C'mon, let's give government a break
by Kurt St. Angelo
If there is one thing for which we should commend our state legislators, it's for their wisdom not to hold elections every year. Once every four years they give our democracy - and most county election officials - a well-deserved rest.
Although this may ostensibly look like a vacation for politicians and government workers, it's voters who benefit most. Off-election years offer respites from the ubiquitous drone of unimaginative and uninformative political commercials.
Sadly, this pause button on political advertising leads more voters to greater political wisdom than most political commercials.
Perhaps it was political wisdom that also led Indiana lawmakers to adopt a part-time legislature. Or perhaps instead, as economist Milton Friedman suggests, it was due to the lack of central heating and air conditioning when our constitutions were written. Paraphrasing Mark Twain, our individual rights and property are safest when our legislators are not in session, and in Indiana that's at least once a year!
Another way to give government a break is what the voters of Oakley, Idaho may do. Oakley has two city council vacancies to fill in November, but no one has filed candidacies to fill them. Write-in candidates have until October 25 to register. So far, no one has signed up to qualify. If the vacancies aren't filled, the city council will lack the needed quorum to legally carry on its business.
Not only voter-imposed, but self-imposed government breaks are also possible. For example, if merely 5 percent of illegal marijuana smokers in America's major cities turned themselves in to the police and asked for jury trials, the weight of prohibition would literally break the back of our criminal justice systems. There wouldn't be enough courts, prison cells, prosecutors and defense attorneys, not enough bailiffs, clerks, prison guards and jurors.
Local governments would literally break down if they more than minimally enforced even a fraction of the criminal statutes enacted by our state lawmakers.
Perhaps the best example of giving government a break occurred during the Clinton administration when the U.S. government ran out of money except to perform essential government services. "Essential government services" was the administration's code word for a Libertarian government.
Lawmakers showed that the nation won't go to pot when we give government a good solid Libertarian break.
If there is one thing for which we should commend our state legislators, it's for their wisdom not to hold elections every year. Once every four years they give our democracy - and most county election officials - a well-deserved rest.
Although this may ostensibly look like a vacation for politicians and government workers, it's voters who benefit most. Off-election years offer respites from the ubiquitous drone of unimaginative and uninformative political commercials.
Sadly, this pause button on political advertising leads more voters to greater political wisdom than most political commercials.
Perhaps it was political wisdom that also led Indiana lawmakers to adopt a part-time legislature. Or perhaps instead, as economist Milton Friedman suggests, it was due to the lack of central heating and air conditioning when our constitutions were written. Paraphrasing Mark Twain, our individual rights and property are safest when our legislators are not in session, and in Indiana that's at least once a year!
Another way to give government a break is what the voters of Oakley, Idaho may do. Oakley has two city council vacancies to fill in November, but no one has filed candidacies to fill them. Write-in candidates have until October 25 to register. So far, no one has signed up to qualify. If the vacancies aren't filled, the city council will lack the needed quorum to legally carry on its business.
Not only voter-imposed, but self-imposed government breaks are also possible. For example, if merely 5 percent of illegal marijuana smokers in America's major cities turned themselves in to the police and asked for jury trials, the weight of prohibition would literally break the back of our criminal justice systems. There wouldn't be enough courts, prison cells, prosecutors and defense attorneys, not enough bailiffs, clerks, prison guards and jurors.
Local governments would literally break down if they more than minimally enforced even a fraction of the criminal statutes enacted by our state lawmakers.
Perhaps the best example of giving government a break occurred during the Clinton administration when the U.S. government ran out of money except to perform essential government services. "Essential government services" was the administration's code word for a Libertarian government.
Lawmakers showed that the nation won't go to pot when we give government a good solid Libertarian break.
posted by Kurt St. Angelo at 12:04 AM
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