to weigh in on, if not the most obvious issues a Ron Paul 2012 campaign will face, then the most deserving ones. They run the gamut on everything from leadership skills, character traits, campaign logistics, and more.

This will not be a deconstruction of Paul’s platform, nor an elaborate illustration of any future campaign.

It is, after all, one race out of three Paul could run. Questioning Paul’s viability is not to discount him from any particular choice, but merely help determine the best way forward, regardless. Isn’t what is likely Paul’s last great stand worth that much?

Adrian Scott supports candidates that can’t win. This is the first in a multi-article review on Congressman Paul’s viability, with subsequent additions linked below.

Question: What is a PAC?

Posted on February 19, 2011 by ryanborek

A PAC is regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC.GOV) and subject only to those rules, exclusively. PACs may donate or campaign for specific candidates–You might be aware of advertisements carrying the “Paid for the Friends of John Smith” tag-line at the end. This is for transparency purposes, but PACs come in many different flavors and this is usually not very helpful.

PACs are also broken into STATE and FEDERAL. I will not be going into State PACs as they are regulated individually by each state.

The Easiest Explanation: A PAC is a money funneling organization that will request donations from various groups and then spend them on candidates, legislation, or parties.

General Information:
PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC or party committee per calendar year. A PAC must register with the FEC within 10 days of its formation, providing name and address for the PAC, its treasurer and any connected organizations. Affiliated PACs are treated as one donor for the purpose of contribution limits. The Treasurer is held personally responsible, unlike other entities where there is liability protection.

PACs have been around since 1944, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed the first one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The PAC’s money came from voluntary contributions from union members rather than union treasuries, so it did not violate the Smith Connally Act of 1943, which forbade unions from contributing to federal candidates.

The Types:
Connected- (or Separate Segregated Funds)
Established by unions, trade or health organizations, or businesses. These can only receive money from ‘restricted’ donors–managers, shareholders, members of the union. These are groups such as the American Bankers Assn, or even more vague names like “PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS.” Although commonly called PACs, federal election law refers to these accounts as “separate segregated funds” because money contributed to a PAC is kept in a bank account separate from the general corporate or union treasury.

Non-Connected-
These are groups that are dedicated to a single-issue ideological purpose. This issue can be very vague or very specific. The National Rifle Association is an example of a specific, whereas Take A Stand–of which I am Executive Director–is more broadly defined as ‘Youth Issues.’ A non-connected PAC can accept donations from any organization, connected PAC, or individual except foreigners.

Sub-Categories:
Leadership-
Leadership PACs are started by elected officials to support other candidates, and are technically Non-Connected. Leadership PACs cannot spend money on their sponsoring legislator, except for expenses for non-campaign fundraising. These tend to be the ones getting into the most trouble for misappropriation, over-the-limit donations, and so on. Nancy Pelosi’s Team Majority PAC was fined $21,000 “for improperly accepting donations over federal limits.”

‘Super’-
The ‘Super PAC’ is very difficult to understand compared to the rest. It is an ‘IE’ PAC, meaning ‘independent expenditure.’ It is restricted by not being able to coordinate with or donate directly to candidates and must disclose donors, however it can raise unlimited sums from unions, individuals, corporations, et cetera. Supers are the ones responsible for most of the ‘Attack Ads.’ They usually have vague names such as “America’s Families First Action Fund.”

Note: There are also Multi-Candidate Status and Single Candidate Status, which is most primarily associated with the PACs age, donation totals, number of candidates supported, and independent expenditure limits. A multicandidate committee is a political committee with more than 50 contributors which has been registered for at least 6 months and, with the exception of state party committees, has made contributions to 5 or more candidates for federal office.

Spending Limits:

	Multi-Candidate PAC	Non Multi-Candidate PAC
To Individual Candidates, or Candidate Committee Per Election	$5,000.00	$2,400.00
To National Party Committee Per Year	$15,000.00	$30,400.00
To State/District/Local Party Committee Per Year	$5,000.00 Combined	$10,000.00
To Other Political Commitee Per Year	$5,000.00	$5,000.00
Specials*	None	None
* Special refers to limits on total donations.

