NDPC Podcast Hits the Information Superhighway

As a part of its “No Taxation Without Information” National Campaign, the Sam Adams Alliance recently conducted an interview with Brett Narloch, Executive Director of the North Dakota Policy Council (NDPC). The NDPC has been at the forefront of government transparency with the development of its Sunshine on Schools website that was discussed on this site.

Click here to listen to the podcast with Jason Stverak of the Sam Adams Alliance and Brett Narloch of the NDPC as they discuss transparency, the NDPC and sunflowers back home in North Dakota.

The North Dakota Policy Council (NDPC) is a liberty-based think tank focused on North Dakota solutions to North Dakota’s problems. They provide credible nonpartisan expertise and research to help North Dakotans advocate policies that are based on individual liberty, individual responsibility, and limited government.

The NDPC seeks to broaden policy debates beyond the belief that government intervention should be the avenue of first, rather than last, resort. They believe that:

* Government can only give to one person what it takes away from another, and that the power to give presumes the power to take.

* Policies intended to affect one person or one group can affect all people and all groups, and that these unintended consequences often cause more harm to the many than any good done for the one.

* Freedom requires responsibility: where government largesse replaces individual foresight it destroys responsibility and, therefore, freedom.

* All times matter. Long-term consequences are as or more important than short-term impacts. Emotional reactions are not suitable substitutes for rational solutions.

US Senate Budget Chair Caught Up in Sub-Prime Mortgage Scandal

This scandal is getting scant attention by the mainstream media but it appears that Chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee U.S. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) got a sweetheart deal from the mortgage firm Countrywide. This scandal comes as a blow to Conrad who has always campaigned on his ethics and honesty. I guess Kent Conrad is just like every other Washington politician!

According to news reports Conrad, appears to have changed his story numerous times about his ties to the CEO of Countrywide and the kickbacks he received on his mortgage.

Fellow Democrats Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) are caught up in the same scandal.

North Dakota’s finest political blog, sayanythingblog, has been on top of this scandal since it broke. I encourage you to read each of these posts and become informed.

The Case for Kent Conrad’s Resignation

Conrad Doesn’t Even Beleive His Own Story About How He Got His Mortgage
Kent Conrad Friend of Angelo

Kent Conrad Changes His Story on the Mortgage Scandal AGAIN

Did Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan Violate Senate Ethics Rules?
Senators as Confused, Victimized Borrowers?

Kent Conrad’s Countrywide Mortgage Deceptions Making National News

More on Kent Conrad’s VIP Loan from Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo
Kent Conrad Lies About Never having Met Angelo Mozilo

Kent Conrad Benefits from Unethical “Sweatheart” Loan Deal From Subprime Lender

The story has gotten some attention on Fox News. This clip is courtesy of sevenload.com

Link: sevenload.com

This just proves that you do not need to be from a big state to have politicians with ethical lapses in judgment.

Top Education Official Admits to Using Sunshine on Schools

I have been tracking the progress of the North Dakota Policy Council (NDPC) and their battle to bring transparency to government in North Dakota. One of the highlights of their transparency program has been the development of a website called Sunshine on Schools which is designed to track the spending and budgets of every school district in North Dakota.

Over the past few months I have posted extensively on their website and its progress. If you want to read these posts just visit Sunshine on Schools Garners More Support; Elected Official Praises SOS Transparency Website; and Spotlight on Sunshine … North Dakota.

Well now the main stream media has begun to pay attention to the transparency revolution being led by the NDPC. This past weekend the Grand Forks Herald, North Dakota’s 3rd largest newspaper did a great story about the Sunshine on Schools website. I encourage you to read the story (New Web site lists district information for all N.D. school districts) and see the impact that just a few people have been making on the issue of transparency.

I got a chuckle from the quote by North Dakota State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state’s highest education official, where he admits using the Sunshine on Schools website to look up information just that morning.

I am quoting from the Sunshine on Schools website, The data on this website is directly from the North Dakota Department of Instruction. I must ask myself the following question – Why did the Superintendent of Public Instruction have to go to Sunshine on Schools website to get information that should be available on his department’s website?

Spotlight on Sunshine … North Dakota

I was cruising the net and ran across this impressive transparency website designed by the North Dakota Policy Council. It lays out the education spending for each school district in North Dakota in simple to understand graphs and language.

The website also allows anyone to compare school districts against each other in order to find the most efficient school district in the state.

Every education and limited government activist should have access to this type of information in their state.

To visit the North Dakota Policy Council’s Sunshine on School’s website click here.