Friday opinuendo On pay, verse, a cold day in heaven and more ...

We whined last year when our 201 legislators raised their pay without seeming to do so.

[Lewis Sinclair]

Sam Newlund was a nice guy and a good journalist. But there's more than a little irony in the P-Press giving advice on good journalism. We haven't seen any in years.

[Tight wad]

The pay for Legislators is a more complicated issue than most others. The legislators who are in the majority party and are not simply party hacks often vry smart and work very long hours. Others, such as my former State Legislator , lived 10 miles from the Capitol, served in the minority, and like his clone from just north of Stillwater, rarely made more than a brief appearance at Committee meetings and contributed nothing except furver aimed at promoting the backwards ways of fundamentalist, "Prosperity Christians", an oxymoron if there was ever one. My current Legislators Julie Bunn and Kathy Saltzman take every issue very seriously, work their tails off day and night and even though I often disagree with their votes, I at least know that their votes were based on considerable thought by highly capable people, who put the public far ahead of their ambitions and far ahead of promotion of their religions at the expense of a non-secular State.

The legislature is not a 3 month job. I would invite readers to ask the more respected and responsive legislators if their e-mail stops at the end of May. Most of us don't get 300 e-mails a day, let alone respond to them. Even if it drops down to 50 a day in off-season, that's still a lot of work.

Just what do the minority party members do? Mostly, sit there and hope they end up in the majority at some time. They definitely make a lot more money than the time they put it merits. Life isn't fair. There is a big price for being in the majority, and giving a rip -- a personal life put on hold and no real ability to carry on a full time job without being a lawyer, insurance agent, teacher, self-employed, or not needing a full time job.

Lastly, I would ask if per diem is taxed. I think not. If I am right, it is a much better deal than it appears.