Texas Dems Whine Like Big Babies
The democrats in the Texas House make me sick. These fools get paid outrageous sums of money by the PEOPLE of Texas to do very little but sit in their nice offices, spending money on every bad program they can think of...then, when election time nears, they practically neglect their jobs to spend millions on getting reelected and voting anyway they can to get more votes...and, then they have the balls to do this...only pansies whimp out and leave the state. Wasting more tax money trying to find you idiots...get real. Most politicians are so disconnected from the people they represent, and this story proves that, once again, most of those disconnected politicans are democrats.
By the way...I love how the dems whine like little kids and say they will promise not to bolt from the house again ONLY if the republicans promise not to bring up the plan to redistrict the state. Funny...it's like terrorists who say, we'll stop killing you as long as you give us money or land. Democrats like terrorists? No way! Never! Yea right...
Democrats expect to return Friday
AWOL lawmakers will receive mixed greetings; Craddick rejects talk of deal
By Michele Kay and Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
The 51 Texas Democrats exiled in Oklahoma since Sunday are expected to head back to Austin on Friday to take their seats in a House where the welcome is likely to be frigid and enthusiastic.
Supporters plan to pack the Capitol grounds and the public gallery to give the Democrats heroes' welcomes.
Republican House members, who have spent the past three days cooling their heels and criticizing the Democrats, want to downplay the homecoming.
"It's business as usual," said Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood. "We don't have time for histrionics or for playing to the House."
The Democrats in Ardmore, Okla., refused to discuss their travel plans.
"Our expectation is that we will be home on Friday," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
The Democrats were making preparations for their return late Wednesday. After trying unsuccessfully to contact House Speaker Tom Craddick, they sent him a letter promising to stay on the job if he would agree not to bring up for debate the controversial bill that would redraw congressional districts.
Democrats say that bill was the final straw in a difficult session. It frustrated them and pushed them to leave for Oklahoma.
"If you're willing to assure us that congressional redistricting will not be taken up by the House during the remainder of this session and the special sessions to come, then we are willing to give you our word, through this letter, that will will not break a quorum on other issues during that same time — even when we disagree," the letter to Craddick said.
Before the letter was received, Craddick spokesman Bob Richter said the speaker will not take redistricting off the table.
"Tell them to stay in Ardmore; they're getting the hell beat out of them. They are making fools of themselves," Richter said.
Richter said he did not think there would be either a "welcome home or retribution" for the Democrats.
But at least for Wednesday, the threat of being arrested disappeared when the House officially broke for the first time since Monday. The adjournment meant that members could leave the chamber without a note from House Speaker Tom Craddick and that state troopers no longer had the authority to arrest the Democrats.
It also meant committees could start meeting again.
The House has been paralyzed since Monday, when 58 Democrats failed to show up, leaving the House without a quorum.
Craddick said the adjournment was for practical reasons.
"That keeps (us) from bogging down the session even more than it's bogged down," Craddick said. "We've got to move the process along. We're running out of time."
Because the House has a midnight deadline to give preliminary approval to major House bills, the controversial measure to redraw congressional lines appears, at least for now, to be on its last legs.
Craddick said the House has not suspended its deadline rules in more than a decade, and he doesn't intend to break that tradition. Richter said that "there's no plan to ambush them with a redistricting plan" once they return.
Redistricting still could be brought up in a special session, and at least one senator is not ready to bury the measure now.
Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, said he might introduce it in the Senate on Monday, after House Democrats have settled back in.
But because the deadline for filing bills has long passed, rules dictate that Harris would need the support of 25 of the Senate's 31 members. With 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats, that's not likely.
"We have the votes to stop it," said Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin.
Among the House committees that met Wednesday was the panel that sets the House calendar.
House members will probably work a long day Friday and at least part of Saturday. They will be scheduled to take up a litany of noncontroversial House bills that originally were set for debate Tuesday.
The House also will consider 14 Senate bills that run the gamut from abolishing the Texas Department of Economic Development to regulating tattoo and body piercing studios.
There's clearly concern about how much can get done in the 19 days left in the session.
"We're losing every day," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said. "We're being set back every day, and it's going to have an economic impact on the people of Texas."
At a news conference at the Governor's Mansion, Gov. Rick Perry said that "there is no procedural maneuver, no gamesmanship that is going to distract" legislative leaders from getting their work done.
"If the Democrats in hiding really care about important issues like children's health and education, they'll come back to Austin and go to work," Perry said.
The Democrats in Oklahoma rejected claims by Perry and other Republicans that their absence has hurt programs that help children and poor Texans and protect consumers.
"If the speaker and the governor are serious about these programs, they really, really would be well-advised to stop making unfounded threats about budget cuts motivated by the bad math of political posturing," Gallego said. "We call on Governor Perry, and we call on our own leadership . . . to ratchet down the rhetoric and get back to work."
The rhetoric from Ardmore and Austin reverberated in Washington.
