POLITICAL
FOOL'S GOLD I come to you this week with a plea for everyone to join my effort to start a nationwide effort to make an important and long overdue change in our election laws. I am here today to propose a constitutional amendment to change the date of Election Day. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November has passed. It is time for a new date. Elections are a time of change that affects the future of our country. It is a time for hope and new opportunities. Having the election in the fall fails to reflect positive images that an election should portray. November is a dark, gloomy time of year when the warmth of summer is gone and the cold of winter is knocking at the door. It is no wonder that more people stay away from the voting booth than take the time to vote. In this era of polls and focus groups, November's drear is not fashionable. Therefore, elections should be held in spring. Spring is the time of renewal, growth, love and harmony. There are some clouds and rain, but it is just a prelude to the beauty of the grass turning green and flowers blooming. The warm fuzzy feelings one gets with the coming of spring is the ideal time to hold elections. This could also be of help to baseball, the national pastime. Baseball has taken some lumps lately; but under my proposal, we could give baseball a boost as well. National Election Day should coincide with opening day of baseball. A national holiday would be declared, requiring businesses to close so everyone could have the day off to see a baseball game and vote. In return, baseball could set up voting booths just outside the turn styles. While waiting in line to buy a ticket or get in the stadium, people could cast their vote. We have solved two problems. Baseball attendance and voter turnout would both see dramatic increases. The beauty of it all is that we already have the ideal day with the ideal name established to provide the right spirit. It is my intent to establish April 1st as Election Day and opening day for baseball. Opening day already comes within a day or two of this date. More importantly, April Fool's day is already the perfect name for Election Day and this proposal. Yesterday, I listened to a speech by a former State Senator and current candidate for Lieutenant Governor, John DeCamp. For many, including myself, I consider many of DeCamp's recent political adventures to be no better than a stupid April Fool's practical joke. Despite his showboating, John DeCamp is no fool. He lost the political acumen that allowed him to win election to the Unicameral while being half way around the world as a soldier in Vietnam. However, he has gained a well-deserved reputation as a straight shooter that would tell what he thought to be the truth, regardless of the political misfortune it might bring him. This likely means he will never be elected to a high office, but he still serves the public well by cutting through the garbage of political rhetoric and shining the light of reality. DeCamp argues that the main problem of high taxes and big government in Nebraska is the policy of state aid to local governments, which gives hundreds of millions of dollars each year for local government to spend any way it wants. DeCamp argues that until local government is held accountable for the way it spends money, there will be continued expansive growth in the size of the state government and taxes. He says,
To get spending under control and provide accountability, DeCamp proposes that each year for the next four years, state aid to local government should be cut by fifty million per year for a total of two hundred million dollars. DeCamp says, "this will force the spenders and appropriators of property tax dollars, namely local government and schools, to be held accountable for waste at local levels." John DeCamp will be called an April fool, and I might be as well for agreeing with him. DeCamp will not win the primary, let alone become Lt. Governor; and he couldn't do anything, if elected to this position that has no real power. However, if you don't want to continue to have your tax dollars spent without accountability, it would be wise to listen to John DeCamp about this issue and demand that government stop wasting money like it was fool's gold. However, based on the recent override of property tax lids that capped the rate of increase in property tax levies, I am afraid that most Nebraskans are too foolish to demand accountability. All that has to happen is for the demagogues to start spewing a few untrue sob stories and too many of us not only stop asking for responsible spending, but also will vote to spend even more than originally planned. Now, that is what I call an April fool's joke. But, I am not laughing, are you? Maybe you are proud that Nebraska has more subdivisions of government per capita than any other state, more school administrators, and some of the highest taxes and numbers of government employees? |
