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MASSACHUSETTS PAGE | |
I just returned from the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee hearings. The agenda was identical as two years ago! Once again the public got to listen a lot, while all the legislators, officials, and other bureaucrats talked and talked for hours. (Now I know why these are called public hearings.)
The truly sad part was how little the testifying politicians knew about the various bills they wanted passed into laws. However that didn't stop any of them from offering to answer questions after the presentations.
For instance, when the city safety commissioner was pressed for details on how the appeal of a red light camera ticket will be handled, she kept repeating louder and louder and slower and slower: "It's just like a parking ticket. It's just like a parking ticket." (Naturally, no one seemed to know exactly what that parking ticket process is.)
Another senator when asked how would the installation of red light cameras be paid for, had to have it explained to him by the chairman of the Committee that he was making his presentation to!
And when asked, none of the politicians who mentioned that Massachusetts will lose federal dollars, knew what the amount was...
Anyway, the best part came after the Honorable Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. Administrator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, read his testimony in support of primary seat belt enforcement (even if everyone was told to only comment on written testimonies) that lasted 15 minutes (which we were told to limit to three minutes). He was asked how he would explain that in spite the poor seat belt use, Massachusetts had the lowest fatality rate per vehicle mile traveled, in the nation. The Honorable Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. Administrator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opinionated:
"Because a lot of people here use public transportation..."
So there you have it folks, straight from the horse's mouth: The reason that Bobby doesn't crash every time he backs the car out of the driveway like his neighbor Billy is that when neither one of them is driving, Bobby takes the T more often ...
Hey, isn't there a law that prohibits federal officials from lobbying on behalf of their own agendas?
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