The Texas Legislature has called in the Texas Rangers and State Troopers to track down, arrest, and return 53 Democrats who left the Legislature yesterday. There’s even a public notice on the Texas Dept. Public Safety website, just like they do for Amber Alerts and escaped prisoners.
Long story short, Texas is a largely Republican state. These Democrats can’t figure out how to work as adults with the GOP, so they just left town. Without 100 members present, The House can’t get a quorum, so the members of the House voted for the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House to call in the Texas Rangers and DPS to compel the members to return for quorum.
I can’t begin to tell you how P.O.’d I am at these idiots. The Texas Legislature meets just once every few years for a few weeks and they go & pull this crap?! If one of these little 3rd graders were my rep, I’d jerk his ass right out of that seat in the next election. The Democrats always say, “There’s just too many Republicans to get anything done.” Well, I strongly suspect that there’s going to be a lot fewer Democrats around Austin after this stunt.
Even more childlike, the “Dems on the Run” have left the state and gone to Ardmore, OK. Somehow the Texas Rangers can’t go over there and arrest them because of jurisdiction. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I guess we’ll have to get OK to extradite their asses back to Texas.
This is absurd. There are votes pending that mean a lot to everyone here in Texas: insurance coverage, education reform, property tax issues, homeowner’s insurance reform, and this little thing called the freakin’ budget.
So, when the Rangers and DPS could be out arresting criminals, they’re playing babysitter to these idiots.
The following people need to get their asses back to Austin and start working:
- Roberto Alonzo, Dallas
- Kevin Bailey, Houston
- Lon Burnam, Fort Worth
- Gabi Canales, Alice
- Jaime Capelo Jr., Corpus Christi
- Joaquin Castro, San Antonio
- Garnet Coleman, Houston
- Robert L. “Robby” Cook III, Eagle Lake
- Yvonne Davis, Duncanville
- Joseph “Joe” Deshotel, Houston
- Dawnna M. Dukes, Austin
- Jim Dunnam, Waco
- Harold V. Dutton Jr., Houston
- Craig Eiland, Galveston
- Dan Ellis, Livingston
- Juan Escobar, Kingsville
- Jessica Farrar, Houston
- David Farabee, Wichita Falls
- Pete P. Gallego, Alpine
- Timoteo “Timo” Garza, Eagle Pass
- Ryan A. Guillen, Rio Grande City
- Scott Hochberg, Houston
- Terri Hodge, Dallas
- Mark S. Homer, Paris
- Charles L. “Chuck” Hopson, Jacksonville
- Jesse W. Jones, Dallas
- James E. “Pete” Laney, Hale Center
- Ruth Jones McClendon, San Antonio
- Jim McReynolds, Lufkin
- John Mabry, Waco
- Trey Martinez Fischer, San Antonio
- Jose Menendez, San Antonio
- Joe E. Moreno, Houston
- Paul C. Moreno, El Paso
- Elliot Naishtat, Austin
- Richard J. “Rick” Noriega, Houston
- Rene O. Oliveira, Brownsville
- Dora F. Olivo, Rosenberg
- Aaron Pena, Edinburg
- Joseph C. “Joe” Pickett, El Paso
- Robert R. Puente, San Antonio
- Inocente “Chente” Quintanilla, Tornillo
- Richard E. Raymond, Laredo
- Allan B. Ritter, Nederland
- Eddie Rodriguez, Austin
- Patrick M. Rose, Dripping Springs
- Jim Solis, Harlingen
- Barry B. Telford, Dekalb
- Senfronia Thompson, Houston
- Carlos I. Uresti, San Antonio
- Michael U. “Mike” Villarreal, San Antonio
- Miguel D. “Mike” Wise, Weslaco
- Steven D. “Steve” Wolens, Dallas
Idiots! I hope they do get arrested. I’d like to see them charged for abandoning their responsibilites and wasting all the money to go “hunt them down.”
If one of these idiots is your elected representative, you better get your ass to the poll next time and fix this problem. I don’t want to have to have this conversation every time some elected officials can’t work together.
Well said Kev!
Which further proves my theory that politics is just like Kindergarten. Democrat or Republican, the whole system sucks, as it has become more about the politicians than the good of the people.
Excellent point, Merrin. And it is perpetuated (I might add) by the Democrats!
HA!
Bite me.
Grrrr… [insert very very angry emoticon here]
What gets me is that they’re protesting the Republicans’ attempt at gerrymandering, which on the face of it is justified … except that in the hundred years that the Democrats have been in control, they did the exact same thing. The minute they’re out of the majority they start whining that the practice isn’t fair.
I don’t know if I’d go that far (on either side). Yes, there must be redistricting – just look at the changes in population centers throughout the state since the courts set up districts in ?1991? or so. One of the differences that the Democrats are concerned about (I believe) is the continued growth of the suburbs around the larger metro areas. This flight from the city centers is generally along economic (if not racial) lines. As the population grows in the more affluent areas, the consensus is that the Republican power base will grow in the state. And that – in my opinion – is what is causing them to delay.
Two sad aspects that haven’t got much attention in the press:
1) The Democrats have a responsibility to govern, just as the Republicans do. The nature of our government requires them to attend, propose alternatives, and vote no if they oppose a bill. That is their elected responsibility and that is what they swore to uphold just a few weeks ago. Essentially these Democrats executed a small scale coup – in so much as – the smallest group from within the government acted to intentionally manipulate the entire system & prevent the process of government.
2) These Democrats are not just acting against the Republicans. The reason they prevented the bill from being introduced is that they have a legitimate concern that it will pass. (Just to reiterate – there is so much wrong with that!) But it has to pass not just the house, but the Senate as well. The Republicans do not hold a sufficient majority in the Senate to overcome legislative procedures that could block the bill. In other words, some Senate Democrats are going to have to support the bill in order for it to pass. The fact that the House Dems took such a drastic step says that they know there are enough Senate Dems supporting such a bill. So their action is not just “against” the Republicans, it’s also “against” the Senate Democrats.
They know what they’re doing is wrong. If the Democrats truly thought they were doing something “legal”, they wouldn’t be paying for the trip out of their own pockets – they would use their given per diem. If the Democrats truly thought they were doing something “legal”, they wouldn’t have crossed the state line to avoid immediate jurisdiction. If the Democrats truly thought they were doing something “legal”, they would have done more to bring attention to the issue in advance of the end of the bill introduction period rather than just run off.
This has been portrayed a lot of different ways, but very few media outlets have represented just how sad this is. It is an intentional act against the people and the process of government. If redistricting was really going to constitute gerrymandering, the Dems would have gone to court after it passed – just like the Republicans did in the early ’90s. But the plan on the table reflects the census (almost) exactly, and it’s pretty clear that the Dems know they won’t have much of a case legally.
I can’t believe there is not more of an outcry. What’s going to happen the next time that 20% of the state legislators don’t like a bill? Clearly there isn’t much of a penalty to them just taking off. There is only one penalty and that is to lose your seat in an election. I suspect that many of these guys will, but there will be a lot of ultra-Democrats that “applaud” this and try to keep them in power.
The Democrats can regain the balance of power in Texas, but they have to shift their focus. It’s no longer acceptable to just be against the Republican agenda. The electorate seems to want them to be for…something. In a broader scope, I think that’s a Democrat problem across the country. We’ll see.