Leaders of the state senate say hard times will force Republicans and Democrats to play nice this year.
It’s easy to talk political peace and harmony in the first hours of a legislative session. It’s also easy when your party has two-thirds of the seats in the state senate….as is the case with Senate President Pro-tem Charlie Shields of St. Joseph. "The Senate Republicans and Governor-elect Nixon are on absolutely the same page. We heard very clearly from him that he is not interested in raising taxes and we certainly are not interested in raising taxes," he says.
Minority leader Victor Callahan of Independence says voters want help….not partisan fights…and the state economy and problems with the state budget will enforce that. "I believe…this economic crisis transcends partisan differences," Callahan says.
Shields talks of fundamentally changing government. Callahan says the general phrase is agreeable….but differences might come in the definitions of "change," or of the phrase "less government," or other similar pop-political phrases of the day.