What not to hear

by Patrick Gannon, Capitol Press Association, published in Greenville Daily Reflector, February 26, 2015.

With another General Assembly long session upon us, we once again will get to hear hundreds of hours of political debate over the next few months, ranging from the extremely mundane to the vitally important. During debates in committees and on the House and Senate floors, it’s almost guaranteed that we will get to hear all of the following, cringe-worthy words and phrases. We can only hope they’re kept to a minimum.

• Physical vs. fiscal. A few lawmakers and others around the legislative complex routinely pronounce “fiscal” as “physical.” As in, will we end the 2015 “physical” year with a shortfall? “Physical” is what Olivia Newton-John sang about in the early 1980s and what you get from the doctor before playing sports in high school. It has nothing to do with the finances of a state, city or any other unit of government. That’s “fiscal.” This is first on this list for a reason.
• Win-win situation. Politicians like to say this whenever they make big economic development announcements or break other big, seemingly positive news. “It’s a win-win situation for the community and the company.” Blah blah blah. What about the neighbors who have to put up with truck traffic and noise? Or the competitors who didn’t get the economic incentives that brought the company to town or the taxpayers who foot the bill for the incentives? Maybe that’s a win-win-lose situation, although we’ll never hear it put that way.
• Take a dip. In most people’s worlds, taking a dip means either swimming or putting chewing tobacco in your mouth. But in General Assembly-speak, it’s used too often to refer to when a bill needs to be heard by a particular committee. As in, Senate Bill 1 needs to “take a dip” in Finance.
• Working families. I’ve heard this used many times already this year, mainly from Democrats who say, “We need to help working families.” Will the next politician who says this please define it? If you work and have five kids, but make $1 million a year, do you qualify as a working family? What if you work really hard and make $20,000 a year, but don’t have kids?
• Statue vs. statute. Yes, both new “statutes” and new “statues” can be unveiled, but the similarities end there. Statute has three T’s. Statue has two. Legislators who create statutes should know how to pronounce them.
• This is a good bill. This gets said so often and sometimes it’s little more than: “This is a good bill. I encourage everyone to vote for it.” If that’s all you have to say, please don’t prolong the debate.
• Pay their “fair share” of taxes. What exactly does this mean? Most Democrats think low-income people pay too much in taxes. Most Republicans think the wealthy pay too much. Most taxpayers think they pay too much. This debate won’t be settled in the history of the world.
• Legislators vs. Legislatures. People I spoke with before writing this column suggested I include this. “Legislators” are the individuals who get elected and make laws. “Legislatures” are groups of legislators, such as the General Assembly. Somehow, the two terms get confused at times.

So what are your least favorite terms or expressions used by politicians? Email them to pgannon@ncinsider.com. I’ll keep an ear out for them.

http://www.reflector.com/opinion/other-voices/gannon-what-not-hear-2804043