Massachusetts’ Antidemocratic Democrats
by Aaron Margolis, July 31st, 2005 at 08:22pm
If there was ever a need for indisputable proof that Massachusetts Democrats were against choice, it’s here. The party that prides itself on commandeering for choice has repeatedly taken the power of the ultimate exercise of choice, the vote, away from the people of Massachusetts.
How many ballot initiatives have been supported overwhelmingly by the citizens, only to curtailed by the overwhelmingly democratic legislator? If not for Massachusetts Democrats, our state income tax would be 5% today, and we would have English immersion programs in lieu of bilingual education, which was supported by over 70% of voters at the 2002 midterm election. So why were these, and other popular ballot initiatives brushed aside? Apparently, the will of the citizens is mere “suggestion” to the state legislature, which has routinely been disregarded. Now, to make matters worse for the voters of Massachusetts, our Democrats want to make it even harder to get ballot initiatives on the ballot.
For years, some Massachusetts Democrats have wanted to raise the ballot-access hurdles even higher — so high that they would just about end citizen initiatives once and for all. Last week they almost pulled it off.
By a 12-1 vote, the Legislature’s Election Laws Committee reported out a bill that would have banned ballot campaigners from paying petition-circulators by the signature and required circulators to swear that each name was signed in their presence and by the voter named — poison pills, given the number of signatures needed and the short time in which to assemble them. Worse yet, the bill would have obligated the secretary of state to post signers’ names and addresses on the Internet — the better for opponents to browbeat or deceive them into recanting their support.
Since 1990, only 14 ballot initiatives have become law.
Why so few? In part because ballot measures are generally a last resort, something aggrieved citizens turn to only after lawmakers repeatedly ignore their pleas or the governor brushes them off or the bureaucracy refuses to budge or the hired lobbyists shoot down every attempt at reform.
But in part as well because lawmakers make it so difficult for proposed laws to reach the ballot. They require citizen petitions to be signed by tens of thousands of registered voters, allow proponents only a narrow window of time in which to collect those signatures, then make them get each signature verified by the clerk of the city or town in which the signer lives. They restrict the topics that a ballot question may address. They impose such stringent standards that a single stray mark on a petition — a food stain, a highlighting — can invalidate every signature on the page.
Citizens’ groups and elected officials have condemned this new bill which seeks to destroy the rights of citizens of our fair commonwealth. Among those groups are Common Cause, the Massachusetts Family Institute, and the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT), a group who has led the campaign for several ballot initiatives over the years, has also condemned this new bill. The co-director of CLT Chip Ford, has strong words about this new effort by state Democrats. “Make no mistake about it…this is war.” On Beacon Hill, our Democrat Secretary of State William Galvin has denounced the bill, as well our Republican Governor Mitt Romney–whose authority is often undermined by the veto-overriding legislature.
One can be certain that if the Democratic Party witnessed these actions being taken by the Republican Party, the public relations campaign against the Republicans would be vicious. Democrats who laud and demand that the United States Supreme Court remain moderate, have no problem with the unbalanced Massachusetts State Legislature. Of course, however abominable the Massachusetts Democrats’ actions are, the fault is not just in them, for the citizens who continually elect these legislators deserve a great deal of credit as well.
Last year, Romney’s Reform Team made a gallant effort to take back the legislature. Next year, we can only hope that efforts will be even stronger. It’s time to put the legislature in the hands of people who will listen to the voters and won’t undermine the will of the voters. The lop-sided legislature is sending the Bay State to a perilous state. Massachusetts was the only state to lose population in the latest census; businesses and people are leaving. We need a change, and it ought to start with our legislature. Let’s bring democracy back to the Bay State.
Entry Filed under: Beacon Hill
1 Comment
1. Jack Tanner | August 1st, 2005 at 9:48 am
That’s the problem with a one party state. There is no recourse because there are no reprecussions for their actions.