A Question of Loyalty

By: Mrs. Elizabeth Powel, homemaker and influential citizen in the community.

A Question of Loyalty: A Question for Bill Janis, former Delegate of the 56th District and current Senate candidate for the 12th District of Virginia.

In recent years there has been a change in the political landscape: more of the average voters today are getting involved in the political process and becoming an intricate part. It used to be that more of those that were inside the party had a larger part in what transpired, this is becoming less the case today.

In light of that, I want to use an analogy to better explain what I am getting at and what my question will be.

Those in the military use a very strong chain of command structure to keep order within the ranks and to accomplish the mission. If a soldier of a unit is given orders from their commanding officer, that soldier is expected to fulfill those orders to the best of his ability. If another commander from another unit comes in and tries to override those orders, the soldier is required to follow the orders from his commanding officer only. This is done to maintain order.

How does that relate to the political process today? Here is how: who are our elected representatives supposed to take orders from, the party bosses or from their constituents? The way our founding fathers originally set up our form of government–and what makes it so unique–was that the people would direct their elected representative to vote for them on the issues. Today, a lot of the time, that is not the case, and the orders are given by those within the party that try to accumulate power instead of listening to the will of the voters. This has evolved to become this way over time. But this is changing.

Here is my question for Bill Janis who is running for the 12th District Senate seat in Virginia:

Why did you NOT show up that day in April of 2004 when you were a Delegate, when there was a very important vote that day? It has since come to light that, because you and some others did not vote, the bill passed that day and your absences resulted in a tax increase. So Bill, why did you stay home that day and miss a key vote? Who gave you the order to do so? Did you consult with your constituents beforehand, or was it the party bosses that told you to stay home that day? The voters of the 12th District need to know before they vote in the upcoming June 9th Republican primary as to why you stayed home that day, so that we all can understand your reasoning for doing so. In Virginia the General Assembly only meets for 45 or 60 days, so it is critical that you be there in order to vote.

As I said, the political landscape has changed, at least in 12th District, and many voters no longer want our elected representatives taking orders from the party bosses. The voters now want and expect their elected representatives to vote in the General Assembly for them on the issues, even when that is different than what the party bosses demand.

So Bill Janis, will you explain to your potential future constituents, why you stayed home that day and are you going to continue to do that in the future? Where is your loyalty, to our constitutional form of government or to the party bosses? That is what many voters in the 12th District want to know before they go to the ballot box on June 9th. Will we have an elected Representative voting for us, or a soldier taking orders from party bosses?

http://articles.dailypress.com/2004-04-08/news/0404080157_1_sales-tax-tax-by-one-half-cent-tax-increase