Elaine Nanney: Stam’s snark

Regarding the April 29 letter “The sales-tax fog”: I was disturbed by Rep. Paul Stam’s remarks regarding letter-writers who have expressed their (negative) opinions of recent state tax reforms.

I would think that, as a member of the General Assembly, he would take the opportunity to educate the public about its actions, if he believes there is some misunderstanding regarding an important issue such as this. His snarky remark, “Apparently they don’t purchase anything,” is simply meanspirited and designed to denigrate the letter-writers and their opinions. There is no effort to hear and understand their points of view.

It demonstrates the attitude that many current lawmakers seem to have about the public, which is that we should just keep our disagreements to ourselves, because they know what is best for us. Many of us despair that civil discourse has fallen by the wayside and wonder how to change that.

If our leaders cannot model good behavior, then we are probably doomed to continued partisan bickering. Unless, of course, we demand better and seek new leaders.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Elaine Nanney: Stam’s snark."