The below guest opinion was published in The Montana Standard newspaper on May 7, 2009.
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Why I voted ‘no’ on the stimulus

by Senator Joe Balyeat

“Big government can’t solve our problem; big government is our problem.” — Ronald Reagan The budget recently passed by Montana’s Legislature was hailed as a bipartisan feat, including total spending of almost $11 billion and so-called federal stimulus spending of $1 billion. I voted against both spending bills. Why?

One senator characterized the federal stimulus as free money “… that doesn’t cost Montana taxpayers one dime.” Commenting near April 15, the irony was self-evident; any naïve notion that Montanans don’t pay federal taxes must come from someone who’s never completed a federal Form 1040.

More importantly, the “free money” is non-existent; it’s deficit spending, which is putting an insurmountable debt load on the backs of our children’s children.

Presently, the national debt is $11,246,599,828,489 — roughly $11 and a quarter trillion dollars. According to the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama’s spending spree will leave us with a $20.3 trillion debt 10 years from now. This is real debt which someday needs to be repaid by our heirs — debt owed increasingly to foreign nations, especially China.

America’s been living beyond its means on our children’s money. Now that this lavish lifestyle is coming home to roost, Obama’s answer is more of the same thing which initially created this mess — bailing us out by spending more money we don’t have. Twenty trillion dollars translates into $266,667 of debt on the backs of every family of four in the entire United States.

Even if you’re completely debt free personally, you’ll still owe over a quarter-million dollars as your family’s share of the federal debt. Our parents handed us the greatest nation on the face of the earth; we’re handing our children the greatest debt ever imaginable.

Is Montana’s state government any less irresponsible? While Montana’s governor and politicians talked of an austere budget, Montana’s total spending increases 19 percent over last session’s budget, which itself repre-sented a nearly 40 percent increase in government spending during the previous four years.

Montana’s current budget spends $10,787,000,000 — $10.8 billion for two years. This translates into $44,254 in spending for every average Montana family of four. In a state where the average wages are only $32,000 annually, how can our struggling private sector possibly support this much government?

Considering Montana’s high number of government employees per capita, the total government spending per private sector family balloons to $48,000. And much of this expanded spending is debt-financed. While Montana’s average wages languish near the bottom, Montana’s state government debt per capita ranks in the top 10 nationally. Moreover, that per-capita debt has increased almost 50 percent in just the last three years alone.

Much of this increased government is nothing but micro-meddling regulation of our lives and businesses. The Legislature needlessly “licensed” several more occupations this year, with further regulations making it that much harder for young people to better themselves by entering certain careers.

During one licensing debate, I announced that next session I’d sponsor a bill to license politicians, and the education requirement would be at least one course in economics. The wisdom of this ed requirement was proven during debate on the stimulus bill, when one senator (who’s lived off a government paycheck his entire adult life) made the absurdly false statement that “every economist knows that the government should spend more money during recession.” I refrained from providing names of at least a dozen economists in Bozeman alone who disagree profoundly with that notion, especially when speaking about deficit spending — squandering our grandchildren’s well-being under a mountain of inflationary government debt.

I also refrained from pointing out that expanding government’s regulatory meddling actually stymies economic growth, rather than fostering it. Will Rogers once said, “Thank God we don’t get all the government we pay for.” Update that quote n Thank God we don’t get all the government our grandchildren will be paying for.

My “no” vote was a vote against America’s self-inflicted destruction of history’s greatest economy, a vote against burdening the backs of each family with a quarter-million-dollar bad debt, a vote for my children and children’s children, a vote for giving them the same life of economic opportunity which my parents handed to me. Unfortunately, too few politicians just said “no.”

Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman and a CPA, is chairman of the Legislative Audit Committee and Business, Labor, & Economic Affairs Committee.

From the Libertarian Party’s blog:

“If you’re lucky enough to live in Montana, take a moment to thank Joel Boniek.”

“Boniek, a Republican state representative from the Livingston area, sponsored legislation exempting Montana-made guns from federal legislation. It was signed into law April 15.”

“Joel’s bill applies only to guns made and kept in Montana. Supporters hope it triggers a court case over whether the federal government can regulate gun sales.”

“Boniek overcame amazing odds and defeated a Republican incumbent in the primary who voted to expand government and openly criticized tax relief efforts. He’s not your typical politician. A quiet, peaceful man, Joel lives “off the grid” and still makes his living as a crane operator, carpenter and hunting guide.”

“But Boniek’s upset win proves that voters want representatives who put freedom first, and that principled candidates who run smart campaigns can knock off entrenched incumbents – and accomplish great things in office.”

