Principles You Can Take to the Ballot Box
I have been saying for many months that the most important election of our lives may take place on November 2. The present administration in the United States is dangerously veering this nation down a road of reckless spending, social experimentation and class warfare.
As both believers and citizens, we must cry out to God for his mercy and grace and exercise our incredible right to vote for a change of direction. That vote will take place on November 2nd. My cell phone and e-mail box are already filling up with messages asking my opinion on how to vote.
Here are the principles that guide my own votes, and also some recommendations for Washington voters on how to navigate the many Initiatives on the ballot this year.
If you are a Washington State resident, please forward this e-mail to those it might help.
First of all, the principles.
There are a number of things I take into consideration when deciding how to vote for a candidate.
1. World view – Which candidate has the clearest and most consistent Judeo-Christian worldview both on economic and social issues? I actually put this before a candidate’s professed faith. You can be a Christian in heart but have a secular world view in terms of policy positions. This was the problem with Jimmy Carter in 1976. He professed faith in Christ but did not have a biblical worldview. That’s one reason why he was a poor and ineffective president.
2. Personal faith – this does make a difference. One who believes in God and has made Jesus Christ the Lord of his or her life will generally make wiser and more noble decisions in the public arena. A person of genuine faith is likely to have greater integrity and honesty than the secular candidate who has lesser restraints on his actions and words (a lack of the fear of God).
3. Do they believe in individual freedom in economic issues and government restraints on morality? This is the biblical balance. A strict libertarian believes in individual freedom in all areas, including morality. A consistent progressive believes in government controls in all areas. The biblical Christian desires freedom for business and commerce which encourages personal responsibility and prosperity but also supports government restraints on sinful behavior (abortion, pornography, homosexual marriage etc.). God wants people to both have liberty to soar and to be protected from sin.
4. Who is supporting the candidate? Endorsements tell you a lot about the views of a candidate. If I am in doubt about a particular candidate, I will look at his or her backers for a signal as to their beliefs. This is especially helpful when looking at initiatives. Birds of a feather flock together.
5. Who do I trust to have a wise and fair view of the candidates in question? I have a friend named Mary McQueen who for many years managed the Washington State Supreme Court. Mary is an attorney who shares a common faith and desire for good and principled leaders. She personally knew every judge and prominent attorney in the state. In many judicial races, where there just didn’t seem to much be information on the candidates, I would give Mary a call because I trusted her personal knowledge of the people involved.
Trust is the basis of most of the great decisions of life–including voting.
These are the questions I ask myself about candidates. For initiatives and referendums, there’s another set of questions that I use to make wise voting decisions.
1. Will this issue grow the state or empower the individual? This is the crucial issue of 2010. We are involved in a great struggle between statists (the world view of secular progressives) and freedom- loving patriots (think the Tea Party movement and average faith-based American).
2. Is this activity something that God has assigned to the governmental domain (protecting citizens) or to the private or eccesiastical spheres (providing for human needs)?
3. Will this law raise taxes? I always say no to new taxes. Why? Because biblical tyranny begins when government takes more than ten to twenty percent of personal income. We are now approaching fifty to sixty percent in America, and some European nations are over the seventy per cent mark. We don’t need more taxes. We need better use of resources.
4. Is this initiative pro-freedom and entrepreneurship? Motivated-and-lower-taxed individuals create the jobs, not government bureaucracies.
5. Will this issue protect the God-given family and our precious children? The family, and its crucial role in nurturing the next generation of children, is the bedrock of any enlightened society.
6. Does the Bible deal directly with this issue (such as marriage and various crimes)? God’s ways always produce freedom and blessing when followed by a wise people.
7. Does this issue encourage good stewardship of the environment and natural resources while looking market forces and individual decisions for direction (not rabid environmentalism)?
8. Does this issue encourage or squelch religious faith?
I hope this set of guidelines helps you make some wise and critical votes on November 2.
For fellow Washingtonians: I have never seen such a complicated initiative ballot than the one we’ve received in 2010. After studying those issues myself, I came across some information from the Faith & Freedom Network, that is extremely helpful to me–especially on Initiatives 1100 and 1105.
Here’s where the issue of trust comes in. Matt Shea is a Spokane-area representative that I know and trust a great deal. He’s one of the shining lights in our current legislature. Matt has taken the time to give his perspective on the labyrinth of initiative issues. I agree with his assessment.
BALLOT MEASURE ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Initiative Measure No. 1053 – Concerns tax and fee increases imposed by state government. This measure would restate existing statutory requirements that legislative actions raising taxes must be approved by two-thirds legislative majorities or receive voter approval, and that new or increased fees require majority legislative approval.
– Vote Yes. “All power is inherent in the people…” Washington Constitution Article 1, Section 1. The people decided to put another limitation and check on an out of control government. What’s more Republican than that?
