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On Politics Richard Borreca |
Why the public has
tuned out the LegislatureThe fix is in. Why waste time at the Legislature this year?"
Apparently for many, that comment from a reader in Waimea sums up the problem with politics in Hawaii today.
When I asked last week why the 76 members of the 2004 Legislature played to a deserted gallery on most days, I wasn't prepared for the near-unanimous feeling of political impotence expressed by readers.
As much as voters want to be part of the process, they don't want to be made fools of by supporting something that already has been stopped in some private meeting. And they don't want to be treated to political phonies who "feel their pain" and then do little to help.
"Would anyone pay good money to watch a staged or fixed fight?" one reader asks.
"Everything has been predetermined behind the scenes," the reader concluded.
Even Linda Smith, Gov. Linda Lingle's senior policy adviser, added her own comments, continuing the sports analogy by questioning an operation "where the referees all work for the majority team and where the touchdowns are run only late at night."
"We need a Legislature where the teams are more balanced," said Smith, whose boss is pushing hard to bring more GOP members into the state House.
Politicians, of course, always want to have a better shot at winning, and the Republicans are hoping to argue that changing the Democrat to Republican imbalance in the Legislature will cure a lot of ills.
Competition is always good, and even Democrats acknowledge that some spirited cross-examination helps to improve their product.
Other readers pointed to structural reforms that could open up the Legislature and make it more "public friendly." One of the best suggestions was to do something about the so-called "short form" bills that have become a crutch for legislators who can't plan ahead.
"I also like the 'blank bill' where they don't have any legislation, but they file a bill with nothing in it before deadline, 'just in case,'" said a reader who signed himself "a vexatious citizen."
He's right. In the past five or six years, legislators have introduced "short form" bills and then, a third of the way through the 60-day session, filled them out with whatever idea is missing from the more than 3,000 bills submitted. I think part of the reason such emergency measures are needed is that today's lawmakers could be better qualified for their jobs.
"In the old days," one reader noted, "you had (lawmakers from) a variety of social and education backgrounds. The number of degrees awarded is probably higher now, but the intelligence is far lower than when you had high school graduates with significant life experience."
I agree that past legislators, such as Akira Sakima, Tony Kunimura and Jack Suwa, didn't need glossy college diplomas to pump up the worth and validity of their work product.
So, as one reader put it, if "the cast is so bad, how good can the film be?" Or, more directly, can this Legislature be saved?
The fall elections will answer that question.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.