Consequences to Elections

A new wave of Republican legislators were voted into office in 2010. The gains in seats for the Republicans and the loses for the Democrats were seen as a message from the voters that they were tired of business as usual. But are the changes that were promised, really the changes that are now being offered? The following examples are representative of the direction conservative legislators are heading.

Montana legislator opposing stricter DUI laws

Rep. Alan Hale, R–Basin said drunken driving regulations hurt local businesses and are "destroying a way of life."

"These DUI laws are not doing our small businesses in our state any good at all. They are destroying them," he said in a speech on the state House floor. "They are destroying a way of life that has been in Montana for years and years."

Current Montana regulations establish a five-year "look-back period" for drunken driving offenses. The new bill, which passed the state House 88-12, extends the cutoff to 10 years, giving authorities a greater ability to crack down on repeat offenders.

Maine Republicans seek to rollback child labor laws

Republican lawmakers are pushing a bill through the Maine Legislature that would rollback child labor laws enacted by the state in 1991.

The bill, LD 1346, establishes a "training wage" for employees under 20 years of age at $5.25 per hour for their first 180 days of employment and increases the amount of hours minors can legally work. The proposed "training wage" is over two dollars less than the state's current minimum wage.

The bill also would eliminate the maximum hours a minor over 16 can work during school days and allow minors to work over 50 hours a week when school is not in session.

Another bill, LD 516, is headed to the Senate floor for a vote after being passed along party lines by a Senate committee, with Democrats voting against the measure. It would allow minors 16 years and older to work up to six hours a day and until 11pm on a school night.

Republicans currently control the state's House and Senate.

Republicans claim rolling back the child labor laws would give employees and employers greater flexibility and let students save more money for college. Democrats said they oppose the bills because it takes money away from young employees and could harm students education.

Modify Child Labor Laws in Missouri

Missouri Republican state Senator Jane Cunningham has proposed a bill that would "modify" child labor laws, eliminating the prohibition on employment of children under 14. Cunningham defends the bill, saying that it's important to cultivate a work ethic in young people and emphasizing that kids are still prohibited from working in dangerous professions.

Maine governor LePage orders labor mural removed

In the state's Department of Labor building, a 36-foot mural depicting the history of labor movements in Maine, was removed to send a "message" to business that Maine is not a labor-run state.

The mural, which depicts illustrations of union workers demonstrating in front of black-and-white images showing the state's labor history, was installed in 2008.

He's also ordered a number of the Department of Labor's conference room names changed, apparently because they are named after heroes to the labor movement, like Caesar Chavez and Frances Perkins, America's first female labor secretary.

“I’m trying to send a message to everyone in the state that the state of Maine looks at employees and employers equally, neutrally and on balance,” he reportedly said.

Montana Bill to outlaw science

State Rep. Joe Read (R-MT), a farmer and emergency firefighter who unseated a Democratic incumbent in the climate zombie wave of 2010, introduced HB 549 “to ensure economic development in Montana” claiming global warming is beneficial.

The legislature finds that to ensure economic development in Montana and the appropriate management of Montana’s natural resources it is necessary to adopt a public policy regarding global warming.

(2) The legislature finds:

(a) global warming is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana;

(b) reasonable amounts of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere have no verifiable impacts on the environment; and

(c) global warming is a natural occurrence and human activity has not accelerated it.

Repeal Driver's License in Georgia

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta has filed House Bill 7, calling it the "Right to Travel Act."In his bill, Franklin states, "Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

Criminalize miscarriages as well as abortions in Georgia

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta wants to criminalize not just abortions—but miscarriages as well. His 10-page bill would make any “prenatal murder” a felony punishable by death or life in prison—and that includes miscarriages, in the event the woman cannot prove that there was "no human involvement whatsoever in the causation" of her miscarriage. Holding women criminally liable for a totally natural, common biological process is cruel and non-sensical. Even more ridiculous, the bill holds women responsible for protecting their fetuses from "the moment of conception," despite the fact that pregnancy tests aren't accurate until at least 3 weeks after conception. Unless Franklin (who is not a health professional) invents a revolutionary intrauterine conception alarm system, it's unclear how exactly the state of Georgia would enforce that rule other than holding all possibly-pregnant women under lock and key.

