The 2012 presidential election was long, but thankfully it’s over. Promoting liberty is a long-run strategy, and perfect policies are not adopted overnight. Thus we should celebrate when society makes incremental progress in the right direction, and help course-correct when society gives in to the tempting calls of coercion and mandates to get its way. Ultimately it’s freedom, not government mandates and laws, that truly move us forward.
At the state level, there were several wins for property rights and contract law. Contract law moved forward as Maine, Maryland, and Washington state expanded contract rights to include same-sex marriage. This is significant because it is the first time that voters rather than lawmakers or courts extended these rights. Minnesota voters also rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as a heterosexual union. (Previously, voters in more than 30 states have approved constitutional bans on gay marriage.) Perhaps President Obama’s “evolution” on this issue helped move it forward.
Colorado and Washington enhanced property rights as they became the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. This will help put pressure on highly ineffective and destructive federal law that currently classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic. This demonstrates the power and importance of federalism—allowing states to have different laws than the federal government—to help move other states and the federal government forward. If it weren’t for federalism, we’d probably have to wait until the central government in Washington woke up to the realization that the drug war has been a failure.
In a win for taxpayers, Michigan voters defeated, 58% to 42%, a state constitutional amendment that would have prohibited the legislature from ever enacting a law that would curb the powers of public employee unions. Had the amendment passed, it would have enshrined the inherent conflict of interest that exists between public sector unions and the elected officials they help to elect who also negotiate their pay; Wisconsin-style reforms would not be possible.
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