Beware the Task Force

Here it comes. The conception of countless new regulations and ordinances has occurred. And, in six months time we'll all witness the birth of new unneeded costly regulations and big government spending initiatives (subscription). Mark my word, they are coming. How do I know? Well...

City Hall launched an environmental task force on Thursday that will recommend ways for local governments and residents to address global warming.

Mayor Martin Chávez joined County Commission Chairman Alan Armijo and City Councilor Isaac Benton to announce the 35-member group, which includes representatives from Sandia National Laboratories, environmental organizations and government agencies.

Chávez said he hopes the task force will compile a “climate action plan” within six months.

The group’s plan should have value even to those who aren’t concerned about the environment, he said.

What's a climate action plan? Basically, it's a politician's sound bite that's guaranteed to cost us, the taxpayers, money and hassle.

Political Speak for Do Nothing

I don't have time this morning to scour the web, but I'm wondering if there is such a thing as dictionary for laymen of political doublespeak. For example, close observers of Governor Richardson's administration have learned that when they hear "I'm forming a task force," what that really means is that "this is an issue too many people care about right now, so I'm going to wait awhile until it cools down, so that we can ignore the problem."

Just so you understand, here are a couple of examples:
Dealing with DWI's
Dealing with fiscal accountability
Dealing with Gambling
Dealing with ethics scandals
Dealing with eminent domain

Now, I have to be honest. Up to this point, I thought this was primarily a Richardson form of doublespeak. However, it has now become clear to me that this is a part of the lexicon of any politician wishing to avoid performing their job (subscription):

Mickey Barnett, an Albuquerque lawyer and former Republican national committeeman, e-mailed Iglesias in September 2004, chastising him for appointing a task force to investigate voter fraud instead of bringing charges against suspects.

"Most of us think a task force is a joke and unlikely to make any citizen believe our elections and voter registrations are honest," Barnett wrote.

E-mails released by the Justice Department show Barnett and Pat Rogers, another GOP lawyer in Albuquerque, complained about Iglesias to Justice Department officials in June 2006.

E-mails show Barnett asked the White House Office of Political Affairs for a meeting with Justice Department officials to "discuss the USATTY situation" in New Mexico. Rogers and Barnett met with Justice officials the next day.

"The meeting was to discuss perceived management issues and his failure to give priority and attention to voter fraud and corruption cases," Rogers said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Well, now that we've got "task force" clearly defined, maybe next time we'll look at what a politician means when they say, "We're making progress."