The Journal & Courier found itself in the interesting position of not being able to reach a consensus on writing an editorial regarding the House Democrats refusing to be present for the House quorum call. Uncertainty seems more representative of my view than the strident, morally righteous tone adopted by the Indianapolis Star editorial board. The J&C said:
Facing a deadline for today’s editorial about the Indiana House of Representatives’ partisan meltdown Tuesday that stranded scores of bills and other business, our editorial board could agree on neither the content nor the process for writing our view, so we just bagged it. But don’t worry, we here on the Journal and Courier editorial board still believe we’re doing “the people’s business.” And don’t worry, either, about our board members; they were still paid for the efforts you see here.
The Muncie Star Press was about as indignant as the Indianapolis Star was. I just can’t get past the vague reasons for why it was o.k. for the Republicans to walk out last year and not o.k. for the Democrats to do the same thing this year. They say that “the GOP delays did not have the same huge impact on new legislation.” Previous reports have mentioned that the GOP killed about 80 bills (in a short session, it should be noted) when they pulled a similar stunt. The Democrats this year killed 130 bills. I’m just not sure why the Muncie Star Press puts such a premium on 50 extra bills.
The Muncie Star Press says:
If Bauer thinks that Indiana voters will have sympathy for House Democrats who stand for election in less than two years, he is sadly mistaken. Citizens expect lawmakers to vote up or down on important legislation, not engage in blocking tactics that serve only petty political ends.
Indeed. Just as Hoosiers punished the House Republicans for their walkout last year. Oh, wait. The Republicans were rewarded for their behavior. Let’s face it, the average Hoosier has little to no idea what’s going on in the State House in Indianapolis. To think they’re going to remember that the Democrats killed an Inspector General bill two years from now really overestimates the interest of the average citizen in state politics. And all the handwringing about “the people’s time” and “the people’s money” being wasted? Please. My guess is that the fewer laws the legislature passes, the more money we save.
The Evansville Courier Press, in a news story, makes the terrorism analogy explicit. “The day after 131 bills died because House Democrats walked out on the legislative session, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels compared their actions to terrorists and Republicans made no effort to smooth over the rift.” I also note from this article that Governor Daniels seems to be comparing House Democrats to Nazis: “”It’s harder to understand why not one House Democrat had the courage or the conscience to stay at work when (Bauer) told them to walk off the job,” Daniels said. “I guess they were just following orders.”” (Besides the Nazi allusion, I believe the statement is factually incorrect. If news reports were to be believed, the Democrats left one or two members on the floor to monitor the Republicans.) The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette also describes Governor Daniels as “using terrorist buzzwords.”
Going back to the Evansville Courier Press’s news article, I’m really amused by Representative Van Haaften’s response to Speaker Bosma’s pronouncement that “the public is not pleased.”:
Mount Vernon Democrat Trent Van Haaften said that’s not the message he’s getting from constituents back home. He said he has mostly heard from people about funding cuts to education, not the issues of the day Tuesday – voter identification and the inspector general.
“Down here in the corner of our state, we don’t have a problem with voter fraud that they allege there in Indianapolis,” he said. “That issue doesn’t resonate as much here. The inspector general bill is the same thing. We’ve got prosecutors around here that do their job.”
The Evansville Courier Press’s editorial on the subject, seems very sensible. Their take generally is that the Democrats killed the Republicans’ momentum, there is still time to resurrect some of the initiatives, Senator Garton runs a tight ship and won’t allow a lot of monkey business with amendments – particularly with Daylight Saving Time. The editorial suggests that a lot of legislators might be just as happy that DST not come up for a vote given the potential for constituent backlash. It points out that the boycott probably could have been avoided had leaders on both sides been willing to compromise. They suggest that the inspector general post doesn’t need prosecutorial powers because there is no evidence that county prosecutors are not doing their job. They suggest that opposing the voter ID bill probably doesn’t do Democrats much good because the sorts of people unwilling or unable to produce ID probably don’t vote much. So, a logrolling deal probably could have been reached where Republicans give up state inspector prosecution and Democrats allow voter ID. They note the potential for Republicans to use the walkout as an issue but then note that the Republicans did the same thing last year. And yet last year, life went on. And so it will this year.
The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is a bit more balanced in its assessment than were other anti-boycott editorials, but it ultimately concludes that the Democrats were wrong to boycott the final two days of session. They use the specious rhetoric about legislators being paid but not working. Do you think the outrage would subside if the legislators agreed to waive their pay for those two days? Of course not. But, they point out that the Democrats could have handled things better. No doubt. The Journal Gazette is spot-on with this analysis though:
Republicans are not entirely without blame. They pulled their own walkout in the waning days of last year’s legislative session, when they were in the minority, over the Democrats’ refusal to vote on a gay marriage amendment. As a result, a number of bills failed to come to a vote.
Republicans tried in vain Tuesday to argue the issues are different, that Republicans wanted to be heard in 2004 and want Democrats to speak in 2005. But the two walkouts were motivated by the same overarching political imbalance: Each party didn’t get its way.
Nor has Daniels helped with his vitriolic condemnation that Democrats “car-bombed†Indiana’s drive for progress. Suggesting the walkout is equivalent to the Iraq insurgency was over the top.
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