Principles above politics: A look at the new Republican majority. - Thanks Rep. Bordeaux, I wish I had said that.
Principles above politics: A look at the new Republican majority
By Rep. Tom Bordeaux
Guest Column
Savannah Morning News
A couple of weeks ago, the new speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives wrote a commentary in which he announced the end of politics as usual and the beginning of a new era in which "Republican leadership will mean placing principles above power in politics." He went on to assure us that "[p]artisan politics will no longer impede the free exchange of ideas, but rather all issues of importance will be considered fairly and publicly."
Great words and high aspirations. A nice sound-bite. But there's good news and bad news. The good news is that with the new Republican majority in the House, it won't be politics as usual. The bad news is that it's going to be worse.
The new Republican majority will say one thing and do another and hope that you're either too stupid or too disinterested or too partisan to notice or care. But for a democracy to survive, we citizens can't be stupid and we can't be disinterested and we can't be too partisan to notice or care.
Speaker Richardson promised that "issues ... will be considered fairly and publicly." Yet on the first day of the legislative session, he rammed through rule changes which obliterate any pretense of fairness. "Rammed through" is strong language which I don't use lightly. You be the judge.
The rules which determine how the House is run (and thereby how laws which govern this state are made) were completely rewritten. We Democrats were provided with a copy only minutes before we were to vote on them. Only one Democrat was permitted to ask any questions and no Democrats were permitted to speak on the issue. We properly sought recognition but the new speaker refused.
Judge also whether what he says about "placing principles above power" holds true. The new speaker appointed every non-freshman Republican to four committees but us Democrats, regardless of whether we're new or have 20 years of service, to only three. This was done to increase the Republicans' majority on each committee.
If their artificially enhanced Republican majority on committees isn't enough, under the new rules the speaker can call down his "hawks." Whenever the speaker feels that he or the governor might be in danger of losing a committee vote, such as when the facts presented at a committee hearing have persuaded some Republicans to vote with the Democrats, the speaker can send in as many extra legislators as he needs to out-vote that bipartisan coalition.
The extra legislators, "hawks", swoop in and vote as they have been directed. They don't have to listen to a word of testimony or debate before voting. Their slogan will be "Don't confuse me with the facts. I'm just following orders."
After a bill passes a committee it will go to the Rules Committee, which can now completely rewrite the legislation, again without having heard any testimony or discussion. The Rules Committee, after rewriting the bill, can prohibit any further amendment to it. On the House floor, we Democrats must vote either all or nothing, take it or leave it.
But we should have confidence because the new Republican majority will never let partisanship impede the free exchange of ideas, right? After all, a committee this powerful should certainly fairly reflect the make-up of the House. Unfortunately, the speaker doesn't see it that way. In his version of "fair", the Rules Committee has 26 Republicans and eight Democrats.
Some will say that the Democrats would act just as unfairly. All I can tell you is that we didn't. Candidly, I can add that when we were in the majority, we considered using some of these same methods to silence the minority. We didn't implement any of them, though, because we thought they simply weren't fair.
In order for a democracy to survive, people have to believe that the rules which govern them are fair. The rules must be more important than the rulers. We like to think that democracy is about having faith in the people. In truth, the exact opposite is true. A democracy depends upon an understanding that power is corrupting and that leaders can be corrupted. That is why we pride ourselves upon being a nation of laws, not of men.
There are 99 Republicans, 80 Democrats and one independent in the House. Are the Republicans, being in the majority, entitled to the upper hand? Sure. But are they entitled to restructure a system so that every outcome is guaranteed and no underdog team ever has even a chance of scoring? Absolutely not. To fix the game like this is un-American. It violates that fundamental sense of fair play in which we Americans pride ourselves.
Until this year, the Republicans had been in the minority for 134 years. You would have thought that with all the rules changes they forced through last week, they would have remembered to include, at least in spirit, the most important one: "Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you."
