Bosma Uses Fuzzy Math to Blame HJR-3 Committee Shift on Another Representative

Photo from
journalgazette.net

Speaker Bosma apparently doesn't realize how the process of counting works.

We all know what shenanigans he pulled in switching up committees on HJR-3 so that he could get it through committee, even though the original committee he assigned it do didn't have enough votes.  Those shenanigans were all the doings of Bosma.  Sure, there might have been some behind the scenes influence that encouraged him down that path.  When it came down to actually making the committee move, though...yep...that was all Bosma.

And you are going to LOVE how he chose to pass the blame.

It's Not MY Fault...It's HIS fault!!!

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette reported late Friday that the Speaker had been busy pointing fingers at another representative as the cause of him being "forced" to change HJR-3's committee assignment.  According to them, Bosma placed the blame on Representative Dan Leonard, another Republican out of Huntington.

Check out this asinine quote they got from the Speaker:

My goal has from the start been to have this come to the floor because as I've said I don't think one person should be making this decision on behalf of all 100 members and that's what we were down to in the Judiciary committee.  One person making the decision and taking away the opportunity for every member here to cast their vote, whether it's yes or no.

You see, Leonard refused to come out and say how he was going to vote on the measure.  Somehow, in Bosma's world of fuzzy math, that means that Leonard was the sole vote on the topic.

You get that?  Bosma said one person shouldn't be making the decision for the entire House.  Leonard was a swing vote, and he hadn't announced his voting intentions.  So Bosma relates that to him being the sole decision maker for the entire Legislature.

Ummmm...that only works if Leonard is a committee of ONE, Mr. Speaker.  The fact you're ignoring is that if he would have voted against the bill, he would have been only one of SEVEN votes against it.  He would hardly be making the decision on his own. Yet, somehow, in Speaker Bosma's little land of make-believe, just because you don't announce your vote somehow makes you the only vote being cast.

The reality is, and we all know it, that Bosma refused to let this bill die as it could have in that committee.  So the Speaker, of his own free will and accord, moved the bill to a committee that he knew it would sail through.

Do you REALLY think we don't know what you did, Mr. Speaker?  Do you REALLY think that we believe that you thought one man was making the decision for everybody?  Guess what?  We don't buy it.

You the Speaker of the House, for cryin' out loud.  Have some accountability.  When you make the call, take the blame for making the call.  Don't try to say this was because of someone else.  You've found a way to make your pathetic move even more shameful.   And that was a hard hurdle to jump.




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Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support, Court Says

An Open Letter to Brian Bosma, cc: The Indiana Republican Establishment

Sperm Donor Must Pay Child Support, Court Says

In an insane example of government gone wrong, a court has ruled that a sperm donor must pay child support for the for the girl born out of his kindness.

CNN, along with numerous other sources, is reporting that William Marotta has been ordered by a Kansas judge to pay child support after supplying a sperm donation to a lesbian couple seeking to have a child.  Marotta signed away parental rights, and the women were happy to be able to have a child to call their own.

That is, until the couple split up.  Then all the loopholes start popping up.  You see, the couples did not use a physician to perform the insemination.   (How's that work?  Turkey baster?)  That step, which according to Kansas law is not only in place for the purposes of testing for STDs and genetic disorders, but also as evidence that the donor was, in fact, a donor, and not the mother's lover.

Apparently after they split, one of the women somehow became disabled or otherwise unable to work, and applied for aid from the state.  As part of the state's research, they learned that Marotta was the biological father of the child and in turn demand he cough up support money.

Despite the fact the Marotta had no idea that the women were not going to use the services of a physician for the insemination, all documents related to the insemination are considered null and void.  This includes, according to the court, the paper Marotta signed waiving any parental rights and stating he would assume no financial liability for the child.

Marotta told the media that all he did was donate genetic material, nothing more.  He has only met the child, now 4, once.  That meeting was merely in passing as they happened to be in the same place at the same time.

Letter vs. Intent of the Law

I'm pretty sure this judge got it wrong.  Admittedly, I don't know the Kansas laws being used.  But I do know that part of the job of a judge is to interpret the law, especially as to how it may apply to unprecedented cases.  There's no part of me that can believe the law regarding physician involvement in insemination was ever supposed to be interpreted like this.

I think the intent of the participants was clear...the lesbian couple wanted a sperm donor so that they could have a child all their own.  William Marotta only wanted to be a nice guy and help a couple have a baby because they were unable to do so on their own.

