By Diane Silver[updated 5:45 pm]
Well, this is interesting. Republicans in the Kansas House of Representatives have just thumbed their collective noses at voters by electing arch-conservative Melvin Neufeld as speaker.
Neufeld, a farmer from western Kansas and the current chair of the House Appropriations Committee, is a longtime member of the farthest right wing of the Kansas Legislature. His election yesterday to the 2nd most powerful post in state government is a bad sign for the forces of moderation. It took two ballots for the majority Republican caucus to elect Neufeld, but in the end he won.
I remember Neufeld well from my work as a reporter in the Statehouse. At that time, he was a friendly but powerless back-bencher known to all as simply "Melvin." My most vivid memory of him involved a speech he gave pushing an anti-abortion proposal.
As he stood speaking on the floor of the House, the chamber emptied, particularly of what was then the moderate Republican leadership of the House. They all went back to the then-speaker's office behind the podium and laughed at him. I know this happened because I was standing in their midst at the time.
I guess Neufeld gets the last laugh now. The question, though, is what will he do with his new power?
Will he have grown from the inconsequential person I knew more than a decade ago? Will he have matured beyond the soul who was once accused of trying to blackmail another lawmaker into voting his way? Will he remember that as speaker his job involves the whole state and not just those few who share his beliefs?
The fact that conservatives took over all the majority Republican leadership posts in the House is frightening and frustrating. It's as if the people under the Statehouse dome didn't hear, or perhaps even notice, what the voters did on Nov. 7.
The Kansas City Star provides more detailed coverage of Neufeld's elevation to power. The Lawrence Journal-World has the most complete and interesting story on the speaker's election.
UPDATE: Hat tip to Thoughts From Kansas for providing a link to Kansas RINO's post and details on the Kansas Supreme Court decision involving the blackmail allegations. The decision gives blow-by-blow detail of the accusations against Neufeld.
12 comments:
Wow, pretty vile stuff from Silver here. If you click on her profile and view her photo, you'll see that ugly starts at the skin and goes clear to the bone. One of those lesbians who is lesbian by default (i.e., to ugly for any man to stomach).
(See Diane falling out of her chair and laughing)
Wow! I thought those kinds of insults went out with junior high.
(Note sarcasm)
I am hurt to the core! OH my, you don't like the way I look? Oh, the agony, the agony!
Diane:
Are you sure those representatives were not laughing at you and not Neufield.
BTW, if the Republicans elected a so-called moderate Speaker, tell us why that would not be thumbing their noses at the voters who elected a conservative majority on the GOP side on the House?
And now we descend from junior high to the level of 5-year-olds.
However, let us move away from the childish and into a real discussion. Thanks for making a comment that's reasonable because it is reasonable to discuss whether electing a moderate speaker "would not be thumbing their noses at the voters who elected a conservative majority on the GOP side on the House?"
You are making a valid point with that comment. The problem is that the position of speaker is a powerful one that impacts all of the state, not just the districts where conservatives were elected. Democrats, who are the minority, don't even get to vote on the speaker. It's not fair, but it is the system.
It did appear on Nov. 7 that the voters were leaning towards moderation, or as many newspapers noted, the voters were moving Kansas from red to purple.
They did that by turning their backs on Phill Kline, who represented the far right, and supporting the moderate Paul Morrison for attorney general. Voters showed their urge for moderation by re-electing Kathleen Sebelius as governor. During the primary, voters showed this urge by allowing moderates to take over the state Board of Education and by endorsing moderate Republicans Sandy Praeger for insurance commissioner and Ron Thornburgh for secretary of state.
I would have been much more comfortable if the Republican caucus in the Kansas House had elected a conservative speaker (like Neufeld) and a moderate majority leader. At least, this would have acknowledged the fact that voters seem to be yearning for moderation.
A couple of other points...
I never said I laughed at Melvin. In fact, I didn't. It was his moderate Republican colleagues who did so, and I thought it was stupid for them to do that. I was actually stunned by their reaction. In the years since then, the moderate wing of the party has paid for their disdain of conservatives by losing control of their own political party.
I knew Melvin about 15 years ago when he was relatively powerless. Often it takes years for lawmakers to gain power in the Legislature. It's not fair, but it is the way the system works. By making that comment, I wasn't trying to put Melvin down. I was simply stating a fact.
When I knew him, I found Melvin to be friendly and willing to talk. I enjoyed bantering with him, but I also found him to be immature emotionally. I sincerely hope that he has grown since then. I would suspect that he has because most folks make enormous progress in 15 years.