Rep. Tom Bordeaux, D-Savannah, represents District 162 in the Georgia House.
By Rep. Tom Bordeaux
Guest Column
Savannah Morning News
A couple of weeks ago, the new speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives wrote a commentary in which he announced the end of politics as usual and the beginning of a new era in which "Republican leadership will mean placing principles above power in politics." He went on to assure us that "[p]artisan politics will no longer impede the free exchange of ideas, but rather all issues of importance will be considered fairly and publicly."
Great words and high aspirations. A nice sound-bite. But there's good news and bad news. The good news is that with the new Republican majority in the House, it won't be politics as usual. The bad news is that it's going to be worse.
The new Republican majority will say one thing and do another and hope that you're either too stupid or too disinterested or too partisan to notice or care. But for a democracy to survive, we citizens can't be stupid and we can't be disinterested and we can't be too partisan to notice or care.
Speaker Richardson promised that "issues ... will be considered fairly and publicly." Yet on the first day of the legislative session, he rammed through rule changes which obliterate any pretense of fairness. "Rammed through" is strong language which I don't use lightly. You be the judge.
The rules which determine how the House is run (and thereby how laws which govern this state are made) were completely rewritten. We Democrats were provided with a copy only minutes before we were to vote on them. Only one Democrat was permitted to ask any questions and no Democrats were permitted to speak on the issue. We properly sought recognition but the new speaker refused.
Judge also whether what he says about "placing principles above power" holds true. The new speaker appointed every non-freshman Republican to four committees but us Democrats, regardless of whether we're new or have 20 years of service, to only three. This was done to increase the Republicans' majority on each committee.
If their artificially enhanced Republican majority on committees isn't enough, under the new rules the speaker can call down his "hawks." Whenever the speaker feels that he or the governor might be in danger of losing a committee vote, such as when the facts presented at a committee hearing have persuaded some Republicans to vote with the Democrats, the speaker can send in as many extra legislators as he needs to out-vote that bipartisan coalition.
The extra legislators, "hawks", swoop in and vote as they have been directed. They don't have to listen to a word of testimony or debate before voting. Their slogan will be "Don't confuse me with the facts. I'm just following orders."
After a bill passes a committee it will go to the Rules Committee, which can now completely rewrite the legislation, again without having heard any testimony or discussion. The Rules Committee, after rewriting the bill, can prohibit any further amendment to it. On the House floor, we Democrats must vote either all or nothing, take it or leave it.
But we should have confidence because the new Republican majority will never let partisanship impede the free exchange of ideas, right? After all, a committee this powerful should certainly fairly reflect the make-up of the House. Unfortunately, the speaker doesn't see it that way. In his version of "fair", the Rules Committee has 26 Republicans and eight Democrats.
Some will say that the Democrats would act just as unfairly. All I can tell you is that we didn't. Candidly, I can add that when we were in the majority, we considered using some of these same methods to silence the minority. We didn't implement any of them, though, because we thought they simply weren't fair.
In order for a democracy to survive, people have to believe that the rules which govern them are fair. The rules must be more important than the rulers. We like to think that democracy is about having faith in the people. In truth, the exact opposite is true. A democracy depends upon an understanding that power is corrupting and that leaders can be corrupted. That is why we pride ourselves upon being a nation of laws, not of men.
There are 99 Republicans, 80 Democrats and one independent in the House. Are the Republicans, being in the majority, entitled to the upper hand? Sure. But are they entitled to restructure a system so that every outcome is guaranteed and no underdog team ever has even a chance of scoring? Absolutely not. To fix the game like this is un-American. It violates that fundamental sense of fair play in which we Americans pride ourselves.
Until this year, the Republicans had been in the minority for 134 years. You would have thought that with all the rules changes they forced through last week, they would have remembered to include, at least in spirit, the most important one: "Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you."
Rep. Tom Bordeaux, D-Savannah, represents District 162 in the Georgia House.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 9:00 PM
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