"Positive sense of Self Worth"

These were the words written by Milwaukee County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, when trying to convince some of his fellow county board members to over-ride Scott Walker's veto of a pay raise for county board members.

The entire statement is as follows:

"What does mean something, however, is that the legislative policy-making branch of county government has a positive sense of self worth," he wrote
I was stunned when I read these words. It is not too often that you read this type of admission out of anyone. It is even more rare that you hear anyone admit that money drives their self worth.

Think about it for a second, Holloway is admitting that without a pay raise, their worth as county board supervisors, is somehow diminished.

How sad is that? Milwaukee County Board Chairman Holloway is not the only person to feel this way. Many people, in all walks of life, consider their self worth to be wrapped around the size of their paycheck.

We could probably go on talking about this point for hours, but their is a more important issue to discuss.

There was a time, not too long ago, when a life of a politician was considered a life of public service. The idea that elected officials are public servants is gone and has been replaced with a need for power.

Elected officials used to believe that serving the needs of their constituents was their only priority. Far too many politicians, in all levels of government, have strayed from the life of public service and instead their primary concern has become their own personal lives.

To hear Holloway say these words, takes us right back to the thinking that caused the massive pension scandal a few years ago. During this massive scandal, the primary concern of elected officials was their own paychecks and pension perks.

Clearly some on the Milwaukee County Board are still thinking of themselves and not their constituents. This is the very reason that the original pension scandal started in the first place.

For the last five years, the constituents of these board members have had to listen to stories of millions upon millions of their tax dollars being given away.

Wouldn't it be nice if some of these elected officials began to recognize that they are in a life of public service?

Instead some of these officials are concerned about the public serving them. These elected officials are concerned about their own pensions and their own paychecks.

What a sad state Wisconsin is living in right now. We have elected officials, who's primary concern is their paychecks.

We also have elected officials, who's primary concern is protecting their sick pay, so they can get a huge payout to buy health care insurance later.

We also have an elected official in this state, who has been sitting in jail for months, doing little for his constituents. That elected official will become officially eligible to collect a huge pension in a few short months. The taxpayers will then be paying this guy for the rest of his life.

It is time to boot all of these selfish elected officials out of office and start over again.

To the selfish elected officials- it is time to get back to serving the public that elected you.