Throughout his tenure in office, though, there have been signs of immaturity and destructive behavior. Witness the alleged blackmail, which the Lawrence Journal-World article discusses.
Having been elected speaker means that, if he hasn't yet, it is time for Melvin Neufeld to grow up. This IS his moment. He has two to four years to make a huge impact on this state. That is as true for Melvin as it is for anyone who is elected speaker.
My wish for him is that he understands the responsibility he has been given, and that he remain open to all ideas while remaining true to himself.
I honestly wish Melvin the best in his new job, and I fervently hope that his best brings the best out in Kansas.
"The problem is that the position of speaker is a powerful one that impacts all of the state, not just the districts where conservatives were elected. Democrats, who are the minority, don't even get to vote on the speaker. It's not fair, but it is the system."
I would have to assume that you opposed the election of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House since she represents the left-wing of her party and not the middle of America. Her position is a powerful one that impacts all of the country, not just the districts where extreme liberals were elected. Do you think Pelosi would have been elected Speaker if Republicans were allowed to vote for that position?
And then Dennis Moore and Nancy Boyda joined a majority of Democrats and elected another extreme liberal (Steny Hoyer) to serve as Majority Leader.
Did the Democrats in Washington thumb their noses at the voters in American who voted for moderation?
Dear anonymous,
Many thanks for the comment, and many thanks for keeping the discussion to the subject at hand.
Whether or not I personally oppose or support Pelosi or Neufeld doesn't matter. I agree with you completely that the rules of the legislative system allow the majority party to elect the speaker. I just think this decision was a poor one by Republicans in the Kansas House.
I personally believe that the Republican majority in the Kansas House made a mistake by electing such a conservative as speaker and by not making even any gesture to include moderates in the leadership. It's a political mistake, and I am concerned that it will hurt all of Kansas.
Here's how it's a political mistake. A conservative like Neufeld CAN win in the GOP caucus, but can he win in the entire House?
The majority of the votes in the House are, in fact, not conservative Republican. To win in the 125-member Kansas House, you need 63 votes. There are only about 53 conservative members of the House by one count. Democrats and moderate Republicans, thus, actually make up the majority.
In the House, the Speaker is immensely powerful, so we will see what happens. But if moderate Republicans and Democrats can come together on even a full proposals, you might just see all out war in the House.
Meanwhile, what is the average voter to think of this decision by the House GOP? Moderation is discarded and once again the voters are ignored.
"Democrats and moderate Republicans, thus, actually make up the majority."
Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats make up a majority in the U.S. House. You ignored the question the first time, so I'll ask it again: Was it a mistake for Democrats to make Pelosi and Hoyer, both ultraliberals, leaders of their party? Shouldn't they have chosen leaders closer to the center? Didn't House Democrats discard moderation?
If you believe the majority faction in a party should elect leaders from the minority faction of their party in Kansas, why shouldn't it work the same way in D.C.?
And I shall answer this one last time.
I believe that the majority party has the right to elect whoever they want to be speaker. To think otherwise is foolish and to ignore how legislative bodies work in this country.
I happen to believe that, in this case, the Republicans in the Kansas House made a poor choice and, yes, that it "thumbs their noses" at the voters.
As for the choices in the U.S. House, I'm not certain you could call Pelosi much of a liberal when it comes to her actions as minority leader. Note that I'm speaking of what she's done as minority leader, not about her other actions as a lawmaker.
As for whether Pelosi is too liberal for the rest of the country, time will tell. Whether Neufeld is too conservative for the rest of Kansas, time will also tell.
Your willingness to give U.S. House Democrats the benefit of the doubt while lambasting Kansas House Republicans for making a "mistake" and thumbing their noses at the voters speaks volumes about your hypocrisy.
Thanks for commenting and for visiting the blog, and thanks for moving personal attacks to discussing the issue, although you seem to be having a little trouble staying away from the personal attacks.
Oops, I accidentally left out a couple of words. I meant to say:
Thanks for commenting and for visiting the blog, and thanks for moving AWAY FROM personal attacks to discussing the issue, although you seem to be having a little trouble staying away from the personal attacks.
You're ducking the issue. I charged you with hypocrisy regarding your different stances on the Kansas House leadership vs. the U.S. House leadership. You said the Republicans in the Kansas House made a mistake and thumbed their noses at the voters because they chose a conservative instead of a moderate to led them. Why can't you say that Democrats in the U.S. House made a mistake and thumbed their noses at the voters by chosing a liberal instead of a moderate to lead them? You state that the voters voted for moderation last month. Did they vote for moderation only in Kansas or in the nation as a whole?
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