Molly Ivins, as always, puts it into blunt but funny words:
The latest flap over a congressional redistricting map was the proverbial last straw for the Democrats, more than 50 of whom left the state or went into hiding Sunday to break the quorum, thus bringing legislative business to a halt.
Believe me, stopping the Legislature from functioning at this point is high public service.
Now here’s something interesting: I usually read Molly’s column in the Dallas/Fort Worth Star Telegram. But the version in the Sacramento Bee is longer – look at the differences in these two paragraphs:
The way things got to such a sorry pass is that the R’s have been running on rote, lockstep voting. No Democratic amendment gets considered on its merits, no matter how sensible it is. Shell bills get introduced, and then whole sections are amended on the floor, in a parody of legislative process. Much time has been spent on gay-bashing and trying to take away abortions rights. I’m starting to think right-wing Republicans all have an unhealthy fixation on sexual behavior.
The choices on how to spend money couldn’t possibly make Republican “values” any clearer. We can spend money on corporate welfare, but not on people’s welfare. We can’t cover health insurance for our teachers, but we must have brush control.
The creepy thing about the far-right Republicans, who are definitely in the majority in the House, is not that they are dismantling government because they won’t raise taxes, they’re dismantling government because they think it shouldn’t help people. They really think health and human services should not be provided.
The way things got to such a sorry pass is that the R’s have been running on rote, lock-step voting.
No Democratic amendment gets considered on its merits, no matter how sensible it is. Shell bills get introduced, and then whole sections are amended on the floor, in a parody of legislative process.
The creepy thing about the far-right Republicans, who are definitely in the majority in the House, is not that they are dismantling government because they won’t raise taxes — they’re dismantling government because they think it shouldn’t help people. They really think that health and human services should not be provided.
Isn’t that interesting?
