Dear Diary,
I wish I didn’t care so much about how other people spend my taxpayer dollars, but I do.
Yesterday, I read in the paper that the combination of saving Delta smelt fish and my efforts to conserve water, are going to result in a hike in my water rate.
Today, I read in the paper that $20 million taxpayer dollars have been spent to poison, bomb, and electrocute another kind of fish in California.
Can’t imagine what good could have come from spending the same amount of money on humans vs. killing/saving fish.
And then to top it all off, there is story about Mary Nichols, the Chairman of the Air Resources Board and darling of liberal environmentalist, selling off stocks from big oil and other polluters. The Sierra Club is reeling from the news that their hero will owe tens of thousands of dollars in capital gains taxes from the beaucoup bucks she made from companies on the Sierra Club’s hit list…much the same way the National Organization for Women reeled when their hero, President Clinton, was revealed to be a serial girl grabber. I’m sure they will all find a way to convince themselves that words speak louder than actions…
But for me, the most disturbing piece of the article on Mary Nichols wasn’t that she has led a double life of making money from the companies she will soon fine…it was this statement she made: “It requires effort and attention to manage money, and it’s not something I’ve ever had time to do.”
She is responsible for managing $395 million in taxpayer money at the ARB.
What in the world are the qualifications to hold the taxpayers’ checkbook?!
Well, diary, I hope someone has answers to my questions. Until tomorrow…