To my fellow West Seattle citizens who like I, were too busy with their lives to follow the details of (the recent) special session in Olympia - whether or not to reinstate I-747.

Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (District 37, Seattle) displayed an uncommon amount of arrogance and a fair amount of ignorance in supporting her decision to vote "no" on the 1 percent property tax lid. She supported her decision by quoting from the framers of the U.S. Constitution and referencing the Federalist Papers, and then asserted, "governments must have unfettered resources" to do the peoples business.

Did our American founders believe government needs unlimited taxing authority? They most definitely did not. It is well known that The Framers and the authors of the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, had great angst about giving too much power to government. They in fact intended that the government should not have any power unless "specifically enumerated." They intended to give government just enough power to carry out its defined responsibilities, but not so much that tyranny would erode the rights of individuals.

Rep. Santos must have attempted to quote from Federalist 30 to support her decision, but she missed the part where Hamilton (who was a strong supporter of a central government) wrote that one of the ills of unfettered taxing power is "...the people must be subjected to continual plunder, as a substitute for a more eligible mode of supplying the public wants..."

James Madison is quoted as saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."

Did my neighbors here in West Seattle read in the Seattle Times on Dec. 6 about that the nickel gas tax the state imposed on motorists in 2003, which contained $30 million to address flooding issues along the Chehalis River? It never got spent. With the floods of this past week, Interstate 5 was closed because levees were never improved. Now I submit some intellectual honesty: I am remiss to approve any more taxes because our elected officials repeatedly show their inability to manage funds which belong to "We The People", and in some cases display an uncommon amount of hubris in extending the power of government.

Our local representatives Joe McDermott and Eileen Cody also voted "no" to reinstate the 1 percent cap. I wonder if they agree with Rep. Santos about the power of our federal and state governments to levy taxes on us. Joe and Eileen: are you listening?

Thomas Shafer of Seaview may be reached via wseditor@robinsonnews.com