By Liz Flowers

Never let it be said that Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on public policy. Last week, our esteemed state elected officials managed to pass one bill, SB 306, sponsored by Sen. Bill Heath (R-Bremen). It would allow Georgia drivers to use a Bluetooth phone earpiece. The measure passed out of the State Senate 48-0. 

In the House, in another rare showing of political unity, members voted 169-0 to repeal the controversial rule that allowed “hawks,” a small group of GOP legislators empowered to swoop into any committee hearing and vote — even when they are not assigned to that committee.

The hawks’ rule was the brainchild of the now dethroned Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) and was put in place by former Speaker Glenn Richardson in an effort designed to allow the GOP to maintain control on all legislation.  Should a GOP effort be endangered in a committee, hawks could be summoned to cast votes that would change the outcome. The power to control the House lay in the hands of a few men.

Sort of seems like cheating, doesn’t it?

In addition to revising the hawks, the rules changes will now allow the media to once again have limited access to the House floor. Under the Richardson regime, media was sequestered to a small pit in the back of the chamber.

Sort of seems a little Socialist, doesn’t it?

These reforms were pushed by the new GOP House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) in an effort to lift the cloud of unethical behavior and to restore public confidence in GOP credibility.

Hold on, though. The hawks are gone, but the committees are still stacked pretty heavily with Republican influence. In fact, most committees are weighted 2 to 1 with GOP members — a move that requires most Republican lawmakers to sit on as many as six committees (the typical number is around three committee assignments).

Rep. DuBose Porter of Dublin, the Democratic leader in the House and a candidate for governor, told The Beacon this is a good first step.

“The demise of the hawk system is a good first step, but only if we keep moving forward,” Porter said. “As long as committees are heavily weighted towards the Republicans in numbers that far exceed their actual membership in the House,  there’s still a loophole. Democracy demands the right to speak, but we can’t be forced to shout in a crowd and expect to be heard.”

Hmm, agreed. Wait. Who am I agreeing with, because isn’t this the same argument we are hearing from Republicans in D.C.? The committees are stacked and the Democrats won’t listen to our ideas?

This week in Washington, President Obama’s State of the Union address on Wednesday was followed by a Friday showdown in Baltimore with House Republicans. In British Prime Minister made-for-TV-style, Obama fielded questions from angry GOPers, including North Fulton’s conservative Sixth District Congressman Tom Price.

In the exchange, Price repeatedly asked Obama to provide a response to healthcare questions from constituents. Obama and Price stayed on their finely crafted messages. The moderator jumped in to further explain the GOP healthcare proposal and accused the Administration and Pelosi of ignoring Republican ideas. It wasn’t a bridge-building dialogue. Why? Look, the Republicans control the Georgia State House, State Senate and the Administrative branch. It’s a majority-rules game plan, right? What’s good for Georgia Republicans is not good for inside the beltway Democrats?

“We’ve got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality,” Obama said. “I’m not suggesting that we’re going to agree on everything ... but if the way these issues are being presented by the Republicans is that this is some wild-eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives, what happens is you guys then don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me. I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base, in your own party. You’ve given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you’ve been telling your constituents is, ‘This guy’s doing all kinds of crazy stuff that’s going to destroy America.’ “

Obama also said to Republicans that many had appeared at ribbon-cuttings for the very projects they had voted against — 68 of them to be exact, according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

At the national level, Obama has returned for what works for him — he’s gone on the offensive. He is forcing a narrative shift away from administrative troubles and thrusting the debate back onto the GOP, exposing fissures and double talk within the party.

And since the GOP is hardly one big happy family these days, with fissures evident everywhere, traditional Republicans (Chamber of Commerce types) must decide how much they have in common with party activists (like the Tea Party populists). Will the GOP oppose tax cuts for small businesses or will they hold firm against ANY Obama idea simply because it comes from the Democrats? Are the Democrats open to any of the Republican policy ideas?

The “party of no” strategy has worked so far for national Republicans, carrying them into the midterm elections with momentum. But the battle cry that the GOP must become more conservative to regain power may send moderates and independents elsewhere.

Here in Georgia, the GOP already controls the system and it hasn’t been a cure for the budget or jobs creation.

Rhetoric doesn’t save us from foreclosure and won’t balance our state and national budgets. It doesn’t allow small businesses to hire more employees. It does not lower taxes, does not provide health care and doesn’t create new jobs.

Now is the time to lay aside political rhetoric of all kinds.  We should all be rooting for each other, even if we disagree on some of the issues. We need to have the hard and real discussions about what the people need and how much it will cost us. We can do better and we must. Rome is burning. Who’s fiddling?