Government needs reorganization; work together for common goals
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
In My Humble Opinion
Jodi McDade
Welcome to 2023! I can’t quite decide if I’m relieved to have survived 2022, looking forward to 2023, or just trying to be a little wary of what is coming up. There are so many unknowns right now, and it’s hard to make decisions.
This is unusual for me because I am generally a “glass half full,” wearing “rose colored glasses,” “Pollyanna” type girl, but I just can’t quite get there right now.
On a personal note, last year was good – in fact, very good. I am expecting this next year to be at least the same. But the world we live in right now is so uncertain that I’m a bit hesitant to be too optimistic. I’m going to try to roll with the punches and keep going.
We still have major problems in our country that are going to continue to plague us until there can be a change in administrations in Washington. Yes, the Republicans have taken the majority in the House of Representatives, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will all stand together to fight the liberal agenda that is still causing the situations with our economy, illegal immigration, massive overspending, and destruction to our legal system that is increasing crime all over the country.
Republicans are not like Democrats. Democrats tow the party line, stand together regardless of all else, and know they will be totally ostracized if they speak out. Republicans are free thinkers who have no problem standing up to the party leadership, vary in their opinions from moderate to conservative to hard right, and could not care less if they are the lone wolf.
This week we will have found out if even enough Republicans have been able to come together to elect a speaker of the house. If not, new members will not have been sworn in, new leadership will not be in place, and no work can be done. If, by chance, they were able to work out deals to elect a speaker, I am hoping to see investigations started, some recent legislation rolled back and a lock put on the funds they oversee.
In the Senate there is no telling where things will go this year because there is not a strong majority even though the Democrats do hold more seats. There have recently been a couple of free-thinking Democrats, but one has now left that party to become an Independent. There are so many Republicans in Name Only (Rinos) that, as long as Mitch McConnell is the minority leader, there probably will never be a consensus within the Republican members.
Thank goodness we are finally rid of one of the worst Rinos – Alabama’s own Richard Shelby. Now we’ll just have to see if his replacement, Katie Britt, follows the path of her financial supports (Shelby and McConnell) or possibly will really be a conservative. Time will tell.
I have no problem speaking out and criticizing the party that I am aligned with when I do not agree with them or what they are doing. I don’t understand why more Democrats don’t feel comfortable doing the same thing. Somehow, I just don’t believe that all Democrats are 100% in agreement with their policies anymore than Republicans are all in agreement with our policies. I really wish I could understand this mindset.
Rodger Williamson offers a different perspective with his column and Libertarian beliefs. He gives me food for thought on many topics about limited government, but I’m not sure I can go quite that far to the right on other things. The political spectrum from left to right is like night to day, and it’s too bad we can’t find some place in between to come together. But I’m afraid we are so far past that it will never happen. But open conversations between all of us would at least help us better understand each other.
Hopefully by the time this edition of the paper is released, we will have some answers to the questions I have as I write this column. Some of the issues that the maverick Republicans want changed make sense to me.
The rules need to be changed to require our representatives to be present in Washington to vote. Our representatives need to make their OWN votes, and proxy votes should not be allowed. Zoom hearings and committee meetings should be stopped. We need to be correcting rule changes that were made during the “pandemic” and get back to holding our representatives (and probably senators) responsible to doing the job they were hired to do. Most of the public (including me) have no idea how many rules have been changed during the last few years.
Next week’s column will address what has transpired this week as our government is reorganized. We certainly need it.
Since I consider myself a Constitutional Conservative, law-abiding citizen, and someone who would like for the government to get out of my personal business, I hope the Republican-elected officials will have found some path to working together for our common goals.
In case you are not aware, I am no longer a member of the Coosa County Republican Party Executive Committee, so my opinions and views do not represent the county, state, or national party. I am still involved with the Republican Party but feel the need to be able to speak my mind more publicly. It’s a breath of freedom – come join me!