Showing posts sorted by date for query voter suppression. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query voter suppression. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, June 28, 2021

The Tardy, Brief, Ketchup Wrangle from Far Left Texas

Not as long as you or I feared.  First, let's load the chuck wagons and pluck the cockleburrs out of our saddle blankets and rest up this long weekend ahead before the Legislature's new/old business comes due.


Some lawmakers -- particularly Democrats -- seem less than thrilled about it.


Governor Fish Lips (what? you hadn't noticed?) thinks he's being tricky.


Texas Dems have asked the SCOTX to decide whether his veto of Article X -- which funds the Lege's staff -- is constitutional.


In other dictatorial developments:


Wrong disaster.


The worm may have finally turned against Abbott and Ken Paxton last week; some things that happened were suggestive.


Indiana won their lawsuit just last week.  Kuff also weighed in on a couple of polls that show no great love for what the Repubs have been doing lately, and Grits for Breakfast called Abbott's vetoes "a final punch in the nose for the bipartisan criminal justice reform movement".

Honestly though, in a state unplagued with Trump Syndrome, a Democratic Party with some cojones and a plan might stand a chance of flipping something in 2022.


The vice president didn't help the cause in her visit last week.


When all else fails, send in the doctor.


The local Donks have a new chair.  According to former precinct chair J.R. Behrman, he's Nigerian.  They also censured a state representative for his conduct.


I'll wrap this Wrangle with a few things worth celebrating.


And also, as mentioned, my mother Jean, marking her 95th year (and amazing us all)!
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, June 07, 2021

The #87th Lege Autopsies Wrangle from Far Left Texas



Some things can still take your (or at least my) breath away, and that scene -- on Sine Die a week ago -- was one.  Speaker Phorehead was pilloried by the Trump faction inside and outside the Capitol; Lt. Dan got in his licks, but the Beaumont Hi-Brow returned fire.


They blamed staff -- clerks and those who verify their work -- for mistakes, but they also lied about typographical errors.


Mostly they blamed each other, but they also blamed anybody and everybody but themselves for failing to pass legislation that would've let them brag even more about being "tha Mos' Cunservative".




Yeah, it's always somebody else's fault.


More election news in the next post, followed by environmental, then social justice, and maybe some more, all separate as I play a week's worth of catch-up.


Yes, we all have known this for quite some time now, Cillizza.  Little slow on the uptake, dude.  Still, I suppose it bears repeating for the exceptionally "special" learners among us (like the TXGOP).

The elephants plan on taking their revenge in special session.




I'll also break out Greg Abbott's week in a stand-alone post.

So we know what the Lege did, and did not, accomplish before the curtain came down on the 87th.  Let's review anyway.


Looking forward to more stories like this one.


I suppose that will wrap this for now.  Here's a few calm-me-downs.


Lots more on the way.
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

The king is dead. Long live the king

Mood.


Indeed, Alexa Ura tweets for all of us, and about the entire legislative session now finally over.  It was not a slog or a grind, it was a death march.  And like all Trails of Tears, the trauma continues long after they end.


Biden's passed the buck to VP Harris, who's already trying to escape the last quagmire he dumped in her lap (the border crisis).  And as long as Joe Manchin is king of the Senate, how much do you think is going to happen?  Really, we can have voting rights or the filibuster, and the status quo means 59-41 is still a losing score for Senate Democrats.

Good times.

Meanwhile Supreme Commander Abbott will strike out the pay of those who labored through this 140-day nightmare ...


... and if you thought he had finished off all his Haterade, you had better think again.


After securing Trump's endorsement in his 2022 re-election bid -- neutering Sid Miller and the rest of the Super Goon Squad -- Governor Helen Wheels is going on offense again, changing the subject from his fails at the Lege.


His chances of sweeping back into the Governor's Mansion for another four years just increased dramatically.  More politics in the next post.


Progress Texas posted their ten best and worst moments, but stuck to their usual "Democrats good, Republicans bad" script.  A fresh exception was the dishonorable mentions of Sen. Ed Lucio and Rep. Harold Dutton.  But there were plenty more bad Donkeys in this session, and some of them were your favorites.


(In a Svitek update, Minarez and Bernal apparently intended to vote against, and had that corrected.)


Accurate.  They killed some decent bills along with the bad, and SB7 will be brought back from the dead in a special.


