Chapter 3 "Open Fields" program

"Open Space" is a plan currently being carried out in many places in the United States. It is mainly used to prevent human society from over-exploiting the environment and to protect the few open areas around us, such as grasslands, trees, water and other natural resources. Funding is generally provided by the government.Both Pennsylvania and neighboring New Jersey have carried out this plan for many years, and due to the good environmental awareness of local residents, they have received widespread support. In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where I live, the government allocated $100 million as early as 1993 for a 10-year program to identify and protect disappearing open spaces in the county.This plan ended in 2003, and the government proposed a more ambitious "Green Fields-Green Towns (GreenFields-GreenTowns)" plan, planning to invest 150 million US dollars in the next 10 years to protect open areas more effectively. .Since the county government can't afford the money, they will borrow from the bank and plan to increase the real estate tax by 5% in the next 33 years to repay the debt.Tax increase is a very sensitive action in the United States. In order to avoid being criticized in the future, the county government dare not make decisions without authorization, so it submits this plan to voters for votes, allowing voters to decide whether they are willing to pay a little more in exchange for more green land.

In the conservative Montgomery County, most residents have a strong sense of environmental protection and are willing to support this plan.The two major parties, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, also broke their usual habit of attacking each other and jointly called on members to vote for it.The only opposition came from the Liberal Party. Don't the Liberals have the concept of environmental protection?Or are they all so poor that they can't get rid of the pot, and they would rather spend their money on fishing than get rich first?Here's an article I submitted to a local newspaper that may give you an idea of ​​why the Liberals are against the plan:

Voters in Montgomery County will decide on Nov. 4 whether to approve the "Greenfield-Greentown" plan.The program will lend $150 million to protect open areas, water streams and natural resources.Yes, green land, clean water, natural resources, aren't these worth paying more taxes to protect?However, here are some facts that people don't know. First, taxpayers in Montgomery County will end up paying far more than the $150 million claimed in the plan, and interest alone is estimated to be a whopping $100 million.In other words, this plan will actually cost 250 million US dollars, 40% of which will go into the pockets of those financial capitalists.Of course, the wool comes from the sheep, and the money comes from taxpayers.

Second, the money is used to pay those landowners not to build anything on their land.However, the land still belongs to them.The money was only used to buy their rights to build on these lands. ——Who said there is no free lunch in this world?It's just that this lunch is only available to wealthy open-field owners. Proponents of "Green Space-Green Town" always tell people that open space belongs to all people.They are right, except for one difference: the only thing we have is the right to pay taxes to protect open areas, while their owners have the right to collect money to protect them.

Furthermore, Montgomery County has already had an "open land" plan that has been in operation for 10 years, and it only costs an average of 6.8 million US dollars a year.Interestingly, the program was allocated $100 million and only spent $68 million—why did we raise the program's budget to $150 million?As reported in the August 8 Montgomery News article "Towns Ask to Support Open Space" (by Bill Spanler), Sandra Despio, director of the Open Space program, said: "If The new plan is not approved, and the original plan will continue, albeit on a much smaller budget.” So why don’t we continue with the original plan that has proven to work?This will reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Many people have recognized these facts.According to Herald News reporter Dan Kelly's Oct. 29 report "East Noratton Township Executives Will Not Support 'Open Area' Plan": "(East Noratton Township) Executive Council Unanimously Refuses to Approve 10-Year Term The $150 million "Open Land" plan." Commission Chairman Lewis Marquez pointed out: "For our town, traffic congestion is a bigger problem, and money should be used to build roads." The report also cited that the town government sent residents a poll asking if they would pay the tax to protect the open area, and the response was "overwhelmingly opposed."

