tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post4527179710438486975..comments2023-07-26T05:01:10.813-07:00Comments on DC's Musings: You're Doing A Bad Job.....Here's My VoteDennis C Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00914332467365539148noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post-72121925245849437412010-07-20T11:23:27.333-07:002010-07-20T11:23:27.333-07:00Bob: You seem to have high tolerance for public o...Bob: You seem to have high tolerance for public officials who have little, if any, integrity. Unfortunately the mindset pervades our populace, hence our governance.<br /><br />I am not at all shocked at the straight DNC endorsements by the teacher's union, nor any union. My point is that the teachers' current consequence up and down the state is exactly what they paid for with their donations. And exactly what they will continue to get because of their donations.<br /><br />What you see, hear, as "shouting conservative rhetoric from the rooftops" I see as realism in our current republic.<br /><br />Thanks as always for your comments.Dennis C Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00914332467365539148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-771892655051987797.post-59593693443151648472010-07-19T17:03:09.352-07:002010-07-19T17:03:09.352-07:00Wow...commendable passion. Unfortunately, it'...Wow...commendable passion. Unfortunately, it's not new news. The tendency of people to express cynicism about the legislature as a whole, but to support their specific member of the legislature goes back at least a hundred years, and perhaps more. It's not logical, but it's a very firm trend. <br /><br />It's not like it can't be broken. Scandal can drive an incumbent from office, which is why the press is so eager to find them. What's also true is that most of us don't think the specific identity of a senator or member of Congress or member of the Assembly makes much difference. If you think the system is corrupt, and that it is designed to corrupt anyone who gets into office, who that person is doesn't matter.<br /><br />I think you're right about the breakdown in our legislative bodies, though it's most obvious in California. I know you don't agree with what the Congress has done, but despite determined Republican opposition (at least in public), they have in fact acted, passing at least three signficant pieces of legislation in the past two years. The Congress may not have acted in the way you think best, but it has acted.<br /><br />As for Laura Richardson, well, show me the money. Who's in the race that will be a moderate, listen to both sides of an issue, and vote the interests of the District? Right now, God help me, Laura looks like the best of a very bad lot.<br /><br />Noticing the the CTA votes the straight Democratic ticket down the line is not breaking news. The Democrats have been far more amenable to their interests than Republicans. You can't consistently badmouth and try to break a union and expect them to contribute to your election. What we need to do with teachers is to try to accept the fact that they're in a very stressful occupation, and work to improve their working conditions. Just paying them more isn't the whole answer, as we can see. But threatening to fire them won't help, either. And just so you know, the teachers don't blame the Democrats for the layoffs -- the blame Republicans and their own management. <br /><br />I wonder, by the way, if Mike Villines voted his conscience, even knowing that it would be unpopular. If that is true, I'd suggest that he might make a good -- and unusual -- elected official.<br /><br />If you want independent elected officials, make them independent. Pay them handsomely, and provide an electoral process that insulates them from special interests. Send people who offer them bribes to jail, and provide the laws and resources to make sure that happens. Apply Truth in Advertising standards to political ads. Make every dollar given to a candidate for any reason starkly transparent. Make their personal finances entirely reportable. <br /><br />You can't excoriate the legislature without including the corporations, private interests, and wealthy individuals who lobby, influence and bribe them. The Congress and State Legislature don't cause our troubles -- they reflect the sorry state of our society. We live in a world where any lie, any unethical act can be justified on the basis of profit. If we don't change that, it will ruin us.<br /><br />Shouting conservative rhetoric from the rooftops will not help.Bob Schillingnoreply@blogger.com