Pennsylvania and Oklahoma -- chatter about ballot access and more

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h has an article about ballot access, something that is near and dear to my heart -- and the heart of Democracy.

Imagine collecting signatures for a petition being a crime. Welcome to Oklahoma!

According to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News, Oklahoma has the worst ballot access laws in the country. Groups like the Libertarian Party and the Green Party are trying to change that -- right now.

But Oklahoma's most powerful political figures, including state Attorney General Drew Edmondson, are, with Southern segregationist fervor, trying to make things worse for non-incumbent citizen activists.

Paul Jacob is a long-time, prominent Term Limits Advocate. Now, he's under indictment.

His crime? Recruiting petitioners to collect signatures for a ballot initiative proposal called TABOR which limits how much the state government budget can grow from year to year.

You might think I'm missing something -- that I'm understating it? Surely that's not a crime?

Oh, but you haven't heard the whole story! It's more farcical than it sounds. And that's part of why Paul Jacob is my guest on today's Downsize DC Conference Call.

But the other reason is that Paul Jacob has the heart of a DC Downsizer. He told Reason this week, "I happen to believe people ought to be free and the way to keep people free is to keep people in charge of politicians rather than the other way around." Paul's Common Sense commentaries have included mention of the Read the Bills Act, and criticism of the Senate's practice of "hotlining," which we told you about earlier this week.

Well, we'll talk about all that as well. And you can talk with us. 1-800-259-9231 is the call-in number.

My one-hour Sunday program starts at 4:06 PM Eastern (3:06 PM Central, 2:06 PM Mountain, and 1:06 PM Pacific). And the best way to hear it is at GCNLive.com.

Archived episodes are available in mp3 format at the DownsizeDC.org blog.

The Downsize DC Conference Call is sponsored by DownsizeDC.org and Gun Owners of America.

Jim Babka, Host, Downsize DC Conference Call