Pubdate: Sun, 29 Dec 2002
Source: Pensacola News Journal (FL)
Copyright: 2002 The Pensacola News Journal
Contact:  http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1675
Author: Carl Wernicke

GET LABELS READY FOR THESE OPINIONS

The older I get the more I appreciate the signature toast of the late Ed 
Ball, "Confusion to the enemy." In that spirit, I offer what hopefully will 
be my annual column to muddy the waters for those who insist on pinning 
political labels on everyone.

This stems from my increasing unhappiness with the growing partisanship 
raging through the land. Boiled down, it comes to this: "If my side does 
it, it's right; if your side does it, it's wrong."

The basic foundation to such a political philosophy is the use of labels; 
it greatly simplifies things. Once you afix a label - conservative, 
liberal, environmentalist, developer - there is no need to read the fine 
print, 'cause you know all you need (want) to know.

So, get your labels ready, here's some of what I believe:

Like most good conservatives, I think abortion is the killing of innocent 
human life and should be outlawed. Unlike many conservatives (but like a 
growing few) I also think capital punishment is wrong because the system is 
so flawed it leads to the killing of innocent human life.

Like most good liberals, I support strong environmental regulations to 
promote clean air and water. I reject a growing movement on the 
conservative side to assert a "right to pollute."

Like most good libertarians, I think marijuana, at the very least, should 
be legalized, with legalization of other drugs seriously considered. 
Opponents on both the right and left complain that this will result in 
widespread drug use, and they are right. Problem is, we already have 
widespread drug use, and our destructive, expensive and futile war on drugs 
compounds the problem by filling the jails and spawning drug crime that 
blights communities. We should empty the jails of drug "criminals" and 
invest the savings in education and rehab.

Like most conservatives used to, I support a balanced budget and paying 
down the national debt. Today, the roles seem to be reversing - those on 
the right (at least in Washington and among the intelligentsia) 
increasingly say deficits don't matter, and those on the left say deficits 
are out of control.

Like many conservatives, I favor the flat tax, which almost every 
entrenched interest opposes, no matter what everyone says (my proof: Do we 
have a flat tax?). I also favor ending the double taxation of stock dividends.

Like most liberals, I think government at almost every level spends too 
little on education, especially on students from low-income homes. But I 
also think we should allow more flexibility and experimentation in public 
schools to address those problems.

I could support school vouchers, but not the way we do it in Florida. Under 
my win-win plan, vouchers would be worth, say, 70 percent of the state's 
per-pupil expenditure, with the other 30 percent staying in the public 
school. That way, both sides benefit. Example: If we spend $5,000 per 
student, a voucher would be worth $3,500 at a private school, and $1,500 
would stay with the public school, effectively raising per-student 
spending. It can't be that hard to track the students to make sure the 30 
percent stays with the public school that voucher student would have attended.

I have been a registered Republican since I was 18, but have voted for 
Democratic, Republican and third-party candidates (I voted for Ross Perot 
twice out of exasperation with both parties). Today's Republican 
politicians seem interested mainly in power and rewarding those who fund 
their campaigns, while the Democrats seem mainly interested in reflexively 
opposing whatever the Republicans propose. The only thing stopping me from 
registering as an Independent is that I could vote in virtually no local 
primaries.

Like many conservatives and some liberals, I support the overthrow of 
Saddam Hussein by military force, but only if we don't do what we are doing 
in Afghanistan, which is to renege on promises to help rebuild the nation. 
Saddam has got to go, but there's no point if we're going to let Iraq 
dissolve into civil war and let another dictator take over.

Finally, I believe the designated hitter should be eliminated, and pitchers 
forced to learn to bunt again.

News Journal Opinion Editor Wernicke's column runs Sundays on the Opinion page.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom