Texas Standoff

May 15, 2003

The saga in Texas continues. Democratic state House members fled to Oklahoma last weekend to avoid arrest after walking out of session to protest a GOP redistricting plan. Now they're offering to return, provided redistricting is taken off the agenda by the Republican majority. How's that for a compromise?

(Thanks to reader Ray Whiten who suggested that we blog this topic a couple of days ago.)

There's not much to say, except that we should all be so lucky as to have our lawmakers go AWOL.

Comments

JDM|5.15.03 @ 1:06AM|#

"These type of tactics haven't been used, I don't think, in over a hundred years.

The GOP controls both houses of Texas government for the first time since reconstruction. This is the result."

Firstly, there are always fights over redistricting. I doubt any of the last 100 years have passed without redistricting fights in one state or another. Certainly, none of the last 30 or so have.

Secondly, if the opposition party takes control for the first time in 130 years, wouldn't you expect there to be some changes in the power structure that the Democrats have controlled for the last 130 years?

david f|5.15.03 @ 1:08AM|#

happy thursday!

hey trainwreck,

even in the multi party states, the usual bloc is a choice of two (for example, in mega party Denmark, the elections are usually portrayed as "labor vs bourgeoisie") -- germany's 5% rule does something similar. and for example, connie morella was a republican rep from suburban md, and she was more to the left than many southern democrats (and she got re-districted out, too). point is, i don't think the "multi party" solution, a la europe, is the answer or even gives an ideological choice. (there you get arguments over who gets what position on the ballot). and you get many different shades of gray. Every major party is pro EU, for example. there's no choice there, either. here both parties are really in favor of meddling in our lives and taking our money.

basically, the major parties do an excellent job of trying to drive away anybody who isn't a hardcore supporter... and in multi party systems, a "swing party" can control the legislative agenda to a degree far beyond its mandate ("radikale venstre", the "social liberal" party of denmark is an example of this; the FDP was like this to an extent in germany in the Kohl years)

hey Roger S.,

do you think such a deal would work? neither the republicrats or the democrians (whatever) are that monolithic where they could come to some sort of agreement. basically, it's time for us to move to france. errr. freedom. or let's get all of em to some strange island of evil delights where everything is a delicious excruciating pleasure...

hey Lefty,

off topic: have you heard anything, or has anyone else for that matter, about ramsey clark's efforts to "impeach" dubyah? and, while i totally agree with you about how evil Tom Delay or John arschloch, errr, Ashcroft are, don't you think many of the tricks the dems pulled in the 80s or in the first two years of clinton were just as annoying?

thanks all and happy onion day!

drf

|5.15.03 @ 1:34AM|#

Lefty,

"The GOP controls both houses of Texas government for the first time since reconstruction. This is the result."

No, it is the result of left-wing identity politics implemented by judicial fiat.

Until the 1970's, courts required that districts represents geographical populations. The political class could fuss around the edges but in the end they had to come up with districts somewhat square shaped. The courts adopted this position in the early 1800's specifically to prevent the creation of non-competitive districts by the political class.

The left-leaning judiciary of the 70's thought it knew better and threw out the 120+ years of experience and substituted its own benighted wisdom mandating that districts be drawn first to represent racial sub-sets of the population with geographical considerations only a secondary consideration.

As opponents of the decision warned the political class jumped on this opportunity to increase their power and job security. While Democrats dominated in the 70's and 80's they fully exploited the system and it is only recently that they have discovered that the monster they created can bite them too.

It's political karma.

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 1:48AM|#

All I'm saying is the custom, not the law, for a long time is to redistrict once every 10 years following population trends of the last census. Hell, I guess you could do it every year if you thought you could get away with it.

My point is that if you do everything you can get away with to the minority they will find ways to throw sand in the gears. Texas is sitting on a 10 billion dollar deficit and the legislature is now stopped. The GOP overplayed their hand.

Warren|5.15.03 @ 2:18AM|#

Oh for crying out loud. This it TEXAS we're talking about. Just a new plot twist in a long running comic soap opera.

trainwreck|5.15.03 @ 3:07AM|#

Thanks DRF for reminding me we are programmed to always boil things down to "us vs. them".

