A Predictable Train Wreck
April 25, 2011 - by
Jack Betts writes that Republicans in the legislature are about to “blow it.”Mark Binker writes that – despite promises of bipartisan cooperation – “the state’s chief executive and top lawmakers are at loggerheads.”
Is anybody surprised?
Of course they had to promise to get along. No politician wants to be the first to speak the truth: “We’re going to do everything we can to screw those guys.”
Of course it’s harder for Republicans to govern as the majority than it was to campaign as the minority. So it ever is.
And of course the legislature is going to do dumb things. Don’t they always?
Welcome to divided government. Welcome to the train wreck that has been coming since Governor Hunt and then-majority House Republicans teamed up back in 1996 and let the people vote on whether the governor should have the veto.
We’ve had Republican governors and Democratic legislatures before. But Governor Perdue is the first governor who’s faced a legislature controlled by the other party AND is armed with veto power. She may be liking it. Every time she pulls out the veto stamp, her approval ratings go up.
So you can probably count on her vetoing whatever budget finally emerges from the legislature. Which could mean weeks of gridlock.
Who loses then? Probably the legislature. It has 170 people doing dumb things; the Governor and her staff are outnumbered, no matter how hard they try.
Plus, the longer Democrats delay a final budget, the longer they delay redistricting. Maybe past the 2012 elections.
A Predictable Train Wreck
April 25, 2011/
Jack Betts writes that Republicans in the legislature are about to “blow it.”Mark Binker writes that – despite promises of bipartisan cooperation – “the state’s chief executive and top lawmakers are at loggerheads.”
Is anybody surprised?
Of course they had to promise to get along. No politician wants to be the first to speak the truth: “We’re going to do everything we can to screw those guys.”
Of course it’s harder for Republicans to govern as the majority than it was to campaign as the minority. So it ever is.
And of course the legislature is going to do dumb things. Don’t they always?
Welcome to divided government. Welcome to the train wreck that has been coming since Governor Hunt and then-majority House Republicans teamed up back in 1996 and let the people vote on whether the governor should have the veto.
We’ve had Republican governors and Democratic legislatures before. But Governor Perdue is the first governor who’s faced a legislature controlled by the other party AND is armed with veto power. She may be liking it. Every time she pulls out the veto stamp, her approval ratings go up.
So you can probably count on her vetoing whatever budget finally emerges from the legislature. Which could mean weeks of gridlock.
Who loses then? Probably the legislature. It has 170 people doing dumb things; the Governor and her staff are outnumbered, no matter how hard they try.
Plus, the longer Democrats delay a final budget, the longer they delay redistricting. Maybe past the 2012 elections.