Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Skin in the Game: Legislators might be less willing to pursue unconstitutional bills if they had to pay court costs themselves
Posted by Richard Drake on Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Despite the warnings of those who actually pay attention to such things, the Men with Bad Haircuts in the Arkansas legislature have overridden Governor Beebe’s veto on their abortion bills, and are willing to fight the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary . . .
. . . with taxpayer money.
Not their own, of course, other than the taxes they already pay.
Perhaps I watch way too much television (sometimes I think I do, and sometimes I think I don’t) but like many of you, I have seen the classic scenes in a civil case where the loser must pay court costs and sometimes the attorney fees of the winner of the case.
I have been thinking about these scenes of late when I read of the antics of Jason Rapert and Friends, who can’t quite seem to put the words “Constitution” and “unconstitutional” in the same paragraph without getting the vapors.
If Arkansas is intent on defending in court bills which its supporters have been clearly warned may be unconstitutional, why should you or I foot the cost? Or any taxpayer in the great state of Arkansas, really?
If Comrade Rapert and his ilk feel so strongly about this bill, let them pull out their credit cards. Maybe they could ask for donations to help push the case through the courts.
Maybe even have a few bake sales?
But don’t screw over the people of Arkansas on your Quixotic (I sort of hate to use that word, because Don Quixote would fight against such bullies, I suspect) quest to prove your point that in Arkansas, logic is an illegal immigrant.
And hey, if you win, you can be reimbursed - assuming, of course that you haven’t bankrupted the state on other mad schemes.
******
Wow! Black Smoke coming from the Vatican! Yawn . . .
Breathless news folks broke into programming yesterday to let us know that black smoke (and not the cool black smoke from Lost - imagine the terror that would have inspired) was coming from the Vatican chimney.
Yes, because none of us have ever sat through this before, and seen the black smoke rise to the heavens before. Honestly, this sort of news is along the same lines as “Guess what? My dog hasn’t bitten anyone today! Or for the last ten years, if it comes to that . . .”
Who is your favorite pontiff? Mine would be the one played by Anthony Quinn in the movie The Shoes of the Fisherman, based on the novel by Morris West.
*****
“Charm Offensive” as on oxymoron
Yes, I know, some cows and oxen are really quite smart, or at least I have been given to understand by folks who have taken the time to get to know them.
But as for Obama’s “charm offensive” - his efforts to bring members of the GOP over to his side?
Haven’t we seen this movie before? Besides, who can even say “charm offensive” with a straight face? Well, people who love cliches, I suppose . . .
****
Quote of the Day
It is an all-too-human frailty to suppose that a favorable wind will blow forever. - Rick Bode
rsdrake@cox.net
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