Editorial #67 Legislative Run down
I receive several local and regional papers from surrounding communities with a legislative summary by various senators. I find them very interesting but these reports often sound like they were written by the same person. They are like scores from baseball games with the vote tallies on each bill. Each senator’s summary is amazing similar, leading me to think they originate from a single source. Their summaries usually do not address their personal position nor how they voted. We can look it up, but reasoning behind their vote is very important and that is conveniently left out.
Hopefully their votes reflected our regional interests, which is why they were sent them there in the first place.
These summaries are supposed to be a quick way for citizens to know what is happening in Lincoln without doing a due diligence exercise, which few of us have the time or patience to do. Beside we are trying to make a living here before we are taxed to death. Our representative is there to protect our interests from elements that often takes rural Nebraska for granted.
We want to know what votes are being traded and want more “Inside baseball”, if you will, on what is really going on down there. Transparency is what all politician say they want, but few have the political courage to stand up and confront the “good old boys” club we see it in Lincoln.
The job of a legislator is simple. They must make sure all their laws are fair, truthful, sustainable and have integrity. This is their only responsibility. It is not to see how the wind is blowing, whether their votes meet the expectation of their contributors or how to win the next election. We want these summaries in the paper to tell us were the battle lines are and the reasoning for why positions that are not sustainable get any traction in the first place. And, we do not need to know how much time is remaining in the game by telling us how many days are remaining in this legislative session.
This is Keith Kube wish you the best in making the world a better place.
