It has been said before that a politician’s primary goal is to protect their political career. There is no price too high for a politician to pay to maintain his/her position and its power, perks, and prestige. That said, there are some interesting actions being taken by recently elected officials, perhaps spurred by the ‘Tea Party’ rising up and becoming such a vocal and active political influence.
First out in California, which is facing over a $15 billion deficit, Jerry Brown, elected after a hiatus of some 40 years, has taken the first step of requesting that 50% of all State Government cell phones be turned in. Savings estimate is $20 million a year; a small drop in the bucket of need, but a good first step at attacking expenses. And the reaction of some of the state workers? One was quoted as saying, “Better the cell phone than my job”.
Up in Ohio the new Attorney General fired off a letter on his first day in office stating that Ohio was joining the Florida lawsuit against the “Obamacare Health Law”. When asked by a reporter why when there are already 20 states on the suit, the new AG said the following, “It was one of my campaign promises. That I would file against it on my first day in office”. When asked if one more state would make any difference, he responded to the effect that, ‘There is power in numbers. The more states that file against the law, the more we show the Courts how united we are and our concern over the Federal government’s violation of our citizens Constitutional Rights’. A politician that keeps his promises, we need to watch this AG. (Think a call from him to Dustin McDaniel would do any good? Naw, your right.)
Over in New Jersey the current governor has begun to haul that state back from the edge of bankruptcy by making some very unpopular decisions (with some) on spending. When asked recently if he would run for President, as he was the only Republican leading Obama in some poll or other, he responded “No!” When asked to explain he responded with two interesting points. First he had made a commitment to the people of New Jersey and he believed that he should keep his commitment. Secondly, the job in New Jersey wasn’t done yet. A very dangerous precedent, a politician who keeps his commitment even at the expense of a potentially greater personal political opportunity.
Which brings us to the Arkansas Conundrum. We have a very popular governor who just won a landslide reelection. His biggest claim to fame other than having been born in a tar-paper shack (a constant political ad) was that he reduced the sales tax on groceries by about half. No trivial feat considering the voracious appetite of governments for money, plus implementing the tax reduction in perilous economic times while still balancing the State’s budget. Kudos for that and well done and thank you very much!
But why so popular? I think it was the tax reduction plus his very consistent and studied policy to never ever do anything controversial or that would offend or upset a single potential voter.
To do the Right or the Good thing always has a cost. To do the Wrong or Evil or Illegal thing always has consequences, especially when found out. But to do nothing…., therein lies genius. To do nothing allows you to avoid difficulty on all sides. Give you some examples you ask. Well, Ok, I’ll do my best from memory; the facts may be just a tiny bit off, but not the incidents.
Let’s go back a couple of years to the Lou Hardin affair at UCA. As memory serves allegedly this man forged a letter that recommended that he receive about a half-million dollar bonus. Somehow the scheme was discovered and he either returned the money or it was held up in payment. The result of this alleged forgery and attempted embezzlement? He was allowed to move to Florida rather than to Cummings.
Another case recently involved a woman who embezzled about $50,000.00 from her district. She too had to return the moneys but is now in the ‘slammer’. The difference in handling the two cases? Well, it has been rumored that Mr. Hardin was a long serving politician and perhaps a friend and even mentor of other high placed political figures. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in an advisory opinion that the funding source the board planned to use for Hardin's bonus - housing fees and food and book sales - was public (Arkansas) money. He left it up to the Feds.
A second area of being ‘Absent’ is not serving the interests of the citizens of Arkansas as relates to the “Obamacare Health Law”. Regardless of one’s attitude about the desirability of providing the new features promised under the legislation, it breeches the Constitutional Rights of every citizen by permitting the Federal government to dictate that each of us must purchase a specific private enterprise product or be subjected to IRS harassment and fine. Both the Governor and the Attorney General followed their Party Line and refused to join the other 21 States that took exception and filed lawsuits.
We have over 8,000 vehicles owned by the state. Only after a blistering expose by the AR Dem Gaz did the Governor ASK department heads to look into the matter. Turns out that at least one was using TWO state owned vehicles for their personal use. What did the Governor or AG do? If you guessed nothing, you win.
I could go on and on, but my point is that our current Governor and AG practice the fine political art of “Doing Nothing” lest it offend some voter.
It takes courage to lead. What does it take to hide?
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