Today, the FlashReport makes a humble request of Republican legislators in the State Capitol. Back up, and take a 30,000 foot view of what is going on in the State Capitol BEFORE you write your press releases. This time a year, faxes machines and e-mail accounts are being filled up with thousands of press releases from legislative offices touting legislation that has passed out of Committees.
Note to Republicans: The Democrats KILL almost all truly meaningful pieces of legislation proposed by Republicans. This has led, over time, to a few things. First and foremost, less and less truly meaningful pieces of legislation are being introduced by Republicans, which is understandable. Were I in the legislature, I might say to myself, "Why bother introducing a bill to lower income tax rates in California?" given that we know the outcome — certain death. In addition, we see more and more bills being introduced by Republicans that make you scratch your head, and wonder, "Is this why we send folks to Sacramento?"
Don’t get me wrong, many of these GOP bills achieve some important ‘technical fix’ or something that may be important for a very small group. But pretty much the only major legislation that is proposed by Republicans that actually passes through these Democrat-dominated committees are BAD BILLS. Yes, believe it or not, some Republicans actually author legislation that increases the size or scope of California government. I would imagine that these particular GOP bills fare pretty well!
Perhaps a suggestion that I might make to Republican legislators, when considering press releases. I would highlight MEANINGFUL GOP authored bills that you voted for, that FAILED. And also put out released that highlight God-awful Democrat bills that you voted against.
Frankly, this practice of sending out release after release letting the public know about how some obscure bill that fixes some technical glitch in state law is a waste of everyone’s time.
Remember, the measure of an elected legislator should NOT be based on how many bills you introduce, or how many of them become law. But rather on whether you stood tall to oppose the voracious appetite of Democrats to just keep growing, growing, growing government, and shrinking the liberty of Californians.
Use your press releases to help the big-picture effort of contrasting how Republicans would do things differently if we had the majority.
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