Note: This is the 4,000th story on Delaware Liberal, at least according to WordPress. Congrats all!
This morning’s NJ article has a lot of choice quotes from current and retired lawmakers concerning the power of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Thurman Adams.
The article essentialy describes Thurman Adams as a mad dictator, with enough power to rule Delaware according to what pleases or displeases him. Consider these passages of the article:
The epitaph for open-government legislation read “Jan. 11, 2007 — Introduced and Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate.”
The Senate Executive Committee is better known as Thurman Adams’ desk drawer, a place where controversial legislation goes to die.
Senate Bill 4, filed on the first day of the legislative session and intended to increase public access to governmental meetings and records, spent two years yellowing and crumbling away there.
Adams can kill bills.
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There are two sides to Thurman Adams: The man described as low-key and caring, who says his family is the center of his universe, and the Democratic senator who some have accused of being vindictive and dictatorial, using his position to derail entire categories of legislation.
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Adams has employed the desk-drawer veto repeatedly to foil open-government legislation, a vote on Bluewater Wind, sports betting and bills that would prevent discrimination against same-sex couples.
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Getting a bill out of [the executive] committee without approval of [Adams] requires 11 signatures — a simple majority — and is often perceived as a vote of “no confidence” for the leadership.
Peterson has said attempts to buck the system and petition bills out of committee can be perceived as a personal affronts to Adams.
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Defying him means risking retribution such as undesirable committee assignments and the untimely demise of all legislation a member authors.
Adams said bills are left to die in his desk drawer not only because of how he feels about the legislation, but because members from both chambers and parties request it.
So, basically, no legislation sees the light of day unless it pleases him personally and the sponsor and author of the legislation has kissed his ass previously. If Adams disagrees with the legislation, no matter if 90% of the Delaware wants, and no matter if all of the Assembly wants it, it goes in the drawer.
And if you attempt to overrule him, it is seen as a personal affront to his reign, and may in fact endanger other pieces of vital legislation simply because Adams is a cranky old man with too big of an ego and too much power.
In other states, and in the U.S. Congress, the position of President Pro Tempore is an honorary position given to the most senior member of the majority party. When the Republicans held the reigns of power in the U.S. Senate, 100-year old Strom Thurmond and the indicted Ted Stevens held the position, but with no real power. Now, the eldery Sen. Robert Byrd holds the position. It is meant as a honorary position, like a President Emeritus. Here, we honor the most senior member of the State Senate with the position, but then give him absolute power and control over the people’s business.
This must be reformed. For giving one person absolute power is an affront to democracy and the principles of our Constitution.
“The pro tempore is supposed to be a facilitator and not a dictator,” Peterson said.
Exactly.
The defense of Adams’ actions in the article is not that Adams is right in doing what he does, but that it has always been this way.
Adams’ decision to use the desk-drawer veto is simply exercising the rules, [Former Senator Roger] Martin said.
“Things have always been that way,” Martin said.
Progressives do not recognize that excuse.