“Now, wouldn’t it be nice to have a state representative in your town just as passionate about defending your rights?”

Online forums frequented by grassroots activists are abuzz these days regarding the grassroots political movement in the states to reaffirm that our states are sovereign entities while rebuking the federal government’s over-involvement in key areas of our lives as well as mandates pushed onto the states by the federal government.

In 2009, there has already been a move among legislators in more than 25 states to push for some type of state sovereignty resolution.

Oklahoma’s sovereignty bill, which passed their House last session but got stalled in the Senate, came out of the House with near unanimous support. In the House, longtime champion of the RLC Charles Key is the author of the legislation and second-term incumbent Jason Murphey is a vocal advocate for the bill. Murphey was endorsed by the RLC in 2006 and 2008. The Senate bill is being championed by Sen. Randy Brogdon, a great friend of the RLC. “What we are trying to do is to get the U.S. Congress out of the state’s business,” said Brogdon.

The bill is currently in the Senate. Without the RLC’s strong citizen legislators in Oklahoma, this bill would never have been drafted. Rep. Murphey recently penned an editorial published in The Edmond Sun explaining his state’s sovereignty bill and linking it specifically to the unfunded mandates and massive spending in Obama’s stimulus bill.

Similarly, in New Hampshire, Dan Itse, a favorite among RLC members in the Granite State, filed a bill to affirm sovereignty in the New Hampshire House. Itse was on Fox and Friends and Glenn Beck recently to promote the bill, citing No Child Left Behind and the PATRIOT Act as examples of the federal government over-stepping its boundaries.

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Sam Rohrer, who the RLC endorsed in 2008, has been fighting against REAL ID since it passed Congress.  Rohrer cites the following examples of state sovereignty erosion:

- By collecting taxes from state residents and then using that money to compel sovereign state governments –- through the use of “strings” attached to federal funding – to implement programs and provide services in accordance with the desires of federal authorities;
- By pushing states toward financial distress by providing financial incentives to implement programs and services without supplying adequate federal funding.
- By enacting national laws that go far beyond the federal powers enumerated in the U.S. Constitution; and
- By potentially providing federal funds to fill state budget deficits, which were created, in part, through over-spending prompted by federal financial incentives to create new programs.

In Montana, the state sovereignty resolution was introduced by (among others) RLC-endorsed first-year legislators Wendy Warburton (left) and Gerry Bennett.  Aubyn Curtiss, who endorsed Ron Paul for President, is the Senate sponsor of the legislation.

Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nevada, and Maine may see similar measures introduced this session.

Links to the legislation: GA, MI, MO, MT, NH, OK, PA, SC, WA

In November, the Republican Liberty Caucus helped elect five new State Representatives to the Montana House. The new legislators will join sitting libertarian Republicans in the legislature and are forming a strong coalition for limited government in the Montana House. According to newly elected State Rep. Mike Miller (R-Helmville) says the libertarian-conservative coalition in the Montana House have big plans for the coming year. According to Miller,

“My current goal is to get more money into the hands of the people and less in the state coffers. I have two bills in to do that: (1) a tax credit of up to $100 for anyone that purchases Long Term Care insurance and (2) to make necessary health care expenses a tax credit at the lower income levels (limit $1k), phasing into a tax deduction at the higher income levels. Anything I can do to reduce the size of government and the amount of government intrusion into our personal lives is high on my list of priorities.

The House is split 50/50 so the Speaker is of the same party as the governor – Democrat. Also of note is that four-term State Rep. and RLC ally Scott Mendenhall of Helena has been elevated to the Number Two post in the House GOP Caucus.

State Rep. Mike Miller was endorsed by the RLC
and pledges to work for limited government.

(Hat tip to the blog libertarian Republican for information.)

Summary: Although the trend was not good for Republicans on Nov. 4, there were some positives. I believe the RLC’s big victories included the addition of Tom McClintock to Congress and the additions of Justin Amash to the Michigan legislature and Jenn Coffey, Carol McGuire, and Calvin Pratt to the New Hampshire legislature, as well as electing several new Montana legislators. The RLC also won two races in Bonner County, Idaho. These principled legislators are close RLC allies and will cast principled votes that will increase liberty and prosperity in Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and New Hampshire.

The RLC’s setbacks include the losses of Tom Feeney from Congress, Lois Snowe Mello from the Maine State Senate, Gregory Sorg and Jason Bedrick from the New Hampshire Assembly, Bob Beers from the Nevada State Senate, and Frank Lasee from the Wisconsin Assembly. Additionally, North Carolina State Auditor and RLC ally Leslie Merritt lost his bid for re-election. Unfortunately, RLC Texas Chair Melissa Goodwin lost her bid for re-election in Travis County’s 427th Judicial district.

