There are words one might want to avoid when one comes to the legislature to testify in favor of a bill. Of course if you want to kill a bill you might want to use these words liberally, while sounding appropriately conservative.
CASINOS. This morning, presentation of a bill was proceeding nicely until a Senate sponsor mentioned how this particular bill would appeal to Casinos. Let’s just say that a Democrat last year was able to kill an appropriations bill for the Idaho State Lottery Commission because children were pictured on the Lottery annual report materials apparently exploiting children for the sake of gambling. Suffice to say, we are not a pro gambling body.
COMMUNISTS or SOCIALISTS: It is probably not good to mention any avowed socialists who are co-sponsors or to mention Communist countries with programs upon which your bill is modeled.
WOLVES: It would be unwise to say that your bill benefits wolves, even if it remotely might do so.
CAMELS: This just makes people think of the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent. Slippery slope and, as Lenore Barrett mentioned in response to a claim that a bill took "baby steps" toward a certain goal: "Baby steps? What happens though when this infant really starts to walk?"
ATTORNEYS: While the last election added many attorneys to our ranks, some of them like Ruchti and Luker being most fine upstanding citizens, it is likely unwise to laud how your bill benefits any group of attorneys or any individual attorney (unless it is Perry Mason.)
ENDANGERED SPECIES: I wouldn’t try getting overly scientific mentioning species of any kind, especially not endangered ones, no matter how cute and fluffy (or long pink and slimy) they are. (Well actually the endangered Moscow giant earthworm is white and slimy. Rep. Shirley Ringo says it is quite docile.) But you get the point. We tend to be suspicious of the motivations of scientists. No species.