Vote ‘YES’ on Propositions 101 and 207.
Vote ‘NO’ on all the other 17 proposals.
Vote ‘YES’ on these two:
101 – [Passed] This measure puts restrictions on local governments’ ability to raise property taxes while property values are going through the roof. If this measure passes, governments will only be able to raise property taxes by 2% over the previous year’s taxes on their own. Should the need arise for additional revenues, the government would have to hold an election and seek voter approval. Some are concerned that the cost of government naturally goes up with new residents moving in, but those costs are easily recouped by the taxes generated by new construction. Libertarians oppose all tax increases and support measures that have a real effect on limiting government’s ability to raise taxes.
207 – [Passed] This measure will create legislation that protects private property owners from having their property stripped away and handed to private interests or other non-public uses. It also protects property owners from regulatory takings when government zones people out of use of their property. Opponents of the measure claim that this goes too far and will allow people to collect money from the taxpayers every time a zoning law is tweaked because a person “might��? build a mall on their front yard. But property owners would not be able to collect damages for things they “might��? do in theory, rather they would have to show an actual diminution of the value of their land.
Vote ‘NO’ on these seventeen:
100 / 102 / 103 – [All passed] These three anti-immigrant measures are part of Rep. Russell Pearce’s (R-18, Mesa) dream to restore “Operation Wetback.��? 100 would deny bail to illegal aliens, despite the fact that Immigration & Customs Enforcement already puts holds on those they suspect to be here illegally. 102 denies punitive damages to illegal aliens, a total non-issue. Finally, 103 would make English the only language allowed to be spoken in official government business, a proposition that has twice before been found to violate the Constitution. Could Russell Pearce find nothing better to do with his time?
104 – [Passed] This would allow local governments to increase their debt ceiling by reorganizing the accounting rules. Currently, public safety, law enforcement, emergency services, and transportation costs can be paid in part through debt incurred by the local government, but that debt level cannot exceed 6%. If this measure passes, those categories of expenses can be included with those categories in the 20% debt ceiling. The obvious consequence of this is that the local governments will borrow more, and thus raise taxes more. The rational response would be to require local governments to trim the fat from their budgets.
105 / 106 – [Both Failed] State Trust Land questions are always fun because of the very nature of the beast. Vast swaths of undeveloped land are held in trust by the State to be sold to developers for the financial benefit of the public schools. This pits the teachers’ union and the ecofascists, two of our favorite left-wing groups, against each other. The longer this battle goes on, the longer the disunity between these two groups. In this election cycle, they seem to have swallowed a bitter pill in order to compromise and solve the question. Neither of these questions takes care of the issue; 105 is a big giveaway to developers and 106 is an environmental sellout as well.
107 – [Failed] The “protect marriage��? measure is pure anti-gay bigotry, and nothing more, but it would also strip away any domestic partner benefits unmarried couples enjoy, affecting heterosexual couples as well. See the discussion below, posted on October 22.
200 – [Failed] The “Arizona Voter Reward��? is simply ridiculous. Its sponsor, the increasingly silly Dr. Mark Osterloh, correctly pinpoints the symptom of the problem, that voter turnout is decreasing. But he misdiagnoses the cause, which has little to do with people needing a shot at a million dollars and has a lot more to do with dissatisfaction with the criminals, morons, and other unqualified individuals who continue to run for office from the Bipartisan Party.
201 / 206 – [201 passed; 206 failed] Both smoking initiatives are violations of the right of private property and the freedom to choose to smoke. 201 is so draconian that it spurred RJ Reynolds to sponsor 206 on behalf of bar owners who otherwise would be put out of business. A pragmatic voter can vote in favor of 206 to save the bar owners from certain demise, but the principled Libertarian vote must be no on both measures.
202 – [Passed] Increasing the minimum wage from $5.15/hr to $6.75/hr will have a benefit to those whose wages are increased. But it will have the obvious effect of reducing employment in minimum-wage jobs and cause a lot of “working poor��? to become “not working even poorer.��? The unions support this because their members will get a wage increase, and what do they care if non-members lose their jobs? Price fixing never works, and principle requires opposition to these kinds of government controls on the economy. See the discussion below, posted on October 25.
203 – [Passed] Raising cigarette taxes by $.80/pack in order to raise money for state-run child care programs is a classic taking from Peter to give to Paul. So much so, that even the Arizona Daily Star recognized the illegitimacy of scapegoating the smokers in this way.
204 – [Passed] The humane treatment of animals may be a noble wish, but it does not belong on our ballot.
205 – [Failed] Voting by mail is a pleasant convenience for some, but it is still a nascent program that is plagued by fraud. The time may come for this initiative in the future, but that time is not now.
300 – [Passed] We’re back to Russell Pearce’s bigotry. This measure would further limit illegal aliens’ eligibility for public programs. Ironically, this initiative works against 103, because how can people learn English if Pearce wants to kick them out of English classes? If the issue is about kicking people off the dole, let’s be uniform about it and not isolate people by what amounts to racism.
301 – [Passed] This measure would take methamphetamine users out of mandatory probation for drug users that the voters overwhelmingly supported in 1996 with what is still called Prop 200 in the criminal courts. Contrary to the language in the voter guide by the Arizona Legislative Council, probationers already face jail time when they screw up on probation. This initiative scapegoats meth users more than they deserve, and the effect of this measure would be to fill up our jails more and strip meth addicts of opportunities to get clean.
302 – [Failed] Would raise legislator pay. Just what we need to add to campaign welfare for these clowns is to give them more money for doing a shoddy job.
(Thanks to David Euchner, Tucson, for this analysis. For more detailed analysis, see the discussion [here] by Bennett Kalafut.)