No such thing as a free lunch

A campaign in support of a proposed ballot measure to guarantee “free” lunches, at your expense, will reportedly launch this week. 

As the old adage goes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” The reason, of course, is that somebody pays. In this case, as in most cases where enticing “free stuff” is offered, you — the taxpayer — will be on the hook for the bill, if the effort is successful.

The proposal apparently focuses upon school lunches and stems from the wonderful-sounding, but flawed, premise that all kids are entitled to a free lunch at school. As kind and worthy as that sounds, it misses an important point — namely, that no kids in North Dakota schools now go hungry at lunchtime. Those who cannot afford lunch at school are routinely provided lunch through various means.

A survey sponsored by none other than the state’s teachers’ and public employees’ union — North Dakota United — reportedly concluded that most North Dakotans support free lunches for kids at school. Absent any other information — like who will pay for it and how, where the requirement will be enshrined, and other important details, the idea sounds great, caring and altruistic, so it’s not surprising. Of course, who wouldn’t want students to have a free lunch at school? After all, the proponents will be quick to remind you, students who are well nourished can focus, study and learn better, etc., etc., etc.

The rest of the story and the scary details

As Paul Harvey used to remind radio listeners, it’s important to know “The Rest of the Story.” 

One headline trumpeted that the measure would have the “state pay for school lunches.” 

Sounds pretty good, until one asks the obvious question — who, exactly, is “the state”? 

Of course, it’s you and me — the taxpayers. If you’re happy to pay ever-increasing taxes, that may not worry you, but if you object to higher taxes and a solution in search of a nonexistent problem, it should.

Consider that the “cost of education” — the major chunk of your property taxes — was once mostly covered by those property taxes you pay. In recent years, however, the lion’s share of property taxes funding schools has been artificially reduced by funds approved by the legislature, thus, in effect, lowering your property tax bill. 

Of course, if the Legislature is forced to fund the cost of every day’s lunch for every student in the state, it leaves two options — either increase your taxes to pay for it, or reduce the amount of the subsidy the legislature sends to schools, which means that your property taxes would likely go up. Either way, because “the state” will spend more, you’ll pay more.

You might also ask why those who favor such a program don’t simply work to get the Legislature to pass it. That, after all, is the way laws are passed in a representative republic. The answer would be that they’ve tried that but those you elect to represent you in the Legislature haven’t passed it. So they’re resorting to a familiar but troubling playbook.

Enter the “end run”.

The most frightening part

The most frightening aspect of the proposal is that it is not merely a measure which, if passed, would become part of state law, instead, it would change the Constitution! 

Do you really believe, as the supporters apparently do, that the North Dakota Constitution — the most sacred, fundamental document in our state government — should add a provision requiring you to pay for lunch for every youngster in school, every day? 

Does that really belong in the Constitution?

Never mind that the North Dakota Constitution is not supposed to be cluttered with such detailed items, which belong, instead, in state law — the North Dakota Century Code — there’s also a darker movement at work here.

As we previously wrote, those on the far left (clearly a minority in North Dakota, although a strident one) have been unable to work their will by electing those who will do their bidding. They’ve also been unable to successfully lobby your legislators to pass liberal ideas which differ from the right-of-center values and principles the majority in the state hold dear. 

Because of that, they’ve resorted to proposing ballot measures, but the most troubling thing is where the measures would reside, if passed. 

They’ve become fearful to propose statutory measures because the Legislature would have the authority to amend or repeal them, with a super majority vote, although that has happened seldom. Historically, the Legislature has been wary of undoing something the people have passed. In recent years, they’ve ignored this once-treasured means of changing the law in our state. Instead, they’ve focused upon actually permanently changing our state’s constitution, solely because the Legislature cannot then undo their mischief, if such measures pass.

Is removing the people’s authority to have a say through those they elect to represent them really a good idea? They don’t care. They simply want to get their way.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing

The cynical approach either floats measures which sound good, on the surface, but have troubling consequences, such as the scheme reportedly being hatched this week, or they’ll float what’s been called a “Trojan Horse” — a voluminous measure which leads with an innocent or appealing sounding concept but contains very troubling details in its ugly under belly.

Some of these have actually passed and others have come close, so it’s time for North Dakota voters to be aware of these tactics and be very careful about ballot measures they’re asked to support. Many are wolves in sheep’s clothing.