So, who else is going to vote for this plan?It will cost taxpayers an extra 5% in real estate taxes for the next 33 years, 40% of which will go to financiers, lawyers will get their hands on a large portion, and the rest will go to the rich social relief. At the Liberal Party's monthly meeting in October, Charles, the political clerk, asked everyone to write an article to the newspaper advocating against the "open field" plan.I also agreed, but it is not easy for me to write an English article, and it was not written until the end of October.After Greg helped me polish the English, I emailed it to the editor of the newspaper on October 31.Maybe it was too close to the polling day (November 4th), they no longer have a page for the "open field" plan, so they didn't post it.

Of course, the Liberals' actions won't just stop on paper.In addition to writing letters to the newspaper, Charles organized several leaflet distributions, one of which I participated in. That was on November 1, the weekend before polling day.Before handing out the flyers, Charles took us to a local public library to check for the nearest newspaper.Because the law stipulates that this kind of voting issue must be published in the local newspaper within 15 to 20 days before the polling day. If we do not find their notice in the "Legal Notice" section of the newspaper, then we will sue them for breaking the law. Victory without a fight.Sun Tzu said: "Subduing others' soldiers without fighting is a good one." It seems that Charles is also proficient in the art of war.

Sadly, we soon found notification notes about voting issues for the "Open Fields" program.Greger said: "It seems that some people have not forgotten their work." But after careful consideration, Charles thought that there was still room for criticism, so he copied it and prepared to go back and continue to study and find faults. Charles is French, born quite handsome French niche.He came to the United States 3 years ago and immediately joined the Liberal Party, but he has not yet become an American citizen. "The internationalist fighter.However, he joined the Liberal Party as soon as he came to the United States. Compared with me who came to the United States for 5 years before finding the organization, it goes without saying that his consciousness is much higher.His English accent is so heavy that I couldn't understand him at first, but I got used to it gradually.As a political officer of the party, he is full of energy, flexible in mind, and has many ideas. The most rare thing is his tenacity and the spirit of never admitting defeat. He can be called the engine of the Liberal Party in Montgomery County. It is worthy of Voltaire and Rousseau. country.

After we got out of the library, we split into two groups. I went to a nearby Walmart with Chuck, Greg, and a guy named Joe to distribute flyers, while Charles and another guy went to another store. Wal-Mart's business is always very good, especially on Saturday afternoons, there is a constant flow of people at the entrance and exit.We arrived at the door full of joy and were about to start distributing flyers, only to find a notice posted on the automatic door of Wal-Mart that no advertising is allowed.We discussed it, Chuck was hesitant, and suggested that we change places, but Greg said: "It's okay, we are not advertising, we are political activities." If we are going to rush, we will go again, if not, we will continue to send."

