January 14, 2005

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

Go figure. For more than a decade, Republicans in the Tennessee state Senate have helped elect a Democrat as Speaker of the Senate in a power-sharing arrangement that kept the Democrat in power even though many in his own party didn't want him there. And because Democrats held the majority of the seats in the state Senate, that speaker, who also holds the title of Lt. Governor, has given Republicans a share of the committee seats and chairmanships, but has given the majority of those assignments to Democrats.

In the November election, Republicans win a majority in the state Senate, but two idiot GOP senators still voted for the Democrat - 83-year-old John Wilder - as Speaker of the Senate, out of loyalty, saying he'd been fair to the GOP for all those years when they were in the minority. They chose Wilder over one of their own, Sen. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, who is the Senate Majority Leader but not the leader of the majority in the state senate.

The result? Predictable. John Wilder has put more Democrats in charge than Republicans, and put the two most important committees in the hands of Democrats. And the Republicans - who won a majority in the state senate via that quaint method called an election by the people - will see some of their agenda blocked, slowed or watered down.

''We are in a position of strength,'' Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis, a Democrat, said. ''Certainly, the Senate's business will continue to be conducted in a bipartisan fashion, but I expect we on the Democratic side will drive the agenda.''

Ramsey said he believed the Republican philosophy would prevail.

GOP priorities include a constitutional amendment that would prohibit lawmakers from passing a state income tax and another implementing a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which would include tax rebates to citizens. The GOP also wants to alter the constitution to ban gay marriages and restrict abortions, areas that have more bipartisan support. Those are ''slam dunks'' now that the Senate Judiciary Committee is in Republican control, Ramsey said.

Another priority, limiting medical malpractice damages, may have more difficulty if it is sent to the Democratic-controlled Commerce panel.

Nearly all major bills will have to get final approval from the Finance Committee, also in Democrats' hands. Both those committees, which include conservative Democrats, are shaping up to be pro-business and fiscally responsible, so the GOP philosophy may still win out, Ramsey said.

UPDATE: The Nashville City Paper story is here.