Also in last Tuesday’s Republican ballots were a series of “propositions” — basically, a way for the Texas Republican Party to gauge the feelings of their supporters for ideas that should be considered for inclusion as planks in their party platform in future elections. They make for interesting reading (with my vote + reasons):
Proposition 1:
Texas property taxes should be assessed at the purchase price and phased out entirely over the next six years through spending reductions. — Yes (government should get only one bite at the cherry, not an annual one; if they need more money, let them beg for it at election time, or sell bonds)
Proposition 2:
Texas should require any local government budget that raises property taxes to be approved by voters at a November general election. — Yes (one of my buddies recently moved to a “growing” area, and was presented with a 40% increase in his property tax for next year; municipalities should never think they have an open checkbook)
Proposition 3:
Texas should prohibit denial of healthcare or any medical service based solely on the patient’s vaccination status. — Yes (screw those Covid-type excrescences)
Proposition 4:
Texas should require its public schools to teach that life begins at fertilization. — Yes (although I have some reservations about this, I can see why it’s been suggested)
Proposition 5:
Texas should ban gender, sexuality, and reproductive clinics and services in K-12 schools. — Yes (if the kids feel they need any of those, they can do it with their parents, outside school)
Proposition 6:
Texas should enact term limits on all elected officials. — Yes (although I sometimes like it when we get a good ‘un, I don’t like any politician to get too comfortable in a sinecure)
Proposition 7:
Texas should ban the large-scale export or sale of our groundwater and surface water to any single private or public entity. — Yes (we don’t have a lot of water in the Lone Star State, and we need to guard it jealously)
Proposition 8:
The Texas Legislature should reduce the burden of illegal immigration on taxpayers by ending public services for illegal aliens. — Yes (especially education, which has stuck in my craw for decades)
Proposition 9:
The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature should stop awarding leadership positions, including committee and subcommittee chairmanships and vice chairmanships, to Democrats. — Yes (because Democrats are not to be trusted with any levers of power)
Proposition 10:
Texas should prohibit Sharia Law. — Yes (to address any First Amendment qualms on this issue, see what’s happened in Britishland)
I’ll be interested to see how this all plays out.
I have no qualms about prohibiting Sharia Law. It’s not prohibiting the free exercise of religion; the difference is apparent in the name itself. It’s prohibiting a separate legal system from being implemented alongside, but separate from, the laws of the United States, Texas, the county and, if incorporated, the municipality.
Believe what you want, worship however you want, do whatever you want in the name of your religion provided you don’t commit crimes and/or violate the rights of others. But you are subject to the same laws as everyone else, and only those laws.
The qualms I have is that Sharia law is inexorably tied to Islam, and that gives Muslims a lever to use to get whatever laws come from this proposition to be thrown out.
It would much rather have had it *explicitly* state that “There is one, and only one legal system in Texas, based on laws and regulations that are enacted by the state, county and local governments. Alternative legal systems are not considered laws within Texas”.
Something like this would not only cover Sharia law, but if some more radical Christian sect (like the Church, The Sword and the Arm of the Lord) or a group like the Mormons tried to carve out a city based on their texts they’d get the same treatment.
How about the Democrat propositions? Are the propositions party specific and only on the party’s ballot?
I think California and I know that Massachusetts have a law called Proposition 2-1/2. In Massachusetts, a municipality cannot raise taxes more than 2-1/2%. If they want more than that amount, they have to put the increase to a ballot vote in the town. Unfortunately too many towns in massachusetts willfully increase their taxes
I have no idea what was contained in the Democrat ballot.
Not being a Texan, I have no dog in this fight. That notwithstanding, I generally agree fully or in part will most of these. My (limited) exception is with Prop 8. I’d carve out some form of healthcare, specifically anything aimed at limiting the spread of communicable diseases. I say the 1st thing that should be done with an illegal immigrant is run them through a military-style vaccination gauntlet*. Vaccinate the shit out of ’em before sending them back to wherever they came from because statistics show there’s a good chance they will be back eventually.
* For those without military experience, early in the time a recruit is in boot camp you go to medical to get vaccinated. The shots are administered via 2 lines of medics with jet injectors. The recruit steps forward between 2 medics who hit you in both arms with a shot. Step forward and repeat until done. I think I got 7 in about a minute and a half! It’s probably more nowadays.
“…property taxes should be assessed at the purchase price and phased out entirely…”
Amen. Too many farms that have been in a family for generations get forcefully sold off to developers because the family is land rich and cash poor. Same goes for $@$%^&* inheritance taxes.
I feel like we lose the core of America when those relatively small family farms disappear and Beigeville McMansions take their places.
“I feel like we lose the core of America when those relatively small family farms disappear and Beigeville McMansions take their places.”
Amen, brother.
The only ones I voted against was 6 and 7. My reasoning was:
6: term limits don’t help as much as we think. It creates the “up or out” constant campaigning mentality. The state rep isn’t doing his job, he’s campaigning for state senator. The governor isn’t governing, he’s campaigning for US senate (because he’s termed out.). Abbott is the best example. He’s good as governor. He wouldn’t win national office, and certainly wouldn’t thrive there, and all that would result in is us losing a good governor.
It feels good as an idea, but it’s just an attempt at a mechanical fix for a voting problem. We need to vote out shitty incumbents in primaries, not term limits them. (See Crenshaw the one eyed treason weasel.)
7: We should not be selling our water. That doesn’t mean that there is never going to be a situation where selling water makes sense, and I don’t see a reason to handcuff the lege on that issue yet. I would support requiring lege approval before any sales over a certain capacity.
I have the same reservations as you about term limits, by the way, but considering that our TX legislature isn’t in permanent session I don’t really have a problem with the concept.
The problem with long terms of office is that the truly crooked have time to work out how to game the system and get into the self-enrichment thing, and it becomes increasingly difficult to get them out because their influence has become too great. (See: Nancy Pelosi, a hundred consecutive terms, etc.)
> Texas should require its public schools to teach that life begins at fertilization.
It should be an American *norm* that legislators avoid over-specifying what is taught in the classroom. I would have voted against this purely on those grounds.
It is far better (in regards to abortion) for our culture to change–both by reducing the sexualized nature of **EVERYTHING**, to be more honest and open with our children about sexuality and birth control, and to be clear with our daughters that we LOVE them and that we won’t KILL them if they make a mistake–that if they do become pregnant we might be a bit disappointed, but we’ll figure out a path out of it.
If we were open, and had those difficult conversations with our children with love and understanding we’d (a) probably have a lot less teen pregnancies and (2) a lot less abortions.
But I guess it’s easier to vote to have the government do that for us, right?
> Proposition 7:
You have pre-existing water sharing agreements with other states based on (a small amount) of resources that Texas shares with other states. Water wars were a thing. I don’t know if they actual text of this proposition abrogates those agreements, but West Texans are going to be pretty pissed if New Mexico says “Fine, we’ll keep it all then”.
> Texas should enact term limits on all elected officials.
My position on term limits for the legislative branch has been repeated a lot, but IMO this just moves the problem from elected officials accountable to the public to unelected bureaucrats and lobbyists who *can’t* be voted out.
“IMO this just moves the problem from elected officials accountable to the public to unelected bureaucrats and lobbyists who *can’t* be voted out.”
A very valid point.
I voted “no” on #4 and #6 because of longstanding objections to both ideas. Not gonna argue about either, but then again I’m not heavily invested otherwise.