Everyone agrees.It was only later that I remembered that this discussion was actually very interesting. When encountering a problem, the first reaction of Americans is to pick out words, but as a Chinese, the first thing I think about is the solution; therefore, there are many lawyers in the United States. Articles make a fuss; Chinese people are used to having policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. I recognize your authority, but I will take advantage of the loopholes before you pay attention.After Shanggang went online and analyzed it, I couldn't help smiling. Chuck also suggested that the leaflets should only be given to those who come out and not to those who go in. Firstly, to prevent the leaflets from being noticed by Wal-Mart staff, and secondly, to those who go in to shop, who will read the leaflets seriously?It must be tossing the flyer in the shopping cart.Everyone thought it was reasonable and adopted his opinion.There are two Wal-Mart supermarkets, and Chuck and I are on one side, and Greg and Joe are on the other side, each guarding one door and starting to distribute flyers. I was standing in the back, and basically a person came out, said "Hi!", and passed the flyer.Most people will pick it up and say thank you.If we don't want it, we don't reach out, or say "no, thank you", or send us away with a "no".I saw that Chuck had nothing to do outside, so I suggested that he and I stand on the other side, because some people see me and go around, if Chuck is on the other side, then they will not miss anything There is nowhere to escape.But Chuck said, "If they walk away, it means they're not interested, and there's no point in forcing us." Chuck is a law student at the nearby University of Villanova.He was interested in politics from an early age, and actively lobbied for other people's votes before he was granted the right to vote.After he was 18 years old, he voted for the Liberal Party every time, and he is a staunch Liberal Party member.He participated in every activity organized by the Liberal Party, and he is an important force of the Liberal Party in Montgomery County.The law stipulates that you must be 25 years old to run for office. Chuck will be 25 years old next year. He is going to run for the House of Representatives immediately.But his image is still student-like slovenly, and I think he can be more aggressive at times. When no one was in or out, Chuck and I stopped by to chat about his campaign plans for next year.At 4:30 p.m., we reconnected with the others.Charles and the others didn't go to that store, and distributed leaflets at the intersection instead.Holding the big sign of the Liberal Party in one hand and handing out leaflets in the other, Charles walked through the vehicles with agility, bowing left and right, just like a modern Zorro.But there is no safety island at this intersection. They competed with cars, which was very unsafe, and they were driven away by the police.I joked that some Democrat or Republican must have called to report this. Charles and the others went home first.The four of us were still very motivated and decided to continue distributing leaflets at the door of the store.I said, now it seems that it is unnecessary to put two people at the same door. It is better for Greg and Joe to stay in Wal-Mart, and Chuck and I will go to another store to have a look.Everyone agrees. However, we soon discovered that the store I went to clearly stated that advertising and distributing documents are not allowed here.Where Chuck went, the business was not very good, the pommel horse was cold at the door, and a leaflet could not be distributed for a long time.In the end we had to go back to Wal-Mart to join Greg and the others, and it became me and Greg on one side, and Joe and Chuck on the other side handing out flyers. Greg, as I introduced earlier, once planned to run for the council of Abington Town where he was located, but later withdrew due to lack of time.He was tall and thin, and although he might have been in his forties, he looked youthful.He is always smiling gently and is very friendly. After I sent the manuscript to the newspaper to the mail group of the Liberal Party, he also took the initiative to help me polish the English.Greg is not the kind of person who talks eloquently, but he is by no means lacking in eloquence. I think it is a pity that he was withdrawn.When he handed the leaflet to people, he didn't just smile and say "hi" like me, but he said in detail: "There will be a question on the ballot on November 4th, which is about open fields..." And then Point to the points on the flyer and explain why they should vote against the Open Lands plan.People usually stop to listen to him, and this effect is undoubtedly much better than me just inserting a leaflet. So I also learned this trick. When handing out leaflets, I said: "Please vote against tax increases." People are still very sensitive when they hear the word "tax", and their reactions are obviously different from before. : "I am against any tax." Then I took the opportunity to explain the situation to them and promote our proposition.Only then did I realize that it was necessary for two people to stand at the door, because people often came to ask for details, and then a second person was needed to continue distributing leaflets. Of course, there are many people who are disgusted with us.Chuck met a lady from the Democratic Party there, stood at the door of Wal-Mart and debated with him, and of course no one could convince anyone in the end.I had a more interesting situation, a middle-aged Hispanic lady, came out with a shopping cart full of goods, and I passed the flyer and said, "Please vote against the tax increase." She squinted at me One glance, dismissively said: "I don't pay taxes!" Most of the people who come and go in Wal-Mart are poor people, and there are basically not many real estate developers. The 5% increase