Redstate

By GoldwaterRepublican Posted in User Blogs — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The full link to the story I am about to describe is here: http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=25136

That story does a much better job of explaining what happened and trust me it is worth the read, as it will bring a smile to your face. However, for those who want the condensed version, I will do my best below the fold.I am not even quite sure how to describe this story. It seems that Democrats in Ohio do not care if the citizens of the state know they are hypocrites. In 2004 and 2005, Democrats in the state lead an effort to change how the state draws it congressional district. Currently, elected officials draw the districts and Democrats, since they hold no elected statewide office, wanted to change away from this system to an appointed bipartisan committee.

This year, it was Republicans who took up the cause of changing the way districts are drawn in Ohio. They submitted a bill that would change away from the old system and towards a bipartisan apportianment board. They expected the resolution to be sponsored by the Democrats, since it was Democrats who had sponsored similar bills in the past. However, Democrats, since they are expecting to win statewide offices this year, declined to sponsor the bill this time around. Why after all stand on principles, when you think you are about to regain power?

Republicans could have let the issue drop. Instead, Speaker John Husted kept his word from 2004, when he said he would take up this cause. In doing so, he showed some political savvy and exposed the Democrats in Ohio for what they are, hypocrites. As expected, Democrats voted against the Republican plan---HJR 13. It was then that real fun started for the Republicans.

According to "The Other Paper," after the Democrats voted against the Republican plan for reapportionment, Speaker Husted forced the Democrats to vote against their own plan---HJR 6---by setting:

["in motion a procedural trick play that should be in future political textbooks. Husted called on state Rep. Chuck Blasdel, the president pro tem, who asked that the vote be reconsidered. Under House rules, the vote could be reconsidered if five representatives who had voted with the winning side voted to reconsider.

As it turned out, five members of the House leadership team had waited until the last minute and then voted with the Democrats to kill their own resolution.

That gave them the power to call for another vote. DeWine then dropped the other shoe, offering to throw out his entire resolution and replace it with HJR 6 -- the Democrats' proposal.

"Being that we are committed to the issue of redistricting reform, we certainly can't think of a better way to try to show that than to adopt a resolution that has the full support of the 39 members of the minority caucus," DeWine said.

The representatives on the Democratic side of the aisle looked like somebody had hit them with a shovel. They started murmuring among themselves and shouting objections at the speaker. Democratic Rep. Michael Skindell even made a desperate attempt to escape the scene altogether by motioning to adjourn. But Husted and the Republicans shot down that motion and quickly called the roll.

Still, there was a reasonable exit strategy for the Democrats. Minority Leader Joyce Beatty could have countered the Republicans' move and ordered her troops to vote "yes." Then they could have declared victory, saying they'd forced the Republicans to adopt their proposal.

But the Democrats could not think on their feet, and every one of them -- again, except for Allen -- cast a ridiculous vote against a resolution they themselves had cosponsored."]

Let me reiterate this point; the Democrats voted against their own plan. Democrats in Ohio voted against a bill that had their full support. They voted against a resolution that 38 out of 39 of them had sponsored or cosponsored in 2004/2005. "The Other Paper" hits the nail on the head when it writes, "Voted against their own bill is one of those phrases that doesn't get any less funny with repetition. Sort of like "woke up in a pool of his own vomit" or "shot a 78-year-old man in the face." You can expect to hear it a lot from now until the next election."

The only thing funnier than them voting against their bill was them trying to explain why they did it. According to "The Other Paper," "The low point came when Driehaus explained that the resolution he fathered was no longer worthy of his vote."There are several shortcomings in that proposal as I see it today," he said. "I've learned a lot about redistricting since the time I introduced that proposal."

This is why Democrats in the state of Ohio will never win. They are too inept to be in the minority, let alone govern. I cannot wait until the campaign ads this fall regarding this vote, they should be fun.