Once Upon a Time...

I love historical fiction.  Guys like Oliver Stone can take actual events and real people and weave a story that is 90% true, but they manage to tweak a few key points and completely change reality.  As long as you know it's fiction, you can sit back and enjoy their tall tale.  Stone's biopic of the Bush Presidency "W" was fun and I enjoyed "JFK" and Platoon as well. 

The newspaper is actually a great source of historical fiction.  In fact, there was a great example in Sunday''s Republic. 

Mary Jo Pitzl wrote the story  about the budget process and it's a hoot.  Don't get me wrong, it's not ALL fiction--for example, the capitol really is at 1700 West Washington--that's why it's called "historical" fiction.  It's based on real characters. 

Here was the laugh-out-loud moment.

The budget process hasn't always been so cloaked in secrecy.

Republican John Wettaw said that during his nearly three decades in the Legislature, the budget was drawn up largely by subcommittees in public hearings.

"It was all out in the open," said Wettaw, who served on appropriations committees in the House and Senate during most of his tenure, including several turns as chairman. And the work was the equivalent of must-see TV: The gallery of the Senate, where the two chambers worked out their differences, was packed, he recalled.

If one of the young reporters had written those lines, I would have attributed it to mere naivete.  But Pitzl covered the legislature during the Wettaw years, so I have to be charitable and call it historical fiction. 

I was a member of the Appropriations Committee when Wettaw was Chairman and I can only assume that John is joking when he makes the laughable claim that "It was all out in the open."

For one thing, the Republicans met in closed caucus--none of this small group, shuttle crap.  We got 33 Republicans in one room with key staff, closed the door posted a couple pages in the hall to keep Howie and Mary Jo away and wrote the budget.  We also color coded the pages so we knew which secret draft we were working on and collected them at the end of caucus so they wouldn't leak out. Wettaw, Dave Carson and Sue Gerard chain smoked right there at the table which is why smoked-filled room may be an expression now, but it was a reality 20 years ago.

Of course, there were still complaints.  Republican caucus members used to complain that the budget wasn't actually crafted in caucus and that even some of the Republican caucus members were kept in the dark. 

That's actually true.  For example, Sue Gerard was the chairman of one of the five member Appropriations Sub Committees.  Wettaw  had a seat on all of the Subcommittees, but didn't attend the meetings.  I was the other Republican and there were two Democrats whom I have now forgotten--they were easy to forget because they didn't matter.  Sue and I wrote the budget.  In fact, we wrote the budget on a Saturday morning at her kitchen table.

Seriously, that's how "transparent" the budget was in the 1990s.  Since Wettaw didn't attend the meetings, Sue and I weren't a quorum, so I went to her house on a Saturday and we wrote our part of the budget.  We then presented it as a done deal to the whole Appropriations Committee and the Appropriations Committee then presented it as a done deal to the 33-member closed caucus.  The Democrats didn't see it until it was in bill form.

Now that's good government. 

Wettaw and Mary Jo Pitzl both know that today's process is completely transparent when compared to the old days, but that doesn't fit into the current narrative.  That's why it's historical fiction--but that's OK, I like fiction,and as long as you don't fall for it either, you can enjoy it too. 

(I get a kick out of all the faux indignation that the press pumps out during "sunshine" week.  Gannett had a big layoff last week and one of my sources at the paper told me that management worked so hard to keep the layoff secret that they resorted to calling employees at home on Sunday night and telling them not to come in the next day.  And for some reason, I've never seen the Republic editorial board comply with the open meeting law, and If I ask the Republic reporters for their email, I don't think I'm going to get a copy.  So much for transparency.)

Comments

[ron]

You wrote, "Seriously, that's how "transparent" the budget was in the 1990s. Since Wettaw didn't attend the meetings, Sue and I weren't a quarum, so I went to her house on a Saturday and we wrote our part of the budget. We then presented it as a done deal to the whole Appropriations Committee and the Appropriations Committee then presented it as a done deal to the 33-member closed caucus. The Democrats didn't see it until it was in bill form."

And then you wrote:

"Now that's good government."

If you think so, don't be surprised that most of us have little respect for government.

[ron]

You wrote, "(I get a kick out of all the faux indignation that the press pumps out during "sunshine" week. Gannett had a big layoff last week and one of my sources at the paper told me that management worked so hard to keep the layoff secret that they resorted to calling employees at home on Sunday night and telling them not to come in the next day. And for some reason, I've never seen the Republic editorial board comply with the open meeting law, and If I ask the Republic reporters for their email, I don't think I'm going to get a copy. So much for tranparancy.)"

Give me a break - the salaries of Gannett employees are not paid for by my and your tax dollars but the salaries of Pearce and Burns and Adams are. I expect people who take my tax money to pay for their salaries to be accountable!

BTW, it's not transparancy - it is 'transparency'

[Matt Sh.]

I think one of the members of your subcommittee was Olivia Cajero-Bedford. I remember because I worked for EBO/OSPB. The reason you don't remember her is because she wanted to give everything to every state agency that requested anything.

[Bill]

One of the reasons this blog is so much fun to read is that the author actually knows from experience what he is talking about.

As a general rule, anyone who says things were better back in the 'good ole days' is usually mistaken. Not always, but usually.

Anyone interested in historical fiction and alternative history ought to check out Harry Turtledove. His work much more fun to read than Mary Jo Pitzl's.

[Dave]

Somewhat in defense of Mary Jo, her article was quoting Wettaw, so it seems he is the one with the faulty memory, not Mary Jo.

Also, it was Olivia's mother Carmen who served in the Legislature with Greg.

[Bill]

With respect to Dave's comment that Mary Jo Pitzel was merely quoting Wettaw: what is the point of newspapers paying for 'experienced reporters' if they don't use their background knowledge to question politicians when they make ridiculous statements? A 19 year-old intern could have provided the not-so-insightful analysis found in Pitzel's article at a fraction of the cost to Gannett Co.

Let's face facts: the Republic played cheerleader while Janet Napolitano increased state spending at a dramatic and unsustainable pace. Now that Republicans are stuck with the unenviable task of fixing a huge fiscal mess, the newspaper is booing and throwing snow cones at the GOP team from the sidelines.

[Richard]

The Republic hasn't known anything going on within the Legislature or state government since AzScam.

[Barry M. Aarons]

Let's see, John Wettaw and transparency. Just doesn't seem to work now does it. And then of course there was Tom Goodwin who used to "find" all kinds of money just about the time the capital outlay bill was going to hit the floor. The truth is that if you constructed a budget in open committee it would take years, not months, and would balloon the deficit way above where it is now. PS I have never had either John Kavanagh or Russell Pearce refuse to answer a question about a budget issue or refuse to listen to an idea about a budget matter.