Why do we take all the hits LADWP hands out and none of the good stuff? The latest – Mayor Villaraigosa wants to raise the fuel charge rate on DWP power bills by 2.7 cents per kilowatthour. The LA Times said this rate hike would help cover the cost of new alternative energy DWP will develop. No one has confirmed it, but we bet Inyo customers of DWP will pay the new increase, too.

This makes no sense, since we get our power from hydroelectricity generated by our water as it falls downhill to LA. We tried to bring this up to DWP Chief David Freeman who mumbled something like, “It’s all one system.” No. It’s not. We have the source of your water up here. You took our water and our land. Time has come to give us something back.

The Inyo Judges’ decision to move a state-funded $30 million court building from Independence to Bishop left Southern Inyo people with heartache. Decades of loss have left the little towns bereft of hope. Especially the County Seat of Independence. Boards of Supervisors have failed the people. They still don’t seem to either believe we need help or know what to do. It’s all about land and water. You should’ve secured it in the Long Term Water Agreement. No one did.

As one young man in town put it, “This end of the County is blighted. Why doesn’t someone help?” Good question. One more question – how long will the people of Independence put up with neglect?

Last week marked the Department of Fish and Game’s newly proposed regulations that institutionalize the practice of hunting bears with dogs. We know it’s gone on for some time, but have to agree with those who say there is no real sport in forcing a bear up a tree and taking a pot shot at him when he’s defenseless. In fact, it looks down right cowardly to us in the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom.

Come on, people, don’t you have anything better to do than terrorize and kill defenseless creatures? If not, immediately enroll in a self-examination course or perhaps therapy. If you honestly need to hunt for food, that’s legit.

Not kosher – the fact that members of Congress rarely read and understand the bills on which they vote. They do, of course, know about their own particular pork barrel bling. One of our listeners offered up an idea. We like it. Let the Congressional Budget Office, which analyzes all bills, devise a 20-question test on the content of the bills that Congressional members must pass to be able to vote on the bills. The listener suggested that they achieve 80% to pass. Fair enough. Wouldn’t it be fun at election time to report their track records. You know, such and such a congressman, folks, failed to know what was in proposed bills more than half of the time. So, he couldn’t vote. Do you want a man representing you who can’t even vote on bills? You get the idea. Hey, they only work in Congress two days of every week. How about a little performance!!!!!

Bank lobbyists win the prize for most arm-twisting with the most money. According to the LA Times, the banks have dumped jillions into the members of congress most likely to influence bank regulations. At one point JP Morgan Chase & Co. piled up a lobbying budget of $6.2 million with 30 lobbyists. In fact, statistics show that lobby money went up more than 25% at some banks. On this issue, some in Congress want to make sure the earlier financial meltdown does not repeat from banks’ risky investments that now continue.

We were truly saddened to hear about Symons Ambulance in Bishop losing $100,000 from Medicare reimbursement cuts to rural areas. What were the powers that be thinking!?! Rural areas need help to provide life-saving service. We hope some local entity will step up to the plate and help our ambulance service.

With that, this is Benett Kessler signing off for Bureaucrat Beat where we await your word on our lives in the Eastern Sierra and beyond.