No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

Arrest Those Dems!

More about the 51 escaping Democratic Texas Legislators last week. First, keep in mind that there is no law against what they did. However, if there is no quorum of the House, then the Speaker of the House may request that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) apprehend missing Legislators and return them to the House in order to meet the quorum requirements. That is all. There is no crime involved, and the issue is entirely the responsibility of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas.

The DPS apparently did not understand their function in this issue. They have been reported to have harassed the families of the missing Legislators, and to have requested the assistance of the federal Department of Homeland Security in apprehending them. The separation of powers between the federal and state governments does not give the federal government any legal function in this issue. This is one case that belongs entirely to the State of Texas and no one else. Neither the DPS officers nor Tom Delay were willing to accept this, it appears.

Tom Delay is the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and has no state function, even though the legislation that the Texas Democratic Legislators were leaving to stop the passage of legislation that without any doubt originated in Tom Delay's office.

Two interesting articles on the case appeared today: The first in The Hill and the second in Fort Worth Star-Telegram . The first is a description of the actions of Tom Delay, and the second is the story broken today about the fact that the Texas DPS destroyed all records of their actions in attempting to apprehend the missing Legislators.

Tom Delay and Tom Craddick (the latter is Speaker of the House in Texas) are new in their jobs, and the DPS has not had this issue to deal with for over two decades. It appears to me that both Speakers and the DPS went well beyond the legal scope permitted in their jobs. They should all be held to account, and the DPS should be investigated to see if the destruction of the records of their actions is a crime.
posted by Richard at 8:29 AM