Alabama’s Village Idiots, Part 4
April 17th 2008 08:22 am
| A decent bill has a fair chance of passing the Alabama Legislature in the next week or so, mirabile dictu! But so does a stupid bill. You decide.First, the good bill. It would remove the sales tax on food for an individual shopper. (Restaurants and corporations would still pay a food tax.) The House has already voted 63-38 to let state voters decide whether to take the 4 percent state sales tax off groceries. Next, the Senate must agree. Then the issue would be on the November ballot.Now you might wonder, why does this need to go to the voters? Why can’t the Legislature just insert the knife and cut out the regressive tax? Most states would do just that. But nooooo. Not Alabama. See, we have a state constitution drafted in 1901 that, due to political wrangling at the time, prevents lawmakers from taking steps to actually GOVERN the state. Instead, the question of removing a tax requires a cumbersome constitutional amendment for the voters to decide. So we have to endure seven more months of rising food prices taxed at 4 percent until the referendum. I have said it before and will say it again until we get a new state constitution: Don’t move to Alabama if you can help it. The illogical contradictions of this place can make you crazy. But meanwhile, our lawmakers are considering a stupid bill. It would bar “People convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude” from seeking elected city or county offices in Mobile County. Never mind that this bill would rob us of many colorful characters. Worse, the legislators cannot agree on exactly what constitutes such a crime. The Mobile Register newspaper reports this quote: “Moral turpitude can be anything the court decides,” said Rep. James Buskey, D-Mobile. And this: “For shaking loose change in their pockets,” added fellow Mobile Democratic Rep. Joseph Mitchell. That about sums up my feelings. I’ve never been a fan of turpitude of any kind, moral or otherwise. Let’s keep it as vague and far-reaching as possible, what the hell!But wait! Rep. Jim Barton, R-Mobile, a sponsor of the bill, said he thought the law would apply to crimes such as solicitation of prostitutes, driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of drug paraphernalia.I say, why stop at paraphernalia? Let’s go full tilt and include: Owning a still, growing poppies and keeping hypodermic syringes around the house. By Gum, let’s drum turpitude out of Alabama, once and forever. |
