If the writers at Politico ever lose their day jobs they can probably get work in a pretzel factory. They are exceptionally skilled at twisting, turning, and inverting. In this case it’s the truth, but I bet it would work just as well on pretzel dough.
In his article Partisan fracas at state lawmakers summit, Michael Falcone manages to turn some petulant Republican whines into sour grapes (or is that sour grapes into whine?) into a story about Democratic bullies beating up on goodhearted Republicans.
Falcone quotes North Dakota State Senator Judy Lee as saying, “The purpose of the National Conference of State Legislatures has always been to have a healthy discussion and be able to come up with something that the majority can live with.”
Of course, “policies only pass if they are backed by at least three-quarters of the 52 states and territories that sent representatives to the conference, Republicans said they were stymied by Democrats who outnumbered them by a more than two-to-one margin, according to an unofficial tally.”
And, “The health care reform resolution won approval by a 38 to 11 vote, with three states abstaining because their members were evenly split.”
The only “fracas” here is that Republicans can’t abide to be in the minority, and if they can’t have their way, are going to act like petulant children and go home and sulk.
Poll after poll shows that an overwhelming majority of American citizens want a public option.
To debate, and then go with super-majority vote, is not a fracas. And, while it may be partisan, the partisanship loses some of its sting when it’s a super-majority. If the Republicans really believed strongly in the principles of embracing minority views, they would support the Fairness Doctrine.