You Are A Liberal (Proof Inside)

Posted on February 17, 2011 by ryanborek

Only five men signed both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, five out of 48 signatories of the Articles and 39 signatories of the Confederation. In some cases, Article signers had fallen out of political power or favor in their home states and their successors carried out much the same policies. However, for the most part, those who signed one were opposed to the other. The Articles signers were much closer to the French Revolutionaries—while still being quite wealthy and elite—than to the dignified view we have of the Founders, mainly George Washington. So who were the Founders?

The Founders, by and large, were the elite of the elite. These were the men who were worried by Shays’ Rebellion and feared the ability of the lower classes to address the growing economic inequality of the post-Revolution era. They had land, they had power, and they wanted to keep both. Only those with power and land had the ability to travel to Philadelphia for a good portion of the year to govern. No local farmer could do that, unlike the primarily state-focused government under the Articles.

All the same, the Founders were what today we call ‘classical liberals,’ primarily followers of John Locke and his Second Treatise on Government. The premise of classical liberalism is rooted in one primary phrase: protection of private property rights. Governments exist under Lockean theory to protect property rights, and individuals under a Lockean government agree through a social contract to give up some of their natural rights to the government in order to protect their property rights.

The Founders liked this political theory since they were the ones with the most property and therefore the most to gain by a government that protected their property.

The much maligned term ‘liberal’ has a long and storied history, dating back to the pre-Revolution English political field. In the days of the American Revolution, liberal, or Whig, political activity was an aristocratic tradition focused on protecting the property and other natural rights from the depredations of the monarch. Most if not all of the Founders could be considered liberal from that perspective. The ‘peak’ of the liberal tradition, as we define the term today, was during the 1930s’ New Deal, but these liberals were not the liberals of the revolution. Today’s definition of liberal is different still, focusing more on blending the corporate world more tightly with the social support system of the past.

The pre-Founders Revolutionaries of the 1760s and ‘70s went well beyond the ‘liberals’ of their day and were closer in spirit to the later French Revolutionaries. The men who signed the Articles of Federation—which preceded the Constitution—were those that believed that the government derived its strength first and foremost from the people and that the balance of power should be kept as close to the people as possible, which is why the first federal government was kept as weak as possible.

Different founding documents, different supporters

The Founders argued that ‘as weak as possible’ was too weak for the real world and that the people were too strong, too able to redress economic inequalities of the time by force. Basically, the Constitution was a peaceful revolution in which the landed interests and elites took over the reins of power from the small famers and proto-middle class. This early aristocratic class was pushed out of supreme power during the early 1800s by the dual forces of Jacksonian Democracy and the Corporate Industrialists led by Cornelius Vanderbilt, and they’ve been in decline ever since, yet the Constitution remains, their device for protecting their power against the masses.

The liberals of the Revolutionary and Constitutional Era were closer to what Nelson Rockefeller personified as the ‘last Liberal Republican’ in the 1960s and ‘70s. Their peak of power was Liberal Republican Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency in the earliest days of the 1900s, and they represented a sense of noblesse oblige that leadership by the elite produces best results for the lower classes and society as a whole.

The liberals of the ‘30s have different roots, closer to the roots of the Labour Party in the UK than that of the Liberal Republican tradition. This political strain believes in workers’ rights and champions the lower classes to gain a fair balance of power with the traditional elites. While the Liberal Republicans were sickened by cases where sweatshops burned down, causing 20-something women to jump ten stories to their deaths to avoid being burned alive, the Liberal Democrats fought for better working conditions because it was their sisters dying in these horrible working conditions.

They organized in the union way, first appearing on the scene in big cities through organizations like Tammany Hall. These liberals were the party of the ward boss and political machines that Republicans could only hope to imitate. Liberal came to mean using the state to care for the lower classes, which as the country’s urban population exploded, the old methods of caring for destitute elderly and the impoverished fell apart.

