You want to see a Red State bleed, come on down to Georgia. Here in peach country, you'll find a revolution in the making as Republicans rewrite the rules of legislature. It has been 130 years in the making, since the days of Reconstruction, but now finally the GOP can do its dirty work, with Democrat Whores siding in.
The gold-domed capitol in Atlanta shimmered with greed and revenge yesterday, for the Republicans are on the rampage.
See an excerpt from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution below the line. And you'll find more in the Journal-Constitution if you click here.
Republicans, who for two years have controlled the state Senate and the governor's office, won a majority in the 180-member House in November's elections. On their first official day in power they began imposing their will, adopting new House rules just hours after the General Assembly convened for its 2005 session.
Democrats -- who paid little mind to the GOP as they dominated state politics for 130 years -- cried foul, complaining the changes give Republicans too much power.
"It does away with representative government," said House Demo- cratic leader Rep. DuBose Porter of Dublin.
Republicans wasted little time consolidating their newly won power. The new House rules let Richardson appoint legislative "hawks" who can swoop in to any committee with the authority to vote the way the speaker wants them to.
The rules do not specify how many "hawks" Richardson can name, but he said there will probably be no more than two or three. Democrats immediately bristled, arguing the move guarantees Republicans can win any dispute in committee. "I hear them crying," Richardson told reporters later. "I promise we're not going to abuse this."
The House approved the rule changes 123-50. More than 20 Democrats -- including former Speaker Terry Coleman (D-Eastman) -- sided with the Republicans.
"There's some political whoring going on, but that's not unusual," said Porter, the highest-ranking Democrat in the House.