Two Renegade Dems Bolt Caucus, Give Budget Control to GOP in Washington State

[WilliamPitt]

Two Democrats in the Washington state Senate abandoned their caucus, "vowing to work with Republicans to control the chamber and push conservative budgeting principles," the AP reports.

"Under the new plan, Republicans will chair six committees, including the panel that controls the state budget. Democrats will control another six committees while the parties will co-chair three others."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/12/10/renegade_dems_give_gop_budget_control_in_washington.html

With friends like these...

[SoCalDem]

1. That especially sucks if they were just elected in Nov..

indeed

[Dawson Leery]

2. Does Washington state have a recall process?

[liberal_at_heart]

3. who were the democrats that did this?

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. What???

That's not what the electorate called for on November 6th ... Democrats to be more like republicans?

[Egalitarian Thug]

5. K&R The outright declarations are somewhat rare, but this is all too common. n/t

[adirondacker]

6. more here...."Democratic Sens. Rodney Tom of Bellevue and Tim Sheldon ...

of Potlatch said the bipartisan cooperation would drive better policies. Under the new plan, Republicans will chair six committees, including the panel that controls the state budget. Democrats will control another six committees while the parties will co-chair three others.

"It is time we put aside party dynamics and focus instead on the needs of all Washingtonians," Tom said in a statement.

Democrats have a small majority in the Senate, controlling 26 of 49 seats. With the moves by Tom and Sheldon, Republicans effectively hold a 25-24 advantage.

Tom would serve as the majority leader under the new coalition. Along with sustainable budgets, the lawmakers said they want to promote job growth, reform the education system, and hold state government accountable.

Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler said the new approach in the chamber is the sort of cooperation that the people of Washington and the country want to see.

"I look forward to showing that in the Senate we can put policy ahead of politics and govern in a responsible and bipartisan way," Schoesler said.

Democrats comfortably control the state House. The new legislative session begins in January.

One Republican committee chairs is Sen. Pam Roach, who was kicked out of her caucus two years ago because of accusations of mistreating staff. She was allowed back in this year during the Republican budget coup last year, but she is still barred from interacting with Senate staff.

Mike Hoover, a senior Republican attorney for the Senate, had sued the chamber earlier this year and said he was subjected to a hostile and abusive workplace because of Roach. Under a settlement announced in September, the Senate reaffirmed its sanctions against Roach.

Tom said that would change, and the Senate committee that handles personnel matters would lift sanctions against Roach."

http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/10/2348726/2-dems-to-work-with-gop-to-control.html#storylink=cpy


http://www.theolympian.com/2012/12/10/2348726/2-dems-to-work-with-gop-to-control.html

[liberal_at_heart]

7. I wish I could vote against them but neither of them are in my district

Bellevue is becoming a booming corporate city. It's residence tend to be wealthy and consistently vote against mass transit.

[adirondacker]

8. Pretty crazy.Just when you think you're out of the austerity woods, the wolf and the witch appear.nt

[Bohunk68]

9. Same thing has happened here in New York State.

Either 4 or 5 Democratic State Senators have gone over to the Dark Side. Damn, we need that 1792 French Solution.

[Scuba]

10. The right has been infiltrating the Democratic Party for years. Better vetting ...

... by grass roots Democrats is necessary to root out these poseurs.

[liberal_at_heart]

11. +1

[suffragette]

12. Roadkill Caucus strikes again

That's their name for themselves.
Posted about labor trying to fight against this group of Republicans posing as Democrats back here. The WSLC and Stranger links in the post give some background on the group:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8903983


And now the party's finally "disowned" Sheldon and Tom, but only after supporting them even after they've been consistently acting as the Republicans they really are for quite some time.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/2-Dems-to-work-with-GOP-to-control-state-Senate-182857861.html

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Washington State Democrats disowned the two defecting senators.

Dwight Pelz said he's long viewed Sheldon as a Republican, but the party had invested money to re-elect Tom this year. Pelz says that won't happen again, and the party will draft a candidate to oust him next time.

"This is a decision by Rodney Tom to switch parties back again," Pelz said. "Rodney Tom is a Republican now."

Tom was initially elected as a Republican but switched parties in 2006. Pelz said he believes the latest move was simply a way for Tom to fulfill his personal ambitions.



I think there's a cautionary tale here for national Democrats looking to embrace other self-styled "former" Republicans.

[Arkana]

13. Jesus christ, this needs to fucking stop.

Goddamn traitor Democrats. What, they couldn't be bipartisan and still be members of their own party's caucus?