Tonya Payne: Pittsburgh Douchebag/Typical Politician

What is worse, when government officials don’t know how America works or when they don’t care?

In most career fields, a professional is expected to know more than the average citizen.  They are also expected to abide by the code of ethics of that field.

What would you call a group of “professionals” who know less about their job than you do and will happily break the rules they are sworn to uphold?  We call them douchebags, but they generally go by the title “politicians”.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute(ISI) revealed some interesting results from a civic knowledge exam they organized.

US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

“It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI’s civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned,” said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI.

How ignorant were elected officials?

Asked about the electoral college, 20 percent of elected officials incorrectly said it was established to “supervise the first televised presidential debates.”

One of the most worrying responses…and probably the most relevant in these hard economic times, was to a question about economics.

The question that received the fewest correct responses, just 16 percent, tested respondents’ basic understanding of economic principles, asking why “free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning?”

So that establishes that American politicians are ignorant…but what about when they know what’s wrong and do it anyway?

Pittsburgh City Council gave its first approval today to legislation requiring that anyone report a lost or stolen firearm report that within 24 hours or potentially face a $500 fine.

The 6-1 vote, with two abstentions, sets up a final vote likely next week, which would send the legislation to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl for his signature or veto, and then potentially to the courts, where similar measures have been challenged.

“Who really cares about it being unconstitutional?” said Councilwoman Tonya Payne, a supporter. “This is what’s right to do, and if this means that we have to go out and have a court battle, then that’s fine … We have plenty of dead bodies coming up in our streets every single day, and that is unacceptable.”

Who cares about it being unconstitutional?  One would hope Payne’s constituents.  I mean, if you really want to do something about crime, regardless of the Constitution, why not send in the Army to break into every house and business, search for and seize all weapons, drugs, deviant literature, and anything else that might lead people to break the law.  Then, while you’re at it, why not quarter those troops in those homes.  They need a place to say and their presence would certainly reduce crime rates.

Tonya Payne represents City Council District 6.

Council District 6 includes the Hill District, Downtown, Uptown, the Strip District, Manchester, Central Northside, California-Kirkbride, and Allegheny West, as well as parts of West Oakland, South Oakland, and Fineview.

Feel free to let Tonya Payne know that you care about what’s constitutional here.

(Hat Tip to DB3)