Another problem in Annapolis is that every single Committee is chaired and vice Chaired by a member of the majority party. As far as I know this also is the same with every subcommittee. I believe I was the only subcommittee vice Chair, serving the last year as the vice Chair of the Juvenile Law subcommittee. Other than that there were, and now are, no members of the minority party in any leadership positions. It certainly would seem that the minority party ought to have a percentage of the Committee leadership positions depending on their percentage within the legislature. If we make up 20% of the membership then 20% of the Committee Chairmanships or vice Chairmanships should go to the minority party. I understand that the Majority party is not likely to give up its strangle hold on total authoritarian rule but there are ways to accomplish this goal, but they require that Republican leadership make bold moves and think outside the box. One such simple solution is that the minority party offers up its 40 some odd votes (depending on the outcome of the elections in Nov) to the black caucus so they can put in the first African American Speaker. The reality of the situation is that there is no ranking member of the Black Caucus willing to risk their Chairmanship because of the punishment that would follow. If you are going to kill the King you better kill the King! A few years ago Tony ODonnell attempted a coup and the speaker moved the minority leaders desk from in front to way off to the side and back several rows. Tony knew there would be a punishment but he knew the right thing to do was to try. He took his punishment like a man. The reality is that the Majority leadership will hear from a defector in the black caucus and move to stop the coup. Republican leadership can negotiate with the Majority leader ship for a percentage of the Chairmanships in exchange for backing the Majority leadership. The probability is that any such coup and any agreement will fail. The point is the Republican leadership needs to continually be bringing up and fighting against the unfairness of the current system which perpetuates the tyranny of the majority. It is currently so bad that there is a game played in the legislature, which all those who listen at home can join in and play, which is to count how many times the Republican minority leader apologizes and praises the Majority leadership before arguing the point he rose to address. Respect and decorum are expected but the constant genuflecting before the Majority leadership hardly lends confidence to the rest of the minority party to stand in passionate opposition. I mention these problems now to Republicans across the State so you can address these concerns with the incumbents and those running for office for the first time to see what promises you can elicit from them to be bold and innovative and then we can see just how long they keep those promises.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 13:50:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015