Don’t listen to Kent Brockmans of world

Monday, July 27, 1998

Don’t listen to Kent Brockmans of world

BUDGET: Democracy can work if only politicians, voters try to
solve problems of government

Just about everything in life, in my opinion, can be tied to an
anecdote from "The Simpsons." And so why not take advantage of that
whenever possible? For instance, my topic today is politics, and
that reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons.

In this particular episode, Bart discovers a comet that is
headed straight for Springfield, the Simpsons’ hometown. As the
Simpsons prepare for Armageddon (or deep impact, whichever you
prefer), the U.S. Congress prepares to appropriate money for
disaster relief in Springfield. Just as the bill is about to be
approved, one senator interrupts.

"I’d like to add an amendment to that bill," the senator says.
The amended bill is promptly defeated, causing TV anchorman Kent
Brockman to remark: "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Democracy just doesn’t work."

Kent Brockman rarely embodies mainstream American thought. But
in this instance, his opinion appears to be shared by most
Americans, who seem to have lost faith in our government. In fact,
I’d dare to say that most people have a low opinion of our
government, or of the politicians that run it. How can that be?

In search of the answer to that question (and many others), I
opened up the newspaper and read about our government. And I found
out, among other things, that our representatives in Sacramento are
27 days late with this year’s state budget.

California’s fiscal year starts annually on July 1, and the
state government sets budgets each year, allowing for given amounts
of money to be spent from July 1 until the following June 30. Thus,
when July 1 comes around, the state has a new budget plan for the
new fiscal year with different amounts of money allocated to
different activities, and making adjustments in case there is a
surplus or a deficit from the previous year.

At least, that’s what happens in theory. But this year, the
politicians in Sacramento haven’t finished the budget yet. (Or at
least they hadn’t finished it as of Friday, July 24.) Many payments
the state is supposed to make to local governments throughout
California (Los Angeles County, for instance) are being withheld;
other payments to state employees continue despite the lack of a
budget.

As hard as a politician’s job may be (and I honestly believe it
is one of the hardest), a late budget like this seems inexcusable
to me. The state should not run without a budget, and so I expect
that we would all be angered, at least a little bit, by these
bickering politicians.

Because of this crisis, I unearthed the June 30 Los Angeles
Times to look for a story about how our state politicians were
going to push us into a new fiscal year without a budget. I was
looking for an angry story, an indignant story.

But the story didn’t even make the front page. Instead, on the
bottom of page three, the headline read "Lawmakers to Miss State
Budget Deadline Again." Far from being outraged at our
representatives, Times reporter Dan Morain seemed bored by their
behavior.

After all, how is it possible to muster up any outrage when this
is the fifth consecutive year in which state politicians have been
late with our budget? Last year, we went 49 days without a budget,
before one was finally passed in late August. We probably used to
get outraged, but it no longer seems worth it. Our representatives
are late with the budget every year, and we accept that.

Apparently this was a big deal once upon a time. Seven years
ago, Gov. Pete Wilson signed his first budget on July 17 – 17 days
late. He later admitted that it had been a politically damaging
fight with the state legislature, one that he hoped not to
repeat.

Yet as politically damaging as it may have been, Wilson is now
presiding over the budget process for the eighth time, and this
year marks the seventh time he will sign a budget after the July 1
opening of the fiscal year.

Bear with me, but I think I know how Pete feels. You see, I am
always late to classes, and I always feel bad about it, especially
if I like the class. I assume that my teachers see me walk in late
and think, "He obviously doesn’t like my class very much." But I
do, and as I walk in late I think, "I’ll never be late again,
because I want Professor So-and-So to know that I like this class!"
But then I am inevitably late again, and again and again and again
– just like Pete Wilson. It’s as if we’re kindred spirits.

But anyway, this analogy leads me to believe that there is hope
for Pete and the gang in Sacramento. You see, sometimes I get to
the point where I decide I have to do something about my chronic
tardiness. And so I wake up 10 minutes earlier, or I skip
breakfast, or I run to class (actually I never run to class, but I
could theoretically). If I think it’s important enough, I can get
to class on time. And if Pete and company thought it was important
enough, I bet they’d get that budget passed by July 1.

In a way, it isn’t that important. Just about everybody
continues to get paid. Local governments miss a few checks, but
they always get reimbursed eventually. There is only one drawback –
it’s this kind of crap that makes people lose their faith in
government.

In this cynical world of Kent Brockmans, that’s not even a major
concern. As Americans lose their faith in government, but they’re
not rising up in outrage. Rather, they’re sitting back in boredom.
So our government is filled with corrupt politicians who can’t do
anything right. What else is new? "Lawmakers to Miss State Budget
Deadline Again." Put it on page three. Nobody cares.

Amidst all of this cynicism, the politicians have stopped
caring. It probably used to bother them when people expressed a
lack of faith in government. After all, they are the government –
and when people lose faith in politicians, those politicians have
failed, and they know it. But these days, they seem immune to
giving a damn as well. They’re used to getting less than a 50
percent voter turnout. They’re used to being thought of as corrupt.
They’ve failed, to some extent, and they’re used to it.

God, that’s depressing. Let me thank all of you who have lost
faith and interest in government for making me completely
depressed. But I refuse to join you in gloom. If the government
sucks, I’m at least going to be outraged about it, and I might even
do something about it.

Because I disagree with Kent Brockman on this one: Democracy
does work, and I challenge Mr. Brockman to write a rebuttal
claiming otherwise.

Dittmer is a fourth-year geography, environmental studies and
economics student.. Send feedback to [email protected].