Maryland Rep Carter holds gay communities civil rights hostage

[FreeState]

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2011/03/01/31015?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoxTurtleBulletin+%28Box+Turtle+Bulletin%29

Meet Jill Carter. Jill represents Baltimore. She believes that your rights and my rights are less important than her own personal political advancement. She also believes that extortion is an appropriate methodology for getting her way.



snip......

Carter had signed on as a sponsor of the marriage equality bill in Maryland. Then she did a vote count and thought, “oh, my vote counts. Without my support gay people can be denied their civil equality, so I’ll use my vote as an extortion tool to get what I want.” (Baltimore Sun)

Carter was one of two delegates supportive of gay marriage who staged a walkout this morning during a specially scheduled vote on the marriage proposal — which has already cleared the Senate and had been expected to make it out of the House committee today.

But Carter said there are “more important, or at least equally important” issues that she would like to see fast-tracked in the way that, in her view, gay marriage has been. And she said that until she hears from House leadership, she does not plan to cast a committee vote in favor of the Civil Marriage Protection Act.

She is a critical vote: The House Judiciary Committee contains only exactly enough “yes” votes to get the same-sex marriage proposal out of committee and to the House floor for debate by the entire 141-member chamber.

[bluestateguy]

1. I could never understand this logic

A legislator or a congressman says that he is against a bill because, "we don't have the time" to do it. Not, "I'm against it because it is a bad idea", but you're against it because we allegedly don't have the time, even though you are for it on the substance and the merits.

That makes no sense. Just vote yes, pass it expeditiously and move on to whatever you want to move on to.