In churches across the land this day, some preacher somewhere will
give a sermon on hypocrisy, the art of believing one thing and doing
just the opposite. Maybe some of our state lawmakers will take heed
and repent of their "sins" at the state capitol.
You should not be shocked to learn that some of our politicians on
the campaign trail profess to believe in helping education, the truly
needy, seniors, and the cops on the beat and the firefighter on the
hook and ladder truck.
But when it comes time to put up the money to fulfill the pledge,
they refuse to do it. It's a legislative two-faced "sin" that goes
back to Adam. You can't have it both ways.
You'll get another peak at it this week as those same lawmakers,
mostly republicans, who demand that government be downsized, will have
a chance to do it, but will cave in to the pressure from the Michigan
Farm Bureau and other agricultural interests.
Last week the governor paid off on a promise to reduce the number
of state departments by combing the DNR and the DEQ into one, while at
the same time she grabbed some power to appoint the directors of the
Agriculture department and the DNR. This gives her the power to order
those directors to make cost cuts and other reforms rather than having
to work through a bulky commission. It's called accountability.0D
The farm guys came unglued and immediately got on the horn to
outstate republicans, hoards of which owe their election to the
farmers, and told them in no uncertain terms they better vote to undo
what the governor done did. (sic)
What's a poor lawmaker to do? They have blathered for years about
getting rid of bureaucracy and now the governor needs their vote to
actually do it, but they risk offending special interest groups that
don't like it one iota.
Let's see: Remain true to what you profess or do just the opposite
and hope nobody notices the hypocrisy?
You know what they'll do which is why during the sermon, they were
thinking about something else.