Republican State House Majority installs a deadly new rule

[Georgia_Dem]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/10614428.htm

The State House speaker can now put people on any committee he wants to. So now if the Democrats try to get a bill started, the Republicans can stop it from ever getting to the State House floor.

[tjdee]

1. Yay democracy!

Republicans are ridiculously ridiculous.

[Webster Green]

2. Traitors!......

Why do they hate Amurka?

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. The poison pill.

Why do Dems even bothering showing up at all?

[RubyDuby in GA]

4. Give them all the rope they need

and smile while we're doing it. I'm seeing a major backlash on this. Ah the sweet smell of revenge........

[CottonBear]

5. What issues will backlash?

I'm worried about the 24 hour abortion waiting period. What if republican men HAD to wait 24 hours before having emergency heart surgery or other emergency surgery? How would they feel if someone told them when they could receive healthcare? I know this is an extreme example which would never be enacted but we could get their attention with it.

[RubyDuby in GA]

6. That is the one I'm most concerned with.

Choice is definitely going to be my issue of choice this year.
Also the economy. And Sonny Bubba is making more and more enemies every day.

Just FYI, February 1, 2 and 3rd are Pro-Choice Lobby Days at the Capital. I will be there. And I'm sure I'll be at the rally this year on the anniversary of Roe v Wade. Hope to see you there!

[Up2Late]

7. This just in!

I just heard on the NPR local news update:

:grr:The GA State House Repukes just proposed a bill to extend the "Waiting Period" for DIVORCE to 6 months! I think they said it's currently 30 days, but it could have been 60 days, I'm not sure on that part of the story.:grr:

[flaminbats]

18. why are Republicans so determined to make enemies?

I know many hardcore Republican voters who are pissed because of this bill. One of them, a divorced man happily married to another divorced Republican, said he'll never vote Republican again in his life if this passes. So far..he has never voted for a Democrat, not even on the state level! He and his wife supported Mattingly over Zell in 2000.

This guy is in the restaurant business, but knows others active in business who contributed generously to Republicans..and now plan to withhold this support in 2006. Preaching family values can win votes, mandating family matters will only result in a massive backlash. It doesn't seem logical after taking power for the first time since Reconstruction. :kick:

[RubyDuby in GA]

19. It's just in their nature

Let them have all the rope they need. They are drunk with power at the moment and can't see two steps in front of them at the moment.

Let them legislate morality how they see it. But take cover when the backlash cometh...for it will.

[kevinam]

8. where were the dems???

In the AJC, they reported 20 dems voted to support this rule. Or maybe those 20 will join the 3 turncoats from last year. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I am so sick and tired of the democrats being cowards and not standing up (just a little) to the repugs. Yea, you are concerned with abortion protections, or tort reform (screwing the victims), or school vouchers...count how many dems vote with repugs. Just sickening!!!
Kevin.

[Georgia_Dem]

9. Maybe they hope to make use of this rule after 2006.

With Gov. Perdue's 43% approval rating, regaining control of the State House alongside ousting him is a definite possibility.

[Up2Late]

10. Nope

not with :puke:Diebold counting our votes. Until we get a paper trail and the right to COUNT and Audit our own election, :argh:

WE ARE SCREWED!:evilfrown:

[Georgia_Dem]

11. The recent state elections in Montana and Colorado suggest otherwise.

There's clearly a limit to how much the companies that own the machines will skew the results. Because if they're caught, the consequences will be severe. So it's not completely impossible to retake the State House without paper ballots (not that I don't want them).

[kevinam]

15. I hope you are right...

but for whatever reason, GA is going more and more repug. We lost seats in the most recent election. The trend is going the other way. I would find it terribly amusing if(when) this comes back to haunt the repugs. I don't know if any Ga election has been rigged. It might have, but the proof is no where to be found. I am curious how you think they would get caught?? Even the Dem Secretary of State is gung ho for paperless machines. If there is no paper trail it seems impossible (or close to) to prove there is election tampering. I am also curious as to the consequences??? It seems like if Diebold or ES&S are caught doing something illegal, they will be laughing all the way to the bank with the tens (hundreds??) of millions(of tax dollars) they have already made.

Kevin.

[Georgia_Dem]

16. First off,

I think that the reason the state is getting redder is because the Democrats aren't connecting very well with rural voters. But the reason I think Georgia Democrats could win in 2006 is because of Gov.
Perdue. He's got an abysmal 43% approval rating that doesn't seem to be getting any better. It's entirely possible to beat him and get lots more officials into office as a side effect. That's exactly what
just happened in Montana.

There's a little evidence that the Georgia elections in 2002 were rigged. Incumbent Gov. Roy Barnes and incumbent Sen. Max Cleland both had comfortable poll leads over their Republican opponents. And then Barnes and Cleland won through last-minute bounces. Coincidence?

As for the issue of Diebold or some other company getting caught rigging elections, while it does seem unlikely for them to get caught, you can't, as the old saying goes, be too careful. The consequences are jail time and the extreme unlikelyhood of ever having their machines used again. Not pleasant things.

[RubyDuby in GA]

17. 2002 Elections

I'm glad to see someone else saying what I've been saying for quite some time about these elections. There is just no way that Saxby and Sonny Bubba beat Max and Roy that year. NO WAY. Every time I've made this point with anyone I'm met with blank stares.

As for Sonny, he's extremely vulnerable. 43% is very bad and, as I've said, there are rumblings and quiet rumors about the Repugs searching out someone to go up against him in a primary. They've asked several high profile Dems to switch sides and go against him, one in particular being Cathy Cox. I think she can beat him on her own, but one has to wonder if her stubborn refusal to do anything about our Diebold machines is because of a sweet deal with them concerning a certain 2006 race. Just pondering..... She is their poster child after all. Check out their website.

Be that as it may, I will take her hands down any day over Mark Taylor.

[RubyDuby in GA]

12. Couldn't agree more

That's why we have to have real leadership that stops these people.
Say what you want about Tom Murphy, but shit like this didn't happen when he was ruling with an iron fist.

Bobby Kahn has been the most ineffectual leader since...Dubya was president. He has got to go.

[Georgia_Dem]

13. And how were they supposed to stop this?

They are now a minority in the State House. Even if they somehow stopped it the first time, the Republicans *would* have voted for the
rule in unstoppable numbers next time. Even filibusters would've only
delayed the inevitable.

True, it didn't help for some Democrats to vote for the bill. but again, they may be planning to make use of the rule with a State House majority in 2007.

[RubyDuby in GA]

14. I'm not saying they would have stopped this rule from taking effect

I'm saying that with real leadership, those 20 wouldn't have been voting with the Republicans. And I'm fairly confident that this rule will come back to bite them in the ass. Hopefully, I'll be there with my camera to catch it all :)

[flaminbats]

20. Republicans are making conservative Democrats suffer for their support..

this action will do more to unite state Democrats than any single issue.