Wimp of the Week

Have you ever felt your blood boil? It’s pretty cool, especially when it’s combined with your head doing an “Exorcist” 360 and steam whistling out of your ears a la Elmer Fudd. I enjoyed that triple sensation just this very morning as I perused the N&O’s assessment of some untouchable items in the state budget. Aside from levying only the most regressive taxes possible, the General Assembly has declined to close corporate tax loopholes, refused to create a preferred drug list for Medicaid, and insisted on continuing tax breaks that do not work. That’s all annoying, but our legislators are also keeping the habitual felon law that costs us $195,000 per petty criminal inmate. Yes, even though “the state could save $216 million in prison operating costs over the next five years, and avoid $171 million in prison construction” by getting rid of it, they won’t consider doing so. Why?

The reason, said Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, is that electoral politics trumps sound policy.

It doesn’t make sense to lock up a petty drug user for 10 years at $28,000 a year, Rand said. But political opponents will label any attempt to change the law as soft on crime in campaign ads.

‘Why should I give something to my opponent?’ Rand said.”

Gee, Tone, I think it’s because YOU WON. See, you run in order to govern. Once you start governing, you develop a little something called a record. The next time you run, your opponent takes your record and distorts it. You, in turn, can spend your time distorting your opponent’s record – if there is one – and/or explaining your own. The explanations are easier when you’ve explained what you’ve been up to all along, and when you treat voters like the adults they are and tell them how much money you’ve saved them. For instance, you could say they have x many more teachers’ assistants because you helped get rid of wasteful correctional spending. The voters might like that.

It’s the height of cynicism to claim that you can’t possibly do the right thing because (waaah) you might have to explain yourself come the next campaign. Here’s some news: the point of an election is to govern, not to win the next one. Why bother running if you can’t get something done properly once you’ve won? That’s disgraceful, Senator. For shame.