When 140 characters isn’t enough

I’ve had a slow-motion Tweet exchange going with a local newspaper editor this afternoon. I think we may be talking past each other due to the 140 character limit on Twitter.

He:

Nice to know. Speaker Brian Bosma: ‘It’s not our job here to determine the constitutionality of something before we vote on it.” #INLegis

Me:

A bit out of context, no?

I believe the context of that remark was the Democrat leadership trying to get Bosma or the Republican leadership to say “Yes, your proposal to put ‘Right to Work’ to a referendum is constitutional.” If the Republicans won’t say it, the Democrats presumably will continue to shirk their duty to show up to work, thus preventing a quorum for any action on Right to Work or anything else.

He:

Only context: Hoping our reps consider the Constitution before passing a ‘law.’ Fair/unfair?

Me:

Fair. But Dems will break quorum until GOP says “constitutional,” then holler at any legal challenge by anyone.

I absolutely think legislators should consider constitutionality before voting. It’s even a pet peeve when one of them says “constitutionality is for courts to decide.” No, buddy: you took your own oath to uphold the constitution.

I don’t think Bosma was saying otherwise. Who’s the “we” behind “our job”? The Republicans? Was he saying “It’s not the GOP’s job to determine the constitutionality of a Democrat proposal we oppose on policy grounds and will vote against anyway”?

(But for that matter, newspapers should consider it before editorializing as well – a principle the local newspaper has violated at least once, as when they commanded the legislature to get out there and pass a lottery bill when there was a constitutional ban on lotteries to repeal first.)

He:

Don’t care the issue; if they pass things that aren’t constitutional, they’re basically making us finance lawsuits. #INLegis

Me:

This whole blog, the bottom line of which is I don’t think Bosma intends to pass the Democrat’s referendum dodge, constitutional or not. If Bosma really means the legislature can pass unconstitutional crap in reliance on the courts as a backstop, then I’d agree with the editor.