OPINION — I’ve seen this before.
When the main character, Neo, sees the same black cat walk by twice in the original movie “The Matrix,” he asks his colleagues, “Do you ever have déjà vu?” His partners instantly know something is wrong. Déjà vu is usually not a good thing. In the political world, we see it all the time.
When a political idea doesn’t get traction the first time, legislators often put the bill back into the legislative pipeline the following year — most of the time knowing it probably won’t make it through, but a veto or committee dismissal counts for political points. So, they repeat the process anyway, year after year, often to oblige a constituent, campaign donor or party leadership.
