Happy Chinese New Year and Merry Midwinter. Welcome aboard to new
subscriber Dana J. Andrusik, among others. If any reader knows of
anyone who should also be a reader, please put them in touch.
Meanwhile, read about legislative progress in Connecticut and the
favorable press coverage. Lots to keep up with -- or get ahead of!
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CONTENTS:
1. Movement Progress: CT bill; Harrison film, Korean resistance
2. News: Pell was rich from land; The Progress Report articles
3. Good Press: Financial Times, ULI, WorldWatch, Fresno Bee,
consumers blog, new libertarian journal
4. Numbers: 18-yr land-price cycle is real and really hurts!
5. Letters: Annotated rent sources
6. Obituary: Robert D. Benton
7. Likable links: Monetary Reform moves forward
8. What You Can Do: Visit WhiteHouse; Peruse teaching materials
9. At the Margin: Quips and Quotes
10. Publication affairs: Contributors, About the Georgist News
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Remodeled Downtown Doubletree is the 2009 conference hotel
The Council of Georgist Organizations has just been informed that it's
2009 hotel has become a Doubletree. It's the Doubletree
Cleveland Downtown/Lakeside. It's just blocks from Amtrak and the Rock
n Roll Hall of Fame on Lakeside Avenue. Our hotel has an indoor pool
and a great view of Lake Erie. If you were disappointed that the
Kansas City hotel was far from downtown and needed remodeling, come to
Cleveland for a great conference hotel. Reserve your room as needed
from Wednesday, August 5 through Sunday, August 9, 2009.
The room rate will be $89 a night which is half the normal rate. The
hotel has created a web link for you to make individual reservations.
It is:
http://doubletree.hilton.com...
So reserve your room now!
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1a. Movement Progress: Connecticut Senators Lead the way for Levying Land
by Joshua Vincent, Executive Director, Henry George Foundation
USA/Center for the Study of Economics, joshua at urbantools.org,
January 2009
Two bills, one introduced by Senate Majority leader Martin Looney, the
other by Senators Andrea Stillman and Andrew Maynard, would permit
Connecticut cities to employ land value taxation. Similar bills in the
past have been supported by Connecticut's Homebuilders, the Conference
of Municipalities, the Sierra Cub, and others. Anyone interested in a
sensible, sustainable and ethical form of taxation is encouraged to
lend their support and work to CSE/HGFA and ReNew London to make sure
these bills become reality. Education is the key. Contact either
organization and we will put you to work!
New London: Worth Fighting For
The January 25, 2009 editorial page of the New London Day has asked
the Connecticut Legislature to ensure passage of the land value tax.
The Re-New London Council is fighting a battle for passage of the new
law, and for the minds of their fellow citizens, supported by CSE in
Philly, and business and environmental groups in Connecticut. What do
you think? Responding to the editorial can help educate local readers
about why this can be a fair just and economically sound plan.
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1b. Movement Progress: New film, Renegade
by Fred Harrison, fred.Harrison at talktalk.net, January 19, 2009
This is the final documentary before Motherlode's film which spells
out the LVT option, which will be launched next Monday. It's all done
by magic....
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1c. Movement Progress: Despite Retreat, S. Korean Georgists petition
government By Yoon-sang Kim, Professor, Kyungpook National University,
Korean translator of Progress and Poverty, yskim16 at email.com,
January 1, 2009
In Korea, the new administration led by President Lee Myung-Bak who
was inaugurated February last year is nullifying heavier taxes on real
estate holdings. Korean Georgists have been protesting against the
retreat in various ways, writing columns, picketing around government
buildings, cooperating with several civic groups, etc. Korean
Georgists will never give up.
