An Election Like No Other

On today’s show we’re talking about the impact of the election. Let’s ask a simple question.

As a landlord, do you screen your tenants based on political party affiliation? I already know the answer. Of course you don’t. That would be just as illegal as discriminating on the basis of gender, or skin color or religious beliefs.

You can’t paint an entire state a single color. California has a reputation of being staunchly liberal. But they passed a politically conservative proposition 22 that would exempt Uber and Lyft drivers from be classified as employees. This is sure to create a new legal minefield in the years to come as more businesses seek exemptions from the law enacted last year that classified contract workers in the gig economy as full-time employees with all of the rights and obligations of full-time employment.

With 64% of the polls reporting as of the morning after the election, Joe Biden had received 65.2% of the popular vote in California. That leaves 1/3 of the California population having voted for Donald Trump. 65.2% of voters in Oklahoma voted for Donald Trump and 1/3 having voted for Joe Biden.

The rhetoric about civil war is ridiculous. There is no enemy. They’re your neighbor, or your son, your cousin, maybe your spouse or mother or father. The tragedy is that whoever wins, there will be roughly half the country disappointed in the outcome.

You may not agree with their opinion, but you must defend their right to have their opinion no matter what. That’s the essence of a free society.

But even a free society needs to have limits. Remove all the rules and you risk chaos and anarchy. The state of Oregon became the first state in the nation to decriminalize the possession of all illegal drugs.

Oregon’s Measure 110 makes possession of any controlled substance, including heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines, a violation punishable by a maximum fine of $100 or a completed health assessment.

The emphasis in the election coverage seems to focus on the executive branch. But the true governance of the country is the result of all three branches of government. It requires the Congress, the Senate and the White House.

As of this writing, the Democrats have retained control of the Congress, the Senate votes are not fully counted yet, and the White House is leaning heavily in Joe Biden’s favor, but still not counted.

The Senate race has not fully been decided. It looks likely that the Senate be retained by the Republicans, which means four more years of legislative gridlock.

Colorado voted on whether to allow the release of thousands of wolves into the wild. The wolves were native to the area until hunting brought them to the brink of extinction.

It’s looking like my pre-election prediction is going to be pretty accurate. There will be more printing of money. There will be more legislative gridlock.

The early signs are that legal challenges are underway in two states and a recount is going to happen in at least one state.

This could be another election where the outcome is decided by the courts.

The silver lining is that there has not been election violence so far.