With today's primary election now in full swing, the main theme we keep hearing is that this is the year of the ant-incumbentr, or put into simpler terms:"Throw the bums out" or if you prefer, "toss the bums out." Whatever phrase you choose, there are a few candidates who represent change and those who have worn out their welcome.
County Judge Mary Jane Henderson, publicly reprimanded by the Florida Supreme Court for her dealings with a criminal now in prison, fits the bill for either being thrown out or tossed.
County Council at-large candidate Margie Patchett, on the other hand, is the antithesis of entrenched incumbent, not only in terms of her activism in challenging career politicians to hold down taxes through her reform efforts as a private citizen and now willing to jump in and do the job herself.
There is a simple logic to this sentiment. When things are not going the way they should, someone in office must bear the responsibility. Since it is too difficult for most people to place the blame where it belongs, the simplest approach is to throw all of them out and start over.
With this ground rule in place we see a lot of candidates claiming that one of their greatest assets is that they are not politicians but come directly from business or other honorable professions. This year they are all promising to cut both spending and taxes and a lot of other things. It all sounds good and we will no doubt rush out to throw the rascals out.
The sad fact is that after most elected officials have been in office for any length of time they have a strong tendency to become like the hated politicians they have replaced. For example the Republicans become Democrat-light as they decided that the way to stay in power was to use lots of public money to buy votes. Their only claim to fame is that they usually don’t tax and spend as much as the other side.
The founding fathers were well aware of this very real problem. To prevent it they set rigid restrictions on what the federal government could do. For over a century these restrictions kept the spending and regulation genies bottled up. Now, however, the genies are long out of the bottle, the constitution has been rendered powerless so there is no limit to what can happen when Congress and the Senate meet.
One solution that is offered from time to time is term limits. The problem with term limits is that they are so hard to get passed. If they are passed, politicians often find a way around them.
In the mean time a partial solution is to throw the bums out. At least the taxpayers get a slight and short break until the neophytes find out how to get their hands all the way into the cookie jar like the veterans such as U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Va, used to do.
For this election we will try to steer the voters to the candidates who will either help our situation or at least do a minimal amount of damage.
In the upcoming election cycle, Padgett appears to be among scant few most likely to accomplish worthwhile actions such as cutting taxes and spending.
At first glance, State Rep. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, would fit the bill of the career candidate, but she's actually accomplished q1uite a bit in Tallahassee in the best interests of the 28th district.
Whatever your preference, keep 'em in or toss out the bums, you can only accomplish by voting today.
.