Lege Watch

We’ve slammed the legislature pretty hard in the last week and deservedly so. But amidst all the rhetoric, I’d like to note that they do occasionally do real, important, beneficial work. I can’t think of any right now, but I’m sure it’s happening. (Hope springs eternal, and all that jazz.) Commenter CJ suggested - perhaps tongue in cheek - that they be required to fill out a time sheet. Good for a laugh, but the fact is they’ve done nothing at all to justify why they think this should be elevated to a full time job, and every day more evidence pours in that it is not. The fact is that they waste a lot of time. For example:

BATON ROUGE — The omnipresent fleur de lis will become an official symbol of the state but not “the” official symbol, the House decided Saturday.

… Monica’s bill started out designating the fleur de lis as the official state symbol, but a Senate committee changed it to make the stylized “lilly flower” just “an” official symbol. The Senate argued that the brown pelican is also a state icon and should not be displaced.

… Meanwhile, the House and Senate remained at loggerheads Saturday on how to handle the Sazerac, one of the nation’s oldest cocktails. It was first mixed in New Orleans in the 1830s.

… Murray’s bill is now pending in a joint House-Senate conference committee to resolve the differences. The House members of the committee are Reps. Cedric Richmond and Walt Leger III, both D-New Orleans; and Rep. Rosalind Jones, D-Monroe. Besides Murray, the Senate members of the panel are Sens. Cheryl Gray, D-New Orleans, and Gerald Long, R-Winnfield. Long is the measure’s chief opponent.

I guess it’s an improvement on watching baseball while bills with a major impact on people’s lives are being discussed, but the fact is this goldbricking. It’s a total waste of time and an excellent example of why this is not a full time job.

Forget the Constitution… forget the higher taxes needed to cover it. We MUST have a full time legislature to take care of critically important things like this.

Remember this when they tell you it’s a full time job.

Oh, and you’ll want that drink when you open your car insurance bill - the Lege is raising it for you.