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In I-695, popular beats principled
In I-695, popular beats principled
October 3, 1999
Forget for the moment Initiative 695's economic impacts. Those, we admit,
are debatable and subject to wild exaggeration by passing demagogues. Concentrate
not on budgets, but politics. It is then that Initiative 695 becomes most fearsome.
It attacks directly, and undermines deliberately, one of the fundamental tenets
of American self-government.
We are a republic, a representative democracy, and for good reason. The framers
of the Constitution were united on this point and it is basic to the design
of our government. Laws and policy are to be made by representatives chosen
by the people, not by the people directly. The reason for this is made clear
by the Initiative 695 campaign itself. What people want, and what is right,
are not always the same.
Initiative 695 reduces an onerous car tab tax to $30 per vehicle, which gives
it immediate appeal. It also requires public approval, by direct vote, for virtually
every increase in taxes or fees at all levels of government. The requirement
in I-695 is astonishingly broad, and not limited to the big-ticket taxes. The
measure includes in its definition of "tax" any user fees, impact fees, and
"any monetary charge by government" at any level. Public votes may be required
to increase school lunch prices, the price of cemetery plots, rental rates at
the ice rink, bus fares, boat launch fees, rent for public housing, parking
permits, swimming pool admission, library fines ... the list is nearly endless.
This sounds ludicrous and pathetic, but the backers of Initiative 695 do not
deny the possibility. They imagine voters trudging to the polls every other
month to consider increases in a laundry list of tiny fees and charges, including
many they never pay or may not have known existed. The 695 backers relish this
as a great exercise in direct democracy, and thrill to the possibility of government
permanently handcuffed by the will of the majority of taxpayers.
A system of government where no policy can be adopted that is not publicly
popular will be a poor system indeed. Principle, duty and wisdom no longer will
be important attributes for public officials. They won't be necessary or even
desirable traits. What will be more valuable is the ability to sniff out what
is popular, to follow the trends. Government by opinion poll will be made official
in the state of Washington, policy by popularity the order of the day.
Elected officials in this new system will be called upon to lose whatever courage
they might have possessed and use the greatest excuse for plodding inaction
and indecision.
How the vote-on-any-fee ruling will play out isn't clear. There will be lawsuits,
and judicial clarifications, but it is easy to imagine being the victim and
not the victor. Many local people would not hesitate to increase fares on the
Link buses they never ride, for instance, but neither would many Seattle residents
fret about raising the state fees paid by farmers in Eastern Washington, or
eliminating some of the tax exemptions they enjoy. And repeated elections are
expensive. It costs tens of thousands to stage a local special election, and
millions for a statewide vote. The backers of Initiative 695 point out that
a similar direct-vote law is in effect in Colorado and has not brought government
to a halt. But this is not Colorado, and whether direct democracy has been good
for government there depends on who does the analysis.
Direct democracy is not American. Representative democracy is. The founders
knew the public is not stupid, but a majority can be temporarily swayed and
lured into bad policy by the passions of the day. Representative democracy is
the buffer.
Elect representatives with like principles. Vote them out if they fail. That
is the system we should protect.
This is the opinion of The Wenatchee World and its Editorial Board: Editor
and Publisher Rufus Woods, Managing Editor Gary Jasinek and Editorial Page Editor
Tracy Warner.
Submit a letter to the editor for consideration in our Safety Valve.
