Special Interest Groups
Listening at a forum of legislators talking about what they do and the difficulty of their jobs, one of them, a veteran, mentioned that one of the major problems she had was the balancing of special interests as she made her voting decisions. That was just another way of admitting that she accepts as her job or duty the task of finally deciding to help some people or companies at the expense of some other persons or companies. In other words, her job as she sees it is to help some and thereby hurt others.
I’m sorry that is such a raw unvarnished statement but it seems to me it is time to get to the truth. The founding fathers of this nation, believing that people should be free to succeed or fail, and that government should pretty much only protect our lives and our property (core functions), would be appalled that this help - hurt matrix has been adopted. How, pray tell, can we now undo it? Would love to see or hear your remarks in comments.
January 13th, 2006 at 8:56 am
Mr. Rowland, I believe the only way to change the way politicians do the people’s business (Or should I say the business of the special interest groups) is to get the public more involved and aware of what’s happening. The problem with that is people just don’t care unless it directly affects them, such as the rise in property taxes. But even that outrage won’t wake people up to the other problems we as taxpayers face. People just don’t want to be burdened with dealing with the politicians in our government. People don’t realize that we have the power to change things and not the politicians and office holders. Because of our plantation heritage in Hawai’i, we have developed a socialist attitude toward government and life. People in Hawai’i genuinely believe that government is supposed to take care of us and solve our problems and have the final say in what we do with our lives. Democrats cozy up to the unions and don’t apologize for it because the people aren’t vocal against it. We’ve been trained to think that the unions are for the “little guy” and that businessmen and entrepueners are rich, greedy, Republican white men who want to destroy the environment and break the backs of the working man and woman. During election year, the Democrats and unions play up to this misconception and the people buy in to it because they won’t search for the truth on their own or run the risk of appearing “brainwashed” by the conservative right. I was once a person like this until I moved to San Diego and interacted with people who were pro-business and not sympathetic to liberl whines. I learned something new there and I learn something new every day. I am a Hawai’i resident from Kane’ohe but I am currently living in Lima, Perù with my fianceè and three boys. It was here in Perù that I began to appreciate what it is to be American and to have the rights and liberties the founding father’s secured for us and that today’s armed forces guarantees for us today that many back home in the States take for granted. Here in Perù, you are obliged to vote, even if you don’t like any of your choices, but you have to vote or you risk paying a fine. The police here only make $100 a month and the fire department is strictly voluntary. The election process is so broke that in the general elections, a person gets elected to Congress based on how many votes your party gets, not the individual person. If you want to move to another house and you need to take your furniture out, you have to go to the police station to inform them of the move and pay a fee to get a permit… to move out of your own house! The same goes for changing the color of your car. As far as owning a gun, you have to go through a psychological exam and a gun range for testing and pay a fee for the “privilege” of owning a gun. And if someone breaks in to your home and tries to rob you… You better hope the intruder fires first, because if you do it and he gets hit, YOU go to jail and pay his medical expenses.
The streets here are worse than Hawai’i and the traffic is horrendous! In many intersections, there aren’t traffic lights to control the flow of traffic and most motorists drive as they please without fear of being pulled over by the police. And if you do get pulled over…? Don’t worry, you just offer a little “tip” to the officer in charge and you’re on your way home. Because of the lack of accountability from government here by the people, I’ve gained an appreciation for what we have back home. Today, I keep tabs on what’s happening in our three levels of government. Come election year, I find out everything I can about the candidates running and their platforms and stands on issues and see who shares my beliefs (Low taxes and regulation while increasing personal choices and freedoms) and I proudly vote for that individual. The same goes for propostions that the voters vote on… I read the pros and cons and vote where I believe it will benefit the public best without it interfering with our civil liberties. And it’s a liberating experience to be so informed! I try to e-mail stories and articles from “Hawaii Reporter” as often as I can in hope that I will inspire a relative or friend to get involved in their communities. Maybe people back home need to live in a third world country for a few years to see what they have back home. You’ll eventually see what you’re missing and you’ll appreciate what being an American has to offer and the opportunites that await all of us when we’re ready for it. But until people get off their okoles and start taking notice of what the politicians are doing to us now, nothing will ever change and we will not move forward.