Legislature should abandon embarrassing politics, priorities
The Idaho legislature doesn’t disappoint when it comes to being absurd.
It seems like every year legislators find a new way to show their misplaced priorities.
This week, the House State Affairs Committee approved a non-binding resolution to call on the U.S. Congress to impeach federal judges who make the conscious decision to change laws. The vote was along party lines.
The resolution is in response to federal court rulings in October that overturned Idaho’s ban on same-sex marriage.
This resolution will go nowhere and has no authority on Congress, it merely serves as a cheap political dig at federal judges. There are far more important issues deserving of legislators time and attention.
Rep. Paul Shepherd sponsored the resolution and criticized the federal judges of driving a political agenda from the bench.
The activist judge argument is petty at best and ignorant at worst. An activist judge is, simply put, a judge someone disagrees with.
Federal judges largely do not drive political agendas. They do, however, interpret laws in relation to the Constitution. When the judges were tasked with making a ruling earlier this year on the 2006 voter-passed legislation banning same-sex marriage, they made the clear and logical interpretation and effectively legalized gay marriage in several states.
Just because Republican legislators disagree with the interpretation does not mean they should waste time showing their disapproval with immature legislation. Our legislators should be held to a higher standard, expected to move the state forward and address real problems facing Idaho.
Even Shepherd admitted he does not have high hopes for the resolution in affecting any change in Washington D.C.
“Maybe it ends up in the garbage can,” Shepherd said to the Idaho News Service.
Idaho is clearly a red state, and there is nothing wrong with that, but the silliness and unprofessional nature of Idaho politics is a detriment to its citizens, reputation and future.
Unfortunately, embarrassing moments like this are common in Idaho politics.
Last year, The Colbert Report rightfully mocked the Gubernatorial debate that put horribly misplaced candidates into the limelight.
In last year’s legislative session, legislators considered a bill essentially legalizing discrimination against LGBT members, allowing business owners to refuse service to anyone they disagreed with if they could site closely held religious beliefs. It never became law, but legislative time was wasted on another topic that had nothing to do with the real problems facing Idaho — education, transportation and economic development to name a few.
State legislators need to get their priorities straight. They must realize scoring cheap political points comes at a price to their constituents and the state.
–RT