It seems that with every passing week liberal politicians exhibit more symptoms of a party that is slipping deeper and deeper into a psychosis. Well, psychosis might be a harsh word but the lack of a significant opposition has left them with a false sense of reality. They now can dream up problems without supplying facts and introduce the much needed (emphasis added for sarcasm) solutions without concern about possible side effects. They are limited only by their imaginations.
Senator Basnight is not immune. He recently decided that plastic bags are posing an immediate threat to us and our way of life. He says that “5 million plastic bags are used in Dare County each year but only 5% of them are recycled” and went on to say that “many” of them end up littering our beaches and highways.
It’s hard to find facts that back up these numbers but as evidenced by the solution to this alarming predicament, facts don’t really matter. As we all now know, Basnight has suggested that the answer is to tax…something. I know, I know…BIG surprise! A 10-20 cent tax per bag (and there is still some ambiguity about how this would be implemented) will eliminate their use. At least he hopes so. “I’d like the tax to generate no money. That means we’re not using them anymore.” But if any money is generated, he wants it to be directed towards environmental science scholarships.
Such a happy scenario. A problem that we can all agree on is fixed and a scholarship that could use some funding is helped. All by the mystical, magical powers of tax. This might have been more readily accepted by voters at another time but these days, when money is tight and out-of-control government spending is on display (thanks to those who attended the Tea Parties), Senator Basnight’s plan almost immediately hit a wall. People are resistant to new taxes. We want to know where our money is going. Liberals aren’t going to like this but our heightened awareness of fiscal irresponsibility has made it difficult to pull the wool over the eyes of voters across party lines. When folks wonder what exactly the Tea Parties were all about, this particular instance should illustrate our answer!
However, I feel that it should not end there. Fighting against new and unnecessary taxes has opened the door to a whole new set of questions. First and foremost; Why? This is something that we should ask of every single government official, regardless of political affiliation. It is a much harder question to answer, yet it is of equal importance if we are to hold our representatives accountable. In this situation, I ask “why now?” Why so much focus on the environment now? We all can agree that it’s a significant problem but with so many other pressing issues, why is there such an immediate focus on this one? I for one will be curious as to how much the good Senator’s campaign fund will benefit from the various environmental groups that take interest in our community. Only time will tell.