Paxety Pages

Lately, the legislators can't seem to do the one thing we elect them to do, at least, not on time. Once again, this year we will probably have to pay for an expensive special session because of stuff, as the Florida Times Union reports, such as this:

A meeting planned so the governor could encourage compromise in the Legislature's upcoming budget negotiations devolved yesterday into a rancorous exchange between Senate President Jim King and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.

Byrd, R-Plant City, attacked King for insisting on expanded state spending. King, R-Jacksonville, fired back, daring the governor to propose his own budget and accusing Byrd of using unfair delaying tactics.

"You noticed the tension between them, perhaps?" Gov. Jeb Bush asked reporters afterward. "I'm not a therapist, just a governor. I can encourage them. I can't 'enable' them, to use the psychobabble term."

What should we mere citizens do about the buncombe babbling bigwigs in Tally? I say a constitutional amendment. We have one for every other idiotic idea that comes along, such as the bullet train that has no projected rider base, the no smoking in public amendment which raises the question, "What counts as in public?," and the infamous amendment that gives constitutional rights to pigs.

Let's pass a constitutional amendment regarding the Legislature and the budget. The amendment would contain the following requirements:

• The Legislature is required to pass the budget prior to addressing any other issue,
• The Legislature is given the first 10-days of the session to pass said budget,
• If the budget is not passed within the 10-day period, all legislators, staff members, the governor, and cabinet are required to remain in Tallahassee until the budget is passed. Leaving Tallahassee would be a second-degree felony, and
• The salaries of all legislators, staff, the governor and cabinet would be withheld for each day spent on the budget beyone the 10-day limit.

Let's see how they like spending their own money.