Every year Tim Eyman in Washington state comes up with some new initiative to limit taxes or make government more accountable.
So of course politicians and media people are furious with him.
For years he’s been a member of the Republican Party. But not long ago he joined his county’s Democratic Party. And was surprised to find himself welcomed, at home.
He admits he shouldn’t have been surprised. Sure, his tax limitation measures really vex politicians. But they don’t bother most Democrats. Indeed, one savvy Democrat explained it all to him on his first night in the party. The man said he had never known a Democrat who wanted his taxes to be higher just “so we can waste them on an ineffective government program.â€
Only politicians, bureaucrats, and some crazed leftists want that.
The rest of humanity knows that you have to be careful with your money. Even in government. Imagine that!
As Eyman summarized his conversations with his fellow Democrats, “person after person, story after story, suggestion after suggestion . . . it was the same kind of stuff I’ve heard from supporters for years.â€
Now, of course not everyone agrees with Eyman. One woman shook his hand, laughing, saying she opposed every initiative he’s ever done, and every one he would do in the future.
But the real truth of the matter is that limiting government is a bipartisan — no, omni-partisan — issue.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.