Are they Chickens?

One regional newspaper accused the Republican majorities who are running the Minnesota House and Senate of being chicken. The supposedly cowardly act being discussed was the number of DECISIONS that the legislators will not, cannot, or are fearful of DECIDING on their own. So a nice alternative is to pass a law that will put the question in the form of an amendment to the state Constitution and the ultimate DECISION would be made by voters at the next general election. This action would be in lieu of discussing, taking testimony, debating on issues- the DECISION is being pushed on to those who vote at the next general election. (Nov. 2012). Then the people will make the DECISION and it will be forever in stone in the Constitution of the State of Minnesota.

Are they being chicken? I would suggest that they are misguided and not understanding how our country is supposed to run. We are a Republic, we are not a Democracy. In a republican form of government, we elect people to make decisions in our stead. A democracy would mean that all citizens vote on every decision. This would make for a very long ballot and elections every three months or so. It would be costly, inefficient, and certainly would not be the "getter done" American way.

When our elected representatives don't have the guts to do what we elected them to do, they usurp their duties and pass the tough decisions on to someone else. This is dereliction of duty and a very poor way to govern. If these issues ie. gay marriage, voter i.d., super majority to pass budget bills, etc. are of high importance; they certainly deserve the advantages of public discussion, testimony in hearings, votes up or down in both House and Senate and perusal by the Governor.

Putting the importance of the issues aside, of more importance is our Constitution which is the bases of how our state operates. It should not be amended willy nilly each time some thorny issue comes before our elected leaders. And I would hope that our elected people have a higher moral and ethical ground for these actions other than garnering their base to "get out and vote" at the next election. END