Robert Rivard at the San Antonio Report had his fill of the 87th and the bizarre priorities of the state's leaders.  Reform Austin condemned the lack of action on fixing the power grid.  Jessica Montoya Coggins, blogging for the Texas Signal, offered some advice about accessing an abortion now that SB8 passed.  And Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast abandoned bipartisanship and called it what it is: fascism.

Harvey Kronberg also came up from the bipartisan ether.


So with a lot more to blog, let me post some of the other items, good and sad.


On a much-needed lighter note, The Great God Pan Is Dead introduces you to Houston's notorious "Darth Vader House", which is now on sale for the low, low price of $4.3 million.

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Guns Up, Voting Down Aggregation


Not so much a Red Raider Wrangle as a Wild West one.


You might find yourself envious of all the Democratic and Republican attorneys having an orgasm thinking about the billable hours they'll accrue when all of this legislation goes to court.


So let's not spend much more of our beautiful mind, or day -- the sun is trying to come out from behind the clouds after two weeks of dreary -- thinking about the wickedness pouring out of the Pink Dome like slime from a sewer.  After all, they still have voting to suppress, trans kids to stop from playing sports ...


... and all of this.


Then there will be redistricting in a special session later in the year.  A fresh hell for many dead bills to be resurrected.  In other words, there will be plenty to get irate about later.

Besides, there has been some good news.


Talerico wins my award for best lawmaker, going away.  He found several ways to make a positive impact during the most hideous legislative session ever.


Patrick's got it bottled up, though, so if this is your jam, it's time to act.


From my cheap seat, nobody has done a better job of Johnny-on-the-Spot advocacy than NORML this session.  Every Texan's Dick Lavine has been relentless on Chapter 313 and Texas Watch's Ware Wendell similarly on the trucking tort reform bill (which passed, unfortunately), but the weed folks have really moved the needle.

Corporate media has been shafted by Lege leadership, and transparency has been ... translucent when it hasn't been opaque.


That is to say, when they have not embarrassed themselves.


And some Republican state leaders learned the hard way that telling the truth is hazardous to their political health.


Dr. Hotez elaborates from his perspective.


So our beloved Texas has a poor prognosis for democracy, facts, and justice, unless the courts can come to our collective rescue.  Yes, I know.  Not the kind of blue anybody wants to turn.

Hard-right politics rules the day, week, month, year, biennium, and perhaps decade.


Are moderate Republicans -- and Democrats who vote in the GOP primary -- the only ones left to rescue the state from this fate?


It's a serious question.


I still I have a lot to post on these and other topics I have promised, but I'll pause here. One soother.

Posted by at No comments:

Monday, May 10, 2021

"I Can Almost See Sine Die" Wrangle


A tumultuous week last.


"The most conservative 48 hours in Texas history", Bud Kennedy at the Startlegram wrote.  And it still wasn't good enough for them.


At least Texas Democrats can muster a protest on the south steps of the Capitol, amirite?


Saturday was local and consent calendar day, and the mood was ...


Find the rare Texas Republican that gets the Pink Floyd reference.

Since these beans were hashed, smothered, fried and refried last week, I'll move on to some topics neglected; namely election and politics news developments.

The biggest enchilada left on the buffet for the Donks is the mayor's seat in Fort Worth.


In this Wrangle last week I posted that Austin had approved ranked choice voting for their city elections.  D Magazine says it's time for Dallas to do the same.  (Hey, Houston? San Antonio? Bueller?)

Serving notice to Joe Biden on his failures in South Texas are John-Michael Torres of La Unión, Norma Herrera of the Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice Network, and Roberto Lopez of the Texas Civil Rights Project, writing in the Rio Grande Guardian.  Nathan Newman in The Week points to a lifeline that the president could throw to El Paso and other blue cities in red states.

El Paso is being squeezed.

In 2019, the Texas state legislature passed SB2, which limits property tax increases to 3.5 percent per year. Meanwhile most of the city's budget is based on largely unfunded state mandates. And where the state in 2008 funded 45 percent of local education costs, that's been reduced to just 39 percent today.

So even before the COVID-19 crisis hit, "the wiggle room we have to spend on projects we think are important becomes smaller and smaller," observes El Paso County Commissioner David Stout.

