Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Leadership Elections

Today, the Democratic House Caucus elected Rep. DuBose Porter minority leader, Rep. Carolyn Hugley minority whip, Rep. Calvin Smyre caucus chair, and Rep. Nikki Randall caucus vice chair. They also elected a treasurer and secretary, but I do not have those names at this time.

In Bibb, the local delegation met this morning at Cheddars and elected Sen. Cecil Staton chair and Rep. Allen Freeman vice chair. Rep. David Lucas was past chair, and this shift reflects two things. First, following the losses of Benedict and Perera, Republicans now control the local delegation. Second, until today, leadership in the local delegation has been decided by seniority. No more. Senator Staton has sponsored some of the most egregious legislation to ever hit the floor (or fail to hit the floor) of the Assembly. His greatest hits include Voter ID and a bill that would have given developers taxing authority. I think it would be fun to total the cost to taxpayers for defending the various pieces of unconstitutional legislation he has sponsored.

It's going to be quite a session. While some Republicans say this will be a 'gentle' session, I don't think these guys can help themselves. Look for legislation restricting or banning abortion, restricting gay adoption, putting a constitutional amendment on voter id on the ballot, increasing the rights of developers and restructuring of the tax code to benefit their big business buddies. Maybe Democrats should just get out of the way, vote their conscience and let these guys show Georgians their true colors. Do you really think that if they had passed SB 5 and HB 318 (the secrecy legislation) that Georgians would've sent them back to the capitol?

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1 comment:

Amy Morton said...

Oh, yes. That, too. Because they care so deeply for Georgia families. To what degree should elected dems continue to "fix" legislation for them? We have prevented them from passing somed bills that would've been awful, but then, the average Georgian would've thought so, too. Is it time to step back and let them make their mess? That's risky, but worse than this? I am thinking about issues like the secrecy legislation that was pulled in 2005 and the insurance bill that initially did not include coverage for mammography etc. Do we just vote no and let this stuff though so that voters understand their agenda? Or do we want our legislators to continue to "fix" the most awful parts of bills, before they become law?