November 28, 2011, 7-8:30 pm at the Jeffersontown, KY library, 10635 Watterson Trail, Jeffersontown, Kentucky.
Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank with Offices in Lexington and Bowling Green KY spoke on the topic of the Seven Pillars of Sound Public Policy for Kentucky. It was an excellent presentation and furthers our commitment to educate ourselves to be better fit to govern ourselves. Only if we understand what is required for good public policy will we be able to carry out our responsibility as citizens in a self-governing society. We also had a very successful food collection for Dare to Care. Many thanks to everyone who contributed!
Some background:
A couple of years ago, the Bluegrass Institute published an article called The Seven Principles of Sound Public Policy For Kentucky. That document outlines some of the fundamental thoughts behind the role of government in the lives of Kentucky citizens, the importance of private property, and the foundation behind liberty. Jim’s speech was along the same lines.
The seven principles outlined in the published paper are…
- Free people are not equal and equal people are not free.
- What belongs to you, you tend to take care of; what belongs to no one or everyone tends to fall into disrepair.
- Sound policy requires that we consider long-run effects and all people, not simply short-run effects and a few people.
- If you encourage something, you get more of it; if you discourage something, you get less of it.
- Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own.
- Government has nothing to give anybody except what it first takes from somebody, and a government that’s big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you’ve got.
- Liberty makes all the difference in the world.
About Jim Waters:
Jim Waters is vice president of communications at the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, a free-market think tank with offices in Lexington and Bowling Green.
Waters spent more than two decades in newspapers and radio stations as a reporter, editor and anchor. Since coming to the institute in 2003, Waters’ articles have been published statewide and in national publications, including the Wall Street Journal.
Waters’ weekly column, the ‘Bluegrass Beacon,’ appears in several newspapers across the commonwealth. Waters travels extensively, promoting liberty, free markets and smaller government on media outlets across Kentucky.
Along with frequent appearances on radio and television programs, including Kentucky Tonight, he often serves as a guest host on radio talk shows in Lexington and Louisville. Jim testified in favor of eliminating prevailing wage on school construction projects before a congressional committee in Washington. He has also been a guest on CNN.