Conservativa

The term comes from an article in Sunday’s Washington Post that will leave you shaking your head. “Hot Issues, Cold Feet” speaks approvingly about a bill sponsored by Bill Janis that would stiffen the penalties for juveniles convicted of drunk driving. (Unusual for the WaPo to refrain from using the terms ultra-conservative, very conservative, right-wing, etc. of Janis, which it surely would if the article’s author didn’t like the bill).

The article reports that while the House passed the bill with overwhelming support (96-3), the bill failed in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee. The article doesn’t say so, but the vote was on straight party lines:
YEAS - Cuccinelli, Obenshain, McDougle, Hurt–4
NAYS - Marsh, Saslaw, Howell, Lucas, Edwards, Reynolds, Puller–7

The article concludes,

“How many more grim roadside scenes will it take to capture the attention of a callous committee? As the deaths continue, how long will the Virginia Senate remain a legislative graveyard?”

Another question: how is it that the Democratic senators on the committee decided that not only were the House Republicans wrong, but nearly all of the House Democrats were wrong, too? Looks to me like they voted this bill down for only one reason: it was sponsored by a Republican they don’t like. If I’m wrong, I would be happy to hear it from any of the Democrats on the committee, and would post such a response here.

Elections matter.