July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
A simply silly idea (01/28/06)
Editorial
Mr. Speaker, we have a bill for the House to approve.
It calls for every rural road in Indiana to be paved by the year 2009, though it doesn’t say where the money will come from. It also calls for an end to war by 2010, a cure for cancer by 2011, and perfect ISTEP scores for every student by 2012.
Silly? Obviously.
But not any sillier than a vote this week by the Indiana House to eliminate property taxes by 2009. The vote, which came in an amendment to a larger bill, made no provision for an alternative source of revenue for local governments and school systems. It was a legislative exercise in wishful thinking.
And it was a bipartisan exercise at that.
The amendment — dubbed “symbolic” by its supporters, though we can think of more accurate adjectives — was first proposed by a Democratic lawmaker, but Republicans quickly scrambled to get in line behind it.
After all, this is an election year.
Every single incumbent running for re-election could hear his opponent making political hay with the vote. To absolutely no one’s surprise, the thing passed unanimously.
No one should really be ashamed of his or her vote, but it’s nothing to brag about either.
It was an easy, empty and meaningless gesture.
And if it was symbolic of anything, it was symbolic of the sort of political posturing that too often substitutes for leadership when the General Assembly is in session. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
It calls for every rural road in Indiana to be paved by the year 2009, though it doesn’t say where the money will come from. It also calls for an end to war by 2010, a cure for cancer by 2011, and perfect ISTEP scores for every student by 2012.
Silly? Obviously.
But not any sillier than a vote this week by the Indiana House to eliminate property taxes by 2009. The vote, which came in an amendment to a larger bill, made no provision for an alternative source of revenue for local governments and school systems. It was a legislative exercise in wishful thinking.
And it was a bipartisan exercise at that.
The amendment — dubbed “symbolic” by its supporters, though we can think of more accurate adjectives — was first proposed by a Democratic lawmaker, but Republicans quickly scrambled to get in line behind it.
After all, this is an election year.
Every single incumbent running for re-election could hear his opponent making political hay with the vote. To absolutely no one’s surprise, the thing passed unanimously.
No one should really be ashamed of his or her vote, but it’s nothing to brag about either.
It was an easy, empty and meaningless gesture.
And if it was symbolic of anything, it was symbolic of the sort of political posturing that too often substitutes for leadership when the General Assembly is in session. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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