« A good American always fears | Main | Give Skippy some PK love »

July 22, 2005

The seat of power needs a good smack

Updating yesterday's story on Oregon House Speaker Karen Minnis' gutting of the civil union's bill, it's my understanding that there aren't a great array of options given the abbreviated time frame.

Minnis' excuse for her quite obviously hardball rightwing stance on the bill is she thinks it's too much like marriage.

Karen Minnis can't be a stupid woman. Even with the sorry state of the Oregon Republican Party, one would think some brains would be required to be the political leader of the Oregon House. But she's going to have to come up with a better excuse than "it's too much like marriage". Oregon's Legislative Counsel (corrected from "council"..thanks TJ, my bad) Committee has already determined that the civil unions bill is within the Oregon Constitution that includes a ban on gay marriage.

The problem isn't really that Minnis thinks civil unions are too much like marriage. The problem is that Minnis is hungering for higher office. Achieving higher office in Oregon requires getting through a primary. Republican primaries have lately been won by ultra conservatives...who find themselves on the losing end of a moderate to liberal Democrat.

The moral to this story? Don't rely on Karen Minnis if you're looking for good public policy in the State of Oregon. However if you're looking for an individual willing to sell Oregonians down the river in an attempt to get to a higher office, Minnis is your girl.

What's left for supporters to do? A couple of things that don't look especially promising.

The bill currently sits in the Budget Committee, where it can't be amended. Minnis' lackey Wayne Scott runs the Budget Committee. He'll probably keep it there and not let it out. It can be voted from the House Floor out of committee and to the Floor for a direct vote. But this would require at least 4 GOPers to buck Minnis. Not likely.

If it passes the House it would go to the Senate. The Senate votes to concur or not. If they don't, the bill goes to Conference Cmte where 3 House members and 3 Senate members meet to try to make the bill palatable to both sides. Chances are Minnis' lackeys in Conference Cmte would force the bill to die there as well..because they will force an impasse.

It doesn't look good.

This is why the Oregon Republican Party will continue to fail. Individuals like Karen Minnis put their own personal power and gain above the wants and needs of the citizens of Oregon. In the short term this move probably gains her a shot at the Republican Primary, only to lose to an uber conservative who will then lose to a Democrat.

In the meantime, it's Oregonians who really lose.
NWPT58

Posted by Carla at July 22, 2005 11:04 AM