[AZ-Observing] Re: My two cents to idiot legislation

  • From: "Bob Erdmann at ngcic.org" <bobe@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 9 May 2003 12:04:34 -0700

The problem with these various "dark skies" bills is that they are viewed by
most as directly benefiting a very few.  As a legislator, to support
legislation like a "dark sky" bill, means that you have to have some insight
into the negative long term effects of massive light pollution on the
community.  I suspect that amateur astronomers are viewed as a very tiny
fringe element of the voting population, plus the fact that amateur
astronomers probably don't even have a PAC which contributes large sums of
money to political campaigns.  I beleive that only where you can show
significant economic loss to the community due to light pollution will the
legislature come to consensus (like Tucson's city council many years ago),
or if they feel that they, the legislators, directly benefit from it in some
economic way.

SB 1138 is a good example of "money talks"....after all, after passing SB
1218 for the good of the community, why would anyone even seriously
contemplate the contents of SB 1138...for the benefit of the
population?.....for the betterment of the city?.....because the voters
really want flashing billboards?  There's not any obvious way to make a lot
of money directly by passing a dark sky bill (god only knows how that even
happened), but there's certainly a lot of plausable ways to make money from
a flashing billboard piece of legislation.  Our form of government is
thought by most to represent the majority of the voters, when in reality, it
represents the majority of the dollars, and in most cases there is no
correlation between the two.  The majority of the voters probably don't even
have a strong opinion, one way or another, on the subject, so the
legislators probably feel that they are free to maximize their bank accounts
in this case. When it comes to government actions, I'm generally thought of
as a "skeptical Cynic" - which means that I'm almost never disappointed, and
only very, very rarely delighted.  SB 1138 certainly doesn't disappoint me
in the least.

again,.....my $0.02

/Bob



-----Original Message-----
Our disappointment with our state goverment is justified regarding SB1138.
It was said that
democracy is the worst form of government in the world, except for
everyone's else's.   So,
if we believe this is true, make sure we use the system in our favor just as
the politicians
use it in theirs.  How many of your friends outside of this mailing list
have you asked to
respond to this bill?  In the end, it's the voters who decide.  I have
written a short letter
and e-mailed it to friends outside this group to use with minor modification
in an attempt
to make it easier for all of us to oppose this bill.  Let the people speak
and be heard!

Mike   my 2 cents or <

-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Stanley A.
Gorodenski
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2003 10:35 AM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: My two cents to idiot legislation



Agreed, but on the other hand, another definition of politics is that it is
the process whereby the rules of the game are established. If we don't like
the rules, then we, as citizens, have to get actively involved. One problem
with this, though, is that our politicians can simply ignore us, calling us
fringe groups or some other term, as Bush did with the anti-war
demonstrators.
A saying I have heard is "The best government is the government that governs
the least". I think a better definition, my own, is "The best government is
the government that requires the least amount of input by the citizenry and
still provides a life of freedom and opportunity". This probably will never
be
possible because the human situation is always changing. But, it seems to me
that we have a system that is increasingly requiring more and more input and
involvement by the citizens who, in the end on many issues (such as zoning
ordinances, eminent domain, light pollution, etc. (including war)), get
stomped on. We all have jobs (except me, retired) and other interests. If we
have to increasingly spend more and more of our free time on other issues
because our system is not working well, just how free are we? Where would we
fall on the "Freedom Scale", if one could be constructed, at present and
compared to the past?
My 2 cents worth (which may actually be worth a mill or less).
Stan

"Bob Erdmann at ngcic.org" wrote:

> Welcome to the wonderful world of politics!!  If a bit of legislation
> doesn't seem to pass the sanity test, then the first rule is to follow the
> money.  It works every time.  Once you understand that the word "politics"
> is a synonym for "corruption", you'll have much fewer frustrations in
> understanding what goes on in the legislature, or in Congress, for that
> matter.  As a friend of mine once said: "A politician is just a nice name
> for unconvicted felon."  I personally haven't seen much to counter that
> argument.


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