How I Intend To Vote: Judges

Most folks don't know what to do about that long list of judges. The only wrong way to vote here is to just go down the list and check "yes" next to every name. Thousands and thousands of voters simply vote "yes" on all the judges because they don't have good information. I suggest one of 3 approaches:

1. Don't vote on the judges. That's right. It's OK to not vote on some issues or races. Really. There are too many items on a presidential-year ballot for anyone to be an expert (or even well-informed) on everything. Vote on the races for which you have enough info to make a good decision.
2. Vote "no" on all the judges. My personal favorite. It helps combat all those people who automatically vote "yes" on everything. How else are we gonna get rid of activist judges in our state?
3. Vote "yes" or "no" after conducting detailed research on each judge. Of course you can start by researching the Judicial Performance Review. But may I suggest a different source. AZ Judges Review has the real dirt on some of these judges. Happy reading!

How I Intend To Vote: The Mesa Questions

I know that many voters have already sent in their Last-To-Be-Counted Ballots so I'm going to do my best to get through the rest of the ballot quickly. Mesa voters have this on their ballots:

Questions 1 and 2
No position.
All I have to say about these is that before you vote "yes", understand that you are authorizing Mesa to get into more debt, and that the debt is to be paid by property owners. A "yes" vote is a vote to raise taxes on yourself.

Proposition 400: The Slumlord Thing
No.
This proposition is supposed to somehow combat deteriorating properties by giving more power to the city government. None of us like to see our city rot, but until someone can give me a good argument why this particular measure is the answer to our problems I'll be voting "no".

A "no" vote is always the safer one when it comes to propositions. If you vote "no" on a good proposition there's still an opportunity to revisit the issue later. But if you vote "yes" on a bad law, those are very hard to undo. As Jedediah Jedediahson, my great uncle, twice removed would always say, "When in doubt, vote 'no'". Good advice. There is usually less regret that way.

Thoughts on Mesa blog has some...well, thoughts about Prop 400.

Yes on 8 Sign Theft

How I Intend to Vote: The Statute Propositions

With the proposed constitutional amendments out of the way let's talk about Propositions 200 through 300.

Proposition 200: Pay Day Loans
No.
Look, I have no problems with the existence of pay day loan places. I believe that many are legitimate businesses that provide a useful services. And what other businesses have dared redevelop blighted street corners that were left vacant after our over-zealous environmental laws shut down so many local gas stations?

With that said, I'm still voting "no" on Prop 200. It is very technical, long, and complicated, and is precisely the type of issue that should be debated and refined in our legislature. Note to self: it's generally a good idea to just vote "no" on long, complicated ballot propositions.

Proposition 201: Home Warranties
No.
Like Prop 200, this gets a "no" vote because it is long and complicated. And it's funded by labor unions. And it's a bad idea.

Prop 200 purports to protect homeowners if they buy a home with defects. But homeowners are already protected by current Arizona law that says any time a defect is found in a house, homeowners simply notify the seller and provide them an opportunity to inspect and repair it before any lawsuits are filed. The current law also offers a process to resolve problems without expensive lawsuits.

This brilliant piece of satire made it into the Publicity Pamphlet (emphasis added):
Help increase litigation payouts by supporting Prop. 201
Coming from a family of trial lawyers, I was thrilled to see the Sheet Metal Union put Prop. 201 on the ballot. If you don't know, under current law if you sue a builder for an alleged construction defect and the claim turns out to be frivolous, the builder is eligible to recover reasonable attorney fees as awarded by the court. The problem with this provision is that it discourages large scale class action lawsuits against builders, which are needed to intimidate them into settling out of court.
But now with Prop. 201, home builders will no longer be eligible to recover court costs, meaning attorneys will be able to file as many lawsuits as they want with no fear of actually having to pay for the litigation. The result is that buffer claims, a much needed component to help expand the size and scope of construction defect lawsuits, can be included as a way to increase settlement payouts.
Some people try to give trial attorneys a bad name, but using the court process is a legitimate and smart way to make money. I believe that the legal process needs to utilized to its fullest extent, and that is why come November, please support Prop. 201.
Beau Flahart, Gilbert

Proposition 202: Facilitating Illegal Hiring
No. No. No.
Do not vote "yes" on this! It is a lie. It is touted as somehow fighting illegal immigration when it does exactly the opposite. Prop 202 creates a loophole in current law, allowing to employers to get away with hiring illegal workers by saying: "but we didn't know that he was illegal".

Fittingly, the Prop 202 campaign is funded by the same open-borders people who funded the Kevin Gibbons campaign to smear Russell Pearce. Remember the signs that read: "Kevin Gibbons, Protecting our Borders"? As though Gibbons would somehow do more to secure our borders than Pearce. The same kind of deception is being used to promote Prop 202.

Proposition 300: Legislators Salaries
Yes.
This is on the ballot every time yet it gets voted down every time. Look, this is not about whether or not our legislators deserve a raise. The lower the salaries, the harder it is for ordinary people to hold office. Being a legislator requires so much time that it's impossible to simultaneously hold a regular, full-time job. Voting for a raise in salary increases the pool of good candidates who are willing to run for and hold office in our state legislature.

