LPO Press Release (Oct 31)
Ohioans Urged to Vote "NO" on State IssuesIssues Increase Spending, Decrease Accountability
On November 8, Ohioans will be asked to vote on a staggering array of issues. Most of the attention has focused on the five state issues, but there will be 2074 local issues including:
Our reasons are listed below. Unfortunately, the Libertarian Party of Ohio does not have the resources to investigate all 2074 local issues. But we encourage you, the Ohio Voter, to say "NO" to increasing taxes, increasing debt, and increasing the size of your local government. Remember, the road to bad government is paved with good intentions. Consider these two questions before you vote on November 8th:
Summary: Issue One is a spending package proposed by Republican Governor Bob Taft to attract high technology business to Ohio. The money will be used to improve infrastructure deemed necessary to attract such business, increase spending for research at state universities, and provide financial incentives for companies moving to Ohio.
Libertarian Reaction: The Libertarian Party of Ohio urges voters to reject this amendment to the Ohio Constitution for the following reasons: The purpose of our state government is to create a friendly economic climate for all Ohioans by keeping taxes as low as possible, protecting our rights and property, and maintaining the rule of law in our court system. This amendment would grant special favor to businesses selected by Ohio's politicians and the rest of Ohio would be forced to help pay for those favors. This will only encourage the majority of business owners to continue moving their production to other states with the end result of fewer jobs for Ohioans.
Issue Two:
Summary: Issue Two proposes that all voters should be able to vote by mail with an absentee ballot for any reason. Currently, voters must show some cause as to why they are unable to vote in person. It has been proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian Reaction: While increasing Ohioan's ability to vote is an admirable goal, the Libertarian Party of Ohio recognizes this issue as an effort to relax the rules that protect us from voter fraud. The adoption of this amendment is likely to lead to a significant increase in cases of fraudulent voting in Ohio, as experienced in other states that have adopted similar proposals. The proposed amendment does not contain a reliable method to protect the integrity of votes cast early, nor does it provide adequate safeguards to ensure that only eligible and qualified voters would be able to use these procedures. Secondly, this amendment is not necessary because Ohio law already contains generous absentee voting provisions. Currently, any Ohio voter with a legitimate reason for being absent on Election Day can obtain an absentee ballot. In fact, there are 16 reasons that allow absentee voting under current Ohio law, including: military service; health and physical disability issues; work related issues; being age 62 or older; or, simply that the voter expects to be absent from the county on Election Day for personal reasons.
Issue Three:
Summary: Issue Three proposes to severely limit campaign contributions made by individuals, yet allows unlimited "bundled" contributions from organized labor. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian Reaction: Limits on political contributions violate citizens' rights under the US and Ohio Constitutions to free speech, peaceable assembly, and petition the government. That is why, in fact, an amendment must be made to effect this new rule. Besides the philosophical implications, it has been demonstrated repeatedly, and most recently By Tom Noe and Gov. Bob Taft that there are innumerable methods to circumvent the intent of these restrictions. Creating more campaign finance limits only discourages honest people from running for public office. Dishonest politicians love to create more campaign finance laws because these laws increase their power over honest politicians.
Secondly, by providing exemptions for labor unions, this amendment shows its true colors as a benefit for Democrats at the expense of others.
Issue Four:
Summary: Issue Four proposes to increase the number of "competitive" legislative districts by removing the legislature's ability to create districts and granting this authority to a new commission appointed by two sitting judges. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian reaction: No one except politicians like gerrymandered districts, and this issue will worsen the problem. There is a two-party monopoly on political power in Ohio and this amendment is a desperate fight from the party currently out of power to obtain more legislative seats. This proposed amendment defines "competition" by creating districts that are 50% known Republicans and 50% known Democrats without recognizing independents or minor parties. This proposed amendment boldy assumes that Republicans and Democrats own the voters and demand that these voters be divided up equally between them.
Secondly, We believe that forcing districts to be 50% Republican and 50% Democrat will actually make gerrymandering even worse than it is today. Democrats tried this before with the idea of "minority majority" districts in the 1990's. They made a mockery of the system, and led to the polarization of the electorate. Democrats have now apparently changed their minds and prefer their own definition of "competition".
Thirdly, Libertarians are generally opposed to granting more power to appointed bureaucrats at the expense of elected officials. This amendment would take away legislative power and grant it to an unelected and unaccountable board.
Fourthly, Libertarians know that there will be real competition only when Ohio is free to have more than two political parties.
