N.Y. mogul key to I-933 movement

DAVID CRARY
NEW YORK - He lives in New York City; his name is on no ballot. Yet real estate investor Howard Rich is a key reason why citizens in distant states will be voting Nov. 7 on bitterly contested initiatives that would limit state spending, impose term limits and curb land-use regulation.

Rich is a Libertarian who vigorously champions the cause of limited government. He is the driving force behind a network of groups that has promoted ballot measures in at least 14 states this year.

Several of the campaigns were derailed by legal and signature-gathering problems. But states where Rich-backed measures did make the ballot - often with most of their funding from his network - include Washington, Oregon, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maine and Nebraska.

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"It is unacceptable that the big-money, national anti-government extremists would use our state as a testing ground for their agenda," said Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, warning that approval of the measure would mean cutbacks to education, social services and law enforcement.

Rich, who has not taken up Kulongoski's invitation to debate, said the main foes of spending caps are public-sector unions seeking to preserve their clout.

"The opposition," Rich wrote, "can be characterized as based on greed and self-interest, the public be damned."

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"opposition...based on greed and self-interest..." What kind of shadowy delusions occupy this poor man's mind? Opposition based on greed? That's preposterous. Nonsense I tell you!

Take that, "JoshuaCarter."