It looks like the Republican Governor of Alabama has got Jesus. How else to describe his desire to raise taxes by almost a couple of billion dollars?
Most people think about taxes as if they were...well, TAXES.
Me? I don't like paying taxes anymore than the rest of you do. But on the other hand I understand that taxes pay for the roads I drive on. They pay for the schools my children attend. They pay for the police that pull me over. (only slightly joking here.) The fewer taxes we pay, the fewer services we receive in return. The consequences of this can be seen most notably in places like Alabama and Mississippi.
The governor of Alabama realized this somehow...I say "somehow" because he used to be a Gingrich Republican. Received a number of awards from Grover Norquist (who wants government to be small enough to drown in the bathtub) for his tax cut policies. But when he got to the Governor's mansion, he changed his tune.
He's going to have a tough road to hoe. The Republican Party basically thinks he's a white man's version of Uncle Tom. The Democratic Party supports him, but their base (black voters) don't know if they can quite trust him yet. Can't say I necessarily blame them, as most republicans in Alabama have a checkered history when it comes to black citizens.
But at some point in time if Christians as individual citizens don't live up to the creed of Jesus, the state is going to have to kick in.