Ron Paul has a new ally in Congress in longtime
RLC ally Sen. Tom McClintock.

U.S. Congress: The RLC endorsed only a few candidates for U.S. Congress. Of those, only one non-incumbent, California State Senator Tom McClintock, was victorious. Sydney Hay did not win in Arizona’s District 1. Incumbent members of Congress Tom Feeney (Florida) and Steve Chabot (Ohio) suffered defeats, but all other endorsed incumbent members of Congress retained their seats.

State Legislature: In Arizona, all of the RLC’s endorsed incumbents won re-election. Andre Campos came close to upsetting a Democrat in Senate District 23.

In Arkansas, Amendment 2, which requires the legislature to meet annually, overwhelmingly passed. State Rep. Dan Greenberg, RLC ally, was the chief spokesman to defeat the measure.

In Colorado, voters narrowly rejected an initiative to prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment by the state in public employment, public education, and public contracting. Additionally, voters rejected an initiative to ban forced unionism. The RLC’s ally in the legislature, State Senator Shawn Mitchell, was re-elected.

In Delaware, State Senator Colin Bonini retained his seat. Rumor has it that Senator Bonini may run for Joe Biden’s Senate seat. Stay tuned to this blog for future updates.

In Florida, RLC Adviser and Congressman Tom Feeney suffered a defeat in his bid for re-election. However, RLC allies Lake Ray and Ritch Workman won seats in the state House of Representatives.

In Georgia, all RLC endorsed incumbents were re-elected.

In Maine, State Senator Lois Snowe Mello was narrowly defeated in her bid for re-election. In the House, Mike Vaughan lost his race. All other RLC endorsed incumbents retained their seats.

Massachusetts RLC allies State Senator Bob Hedlund and State Representative Jeff Perry were both re-elected. Additionally, Massachusetts voters passed a statewide referendum to decriminalize marijuana.

In Michigan, the RLC scored a big victory with the election of our own Justin Amash to the legislature in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, District 72. Justin is a young rising star in the Michigan GOP. Additionally, the RLC’s endorsed candidate in House District 88, Bob Genetski, was elected to an open seat. RLC member Brad Benzing was elected to the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners, District 4. Finally, Michigan voters passed the RLC-endorsed initiative to legalize medical marijuana.

Justin Amash, the new ‘Leon Drolet’
of the Michigan legislature.

In Minnesota, RLC endorsed incumbents Steve Gottwalt, Ron Shimanski, Bruce Anderson, Tom Emmer, Steve Drazkowski, Joyce Peppin, and Tom Hackbarth were re-elected. RLC endorsed incumbent Sondra Erickson lost her bid for re-election. RLC endorsed challengers Peggy Scott and Mary Kiffmeyer were elected to the State House. Kathy Lohmer and Judy Lindsay nearly knocked off the incumbent Democrats in their races.

Missouri State Representative Jim Guest was re-elected in District 5.

In Montana, Greg Hinkle won his bid for an open state Senate seat. Dr. Krayton Kerns won a second term in the House. He will join RLC ally Joe Balyeat in the State Senate. In the House, RLC endorsed candidate Craig Witte was narrowly defeated in his bid for a second term. However, newcomers Gerald Bennett, Wendy Warburton, Lee Randall, Bob Wagner, Mike More, and Mike Miller were elected to the State House.  Randall, More, and Miller were active in the Ron Paul effort in Big Sky Country.

In Nevada, incumbent RLC State Senators Bob Beers and Joe Heck were each defeated for re-election. However, Kris Pickering won her bid to become State Supreme Court justice.

In New Hampshire, despite losing John Sununu from the Senate, there was some good news. All RLC incumbent legislators other than Jason Bedrick (defeated in primary) and Gregory Sorg (defeated Nov. 4) won re-election. Additionally, former RLC National Board member Carol McGuire was elected in Merrimack, District 8 and Jenn Coffey was elected in Merrimack, District 6. Hillsborough districts 4, 6, and 7 resulted in RLC endorsed candidates Bob Mead, William O’Brien, Cal Pratt, and Gary Hopper winning their races. Finally, Jim Twombly and Warren Groen won seats in Strafford, District 1.

In North Carolina news, all three RLC endorsed candidates lost their races, including the incumbent State Auditor, Les Merritt. The state RLC is working to ensure future successes.

Pennsylvania RLC legislators Daryl Metcalfe and Sam Rohrer were both re-elected.

In Oklahoma, State Representatives Charles Key and Jason Murphey each won their re-election bids.