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2a. News: Pell obit. reveals source of American inequality
by Yisroel Pensack, yisroel at dslextreme.com, commenting on the NY
Times obit, January 1, 2009
Former Sen. Claiborn Pell who recently died was best known for the
program that has dispensed financial tuition-aid grants but NOT land
grants to tens of millions of poor and middle-class college students
which had to raise rents in campus towns. With his vast family wealth,
derived from an 18th-century royal charter of land from King George
III of England, he could have purchased some of the educational
institutions they attended, let alone paid their tuition bills.
Pell, whose ancestors were the original lords of the manor in Pelham
Manor, N.Y., lived among the old-money families in Newport. Five of
his relatives have been elected to either the House or the Senate,
including his father, a one-term representative from Manhattan's old
Silk Stocking District.
His High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 subsidized rail
service in the 400-mile Northeast corridor from Washington to Boston.
Out of this emerged the Amtrak system. It likewise lifted land values.
He generally opposed military intervention and supported the UN and
scientific inquiry into UFOs and ESP.
Cathy Orloff: One election year Pell visited Pelham Manor, New York,
land deeded by the King of England. As lord of the manor, the Pell
forebear would each year receive a fatted calf from the villagers.
Somehow, the tradition has survived, and each year a Pell attends the
ceremony.
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2b. News: Daily postings at The Progress Report
Find here the daily news site of special relevance to those interested
in fundamental social progress. Here's a recent sample article at the
site from a new contributor:
In Brazil, a tenth of farmers still own 85% of farmland, even after
the election of leftist Lula six years ago. Can it change? "It doesn't
take much to buy off the desperate."
Sending the progress.org link to friends, family, neighbors, and
co-workers works wonderfully to help achieve a shared frame of
reference in which can take place a discussion on how to solve
economic issues.
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3a. Good Press: GB's Financial Times on land tax
by John Read via Carol Wilcox, Published January 13 2009
Taxation rules distort the way the market operates
Robert H. Wade (Letters, January 8) lays the blame for the current
crisis on the market. At a superficial or symptomatic level this may
well appear true, but should we not first look at the laws under which
the market functions?
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3b. Good Press: Urban Land Institute's The Ground Floor
by Bill Hudnut, senior resident fellow/Joseph C. Canizaro Chair Public
Policy ULI, December 24, 2008
Thoughts on Property Tax
How about restructuring the property tax across America to install a
two-tiered system?
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3c. Good Press: WorldWatch magazine prints pointed letter
by Ed Dodson, ejdodson at comcast.net, January 8, 2009
My letter appears in the current issue of the magazine. In fact, it is
the only letter that appears in the January/February 2009 issue. I
encourage you to follow my letter with your own perspectives. You can
submit email comments to World Watch to the editor, Thomas Prugh, at
tprugh at worldwatch.org.
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3d. Good Press: Modesto Bee LTE: Go back to the land and tax it
by Eugene Conrotto, via Frank Walker, January 2, 2009
I think it is time we revisit Henry George, the American political
economist of the 19th century...
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters/story/550487.html
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3e. Good Press: The Survive and Thrive Boomers Guide
by Rita R. Robison, columnist for The (Tacoma, Washington) News
Tribune who won First Place for Columns from the Washington Press
Association and First Place for Consumer Articles from the Eastern
Washington Society of Professional Journalists; her website shares
information to help you get what you want in life; January 19, 2009
Martin Luther King advocated for a guaranteed income for all to
eliminate poverty
Citizens Dividend, the Web site where I found the information on
King's book, describes how a guaranteed income for all would work. It
suggests funding guaranteed incomes not by getting money from
producers and taxpayers, but by using revenue that wasn't produced in
the free-market portion of the economy -- from monopolies, which are
government-granted privileges.
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3f. Good Press: ALLiance, a libertarian journal
by Chris Lempa, January 2, 2009
ALLiance a journal of theory and strategy [beta] is done. It includes
an article on geonomics. Please take a look at this issue and provide
constructive criticism. My goal is to create a journal that promotes
libertarian (broadly defined) theory. Please contact me if you are
interested in a hard copy.