Issue Five:
Summary: Issue Five proposes to end the Secretary of State's duties to supervise and conduct elections and grant this authority to an appointed board composed of four members appointed by the Governor, four members appointed by the political party other than the Governor, and one non-partisan member appointed unanimous vote of the Ohio Supreme Court. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian reaction: This is yet another example of the "sour grapes" found in these four amendments sponsored by Reform Ohio Now. It proposes to remove power from the elected Secretary of State and grant that power to an unelected and unaccountable appointed body of bureaucrats. History has shown that granting power to unelected individuals has a tendency to encourage corruption and discourage transparency. This amendment would also create a new bureaucracy that would need additional tax dollars from the legislature to operate.
Conclusion
Ohioans are faced with five state issues this year. One of them is a pork barrel project to increase spending and borrowing by Governor Bob Taft. The others are desperate attempts by Democrats to wrestle for control over Ohio while boldly presuming to own the votes of Ohio's residents. The Libertarian Party of Ohio urges you to vote "No" on all five state issues.
For more information on the state issues, including arguments for and against please visit: http://www.sos.state.oh.us
On November 8, Ohioans will be asked to vote on a staggering array of issues. Most of the attention has focused on the five state issues, but there will be 2074 local issues including:
- 36 bond issues,
- 1,076 tax issues,
- 557 local option questions,
- 101 tax changes,
- 183 charter changes
- 65 zoning amendments, among others.
Our reasons are listed below. Unfortunately, the Libertarian Party of Ohio does not have the resources to investigate all 2074 local issues. But we encourage you, the Ohio Voter, to say "NO" to increasing taxes, increasing debt, and increasing the size of your local government. Remember, the road to bad government is paved with good intentions. Consider these two questions before you vote on November 8th:
- Does increasing government truly solve the problems in your area?
- Or is government actually the problem, not the solution?
Summary: Issue One is a spending package proposed by Republican Governor Bob Taft to attract high technology business to Ohio. The money will be used to improve infrastructure deemed necessary to attract such business, increase spending for research at state universities, and provide financial incentives for companies moving to Ohio.
Libertarian Reaction: The Libertarian Party of Ohio urges voters to reject this amendment to the Ohio Constitution for the following reasons: The purpose of our state government is to create a friendly economic climate for all Ohioans by keeping taxes as low as possible, protecting our rights and property, and maintaining the rule of law in our court system. This amendment would grant special favor to businesses selected by Ohio's politicians and the rest of Ohio would be forced to help pay for those favors. This will only encourage the majority of business owners to continue moving their production to other states with the end result of fewer jobs for Ohioans.
Issue Two:
Summary: Issue Two proposes that all voters should be able to vote by mail with an absentee ballot for any reason. Currently, voters must show some cause as to why they are unable to vote in person. It has been proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian Reaction: While increasing Ohioan's ability to vote is an admirable goal, the Libertarian Party of Ohio recognizes this issue as an effort to relax the rules that protect us from voter fraud. The adoption of this amendment is likely to lead to a significant increase in cases of fraudulent voting in Ohio, as experienced in other states that have adopted similar proposals. The proposed amendment does not contain a reliable method to protect the integrity of votes cast early, nor does it provide adequate safeguards to ensure that only eligible and qualified voters would be able to use these procedures. Secondly, this amendment is not necessary because Ohio law already contains generous absentee voting provisions. Currently, any Ohio voter with a legitimate reason for being absent on Election Day can obtain an absentee ballot. In fact, there are 16 reasons that allow absentee voting under current Ohio law, including: military service; health and physical disability issues; work related issues; being age 62 or older; or, simply that the voter expects to be absent from the county on Election Day for personal reasons.
Issue Three:
Summary: Issue Three proposes to severely limit campaign contributions made by individuals, yet allows unlimited "bundled" contributions from organized labor. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian Reaction: Limits on political contributions violate citizens' rights under the US and Ohio Constitutions to free speech, peaceable assembly, and petition the government. That is why, in fact, an amendment must be made to effect this new rule. Besides the philosophical implications, it has been demonstrated repeatedly, and most recently By Tom Noe and Gov. Bob Taft that there are innumerable methods to circumvent the intent of these restrictions. Creating more campaign finance limits only discourages honest people from running for public office. Dishonest politicians love to create more campaign finance laws because these laws increase their power over honest politicians.
Secondly, by providing exemptions for labor unions, this amendment shows its true colors as a benefit for Democrats at the expense of others.
