Rep. David Agema is about as conservative as it gets around these
parts. If any issue has even the faint aroma of being to the left,
he's against it. So it comes as no shock that the West Michigan
"fly-boy", as he is known, was out front on efforts to install a
part-time legislature in Lansing.
Just as Spring follows Winter, and we hope it will soon, the PTL
issue always surfaces because it is so darn popular with the voters.
But they have never had a chance to weight in and probably never will.
But Mr. Agema is not tossing in the towel. However here is the
reality check.
He needs two-thirds of his colleagues to say yes which almost never
happens. But let's assume that by some miracle, that happens. The next
step before it becomes law is for the voters to endorse it at the polls.
Repeatedly the statewide surveys have suggested this would pass and
this one might...except for one teeny-tiny twist in this amendment.
Buried in all the stuff about the PTL is an extension of term
limits.
Oh. Oh. Houston we got a problem.
You see the ultra-conservative Mr. Agema has concluded, what many
liberals discovered years ago: Spending six years in the house and
eight years in the senate is not enough time to become a competent
legislator.
Michigan has the most restrictive term limit law in the land and
all of the "players" in town believe it should be changed and to have
Rep. Agema reach the same conclusion is a stunner.
The polls also suggest that the typical citizen is still in love
with kicking folks out of Lansing just when they figure it out. It is
counter-intuitive to dilute experience but don't confuse the electorate
with the facts, their minds are made up.
Inserting this change into the PTL plan is a poison pill that many
lawmakers won't swallow and even if they do, the folks at home won't.
Nice try Mr. Agema. (BTW, the "fly-boy" nickname comes from the
fact that the first commercial airliner to fly after 9-11 was piloted
by Captain Agema. He volunteered for the gig.)