Redefining a rape victim as an accuser in Georgia

State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta has decided that there is no such thing as a rape victim. He has introduced a bill “to be entitled” which states that the term “victim” should be changed to the term “accuser” in a number of "statutes making reference to circumstances where there has not yet been a criminal conviction." You can have burglary victims and assault victims but if he has his way, rape victims will become “accusers” because, you know, a man is innocent until he is proven guilty. At least where rape is concerned.

You can have burglary victims and assault victims but if he has his way, rape victims will become “accusers” because, you know, a man is innocent until he is proven guilty. At least where rape is concerned.

Bill would require all S.D. citizens to buy a gun

Five South Dakota lawmakers have introduced legislation, HR 1237, that would require any adult 21 or older to buy a firearm “sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense.”

Rep. Hal Wick (R-Sioux Falls), is sponsoring the bill and knows it will be killed. But he said he is introducing it to prove a point that the federal health care reform mandate passed last year is unconstitutional.

“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he said.

Armed Citizen Militias in Montana

Montana House Bill 278 would authorize creating armed citizen militias able to repel invaders, presumably war-like Canadians.

What is the message the Republicans are sending? With all of these far-right extreme legislative proposals, have the good people of these states begun to realize that there are real consequences to elections.

Forget the Middle...It Doesn't Exist!

As the Republicans move further to the Right...The Democrats need to move further to the Left!!!!

Who voted for and against the health care legislation that just passed the House of Representatives. The vote was 220 to 215 and only one Republican voted for the bill. There were 39 Democrats who voted against reform. That's right! There were 39 Democrats who voted against changing a system that doesn't cover most people but does support a for-profit system that is creating wealth for the insurance industry. So who are these 39 Democrats?

Of the 39 naysayers, 31 hail from districts won by John McCain in the presidential race. Only one progressive vote against the legislation: Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who continues to advocate for a single-payer health-care system. The New York Times has a nifty chart that ranks the members according to the margin of victory in their districts for either McCain or Obama in the 2008 presidential election. Here are the 39, listed in alphabetical order. (Links go to their official Web sites, where you can leave them a message.)

1. Adler, John (N.J.)
2. Altmire, Jason (Penn.)*
3. Baird, Brian (Wash.)
4. Barrow, John (Ga.)*
5. Boccieri, John (Ohio)
6. Boren, Dan (Okla.)*
7. Boucher, Rick (Va.)
8. Boyd, Allen (Fla.)
9. Bright, Bobby (Ala.)*
10. Chandler, Ben (Ky.)
11. Childers, Travis (Miss.)*
12. Davis, Artur (Ala.)*
13. Davis, Lincoln (Tenn.)*
14. Edwards, Chet (Tex.)
15. Gordon, Bart (Tenn.)
16. Griffith, Parker (Ala.)*
17. Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (S.D.)
18. Holden, Tim (Penn.)*
19. Kissell, Larry (N.C.)
20. Kosmas, Suzanne (Fla.)
21. Kratovil, Frank (Md.)*
22. Kucinich, Dennis (Ohio)
23. Markey, Betsy (Colo.)
24. Marshall, Jim (Ga.)*
25. Massa, Eric (N.Y.)
26. Matheson, Jim (Utah)*
27. McIntyre, Mike (N.C.)*
28. McMahon, Mike (N.Y.)*
29. Melancon, Charlie (La.)*
30. Minnick, Walt (Idaho)
31. Murphy, Scott (N.Y.)
32. Nye, Glenn (Va.)
33. Peterson, Collin (Minn.)*
34. Ross, Mike (Ark.)*
35. Shuler, Heath (N.C.)*
36. Skelton, Ike (Mo.)
37. Tanner, John (Tenn.)*
38. Taylor, Gene (Miss.)*
39. Teague, Harry (N.M.)

