Wake Up and Smell The 107-44 and 23-13 Minorities

Monday April 21, 2008

The Republican governor, the one who got to the bottom of the Girl Scout cookies controversy last week, has just issued another news release about the persistent-offender controversy, which dates back to last July 23, when the Cheshire home invasion and triple homicide occurred.
Remember that those alleged murderers would never have been prevented from the home-invasion opportunity under a three-strikes law that could have sent them to prison for life?
Call it three strikes, call it persistent offender, but it’s symbolic of the active struggle between majority Democrats and Minority Republicans who are desperate for an issue, any issue that they can use to possibly gain a few more seats in the House and Senate.
Blog-o-rama, by the way, thinks things would be more interesting – and better balanced – if there were more Republicans in the Gewneral Assembly. The Blogster also thinks that Democratic leaders would admit that fewer members of their majority caucuses could make it easier to legislate.
Last week House Minority Leader Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, offered up an amendment that would have rekindled the “three strikes” debate for a few hours. Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven, asked the House to reject the amendment and wait for a few more days for a bill to be crafted with prosecutors, in a variation on an announcement he made with Speaker of the House Jim Amann and Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane on April 11, including $15 million for additional personnel.
The House debate was sidetracked with Majority Leader Chris Donovan pulled the bill, temporarily and mercifully, from debate.
Rell’s people have been in the habit recently of working weekends and shooting out PR proclamations that TV stations pick up without a peep and as if they were actual news.
Today, they extended the weekend to Monday, with yet again, the governor pronouncing on “three strikes,” as if the House and Senate were Republican controlled and as if the persistent offender law hadn’t already been rewritten during that January special session.
It’s another example of how reactive the Legislature and the governor have been. A kid wraps their overpowered car around a tree? Make it tougher for all 16-year-olds to get a license.
Our violent society leaves several dead in unrelated incidents around the state? Issue another nerws release on that “three strikes” mantra and wrap yourself in a “tough on crime” blanket.
Meanwhile, conveniently forget about additional school funding for the state’s cities.
Forget about the separate-but-unequal education offered in the cities compared to the safe suburbs.