Last Monday marked the first day of this year’s legislative session. Cue in the religious liberty, gun control, confederate monuments, ‘English-only’, ‘let’s-fix-transit’ bills that will begin to pop up on our news feeds. Disappointedly, despite the golden dome being just a few steps away from the heart of our Downtown campus, students are not keeping track of new legislation passing by the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate in the next 40 days. The campus carry law came as a surprise to many of our friends, despite the bill being in the works for over two years. It was no surprise to the ones that had kept track of its failure in 2015, that when the new version arrived tailored with the additions that Governor Nathan Deal had requested, campus carry would no longer just be a distant nightmare.
Keeping track of bills during this session is not only essential, but it is also our responsibility as the next generation who will spend a portion of their lives in the city and state. The Georgia General Assembly website is already piling up the prefiled bills, and is now opened to all the new bills of 2018 to make their entrance. And soon, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution will soon start giving us the legislative briefs of the week, which means there are zero excuses to be out of touch with the politics going on down the street.
A lot of the decisions that will be made in March and April will affect many of us directly and indirectly, so it just sounds like common sense that we would be part of that process. After all, we saw exactly what happened last time we decided to keep our feet out of political involvement, trusting that the American people would choose the less-orange looking of the two.
Finally, let’s all drop the “I’m not really into politics” excuse, because if that’s the case, just hop right into it. Politics is not a hobby or an interest, but rather is about staying in touch and in control of how you go about your every day. What should drivers legally be allowed to do and not to do? Should tattoos disqualify members from serving in the military (yes, that’s a prefiled bill this year)? Should students be required to attend class until the age of 16 or 17? Should bump stocks be legal? Should smoking in vehicles be allowed?
Someone else will be making these decisions for you, someone will be representing your needs and wants, so you better hope you’ve communicated them correctly. Let’s not forget, all politicians run on the platform that they’re hear to listen, so give them something to listen to! Send letters, write emails, and leave calls. It’s surprisingly easy to get in touch with a representative – even if that means having to leave four consecutive messages with their secretary in a day. Trust us, we’ve tried it. And if none of that works, walk on down to the Georgia Capitol (approximately a 4.5 minute walk) and ask them for a quick chat.
These decisions will impact all our lives, so we better take control of what that impact will be.
Bad news for the states. Bad news for the nation. The democrat party has been subsumed by an enormous concentration of entitlement collectors. Any talk of reducing social welfare programs, strikes at the leftist platform. Democrats need massive entitlement programs because they fundamentally transform non-voting have-nots into voting dependents. The democrat party cannot survive with less than half the nation being dependent on the government. Entitlements earn votes for leftists who dispense them. It’s the heart of their strategy.
Once again we see a democrat using the tried and true leftist flimflam. They’re about to create a long list of entitlements. Then they’ll use big media to threaten the loss of them unless you vote for them. It’s effective, destructive, financially unsustainable and by the time their programs fail, those who enacted them will be retired and living in lavish comfort and wealth.
Every time you vote, think about this. Tyrants fear their subjects and before they oppress them, they provide benefits on a colossal scale. Those who don’t cooperate are purged, often by imprisonment and execution. It’s a very bad idea to allow one’s government to take money and redistribute it for political gain. Seems that’s precisely what’s going on for the rest of us. Fortunately it always ends the same way and there’s an old Virginia saying when it’s over. Sic semper tyrannis.