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                           HEEDING NANCY REAGAN
(Written and posted 4 November 2001)

       First Lady Nancy Reagan promulgated a very simple solution to many of society’s moral woes, such as unwanted pregnancies and drug addiction: “Just Say No.” We should heed Mrs. Reagan’s wisdom when voting this Tuesday.
       “Just Say No.” These three simple words should be applied to most election issues. For example, when an incumbent seeks re-election, “Just Say No.” Politicians should be required to follow the example of James K. Polk. President Polk declined his party’s request that he run for re-election. His reason? He had accomplished everything he had set out to do in his single term, therefore he did not need another. Instead, he decided to retire to his native Tennessee.
       The Polk Principle is brilliant in its simplicity -- accomplish your goals in your term, and then re-election becomes unnecessary. By not needing to run for re-election, an officeholder can actually do what is in the best interest of all the citizenry without being beholden to special interests. It’s also a “share the burden” point-of-view -- I’ve put in my time carrying the load, and now it is someone else’s turn. (Or, you can view it as a “share the wealth” system -- I’ve had my fifteen minutes of fame and fortune; now it is someone else’s turn.)
       Frankly, if a politician has not accomplished what he set out to do in his first term, then there is something wrong. Either he is a bad planner and unable to set realistic agendas, or he is afraid to actually be a leader for fear of retribution by the electorate, and instead cowers meekly in a corner hoping not to be noticed. In either case, he does not deserve to be in office any longer. If a person cannot set reasonable goals, then that person does not need to be in a position of any kind of authority or public trust; if a person is afraid of the electorate, then he is more concerned with saving his own hide by not doing anything than with taking the risk by doing the right thing. Remember, when it comes to re-elections, “Just Say No.”
      Besides re-elections, there are several more times when the “Just Say No” axiom should be the default. For example, when a government asks to issue bonds, “Just Say No.” Bonded indebtedness is a bad thing. First, debt repayment tends to eat up most of the budget. Second, many of the projects that are promised are never built, as the sudden infusion of a large sum of money tends to lead to a sudden surge in spending and frittering away of the money, with the result being a huge increase in overhead.
       I speak from personal experience on this. When I was over the Cabot Water Department, I had very little money to spend on discretionary stuff such as equipment and maintenance, as a sizable chunk of the revenue was dedicated to paying off the interest on bonds. After salaries, the interest took up pretty much all of the rest. It’s amazing what you can do with paper clips and sticky tape. When I worked for Dallas County, I found that a big chunk of the money that was supposed to go into pavement actually went into the salaries of highly unproductive employees, endless meetings, and equipment loaded with all the bells and whistles that while very nice, was also not really necessary.
       Bond proponents will tell you that bonds are like a mortgage on a house. I’m here to tell you that I’d much rather pay cash for a $50,000 house than have to take out a mortgage on a $200,000 one. A monthly mortgage payment (and the worry that goes with it) is something that I would gladly give up if I could. Up until two years ago, I did not have to worry about car payments. Sure, my cars were old, but they were paid for. The money I saved on car payments I used elsewhere, like for food and clothes. Indebtedness is not a good thing, and if it can be avoided, it should be. I do not and have never considered bonds to be necessary. (In fact, one of my main issues in the 1998 Little Rock Mayoral race concerned the issuance of bonds to buy the land for the Clinton Presidential Library. Over four-thousand people shared my concern.) When it comes to bonds, think of Nancy -- “Just Say No.”
       Think of Nancy when it comes to any expansion of government authority beyond the protection of the common good. The PATRIOT bill is a great misguided example of such an expansion. The only thing this monstrosity does is expand governmental power is all areas EXCEPT the protection of the common good. Federalizing airport security is a genuine protection of the common good. However, this piece of junk excludes this legitimate expansion of government power in favor of the illegitimate allowance of unwarranted searches and seizures. Remember -- the expansion of government powers means the loss of civil liberties. Anything on any ballot that asks for permission to expand government powers in a way that does not provide for the protection of the common good should be emphatically rejected. “Just Say No.”
       When it comes to sales taxes, think of Mrs. Reagan. An Arkansas businessman I once met on his invoices and receipts referred to sales tax as “extortion tax.” And, it really is. The government, through sales tax, is forcing us to pay for government services even if we do not want them. What a great scam! Force people to pay for services they don’t want! (Hmm . . . who does that sound like?) Want to appease a wealthy NFL owner? :Let’s build him a new stadium, and we’ll raise sales taxes to do it! Because, don’t you know, you aren’t a real world-class city unless you have an NFL franchise! (Let’s see -- Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Rome, Moscow, Paris, London, Constantinople -- not world-class; Phoenix, Oakland, Nashville, Denver, Dallas, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Green Bay -- world class.)
       Remember, when you go to the polls, win one for the Gipper -- “Just Say No!”