I give Jefferson County Democrats a lot of credit for being on the ball. When I opened my mailbox last week to find my ballot for the November 6 election, I also found a sample ballot provided by our local Democrat Party. The timing was impeccable. They were crystal clear in their recommendations. These recommendations also provide an equally clear picture of what sort of future they want for you, your family and your neighbors. 

Start with the ballot initiatives. Democrats want you to vote NO on I-1634, which would prevent cities and counties from raising taxes on your groceries. That means Democrats want the freedom to raise your taxes every time you shop at the QFC or Safeway or wherever else you buy your family’s food. 

Democrats want you to vote YES in I-1631, an initiative to tax energy producers, with revenues sent to Olympia for doling out to special interests by a collection of the governor’s cronies. Precisely how this money would be spent is as ill-defined as the plan for spending the money collected via Proposition 1, the so-called affordable housing boondoggle that was repudiated by country voters in landslide proportions last year. It would also result in higher gasoline taxes and PUD bills.

Then there’s I-1639, the gun control initiative that would compel you to waive your medical privacy rights when buying certain firearms, disenfranchise young military veterans of their constitutional rights and effectively criminalize self-defense. If Democrats cannot confiscate your guns, they’re going to make it incredibly difficult to use them and I-1639 does a fine job of that. 

Boiled down to their base elements, these recommendations demonstrate that Jefferson County Democrats believe government is entitled to more of your hard-earned money and that you have too many rights. If you want to pay higher taxes and surrender more of your liberties, you should follow these recommendations. 

Now look at the candidates they’re recommending. For Legislative District 24, we’re told to vote for Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger, both of whom are stalwart Democrats. Chapman has committed the liberal sin of honesty by admitting he’ll vote for I-1639, thereby showing where he stands on gun control, criminalizing self-defense, surrendering your medical privacy and depriving 18-21 year-olds of their 2nd Amendment rights. Does anyone think Tharinger’s position is different? 

In the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners race, we’re advised to vote for Greg Brotherton. A vote for Brotherton is a vote to leave one-party rule in the hands of Port Townsend, where BoCC Democrats have laid plans to shut down gun ranges and prevent any new ones from opening. Any notion that Brotherton will be a defender of your Second Amendment rights or a champion of lower taxes is ludicrous.

We’re also encouraged by local Democrats to vote for Jeff Chapman as county assessor. Many Jefferson County homeowners received a separate mailer in recent days from Chapman’s office in the form of a notice of higher real estate assessments. Chapman’s assessment on our home is up more than 10%, and is the second upward assessment in just 16 months. 

This is what Jefferson County Democrats want for us. Higher taxes on our homes and our food. Higher utility bills and more expensive gasoline. Less freedom and fewer constitutional rights. The Democratic Party is now ideologically closer to Lee Harvey Oswald than John F. Kennedy and with their sample ballot mailer, they are instructing you on how to provide them the rope with which they can hang us. 

As a believer in diversity of opinion, I realize there are some people who believe in what Democrats are recommending. To my friends on the left, I propose you simply give your money to the county. Send a check to Olympia to fight global warming. Add another 10 bucks to your monthly PUD payment.  Feel free to decline to exercise your constitutional rights. You are free to do that. 

This election provides a clear illustration of the Port Townsend political manifesto. If this is your credo, by all means use the sample ballot as a guide when voting. But if you’re able to think for yourself, if you are a better steward of your own money than the government, if you believe the Constitution matters, consider casting a more independent ballot.