Living in St. Cloud, I am blessed by being represented by three commonsense legislators: State Representative
Jim Knoblach; State Senator
Dave Kleis; and of course, U.S. Congressman
Mark Kennedy. Please don't think for one minute that I would rather have anyone but the above to represent my interests at the state and national level. But at the same time, I can't help but feel frustration when we have a
comedy of errors with a do-nothing
special session (I still don't see what's so
special about it--it's pretty much business as usual, other than the fact than many legislators are accepting
special pay for their continued lack of productivity). The real problem is, to whom do you complain when your elected officials
already agree with you?? Take Dave Kleis,
for instance:
Like you, I’m extremely frustrated with the gridlock and bickering that seems to have become the permanent state of affairs at the Capitol. That is why I introduced a proposal this week that, if approved by voters, would trigger July special elections for all 201 legislators any time the Legislature can’t finish its budget work by the end of the odd-year session in May.
The whole point of this bill is to hold lawmakers accountable. I suspect that if my proposal was passed, it would rarely, if ever, mean any actual special elections. With the threat of having to answer for inaction in office, I believe our work would get done on time, every time.
So in my frustration, I can't complain to Kleis. So what's a pissed-off voter to do with his anger? I guess for once, I'd like to maybe move to a
democrat district for a day, so that as a constituent, I can call and deliver a well-deserved, cleansing primal scream, and rip him up one side and down another. Even if it doesn't produce the desired results, it may nonetheless prove to be a therapeutic exercise.
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