Morris "Mo" Brooks Of Huntsville Comments
[August 9, 2004]
Dr. I.Q.,
I have reviewed some (but not all) of your web-site pages. Your "4
A's" comment describes the challenge you face in pushing through the
legislature an I&R Constitutional Amendment.
I strongly support both I&Rs (Initiative and Referendum; Initiative and
Recall). I have yet to decide the best approach to use (there are many versions)
but I am absolutely convinced we must have a mechanism for
getting around the blockades to good government erected by the legislature at
the behest of special interest groups. I&R is a way to effect positive
change that the legislature can never make because it is so hamstrung by
political IOUs.
In my view no version of I&R will pass absent (1) a strong, grass-roots
effort (that I don't foresee rising any time soon) or (2) an elevation of the
issue by a Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House or President of the
Senate. It is in this vein that I suggest you focus your efforts on convincing
one of the above four to make I&R an issue. If you are successful,
everything else will follow. . . . But be careful, there are a lot of Trojan
horses out there. Legislators are very skilled at making
voters think they are getting steak when they are in fact eating meat loaf. By
this I mean make sure the I&R legislation will really permit I&R changes
to occur. Reject any efforts to give us window dressing (an I&R bill that
sets the bar so high that no one can get the signatures to create the
referendum).
Just keep plugging away.
Now, on a side issue: I am a candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 2006 on the
Republican ticket. I actively opposed last year's tax increase. I was ranked #1
in the legislature in the 1980s by the Alabama Taxpayers' Defense Fund in the
fight against tax increases. I was elected four times to the House and three
times as House Republican Caucus Chairman. I've been an assistant D.A. in
Tuscaloosa and the District Attorney in Huntsville. I'm in my third election as
a county commissioner (but have no opposition). I am motivated to run for Lt.
Gov., in part, by the large disconnect I observed last year between a general
public (68%) that strongly opposed the tax increase and the dearth of state-wide
elected officials who had the guts to publicly oppose it (ZERO out of 29
publicly opposed the tax increase - albeit 19 of the 29 are judges and 3 are PSC
members). There should be at least one state-wide elected official who has the
gumption to do what is right regardless of where the political winds blow.
As stated above, I also strongly support both I&R types (referendum and
recall). I hope you will spread the word. I seek your support for the Lt. Gov.
race.
Take care and fight the good fight.
Sincerely,
Mo Brooks
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[***FOR THE RECORD: Morris Brooks appeared with Cindy Wright [sitting in as host for the vacationing Don Markwell on the "Don Markwell's Viewpoints" talk radio program (WACV-AM1170, Montgomery). This Doctor, a few days later, contacted him and requested he visit this website and provide a "second opinion", when, and if,. he might be able to find time to do so. His comments above were back in my clinic within the same day. I jokingly replied that by responding so quickly and comprehensively he showed that he obviously is not qualified to be a public servant ----or, was that really so much of a joke, after all? This an extremely rare thing for anyone in his position to do, at least in my experience. - Dr. I.Q.***]