Column: Today, Lame Ducks Make a Lot of Sausage
That metaphor's almost as mixed up as the massive selection of bills up before the Legislature on its last day.
Today is that biannual silliest day of the year in Trenton, though this silliness is not the kind that makes the public smile. The culmination of the two-month lame duck session, the last full day of a legislative session, is a voting marathon, the last chance for bills to advance to the governor’s desk and nominees to move into new positions before they have to start the whole approval process over again. Remember that quote about laws being like sausages? Well in the state capitol today, the butchers are on steroids and the meat grinders spinning at hyperspeed. It’s a wonder no one loses a finger. Or a hand. Actually, the losses can include full limbs and torsos, but legislators are not typically the victims. While many constituencies …
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11:27 am on Monday, January 9, 2012
The shouldn't be such thing as a lame duck session, when the whole "accountable to the People" idea goes down the toilet. more ›