Giving all powers solely to the people isn’t any answer

Each night, I sleep fitfully, the victim of a recurring nightmare. Floridians have risen from their slumber to take power back from special interests. They replace Florida’s current constitution with one that all but abolishes the power of the Legislature and the governor in favor of government by popular referendum.

In the name of mass transit for everyone, the people pass a ballot issue earmarking tens of billions of dollars for a money- losing high- speed rail system throughout the state. The first operational link runs between Frostproof and Palatka.

In the interest of fairness, the people impose a double- digit personal income tax on anyone with an income higher than Florida’s average of $ 40,300 a year. To really make the special interests squeal, they enact a 90- percent tax on corporate profits. To punish those who have have unpardonably sinned byworking hard and accumulatingwealth, the people impose a 100- percent death tax on assets.

The people, through referendum, raise the minimumwage to $ 50 an hour, resulting in $ 8 French fries atMcDonald’s. In pursuit of egalitarian uniformity, they abolish private, parochial and charter schools, and concentrate education decisionmaking in a centralized bureaucracy dominated by teachers’ unions. In this way, young Floridians’ thinking can be molded so they vote only to further the interests of the masses.

My nightmare pushes me into delirium, and I see Floridians with skills, ambition, and an entrepreneurial spirit fleeing for Texas, leaving the Sunshine State in economic ruin. The people, angered by no longer having bread to eat, take up torches and pitchforks and destroy the remaining bakeries.