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All Talk...Still
Here comes that gang of 44 again, once more flapping their
collective jaws about changing the culture in the Michigan House. Talk
is cheap and so far that's about all the freshman class of '09 has done.
Recently the Detroit Free Press picked up on the grumbling that
that new comers are engaging in, now that they have completed, almost,
the first budget cycle and found it wanting.
No kidding.
And they vow to meet this week but the GOP co-chair suggests that
the session may be nothing more than a b----- session so the freshmen
and women can let off some steam.
Wow…that will change the culture. Not!
If this new batch of newcomers wants to change things around
here, they are six months late and a dollar short. It is long over due
that they actually DO something.
Oh, sorry, they did do something a couple of weeks ago. They
endorsed a scheme to set up a deadline for passing the budget long
before the infamous October first deadline and if the early schedule is
missed, lawmakers would lose a days pay for each day past the deadline.
Now to be sure that is a laudable objective and never mind that
they stold it from the governor who probably swiped from someone else,
but pride of authorship is not the point. Getting this enacted is and
on that front, the freshpersons got their publicity pop for suggesting
it but failed to address the obvious pitfall: two thirds of the sitting
lawmakers have to pass this thing. In other words, it will not pass.
Instead of mouthing off about the need for change, the newbies
could have launched a statewide petition drive to by-pass the
legislature and take it directly to the citizens, but no, they offered
up the idea and settled back into their, "we can change the culture
with a press release" mentality.
It is painful to keep whacking these new folks because it appears
they really are upset and really really want to do something about, but
there it stops.
We already have too much of the "talk and no action" attitude in
this town and adding 44 more believers in that, is hardly a game
changer.
collective jaws about changing the culture in the Michigan House. Talk
is cheap and so far that's about all the freshman class of '09 has done.
Recently the Detroit Free Press picked up on the grumbling that
that new comers are engaging in, now that they have completed, almost,
the first budget cycle and found it wanting.
No kidding.
And they vow to meet this week but the GOP co-chair suggests that
the session may be nothing more than a b----- session so the freshmen
and women can let off some steam.
Wow…that will change the culture. Not!
If this new batch of newcomers wants to change things around
here, they are six months late and a dollar short. It is long over due
that they actually DO something.
Oh, sorry, they did do something a couple of weeks ago. They
endorsed a scheme to set up a deadline for passing the budget long
before the infamous October first deadline and if the early schedule is
missed, lawmakers would lose a days pay for each day past the deadline.
Now to be sure that is a laudable objective and never mind that
they stold it from the governor who probably swiped from someone else,
but pride of authorship is not the point. Getting this enacted is and
on that front, the freshpersons got their publicity pop for suggesting
it but failed to address the obvious pitfall: two thirds of the sitting
lawmakers have to pass this thing. In other words, it will not pass.
Instead of mouthing off about the need for change, the newbies
could have launched a statewide petition drive to by-pass the
legislature and take it directly to the citizens, but no, they offered
up the idea and settled back into their, "we can change the culture
with a press release" mentality.
It is painful to keep whacking these new folks because it appears
they really are upset and really really want to do something about, but
there it stops.
We already have too much of the "talk and no action" attitude in
this town and adding 44 more believers in that, is hardly a game
changer.
posted by Tim Skubick at
2:38 AM
1 Comments:
You are right to argue that a press release won't change the culture, but I think it might be too soon to write off the newest class of Michigan legislators.
Their actions in the coming months will determine their legacy as a class, not their actions in the previous months. I don't blame them for not being able to come in and immediately change things - they barely knew what they were doing at that point.
Now that they have the sour taste of Michigan politics in their mouth, and half a year of experience under their belt, it is up to them to live up to their promises. I'm skeptical yet hopeful.
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