I just read how Alabama is going to have to pay all legal fees related to their attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.
Good for the citizens of Abalama. Except for the taxpayers, who have to pay off a bad bet.
So I suggest we need new state or even federal laws that confirm, without a shadow of a doubt, that idiot legislators who spend hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars of taxpayer money in fighting clear, common sense, settled laws are personally responsible for the costs of those laws being found unconstitutional.
I live in Arizona. Have for most of my life. I’m certainly not proud of our politics but I wholeheartedly support our Stupid Motorist Law. The "Stupid Motorist Law" is an Arizona state law in that says that any motorist who becomes stranded after driving around barricades to enter a flooded stretch of roadway may be charged for the cost of their rescue. The law corresponds to section 28-910 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
Makes perfect sense. If you’re dumb enough to ignore common sense, in this case, rapidly flowing water that can endanger your life, forewarned by barricades that clearly state the road is closed, then you have to pay, out of your own pocket, the costs of being rescued.
So I would like to propose that same concept to city, state and federal legislators who love to pass laws that clearly, obviously and indisputably fly in the face of settled law.
From voting and abortion to discrimination, freedom of speech, education and more, any cretin who sponsors a law that costly challenges laws that have already been adjudicated should have to pay. Out of their own pocket.
Not the taxpayer’s pocket. THEIR OWN POCKET.
Too many elected officials propose laws that are only intended to stir up their base and help them get re-elected.
They are not concerned with the commons or greater good; they are only interested in taking advantage of their gerrymandered constituents’ fears and hatred in order to keep their jobs.
Shameful.
Of course this is nothing new. Elected officials, ever since history was recorded, have gleefully pandered to their base.
But today, thanks to the horrible strength of social media, no one is immune to challenge. Not even the assholes.
Yes, the ever-changing personnel at the highest levels of justice keep shifting. When one party promotes or nominates judges who reflect their specific views there is always the chance that settle law will be overturned.
But let’s call this what it is: gambling.
And if a legislator wants to gamble that he or she is right and settled law is wrong, let them put up or shut up. It’s all a game of chance but legislators are always playing with house money. If they lose, they lose the nothing as the public has to pick up the tab. And their misguided efforts, at great cost to all citizens, wind up helping them when it comes to elections because only the crazies show up to vote.
That’s what needs to be changed. Elected officials need to be accountable for their illogical, ideological waste.
And when they attempt to waste taxpayer money akin to trying to roll a rock up hill, they should be held responsible.