Free means equal

Each day I see new reasons why our Petition to Stop Prosecutorial Misconduct should gain traction.  Last week it was reported that lawmakers in Indiana pulled a bill that would require welfare recipients to take drug tests after an amendment to that bill would subject lawmakers to the same requirements.  Apparently, lawmakers did not like having to follow the same rules as the rest of society.

There is a saying that says "A society can be judged by how they treat their weakest member."  This quote is alternatively credited to everyone from Winston Churchill to Ghandi.  Regardless who said it - if anyone really did - the quote should be truest of all in a free and democratic society.  It should be true in America.  We all should make it true in America.

If we want to live in a free society, then we must allow others within our sociey with whom we disagree to live freely as well.  I understand, and agree with, the concept that welfare recipients should be held accountable to taxpayers for the benefits they receive.  Welfare is a system that was ideally designed with the intent of helping neighbors move on from short term struggles to productive members of society.  That concept has been sidelined and highjacked over the years, but that was the goal of it when it was created.  In 1996 Congress enacted reforms to various welfare programs when the public perception of such programs were that they were being abused by those receiving taxpayer funded money and resources.

Recently, bills have been popping up across the nation that would further limit welfare benefits.  Without debating the merits of such bills, I will say that Indiana is onto something significant.  When lawmakers want to pass a bill that either puts limits or requirements on us citizens, or even a select group of us, then the proposed law should explicitly apply to them as well. 

On the national level, Congress created the Congressional Accountability Act in 1984 that purports to place Congress members under the same laws they create for the rest of us.  This law has been credited with holding Congress accountable to the laws they create for the rest of us, but it only applies to federal laws, and it only goes so far.  It does not apply to laws that do not apply to society at large.  That is to say, it does not apply to laws that only apply to a select category of people.

Whether you agree or disagree with the purpose and intent of the Indiana welfare law, it is good public policy to hold lawmakers accountable to the same standards that apply to those who live under the laws created by our policy makers.  If we are going to be free, we must be equal.  Kinda makes sense doesn't it?