Initiative Measure No. 1082 – Concerns industrial insurance. This measure would authorize employers to purchase private industrial insurance (a/k/a workers’ compensation) beginning July 1, 2012; direct the Legislature to enact conforming legislation by March 1, 2012; and eliminate the worker-paid share of medical-benefit premiums.
– Vote Yes. Washington is one of only four states that do not allow a private option. This measure would lower the L&I cost and provide much need relief to our struggling small business owners.
Initiative Measure No. 1098 – Concerns establishing a state income tax and reducing other taxes.
This measure would tax “adjusted gross income” above $200,000 (individuals) and 400,000 (joint-filers), reduce state property tax levies, reduce certain business and occupation taxes, and direct any increased revenues to education and health.
– Vote No. This violates the State Constitution Article 7, Section 1 which reads “All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. The word “property” as used herein shall mean and include everything, whether tangible or intangible, subject to ownership.” The State Supreme Court has correctly ruled on multiple occasions that income (defined here as the fruits of one’s labor) is property. That is consistent with the founding fathers view as well.
Initiative Measure No. 1100 – Concerns liquor (beer, wine and spirits). This measure would close state liquor stores; authorize sale, distribution, and importation of spirits by private parties; and repeal certain requirements that govern the business operations of beer and wine distributors and producers.
– Vote Yes. The role of government is to protect our God given unalienable rights to life, liberty, and property not run liquor stores. Like taxpayer funding of abortion clinics, it is also morally reprehensible to use tax payer dollars to distribute liquor.
Initiative Measure No. 1105 – Concerns liquor (beer, wine and spirits). This measure would close all state liquor stores and license private parties to sell or distribute spirits. It would revise laws concerning regulation, taxation and government revenues from distribution and sale of spirits.
– Vote No. This expands the size and scope of government through new mandates and licenses effectively trading one monopoly for another. It also proposes two tax increases.
Initiative Measure No. 1107 – Concerns reversing certain 2010 amendments to state tax laws.
This measure would end sales tax on candy; end temporary sales tax on some bottled water; end temporary excise taxes on carbonated beverages; and reduce tax rates for certain food processors.
– Vote Yes. Cuts taxes and eliminates a massive regulatory burden on businesses to figure out which items are “candy” and should be taxed.
Referendum Measure 52– Concerns authorizing and funding bonds for energy efficiency projects in school per EHB 2561 as passed by the Legislature. This bill would authorize bonds to finance construction and repair projects increasing energy efficiency in public schools and higher education buildings, and continue the sales tax on bottled water otherwise expiring in 2013.
– Vote No. This is deficit spending and dishonest. This would allow “projected energy savings” to be the asset against which to bond half a billion dollars at a total cost to tax payers of almost $1 billion.
Senate Joint Resolution 8225– The Legislature has proposed a constitutional amendment concerning the limitation on state debt. SJR 8225 would require the state to reduce the interest accounted for in calculating the constitutional debt limit, by the amount of federal payments scheduled to be received to offset that interest.
– Vote No. This is an accounting trick to allow the state to borrow more money above the current constitutional debt limit while our spending remains out-of-control.
Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220– The legislature has proposed a constitutional amendment on denying bail for persons charged with certain criminal offenses. ESHJR 4220 would authorize courts to deny bail for offenses punishable by the possibility of life in prison, on clear and convincing evidence of a propensity for violence that would likely endanger persons.
– Vote Yes. This would restore the original understanding of when bail could be denied for “capital offenses.” Had this been in place it likely would have prevented the infamous Lakewood shooting.
Don’t forget to pray and don’t forget to vote on or before November 2. Edmund Burke wisely said that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
That’s another principle you can take to the ballot box.
Pray and Vote
Possibly the most important election of our lifetime will take place three weeks from today. I will be on a long plane flight across the Pacific as the day dawns on America soil–but I will arrive back from Asia in time to watch the returns.
Despite jet lag and fatigue, I will be glued to the set.
I’ve already received the various voter pamphlets that spell out the issues and candidates in this year’s mid-term elections. In one week, our all-mail-in state will send out the ballots that need to be marked. In other states, there will be a combination of absentee ballots and actual polling stations that people will utilize on or before November 2.
The future of America hangs in the balance this first Tuesday of November.
I am boldly asking you to use the influence you possess to get people to pray and vote wisely.
One man clearly trumpeting the need to pray and vote is Mathew Staver. In 1989, Matt became the founder of Liberty Counsel and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Liberty Counsel is a litigation, education and policy organization with offices in Orlando, Florida, Lynchburg, Virginia, and hundreds of affiliate attorneys in all fifty states. Liberty Counsel was one of the first religious liberty litigation organizations in the country. In the early 1990s, Matt was one of the first to pioneer a new legal strategy and theory in litigating religious liberty cases, using the First Amendment Free Speech Clause.
