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
I'm an Independent Kentuckian and I agree that an attitude and conniving to fix a result is underhanded, unprofessional, an ethical offense no matter what the issue may be.
ReplyDeleteYou are playing games with the lives of others to obviously benefit yourself in some way otherwise you wouldn't have sought another committee.
These kind of politicians are the reason the United States is irrelevant in the eyes of the world. You have to run to the world buying power and respect because America has lost face and the respect of the world since the 1990's.
We need leaders who stand for something other than what a lawyer or guy with a big bank account tells them. We need leaders who put their constituents before their campaign fund raising. We need leaders who are guided by a moral compass who do what is for the good of mankind and not a compass that leads them to the next campaign contribution or a position as a lobbyist etc.
This is supposed to be a position of public service, not self service.
Our legislators have given Hoosier constituents so many reasons to leave this state: We support the NRA and Gun Lobby. We ram through legislation that restricts voter rights,women's rights and equal rights. Although we get an "A" for school choices and parent power, we also receive a "C-" for teacher quality and preparedness. And in a recent national survey, Forbes Magazine ranked Indiana as the 3rd state most residents want to LEAVE. Remind me again... Why do we live here?
ReplyDelete