How I Intend to Vote: The Constitutional Amendment Propositions

It's a long ballot so we'll do this in parts. These are my views only and don't even necessarily represent Marily's...but she still loves me anyway! :) And do I have to disclose that these are not endorsed by any candidate? At least I approve of this message. If you have any insights to share please leave a comment!

I'm sure most ya'll already know that the propositions in the 100's are constitutional amendments, the 200's are statutes placed on the ballot via the initiative process, and the 300's are referendum statutes (referred from the legislators to the voters for approval).

Proposition 100: Tax on Real Estate Sales
No.
Arizona does not have a sales tax on sales of homes so Prop 100 wouldn't actually change things as they currently stand. It would prevent the legislature, voters, or judges from imposing one in the future. Although I'm not in favor of a real estate sales tax I'm voting "no" on Prop 100 because I think we need to totally re-do our tax system and Prop 100 would limit our options in the future.

For example, there have been a number of ideas put forth that would do away with our current income tax system and replace it with, say, a consumption (sales) tax. If we were to totally reform our tax system, Prop 100 could get in the way.

Proposition 101: Health Care Choice
Yes.
This amendment simply states that you should always have the right to choose your own health care. Like, Prop 100 this is a preventative measure that does not change the way things are right now. But it really upsets those who like the Socialist idea of universal health care.

Opponents of Prop 101 give themselves away by saying in the publicity pamphlet that they oppose the measure because it would prohibit "a government backed universal health care plan". Another group by the name of Arizona Coalition for a State and National Health Plan opposes Prop 101. Why? Well clearly they want "a State and National Health Plan" where bureaucrats call the shots, whereas most folks would rather make their own choices.

To get info on how the governor is using illegal tactics to campaign against Prop 101 check this out.

Proposition 102: The Marriage Amendment
YES, YES, YES!
If you don't know how this will affect you watch this video produced by the California Marriage Amendment campaign, and this one that Marily posted earlier. Marily and I wrote about the Wirthlins' experience in our Publicity Pamphlet article.

I think it says a lot to consider how many opponents are resorting to theft, violence, and harassment to silence those of us who want to protect marriage. Most of us have already had our Yes on 102 yard signs stolen at least once or know friends who have been victims of theft. The "sign guy" at the campaign office (I don't know his official title but that's what we call him) says that they can't keep up with repairing or replacing the large signs that are being vandalized and stolen. If you were in California you might take a punch to the face for defending marriage; "Jose Nunez, 37, was brutally assaulted while waiting to distribute yard signs to other supporters of the initiative after church services at the St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto."

Proposition 105: Majority Rules
Unsure.
Prop 105 makes it very difficult, almost impossible, to raise taxes in Arizona through a ballot proposition. That's a good thing, especially because businesses and other special interests have learned that it's often easier and cheaper to convince voters to give them tax money than to convince politicians to do so.

Consider Janet's T.I.M.E initiative that failed to get on the ballot this year. It would have raised sales taxes and then allowed the governor to hand pick favored contractors to do the special construction projects. Why didn't she do what most governors do and work with the legislature to pass a tax increase? Two reasons: 1) tax increases require a super majority of legislators; 2) experienced lawmakers would not likely be tricked into supporting something that allowed the governor to make sweetheart deals to her friends. But ordinary voters are easier to fool. Just put together some slick ads about how some proposition will be an economic engine, and pay for new fire stations, and provide pencils for school children and you've got a winning campaign.

Something that would make tax increases more difficult to pass--like Prop 105 does--would be very helpful in Arizona. My one concern is that the idea of counting a majority of all registered voters instead of a majority of those who actually vote would become accepted into other areas of legislation. In any case, I guarantee that you will annoy a lot of liberals in a big way if you vote "yes" on Prop 105.

Another Video

Maybe my favorite video yet! This one is in support of the California Marriage Amendment, proposition 8. And it's pretty short....



Check out PreservingMarriage.org for more videos like these.

Finally...a project

I have always considered myself somewhat crafty. Recently I realized I've been fooling myself. Because, you see, crafty people CRAFT. And it's been awhile.

My sister Bethany's nursery inspired me to make her a gift. Finally I had a good enough reason to make something. Here's how it went:

I found some cute pictures of little girls online and filled them in to make silhouettes. Some of the pictures looked better as silhouettes than others:

Ballerina seemed to loose her girl-next-door innocence once those lines and patterns were gone.

Here are the supplies for my project:

And here are the finished products:
I was going to have the pictures printed but in the end decided on cutting out then tracing then painting them right on the paper. The baby's room is going to be pink, red, and green with ladybugs, flowers, etc. Hopefully these will fit right in.

If you are interested, here are a couple of vintage clipart sites I found: ONE and TWO.

Where else can you find nice pictures like this

Socrates--------------------------------------------------------->

<----------------------------Camarina jellyfish

As well as beautiful things like these...