Sixteen Texas congressional Democrats asked Attorney General John Ashcroft, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the diversion of "federal law enforcement resources for private political gain." The lawmakers said they did not want federal resources used to track down the Texas Democrats.
In the U.S. House, Texas Democrats paraded to the microphone to deliver one-minute speeches praising their statehouse comrades.
"What (House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay is attempting to do is export a corrupt and unfair system — in which we engage in this House floor — to the Texas House floor, and we have 53 brave and courageous Democrats who are saying, 'No!' " said U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio.
Noting the approach of Armed Services Day, U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Dallas, said the Democrats were not true.
"These guys are afraid to stand up and fight like our armed services do. Thank God we didn't have those Democrats at the Alamo."
The remark prompted U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, to bolt from his seat.
"To our colleague who dared mention the heroes of the Alamo," he said, "it takes far more courage to put your political life on the line than to follow like sheep."
Editorial: Democrats in the House?
Exodus leaves bipartisanship at door
Web posted Tuesday, May 13, 2003
4:05 a.m. CT
A Texas legislative session with much work left to do has now settled into a ridiculous display of gamesmanship.
Less than a half-hour before the Texas House of Representatives was to convene Monday, 52 House Democrats bolted, leaving the House without the necessary two-thirds quorum needed to conduct business. One of the Democrats who submitted a letter informing the leadership of his intention to stay away is none other than Pete Laney of Hale Center, the former speaker of the House and a man considered by many to be the paragon of bipartisanship.
The Democratic walkout coincided with the scheduled debate on a congressional redistricting bill, which has been pushed hard by the Republican leadership that now runs the House.
Although the Democrats have a point in contesting the redistricting effort, they have seriously damaged the political process by leaving the House without enough members to do its job.
They should pay a serious political price for this bit of monkey business.
Whatever differences the Democratic minority has with the Republican majority, leaving their legislative posts while the session is heading toward its final weeks simply is unconscionable. The act is made worse by all the other business that remains undone - starting with public school finance reform.
The word out of Austin is that the 52 Democrats may leave the state to prevent Department of Public Safety troopers from rounding them up.
The bipartisan spirit long has been one of the Legislature's long suits. That bipartisanship has gone out the window - and perhaps down the drain. And for what purpose? To show the new Republican speaker, Tom Craddick of Midland, that Democrats aren't going to bullied?
The Democrats' walkout proves nothing. It accomplishes nothing - which probably is the intent - and it only serves to alienate the now-loyal opposition party from those in control.
And you thought that such grandstanding was the exclusive purview of Congress.
Posted by Josh at May 15, 2003 10:39 PM
Texas Dems Whine Like Big Babies
The democrats in the Texas House make me sick. These fools get paid outrageous sums of money by the PEOPLE of Texas to do very little but sit in their nice offices, spending money on every bad program they can think of...then, when election time nears, they practically neglect their jobs to spend millions on getting reelected and voting anyway they can to get more votes...and, then they have the balls to do this...only pansies whimp out and leave the state. Wasting more tax money trying to find you idiots...get real. Most politicians are so disconnected from the people they represent, and this story proves that, once again, most of those disconnected politicans are democrats.
By the way...I love how the dems whine like little kids and say they will promise not to bolt from the house again ONLY if the republicans promise not to bring up the plan to redistrict the state. Funny...it's like terrorists who say, we'll stop killing you as long as you give us money or land. Democrats like terrorists? No way! Never! Yea right...
Democrats expect to return Friday
AWOL lawmakers will receive mixed greetings; Craddick rejects talk of deal
By Michele Kay and Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
The 51 Texas Democrats exiled in Oklahoma since Sunday are expected to head back to Austin on Friday to take their seats in a House where the welcome is likely to be frigid and enthusiastic.
Supporters plan to pack the Capitol grounds and the public gallery to give the Democrats heroes' welcomes.
Republican House members, who have spent the past three days cooling their heels and criticizing the Democrats, want to downplay the homecoming.
"It's business as usual," said Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood. "We don't have time for histrionics or for playing to the House."
The Democrats in Ardmore, Okla., refused to discuss their travel plans.
"Our expectation is that we will be home on Friday," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.
The Democrats were making preparations for their return late Wednesday. After trying unsuccessfully to contact House Speaker Tom Craddick, they sent him a letter promising to stay on the job if he would agree not to bring up for debate the controversial bill that would redraw congressional districts.
Democrats say that bill was the final straw in a difficult session. It frustrated them and pushed them to leave for Oklahoma.
"If you're willing to assure us that congressional redistricting will not be taken up by the House during the remainder of this session and the special sessions to come, then we are willing to give you our word, through this letter, that will will not break a quorum on other issues during that same time — even when we disagree," the letter to Craddick said.
Before the letter was received, Craddick spokesman Bob Richter said the speaker will not take redistricting off the table.
"Tell them to stay in Ardmore; they're getting the hell beat out of them. They are making fools of themselves," Richter said.
Richter said he did not think there would be either a "welcome home or retribution" for the Democrats.
