So That's What Voting Against The I Love Puppies Act Looks Like
March 19, 2015 2:46 PM Subscribe
As a way of learning about how government works, a class of fourth graders in New Hampshire proposed a bill that would designate the red-tailed hawk as the official state raptor. A fluffy bill, yes, but a valid one and a good lesson in legislation, and it easily sailed through the Environmental and Agriculture Committee. The class was invited to watch what seemed to be a pro forma general session of the state legislature discussing the bill and voting on it.
Well, the class got a lesson in how the legislature works. Just not one that anyone was expecting.
Staunch pro-life Rep. Warren Groen, a Republican from Rochester, decided that this was an appropriate time to grandstand on his cause du jour:
It grasps them with its talons then uses its razor sharp beak to basically tear it apart limb by limb, and I guess the shame about making this a state bird is it would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Burt, a Republican from Goffstown, was more concerned about the wastefulness of the measure:
Bottom line, if we keep bringing more of these bills, and bills, and bills forward that really I think we shouldn't have in front of us, we'll be picking a state hot dog next.
Ultimately, the bill was killed before the children's eyes in a 133-to-160 vote. Needless to say, the media response to this has been...less than kind.
Staunch pro-life Rep. Warren Groen, a Republican from Rochester, decided that this was an appropriate time to grandstand on his cause du jour:
It grasps them with its talons then uses its razor sharp beak to basically tear it apart limb by limb, and I guess the shame about making this a state bird is it would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, Rep. John Burt, a Republican from Goffstown, was more concerned about the wastefulness of the measure:
Bottom line, if we keep bringing more of these bills, and bills, and bills forward that really I think we shouldn't have in front of us, we'll be picking a state hot dog next.
Ultimately, the bill was killed before the children's eyes in a 133-to-160 vote. Needless to say, the media response to this has been...less than kind.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Sorry, this is absurd, but "jackass politician is jackass in front of children" isn't much to hang a post on. -- LobsterMitten
Staunch pro-life Rep. Warren Groen, a Republican from Rochester, decided that this was an appropriate time to grandstand on his cause du jour:
I think I just got an idea for a bill to institute an official New Hampshire state jerkwad.
posted by escabeche at 2:50 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think I just got an idea for a bill to institute an official New Hampshire state jerkwad.
posted by escabeche at 2:50 PM on March 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
"For two centuries, the American arrangement has always managed to right itself under pressure without discarding the system and trying another after every crisis, as have Italy and Germany, France and Spain. Under accelerating incompetence in America, this may change." - Barbara W. Tuchman, The March Of Folly, 1984.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:52 PM on March 19, 2015
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:52 PM on March 19, 2015
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posted by Lowwen at 2:49 PM on March 19, 2015 [3 favorites]