* Which reminds me of something late conservative Assemblyman Phil Stout told me WAY back in 1995 when I was still a wet-behind-the-ears rookie chairman of the Clark County Republican Party.
* I asked Phil why so many Republican legislators were so hell-bent on passing comparatively meaningless bills. He explained the mentality that exists, especially among freshman legislators, that if they don’t get a bill passed, they’ll be considered a “failure.”
* I’ve never forgotten that. And wrote about it in a column for the Nevada Appeal in September 2010…
“Somehow legislators got it in their heads that to be considered ‘successful’ in Carson City you have to get bills passed. It doesn’t matter if the bills are any good, or relevant or substantive. Just pass….something. Anything. Which is why you have legislators proposing stupid bills such as naming an official state bug or changing the mandatory life-vest age from 12 to 13.”
* This mentality poses a significant danger to conservatives, because it means various GOP legislators propose generally insignificant bills they think are “bipartisan” and, thus, will have
a better chance to pass in a Democrat-controlled body.
* But therein lies the problem.
* GOP legislators are so singularly focused on getting a bill passed – ANY bill – that they’re willing to “compromise” and give up their vote on an otherwise bad Democrat bill of
extreme significance in order to get Democrat votes for their comparatively insignificant “bug” bill.
* In other words, the Democrats get the feast while Republicans get table scraps.
* Democrats get the gold mine while Republicans get the shaft.
* In addition, legislators are only allowed to introduce a limited number of bills. So for every meaningless, insignificant bill that gets introduced, that’s one less significant conservative bill that can be proposed.
* Worse, Democrats are FAR better at playing politics than Republicans.
* As such, they give vague assurances that a GOP bill will receive a hearing or a vote on the insignificant bill, wait until after they’ve gotten the Republican vote on the Democrats’
significant bill…and then kill the insignificant GOP bill anyway.
* Happens every session. Like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.
* And here’s the other danger this practice and mentality poses…
* Let’s say Democrats propose a really bad bill; let’s say to raise taxes.
* Now, the LAST thing they want is to pass the tax hike with only Democrat votes, because that means the Democrats will “own” the tax hike in the next election. Raising taxes would become a partisan campaign issue all across the state.
* So the D’s go to the ends of the earth to get even ONE Republican to vote for the tax hike so they can say on the campaign trail that it was “bi-partisan.”
* They agree to back the Republican’s “bug bill” in return for the Republican’s vote for the tax hike. And because so many Republicans are so desperate to get a bill passed – ANY bill – the weak ones fall for it.
* To protect themselves, Republicans should go into this session assuming none of their bills – especially any good ones – are going to be passed and accept that reality. That takes away the leverage Democrats have in twisting GOP arms for support of bad bills.
* Then work with the new Republican governor to use the leverage of his office to twist Democrat arms to support bills of significance and importance to conservatives. And take their case directly to the people.
* If all Republicans accomplish this session is to create partisan differences that can be used in the 2024 election cycle to pick up more seats, THAT’S a win. THAT’S success.
* Republican caucus leaders need to understand this and work toward it. They need to keep members of their caucus on the ranch and not let any straggle off and give the D’s the “bi-partisan” support they desperately crave for bad bills.
* Republicans need to stop playing the game “in the here and now” and focus on building for the long-term future.
* Don’t hold your breath waiting.
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and
blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.