Government runs so much smoother under one party rule.
None of those messy legislative gridlocks or government shutdown threats are seen or heard. In Cuba and Venezuela the legislative body is like a factory — orders come in one end and laws come out the other.
Believe it or now we have the same situation in California and we have the government results to prove it.
Now to be fair, there is one difference. In Cuba or Venezuela the opposition, when it has the courage to raise its head, is intimidated, arrested or otherwise cowed into silence.
In California when a Republican tries to make a difference, he finds his issue hijacked just like a tanker sailing by Somalia.
But this time the pirates are the Democrats leading the California House and Senate.
Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee has come up with a number of instances of piracy on the legislative seas and it makes for interesting reading.
A year ago Assemblyman Eric Linder R–Corona introduced and passed a resolution paying tribute to Independence Day. This is one of the things about Republicans that Democrats find annoying: The GOP is always doing hokey things like honoring the founding fathers and waving Old Glory.
This year the bill was hijacked by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk–Silva D–Fullerton who reintroduced the exact same bill with only two changes.
The bill number was changed and Linder was given no credit.
Walters also brings up the case of Assemblyman Jeff Gorell R–Camarillo who “last year ... introduced a bill for money to repair beaches in Port Hueneme. It made it through the Assembly, but Senate leaders blocked it, and Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson D–Santa Barbara carried a similar measure to enactment.”
Another Democrat member of this pirate crew had the gall to take a bill introduced by a veteran to help other veterans and made it his own. Assemblyman Steve Fox D–Palmdale, a veteran of political infighting, took retired Marine Assemblyman Rocky Chavez’s R–Oceanside bill to help returning veterans make the adjustment to civilian life.
The one thing all these high–handed acts had in common was the good idea from a Republican was seized and given to a vulnerable Democrat the leaders didn’t want defeated by another Republican in their home district.
Unfortunately, in this instance repeated instance of legislative piracy there is no Captain Phillips or SEAL rescue team.
Just business as usual in one party California.
Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan. He is president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation and chairman of the League of American Voters. Mike is an in-demand speaker with Premiere. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.