The following Letter to the Editor appears in this week’s Main Line Suburban Life newspaper. Written by Paoli resident Eugene Grace, this letter really hits on what some of us have been thinking lately. Mr. Grace doesn’t write his letter with a particular political view or slant; nor is he suggesting that one political party is better or worse than another. Mr. Grace’s message is simple . . . he is asking for fair play and common sense from our elected officials. An interesting letter — comments?
To the Editor:
Fair play and common sense are the two traits that voters want from their political leaders.
Fair play means simply following the established rules of the game as well as their related customs and traditions. Locally, fair play does not include Tredyffrin’s use of “New Matter” to keep a significant township matter off the published agenda. Locally fair play would not allow the Lower Merion School District to plant remote-controlled webcams into school-provided computers without some form of notice.
Nationally fair play does not include the U.S. Senate’s use of a tactical tool known as “Reconciliation” to pass major legislation. Under “normal” Senate rules, 60 votes are required to move legislation through that body. Reconciliation was developed as a speedier way to move smaller budgetary or tax issues through the Senate with only a simple majority of 51 votes. The Senate’s use of Reconciliation for health care would be a departure from Senate rules and tradition.
Common sense informs us that Tredyffrin should have collected monies owed under previous commitments without further study and that the Lower Merion School District should have provided notice to students regarding a potential invasion of privacy. Common sense says that the U.S. Senate should not employ Reconciliation regarding health care, which constitutes 16 percent of the U.S. economy. Common sense tells us that leaders should lead.
The fact that “The People” are leading on all these issues tells us that fair play and common sense have been thrown to the wind. Common sense tells us that the “leaders” responsible for these decisions should have a similar fate.
Eugene P. Grace, Paoli
Filed under: State House 157, Tredyffrin Township | Tagged: Board of Supervisors, Lower Merion School District, State House 157, Tredyffrin Township, Warren Kampf | 17 Comments »