Comments on: Lining Their Pockets

By: EmilyE

EmilyE — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

At least *your* governor hasn't been criminally charged with anything. Bob Taft yesterday became the first sitting governor of Ohio to be charged with a crime (for failing to report gifts).

Sigh… Welcome to the state of corruption.

By: 4HisChurch

4HisChurch — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Operation Clean Sweep all the way!

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Certainly puts the presidential election into perspective, doesn't it? Maybe the barking moonbats are right about shenanigans going on in Ohio.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Feh, I'll need more than that. Heck, Kerry conceded it as fair and square at first, only later to start saying "we were robbed" with the rest of the chorus. That the Dems are also trying to study up on Rove's mastery of exurban demographics makes me very skeptical…

By: EmilyE

EmilyE — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Interestingly, most of the allegations of cheating in Ohio — false registrations, double voting, etc. — have been against Democrats.

For whatever else he may be, Karl Rove is an electoral genius. The Republicans gained votes in Ohio in their strongholds in the suburbs and rural area. In essence, Rove and his buddies made the "red" parts of the state even redder. It's not like suddenly Cleveland voted Republican. That, I agree, would have been suspicious and an indicator of fraud. But as it was, the election in Ohio ran as smoothly as it could have — and, like it or not, Bush won Ohio. I saw an article a couple months back about how the Ohio Democratic Party is studying up on demographics and Karl Rove's theories. They're beginning to realize that maybe they should find a new approach, that maybe their whiny and antagonistic ads didn't work so well in Ohio this election. (And we were bombarded: The NE Ohio television market had the most political ads of any market in the country before November's election.)

No, Bush won Ohio fair and square. It's just state politics in Ohio that's a mess right now.

By: Adam Graham

Adam Graham — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Wow, this has gotten quite off-topic. I don't like legislators giving themselves such huge pay raiss, but I've begun to wonder if maybe, just maybe people who are upset about that are being somewhat counterproductive.

Why do we get so many clowns in office? Maybe, its because we get what we pay for. How much can a doctor or lawyer, or realtor make while the legislature's meeting? A lot more than we pay legislators.

If you're mortgage, car, and school payments depend on a certain income level, you can't run down to the legislature and leave your job behind for all those months.

So, who do we end up electing? 1) People who want to earn big bucks working for special interests after their politicking's done, 2) power hungry people willing to sacrifice everything to be in political office, 3) the independently wealthy who can live without living a day in their life, 4) emotionally unstable people who use office to fulfill their needs.

Might it make more sense to pay lawmakers more so that we get a better candidate pool.

By: Funky Dung

Funky Dung — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

You make an interesting argument that might have some merit. However, it's not just about the fact that they got a raise or how much it's for. How they went about getting it was really sneaky.

As to whether we pay them enough, think about this. Pennsylvania's legislators are now the second-highest paid in the country. The highest are in California, IIRC. I think we also have one of the largest legislatures. How big is CA and how big is PA? How many people live in CA and how many live in PA? How many legislators do we have per capita?

There are other questions worth asking, too. These are just starters. The point is that the people of PA ought to have had a chance to weigh in on this.

By: Wojo

Wojo — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I was absolutely incensed about this… as I'm sure was a majority of Pennsylvania citizens. However, two things will in all probability come to pass:

1. Voters have notorously short-term memories, even when they are reminded by ads in their face all the time.

2. This will somehow be turned into a partisan issue by one side or the other (the other side had more people supporting the pay raise!) or some other bit of insanity.

Either way, the real issue will be lost. I hope Cleansweep comes to pass… I really have a distaste for incumbents anyway.

By: howard

howard — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The "lets pay them more so we get a better class of legislators" argument was floated in a letter from my state representative when I inquired about the pending legislation. It's a red herring.

There are currently several states whose legislatures operate more efficiently than PA's. The per capita numbers comparison between PA and CA, btw, are staggering. We don't get what we pay for, and that's exactly the problem.