Is this new politics pledged during campaigns?
The just-ended deliberation of the 2013 budget showed how low politics can fall, tainted by abuse and the misuse of legislative authority, rampant pork-barrel politics and earmarking of funds by political bigwigs.
Together, lawmakers, both ruling and opposition, managed to put in a total of 4,500 earmarks to take 557 billion won ($523 million) away from essential welfare and military spending to their respective home districts. As a result, free medical treatment for poor people will sharply decline and underprivileged children will continue to have awful meals, while regional construction firms will profit from the building and repairing of non-essential roads and buildings.
These egregious theft of taxpayer’s money were made not even at the National Assembly but behind the closed doors of a hotel room. The relocation had nothing to do with their guilty conscience and had much to do with the need to leave no official records. Should voters feel comforted that their representatives had a modicum of shame at least?
Gone were the discussions about the so-called reform bills, including those on reducing the number of legislators and a 30-percent cut in annual allowances, proposed by the opposition party as part of campaign pledges. Instead, in a rare bipartisan agreement, they passed the bill on pension for ex-lawmakers, which stipulates the payment of 1.2 million won a month for anyone who served as a legislator, even if only for just a day.
This simply can’t be allowed to continue.
The time has long passed for Korea to hold the Assembly’s budget committee throughout the year to prevent a handful of legislators at the panel from controlling the entire process toward the deadline citing a lack of time. The parliament should also put the list of detailed budget items and allocated spending on the Assembly’s website to help voters judge whether specific projects are needed or not, and whether appropriated amounts are proper or not.
This is what the state-run National Assembly TV should broadcast live, not the usual harangue of lawmakers and their sleeping colleagues.
Highlighting this glaring budget fiasco, nine lawmakers at the budgetary panel from both the ruling and opposition parties went on overseas travel in two groups the day after the passage of the budget bill, each to African and Central American nations, to study these countries’ ``budget-discussing systems.” One can learn from any others, but they should have found more plausible excuses. Or they might have chosen the right destinations to reaffirm that even poorer, less developed countries than Korea have better representatives.
Should Korean voters recall these lawmakers? Yes. Will they? No. These pork-barreling politicians are heroes in their precincts. Like voters, like representatives.
This is The Korea Times editorial for Friday, Jan. 4, 2013.
1. After disagreeing for so long over the nature of reform, the two parties ___________ compromised.
(A) decided to
(B) finally
(C) decided on
(D) never
2. Profits have been _____ some time.
(A) shrinking
(B) profiting
(C) condensing
(D) constricting
3. Their sales representative is located too far away for frequent visits, but he does come by ___________.
(A) occasion
(B) of occasion
(C) on occasion
(D) for occasion
4. A pet is ____________ comforting companions people can have in their old age.
(A) one of the most
(B) some of the
(C) the best
(D) at least the
[해설 및 정답]
1. [해설] compromised가 동사의 과거형이므로 A와 C는 부적합하다. 동사 compromised를 수식하는 부사가 필요하다.
[번역] 개혁의 본질에 대해 그렇게 오랫동안 의견을 달리하고 나서야 양측은 마침내 타협했다.
[어휘] disagree 불일치하다 / nature 본질 / reform 개혁 / compromise 타협하다 / finally 결국, 마침내
[정답] (B)
2. [번역] 수익이 한동안 감소되고 있다.
[어휘] shrink (옷감 등이) 오그라들다, (크기 등이) 감소하다(= reduce) / condense 압축하다 / constrict (근육을) 수축시키다, (활동 범위를) 제한하다
[정답] (A) shrinking
3. [해설] ‘때때로’라는 의미로 occasionally나 on occasion이 와야 한다.
[번역] 그들의 판매 대리인은 자주 방문하기에는 너무 멀리 떨어져 있지만 그는 때때로 들른다.
[어휘] representative 대표자, 대리인 / frequent 빈번한 / come by ~에 들르다 / occasion 경우, 이유 / on(upon) occasion 때때로, 수시로
[정답] (C)
4. [해설] 주어인 pet이 단수이고 companions가 복수인 점으로 미루어 보아 ‘one of the 복수명사’의 형태가 필요하다.
[번역] 애완동물은 노년의 사람들에게 가장 위안이 되는 친구들 중의 하나이다.
[어휘] pet 애완동물 / comforting 위안이 되는 / companion 동료, 친구
[정답] (A)