Thompson and House Republicans Derailing Health Reform in WV

BadChi (4.00 / 1)

I'm not getting all the Rick Thompson anger. I think he gets blamed for things that conservative Dems and Reps are to blame for and some of the things pulled are probably to keep bad amendments from being added.

Let's face it, in those positions the most effective work is often behind the scenes where success cannot be celebrated.

Nancy Pelosi often got blamed for things too, but in hindsight she was the most effective speaker in a long time.

There may be times when poison pill amendments are attached to bills where we like the original legislation and the only way to protect positions we hold is for the bills to be pulled or killed quietly behind the scenes. I'm not saying that's what happened here because I don't know, but I know that has happened before. That's not the kind of thing a speaker can take credit for and remain effective, but unfortunately does get blamed when the motive is not obvious.

When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 13:43:44 PM UTC

Rick Thompson (0.00 / 0)

sure let's cut him a break since he's done so well with Marcellus Shale regulation. Actually the entire House "leadership" is an embarrassment to those of us who call ourselves Democrats. It isn't just what they haven't acted on, its the things that they have wasted time on such as the irrelevant and meaningless texting legislation. But hey, who's at fault here, we keep nominating them and electing them.

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by: DB @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 13:52:21 PM UTC

DB (0.00 / 0)

Out here in the EP, we nominated some great Democrats for state delegate slots and County Council, but we weren't able to elect them even over the chickenhawk douche Jonathan Miller.

When a man embarks upon a crime, he is morally guilty of any other crime which may spring from it. Sherlock Holmes.

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by: Carnacki @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 14:59:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

misleading headline? (4.00 / 2)

Even if I take everything said in this diary literally, Thompson plus House Republicans isn't enough to keep anything from happening in the House of Delegates (HOD). There is at least a +2 majority of Democrats in every committee, right?

I don't know what I think about Thompson as a candidate for Gov. -- I've heard such different things, I have a hard time getting a read on him. There must be something good about him, or you wouldn't have been liking him to begin with BadChiWV?

But, the main point here is, if we're going to be reality based about what happens in the HOD, we should call out whomever the most conservative Democrats are who are also to blame.

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by: Clem Guttata @ Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 14:34:47 PM UTC

Thompson is the Speaker (4.00 / 1)

There is a 2-1 count in Democrats to Republicans in the House.  The Senate, known to be much more conservative than the House in WV, passed out health reform measures with all Democratic votes in tact.  A leader, be it a Senate Prez or a Speaker, has to be able to use carrots and sticks to get his members to vote on big issues.  If Thompson can't do that it is one thing- if he refuses to even try, which is what I am hearing from people I know that work the Session, because he does not want to be on record for controversial votes, that is another thing entirely.

Do you not agree?

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by: BadChiWV @ Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 02:22:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

to your question (0.00 / 0)

I liked Thompson cause I thought he was a good labor guy.  Someone that would push Democratic issues more than the former Speaker, Bob Kiss, cared to do.  Apparently I was wrong.

The Speaker and Senate President appoint these chairs and have their chairs kill legislation or at the very least don't tell them to take it up.  If health reform fails then Ill blame the Speaker and if it gets through then I will apologize for this post.

What conservative House Dems would you specifically have in mind?

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by: BadChiWV @ Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 02:42:52 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Not the only thing he derailed this session (0.00 / 0)

Thompson had an excellent opportunity to promote a bill which would have reduced the requirement of votes for municipal and county levies from 60% currently required for all levies except school levies, to 50%, a simple majority.  The concept of the resolution was that a majority of people were voting for a majority of levies but the much needed levies were not getting passed because the levies were not getting the requisite 60%.  This means that many road levies and police and fire levies that were much needed in communities were not being passed.  

A resolution was introduced and passed unanimously in the Senate.  In the house, the resolution had the support of all Democrat members and 7 Republican members but Thompson refused to put it on the agenda for floor debate for fearing Republicans would attack him for raising taxes (ie. letting his gubernatorial ambitions get in the way of good legislation).  This seems to be a trend from him this session.

For the text of the legislation:  http://www.legis.state.wv.us/B...

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by: alanshore @ Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 14:34:14 PM UTC