When your public services are being woefully underfunded then it seems it would make sense to find some way to put money back into those services. After all, you want good schools to ensure that your children have a strong education and can enter well-paying fields and be informed citizens. The last thing you would want to do, one may think, would be to cut funding or revenue when those areas are already financially hurting.
This is what Becky Guidry thought when she sent a letter to her representative after the Mississippi legislature began to consider a tax cut that was threatening schools and healthcare. Unfortunately, her representative’s response was to tell her he noticed that she was not a native to the state and he could personally “care less.”
Concerned that her children’s schools were already looking pretty scant in the financial department. Becky Guidry sent an email to her local representative, saying that she believed that such a large bill cutting taxes across the board would benefit corporations within the state more than the taxpayers, and that it was:
“Irresponsible of our leadership to suggest eliminating income and corporate franchise taxes when revenue and projections are already down, budgets for various services are being cut across the board and funding for public education and other critical services such as child care, foster care and roads/bridges are underfunded.”
Mrs. Guidry opposed the cut so long as children weren’t receiving a fully funded education, although she said she would be willing to consider the cuts provided the Mississippi legislature allocated enough money to schools via some other measure. What was the point of cutting taxes if the taxes that were already being brought in weren’t enough? The representative, Karl Oliver, personally responded to her email, although it was unfortunately not what Mrs. Guidry was likely expecting. In addition to assuring her that the OTHER residents of the state totally agreed with him, Oliver said that:
“Quite frankly, and with all due respect, I could care less. I would, however, recommend that there are a rather large number of like minded citizens in Illinois that would love to see you return.”
There is nothing quite like trying to inform your local rep of your political beliefs and what would benefit the population that he is charged with representing, and being immediately shut down (and then told to go back where you came from).
You can read Mrs. Guidry’s email and Rep. Oliver’s response here on Twitter.
Featured image via Ken Lund, available under a Creative Commons License.
