Let’s Talk About Props Baby! The 100's

Absentee ballots have arrived and the political nirvana is about to come to a climax! I just love voting. It’s the essence of America: getting to choose for oneself our elected officials and it’s also the opportunity for the voters to choose laws directly.

Arizona has one of the most liberal, as in liberty, means of making laws. We have propositions and referendums. A proposition is a law that is passed by means of a general election. Referendums are the recalling or changing of laws through a general election. Both bypass state legislatures and are started and funded directly by the people, or interest groups. It is a true democratic effort. And I love it.

However, the tricky part of propositions is that the wording can be confusing. A lot of the groups who write these props do their best to construe the language so that the voter will not quite understand which way they are voting.

I thought it would be beneficial for me, as well as for you, my loyal reader, to go through the props and tell you how I interpret them and how I will vote.

Prop 106

The Healthcare Prop-This proposition allows Arizonans the right to opt out of Universal Healthcare, a.k.a. ObamaCare. It protects a person’s right to choose for themselves what their healthcare coverage will be, and furthermore, allows a person to choose not to be covered by insurance and pay privately for medical services, without threat of penalty or fine. It also allows the companies of Arizona to opt out of Universal Healthcare without penalty or fine.

I am for this proposition and will be voting yes. ObamaCare is unconstitutional because it coerces an INDIVIDUAL to belong to and pay into a health care system. You cannot, according to the U.S. Constitution force someone to buy something. This proposition puts into law the ability for the citizens of Arizona to opt out of ObamaCare. This is very similar to what Missouri did in August by passing a referendum against ObamaCare, saying that ObamaCare shall have no effect on Missourians.

Prop 107

Prohibiting Affirmative Action in the State of Arizona-This proposition suspends affirmative action in the State of Arizona. It would ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to or discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. It does not prohibit persons who have met the discrimination threshold to pursue legal recourse.

I am voting Yes on this proposition, surprise, surprise. I think affirmative action is a disaster for this country. To discriminate against a perfectly qualified person just because that person does not look or believe a certain way is utterly despicable and to have it state sponsored is outrageous.

Also, the fact that the Arizona chapter of the National Organization for Women and Phil Gordon are against this is reason enough for me to vote for it!

Prop 109

Wildlife and Hunting Conservation-This proposition makes wildlife in the state in trust for the citizens; says citizens have a legal right to hunt and hunting is the preferred method of wildlife management; and prohibits the legislature from enacting any rules that unreasonably restrict hunting, fishing or harvesting wildlife. This prop does not affect any laws relating to trespass or property rights.

I am voting Yes for this proposition. I do agree that hunting is a natural and scientifically-proven preferred method for wildlife management. This prop will prevent the legislature from passing laws that restrict hunting unnecessarily. This is important when you consider the dismal situation in the San Joaquin-Sacramento delta area, where the California judges have cut water off from this important farming community in favor of a tiny fish-the smelt, virtually destroying an entire industry, and where they now enjoy a 20% unemployment and cannot grow the crops that a lot of the country rely on.

Prop 110

Ability for the state to sell or lease public trust land-This proposition allows the state to lease or sell the public trust land for use, as long as it is in the public interest.

I have no problem with this prop and will be voting Yes. This is especially important to the military installations and the protection of the land it utilizes.

Prop 111

Amend the Arizona Constitution to rename the Secretary of State to Lieutenant Governor.

I have no problem with this one and will vote Yes. This is for all those people who don’t understand that the Secretary of State is the successor to the Governor, mostly out-of-staters and people who don’t remember their Arizona Constitution.

Prop 112

Provide for a six month period before a general election to put Propositions or Referendums on the ballot, instead of the current four month period.

I am voting Yes on this prop. The Center For Arizona Policy is for this, and that’s good enough for me. They say that four months is too short a time period to verify signatures and to make any necessary legal challenges, and to properly craft ballot language. I’ll go with that.

Prop 113

Protecting the Secret Ballot-This prop guarantees the right to a secret ballot during all elections, and most importantly, during union elections. This is the infamous “card check”. Card Check is the opportunity for unions to coerce their members into voting a certain way since the ballot will not be secret. There is lots of talk of this at the national level, which is why this is on the ballot.

I will be voting Yes on this prop. I believe that a person should be allowed a secret ballot and it should be protected by the law.