Saturday, October 21, 2006

It Aint What You Say, It's How You Vote On It

Senator Gibbs (Dist. 12) may well support restoring felons’ voting rights now (Sept. 26-Newport Daily News), but voted AGAINST the resolution (S458-05, June 27) that placed it on the ballot. Unusual? She is AGAINST the expansion of gambling and casinos, but cast NO VOTE on the matter of slot expansion at Lincoln Park (S970). She supported Rep. Jackson’s bill changing the way Newport time-shares are taxed (2005) but then cast NO VOTE on it this year. This change would translate into revenue of almost a million dollars a year.

Let me be clear here. She wasn’t absent. She was present, but just didn’t vote. Like on the bill mandating insurance coverage of hearing aids (S1195). The Senator hasn’t cast approximately 83 votes in the past four years. Almost 20,000 residents were repeatedly disenfranchised.

So I asked why. Her vote often "doesn't count" and so it "doesn't make any difference." Sometimes both sides sound good & she just can't make up her mind. Oh, and the best reason of all - "Everyone else does it." I'm not even going to voice an opinion here. Read my mind.