Before you fall over in a dead faint, let me remind you that politicians are crafty sorts. They excel at saying one thing and doing another — "another" being whatever is in their self-interest. That is why we need to wait and see if the speaker really means it and if the General Assembly really does it.The speaker told the Atlanta newspapers that voters "spoke on the issue" in the recent primary voting and that he is "committed from the House side to making sure we have some real, serious ethics reform." Admittedly, I am a product of public schools but "real" and "serious" say to me that what we have had to this point has been neither real nor serious.
That is where you come in. You have been very determined to make sure our legislators understood your unhappiness with their cavalier attitude toward ethics reform and every time they trotted out the term "gimmick," that only made you madder. It seems the shade is going up for our intrepid public servants and they are beginning to realize that you just might shorten their political careers if they don't listen to you instead of marching to the speaker's tune.
You have shared with me your letters to your representatives on the topic of ethic reforms as well as the replies you received in return. I found their responses fall into three general categories: (a) The "bug letter" that says nothing except to thank you for writing and ignores the frustrations you express; (b) a lecture and/or whine about how little they get paid to do their very difficult job and how much they learn while they (and their spouses) eat at some fancy restaurant, courtesy of a lizard-loafered lobbyist; or (c) no response at all.
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