Date posted: June 12, 2007 - Tuesday
Title: The Bum Steer comes to California
Current mood: aggravated
My mother, being from Texas, used to subscribe to Texas Monthly magazine. I suppose she enjoyed keeping up on things in her native state. I hardly ever glanced at it. Hardly except for once a year when the special issue came out. What special issue, you ask?
The annual Bum Steer Awards issue.
Yep, one issue a year carried an article where the magazine awarded the Bum Steer of the Year Awards. And who were the recipients you ask?
The awards were exclusively awarded to Texas politicians; more specifically the members of the Texas State Legislature. The article outlining the awards detailed the folly, stupidity and other general foolishness generated out of the Texas State Legislature during the preceding year. And apparently the yearly antics were legendary. I don't remember any details, but I do remember some of the stories were truly outrageous.
So, not having seen a copy of the magazine in some time now, you may ask what has caused me to bring up the subject of legislative folly?
The California State Legislature.
And while the story I saw the other day on the front page of my local paper may not rival those that came out of Texas, I consider it to be a colossal waste of political energy and a distraction from causes which the legislature should be addressing.
What is this earth-shattering legislation which is being so hotly debated and fought over?
Mandatory pet spaying and neutering.
Yep. In a state with major problems in prison population, a budget deficit and concern for a number of other issues, the hot topic of the day is a bill that would require the majority of the pet owners in the state to spay or neuter their cats and dogs.
Apparently getting this legislation passed has been a real dog fight (pun intended). Hollywood celebrities have gotten involved throwing their celebrity weight behind the issue. Bob Barker, the former host of "The Price Is Right" and a huge supporter of pet neutering, made a series of phone calls to legislators pressing the issue and asking for their votes.
I can understand there is a problem with overpopulation of unwanted and uncared for pets, but having the state involved in mandating a 'solution' is ridiculous. It is hard enough to get total compliance with vehicle registration and driver's licenses, how do they think they are going to adequately enforce such a law on pets? Obviously responsible pet owners would comply with such a law, but they aren't the problem to begin with. It is the irresponsible owner, who already ignores proper pet care and the consequences of their actions, who will not pay attention to this law.
And the Legislature is justifies this folly by talking about how much money is wasted on capturing and disposing of unwanted animals and how this money is taking away funds from things like law enforcement and fire protection.
Give me a freakin' break!
Do these idiots actually expect the public to swallow such a line of BS? Do they think we will actually believe if pet owners spay or neuter their animals there will be more police on the streets and more firemen saving lives and property? Not bloody likely!
This latest folly seems to be typical of legislative action; or inaction. They can't seem to address the real problems facing the citizens of the state and instead expend their energy and their time on fringe issues. It is like the magician who misdirects his audience so he can perform his tricks. The legislature creates a lot of sound and fury over some borderline issue and distracts the public from the fact they aren't handling the real problems facing the state and its' citizens.
So maybe we need a magazine like Texas Monthly here in California. And it can do a "Rotten Orange"
