BuckeyeBlog

There’s an interesting story at play in Oklahoma that illustrates the perils some small government activists face for daring the challenge the culture of big spending that pervades many state governments. Paul Jacob and two others were jailed and are now facing trial for the simple “crime” of gathering signatures on a petition to place a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights (similar to the proposed TEL in Ohio) on the ballot.

While working for Americans for Limited Government, Paul Jacob was assisting taxpayers in Oklahoma who wanted to place an initiative on the ballot to limit state taxes and spending. Oklahoma has a law that places a residency requirement on signature gatherers. Jacob checked on the law and found that as long as he declared he was an Oklahoma resident, that would satisfy the law’s requirements. But once the initiative began to have some success, a coalition of those who fear restraints on government spending — labor unions, big businesses, and other special interest groups — began to fight back. Eventually Jacob and his two colleagues were charged with conspiracy to defraud the state of Oklahoma.

This case should send chills down the spine of anyone who cares about free elections. It should also illustrate the ruthless tactics of those who fear smaller government. Sending the police after your political opponents is not the American way. If those who opposed this initiative truly felt they could justify their opposition to smaller government, why did they need to seek jail time for their opponents?

For more information, visit the Free Paul Jacob website. A column by Jacob can be read here and an interview with Jacob in Reason magazine can be found here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 1:55 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.