In Tennessee, both RLC endorsed State Representatives, Susan Lynn and Donna Rowland, were re-elected. Additionally, RLC endorsed candidate Gregg Juster lost his race for Hamilton County School Board by just ten votes.

In Texas, there was no good news. Melissa Goodwin, Don Zimmerman, and Raymond Frank each lost their races.

In West Virginia, kudos to State Representative candidate Tomas Engle, who narrowly lost a State Representative seat to represent the West Virginia University area.

Rep. Frank Lasee has been fighting for individual liberty
and limited government in the Wisconsin Assembly
for more than a decade. He was defeated on Nov. 4.

In Wisconsin, the RLC’s closest ally, Representative Frank Lasee, was defeated. In better news, State Representative Jeff Wood, an ally of the RLC, was able to retain his seat after quitting the Republican Party earlier this summer. Wood left the GOP to become an independent because he felt the Republican Party had abandoned its limited government principles. He defeated Republican Don Moga of Chippewa Falls, becoming the first independent elected to the Wisconsin legislature in 62 years.

In response to the elections, Republican direct mail guru Richard Viguerie said, “Republican congressional leaders have failed their party, they have failed the conservatives who make up their party’s base, and they have failed the American people. They should resign immediately!”

A hearty note of THANKS to all of the RLC candidates who had the courage to run (and stay true to principle!) in 2008.

(Note: I have not been able to find comprehensive results for North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont. An updated listing of the RLC’s elected officials is available.)

A good number of RLC-endorsed candidates advanced through their primaries and on to the general elections in 2008, in what could be considered a breakout year for libertarian Republicans.  A listing of all of the RLC’s candidates is available here.

Each of the below candidates endorsed by the RLC ended up advancing in their respective primary race.  Congratulations!

• Alaska: Lt. Governor Sean Parnell, who was endorsed by the RLC, looks likely to lose in his race against Don Young. Both men are vying to represent Alaskans in Congress. Even if Parnell does lose, he will remain Lt. Governor. If McCain-Palin are successful in November, he will become Governor.

• Arizona: Sydney Hay, who is currently the underdog to replace Rick Renzi in Arizona’s First Congressional District. Hay received a donation from the Republican Liberty Caucus PAC.

• Colorado: George Lilly, who was inspired to run for Congress by Ron Paul.  Lilly is running in District 1 and is not favored to win the race due to district demographics.

• Florida: Ritch Workman, who is running for State Representative in District 30.

• Georgia: Dr. Paul Broun, who won his first campaign for Congress in 2007 and then faced a challenge from the establishment GOP in 2008.  Additionally, incumbent State Senator Jeff Chapman and State Representative Steve Davis, both RLC-endorsed, fended off challengers.

• Idaho: Elizabeth Allan Hodge, a former State Representative, won the GOP primary for State Representative in district 16B.

• Indiana: GOP challenger Bill Johnson narrowly lost his primary for State Representative in District 19.  However, in a victory for the RLC, the GOP challenger dropped out of the race for personal reasons and the county GOP decided that Johnson would be the ideal replacement.

• Maryland: The RLC has endorsed several victorious primary challengers in Maryland, including Richard Matthews (CD 02), Peter James (CD 04), Collins Bailey (CD 05), Roscoe Bartlett (CD 06), and Dr. Michael Hargadon (CD 07).  Unfortunately, all of the challengers are likely to lose due to district demographics.  Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is likely to retain his seat.

• Michigan: Three RLC candidates were victorious in their primaries in Michigan, including Justin Amash for State Representative (District 72), Bob Genetski for State Representative (District 88), and Tyler Whitney for Bash Township Trustee.

• Montana: RLC-endorsed candidates Greg Hinkle and Mike Miller won their races for State Senate and State Representative, respectively.

• Nevada: Kris Pickering won her primary for State Supreme Court and up-and-coming GOP rock star Lindsay Nicole Madsen won a tough primary for State Senate in District 7.

• North Carolina: Dr. B.J. Lawson won his primary and will face incumbent David Price for U.S. Congress, District 4.

• Oregon: Delia Lopez won her primary in Oregon, District 3 and will face veteran Earl Blumenauer in November.

• Texas: Dr. Ron Paul won his primary in Congressional District 14 and will return to Congress come January.

• Washington: Michael Delavar won his primary against an establishment GOP candidate in Congressional District 3. He will face incumbent Democrat Brian Baird in November.

• West Virginia: Edward R. Burgress, the RLC contact for West Virginia, won his primary in District 30 (St. Albans) for the House of Delegates. Seven individuals, all of them currently Democrats, represent this large district.