Strong Decision Makers No More

Here in Colorado budgets are tightening, and many politicians are having to make some very difficult decisions. But it seems that many politicians are not going to be able to make those decisions. A good example close to me is the school district that I work in as a law enforcement officer has a nearly forty million dollar short fall to make up. The School Board had put out a list of schools that were potentially going to be closed. The School Board took public comment and researched each of the schools. There seemed a good chance that two even three of the schools on the list were going to be closed. But in the end only one school was marked for closure. And even the closure of that one school didn't even cover one tenth of the amount of money needed to make up the short fall. There is a strong sense that the School Board bowed to public outrage over the closure list by not closing more schools.

Why didn't the School Board close more school? Surely, they realize that they are going to have to come back the list of school again this year. The School Board knows that there will have to be cuts in the budget somewhere. They just aren't strong enough to make those cuts, yet.

That seems to be the re-occurring theme of American politic, now. There is plenty of harsh political rhetoric but no actions to back up the words. The health care overhaul that we were promised looks to be stalled in Congress, and if it ever comes out of Congress chances are it will do little to nothing to cuts costs for anyone. Strong decision are required to make changes in the world right now. Those decisions are not going to be popular. Someone will lose out. Whether those people are the controlling interests of today or the generations that come after. At times, I wonder why I participate in the political process at all. What does my vote count when the men and women whom I vote for become yellow bellied. They play to the coward in the hopes that coward will carry them through the next election. But playing to the coward means no problems get fixed. Someone needs to stand up and make things work not because he or she wants to get re-elected but because it's fixing something that has been broken for too long.