Decency in Government

Health, safety and welfare are legitimate concerns of government. That means hospitals, police & fire services, and water & sewer systems. We cannot complain too much about taxes raised to fund these common necessities. It is expansion of the role of government that riles people and causes friction. Factions are defined by those with needs and those with wants.

Private groups strive to make government more than it should be. Trade associations like Chamber of Commerce and Council for Quality Growth turn into lobbyists. Committees are formed to explore and influence every aspect of our lives. And their agendas cannot be funded without tapping our tax coffers. It is good that private citizens are politically active. Unfortunately it is politicians who usually benefit from the voting power or money provided from these groups. By virtue of selling influence, creating laws and placating special interest groups, politicians expand government and uses of tax revenues to maintain power and position.

Governing associations like the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and Association of County Commissioners (ACCG) wield influence. The ARC Board is composed of elected officials and appointed private citizens. ARC’s objective is to plan the distribution of population, land development and land use. It is the mission of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia to enhance the role… of county government. By definition their goal is expansion of government, including social and economic engineering.

Senator Zell Miller served Georgia as Lieutenant Governor 1975-1991, Governor 1990-1998 and U.S. Senator 2000-2004. In his book, “A Deficit of Decency,” Miller says an illness has besieged our nation, a veritable moral scurvy." And, "without responsibility, freedom and liberty break down into something ugly, selfish and, unfortunately all too familiar, a license to steal. And, "since maintaining a career in politics is more important than making good laws, most of the laws of the land are made not by elected representatives of the people but by unelected, unaccountable legislators."

Georgian’s legislature is besieged by special interests with their own agendas for issues like eminent domain, illegal immigration, and education. Many private citizens are involved and remain in contact with state legislators. But they cannot provide the influence and clout so many elected officials crave. We can be thankful for legislators who truly fight to make good laws. The ones who cannot be bought-off or threatened for one reason: they were elected to serve, not to swerve.

Some local officials don’t care about serving the best interests of their constituents. We have a commission chairman who waffles and misrepresents facts; and district commissioners who simply follow the agendas of special interests. Anything goes for ambition, to stay in office or to finance a campaign.

Citizens must provide strength and moral conviction. Citizens must require decency from those we elect. If we fail to defend our civil liberties, we give unscrupulous politicians a license to steal.

Larry Stanley
McDonough, GA
February 26, 2006