Letters: Good bills in Pennsylvania deserve a vote; Common sense questions of the day

Good bills in Pennsylvania deserve a vote

The next session of the Pennsylvania Assembly starts Jan. 5. The first action will be a vote on the rules for considering legislation. A past session began with a rules Bill No. 1. Bill No. 2 forbid amendments to Bill No. 1 and passed first. The legislators ceded all control to party leaders and committee chairs. There is no effective penalty from voters because of gerrymandered districts.

The result is that important legislation with strong bipartisan and public support (such as the redistricting reform bills) dies in committee, while sloppy legislation (such as judicial gerrymandering) passes swiftly with no input from stakeholders. Pennsylvania historically passes only 7% of proposed bills, mostly from majority party leadership. Naming bridges and awareness weeks does not add up to important work when other bills to address lead tainted water, school funding inequity and rural broadband languish.

Other states are models of legislative efficiency and fairness. “Best Practices for Collaborative Policymaking” is a report by FairVote.org describing effective power sharing arrangements in state legislatures. Colorado ranks at 100%. Pennsylvania ranks zero.

We can do better. Improvements include insisting that committees hear, report and vote on all bills, effective discharge petitions and more. Tell Senator Corman and Rep. Benninghoff to set better rules so good bills get a vote. Then support redistricting reform to end gerrymandering so voters have real choices about who we send to Harrisburg.

Common sense questions of the day

Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet, “Common Sense”, is as relevant today as it was in 1776 when colonists said to the Imperial Crown, in effect, “get out!”

Two quotes from “Common Sense”: “Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.”

And: “Common sense will tell us, that the power which hath endeavored to subdue us, is the most improper to defend us.”

The first quote from this historic pamphlet, first published in Philadelphia, refers to the pomposity and ignorance of Imperial Royalty in 1776 but could equally describe the pomposity and ignorance of a president who is out of touch with the true interests of his people.

The second quote, “The power which hath endeavored to subdue us ...” refers to British ruling officials 1776 but could aptly describe the Republican party’s efforts to subdue and suppress the will of the people in 2020, the popular vote and the electoral vote. Of the ruling royalty in 1776, Thomas Paine wrote, “they are the most improper to defend us” ... He perfectly describes legislators who refuse to defend our constitutional rights. Yes, they are the most improper to defend our hard fought-for constitutional democracy. They should be voted out.

Thompson should learn from Eagle Scout background

As a Republican constituent who voted by mail, I publicly ask that Congressman Thompson stop further efforts to not count my vote.

The congressman sometimes cites his Eagle Scout background. When a scout loses a patrol leader election, the scout can run again in the next election. First, however, the scout congratulates the current winner and, most importantly, does all possible to help the winner secure the campsite against coming storms. Regardless of who won, that path is the only way to keep all the tents from blowing down.

The congressman’s recently supported Texas lawsuit has been decided by the Supreme Court, and Electoral College votes have been cast. Retroactively taking away any constituent’s vote is no small matter. I have admired Congressman Thompson in the past and trust that he thought long and hard before attempting to do so. Our country is in serious storms. We respectfully need the attention of our elected representatives on cooperatively addressing those storms, and not on any further attempts to deny or overturn election results.