Due to the passing of Senator Kennedy, the Obama administration has been pressuring Massachusetts lawmakers to change back a five year old law. In 2004, the Democratic controlled Massachusetts State Government changed the law to prevent then Republican Governor Mitt Romney from having the power to appoint Senators to vacated seats. This change was in the Democrat’s favor to prevent the Republican Governor from appointing a Republican Senator in the event that Senator John Kerry won the Presidency and vacated the Senate seat.
Fast forward five years. Now Washington is pressuring the Massachusetts lawmakers to change the law back to allow now Democratic Governor Deval Patrick to appoint a Democratic Senator to vote for the President’s Health Care Bill.
The debate is not about the law to give the Governor the power to appoint Senators, it’s about the corrupt Democratic Party who pressure lawmakers to change laws to immediately benefit their own party. It was Senator Kennedy who wanted to take the power away from the Republican Governor then, and it was a letter from Senator Kennedy before his death requesting to give the power back to the Democratic Governor now.
State Representative James J. Dwyer (D) had this to say in his press release:
September 16, 2009
Residents of the 30th Middlesex District,
Recently, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States Senate lost a great leader and public servant. I respect and admire Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s public service to our country and the sacrifices that his family has made in doing so.
I write today to inform you of my decision with regards to the replacement of Senator Kennedy. Due to the high volume of calls, emails and letters that I have received I decided that it would be proper to make a formal declaration of my stance on this very important issue keeping in mind my commitment to keep open lines of communication with my constituents.
While I was campaigning for State Representative, many of the people I met had one common concern; they wanted the voters to be active in making decisions on issues of vital importance. My pledge during the campaign was that you would have a State Representative that valued the right of all citizens to participate in our democracy by voting for their leaders and representatives.
Over the past month, there has been a fervent debate concerning our representation in the United States Senate and the way in which we will go about making sure our representation will be in place. I have heard from many constituents, leaders within our state government and our Congressman with valid points on both sides of this issue. There are current special election dates that are set with a primary on December 8th and a general election on January 19th. I strongly believe that this is the most responsible course of action in dealing with this vacancy.
We cannot change our election laws at whim for political expediency as it was done in 2004. In my opinion, any change in this election law, at the current time, would be to condone the “business as usual” approach of politics and further weaken the integrity of our political system in the Commonwealth. We must make sure that laws like these are uniform and cannot be changed so easily. I will join with my colleagues in advocating that this particular law be included in the Constitution of the Commonwealth to ensure that situations such as this will not bring the integrity of the process into question.
Please know I understand the necessity for two votes in the United States Senate and the importance of the continuity of constituent services. However, I do not believe that the time for this change is now, not when the vacancy has already occurred. The veracity in which our representatives are sent to Washington must be protected and preserved.
Respectfully,
James J. Dwyer
State Representative
30th Middlesex District
Woburn, Reading, Stoneham
Should Lawmakers change the law to immediately benefit their party? Submit your comments below.
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The Democrat’s actions show their continuing hypocrisy when it suits their purpose with no shame and total arrogance.