The “Imperial Governor” strikes again in Rhode Island. Governor Lincoln Chafee recently expressed his intention to veto any legislation that would put the redefinition of marriage on a ballot referendum.
Citing that he believes the members of the General Assembly were elected to decide such matters, Chafee stated: “I have been consistent in my view that in a representative democracy lawmakers have the responsibility to make decisions on matters both monumental and routine.”
However, when the General Assembly did not vote on the creation of health care exchanges for Obamacare, Chafee issued an executive order allowing for health care exchanges, that, in Rhode Island, would force taxpayers to fund abortions. When the General Assembly failed to act on the issue of in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, Chafee mandated his Board of Higher Education to implement the policy. When the General Assembly refused to pass a bill that would recognize out of state same-sex marriages in compliance with the federal Defense of Marriage Act, he issued an executive order doing so.
All of these policy initiatives were done without the consultation of the Rhode Island General Assembly which has consistently rejected the proposals. However, the governor rather imperially has decided that he does not require the General Assembly when it comes to his extreme ideological agenda. Clearly the only consistency in Governor Chafee’s view of representative democracy is pushing his radical social agenda of state funded abortion and the redefinition of marriage. His imperial attitude toward divisive social issues is misguided and serves only to harm the common good of our state. We echo Bishop Tobin’s question when it comes to marriage: One must ask, respectfully, what the Governor is afraid of?
