As you go to the polls next month, you need think about only three things as you consider all of the candidates, proposals, ballot initiatives, questions, etc.
1. Are you willing to pay extra taxes to fund the proposals of that candidate/issue?
-I never authorize of my own free will and choice a new tax. We have so many other things they can raise taxes on or issue new taxes for without our consent. Just this past summer, the city of Las Vegas raised the cab excise "fee". They can raise DMV registration taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, utility taxes, etc. We don't need to voluntarily give them more of our money only to have them turn around and exact more from us.
-Some people will make the case for things that we need. If they're so necessary and their benefit so great, then why isn't an entrepreneur out there footing the bill to initiate the movement? Back in Reno, I voted against the property tax increase to fund an animal shelter. Call me inhumane if you like, but I don't want to pay for something we really didn't need since there's already animal control. The same thing is true in Clark County where once again they will ask us this year to raise sales tax to pay for more LVMPD officers. Yet, they have not filled all the vacancies yet created by the previous sales tax increase.
2. Are you willing to trade a modicum of freedom for what the candidate/issue promises?
-Although I'm no fan of the Patriot Act, you must consider what the new encroachments on your liberty promise you in turn. Safety, therefore, being the true design and end of governmen, whatsoever form thereof will seem most likely to secure it with the least cost and greatest benefit is preferrable to all others. At least President Bush did something. Bill Clinton was too busy.
-Any, and I mean any, expansion of the federal government comes at the expense of individual liberty. The Constitution was written to limit the power of the federal government. Before you surrender your sovereignty to them, ask yourself if the Constitution really matters to you.
3. How does the candidate/issue square up with your personal beliefs, values, and norms? Are you comfortable enforcing those cultural elements on everyone else in the nation? Why?
-No candidate perfectly matches everyone's ideals and wants. While we talk all the time about people choosing between the lesser of two evils, consider that BOTH SIDES say that. This means they're not enamored with their nominee either. You pick the person who most reflects what you value to oppose him whose ideals most contrast with yours. If all branches of government are held by the same party, that's bad for the country, because some things we may not want, even from our own party make it through committee and to the floor.
-If you are fed up with having candidates who don't accurately reflect your views, RUN FOR OFFICE YOURSELF. That way, you're destined to get what you want.
If you honestly apply those tests to each section of the ballot, more often than not the country will turn out all right. As I said before, I believe that it is not common for the greater part of the people to desire that which is not right unless they are woefully ignorant or irredeemably wicked. This mental exercise of these questions will cure their ignorance. Their wickedness is up to them.
1. Are you willing to pay extra taxes to fund the proposals of that candidate/issue?
-I never authorize of my own free will and choice a new tax. We have so many other things they can raise taxes on or issue new taxes for without our consent. Just this past summer, the city of Las Vegas raised the cab excise "fee". They can raise DMV registration taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, utility taxes, etc. We don't need to voluntarily give them more of our money only to have them turn around and exact more from us.
-Some people will make the case for things that we need. If they're so necessary and their benefit so great, then why isn't an entrepreneur out there footing the bill to initiate the movement? Back in Reno, I voted against the property tax increase to fund an animal shelter. Call me inhumane if you like, but I don't want to pay for something we really didn't need since there's already animal control. The same thing is true in Clark County where once again they will ask us this year to raise sales tax to pay for more LVMPD officers. Yet, they have not filled all the vacancies yet created by the previous sales tax increase.
2. Are you willing to trade a modicum of freedom for what the candidate/issue promises?
-Although I'm no fan of the Patriot Act, you must consider what the new encroachments on your liberty promise you in turn. Safety, therefore, being the true design and end of governmen, whatsoever form thereof will seem most likely to secure it with the least cost and greatest benefit is preferrable to all others. At least President Bush did something. Bill Clinton was too busy.
-Any, and I mean any, expansion of the federal government comes at the expense of individual liberty. The Constitution was written to limit the power of the federal government. Before you surrender your sovereignty to them, ask yourself if the Constitution really matters to you.
3. How does the candidate/issue square up with your personal beliefs, values, and norms? Are you comfortable enforcing those cultural elements on everyone else in the nation? Why?
-No candidate perfectly matches everyone's ideals and wants. While we talk all the time about people choosing between the lesser of two evils, consider that BOTH SIDES say that. This means they're not enamored with their nominee either. You pick the person who most reflects what you value to oppose him whose ideals most contrast with yours. If all branches of government are held by the same party, that's bad for the country, because some things we may not want, even from our own party make it through committee and to the floor.
-If you are fed up with having candidates who don't accurately reflect your views, RUN FOR OFFICE YOURSELF. That way, you're destined to get what you want.
If you honestly apply those tests to each section of the ballot, more often than not the country will turn out all right. As I said before, I believe that it is not common for the greater part of the people to desire that which is not right unless they are woefully ignorant or irredeemably wicked. This mental exercise of these questions will cure their ignorance. Their wickedness is up to them.
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