Apparently, you are an idiot.
I’d previously suspected this of Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling, Gov. Paul LePage and everyone in authority at the state Department of Health and Human Services. But I had no idea the plague of stupidity included you (and me) until I read a new report from the Maine Heritage Policy Center called “The Will Of The People? How Maine’s Ballot Initiative Process Is Tainted By Outside Influence.”
The center is a right-wing think tank much enamored of free markets, limited government and allowing rich conservatives to spend as much as they wish influencing elections. The MHPC is not, however, fond of deep-pocketed political contributors supporting liberal causes.
To thwart these wealthy left-wingers, the center believes Maine must reform its referendum statute to make it more difficult to place issues it doesn’t approve of on the ballot. The reason for this is, as previously noted, that you are an idiot, and will fall for almost anything you’re told.
According to the report, “Today, the process is regularly exploited by out-of-state interest groups that, often without formalized opposition, use Maine as a laboratory for ambitious policy proposals that could not withstand the deliberative scrutiny of the Maine Legislature.”
Wait, what?
The Legislature’s ability to scrutinize anything deliberatively is roughly equivalent to Facebook’s ability to protect your privacy. Nonsensical bills get passed. Common-sense measures are defeated. The will of the voters is routinely ignored.
That last one is understandable, given that voters are idiots. But so are legislators, so they should display a little respect for their fellow imbeciles.
But back to the referendum problem. Between 2009 and 2017, supporters and opponents of assorted ballot initiatives spent over $81 million on their campaigns. Most of that money came from out of state, and most of that cash went to support generally liberal causes, such as gun control, increasing the minimum wage and legalizing marijuana.
The MHPC believes this is part of a Nationwide Conspiracy. From its report: “These finding suggest that the support behind Maine ballot initiatives originates not within Maine, but from outside interests who seek to influence ballot question outcomes in multiple states.”
That could be true, but is it relevant? It might be if big money from away was the key to passing almost anything at the ballot box. Brainwashed voters would obediently flock to the polls to do the bidding of these moneyed masterminds of manipulation. Before long, Maine would be burdened with all manner of laws requiring unspeakable levels of socialism and depravity.
Unfortunately for the center’s perspective, it doesn’t always work that way. In spite of excessive spending by unseemly foreigners, a 2014 effort to ban most forms of bear hunting failed miserably. Big money couldn’t save an outsider-backed 2016 gun-control referendum. Buckets of alien cash were dumped into a 2017 effort to allow a York County casino to no avail.
Contrary to the MHPC’s conclusions, the voters may not be idiots, after all. At least, not all the time.
Even when a referendum passes, the state has further roadblocks in place to hamper its implementation. The Legislature may simply refuse to abide by the new law (because Maine’s Constitution says it can), as was the case with an initiative requiring the state to pay 55 percent of the cost of local education. It can alter the bill until it’s almost unrecognizable, as it’s done with pot legalization. The governor also has all manner of opportunities to hinder initiatives not to his liking (see Medicaid expansion).
In short, the will of the people is little more than a will o’ the wisp.
The MHPC isn’t swayed by these arguments. “Maine should not waste public resources,” its report says, “cleaning up the mess caused by outside groups influencing ballot measures.”
To fix this non-problem, the center is proposing several reforms, some of which are in place in other states, where voters are even more idiotic. Strangely enough, a few of these ideas make some sense.
Referendum questions should be limited to a single policy change. If multiple alterations are requested, they should appear as separate ballot items.
All initiated referendums should be the subject of legislative public hearings, so the major issues can be laid out clearly ahead of time.
And petitioners should be required to collect half the necessary signatures (currently a little over 61,000 names) from each of Maine’s two congressional districts to keep the dopes in populous Cumberland and York counties from dominating the process.
Other than that, I don’t think any changes are needed. But then, I may be an idiot.
If you email me at aldiamon@herniahill.net, use small words.
It’s like the money that Nellie Mae and the Gates Foundation dumped on the D.O.E ($2,600,000),which gave us PBE in 2012. Now the state has realized it’s faults and have put the power back to the local level for implementation or trash. Although we have been misinformed from some in the district their are some who care deeply for our children’s education and for that I am grateful.
Al,
I am in total agreement with the last sentence of your post…
Two caveats:
Three non-idiot professors of English from the University of Maine should scrutinize and edit questions for spelling, grammar, clarity and common sense.
