KGVO Favorite Natelson Talks Ukraine – Schools and Property Tax

Talk Back favorite Rob Natelson, Constitutional Fellow with the Independence Institute in Denver made his monthly appearance on Talk Back on Monday.

Natelson referenced an article he wrote for the Epoch Times in which he recounted the history of then-Senator Joe Biden used the 9^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to trap Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

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“The Ninth Amendment doesn't actually change the Constitution,” said Natelson. It's a message to the reader and it does what it says in modern English it says, ‘Yo readers, this Constitution gives the Fed some specific powers. To see how far each power goes check out the wording. This Constitution also has general exceptions that limit all or some powers. Don't get so fixated on the exceptions that you forget the limits in the original wording’.”

Several callers asked Natelson what the U.S. Constitution says about how far the U.S. can go to assist Ukraine in its effort to expel the Russian invasion.

“Well, I'm not a foreign policy expert,” he said. “I mean, the risk, of course of military intervention is war with Russia, which potentially means nuclear war. I don't know if it's in the American national interest to take us down that path, even at the cost of Ukraine. Obviously, we can do other things, and one of the things that's been mentioned most commonly is start up our own oil production.”

Natelson said Russia could have acted diplomatically rather than militarily.

“I will concede that certainly Russia has an interest in what goes on near her borders, and the traditional way of dealing with those interests in accordance with international law is diplomatically,” he said. “He can woo Ukraine the same way he's wooed Belarus, for example. But international law does not permit him to invade a separate sovereign state in any unprovoked manner that he has done.”

One elderly caller asked Natelson if the there was anyway that Montana lawmakers could find a way to lower property taxes for those over 65.

“The largest component of your property tax bill is K through 12 education,” he said. “One way to drive K through 12 education costs down, as well as to improve the product, is through a carefully crafted program of school choice. Montana has lagged behind the rest of the country in school choice programs. That's one area where Montana could use some changes. But, if you craft a school choice program correctly, not only could it inject some competition to the system, but it could also drive your property tax bills down.”

Click here to listen to the entire conversation with Rob Natelson.