moldybluecheesecurds 2

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Personal responsibility

What, have I gone to the dark side?

No, but over at a Business of Ferrets, my friend has a good point on the stalemate of the Minnesota Legislature. He points out that legislators aren't getting the job done because they don't have to pay. I have a solution.

To avoid having the poor, the ill, and the average citizen pay for the crap they call legislating at the capitol, I say we do the following. If the legislators fail to adjourn the session within the alloted time, we put a hold on all their paychecks. Each day, we deduct $100 from their pay until the day they finish. Each day the legislature is in session after July 1, we subtract $1000. This way, we penalize those who are responsible and we make headway in solving our $700 million budget shortfall.

Some say that junior legislators have no say in the budget negotiations, but this guy disagrees. I have trouble having much sympathy. Your inaction will result in critical shutdowns of state government services. And you're missing your family vacation? Boo fuckin' hoo.

1 comment:

jff said...

Apparently a judge has ruled that various crucial state services cannot be shut down. I think I agree with Taxpayers League president David Strom on this one: "So instead of crippling work stoppages or angry calls from constituents ... enough core functions of government will be preserved so nobody feels any pain and the squabbling can continue all summer long." Great.