The out-of-state money spent on ads for referenda should be taxed by Augusta. Heavily so.
MHPC’s complaint about out of state funding of Maine’s citizens ballot initiative is very much a case of the pot calling the kettle black when you see where MHPC gets a portion of its funding. According to the website SourceWatch.org the following organizations – none of them based in Maine – donated funds to MHPC:
Castle Rock Foundation: $25,000 (2009)
Cato Institute: $50,000 (2006)
Donors Capital Fund: $2,038,981 (2005-2011)
DonorsTrust: $7,500 (2010)
Jaquelin Hume Foundation: $135,000 (2007-2011)
JM Foundation: $45,000 (2004-2007)
Neal and Jane Freeman Foundation: $67,000 (2003-2011)
State Policy Network: $206,000 (2007-2013)
Roe Foundation: $140,000 (2005-2011)
Money. It’s the root of all evil and the undoing of either a democracy or a republic. It is the medium of the swamp. “Follow the money,” folks, and you will find yourself with critters that you never thought would influence you. There’s just not much room in the eye of that needle.
If the MHPC is not going to complain about dark money advertisements supporting candidates like Bruce Poliquin, they really have no business wringing their uncalloused hands about the money involved in the referendum process. My guess is that the MHPC is more concerned with the inherent democracy involved in referendum initiatives than their funding. Never let it be said that conservatives will miss a chance to take power from everyday folks to keep it for their betters.
“The reason for this is, as previously noted, that you are an idiot, and will fall for almost anything you’re told.”
Legal weed, expensive healthcare expansion, background checks, higher wages, for people who saw ZERO difference in their paycheck because they were already earning more than minimum in the first place. I’d say the line quoted, hit the nail square on the head.
I thought I had the right to representation in my government. We’re not a democracy; we are a Republic.
I guess I was wrong – having your ‘neighbors’ ram legislation down your throat without representation is apparently “the Maine Way”, even when it’s unconstitutional…
Maybe this can go up to SCOTUS after the court’s back at full strength?
Nice try! The SCOTUS we’ve had for the past 20 yrs.favors corporations over consumers and workers 100% of the time by a 5-4 margin. Those 5 will retire (not soon enough) as very wealthy men as long as they keep voting as they’re told.
Overregulated:
We are obstensibly a democratic republic. Excluding executive branch and lower court decisions, majority rule is the basis for every town hall, selectman’s meeting, election, legislative, and appellate court decision in the country. Majority rule. Democracy. Would you like the Supreme Court to rule on your case by another method?
The referendum process may be flawed in some respects, but arguing against it because “we are a republic” is wrongheaded. The representation you hold dear is a watered down version of the same thing.
When the legislature won’t even debate a political hot potato issue (legal pot, gun control) the referendum helps take it directly to the people. It’s also a two-way street. You can nix a previous referendum by the same process.
I completely understand your argument about “neighbors”. More people from Cape Elizabeth telling less people from Starks they can’t bait bears goes to the heart of it. Now you know how I feel after every vote from my Republican representative neighbor.
Nice try! The SCOTUS we’ve had for the past 20 yrs.favors corporations over consumers and workers 100% of the time by a 5-4 margin. Those 5 will retire (not soon enough) as very wealthy men as long as they keep voting as they’re told.
Nice try, indeed. Some of the 4 are retired at their desks or, perhaps, already dead. The 5 of that 5-4 margin rely on the Constitution to guide their decisions; the 4 rely on feelings. The reason the Left has lost on those cases is they present such weak arguments, demanding SCOTUS legislate from the bench, not because of judicial bias.
Did I just read an entire column dedicated to denouncing the MHPC with no mention of the MPA? Or the Proteus Fund? I believe I did.
At least in terms of political science one can call us both a Republic and a democracy (democratic theory sets conditions for what a democracy requires, it is NOT crude majoritarianism). Referenda are always controversial. It can be head spinning. The legislature legalizes gay marriage, one referendum undoes that, the next reinstates it. Overall I think it’s good for the people to have the capacity to address an issue that, perhaps due to external influence, legislatures are afraid to address. Or, in some cases, to undo what the legislature has done. Problems can be seen in cases like Brexit, where Great Britain voted to leave the EU, not fully understanding the consequences (and the UK remains in political turmoil because of that choice). We might vote a bad referendum, or we could vote someone incompetent to be President. But at least we voted. And we’ll vote again and make changes as we learn. Hopefully.