After being prodded by Statesman Editor Vicki Gowler to cite an actual example (not a generalization, which is all McKague seems capable of doing) about how the legislature can save money — this is the example that Sen. McKague came up with (at the 4 minute mark):
Well, I have one, I can tell ya one right now that I personally experienced at one time in my life. I worked for the state and I hadn’t worked for many years — ’cause I was raisin’ my family and meantime we got electric typewriters — I’d learned on the manual. And I had to be reminded that you plug in this thing before you can type and *laughs* I was just used to it and lovin’ it and it comes to a certain time of the year and I said "we’re gonna replace all of the typewriters, all of the machinery" — it was not necessary to replace it, but before the legislature heard their budget proposal they had to get rid of something so they need others.
That was a waste.
I wonder how she felt when State of Idaho employees and the legislators moved to using those pesky small portable computer thingamajigs.
As a bonus — if you listen through her whole interview she gets peeved at about the 17 minute mark when Kevin Richert asks about the John Birch Society fiasco from the last legislative session. Then she gets mad and wants to cut the interview 10 minutes short, which Gowler and Richert agree to.
Speakers not working on my laptop, was there any snickering in the background when she said that? I don’t think I could have kept a straight face.
I guess I don’t get the joke. She’s saying that they had to get rid of equipment that worked perfectly well so that the legislature would approve funding for something to replace them. Every office I’ve been in during the last 20 years has had an electric typewriter - they are still out there.