There is a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson that is especially apropos today. “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” This statement is true on the federal, state and local level.
I was in my twenties when President Nixon was in office and the Watergate scandal occurred. He was re-elected in 1972 by winning all but one state and had 520 electoral votes to Senator McGovern’s 17 electoral votes. Less than two years later, Nixon was forced to resign the presidency.
Joseph de Maistre, an 18th century French diplomat, wrote, “Every country has the government it deserves.”
As I look at Tallahassee, I see a legislature that is power hungry. The leadership is so interested in micromanaging and aggregating power in their own hands, that they ignore the will of the electorate. Yet the electorate continues to send back the same people who are ignoring their will. Can we not see the connection between blind loyalty to our political tribe and the legislators ignoring our desires?
Locally, we have elected bodies that preach fiscal responsibility and then spend tax dollars on projects that most taxpayers do not want. A failed water park instead of a municipal pool is what Martin County taxpayers are stuck pouring money into. Now they want to include a shiny new money-losing clubhouse instead of just a place for people to play golf. Yet the County doesn’t have the money to fix a road or build a fire house.
The City of Stuart in the last year passed a budget that depleted reserves by $2 million dollars, included a 55% raise for each commissioner, and spent $600,000 in early separation pay which was unbudgeted. The City Commission also approved a ballooning tree planting project downtown while not spending the money in neighborhoods in the CRA that need sewers and sidewalks. No need to mention the failed City Manager payoff or lawsuit coming down the pike.
Government on all levels is broken. We can blame elected officials, but who elected them. It is the voters that cast ballots to put them in office that must assume the ultimate responsibility. If we continue to elect people just because of political party or because they are nice, like our slightly fractured aunt, then the ineptitude continues. Walt Kelly had his comic strip character Pogo once utter, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Government doesn’t work because we as citizens have not done what we should. Complaining and watching cable news is not the answer. Get involved and make sure you elect the people who will do the work and understand what they are doing. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”