Okay, so its a bit presumptuous, but given my occupation and general love for all things politics, it always happens every year, right at or the night before the election, I get phone calls about this proposition or that, this candidate or that and what I think, so I'll save myself the trouble of actually talking to anyone and figured I would scribe down a few thoughts about the upcoming ballot initiatives in Arizona. Before we go any further, if you only heed one bit of advice in this whole thing, heed this: Vote NO on Prop 105.
Now, we all know that lots of people our age don't vote. Oh sure, many are registered, think they are registered, but come election day, our demographic doesn't vote. It's true. I've voted in every election since I was 18 and take it very seriously, but if you don't vote, good, because my vote counts more. I'm not about to recruit you to vote either. It's not in my best interest.
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Many people get fired up for the big national elections and that's great, but really, those are the ones that effect you the least. The rule is, the closer to home the election, the more it impacts you. Really, what do you think will impact you more, the next President or the HOA board?
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When it comes to elections, I have a couple of guidelines I like to follow and we can refer to these often:
- For a ballot initiative, when in doubt, vote no. The thinking here is that if it were an issue that needed fixed, you would have heard about it. But the initiative process is so flawed that if the campaign won't explain it to me, I figure they are hiding something or its just not necessary.
- If you don't know whether you like the incumbent (the guy in office now) or not, vote in the new guy. New guys always do less damage. It's the old farts that have been in office forever that tend to steal your money and screw the country.
For this, we will mostly focus on the various "propositions" on the Arizona ballot. Let's start at the beginning.
- Prop. 100: This has something to do with Real Estate taxes and such. Refer to rule #1. I'm voting "no"
- Prop. 101: The medical choice one. This one sounds great, it basically says that everyone in Arizona has the right to choose all their health care options. Now the whole thing revolves around whether this would mean that HMO's can't function anymore, since in effect, you are limited in lots of choices when in an HMO. The "yes" groups says it's not true, the "no" group says it will cost everyone in Arizona billions of dollars. The whole thing is funded by two out of state doctors in response to what other states are doing by forcing everyone to have insurance. Personally, it seems a bit unneeded and it IS an amendment to the Arizona Constitution. I'm going back to Rule #1 and voting "NO"
- Prop. 102: This is the marriage one. This is obviously a "values" or "moral" issue, but for me, I'm voting "YES"
- Prop 105: This is the worst thing I have ever heard of. It basically destroys the initiative process in Arizona, forever. What it says is that for any initiatives that involve any tax or fee (and it could be argued nearly every initiative costs something) increase, those that are registered to vote, but DO NOT ACTUALLY VOTE, get their vote counted as a "NO" vote. Pretty un-American if you ask me. Got that? People that don't vote, get a vote, and it's always NO if this thing passes. Many of the things we have in Arizona are because of the initiative process that raised a fee or tax, things like AHCCCS, Smoke Free Arizona, and lots of other things the lawmakers are too chicken to tackle. Vote "NO"
- Prop. 200: This involves Payday loans. I'm a bit biased, I hate Payday loans stores. Ever wonder how there is always a liquor store or tobacco shop near by? Really, start noticing. I think its really Check into Cash into Beer. Which is fine, but not for my city. All you need to know is Prop 200 is funded and written by the folks that own the stores. Vote "No"
- Prop. 201: This is the home warranty on a new house for 10 year thing. I have to agree that homes these days are built pretty crappy, but the idea that a 10 year warranty will fix anything and it will be for free is a joke. Everyone knows that when you buy a radio at Best Buy they try to sell you warrenty and its a sucker purchase. Same thing here. If you want a home with a warrenty, get one in the aftermarket. It saves everyone else lots of money. Vote "NO"
- Prop. 202: Where would be without something about illegal aliens on the ballot. This initiative is supposed to "modify" the current employer sanctions law, but from what I understand, it actually weakens the existing statutes. I'm not sure how, so referring to my rule #1 along with what I have heard, I'm going "NO" on this one too.
Now, print it, forward it, pass it along, if you want. Vote if you want, laugh at my suggustions, I don't care. As I mentioned, I did this to avoid the calls and frustrations the day after the elections when half my friends voted the wrong way. And be sure to post if it was useful or offensive.