I thank the more than fourteen thousand voters who voted for me in the November 2004 general election, and I thank the news media and event organizers who provided a respectful forum for me to express my views. Congratulations to my opponent, Bob Margett, who won re-election to the California State Senate by a margin of 28 points.
Even though I did not win, the votes cast for me send an important message to state law-makers, that a growing number of voters want less taxes, less regulation, more economic freedom, more personal freedom, and generally less government. That is why voting Libertarian is so important. There is no way to send that message other than to vote Libertarian. It is why I ran.
I made the defeat of Prop 72 (mandated healthcare) a centerpiece of my campaign. I am relieved that Prop 72 was defeated, but not encouraged by the slim margin of its defeat. Proponents of mandated healthcare will try again, and they will surely succeed next time. The future of California sometimes looks bleak.
Statewide propositions that went as I recommended were [1A 59 60 60A 62 64 65 67 68 69 70 72] . The ones going against me were [61 63 66 71]. That is a score of 12 out of 16. Of the four propositions that voters didn't see my way, three were schemes to spend more tax money on feel-good projects. Voters have good intentions, but they clearly do not appreciate the importance of low taxes and minimum government, and they apparently haven't heard of California's budget crisis.
Jamie Lee Curtis put Prop 61 over the top, with her TV ad appeal for children's hospitals, and her misleading claim that it would not raise taxes. Governor Arnold provided a similar benefit to Prop 71, with his TV ad campaign for stem cell research at state expense; apparently $3 billion in added bond debt means nothing to this governor. But the booby prize goes to those who voted for Prop 63, a scheme to spend $0.75 billion annually on mental health services, and charge it to the rich. Nice work, mental health industry; write your own ticket and you are set for life!
Our June '06 primary will see similar propositions to spend tax money on feel-good boondoggles. The word is out that California voters are an easy touch, and the special interests are lining up like piggies at the trough. Initiatives in the works include $9.95 billion for a 200 MPH Passenger Train, and $600 million for Library Construction.
To help slow the growth of government, please join the Libertarian Party. Call 1-800-ELECT-US, or go to WWW.LP.ORG, and become a dues-paying member. For only $25 per year, you will get a quarterly newspaper keeping you up to date with libertarian ideas and events. Do it for yourself, and for the sake of the nation.
For more about the basic libertarian point of view, see Libertarianism.com (but hurry back).
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