in real estate tax will not have a big impact on them.There are also many ethnic minorities, most likely new immigrants, and I am afraid they do not have the right to vote.I said: "We should go to the shopping malls in Puwang City, where there are high-end stores, most of them go to the middle class, and the tax increase may have a greater impact on them." Ge Ruige analyzed that although the impact of tax increases on They're bigger, but they don't care as much about tax increases of tens of dollars a year as poor people do.Our leaflets are still more effective in distributing them at Wal-Mart.In addition, Puwang City is located at the junction of Montgomery County, Delaware County, and Chester County. Anyone can vote. By 6pm, it was completely dark and we were heading home.The last flyer I sent out was to a white man who asked me, "Tax increase? What tax?" I immediately explained to him, "Mongolian County plans to spend $250 million to protect open land, but 40% of this money is paid interest, and only 60% will be actually used for the plan. The previous "Open Land" plan only cost 10 million US dollars a year, and they couldn't spend it, but now they ask for 1 year 15 million. We should vote against this plan and continue with the previous cheap plan." He nodded and said, "So you're a Democrat?" I said, "No, I'm a Liberal." He yelled, "Ha! Liberal Party? You can't win the election!" This time I choked.Fortunately, Gregg immediately took over and said, "This is not an election, it's just a matter of voting." I got his cue and followed suit and said, "Yeah, we're not running a campaign, we're just asking people to vote on this issue." No vote." He said, "Oh, that's right, I'd object to that. The vote is on...Thursday, right?" We shouted together: "It's Tuesday!" I really didn't expect Americans' awareness of political participation to be so weak, because every year the voting day is fixed on the first Tuesday in November, and he didn't even know it. This is the last weekend before polling day, and for those of us who are all working, it is also the last group event to hand out leaflets.With the official polling day two days away, I took the day off to continue advocating against the "open field" plan at the polls. Notes on November 8 The final result of the vote was 104,367 votes in favor of the "open area" plan, accounting for 77.64%, and 30,057 votes against it, accounting for 22.36%.We expected the "open land" plan to finally pass. We didn't feel sad. Instead, we were very satisfied with the 22.36% negative vote, because there are only 0.3% Liberals in the whole of Montgomery County, and we are facing an overwhelming majority. A two-party coalition of dominance.In other words, nearly a quarter of voters in Montgomery County agree with the Liberals on this issue, not Republicans or Democrats.In the words of Jim: "They are all potential Liberals." Unfortunately, we have no way of finding out who voted against (as explained in "American Election Day Journal"), otherwise we could just send them Liberal Party promotional materials, Invite them to the Liberal Party. In fact, we can do better. Proponents of the "Open Fields" plan have done a lot to get the proposal through, spending upwards of $10,000 on campaigns as early as the first half of this year.The Liberal Party is a small party and cannot attack in all directions. At the beginning, it focused on finding candidates to carry out the campaign. It was not until after Gregg withdrew that he concentrated on opposing the "Open Land" plan, which was already between September and October. Alright, we have less than two months to get the word out. Not to mention financial difficulties.The entire treasury of the Liberal Party in Montgomery County only has more than 1,000 U.S. dollars, and it is only one-tenth of the opponent’s money. .In the end, our funds are basically based on the donations of several members, plus the few free supports we found, such as the production of leaflets, printing and so on. Although we had no money or time, we achieved great results.While nearly a quarter of the negative vote was not entirely influenced by the Liberals, the negative rate would certainly be much lower without our activism.More importantly, because the Liberal Party is the only organization in Montgomery County that opposes the "open field" plan, it has received a lot of media attention.American newspapers generally emphasize balanced reporting, and hope to see opinions from both sides on any election, proposal, or controversy.Usually, this kind of confrontation often comes from the Republican Party versus the Democratic Party, the right versus the left, and the Liberals rarely speak up.But this time, since the Republican Party and the Democratic Party unanimously supported the "Open Land" plan, the newspapers looking for opinions from the opposition could only come from the Liberal Party, except for scattered contributions from readers.Jim, Kern, Charles and others were either invited by newspapers or actively contributed articles to talk about the ideas of the Liberal Party in the local media, which is a good public advertisement for this small party. Our activities have also been noticed by the National Liberal Party.They wrote an article just before Election Day about our efforts against the Open Lands plan. On the third day after the polling day——November 7, Jim sent everyone an email titled "The Liberal Party is going to the world!" "Open Fields" program.After talking about the support the program has received, the article ends by saying: Not all economic conservatives support the plan.The Montgomery County Liberals, for example, claim that, with interest, voters will pay nearly double the $150 million they approved.They suggest that open areas be protected by voluntary contributions. "Paying such a huge mortgage on something like this is horribly inefficient," said Jim Barber, chairman of the county's Liberal Party.