I also think the intent of the law, as I've heard it discussed in the media, was clear.  Physician involvement was required for the purposes of genetic testing, sexually transmitted disease testing, and to provide evidence that the donor was in fact a donor and not a lover.

Between the documentation signed by all parties and the testimony they provided, I'm more than positive that such evidence was provided.  So why were the courts so strict on their interpretation of the law?

Is This Whole Thing About Gay Rights?

That's right, boys and girls, boys and boys, girls and girls.  There's a lot of people saying that this whole thing is happening to prove a point

about gay rights in Kansas.  You see, Kansas doesn't allow gay marriage and also doesn't have many laws that are tolerant of homosexual rights.  Since this story involves a gay couple that went out on their own and decided to have a child in a way that circumvented standard protocol (read: being straight), then maybe the powers that be in Kansas want to make a point that such things will not be allowed.

Yep, this whole crazy insane ruling might boil down to the fact that this judge, and who knows who else in Kansas, wanted to be clear that anything beneficial to the gay community will not be allowed in their state.  To hell with personal privacy.  To hell with the validity of contracts signed by people of sound mind and body. If a gay person may benefit, throw it all in the trash.

I'm not as quick as many to write this off as some anti-gay statement.  I acknowledge it's a possibility, but it seems a stretch to make it as an absolute determination at this time.

I don't hesitate, though, to say that the courts got it wrong.  All this guy wanted to do was help.  All these women wanted was a child to say was their own.  To pervert their intentions into some financial liability for Mr. Marotta is sickening.  

Marotta is quoted as saying, "I'm not her parent."  No, you're not, sir.  And it's horrible of the court to suggest so.

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An Open Letter to Brian Bosma, CC: The Indiana Republican Establishment

An Open Letter to Brian Bosma, CC: The Indiana Republican Establishment

Speaker Bosma -

I hope you are proud of yourself.  Actually, I am quite sure that my hope is unnecessary....I BET you're proud of yourself.  I bet you are gloating to your fellow GOP buddies about you really pulled a good one off.  And to some degree, I guess you did.

But allow me, for a moment, to be frank with you about what you are doing, and what will end up happening because of it.

I understand and accept in your position that when HJR-3 was introduced, it was your duty and responsibility to assign it to committee.   That's your job.  And you did it.

But when you realized that the committee that you assigned it to wasn't going to get the bill through, you had another duty and responsibility: let the committee continue with its assigned duty and allow it to die.  You sent it to the committee, you should accept the outcome from that committee as you would with any other law.

Instead, though, you did something horrible and despicable.  You realized your precious anti-gay amendment was doomed, so you did something unprecedented and yanked it from that committee and had it reassigned to another.  And you chose one not only heavy with Republicans, but Republicans you knew would fall in line and vote as you ordered them to.

And the committee did exactly as you wished.  With barely more than 24 hours notice, they arranged a hearing, heard some testimony, and called a vote before anyone could even review the testimony.  And, just as you anticipated (or demanded), the vote came down right along party lines.  Your Republicans won the vote 9-3.  Now, the bill is off to the full house for them to vote on.

So here's what you've done:  first, you've prolonged the inevitable.  This bill is doomed.  It has little to no chance of clearing the House, and even if it does it is nearly guaranteed to die at the hands of voters.

Second, you are making Indiana a laughing stock.  Across our nation stories are being published reporting on what you are doing.  And they aren't positive ones.  In fact, they are telling tales of what backward, extremist bigots we Hoosiers are.  And I don't like that, because you don't represent us well.

Third, you are destroying the Republican Party.  I'm not a Republican, so I'm not personally hurt by this.  But you ARE a Republican.  And it's YOUR party...you're one of their highest leaders.  And the people of this state, and our country, are looking at the moves you and those like you are making and are abandoning your party at an alarming rate.  The Republican Party is dying, and you are one of the causes.

Fourth, you are driving residents away from the State of Indiana.  You are driving current residents out, and you are driving potential residents to other states.  Good people.  Smart people.  Entrepreneurs.  Business leaders.  White collar and blue collar alike.

History is watching you, Speaker Bosma.  Your legacy is now tainted forever.  Whether or not you are successful, which you will not be, you will be a name that goes down in history as one of the most disgusting and vile people in Indiana history.  In a few generations, your name and the names of those like you will fill textbooks, and those reading them will find you despicable and wonder how a society ever would have elected someone like you to lead us.

It's probably too late to stop history from frowning upon you, Mr. Speaker.  But it's not too late to end this before it goes any further.  Let this bill die.  Don't continue to let this path of yours tarnish the name of our great state or its citizens.


Sincerely,


Josh Featherstone