Never thought I’d see someone from Sussex County actually make Charlie West seem…articulate.
Then again, never saw Jim Westhoff’s opponent, Dave Wilson, before.
Check out this video of Wilson, and then come back for some astute commentary from Yours Truly:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=258zaY12XRI[/youtube]
Ah, I see you’re back. Ignore the stumbling syntax, the real meat is in what Wilson says. First and foremost, he admits that he isn’t and won’t be effective b/c, stop me if you’ve heard this before, he’s in the minority. I will try to quote as best I can:
“A lot of things you think you’ll get done, you won’t get done, I’m a little hesitant to make promises, bein’ in the minority party, I soon found out, bein’ in the minority party, you don’t have a chance to come up with a lotta great ideas, you may have some good ideas, but they don’t get implemented if they don’t get out of commitee, so that’s where a lot of these ideas ended up, in committee when you’re on the minority side.”
OK, set aside the point that nowhere in this video does he point to a single good idea that he had, much less one that got hung up in committee. He’s basically admitted that he is an ineffective legislator, at least when it comes to legislatin’. He has admitted that he can’t get anything done. Not what I’d call a ringing endorsement for reelection. I also call BS on his basic premise. Impacting legislation by ‘making it better’ is precisely the kind of impact that canny legislators of both parties can have if they’re simply engaged in the process of legislating. Wilson gives absolutely no hint that he’s been involved at all.
Now, here’s where Wilson goes really off the tracks. He argues that ‘the State’ doesn’t care about Sussex County. Again, allow me to quote from the Honorable Representative (I wish I could say that no brain cells were killed in the transcribing of this video, but sadly that’s not the case):
“If the State really cared about Sussex County and the 35th District, they would have put someone from Sussex County on the Joint Finance Committee. We have no representation on the Joint Finance Committee writing the finances for Sussex County…”
The ‘State’ doesn’t decide who is on the Joint Finance Committee, the General Assembly does. Joe Booth was on the Joint Finance Committee until he decided to run for the Adams seat. He effectively took himself off the JFC. Although the members of the JFC are officially chosen by the Speaker and the President Pro-Tem respectively, they generally defer to the minority leadership in selecting the, in this case, R members of JFC. In other words, Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson, from Sussex County and House Minority Whip Daniel Short from Sussex County had ample input into who was chosen for JFC. In other other words, Wilson doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Oh, and here’s something Wilson failed to mention. The Bond Bill Committee, aka the Joint Committee on Capital Improvement (think roads, schools, etc.), has three, count ’em. three, Sussex County members, including the co-chair, Sen. Bob Venables (D-Mars). Sen. Gary Simpson and Rep. George Carey also serve. I guess ‘The State’ must care about Sussex County after all. And, in voting against the Bond Bill, Wilson voted against road repair, school funding and a whole host of other important projects in HIS district. In so doing, HE voted against anyone in his district who drives the roads or has children in public schools. Please tell me again who does and doesn’t have his district’s interests at heart?
Three members of Sussex County notwithstanding, Wilson voted against the Bond Bill, the Budget Bill and, of course, ‘every tax increase’. Check out his weird explanation as to why he supported the Grant-In-Aid bill. Something about if he had voted against it, money in it might have gone ‘upstate’. A: That’s not true. And B: The Grant-In-Aid bill that Wilson admits provided funding to services in the 35th District was crafted by the self-same Joint Finance Committee that Wilson claims doesn’t care about Sussex County.
Again, forget about the stumbling syntax. Forget about the fact that the only time Wilson even appears semi-comfortable reading his remarks is when he’s reading the Rethugs’ talking points about smaller government. What’s important is that Sussex County legislators have always had a canniness to them. Even when they don’t appear to be all that sharp, they know how to deliver the goods for Sussex County. This guy has basically admitted that he can’t deliver the goods. And frankly, he really seems to be a complete and total idiot.
Jim Westhoff has demonstrated time and time again here that he can and will deliver the goods, if only he gets the chance.
By us delivering ‘the goods’ in terms of financial assistance now, we will give Jim the best chance to do so for his constituents come November.