(Things are not much different in 2025 as in 2024--W.G.)
There is a
lot of instability in the world today, and the US are experiencing their share
of it as well: a presidential candidate
facing assassination, inflation roaring, the economy faltering, wars
flaring. This being the case, one would
expect the political leadership in Louisiana to do everything possible to
shield our State from the threatening disorders. And to their credit, they did some good
things in the last session to that end. Affirming
gold and silver as legal tender will offer some protection against a weakening
dollar; legislation making illegal immigration a State crime should help with
physical safety; the pro-Ten Commandments and anti-trans legislation will help
us spiritually; etc.
But
inexplicably, they are doing the opposite vis-à-vis one of the most vital spheres
of State life. Instead of making a bit
of sacrifice by holding one more special session in 2024 to get Louisiana’s
economy on a secure footing, they are folding their hands, propping up their
feet, and waiting until next year while the world burns all around us and while
Louisiana’s people suffer unnecessarily.
Both chambers are complicit (via KATC):
“Since adjourning in June, talks have
continued with Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson and others to discuss what
comprehensive tax reform would look like in Louisiana,” said President Cameron
Henry. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but it’s a very complicated issue that
requires continued discussion. The public deserves time to see our plans and
understand the implications for their families and their businesses. We want to
get this right.”
“The House is committed to tackling tax
reform and plans to meet in the interim as often as it can on a number of
issues including insurance, transportation, and several others to keep a
spotlight on the needs of the state and develop solutions that can be brought
forward next session,” said Speaker DeVillier. “We have a group of legislators
this term who know we have to think differently if we’re going to make
Louisiana more competitive and prosperous, and we are committed to reaching
that goal in due time.”
‘In due
time.’ That’s a gut-punch to the plainfolk
throughout Louisiana who are struggling right now and will probably be
struggling even more in early 2025 while Mr DeVillier, Mr Henry, et al., bump
their gums in their calm, stress-free discussion groups.
It is not as
though solutions and plans don’t already exist.
The Pelican Institute, Paul
Hurd, and others have put forward plans on tax reform. It would be a simple matter for the
Legislature to analyze and adopt one of them.
But they stubbornly refuse to do so.
Good
shepherds they are not: ‘I am the good
shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. . . .
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the
sheep’ (St
John’s Gospel 10:11, 13).
The contrast
with real self-sacrifice for others couldn’t be more depressing. To remind everyone, including Louisiana’s
legislators, what it looks like, we turn to an unsung, heroic missionary of the
Orthodox Church to the Native Americans in Alaska in the 19th
century, St
Jacob Netsvetov:
The new assignment for the newly-ordained
Father Jacob would also prove to be quite a challenge. The Atka “parish”
comprised a territory stretching for nearly 2,000 miles and included Amchitka,
Attu, Copper, Bering and Kurile Islands. But this did not deter the godly young
priest, for when he was clothed in the garments of the Priesthood, he was found
to be “clad with zeal as a cloak’ (Is. 59:17), and so he threw himself wholly
into his sacred ministry. His deep love for God and for his flock was evident
in everything that he did. Both in Atka and in the distant villages and
settlements which he visited, Father Jacob offered himself as a “living
sacrifice” (Rom 12:1). Having “no worry about his life” (Mt. 6:25 ff), the holy
one endured manifold tortures of cold, wet, wind, illness, hunger and
exhaustion, for to him life was Christ (Phil 1:21).
Where, we
wonder, is the zeal of our legislators to make themselves ‘living sacrifices’
for the sake of bettering the lives of Louisianans?
His labors
were diverse, and he was always active in serving others:
. . .
The rest is
at https://thehayride.com/2024/07/garlington-dereliction-of-duty-at-the-louisiana-legislature/.
--
Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us
sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema to the Union!
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