* Indicates those Democrats who are the anti-choice holdouts among Democrats. These anti-choice Dems were "threatening to oppose" the healthcare legislation "over the issue of abortion to create a question about its passage."

An example of voting the interests of the health care lobby and not the interests of their constituents is Mike Ross (D-AK).

Mike Ross, leader of the House Blue Dog Coalition, lobbed a "no" vote, after having held up legislation in committee before the summer recess. As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Ross was able to marshal the seven Blue Dog members of his committee to sow the seeds of opposition to the bill.

(As ProPublica reported, Ross not only enjoys the largess of mucho health sector dollars in the form of campaign contributions; he and his wife made a million-dollar killing in what appears to be a sweetheart deal with a large pharmacy chain. In Ross's congressional district, 22 percent of constituents report having no health insurance.)

A message to be sent to these Democrats, Blue Dog or not, is to vote them out of office while voting in a Progressive in their place.

Specter's Move/Not

Here is the buzz about Sen. Arlen Specter moving from the Republican side of the Senate over to the Democratic side. Some view it as a direct line to 60 votes, once Al Franken is confirmed in Minnesota. Some view it as an indicator of the problems confronting the GOP. There are some who don't see any change at all.

William Rivers Pitt says, "It just doesn't matter!"

"I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans," claimed Specter, but that's a lot of hooey; as a Republican, Specter consistently supported several of the most extreme right-wing pieces of legislation ever presented before the Senate.

"While the move would create what is likely to be the Senate's 60th Democratic vote, potentially enough to withstand Republican filibusters," reported The Boston Globe on Wednesday, "it would not necessarily change the chamber's legislative dynamics. Democratic successes at expanding their caucus have made it less unified ideologically, and Specter - one of only three Republicans in Congress to back Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus bill - said he expected to defy his new party as readily as he did his old one." Thus, the idea that Democrats have achieved some lofty threshold of power is almost entirely chimerical; Specter is no more likely to caucus with the Democrats just because he is one than he was likely to caucus with the GOP back when he had an "R" after his last name.

Senators Bayh, McCaskill, Nelson, Lieberman and now Specter represent a core problem within the ranks of the Democratic majority in the Senate. These individuals amount to a cadre of faux-"centrists" who have been, and likely will continue to be, the main line of resistance against Obama's legislative agenda and the improved welfare of the American people. They are the ones most empowered when everyone inaccurately believes the Democrats need 60 votes to pass anything. The annihilation of this fiction will go a long way toward removing these obstacles from the path of progress. Let them vote their consciences, if they have such a thing, without allowing them to hold the entire process hostage.

According to Glenn Greenwald, "The idea that Specter is a "liberal" Republican or even a "moderate" reflects how far to the Right both the GOP and our overall political spectrum has shifted."

Consider Specter’s most significant votes over the last eight years, ones cast in favor of such definitive right-wing measures as: the war on Iraq, the Military Commissions Act, Patriot Act renewal, confirmation of virtually every controversial Bush appointee, retroactive telecom immunity, warrantless eavesdropping expansions, and Bush tax cuts (several times). Time and again during the Bush era, Specter stood with Republicans on the most controversial and consequential issues. [...]

Why would Democrats want a full-blooded Republican representing them in the blue state of Pennsylvania? Specter is highly likely to reprise the Joe Lieberman role for Democrats: a “Democrat” who leads the way in criticizing and blocking Democratic initiatives, forcing the party still further towards Republican policies. [...]

In his Press Conference, Specter just reiterated that he opposes the nomination of one of Obama's few truly excellent nominees: Dawn Johnsen as OLC Chief. What a great Democrat Specter will be. Specter also just detailed how key Democratic officials promised to support him and raise money for him in the 2010 election if he switched, so now Democrats -- Harry Reid and the rest -- are committed to keeping him in power for another 8 years, committed to keeping the Pennsylvania Senate seat in the hands of Arlen Specter.

Specter has always been a sheep in wolves clothing. What's new?