Two
recent statements by members of the Virginia Senate
give the public a rare glimpse at how that chamber
really functions. For
years, candid discussion and open debate have been
suppressed by the leadership of both parties in the
Senate, especially on issues relating to abortion.
One
of those statements, which will surely ring in the
ears of pro-life voters for years, was made by Sen.
Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, as he was overcoming the
shock of confronting a potential floor vote on
abortion. By
design of the Senate leadership, all abortion
legislation is supposed to be killed in the Senate
Education and Health Committee, thereby avoiding
recorded floor votes that could be readily monitored
by the public and prove politically damaging to the
members.
In
arguing against a House amendment that would
prohibit Medicaid funding of abortions, Saslaw said
that the amendment was objectionable because the
cost of caring for the infants who would be born
rather than aborted if the amendment were accepted
far exceeded the amount saved by eliminating
government funding of the abortions.
This prompted Sen. Jay O’Brien, R-Fairfax,
to respond that whether life is protected should
never be reduced to such a cost-benefit calculation.
This
is the kind of public exchange the Senate leadership
wants to avoid. Better
to kill pro-life legislation in Committee and out of
sight.
The
other notable statement came from Sen. Russell
Potts, R-Winchester, during a Senate Finance
Committee hearing on several House-passed
transportation measures.
Potts characterized as inadequate the House
GOP initiative, which includes $1 billion in
immediate transportation funding.
According to Potts, “$1 billion is a gnat
on an elephant’s rear end.”
Taxpayers
should get a firm grip on their wallets.
A huge tax increase will be proposed next
year.
On
both issues, the Senate leadership is playing games.
The only way abortion-related legislation can
ever reach the Senate floor, given the pro-abortion
majority on the Senate Education and Health
Committee, is through a House amendment to
Senate-passed legislation.
Senate
rules provide for an up-or-down vote on whether a
House amendment to a Senate bill will be accepted or
rejected, but Lt. Gov. Timothy Kaine found a trap
door for Saslaw and the GOP leadership when he
ruled, contrary to the plain language of the Senate
Rules, that the legislation could be sent to
committee without a floor vote on the House
amendment barring Medicaid funding for abortions.
Sen.
Thomas Norment, R-James
City,
the GOP leader in the chamber, acted as enforcer
among wavering Republicans to assure that the full
Senate would not have to vote on the abortion ban
amendment. Pro-life
voters are certain to question whether the GOP
deserves their support when its leaders work hand in
glove with Democrats in the General Assembly to
sidetrack legislation such as the ban on Medicaid
funding of abortions.
The
statement by Potts that “$1 billion is a gnat on
an elephant’s rear end” indicates a view shared
by many of his Senate colleagues who favor
additional tax hikes far larger than any suggested
by Gov. Mark R. Warner.
Ironically, the Senate leadership has fought
the House to reduce the amount of funding for
transportation authorized at this session so that
pressure will build going into the 2006 legislative
session to enact a massive tax increase for roads
and other transportation projects.
The
Senate has hardly embraced the idea of governing in
full daylight, but these two little rays of light
may give voters an idea about what really goes on in
the Senate.
--
February 28,
2005
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