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 3:19AM|#

Is it, now? Well, if the GOP gets their way there Texas gains 6 or 8 electoral votes in the next election. Bush won the electoral vote 271 to 266 last time.

Yeah, it's fun to watch but it could have some far reaching consequences.

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 3:44AM|#

drf - last I heard of Ramsey Clark, he filed a suit saying Congress unlawfully abdicated their responsibility to declare war. Some court yawned and through it out.

Oh, yeah, both parties use every trick they can to gain an advantage. The challenge is to know how far you can go to fuck over the opposition without it gumming up the whole works and getting blamed for it. Newt Gengrich, right or wrong, is in the peanut gallery now for over-reaching.

david f|5.15.03 @ 4:05AM|#

cheers trainwreck!
cheers lefty!

drf

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 4:11AM|#

Well, heck. Forget that electoral college stuff I just mentioned. I forgot that all the electoral votes in a state go to one candidate. Redistricting can cause some internal swinging of 6 or 8 votes to the GOP but it doesn't mean anything at the national level. Technically, I suppose they could split them but they never do.

In the words of Seve Ballesteros after putting one in the water, "I am such a stupid".

david f|5.15.03 @ 4:13AM|#

splash...

:)

herr bauer

|5.15.03 @ 5:18AM|#

This has happened twice before in Texas, but this is the first time the legislators have actually fled the state. The first time, they were called, "The Dirty Thirty". Next time they were, "The Killer Bees". This time they are, "The Killer Flees".
Childish and cute, but guess who gets to pay for the special session resulting from this stunt. Not the Killer Flees, I'll wager.

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 7:39AM|#

Here's some more bills endangered by the Dem's action. Small loss.

� House Bill 2223, by Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, would suspend a teen-ager's driver's license if he engages in terroristic threats, false alarms or bomb hoaxes.

� House Bill 2988, by Jaime Capelo, D-Corpus Christi, would establish guidelines for quarantine measures and the disposal of human remains in case of a major public health emergency.

� House Bill 1253, by Myra Crownover, R-Denton, would give school districts greater latitude in determining the salary of retired teachers who return to work.

� House Bill 797, by David Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, would increase penalties for drug offenses committed within 1,000 feet of a youth center.

� House Bill 1691, by Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, would allow funding for accelerated reading programs for students at risk of dyslexia.

Madog|5.15.03 @ 9:31AM|#

Hopefully more politicians will follow their example and go to Oklahoma. Maybe we can give them a reservation there and they can open a casino or sell bills and statutes by the roadside.

Hermetic|5.15.03 @ 10:00AM|#

Madog, what do you have against Oklahoma?

Phil|5.15.03 @ 10:05AM|#

I'm sure that these noble legislators are going to give up their taxpayer-provided salaries for the time they spent in Oklahoma, and pay for their travel and lodging from their own pockets. It would be the right thing to do, and as we all know, that's exactly what legislators always do.

|5.15.03 @ 10:05AM|#

I agree. The best thing that could possibly happen to the U.S. would be for all of our legislators (especially the Democrats) to leave the country and go hide out on some deserted island somewhere. Someone could even make a movie about it, like "The Lord of the Flies." Or maybe a TV show, like "Survivor." Heck, I don't care. As long as they just leave and never come back.

Tucille|5.15.03 @ 10:06AM|#

BRAD S.: "The best thing that could possibly happen to the U.S. would be for all of our legislators (especially the Democrats) to leave the country and go hide out on some deserted island somewhere."

And then we can all live happily ever after with Republican legislation. Oh, yessss!

V.Foster|5.15.03 @ 10:18AM|#

Roger Sweeney, I like the way it turned out just fine. Can you imagine Al Gore at the helm during and after 9-11? Can you imagine a Hillary as President in '09? (Shudder!) I can't.

alkali|5.15.03 @ 10:19AM|#

I'm sure that these noble legislators are going to give up their taxpayer-provided salaries for the time they spent in Oklahoma, and pay for their travel and lodging from their own pockets.

