From the flight deck
Last week I got a four-page color glossy brochure from the two people who supposedly represent me in the state legislature, and one other guy from nearby. The mailer was paid for by the taxpayers, of course.
It's been sitting on my desk since it got here. I've been meaning to put a post together listing the main failings of the state legislature, maybe even poking fun at some of the crazy stuff these politicians are bragging about. But when my list of grievances started filling up a whole sheet on my legal pad, I ran out of steam.
And so I think I'm going to take the lazy way out, at least for now, and leave it at this: In my 45 years here, Oregon, and Portland in particular, have never been in worse shape than they are now. The state legislature is not helping; in fact, they're making things worse in many respects. People like Lew Frederick and Tawna Sanchez have nothing to be proud of. They are in way over their heads, and they probably don't even realize it. They think that when they "invest record funding," they're doing something. As long as we don't pay a living wage to members of the legislature, and attract a better-qualified group, we will continue to get bad results. It's sad.
Legislative pay is not the issue. We haven't paid legislators since Oregon became a state in 1859 and we've had some damn fine legislators during that time. Ed and Nancy Fadeley, Richard and Maurine Newberger, and Mark Hatfield are just a few that come to mind. I didn't agree with them all on everything but they were statesmen willing to work with people on all sides to develop sound legislation and policies. Something else has changed; I have my theories, but it isn't how much we pay them.
ReplyDeleteEd Fadeley? Really? Anyway, whatever the idea was in 1859, the crew we have now is bad, and it's never going to get better with the pay we offer. Shemia Fagan being the most obvious example.
DeleteYears ago, Don McIntire suggested that we pay legislators $100k per year. This was back when $100k was a very impressive amount and we had just one regular session every two years. His only caveat was that we had to dock them $3k for every extra day in session after the first 60 days.
DeleteThat is a cruel trilemma.
ReplyDeleteI don't think pay is the issue, either. You think your district is going to vote for someone more qualified than those three? Unlikely, my friend. You get who the political machine gives you, and you like it. End of story.
ReplyDeleteI'd still like the bojack legislative recap once you're feeling up to it.
ReplyDeleteI always like the boast that we fleeced more money out of your pocket to put into one of the most horrible outcome and expensive per child public educational systems in the country. And the climate grift is not too far behind in wasted resources. But hey we got money back from the Feds- for more insider contracts to dole out! And look how smart we are- we know how a super complex dynamic and massive climatic system works and with more human sacrifice we just might please the gods.
ReplyDelete