A city similar in size to Boston and Washington, D.C., El Paso is politically a blue triangle at the far end of a sea of red in West Texas -- and Stout thinks politics plays a big role in the increasing limits on local spending: "The state legislature wants to stop local progressive policies from being put in place."

[...]

Luckily for the residents of these localities, there's new hope for an escape. President Biden's American Rescue Plan and the revival of Congressional earmarks are giving local cities, particularly in red states, the first chance in a generation to creatively plan new local projects to demonstrate the possibilities of progressive government.

El Paso's Stout says since Texas "has preempted us so much and taken over our budget, the only way we can fund anything else is through money coming from the federal government."

Read on.  And the H-Town firefighters whipped Sylvester Turner again.  Long past time to throw in the towel and pay the men and women, Mr. Mayor.


Criminal and social justice and injustice news:


Which member of the Supreme Court said that racism is over in America?  I forget his name -- I think it rhymes with Juan Boberts -- but I hear he's supposed to be the swing moderate vote now.  He's probably not on Twitter anyway.


*heavy sigh*

How about some environmental updates?

Rachel Meidl at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice’s Baker Institute, writing in the HouChron, thinks that the Bayou City can become a leader in the circular plastics economy.  Space City Weather explains Houston's new climate normals.


Elon Musk is taking over both South Texas and Austin.


The RGV is putting up some resistance.



And the Austin Chronicle lampooned Musk last month.


Proclaiming "an end to a century's worth of frustration and a great day for the schoolchildren of Texas," Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law today (Thursday, April 1) Senate Bill 3236, authorizing the purchase of the entire city of Austin, excepting the Capitol Complex and University of Texas campus, by area Technoking Elon Musk, henceforth to also hold the title of "Iron Mayor."

That's a good one to transition to the remaining soother.  I'll have more as the Lege works their, uh, magic this week.

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, May 07, 2021

Mothers Day Weekend Collation from Far Left Texas


You should have already made arrangements to go see your mother, take her out for lunch or dinner, send her flowers, chocolates, or her favorite something.  If you haven't, you had certainly better call her.  This would be especially important if she is at the stage of life where her memory is receding.  If she is no longer with you, celebrate your memories of her.  And if any of that is too difficult or painful to do, then I wish you peace and strength to accept with grace the emotions you may be feeling.


The Texas Legislature closed out a very long yesterday early this morning, passing the contentious voting restrictions legislation in a party-line approval after truculent debate, procedural delays, and more incompetence by the gaffe-prone chair of the statehouse committee in charge.


Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Unlike the Fab Four, I don't believe.


Dutton, a Houston Democrat, may be a little PO'ed because -- as the elections bills were being poured over by parliamentarians for hours on a point of order before the chamber moved on -- his bill regarding the takeover of certain (read: majority Black) HISD schools by the state was killed by a p.o.o. from Rep. Alma Allen, also of H-town.


Update:


*headdesk*


While TXGOP legislators are standing in solidarity, the House Democratic Caucus' fault lines are cracking wide open.


Most of these Blue Dogs are Latinos representing RGV districts, scared to death of losing to a Republican next year in the rising Red Tide coming to South Texas.  This is why TexDonks are in a world of hurt (among many other reasons, mostly of their own doing ... or not-doing).

Texans who will suffer most are those who have the least, as always.


Rural Texans will see their hospitals close, their doctors move away to make a better living, their loved ones get sick and die, and they will still vote a straight Republican ticket in 2022.  Even my well-endowed empathy has its limits for that amount of ignorance.

More bad at the Lege:


Pretty sure any random atheist knows there is no mention of guns in the Bible.  Not a good idea for a Christian to lie about what his god says.

Enough of this.  Moving on.


Something rich richer something poorer something.


And the environmental story of the week comes from Rolling Stone.


Abuse against female soldiers is not limited to Vanessa Guillen.


Austin has a homeless problem for a very good reason.


What percentage of 'close enough' to herd immunity will it take to protect our lives, health, and freedumbs?


Bless their hearts, Texas Democrats are fighting back with everything they have.  It's just that they don't have very much.


Kinda doubt the Gilley's folks are Democrats, but whatever; take the W where you can.  Here's a Mockery Moment.


Paxton has a lazy eye.  Ted Cruz has a lazy everything.


Sometimes these guys are funny; most of the time they are not.


Closing with the lighter side.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)