In an unusual story from the USA this week, a bunch of eleven Republican state senators, from from the state of Oregon, are on the run from the state capitol Salem and the police ...
.... well deliberate hiding, is probably the more accurate description. Democratic Governor Kate Brown has authorised the states police to try to locate them.
Of course this being the US, and these being Republicans, the reasons for this state of affairs is rather grubby. The Democratic controlled state want to pass a piece of landmark climate change legislation and become only the second US state to pass an ambitious "cap and trade" climate plan. This "cap and trade" sets overall limits on state carbon emissions, with permits or allowances auctioned off to polluting industries. The aim of the House Bill 2020 bill is to encourage state businesses to switch to green technology, with the aim of cutting carbon emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
However as usual the catch is in the details, this measure is predicted to likely cause the price of petrol and diesel prices to go up and this, the errant Republicans claim will economically impact rural Oregonians, like farm workers and loggers disproportionally.
So why the runaway? Well its all down to numbers. Democrats hold 18 of the 30 seats in the state senate, but 20 senators have to be present for a vote to take place as that's the quorate number. The bill can't be passed unless at least two of the eleven runaways are present. So the bill is blocked. The Republicans are saying that it should be a peoples referendum, which sounds fair enough, but of course we don't have day to day politics run by referendums, which is why we have elected councils, parliaments, senates and congresses etc. The Democrats ran and won the state on this policy.
The Republicans are therefore being anti-democratic and are effectively are saying that "Nobody can vote in the state senate, because we won't win!" ... This is not first time these senatorial blackmailers have walked out - they did so a month ago, and winning concessions on gun and vaccination laws. Of course both Democrats and Republicans have employed the same tactics elsewhere .... including by Wisconsin Democrats in 2011.
One of the eleven senators, Brian Boquist, has responded angrily to the police search. Speaking to the media, he said police should "send bachelors and come heavily armed" if they were to try to arrest him. "I'm not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It's just that simple." He intends to use a gun to resist ..... Online comments by members of local militia groups also pledged to provide armed security and escorts to the Republicans, US media report.
In the meantime the eleven are rumoured to have fled into neighbouring Idaho - where police are not authorised to look for them - until the current legislative session ends on the 30th June and the bill will fail.
Only in America ....
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| The Oregon Eleven Have Supporters |
.... well deliberate hiding, is probably the more accurate description. Democratic Governor Kate Brown has authorised the states police to try to locate them.
Of course this being the US, and these being Republicans, the reasons for this state of affairs is rather grubby. The Democratic controlled state want to pass a piece of landmark climate change legislation and become only the second US state to pass an ambitious "cap and trade" climate plan. This "cap and trade" sets overall limits on state carbon emissions, with permits or allowances auctioned off to polluting industries. The aim of the House Bill 2020 bill is to encourage state businesses to switch to green technology, with the aim of cutting carbon emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
However as usual the catch is in the details, this measure is predicted to likely cause the price of petrol and diesel prices to go up and this, the errant Republicans claim will economically impact rural Oregonians, like farm workers and loggers disproportionally.
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| Oregon Eleven Are Wanted By State Police ... |
So why the runaway? Well its all down to numbers. Democrats hold 18 of the 30 seats in the state senate, but 20 senators have to be present for a vote to take place as that's the quorate number. The bill can't be passed unless at least two of the eleven runaways are present. So the bill is blocked. The Republicans are saying that it should be a peoples referendum, which sounds fair enough, but of course we don't have day to day politics run by referendums, which is why we have elected councils, parliaments, senates and congresses etc. The Democrats ran and won the state on this policy.
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| The Oregon Eleven Ironically Justify Themselves As Democrats ... |
The Republicans are therefore being anti-democratic and are effectively are saying that "Nobody can vote in the state senate, because we won't win!" ... This is not first time these senatorial blackmailers have walked out - they did so a month ago, and winning concessions on gun and vaccination laws. Of course both Democrats and Republicans have employed the same tactics elsewhere .... including by Wisconsin Democrats in 2011.
One of the eleven senators, Brian Boquist, has responded angrily to the police search. Speaking to the media, he said police should "send bachelors and come heavily armed" if they were to try to arrest him. "I'm not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It's just that simple." He intends to use a gun to resist ..... Online comments by members of local militia groups also pledged to provide armed security and escorts to the Republicans, US media report.
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| Many Consider The Oregon Eleven To Be Climate Change Deniers |
In the meantime the eleven are rumoured to have fled into neighbouring Idaho - where police are not authorised to look for them - until the current legislative session ends on the 30th June and the bill will fail.
Only in America ....
Typical Republicans. They're Capitalists who have their hands in the pockets of the State and "For the People" until it doesn't suit them anymore. They are personified by their current figurehead; ignorant, dishonest, self promoting heirs of America's wealth with no understanding of what that means.
ReplyDeleteEntitled, I missed that out of the description; ignorant, dishonest, entitled self promoting heirs of America's wealth...
DeleteYou'll enjoy next weeks lead post Vroomfondel. Thanks for the comment as usual.
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