Where's Bob Going With That Ax?

Bob Bernick maintains that Democrats cannot be effective legislators. Yet, his report card on legislative effectiveness always has some Democrats at the top of the list. So, which is it?

An aside here: in my favorite pig story, the newspaper holds wormy leftovers and the web changes the world.

Partisanship and Participation

I tire of reading editorials that Democrats are not “allowed” to participate in legislative decisions. Of course, such editorials are intended to bolster the theme that Republicans are bad. But, at its core, such whining merely demeans Democrat legislators.

In the House, there are 75 representatives; any 38 of them can pass out a bill. In the Senate, there are 29 senators; any 15 of them can pass out a bill. Elections and the Constitution of Utah give each legislator all the permission he/she needs to participate. To argue that a Democrat legislator is incapable of getting anything done, other than as a product of Republican magnanimity, is false. Any legislator, Democrat or Republican, simply needs to work with others and build coalitions. I don't recall Rep. Brad King ever begging for anyone’s permission to participate. I see him and other effective legislators jumping in and doing what it takes to get things done.

Any legislator, Democrat or Republican, who thinks success should be delivered up just because he/she is louder, purer, smarter, entitled, or sympathetic, is going to waste a lot of time pouting – while more effective legislators will be out working to build coalitions.

The whining must sell newspapers, but it is dumb and it really dumbs down the dialogue, doing the public a disservice.