Government must Govern

The Michigan ballot proposals which we face this coming Tuesday are an intriguing lot. But no matter what each one individually may say, they all have one thing in common. They're all attempts to enshrine ideas within the state constitution. That's not necessarily good.

There's no inherent reason to tie too many things into our governing document. Constitutions are only supposed to be basic guidelines or offer a skeletal frame for the workings of government. Filling them up with any and everything is counterproductive; it can cause inefficiency in government by tying its hands. As much government waste as there may be, if we put too many limits on it we may as well not have it at all.

This is not to say that every ballot measure should be voted down. Each must be accepted or rejected on its own merits or lack thereof. But a good general rule of thumb is to vote against them. As much as it pains us to say it, because we do know that government is all too often unresponsive, the job of legislators and executives and judges is to legislate, execute, and judge. We have to let them do their jobs. We can vote them out later should they not.

Only Five Days Left

As we head down to the wire, the race for President appears to taking firm shape. Races are tightening in several states thought at one point to be safely for President Barack Obama. Swing states such as Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, and Virginia, once thought in the President's back pocket, are in play. But to whom do we listen? The Huffington Post and the Nate Silvers of the polling world are insisting that Obama's lead will hold. Yet Gallup polls and the Rasmussen Reports seem to say that Mitt Romney is ahead; Gallup in particular has the former Massachusetts Governor up significantly. By that measure, Romney appears an easy winner. Given that Rasmussen and Gallup are more reliable than many other polls, and it is fair to believe that Romney rather than the President holds the upper hand. Rasmussen has the President with 237 safe electoral votes as of today, while it pegs Romney with 206. As 270 such votes guarantee a win, the advantage, it is argued, is to Mr. Obama, However, that doesn't take into account that two states, New York and California make up for 84 of the President's safe votes. Most of his other solid support comes from smaller states with fewer electoral votes, and most is also concentrated in the northeast. Almost everything is at least competitive or favoring Mitt Romney. What it means, then, is that the so-called swing states hold the power. And they are increasingly trending Romney, according to the more trustworthy polls. The evening of November 6th will be a long one for the White House, and the time to January 20th short.