January 6, 2009
Get Real, Mr. RaelPolitical ads are not much different from normal, commercial
ads. Effective advertisements usually make it pretty clear what the hoped-for
outcome is.
Buy a widget? Patronize a business? In politics, it’s “Vote for X”… or A, B, or
C.
Last political season, in New Mexico’s Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Valencia
counties, ads ballyhooed a Rio Metro expansion project. They very clearly
concluded by telling voters to “Make a Difference on November 4th,” and
offering up a certain website that also promoted voting for the tax increase to
expand the transit system.
So why did Lawrence Rael of the political entity responsible for Rio Metro deny
the obvious? “We’re not saying ‘vote for the tax’ as an advocacy committee
would do,” he explained. “We’re just simply saying, ‘Look, this issue is on the
ballot…Here’s what it’s about.’”
Oh, get real, Mr. Rael.
The reason for his reticence? Governments in a republic aren’t supposed to
influence voters but be influenced by voters. That’s the point of an election,
where our tax dollars ought not be on either side.
Paul Gessing, of the Rio Grande Foundation, wrote in the Albuquerque Journal,
“Having advocates for these proposals working on the taxpayer dime obviously
tilts the advantage in the direction of higher taxes. But giving the pro-tax
side the additional advantage of a significant advertising budget is simply too
much, and is truly unfair.”
No wonder government keeps growing, eh?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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