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.

 

Texas chicken D's - The Underdogs

There are no State-wide offices held by Democrats in Texas. In 2001 they lost the State House and the Governor and Senate have been Republican for several years. So when Tom Delay (Republican Majority Leader in the Federal House of Representatives) had a State Rep submit a bill to redistrict the State of Texas to eliminate about four more Federal Congressional Districts, it should have simply run right through. Except - The Texas Constitution (written after the Reconstruction during a very populist and anti-Yankee period) requires that two-thirds of the 150 member House must be present in order to conduct business.

The results of the 2000 federal census were considered in the 2001 legislative session, and the Legislature could not redistrict the State. The Federal Courts then stepped in in and made a decision that should have given conservative Republicans 20 of the 32 Congressional Districts. Some Democrats are so conservative that in 2002 the results were 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Tom Delay, the pest-control man from Sugarland who is also the federal House Republican Leader is unhappy at how small the federal Republican majority is, so he had a Republican lackey submit a beautifully gerrymandered bill submitted in the state legislature to redraw the federal congressional districts the Federal courts had already established.

The last time a bill in the House could be considered and submitted to the State Senate was midnight, Thursday May 15th. So last weekend, 53 State Representatives of the Democratic Party headed for Ardmore, Oklahoma, and notified the Republican House Majority Leader, Tom Craddick, to lock their House voting machines as they would not be there. No quorum - no House action. The Republicans were stopped dead.

Tom Craddick refused to stop the redistricting bill or to negotiate in any way. Why should he? The Republicans have the majority in the Texas House of Representative for the first time since the 1870's - the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. So the Democrats have stayed in Oklahoma through Thursday. The Republicans have been criticizing the Democrats for not showing up in the Legislature to do State business, but the Democrats have been getting national press - all of it positive.

Essentially, the Democrats in Texas have been demonstrating why the Republicans cannot be trusted in the majority. The Republicans are extremist true-believers who have no respect for the minorities in the nation (or in this case, the State of Texas).

The Republican's can't come out and say they are trying to lock up total control of the federal House of Representatives no matter what the voters say, so they call the Democrats the "Chicken D's". Personally, I think the Republicans have overreached and screwed up. Americans generally support the underdog. Tom Craddick and Tom Delay have pretty much established the Texas Democrats as the underdogs.
posted by Richard at 7:30 PM