Old Folks Homes used to be common in the days before Social Security

This strain of liberalism peaked in the late ‘60s under LBJ’s Great Society. They lingered on politically throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s but facing active and passive opposition from various White House administrations during this period, few major liberal initiatives passed into law. Social liberalism became tarred as socialism, welfare queens were created and raised up as targets of attack, and during the ‘80s and ‘90s liberalism became a term for out-of-touch politics and policies of years past. The solution to this decades-long attack on liberalism as determined by liberal intellectuals was to rebrand as “progressives,” taking up the mantle of the Liberal Republicans who bolted from the regular party in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The liberal tradition is one of rebalancing power away from the elites and towards the people, from fighting for the aristocrats against the king in convention halls to fighting for the working class against the industrialists in union halls, liberals have consistently sought to broaden the base of those who have a political voice in society. The term ‘liberal’ may be demonized by many on the Right, but liberalism is one of the long-standing strains of political thought in the US, and it continues its proud tradition today and into the future.

Craig Montuori writes the most overly in-depth and thorough entrancing analyses as an Admin over at Quora. He is currently working with college friends to make an email reader for lawyers to handle millions of case emails better and for cheaper than $3 per page read.

Planes Are Unsafe Unless You’re In The Lucky 1%

Posted on November 10, 2010 by ryanborek

There are several major flaws in our airport security system. These flaws can be used to subvert our security and kill Americans. Our response? Pat downs, except the genitals.

No true American should have any problem in today’s world with a full body scanner. I’d prefer that to taking off my shoes, jacket, and disturbing everything in my briefcase and pockets–only to then be gently patted down by a local being paid $8.55 an hour who probably doesn’t care about anything other than a paycheck. Don’t believe that? Do you think the local Wal-Mart associate cares whether you have a decent experience? Why then would these bare minimum trained low wage employees care about your personal safety?

You are not safe because of these measures, you are secured by trained professionals who devote their lives to it. And they are stymied at every turn by politics.

Here are two measures that would increase flight safety, and stop strangling commerce and travel:

1) Increase air marshal budgets, and increase transparent oversight. Air Marshals are proven and effective method of policing air travel.

2) Give pilots guns and training, and bulletproof reinforced cockpit doors. Cabbies have guns for one errant passenger, but pilots can’t with 250?

If the pilots on 9/11 had guns in a locked reinforced cockpit, there would not have been a Ground Zero. If there were more air marshals on flights (currently less than 1%) there would not have been a September 11.

This is common sense. Let’s make it common practice. Contact your Congressman, and demand it.

Please, No (Congress/God) in My (Church/Government)

Posted on November 9, 2010 by ryanborek

Separation is further and further being given a dirtier and dirtier connotation as both sides take the most extreme and ridiculous beliefs and run with it. The fact is, however, that I simply don’t want them together because I fear that government will restrict faith, and it’s not a one way street. Once we are preaching politics, we’re already too far.

The facts are simple. Man is not God, and cannot thereby know what he intends. Even those chosen by Him are faulty and weak, so why on earth should we trust what they say about God’s political party? I don’t want my religion dirtied up by politics in any way, so in order to facilitate that I understand that I must not allow my religion to touch politics. Once I operate politically with religion as my basis, I have made the fatal error and soon my religion will be tainted.

Why must anyone see my Commandments in a Courthouse? Why must every citizen, regardless of their own religion, swear fealty to my God in the Pledge of Allegiance? Can I not have faith for myself without forcing others to as well? And how does it hurt me?

Religious separation protects my faith, and my government protects my life. Mixing the two puts both at risk. And I refuse to trust that any mortal man can know the thoughts of my Supreme Architect without being tempted by mortal inaccuracies or sins. Thereby, I do not wish to regulate religion, nor legislate morality. That is not the place of religion. Government should keep me alive and allow me the freedom to succeed and worship as I please, and that is it.

Plus, it’s in the constitution. That’s a pretty big deal too.

How do you feel about separation of Church & State?

Ryan Borek is the Executive Director of Take A Stand, so while his opinions represent Take A Stand, if you’re offended please consider them separate.

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