Daniel Webster once said “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”
As we prepare to serve our state legislators by providing them with bill analysis and liberty-minded vote recommendations, we reaffirm our commitment to making recommendations rooted in principle regardless of the partisan affiliation of the bill authors, the emotional subject matter of the bills, or the good intentions of the legislature in considering the bills. There will be many bills this legislative session filed with good intentions but which grow the size and scope of government, infringe on individual liberty, create special classes, or give preferential treatment to certain groups to the exclusion of others. Regardless of how well-intentioned those bills are we will recommend legislators oppose them lest liberty be diminished upon the altar of good intentions.