Yesterday -- nay, this morning -- Michigan lawmakers didn't pass a single bill to fund our god-awful roads. Again.
If you follow Michigan politics and spent portions of your evening checking Twitter, you likely found a stream of groans coming from our state Capitol -- reporters, lawmakers, legislative aides, everyone -- about how nothing was happening.
And if you're wondering why this is the case -- why, that is, lawmakers can pass laws about beaver traps or laws to make voting on ballot initiatives insane or laws to implement a meaningless welfare drug testing program, but not something for roads -- it's likely because of attitudes such as this:
Majority at stake, @RyanFelton13 and @emilyjanelawler. Who really wants to defend tax hike vote, especially w/trust deficit? — Dennis Lennox (@dennislennox) June 11, 2014See, lawmakers want you to believe it's a difficult choice to find a way to fund our road infrastructure, but in reality, it's just politics! The bill on the table that sparked the above comment would've placed a ballot proposal before voters in November, which would ask if they'd approve a 1% sales tax hike to raise $1 billion for roads. But who would want to defend that? I mean, jeez, it's way easier to just bellyache about the roads and kick the can down to the next group of suckers voted in this fall. Am I right? But, to Lennox's point, Republicans have their jobs to protect! And the
If Michigan lawmakers leave Lansing this week without embracing some way to boost our woeful road funding, I guess I’d prefer none of them return in the fall.
Seriously, resign. Give it up. Go find something you’re good at, because it’s clearly not legislating.
If we can’t get the House and Senate to address what voters say should be the state’s highest priority, and what anyone who drives can tell you has become a tooth-jarring, wheel-wrecking experience, then what good are their members?
Good enough to pass a useless welfare drug testing program, I suppose.
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