I can’t say any better what Matt shares below. There are many movements in America this year that are calling believers to action. However, Liberty Counsel’s thrust really understands the enemy we’re fighting and the need to engage him with both spiritual and natural weapons.
Please pray and vote for godly change in America.
RB
From Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel
Dear Friend,
America’s socialists are uniting – more than most of us realize.
The October 2 “One Nation” rally in Washington, DC, was billed as a major event and was attended by representatives from virtually every leftist organization operating in America. Groups like the People’s Organization for Progress, Progressive Democrats of America, Planned Parenthood, and People for the American Way were there. Many radical union members were PAID to attend.
Although the rally turnout was lower than expected, here is what shocked me: Members of the Communist Party USA openly carried signs boldly announcing their propaganda.
Even more shocking was the way in which the Communists were embraced and welcomed by the “Progressives” (a nice name for liberal extremists) – while many in the so-called mainstream media conveniently chose not to show their viewers footage of the Communist presence.
The socialization of America is well under way.
The Obama scheme of “Change,” as embraced by his radical socialist cohorts and rammed down the collective throats of grassroots Americans, is designed to do one thing–to reshape America into a socialist nation.
On one day, one vote can change America’s destiny.
Our nation’s future is riding on November’s midterm elections. Many are calling it the single most important election in decades. Concerned Christian and values voters MUST turn out in record numbers for this election! We simply must reverse the momentum of the radical socialists.
That’s why, today, I am announcing the election countdown phase of our “Pray & Vote 2010” campaign that will help restore our nation. Pray & Vote 2010’s goal is to reach FOUR MILLION pro-faith,pro-family, and pro-liberty citizens and fully engage them in this historic election. We believe that four million committed conservative voters could change the course of the election – and our nation.
Why the Socialists Despise This Effort.
The media and intellectual elites despise it when any mention of God or faith is made in association with an election.They demand a “secular” society and a “secular” debate. So as we boldly announce a “Pray & Vote” campaign that will reach four million citizens, imagine the response we will get from the radical Left.
That’s why I am personally asking you to take a stand with us right now and say, “I Will Pray and I Will Vote!” It takes just moments to take a stand that could literally change the course of our nation.
Pray & Vote 2010 is a multi-media campaign that will use the resources of the Internet as well as television and radio to get the word out from coast to coast. Once you sign up, I’ll need your help to engage your friends, co-workers, and those in your church or community group to join us as well.
Reaching four million people is an attainable goal when thousands of committed citizens utilize their personal spheres of influence, the Internet, and mass media to spread the message.
Here’s how YOU can help:
- ENROLL: By signing your commitment to Pray & Vote, you will be among many, many thousands
of others who are committed to changing the course of America through prayer and exercising
their right to vote. - ENCOURAGE: Ask your peers, family members, and fellow church or civic organization members to
pray for our nation and for God’s direction for our nation – and to become an informed voter who will cast their ballot on November 2. Encourage them to sign Liberty Counsel’s Pray & Vote commitment. - ENGAGE: Call your incumbents’ offices – and those challenging them to become a representative of the people. Learn where candidates stand on issues important to you! Then, we all must get out and VOTE.
Click here to sign your “Pray & Vote” commitment.
Liberty Counsel has important resources for you. Once you take a stand to “Pray & Vote,” our team will connect you with exclusive resources to equip you as Election Day draws near. For example, you’ll have immediate access to my special message, “What Pastors and Churches May Do.”It is a definitive review of the law governing Christian participation in political activities that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of Americans.
There are also links to access contact information for your senators and representative.
Let’s support leaders who will honor religious freedom, protect families, and venerate life! Make no mistake: Our national character will be greatly impacted by the 2010 midterm elections. With so much at stake, Liberty Counsel is calling on members and friends to help re-kindle the spiritual fire in our nation through this powerful Pray & Vote initiative.
In the eyes of the elites who rule the media, education and much of our government, your bold declaration that you will Pray & Vote is radical and unacceptable. But to our Founding Fathers, combining prayer with political participation was a sacred duty.
Thank you in advance for your participation in this vital campaign.
God bless you,
Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
The Most Hated Tax
The Founding Fathers of the United States were skeptical of government’s ability to tax. They understood that “the power to tax is the power to destroy” (Chief Justice John Marshall).
They themselves had been overtaxed by their British sovereigns and resisted strongly through the first “Tea Party” which dumped crates full of English tea into Boston Harbor.
There was one tax they hated the most.
The income tax.
Before we go there, let’s discuss the brief history of American taxation.
For the first fifty years of America’s history, the government operated through excise taxes, tariffs, and customs duties. Our wise leaders were loathe to add taxes to the backs of those working hard to make a living. They certainly didn’t believe in re-distribution–taking from the productive to give to others.