But at least for Wednesday, the threat of being arrested disappeared when the House officially broke for the first time since Monday. The adjournment meant that members could leave the chamber without a note from House Speaker Tom Craddick and that state troopers no longer had the authority to arrest the Democrats.
It also meant committees could start meeting again.
The House has been paralyzed since Monday, when 58 Democrats failed to show up, leaving the House without a quorum.
Craddick said the adjournment was for practical reasons.
"That keeps (us) from bogging down the session even more than it's bogged down," Craddick said. "We've got to move the process along. We're running out of time."
Because the House has a midnight deadline to give preliminary approval to major House bills, the controversial measure to redraw congressional lines appears, at least for now, to be on its last legs.
Craddick said the House has not suspended its deadline rules in more than a decade, and he doesn't intend to break that tradition. Richter said that "there's no plan to ambush them with a redistricting plan" once they return.
Redistricting still could be brought up in a special session, and at least one senator is not ready to bury the measure now.
Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, said he might introduce it in the Senate on Monday, after House Democrats have settled back in.
But because the deadline for filing bills has long passed, rules dictate that Harris would need the support of 25 of the Senate's 31 members. With 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats, that's not likely.
"We have the votes to stop it," said Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin.
Among the House committees that met Wednesday was the panel that sets the House calendar.
House members will probably work a long day Friday and at least part of Saturday. They will be scheduled to take up a litany of noncontroversial House bills that originally were set for debate Tuesday.
The House also will consider 14 Senate bills that run the gamut from abolishing the Texas Department of Economic Development to regulating tattoo and body piercing studios.
There's clearly concern about how much can get done in the 19 days left in the session.
"We're losing every day," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said. "We're being set back every day, and it's going to have an economic impact on the people of Texas."
At a news conference at the Governor's Mansion, Gov. Rick Perry said that "there is no procedural maneuver, no gamesmanship that is going to distract" legislative leaders from getting their work done.
"If the Democrats in hiding really care about important issues like children's health and education, they'll come back to Austin and go to work," Perry said.
The Democrats in Oklahoma rejected claims by Perry and other Republicans that their absence has hurt programs that help children and poor Texans and protect consumers.
"If the speaker and the governor are serious about these programs, they really, really would be well-advised to stop making unfounded threats about budget cuts motivated by the bad math of political posturing," Gallego said. "We call on Governor Perry, and we call on our own leadership . . . to ratchet down the rhetoric and get back to work."
The rhetoric from Ardmore and Austin reverberated in Washington.
Sixteen Texas congressional Democrats asked Attorney General John Ashcroft, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the diversion of "federal law enforcement resources for private political gain." The lawmakers said they did not want federal resources used to track down the Texas Democrats.
In the U.S. House, Texas Democrats paraded to the microphone to deliver one-minute speeches praising their statehouse comrades.
"What (House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay is attempting to do is export a corrupt and unfair system — in which we engage in this House floor — to the Texas House floor, and we have 53 brave and courageous Democrats who are saying, 'No!' " said U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio.
Noting the approach of Armed Services Day, U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Dallas, said the Democrats were not true.
"These guys are afraid to stand up and fight like our armed services do. Thank God we didn't have those Democrats at the Alamo."
The remark prompted U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, to bolt from his seat.
"To our colleague who dared mention the heroes of the Alamo," he said, "it takes far more courage to put your political life on the line than to follow like sheep."
Editorial: Democrats in the House?
Exodus leaves bipartisanship at door
Web posted Tuesday, May 13, 2003
4:05 a.m. CT
A Texas legislative session with much work left to do has now settled into a ridiculous display of gamesmanship.
Less than a half-hour before the Texas House of Representatives was to convene Monday, 52 House Democrats bolted, leaving the House without the necessary two-thirds quorum needed to conduct business. One of the Democrats who submitted a letter informing the leadership of his intention to stay away is none other than Pete Laney of Hale Center, the former speaker of the House and a man considered by many to be the paragon of bipartisanship.
The Democratic walkout coincided with the scheduled debate on a congressional redistricting bill, which has been pushed hard by the Republican leadership that now runs the House.
Although the Democrats have a point in contesting the redistricting effort, they have seriously damaged the political process by leaving the House without enough members to do its job.
They should pay a serious political price for this bit of monkey business.
Whatever differences the Democratic minority has with the Republican majority, leaving their legislative posts while the session is heading toward its final weeks simply is unconscionable. The act is made worse by all the other business that remains undone - starting with public school finance reform.
The word out of Austin is that the 52 Democrats may leave the state to prevent Department of Public Safety troopers from rounding them up.
The bipartisan spirit long has been one of the Legislature's long suits. That bipartisanship has gone out the window - and perhaps down the drain. And for what purpose? To show the new Republican speaker, Tom Craddick of Midland, that Democrats aren't going to bullied?
The Democrats' walkout proves nothing. It accomplishes nothing - which probably is the intent - and it only serves to alienate the now-loyal opposition party from those in control.
And you thought that such grandstanding was the exclusive purview of Congress.
Posted by Josh at May 15, 2003 10:39 PM