Tertium Quids is an independent, nonpartisan, issue advocacy organization that promotes legislative efforts to expand individual opportunity and free markets, while reducing the size, role, and cost of government in Virginia.

Through grassroots education and mobilization, as well as direct contact with local and state officeholders, Tertium Quids redefines the parameters of the public debate in favor of individual liberty, dynamic entrepreneurial capitalism, private property, the rule of law, and constitutionally limited government.

Tertium Quids, Latin for "third way" or "third entity," is composed of activists across Virginia whose loyalty and commitment are to the founding principles of our republic, rather than to party politics.

What's on the Homepage:

Join the Tuesday Morning Group Coalition

Take the "Raise My Taxes, Lose My Vote" pledge

This week’s Freedom & Prosperity Radio program

Tertium Quids gets a bill passed to put Virginia's budget online

TQ names Ken Cuccinelli Senate "Legislator of the Year"

John Taylor's speech at Richmond's Tax Day Tea Party

A list of groups and local governments that lobbied AGAINST your property rights

Tertium Quids' blog is named one of Best State Political Blogs in America

National policy experts tell us what to expect from an Obama administration

The Freedom & Prosperity Agenda -- 11 legislative initiatives to make government smaller, people freer, and the economy grow in Virginia

TAKE THE PLEDGE...

...GET YOUR BUMPER STICKER

Tertium Quids announces a new grassroots campaign to return the citizens of Virginia to their rightful role as Sovereigns (remember We the People?), and to return our government to the Founders’ vision of a limited state.

In the past, there have been a number of attempts to gain a politician’s pledge not to raise taxes.  These attempts have had limited success for one very important reason:  politicians lie.  Politicians are more than happy to take a pledge or endorse your issue without any expectation whatsoever of being bound by it.

Tertium Quids’ RAISE MY TAXES, LOSE MY VOTE campaign is different in that we are not asking politicians to do anything.  Our pledge is for the people…

*  people who understand that it is hard work, not entitlements, that brings success;

*   people who understand that it is savings, not spending, that ensures prosperity;

*   people who understand that it is the entrepreneur, not the bureaucrat, who creates jobs and economic growth;

*   people who understand that it is morally reprehensible to enjoy current benefits while passing the costs of those benefits on to our children and grandchildren;

*   people who understand that we can no longer tolerate intellectually bankrupt politicians whose one-step thinking process always leads them to the conclusion that more government spending and higher taxes are the only answers to every problem;

*   people who understand that a nation’s wealth is built over many generations, but can be squandered in a decade.

If you are fed up, if you are willing to fight for future generations instead of plundering them, and if you are made of the same steel as your ancestors who fought for Virginia and the nation, then we invite you to sign the pledge that you will not vote for any politician who votes, or who promises to vote, to raise taxes.  And to constantly remind politicians of your pledge and where you stand on taxes, we will send you a RAISE MY TAXES, LOSE MY VOTE bumper sticker.

You cannot be economically enslaved and politically free. 

Act now as if your liberty depended upon it!

At the urging of President Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives (including five of Virginia’s 11 Congressmen) recently passed one of the biggest scams on the American people under the guise of “protecting the earth” from “global warming.” On this week’s show, we speak with Chris Horner, a national expert in environmental policy who lives right here in Virginia. Chris exposes the facts – that the bill will do nothing to affect global warming or cooling (the sun does that), and that its sole purpose is to raise money for more government programs by putting a massive tax on companies’ use of energy products. The tax will be passed on to every American consumer in the form of higher prices, with conservative estimates running in the $3100 - $4600 range per year for the average American household. To escape the tax, many manufacturers will move jobs overseas.

Chris also tells us about his visit with Virginia’s Congressman Rick Boucher, a huge proponent of cap and trade, with a group of European politicians who have already implemented the policy and who urged him not to pursue this scam – that it does nothing for “global warming” and it destroys economies. Despite the warnings, Boucher wouldn't listen to the facts.

(Virginia's five House members who voted for cap and trade are Rick Boucher (D), Gerry Connolly (D), Jim Moran (D), Tom Perriello (D), and Bobby Scott (D).) 

Click here to go to our radio page to listen to this and older shows, or to have future shows delivered to your computer automatically.

Ken Cuccinelli named

Senate “Legislator of the Year”

Senator Ken Cuccinelli receives the Senate Legislator of the Year award from Tertium Quids president John Taylor

GAINESVILLE, Virginia (May 20, 2009) – Tertium Quids has named Sen. Ken Cuccinelli as its inaugural “Legislator of the Year” in the Virginia Senate.

“Virginia would not have passed a law to put the state budget online or a law to prevent Kelo-like eminent domain abuses without Senator Cuccinelli steadfastly pushing for them for several years in the Virginia Senate,” said John Taylor, president of Tertium Quids.

Cuccinelli’s budget transparency bill to put more of the state’s budget, revenues, taxes, and expenditures on the Internet in a format easily understandable and accessible to the general public was signed into law in March. The Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed the legislation in late February, despite opposition to the bill last year. It has been hailed as beginning a new era in Virginia government transparency and accountability.

