NotiPR :: That's All Folks! :: Every Politician Gets Up To A $2 Million Raise, Every 12-Year-Old Gets The Right To Vote

12.3.04

Every Politician Gets Up To A $2 Million Raise, Every 12-Year-Old Gets The Right To Vote

By Keith W. Tyras Romanello 2004: 10.22 10.29 11.5 11.12 11.19 11.26 12.10 12.17 12.24 12.31

2005: 1.7 1.14 1.21 1.28 2.4 2.11 2.18 2.25 3.4 3.11 3.18 3.25 4.1 4.8 4.15 4.22 4.29 5.6 5.13 5.20 5.27 6.3 6.10 6.17 6.24 7.1 7.8 7.15 7.22 7.29 8.5 8.12 8.19 8.26 9.2

People want RESULTS from the men and women who they elect and/or are in charge of their lives and futures. If a politician were able to reduce crime by 45%+, reduce teen pregnancies by 60%+, reduce drunk driving and death on the roads of Puerto Rico by 75%+, add 50%+ more new jobs than the previous administration, etc., etc., etc. . . they would be WORTH up to a couple of million dollars a year OR MORE.

If the major politicians in Puerto Rico and elsewhere were paid a BASE SALARY + commissions -based on the population of their city- + all the NICE EXTRAS that go along with high-profile "public service" -- there is a much greater chance of them actually ACHIEVING A LOT FOR THEIR constituents -- plus everyone would be better off -- and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the people who would SEEK ELECTIVE OFFICE under these terms would REALLY have as much faith in themselves as they would in the people they seek to represent.

Just like someone wouldn't waste their time accepting a job at Radio Shack if they were paid $2. per hour plus a generous commission if they thought they did not have ANY SALES TALENT or CONFIDENCE being in front of the public -- neither would men and women sign up to run for public office if they didn't have the confidence or talent to change things for the better IN A BIG WAY if their income was based largely on PERFORMANCE.

We would ALL get exactly WHAT WE PAID FOR if the top politicians were paid a base salary + commissions.

When things are so bad for TOO MANY -- it's hard to accept any politician getting a hefty pay raise, even if that hefty pay raise is still too low -in my own opinion- to attract the VERY BEST to ACHIEVE the very best.

Here's an example of who -in my opinion- would deserve a commission for going the extra mile. Leovigildo Vázquez, the Auxiliary Transit Superintendent announced this week that a number of road blocks had been in place over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend and 400+ people were ticketed for drunk driving.

The person heading the agency who actually ordered these road blocks would get the commission.

Wouldn't it be great if EVERY weekend and EVERY day as many drunk drivers were stopped and ticketed AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE?

Imagine how many road blocks there would be 365 days a year and how many people would be stopped if it were legal for politicians to stop people for the sole purpose of registering them to vote?

SOLVING ALL THE PROBLEMS will definitely get them votes.

Puerto Rico would probably not be having any election nightmares right now if people as young as 12-years-old had been able to vote for their next governor on November 2nd. There would have been a decisive winner -- in my opinion. After all, don't kids have the RIGHT to vote for who they believe will help them STAY ALIVE beyond their teen years, not being shot to death, stabbed in Social Studies class, sent down a ravine in an 'escolar' or sent sky diving without a parachute by a DRUNK or IDIOT driver -- simply crossing the street to get to their school or their local shopping center?

I'd give all 35 students on that school bus a couple of days ago -- the ones who were all injured and sent to the hospital after their bus was hit by a young driver who was in a RUSH to ruin many lives including his own -- THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

With New Year's Eve celebrations just a few weeks away, imagine the commission someone would DESERVE if throughout the year they focused on preventing people from shooting their guns into the air at midnight injuring and/or killing innocent people as occurs every year. Everyone at least 12-years-old whether or not a victim of this crime of stupidity should have the RIGHT TO VOTE. If they are old enough to MARCH FOR AND BRING REAL CHANGE, they are old enough to vote.

If I were in charge of such a campaign, I would immediately invite a few hundred Palestinians to Puerto Rico and at the very least have them show people how to shoot into the air NOT KILLING OR INJURING ANYONE. A month ago there were thousands of people attending Yasser Arafat's funeral, MANY with automatic weapons firing thousands of rounds into the air and NOT one person was shot dead.

If you think letting a 12-year-old vote is way too young -- I would go a step further and give the BABY who was shot last week in Ponce, along with her mom at 3 a.m. -while they were sleeping- THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

Kids who are only 12-years-old don't know everything certainly, but they all have at least one thing in common with adult voters -- they all know that when something is broken you either THROW IT OUT or GIVE SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE TO FIX IT.

Who would you choose to fix something VERY IMPORTANT? Someone you will have to pay ONLY when the job is done successfully or someone who will BS their way into convincing you they can do the job and then FALL SHORT.

The problem with paying the major politicians a large salary is very clear to me. When they fail THE PEOPLE so miserably, the 4 to 6 years of media attention they ENJOYED and BENEFITED from allows them to go on to bigger and better things EVEN IF they are perceived to be corrupt but never charged with corruption.

That's why SO MANY in show business can get the best tables in restaurants, $30,000 worth of freebies just showing up at an awards show, half the jail time -- IF ANY, etc., etc., etc. -- NOT because they have a great deal of TALENT, but rather a great deal of EXPOSURE. That's NOT entertainment, it's reality.

It's too bad a politician doesn't have to first audition for their ROLE.

Well, that's all folks! Until next Friday.

Keith

For motivational speeches, conferences, media requests and other things such as eating disorders, you'll have to contact someone else. My only qualifications for writing a weekly column are based solely upon having a lot of free time, unlimited Internet access and very little else.