well mag, it don't take much to be your hero.

--- Magenta Raine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Friends,
> I have new heroes. The 51 Democrats of the Texas
> Legislature who walked out
> of the House, and out of Texas, rather than allow
> the Republican majority to
> pull yet one more trick to ensure that they can
> bully the powerless in their
> state.
>
> Finally, Democrats with backbone. According to state
> law the Texas Rangers
> could force the Demos to come back to their seats in
> order to allow a quorum
> to exist so that the Republicans could have their
> way (again). But these 53
> Demos skipped across the state line to Oklahoma
> until the deadline for the
> gerrymandering bill expired. The Texas Rangers had
> to stop at the border
> (though Washington Republicans flirted with the idea
> of coming to the rescue
> with Federal agents ... it didn't happen).
>
> Man ... wouldn't it be great if there were a
> national political party that
> had the guts to stand up to the incivility that the
> Republicans have used to
> rise to power by appealing to the lowest instincts
> of voters (and when the
> voters wouldn't cooperate they went further and just
> plain took office after
> losing the presidential race). Maybe these Texas
> legislators will inspire a
> rebirth of courage in the Democratic Party ... there
> was a time ... we could
> use another New Deal (but be sure to cut the deck
> first).
>
> Holliann
>
>
> > Here is Molly Ivans reporting on the matter while
> the Demos were still on
> > the lam:
> >
> > Far too far
> > Texas Republicans vote in lockstep to ensure an
> unhelpful government
> > by Molly Ivans
> >
> > AUSTIN, Texas -- They just went too far, that's
> all. This session of the
> > legislature has been as brutal, callous and
> indifferent to the welfare of
> > the weakest, the most frail, youngest and oldest
> Texans as it is possible
> > to get. The level of pure meanness is stunning.
> They have just gone too
> > damn far. The session was pretty well summed up by
> Rep. Senfronia Thompson
> > when she illustrated what was going on by taking
> the House rulebook to the
> > podium with her and dropping it on the floor.
> There is no rule of
> > procedure, fairness, common sense or decency that
> has been observed by the
> > Republican majority in the Texas House.
> >
> > This is not about partisan politics -- although
> that has certainly reared
> > its ugly head. In case you hadn't noticed, every
> major newspaper in this
> > state has criticized the plans and performance of
> the legislature this
> > session, often in harsh language. Those wild-eyed
> radicals at the Dallas
> > Morning News and Houston Chronicle are just
> disgusted with the tacky
> > display these people have been putting on.
> >
> > There is no excuse for this, and blaming it on the
> deficit will not wash.
> > We all knew going in that some terribly hard
> choices would have to be made,
> > but what in the name of heaven was the governor
> thinking when he had
> > handicapped people arrested? These were citizens
> who came to their capital
> > to protest budget cuts affecting them, and they
> get arrested. Maybe it was
> > because they were in wheelchairs -- don't even
> have to be hauled away, they
> > can just be rolled away.
> >
> > Most of us thought it was pretty funny when Rep.
> Debbie Riddle popped out
> > with her now-classic statement: "Where did this
> idea come from that
> > everybody deserves free education, free medical
> care, free whatever? It
> > comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight
> out of the pit of hell."
> >
> > Amusing as that was, the House has been doing its
> dead-level best to
> > destroy both public education and public health.
> They've taken 250,000 poor
> > children off the Children's Health Insurance
> Program, and the schools are
> > in dire straits. As the Austin American-Statesman
> pointed out in an
> > editorial, these same fine thinkers did manage to
> find $10 million to
> > appropriate for cow research and $300 million for
> Gov. Perry to woo
> > companies to Texas.
> >
> > Of course, there have been some lovely moments we
> can celebrate, like the
> > day Speaker Tom Craddick decided that the new
> ethics reform law should be
> > debated in a backroom, closed-door session.
> Amazingly enough, the proposed
> > ethics law was weakened and watered down behind
> the closed doors.
> >
> > I think a special salute for clear thinking should
> go to the House for its
> > amazing decision to cut the program that pays for
> medications for mentally
> > ill people who are out of prison on probation or
> parole. Is this brilliant?
> > Now these people will be wandering around the
> state without their meds.
> >
> > The latest flap is over a congressional
> redistricting map that is so bad
> > it's actually funny. Of course, the thing was
> passed without public
> > hearings, because as Rep. Joe Crabb explained,
> "The rest of us would have a
> > very difficult time if we were out in an area --
> other than Austin or other
> > English-speaking areas -- to be able to have
> committee hearings or to be
> > able to converse with people that did not speak
> English." Sometimes you
> > have to wonder what planet these people are from.
> >
> > That was the proverbial straw for the Democrats,
> 53 of whom left the state
> > or went into hiding Sunday to break the quorum,
> thus bringing legislative
> > business to a halt. They've already been dubbed
> the Killer D's, after the
> > tradition of the Killer Bees in 1979. Believe me,
> stopping the legislature
> > from functioning at this point is high public
> service.
> >
> > Speaker Craddick called it a "stunt." The R's have
> been pulling stunts
> > every day of this session, and don't write it off
> as payback for
> > heavy-handed Democratic rule. Speaker Pete Laney
> ran a fair House, and
> > everyone knew it -- these people are disgracing
> themselves and the state.
> >
> > The way things got to such a sorry pass is that
> the R's have been running
> > on rote, lockstep voting. No Democratic amendment
> gets considered on its
> > merits, no matter how sensible it is. Shell bills
> get introduced, and then
> > whole sections are amended on the floor, in a
> parody of legislative
> > process. Much time has been spent on gay-bashing
> and trying to take away
> > abortions rights. I'm starting to think right-wing
> Republicans all have an
> > unhealthy fixation on sexual behavior.
> >
> > The choices on how to spend money couldn't
> possibly make Republican
> > "values" any clearer. We can spend money on
> corporate welfare, but not on
> > people's welfare. We can't cover health insurance
> for our teachers, but we
> > must have brush control.
> >
> > The creepy thing about the far-right Republicans,
> who are definitely in the
> > majority in the House, is not that they are
> dismantling government because
> > they won't raise taxes, they're dismantling
> government because they think
> > it shouldn't help people. They really think health
> and human services
> > should not be provided. It's an old line among
> liberals that anti-choice
>
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com