Cuccinelli’s bill to reform Virginia’s frequent abuse of eminent domain means that except for property taken for true public purposes such as utilities, schools, public buildings, etc., property may not be seized by government if the primary purpose is private financial gain, private benefit, an increase in the tax base or tax revenues, or an increase in jobs. In addition, no more property can be taken than would be necessary to achieve the stated public use. It passed and was signed into law in 2007.

This is the first year Tertium Quids has presented its “Legislator of the Year” of the year award. “We have had several major pieces of legislation passed over the last four years to reduce the size and scope of government in Richmond. We have had many legislators introduce and support our bills, and we thought it was time to start recognizing their outstanding efforts,” said Taylor.

Tertium Quids will soon announce its “Legislator of the Year” for the Virginia House of Delegates.

John Taylor's speech at the

Richmond Tea Party

Part 1:

Part 2:

Sens. Ken Cuccinelli and Chap Petersen and Del. Ben Cline propose full state budget transparency at Tertium Quids' news conference on January 13th.

RICHMOND, Virginia (April 2, 2009) – Governor Kaine signed a bill into law this week to put more of the state’s budget, revenues, taxes, and expenditures on the Internet in a format easily understandable and accessible to the general public.  The Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed Senate Bill 936 (Ken Cuccinelli) in late February.

Many legislators admitted that they did not know how the budget was spent each year because the details were not readily accessible -- even to them.  At a time when the federal government is struggling with an economic meltdown that is now affecting our state government as well, fiscal accountability and transparency in how tax dollars are being spent have emerged as front-burner issues. 

Citizens, legislators, state employees, and the media can use the new information posted on the Web to identify wasteful spending and redundancies.  These savings can be given back to the taxpayers or shifted to fund other programs.

Virginia’s existing Web site, Commonwealth Data Point, puts part of the budget online, but breaks little down and offers little detail.  The new legislation adds another layer of information to the existing system.  Most notably, the new law requires a vendor table, where expenditures to individual vendors can be easily tracked. 

“We are pleased with the bipartisan support this bill received,” said Krystal Slivinski, vice president for government affairs of Tertium Quids.  Tertium Quids had representatives at every committee meeting in this year’s General Assembly session urging legislators to vote for the bill.

Early in the legislative session, the bill faced serious opposition when the Department of Planning and Budget hung a $3 million financial impact price tag on it.  However, Sen. Cuccinelli (R-Fairfax), the chief patron of the bill in the Senate, worked closely with Virginia’s Auditor of Public Accounts, Walter Kucharski, to eliminate any financial impact or additional burden on the taxpayers.

“Taxpayers should be able to easily access the details on how the state is spending their tax dollars and what results are achieved for those expenditures,” noted Cuccinelli.  He continued, “This bill is a foot in the door, and will allow us to make even more information available to taxpayers in the future.”

"There is no reason for expenditures of taxpayer dollars to be kept hidden from the taxpayers," said Del. Cline (R-Rockbridge), the chief patron of an identical bill in the House which also passed both houses unanimously.  “I even had resistance when I tried to get spending details out of certain agencies, and I vote on their budgets each year!”

Another patron of the legislation who played an important role in the bipartisan success of the effort was Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax).  Additionally, Tertium Quids wishes to thank the following organizations that helped push transparency through the legislature:  members of the Tuesday Morning Group coalition (Virginia’s largest coalition of small government, free market activists), The Family Foundation, and the Virginia Coalition for Open Government.

Groups, local governments that lobbied AGAINST your property rights

February 2009 – Several groups lobbied the Virginia General Assembly this year to kill an amendment that would have protected your right to own property by putting that right in the Virginia Constitution. These money-hungry local governments, property developers, and businesspeople lobbied for the ability to confiscate your home or business to develop bigger homes or businesses on your land – for profit and higher tax revenues.

In 2007, Tertium Quids was successful in the first step in protecting property owners in Virginia – pushing for a law to prevent these abuses from happening. Unfortunately, a law can be overturned by a simple majority of legislators in the General Assembly. So, Tertium Quids pushed for the second step this year – passing a constitutional amendment to put your property rights in the Virginia Constitution. That would mean the people (not just the politicians and the lobbyists who donate to their campaigns) would have to vote to change the law.

The organizations that would benefit from taking your private property were opposed to strengthening your property rights, and many of them openly said so when they signed this letter to Virginia legislators asking them to oppose your right to keep your own land:

Note that every city government that belongs to the Virginia Municipal League and every county government that belongs to the Virginia Association of Counties used TAXPAYER dollars to lobby against TAXPAYERS’ property rights. This is something you may want to remember in your next local election. Also remember that your government is there to serve the people, not the other way around.

Signers of the letter also included groups that should be on the side of home and business owners but who might profit as your property transfers ownership. These groups include the Virginia Association of Realtors, the Homebuilders Association of Virginia, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, and the Virginia Association for Commercial Real Estate. Make sure you remember them and the other signatories when you decide with whom you will do business.

 

Tertium Quids' blog is named one of

Best State Political Blogs in America

by the Washington Post

Click here for the story.

At a recent Tuesday Morning Group coalition meeting, a panel of national experts from the Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, Gun Owners of America, the Family Foundation of Virginia, and other organizations convened to give us a glimpse of what we can expect during the next four years. They examined the economy, labor law, gun issues, energy, the environment, social issues, and the media in light of the Obama Administration's proposed policies for America. Click here to see this and all Tertium Quids videos.