Issue Four:
Summary: Issue Four proposes to increase the number of "competitive" legislative districts by removing the legislature's ability to create districts and granting this authority to a new commission appointed by two sitting judges. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian reaction: No one except politicians like gerrymandered districts, and this issue will worsen the problem. There is a two-party monopoly on political power in Ohio and this amendment is a desperate fight from the party currently out of power to obtain more legislative seats. This proposed amendment defines "competition" by creating districts that are 50% known Republicans and 50% known Democrats without recognizing independents or minor parties. This proposed amendment boldy assumes that Republicans and Democrats own the voters and demand that these voters be divided up equally between them.
Secondly, We believe that forcing districts to be 50% Republican and 50% Democrat will actually make gerrymandering even worse than it is today. Democrats tried this before with the idea of "minority majority" districts in the 1990's. They made a mockery of the system, and led to the polarization of the electorate. Democrats have now apparently changed their minds and prefer their own definition of "competition".
Thirdly, Libertarians are generally opposed to granting more power to appointed bureaucrats at the expense of elected officials. This amendment would take away legislative power and grant it to an unelected and unaccountable board.
Fourthly, Libertarians know that there will be real competition only when Ohio is free to have more than two political parties.
Issue Five:
Summary: Issue Five proposes to end the Secretary of State's duties to supervise and conduct elections and grant this authority to an appointed board composed of four members appointed by the Governor, four members appointed by the political party other than the Governor, and one non-partisan member appointed unanimous vote of the Ohio Supreme Court. This issue was proposed by Reform Ohio Now, a group sponsored by Democrats from Washington DC.
Libertarian reaction: This is yet another example of the "sour grapes" found in these four amendments sponsored by Reform Ohio Now. It proposes to remove power from the elected Secretary of State and grant that power to an unelected and unaccountable appointed body of bureaucrats. History has shown that granting power to unelected individuals has a tendency to encourage corruption and discourage transparency. This amendment would also create a new bureaucracy that would need additional tax dollars from the legislature to operate.
Conclusion
Ohioans are faced with five state issues this year. One of them is a pork barrel project to increase spending and borrowing by Governor Bob Taft. The others are desperate attempts by Democrats to wrestle for control over Ohio while boldly presuming to own the votes of Ohio's residents. The Libertarian Party of Ohio urges you to vote "No" on all five state issues.
For more information on the state issues, including arguments for and against please visit: http://www.sos.state.oh.us
posted by CincinnatiLibertarian at 10:40 AM
2 Comments:
Your comments sound more Republican than Libertarian on Issues 3-5!
You say RON is sponsored by D.C. Dems, yet you do not point out that opposition is sponsored by corporations and wealthy Republicans. Is one worse than the other? If so, why?
You also claim that the Issues are a "desperate" attempt by Dems to regain some power. Are you familiar with House Bill 1 (passed Dec '04)? HB-1 is a campaign finance boondoogle written by the same statehouse Republicans who were being investigated for breaking the old campaign finance laws.
The bill was written by corrupt politicians and lobbyists to weaken unions and bolster corporate and wealthy individual influence. RON is not an attempt by Dems to finagle more power; it is a reaction to a GOP attempt to finagle more power. Therefore it is more an attempt to level the playing field which was tilted by the GOP than an effort to finagle more power.
The more that power is concentrated in one party, the harder it is to change the system. Issue 4 prevents further concentration of such power in one party, and thus I see it as being an important factor to help return power to individuals and 3rd parties.
How does this sound Republican? From a Libertarian stand point, Issue 3 will reduce the amount of money that we can raise. Since we are a small party, we only have a handful of people willing to donate money. A candidate needs to rely on big donations from a handful of party members to have even a slightly respectable campaign. Yet at the same time, Labor Unions will be allowed to make unlimited donations. So this will not only hurt any party that wants to challenge the 2 party duopoly, but it will put a lot more power into the hands of a group that has historically supported Democrats.
And as far as having appointed boards to run the board of elections and districting, let’s not forget that worker’s comp is run by an appointed board, appointed in a manner similar to what is being proposed here. As a result, we have one of the most expensive and slowest worker’s comp systems in the country. The reason for it is the bureau of worker’s comp is appointed by our politicians, and thus can be fired by our politicians. We can’t vote out this board, nor will be able to vote out these two new boards should their issues be approved, but we certainly can vote out our Secretary of State for doing a bad job, and I am sure Ken Blackwell is happy he is not running for re-election (although I doubt he will have much more luck running for governor).
And as far as gerrymandering, I would like to see it be gone as much as anybody else; however, this proposal will not get rid of it. This new ‘independent’ commission will not be independent, they will be appointed by our elected politicians. They will be looking out for the best interests of their party. With a board being 50/50 of each party, with the rubber vote being whoever wins the Governor’s office, the board will still be run by a single party. And of course any third parties will be left out of the loop.
This is simply going to change how it is gerrymandered.
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