We've touched on this before, but Sen. Tim Melson's recent comments should have brought this home to all our readership. From the TimesDaily: Melson said he wasn’t part of a previous delegation that pledged to end the tax. “Things change,” he said. “Every day we vote on bills that change previous people’s promises. We change taxes, we change all sorts of rules. That’s what you do. You adapt to the situation to do what is required instead of just saying, previous delegations promised something.”
First, we personally agree with Sen. Melson on the issue of the ag center. We're not saying that you have to agree. The proposed ag center, while not a minor issue, is not a major one. We hope the legislature will vote to establish an agriculture authority in Lauderdale County, but if it doesn't, it won't mean our area is lost to other development.
No. This blog is about back and forth change where laws, programs, and procedures are made to look like bears in a shooting gallery. ABC might be no better than XYZ, but our leaders have to choose one and stick with it. How much time is lost each legislative session when new representatives decide to repeal laws that were passed only two or four years ago? Even locally, look how new Florence School Board member Britton Watson upset that body's dynamic by arbitrarily wanting to throw five year's planning out the window.
Yet this kind of behavior won't stop until voters demand better of their elected officials. How about it? How hard is it for you to e-mail your state or other representatives; how hard to tell them you demand accountability?
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How often do you see someone charged with perjury in a criminal case? If you look long enough, you will see this crime listed in rare arrest reports. Is it a crime worth prosecuting?
We think it is. So when four or five witnesses tell basically the same story in a murder case, and the district attorney calls them all liars, why doesn't he file charges against them? Hmmm...
