I find that too many politicians try to sugarcoat the velvet-covered steel fist that is Government. Even those on the Right do so from time to time. Now, I know that the Left deliberately uses vague pronouncements and is very imprecise in their language. Most often, it is meant to indicate one thing but the intent is a 180-degree turn.
NH State Rep Bill Boyd fell into it (reformatted, emphasis mine) in dealing with the ongoing PFOA water contamination in Merrimack with the Saint-Gobain plant.
The unusual decision of the House to reject its own policy committee and pass this legislation (HB 478) underscored the bipartisan support for this cause. A leadership move to kill the bill failed, 218-139, and the House then voted on a voice vote to pass it on to the State Senate for further review.
The town and Saint-Gobain entered into an agreement in 2016 for the company to make the water filtration upgrades through 2023. This legislation would require the company to keep paying for those treatment systems into the future and not have any costs passed on to local ratepayers. State Rep. Bill Boyd, R-Merrimack, said the contamination has been more pervasive than first feared and the state has since imposed even tighter limits on these perfluorooctanoic acid compounds (PFOAs).
“We are just asking Saint-Gobain to do the right thing and provide clean, potable water, not only to our citizens but for individuals (business owners) who use the community as their base of operations,” Boyd said.
Now, I’m not picking on Bill Boyd for this but his word did make an Object Lesson.
The government very seldom “asks” for anything. Government, to keep flogging the truth of the matter, is not voluntary. When it comes to passing legislation (in this case, HB478), there is no “ask”. In fact, the bill itself says the opposite. Even the Analysis part of the bill (think of it as a quick summary) shows there’s no iota being able to say “No” which “ask” does:
This bill requires Saint Gobain Performance Plastics to pay for the remediation of water in certain wells in Merrimack that it contaminated.
The text of the bill makes it clear with the word that means “under penalty of the Law you WILL OBEY.”
The Legislation sets the parameters, the purpose, the actions – and the penalty. SHALL is that special word that takes all wiggle room out of any possibility of a voluntary “No”.
So again, I know the Left LOVES to make it seem that the object of their ire has a choice knowing that it doesn’t. However, words have meanings and in Legislation, it means precise things, and should we on the Right should be honest about that is not only what is to be accomplished but the objects of that legislation have no choice at all.
(H/T: UL)