One of the things I like about American politics is that occasionally people who have almost nothing in common politically can still join together on a specific issue. Here’s an example.
A bill was recently introduced in the Missouri General Assembly to limit the amount of revenue that Missouri towns can collect from traffic fines. One of the complaints of African Americans in Ferguson was that residents were pulled over and fined for minor infractions.
Many states have speed traps. My daughter fell victim to one in Wathena, Kansas. (If you are ever in Kansas, be careful in Wathena. It’s on Route 6.) The municipalities that run speed traps care nothing about highway safety, only about increasing revenue from fines.
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Back to Missouri. Testifying for the bill to limit municipalities were the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union. According to an article in the Times on February 15, the leader of the Tea Party told a legislative committee, “If the St. Louis Tea Party coalition and the A.C.L.U. are on the same page on something, we must be going down the right path.”
The groups have different motives, of course. Conservatives cite intrusive government; liberals cite racial injustice. Both groups are correct.
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