Republicans in the Mississippi Legislature seem to be dealing with a lot of pent-up demand. Every day, we hear of another piece of legislation that is a virtual rehash of a bill that could not be passed without a Republican majority in both houses of the Legislature. And despite the cute names given to some of the bills—the "sunshine" act for example—Republicans seem hell bent on disenfranchising their colleagues across the aisle while at the same time wasting taxpayers' time and money.
In recent weeks, the so-called "sunshine act" was a bald-faced attack on the lone Democrat in statewide office, Attorney General Jim Hood. There is no "sunshine" whatsoever in the bill. Instead, barely heard above the bluster are accusations of Rep. Philip Gunn's apparent cronyism, shifting legal cases from the attorney general's office to private litigators. We have seen no evidence that such a shift will save taxpayer dollars or provide better service to state agencies.
Another bill that Republicans have seemingly snuck in under the nose of taxpayers is House Concurrent Resolution 33, which mandates that all spending bills must define where to reduce the state budget in another area to finance it. The same resolution adds that members can only amend bills while they are in committee, effectively neutering any legislator who could provide input once the bill is on the chamber floor. And who runs the committees? Republicans, of course. So while eliminating the need to actually hear opposing viewpoints on any piece of legislation, the party has relieved itself of the need to work to find funds in a stretched thin budget. You know, what taxpayers pay you to do.
And then there's the whole personhood debacle. Instead of listening to voters who soundly defeated the Personhood Initiative last year, Republican legislators have taken it upon themselves to correct what they see is an obvious flaw in their constituents' logic.
In their infinite paternal wisdom, no fewer then eight bills related to personhood or restricting abortion are on the lawmaker's docket, despite the fact that few actual laws passed will escape legal challenges for years to come.
Mississippi, it seems, has become a microcosm of the dysfunctional Congress in Washington, D.C., the one with possibly the lowest approval rating in Gallup's history. The only difference is that Congress still has some semblance of balance with a Democratic-led Senate.
The GOP in Mississippi is blinded by its own power. The party has not only forgotten who elected them and why, they have also collectively forgotten their Civics 101 lessons and the purpose of the two-party system. While far from perfect, our parties act as checks and balances for each other—or they should. Riding roughshod over your colleagues across the aisle is worse than simply being obstructionist; at least the latter leaves a little space for negotiation. The former is just bullying.
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