Where's my new legislator?

What happened to this scenario:

Then, a fast drive to Olympia, where the new legislator will be introduced on the House floor and, barring a challenge, be seated among 97 fellow representatives and allowed to vote on two momentous measures in the first special session of the Legislature since 2001.

"It's our assumption that that is exactly what will happen," said Allen Hayward, senior legislative counsel for the House Republican Caucus. It's doable, he insisted: "We do not anticipate taking votes in the House of Representatives before 1 p.m."

Problem is, the vote for HR 2416, aka the Tim Eyman Rules Our World bill, has already been taken, and we still don't know who are new state representative is. So essentially, Mr. Hayward was just blowing smoke up on our collective asses.

You would think that in a representative democracy they could get this stuff straight. Alternatively, don't set the expectation that the new legislator will be available for the vote.

Further, why even have Governor Gregoire? Just go directly to the source, Governor Tim Eyman. She's not going to provide any leadership anyway, so just cut out the middle-woman, so to speak.

For those who went out and chased unsigned absentee ballots in the rain and the cold during the razor-thin election win of 2004, must be feeling like chumps now. Those Democratic partisan foot soldiers, the base of the base, didn't bargain for a governor who will do the Tim Eyman's work for him.

We elect our representatives to look at the issues carefully and with due consideration. By allowing only two minutes for public testimony during today's committee hearings, a lot of information was simply not heard. This is a travesty of the political process, and kudos are in order to the handful of Democrats who voted against HR 2416. There are moments to go along with your caucus, but this wasn't one of those times.

By using Republican frames for the debate, the Democrats have lost the initiative when it comes to establishing state spending priorities. Republicans will continue to hammer hard on requesting more tax cuts in a declining economy, claiming that only tax cuts will cushion the upcoming blows. Democrats, since they stand for nothing, are merely there to go along with the program.

The result is local governments will have a lot less flexibility in surviving the economic downturn. Is anyone asking what this potentially does to municipal bond ratings? Can we hear from some green eye shade folks before embarking on this disaster? Is it too much to ask this spineless Democratic caucus to at least have a sunset provision so that the facts can be gathered?

Update: This is infuriating:

Rep. Christopher Hurst is the sponsor of the bill. He's up urging members to vote yes, saying that his constituents worry about losing their homes, and echoing Gov. Chris Gregoire, in saying people see home ownership as the foundation of the American dream.

"This bill helps protect that dream and i think that's why we're here today," Hurst said.

Yah, like making sure my local fire district has enough resources to protect my house from burning down isn't supporting the American dream. Chumps.