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4. Numbers: 18-yr land-price cycle is real and really hurts!
Want all the current indicators in one place? Periodically, The
Progress Report publishes just such an article, such as:
Home data indicate the 18-yr cycle is on time. So politicians help the
top, spurring the French to rally, demanding what? "While politicians
borrow to stimulate, one state might try what works"
Read more at http://www.progress.org/ Bookmark it!
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5. Letters: Annotated rent sources
By Gil Herman, January 10, 2009
Could you send me a copy of the 50 official estimates of the amount of
rent in America mentioned last issue? Thanks.
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6. Obituary: Robert D. Benton, 92
by Zanesville Times Recorder (MI), via Wyn Achenbaum, January 18, 2009
Robert D. Benton, 92, after World War II began a long career working
in adult education with the Henry George School of Social Science that
promotes the use of a single land tax to reduce the social abuses
associated with property development... Share your memories at
www.sawyerfuller.com.
www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20090118/OBITUARIES/901180334
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7. Likable link: Monetary Reform moves forward
by Stephen Zarlenga, Director, American Monetary Institute,
ami at taconic.net, January 27, 2009
On this link http://cspanjunkie.org/?p=1724 Congressman Dennis
Kucinich describes the economic and monetary crisis for one hour on
the floor of the House of Representatives. At about 40 minutes in, he
discusses Stephen Zarlenga and our monetary reform proposal - a must
see!
Here, http://votersthink.org/?p=1073 Dennis in just over one minute
describes the reform program in summary.
The full text of the American Monetary Act can be viewed at
http://www.monetary.org/amacolorpamphlet.pdf
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8a. What You Can Do: Visit White House 2 site
by Wyn Achenbaum, wyn at achenbaum.com, January 4, 2009
At http://whitehouse2.org, you may want to comment. Search the website
on Henry George and you'll find others. Endorse it, if you agree, and
add comments. We may reach people who are attempting to make changes.
Put in links to your favorite sites or pages.
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8b. What You Can Do: Materials for alternate teaching our fundamental
course by Ed Dodson, ejdodson at comcast.net, January 6, 2009
There are 27 modules, each of which takes about 1 hour to cover, with
plenty of time for discussion. Additionally, I developed a Powerpoint
on Henry George's life and the single tax movement. This course is
very different from "Economics 101" offered in a college, that the
course is about solving the problems of poverty and economic
depressions. I uploaded all of the course modules to the website of
the Henry George School (http://www.henrygeorgeschoolphila.org). The
website is maintained by Eron Lloyd at the Henry George Foundation. To
view the modules you may need to contact Eron for a user id and
password. I welcome any comments you have.
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9. The Margin: Quips and Quotes
A fool and his money can throw one hell of a party.
-- anon.
We have enough youth. How about a fountain of 'smart'?
-- anon.
In matters of conscience, first thoughts are best; in matters of
prudence, last thoughts are best.
-- Robert Hall
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10. Publication affairs: Contributing to this issue
Along with those acknowledged above with each blurb,
Editor: Jeffery J. Smith
Assistant Editor: Caspar Davis
Archivist: Stewart Goldwater
Owner: Robert Schalkenbach Foundation
Founder: Adam Monroe
Send your news and other interesting material to the Georgist News,
jjs at geonomics.org or gn at progress.org. The deadline for the next
issue is February 24.
The Georgist News, a project of Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, is an
email newsletter brought to you free of charge. Its purpose is to keep
you updated on the latest news, citations, events, and initiatives of
relevance to people who, like Henry George, seek a world free from
special privilege and the causes of poverty.
Do you know someone who'd enjoy reading the GN? Please forward them an
issue and ask them to subscribe, or send us their eddress. As always,
it's free. Thanks.
The Georgist News is also available on line at
http://www.Georgist.com/
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The Georgist News, Volume Eleven, Number Eight, February 1, 2009