OK, I read most of it real quick at work (shhhhh! don't tell the boss!).
Sec. 21.1, 21.2, 21.5, and 21.7 say exactly what I was referring to. The amidon balun is a transformer type balun and behaved exactly as Maxwell described it would. In fact, you'll notice in 21.7, he notes that almost all commercially available baluns are transformer baluns and thus voltage baluns. Also, you'll notice in 21.5, he says above 14mhz, a simple coax choke balun is very effective (I think someone earlier said that). For wideband coverage, in 21.6 he just says to use 50 ferrite beads over the coax, and he calls that the W2DU balun. Notes on coax choke baluns and ferrite bead usage can also be found in the ARRL antenna book.
Just going off Maxwell's material, if most commercial baluns are voltage baluns, then that's the wrong tool for the job (you need a current balun). And if operating above 14 mhz, you don't need to buy a balun when you can make a simple coax choke balun (21.5) when using a simple dipole. Also in 21.4 (effects of not using a balun), he says for 160-40 meters, the effects of current on the feedline is not a big deal, unless you're using a directional antenna like a yagi with some type of unbalanced matching system.
It looks to me like everyone is pretty much saying the same thing, but arguing about it.
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