Republican: Party that just says no

Clara Meagher
Published: March 11, 2008

Republicans continue to be the party of NO. Whether it’s for the benefit of children’s education (NO pre-kindergarten for at-risk kids) or our transportation crisis (NO dedicated revenue stream for the future), their response is no. Add to the list, NO transparency in government and NO fair and balanced method of redistricting.

Rules allow House subcommittees to meet before dawn and after dark with very little notice, and they can kill legislation without recorded votes. Subcommittees are small, so if only five are in attendance that means three legislators out of 100 in the House of Delegates may kill a bill. There’s a complete lack of transparency because the votes are not recorded as they are in a normal session! Legislators then go back to their home districts and tell their constituents, “Well, I would have voted on that bill, but it never came up.” This is political cowardice of the worst kind.

This is what happened Feb. 15. The Senate passed legislation (33 to 5 with bipartisan support) that would have established a redistricting commission, which could have created more normally shaped districts where voters would have benefited from more competition in elections. Competition leads to more debate and to genuine problem solving. But House Republicans in subcommittee voted “NO” because they do not want competition. They’re losing elections and in desperation will do anything to keep seats. Because these Republicans are intellectually bankrupt, it’s easier for them to say NO than to work on solutions.

CLARA MEAGHER

Manassas