The Island County Commissioners made it clear that, if Proposition One didn’t pass, they were prepared to cut county law enforcement.

            It would be a mistake to treat the sheriff and his deputies as “just another bureaucratic department.”  They are not.  They are the primary reason for government.  They protect the peace, our lives, and our property.

            When new settlements were started in the Old West, people would hire marshals and sheriffs even before they elected a mayor.

            Island County doesn’t spend too much money on law enforcement.  It spends too much money on things that may be nice but are unnecessary.

            The current administration found money to triple the staff in human services and to buy up large amounts of land, which the county will now be expected to maintain and will no longer be able to tax.

Do we really think this is more important than keeping citizens and property safe?

Please contact the county commissioners and encourage them to keep the Sheriff’s department fully staffed.

You can visit my website at www.shanefortune.com

            A sad event occurred recently.  Another car dealership went out of business.  It’s sad when people lose their livelihood.  It’s especially tragic when it’s unnecessary.  A strong economy would have probably saved them.

            This bad economy is entirely man-made.  We, in Island County, haven’t been devastated by a hurricane, a super earthquake, or a giant volcanic eruption.  But we suffer from bad economic policies.  The county, state, and federal governments are all controlled by people who have increased the size of government, increased government spending, and increased our taxes.  They simply do not understand economics.

President Reagan understood economics.  He understood that cutting taxes could actually increase revenue.

            In fact, federal tax revenues greatly increased after President Reagan signed into law an across-the-board reduction in income tax, bringing the top rates down to 28%.  (Unfortunately, Congress also greatly increased its spending.)

            “How can lowering tax rates increase revenue?  That’s impossible!”

            No, it’s very simple, really.  Let me show you.

            If a man makes $100,000 and we take 10% for taxes, how much does the government take?  If you said $10,000, then you get an “A” for the day.  Now, how much does the government get if we tax this same man 100%?  If you said, “$100,000,” then you are way off.  The correct answer is “$0.”  Why?  Because the man would rather stay at home and watch TV than work for free, especially if he has to pay for a commute.

            Economics is dynamic, not static.  In other words, people’s behavior changes, in reaction to the situation.

            Here’s another question for you.  When an Island County business folds or leaves, how much revenue does the county government get?  Zero.  Zero in sales tax, zero in property tax.  Over-taxation and over-regulation will kill businesses in a hurry.  It will also deplete government treasuries.

            Next question:  How will the former employees pay for their homes?  If they can’t pay for their homes, what will happen to them?

            Our current county commissioners want to raise our taxes.  We must not allow this!  Raising taxes will increase the drag on the local economy.  We need the opposite—tax cuts!  Tax cuts will strengthen the economy and put people back to work.

We also need to restore our private property rights, so we can make our land more productive.  We could begin by making it much easier to get a building permit.  Then we could restore citizens’ rights to subdivide their property as they see fit.  They bought the land; they own it.  Let them use it.

Finally, we need to deregulate businesses to allow them to be profitable.

            President Obama is fond of saying, “There’s a time for profits—that time is not now.”  But this is exactly what the problem is: lack of profits.  When businesses don’t make profits, they lay off employees, lower the pay, or go out of business, none of which is good for laborers.  And when people lose their jobs, they often lose their homes, too.  How tragic!

Remember—

We can’t tax our way into prosperity.

We can’t borrow our way out of debt.

We can’t regulate our way into freedom.

 The main thing that Leftists dislike about the free market is freedom.  Yet, freedom is the main ingredient for success.  Freedom creates wealth.  And wealth keeps people from losing their homes.

            Please join me in voting “No!” on Proposition One.

The great Greek philosopher Aesop taught a fable that went something like this:  A horse was angry at a deer and wanted to get revenge on it.  So it made a deal with a man to help kill the deer.  The man agreed, on condition that he could put a saddle on the horse and put a bit in its mouth.  The horse agreed.  Together, the horse and the man hunted the deer.  After they killed it, the horse told the hunter, “We’re done.  You can remove the bit and the saddle now.”  But the man replied, “No.  I control you now, and you are my servant forevermore.”

            The promoters of the state income tax are telling us that a state income tax is a great deal for us.  We’re not going to pay any of it; only the rich will.

            But if we pass this into law, everyone, including the poor, will have to fill out state income tax forms every year to prove their innocence.  If you fail to fill out these forms, even if you owe nothing, you will be treated like a criminal.

            American tradition insists that we are innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.  Nothing is more un-American than having to prove your innocence.  We live in a free country, not a police state.

            And if history repeats itself, the state income tax will quickly expand to the middle-class, and possibly even the poor.  It will take only one perceived crisis, and state leaders will tell us that there is nothing that they can do, but they’re going to have to raise our income tax and make more people pay it.

            Please don’t let the state government throw a saddle on your back and put a bit in your mouth.  Join with me in voting against a state income tax.