A pointless exercise

In the Oklahoma House of Representatives, lawmakers take their oath of office in November, but the House speaker isn’t formally elected until January. State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, suggests that means the House Speaker-elect may not be authorized to expend funds during those two months.

That’s nonsense, because the House budget was authorized in July. Taken to its logical extreme, Reynolds’ argument would have House employees go without pay for two months and then get back pay in January. What public purpose would that serve?

Such Pharisaical legalism is pointless, but then Reynolds often specializes in such objections. He once debated against his own amendment on the House floor.

Reynolds’ actions appear united not by ideological commitment, but by the unseemly desire to disrupt orderly operation of the Legislature — even when it’s to the detriment of citizens and the cause of good government.