Don’t Work Drunk
May 23rd, 2006 at 6:00 am by Susie
Seems like a good idea, huh?
SALEM, Ore. - Oregon legislators and staff members should not be drunk while performing their official duties, a citizen panel says.
The Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature adopted that recommendation Monday, although the panel decided to leave it to House and Senate leaders to draft rules against intoxication and possible penalties.
“We were uncomfortable acting as a nanny,” said Kerry Tymchuk, a commission member and state director for U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (news, bio, voting record), R-Ore.
The new policy was suggested by Steve Doell, president of Crime Victims United, who said he and another member of the group noticed alcohol on the breath of at least one legislator at the end of the 2005 session while they were advocating tougher drunken-driving penalties.
No.
I wonder how much of “Crime Victims United’s” funding comes from the public purse.
I used to be in favor of MADD and the like, until I noticed that everything they propose actually represents an expansion of police powers.
Then I learned how much of these so-called do-gooder groups funding actually comes from grants from government sources, and it all started to seem a little too “convenient.”
So, no, it doesn’t seem like a good idea, at least to me.
No. I dont drink and I think its a stupid idea.
Laws against even minimal levels of alcohol in the blood when driving are strict because of the affect on motor skills and reaction time. These laws are not supposed to be intended as a back-door prohibition movement.
Alcohol on the breath? Intoxication? What are we going to do, have the legislators blow into a portable breathalizer after every lunch? Or just the ones that “smell” like alcohol? Who’s going to decide? Making a rule about this is a form of prohibition and stupid. What’s wrong with a two-martini-lunch legislator voting for tougher laws, as long as she doesn’t drive home?