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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

How I'm voting - Chronicle editorial

There are some issues on the November 2nd ballot that are on my radar.

Before making my observations, I need to note that I make my voting decisions based on certain principles, including

1) Is it something better left to the private sector
2) Is it an activity that is consistent with limited government
3) Does it impede personal liberty

So for me, this means that the proper role of government is more important than good intentions. The freedom of the marketplace with its risks and rewards outweighs the presumed need to “rein in” potential risk or financial loss. And, opportunity and freedom (both to succeed and fail) are more important than “fairness.”

Issue #1, the Constitutional Convention (CC-2): Senator Joe Balyeat, whom I respect, is one of the supporters of the Convention. He clearly communicates the basic principle: “Historically, the U.S. Constitution and well-crafted state constitutions delineated rights which barred government intrusion on basic freedoms…” Quite right. The purpose of a constitution is to define and limit government, not to define or limit the people.

Unfortunately, there is a problem. There is there is no guarantee that the majority of the 100 constitutional delegates would share this view. A Constitutional Convention could very easily make the constitution worse.

Further, the delegates are really not accountable to anyone on a practical level until the revised constitution is submitted to a vote of the people. And worse, depending on what the delegates decide, we might have to vote on the revisions as a package. A Constitutional Initiative, by contrast, can only address one issue.

Therefore, I oppose the Constitutional Convention. Any needed changes are more safely handled on an issue-by-issue basis.

Issue #2, CI-105: Here is an example of the afore-mentioned Constitutional Initiative. The intent here is to mitigate the potential abuse that government could foist upon the people. CI-105 would prohibit the legislature from imposing a Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT). Even though this tax doesn’t currently exist, the people are perfectly within their rights to restrain government in this way.

One particularly troubling statement made by those who oppose the initiative: “Our constitution establishes our most fundamental rights - like the right to bear arms and the right to privacy - and articulates the most fundamental principles of our democracy.” This is incorrect. A constitution does not establish rights. Rights are pre-existing, and can only be enumerated. The 9th amendment to the U.S. constitution confirms this: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The opponents’ very next statement, however, swerves into a truth: “Detailed tax policy should be handled through legislation, not the constitution.” This is correct, but detailed tax policy is actually the problem. Montana’s tax system, like the feds, attempts to micromanage peoples’ finances and behaviors.

This is contrary to the principle of liberty. My pipe dream is to repeal the entire tax code in favor of some sort of single flat tax. Of course, the political will to do this does not exist. In fact, I doubt that the legislature would willingly give up its power to meddle in peoples’ financial affairs.

In any case, I favor removing this weapon from the tax man’s arsenal.

Issue #3, Initiative No. 164: There is obviously a market for payday loans, and they tend to be high risk. A commensurate charge is expected.

And, no one is forcing anyone to take out a payday loan. These are private, willing transactions that hurt no one. We just don’t need government to rescue us from every little problem that comes our way. And legislation that protects us from a $15.00 payday loan fee is one of those kinds of problems.

Good luck and good voting November 2nd.