|
|
|
Jewish World Review March 24, 2011 / 18 Adar II, 5771 Norman Who? By Cal Thomas
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In case you haven't been paying attention, Braman led a successful drive to recall Republican mayor Braman filed a lawsuit in hopes of stopping construction of the stadium. He lost. The final straw, he tells me, was when Alvarez and Seijas backed an increase in salaries for public employee union members and a property tax increase to help pay for it. Braman says he was enraged because seniors were not getting a cost of living increase and the jobless numbers were growing. Braman launched a website (www.recallmayorAlvarez.org) and the campaign was on. That a prominent
Braman says people should take one message from his efforts: "this is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It is a referendum for change." The tough part comes next. While the symbolism of ousting two incumbent politicians with a recall vote may encourage people who think the system can't work for them, institutional change will require scaling a much higher wall. As the Herald reported, the county charter must be changed if political business is not to remain as usual. "Commissioners," it found, "have often refused to bring proposals to change the charter before the public for a vote." The momentum may be shifting. The commissioners are set to meet this week to plan a special election to replace Alvarez and Seijas. There is also a good chance, given the recall results, that they might consider reforming the charter and allow the public to vote on proposed changes. Some pundits and Democratic politicians have predicted that the tea party movement to reform government is a flash in the pan and won't last through the 2012 election. The flip side of an energized electorate demanding that government not spend more than it takes in and that it take in only what it absolutely needs, respecting the people who earn it, is that increasing numbers of us must be torn away from the public trough. "You can do it," rather than "government will do it for you," is the type of thinking that built America and sustained us through wars and economic downturns. Four years ago, the Christian Science Monitor reported that, according to an analysis by
JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.
© 2006, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Click