Red Lights, Cameras, Cash,

One of my business teachers in college said something resembling; there is not a problem you will have in your career that can't be made better by throwing enough money at it. He was trying to impress upon us that we had to use negotiation, tact, diplomacy, and creativity to find a remedy. At the time it seemed profound and powerful.  Since then it has become obvious that often money does not fix things and in the end can cause more problems than it solves.

In a medium sized city in the Midwest the decision was made install red light cameras.  A company that installs and monitors red light cameras hired a lobbyist to convince local authorities to strongly consider using its services. And they did.  Nobody really had any problem with that. 

When somebody ran a red light at the wrong intersection a camera would snap a photo of the license plate, and somebody would send a ticket to the owner of that car.  $95.00 later things were resolved. The company was making some money, the city was making some money, and people were throwing statistics around showing that red light cameras were either a great thing, saving lives, and reducing accidents, or an awful, creeping invasion of privacy, big brother using his vast resources to reach into the lives of innocent people.

The group in favor of red light cameras won the first round.  It was decided that if a little is good, a lot would be great (not really surprising).  And the company gave the lobbyist more money and he tried to convince people to let the same company install and monitor the additional cameras. They did, more were installed, and things were proceeding nicely, for the supporters of red light cameras and the stake holders at the company.

Unfortunately, the second round was won by the people who object to the omnipresent technological demons mounted at the intersections.  They were hooded, and left blinded, shamed examples of government power run amok.

But, that did not end the story, now they are going after the lobbyist. He is a man who has spent a considerable part of his adult life in public service, and has made many friends among local politicians, officials and people in power. Really, an ideal lobbyist, he knows what buttons to push and which people are likely to be swayed.  There is no proof he did anything illegal, but, at least right now he is on the side that lost.

So, Mr. Waltz, it seems that not every problem can be solved with the liberal application of cash. Lobbyists take money from interested parties, provide transportation and care, eventually handing it  another group of people. Then they will say something, casually, and without much emphasis, for example, "oh, by the way the people who gave me that money would like to be able to build a factory by that park, and might need a few of the trees cut down for so they have a place to store the toxic waste. But, they just wanted a deserving soul to have that money, there is no pressure."

Voting, a noble exercise in blind faith.

Personally, I love politics, hate voting, but love politics.  There is something primal, powerful, and primitive in a campaign for public office.  Watching the news in the morning is a stroll through the dirty laundry of any number of strangers.  You will be exposed to the most indecent things about a person, a person who thinks they should be in charge of a state, or it's treasury, or departments of justice.  And it will strike you, that, maybe even if these ads contain a small amount of truth, and they probably do, none of these candidates can be that awful.  Nobody would put themselves in a position to be publicly criticized so venomously unless they thought they could do something to help.

"So, why do you hate to vote so much, Tim?'  I'm glad you asked.

Voting a candidate into office is a long term commitment, 2, 4, 6 years, depending on the office.  And that seems like a lot of trust to put into a person based solely on his self proclaimed abilities.  Maybe, after all of the claims by both sides, all of the accusations, and all of the aggrandizement, the candidate is not evil, but not particularly special.    Maybe he is just an average guy, who as State Auditor is in over his head.

Now, though, he is in that job for... however long State Auditors serve, and in a way it is partly your fault, you voted for him.  How could you know?

That is more responsibility than I can handle.  When I vote for somebody, and they end up being mediocre, or even worse, slightly below average, I know people start to stare at me, and I can feel their disappointment. When I stop to fill my car with gas, I can feel their disapproving glance, at the grocery store, people look, and whisper, restaurants are filled with people who were counting on me, and I let them down.  It is too much to bear.

There is a very simple solution, though.  We should allow voting every day.  If your elected official does something less than savory, something that makes you cringe, you have a chance to let him know, a little microwave political justice.  It will be time to give someone else a shot.  Don't worry, if you like a politico, and he is voted out, just tune in tomorrow,

Better still, do we need all of those elected officials?  Maybe a couple of guys to open the mail, formulate bills, and submit them to us, we the people, to vote on.  Just think how cool that would be, having lobbyists call you, "hey Bob, we think you should vote yes on the Alaskan Salmon Cod Liver Oil Subsidies Bill, why don't we get together over a some 'Dunkin' Donuts' coffee, and a few of the  glazed to discuss the virtues of this particular piece of legislative artwork."

Think of the possibilities, corporations trying to win your favor.  You could have your own PAC!  Sure, it would not be super at first.  It would start out as a little pupal PAC, kind of a side kick PAC, but after a while, a few contributions later, it would grow, an apprentice PAC.  Before long you would be the proud custodian of a full fledged, bona fide Super PAC!  Powerful, rich and beyond the reach of campaign laws, and good intentions.

Maybe some day, but until then, I will vote, if I can handle the shame, or not vote, comfortable in the conviction that "choosing not to decide" maybe the best choice.  In either case the country will muddle along in the grip of partisan strife and misplaced party loyalties, feeding the loud, and extreme, while the rest us pay the ticket.  Not much will change, one way or the other, and that is probably good enough