Adumbration

With a couple days remaining before the election, here is the rationale for my votes on various initiatives on the ballot in Washington.

YES on 1185 - this initiative "would restate existing statutory requirements that legislative actions raising taxes must be approved by two-thirds legislative majorities".  The state does many things poorly (e.g. see 1240), and many other things it actively makes worse (e.g. see 502); improving this performance should be the first goal to reform, while increasing government revenue only makes more of our resources subject to such loss.  In addition, supermajority provisions tend to better protect the popular minority from abuses of government power by the majority.  If we can't convince two-thirds of us that a measure is a good thing for the government to take on, then perhaps those who support such measures should try to find a way to accomplish those ends on their own.

YES on 1240 - this initiative "would authorize up to forty publicly-funded charter schools".  It is a truism that government schools are failing our children; parents pay taxes that nominally are used for education, yet are stuck with inadequate service when they find that the schools available in their neighborhoods are not up to the unique needs of their children, or else they must pay twice for education if they opt to find educational alternatives outside the public school system.  Low income parents can be most adversely affected by this situation, who have more constrained resources to devote to education, but even middle class parents are limited in education choices available for their children through the government schools.  This initiative does not restore full control of parents to find for themselves the best educational environment to suit their children.  Nor does it improve the situation with school administration, where the size of school districts map to political dimensions that have no relation to what might be the right level of organization.  However, the initiative does offer the potential for greater variety of alternatives from which people may choose, and greater variety means that parents will be more likely to find a situation that better suits their individual needs.

Approved on 74 - "this bill would allow same-sex couples to marry".  The state should have no voice in the personal relations or commitments made by consenting adults.  Legal control of marriage is a relatively recent development, but the main effect is in how property rights are held and dispositioned when marriages between two people are formed and dissolved.  There is a convention in how those property rights are treated, which should be open to any couple who so chooses.

YES on 502 - "this measure would license and regulate marijuana".  My support to drug war reform has extended all of my adult life.  This is based first upon reasons of individual rights, but also on practical considerations surrounding the complete failure of the drug war to limit access to drugs in the United States, while simultaneously increasing crime and otherwise draining the public purse.  Allowing access by adults to marijuana is a small but significant step in the right direction.