Thomas Jefferson spoke for a generation:
“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, “to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”
Our Founding Fathers believed in freedom, not socialism.
The increased costs of the Revolutionary War (remember- fought against unfair and high taxes) brought a spate of sin taxes on tobacco, liquor, etc. In the 1790s some direct taxes on homes, land, slaves and estates were added–but were later repealed by Jefferson.
The Civil War brought the first income tax–3% on those making more than $800 per year. In 1894 Congress made the first attempt at a graduated income tax, but it was ruled unconstituational in 1895. It was not until 1913 that 36 States ratified the 16th Amendment giving the Federal Government the ability to fully tax income.
There has been a dizzying ascent of American taxation since that time. In 1900, the Federal Government received only 1.3 percent of national GDP. Today the tax take is nearing 20 percent of GDP–and Americans work nearly four months of the years to satisfy the voracious appetites of all levels of government.
The Founding Fathers would have hated the income tax the most because it discourages the productive, stifles entrepreneurship, and wastes resources on bloated bureaucracies. It has also become a primary tool of class warfare in our society.
And now, some individuals want to bring a state income tax to the Evergreen State. Maybe our rulers want an “ever green supply of money” for state coffers.
The Wall Street Journal recently did a fantastic article on the foolishness of the income tax. We share it below, and encourage all Washingtonians to say an emphatic NO to Initiative 1098 on November 2.
August 14, 2010 – Wall Street Journal
The Gates of Confiscation
The battle between taxpayers and government unions will define the fiscal future of the 50 states, and the newest battlefield is Washington state. That’s where a few rich taxpayers led by Bill Gates Sr. and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are bankrolling a November ballot measure to create the state’s first income tax.
And not just a toe-in-the-water tax. They’re diving into the deep end with a proposal that would immediately impose a 5% tax rate on income above $200,000, or $400,000 for married couples. The rate would climb to 9% on single filers making $500,000, or $1 million for couples.
No state has introduced an income tax since Connecticut nearly 20 years ago, and that state’s experience has not been happy. The top rate in Hartford began at 4.5% but has since climbed to 6.5%. Washington wants to leap over that and achieve California and New Jersey heights in one giant step. Washington would move overnight from one of the nine states with no income tax to having the eighth highest rate in the country.
Mr. Gates, a wealthy lawyer whose son is among the richest men on the planet, is pitching the proposal as a chance for 97% of the voters to pay the state’s bills by socking it to the richest 3%. What he doesn’t say is that Washington’s lack of an income tax is among its main comparative advantages in luring those top 3%, along with their businesses and jobs, into the state.
In addition to Washington, the states without an income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. Combined they had an average 18.2% growth rate in jobs over the past decade, more than twice the 8.4% job growth of the nine states with the highest income tax rates, according to a new report based on Commerce Department data by the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The liberal Seattle Times accurately describes the state’s zero income tax as “a selling point. An asset. And more than that: It’s a bonus for living here.” Even liberal Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire begins her sales pitch to prospective business investors with the reminder: “No income tax.”
That’s an especially powerful attraction on the West Coast, where California and Oregon impose a top tax rate of 10.55% and 11%, respectively. Proponents say Oregon raised its income tax last year, so Washington should get in the game. But Oregon at least has no state sales tax. Washington has close to the highest sales tax burden in the nation, varying by area but reaching as high as 10% in Seattle depending on what you buy.
To win votes, the ballot measure resorts to all sorts of trickery. Unions describe the initiative as tax “relief” because it includes a mandatory cut in the hated property tax (only by 4%) and it eliminates various unpopular fees and taxes on business. Still, the overall impact of the measure is a $1.5 billion tax increase in 2012 and $2.5 billion a year by 2016. Small business taxes are cut, but they are also hit with a whopper of a new tax: a personal income tax paid out of their profits. Over half of the tax will be paid by Washington businesses.
The biggest deception is the description of the new income tax as “an excise tax on income.” This language is cleverly designed to dodge the state’s constitutional prohibition against an income tax and the requirement that any tax be “uniform upon the same property.” Obviously a tax that hits only 3% of taxpayers and applies graduated rates is anything but uniform. Proponents claim that because the tax is withheld from worker paychecks, the money was never the property of the person who earned it. That’s like saying if someone steals your paycheck, it’s not your property.
We hope Washington voters aren’t duped by the claim that only the rich will pay this tax. After two years, the law allows the legislature by simple majority to extend the tax to nearly everyone. The revenue from the tax will finance new spending, which will soar and lead to even higher deficits in the next downturn, which will create political pressure to expand the tax to the middle class.
Income taxes are always sold as a one-time way to reduce deficits, but they always become engines of greater spending, and eventually deficits. Just ask Californians. If Mr. Gates wants the rich to finance more Washington spending to create more SEIU dues-paying jobs, he and his son can do so by donating their own fortunes.