Thursday, November 25, 2010

Free Turkeys! Free Turkeys!

 

In the last couple of days, J.P.s, county commissioners, city councilmen and school board members have been in the news. For the most part, they've been doing some good for the public by donating turkeys and/or bags of groceries to families all throughout Laredo. My first question is: who is paying for these turkeys? When school board member Amaya, or commissioner Canales is shown distributing turkeys, is it compliments of the taxpayers or of the political figure? Next question: there's always a small army of volunteers with the political figure, sometimes all wearing the same "team" shirts giving away the goodies. My question is: are these volunteers ?  are they paid? are they family? and most importantly are these groceries going to the truly needy?

I am simply asking these questions because many times we see things but don't question anything. I figured if we can least get some answers to these questions, at least we get a sort of behind-the-scenes understanding of a small part of politics in Laredo. Please feel free to offer your insight into any political process in our town. I think a lot of people would at least be somewhat amused/interested in how these events occurr. They certainly don't just happen spontaneously.

2 comments:

  1. Excellent point! I wanted to write about all the other "feel good" toy drives and one time food distributions. They do nothing give a temporary feeling of doing something.

    Oftentimes, those giving out the turkeys, etc. are the people who have the power to create true policy change or make a more meaningful impact than a one time present. Let's shoot for societal change where the gap between the rich and the poor is lessened - it won't happen with giving away one turkey when as soon as it is gone, many go back to being hungry. Instead, help small business and help create jobs so you won't "need" hand outs.

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  2. It brings to mind the often-heard proverb about: Giving you a fish feeds you for a day but teaching you how to fish feeds you for a lifetime. It's unbelievable that politicians used taxpayer money (to buy the turkeys) to buy good publicity and pay off their supporters. In effect, we're now subsidizing their campaigns as well.

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