To the editor:

What are these people thinking and how stupid do they think we are? “County commissioners could pass a resolution that officially declares it is in the midst of a financial crisis.”

John Dean states, “The situation is no different than a community that has suffered a devastating natural disaster, such as an earthquake. In such situations, governments must prioritize services based on critical needs.”

We elect people to every level from president down to county commissioner on the assumption that they are smart and have common sense. This financial crisis did not fall upon us like some natural disaster with no warning.

I am certainly no genius but myself and many friends read the papers over the past years and realized that there was going to be a huge problem with subprime loans very soon. The only people who did not realize that the stock market was way overpriced were the traders and those making obscene profits.

The fact that loans of all caliber were being mixed into a dangerous brew was common knowledge. It did not take a rocket scientist to put two and two together and get out of the market and anything associated with banks over two years ago. We were willing to take reasonable profits and not greedily hang on for more.

Why was the inevitable crash such a shock to our government leaders? All it took was common sense and putting two and two together. Our elected officials should have been preaching caution, cutting spending and socking away cash for the fall.

A business fires the stupid and inept, we should do the same. Why would we keep leaders who don’t have common sense or the integrity to tell the truth? Either or both should be grounds for immediate termination or recall.

Perhaps the more important question is why do we put up with lies and passing the buck so readily? Why do we not demand that our government be run like a business? Spend when tax revenue is high and cry the blues when the inevitable bust comes.

So what do our commissioners do, of course they pass a resolution that will generate not one cent. Sadly the obvious reason is that it gets them out of the spotlight, hopefully convinces us that it came out of the blue like…a natural disaster and set the stage for some emergency taxing of course.

To be completely fair only one of the commissioners was on duty when the crisis was building but how the two new people react tells us of their worth and how much they are willing to tell the truth. Sorry but a stupid resolution does not give me confidence in their abilities. We should be very angry and demand that every elected official that pretends that this crisis fell from the sky resign.

We need to hire leaders as we would choose a business CEO, based on success and not personality. Perhaps we need a new form of government where we elect a popular figurehead for press conferences, state functions, etc. but hire a state CEO based on past business performance. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a good example, fun, great presence for press conferences and funny quotes. Hire someone we all would like to see on TV every night but run the state like a business with pay based on long term performance.

Whatever we do we need to become very angry, vocal and involved – the option is just more of the same, out tax dollars down the drain.

— “I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” Will Rogers.

Ed Jenkins

Clinton