You're a state lawmaker who voted for a tax increase. You knew it would not be popular back home, but in your heart, you concluded it was the right thing to do. You also knew it might cost you your job in Lansing, yet you did it.
Welcome to the world of about a dozen state legislators who fit that profile and now, indeed, they could be bounced from office. Maybe.
Let's put a face on one of those who is targeted for recall. His name is Steve Bieda a democrat from Warren. He chairs the House Tax Policy committee and has compiled quite an impressive record for having only five years on the job.
Bieda forged a coalition of house democrats and republicans to rewrite the state's antiquated and much maligned Single Business Tax. It was not an easy assignment but through thick
"Their leader of this group is somebody who likes to run his mouth a lot, and has been a lot of bluster on this, but I don't take threats lightly. I've always been a fighter (who) was not sent here and thin, he helped to get the job done.
Next came the hotly contested battle last year over the income tax and sales tax. Bieda put up a yes vote and the leader of the recall movement put Bieda's name on the list.
Up until recently, Bieda has kept his mouth closed, but then out of nowhere the other day, with the frustration apparently building inside, he unloaded on recallers and former Rep. Leon Drolet who is now a Macomb County Commissioner.
The comments were startling coming from a rather mild-mannered, Clark Kent kinda guy, minus the cheaters and the phone booth.
The interview did not take long. It started innocently with Bieda boldly predicting he would not be removed from office and then, without prompting, he added this: "And we have these clowns on the side, and I call them clowns and no insult to clowns intended, because they are people largely…they are on the fringes of American politics, of American society, and frankly, I think they're on the fringes of humanity. I don't like them, though," he concluded.
Then he sort of smiled, as he warmed to the subject seemingly pleased that he finally had a chance to speak his mind.
"Their leader of this group is somebody who likes to run his mouth a lot, and has been a lot of bluster on this, but I don't take threats lightly. I've always been a fighter (who) was not sent here to sit on my hands or hide under the desk."
Drolet was amused and added his own commentary when he heard the Bieda broadside.
"If those who oppose unchecked growth in government spending are clowns, send in the clowns," he argues.
So who is the clown here? Bieda or Drolet?