Are you sure they aren't paying for their travel and lodging from their own pockets?

Dewhurst|5.15.03 @ 10:22AM|#

Koppelman said, "It starts looking like the kind of permanent damage to checks and balances that can end democracies."

Where have you been, Koppelman? "Checks and balances"? What a quaint concept. Went the way of the Dodo long time ago. (And we NEVER had a "democracy" to begin with.)

s.m. koppelman|5.15.03 @ 10:23AM|#

The newsworthy angle to me isn't the use of quorum rules to block legistaltion; there are plenty of precedents for that. Instead, it's the serious attempts by the other party and the executive branch to use imprisonment (in the form of locking chamber doors) and state police to try to get that quorum by force.

This has precedents, too. Anecdotes about machine politics and state troopers liven up history books. But looked at together with the current Bush Administration and Senate Republican moves to break the federal judicial appointment filibusters through a mix of the courts and insinuations of treason, it loses some of its charm. It starts looking like the kind of permanent damage to checks and balances that can end democracies.

|5.15.03 @ 10:35AM|#

If I left the state because I didn't want to voice my opinion on a decision at work I'd be fired.


"Are you sure they aren't paying for their travel and lodging from their own pockets?"

Since we pay them to vote on issues then the money out of their pocket is ours.

griffon|5.15.03 @ 10:57AM|#

It is shocking to me that anyone who is against activist government can condone the use of federal law enforcement resources to track down the whereabouts of state elected officials who are missing a quorum call. Having the cops go into these people's homes looking for them is a sickening development. Deciding to redraw congressional districts because, well, because you can is also pretty sad.

trainwreck|5.15.03 @ 11:03AM|#

Why are we doomed to suffer in a democracy with only two political parties, which seem to alternate between trying to be all things to all people, but then also seem captivated by some whacked out minority?

I'm not certain that things would be all that much better with a multi-party, coalition style government, but it seems like it would at least allow us to express our political interests in a manner more consistent with with our own personal ideology. Another bonus would be that legislators would have to spend alot of time forming coalitions to get things done, leaving less time for actually passing legislation. Who'd complain about that?

|5.15.03 @ 12:10PM|#

griffon: After each 10-year census (the last one was in 2000), the states are required to redraw their district lines to take account of population changes. Alas, how they do it is usually partisan and/or pro-incumbent.

Republicans in Texas, who control the legislature and the governorship, want to pass a congressional districting plan that will give them an unfair advantage. But the Democrats have walked out to deny the legislature a quorum, and no laws can be passed till they come back. Democrats in California, who control the legislature and the governship, have (as I understand it) already passed a congressional districting plan that gives them an unfair advantage.

Republicans in Texas should offer their Democratic counterparts a deal. The Republicans will agree to have a bipartisan commission set district lines in Texas if the California legislature will agree to a similar arrangement. Both parties lose something and both parties gain something, so it doesn't seem totally ludicrous.

No doubt I like the idea because I think the resulting district lines would be more democratic than the ones the parties have come up with. But it might also help to dissipate some of the cynicism and craziness that came out of the 2000 election. Wouldn't things be better today if, early on in the Florida deadlock, the Bush and Gore people had negotiated some sort of statement like, "Since we believe it is important that all votes be counted accurately, we jointly ask for a statewide recount. We will abide by the results of the recount." ?

Lefty|5.15.03 @ 12:40PM|#

Roger - in fact the districts in Texas have already been redrawn since the last census. Tom Delay, who left his real job in Washington and missed 15 roll call votes, went to Austin to engineer a new map to reflect the last election results - a Republican landslide. They are trying to do the same thing in Colorado. These type of tactics haven't been used, I don't think, in over a hundred years.

The GOP controls both houses of Texas government for the first time since reconstruction. This is the result.

|5.16.03 @ 12:56PM|#

The Chickadees (Chicken Ds) did accomplish one thing. They raised the average IQ of both Texas and Oklahoma... :)

Maceiras Rachel|9.10.04 @ 12:23AM|#

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Gaige Karina|9.10.04 @ 12:23AM|#

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