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.

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Sunday, May 09, 2021

Sunday Mothers Funnies

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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.

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Wednesday, May 05, 2021

Hump Day Bad Lege Round-up


Today the Republican-controlled statehouse moved quickly to outlaw a woman's right to make her reproductive choices, and to criminalize the actions of those who would assist her in doing so.


The bill is designed to be challenged at the SCOTUS, in a direct threat to Roe v. Wade with the new conservative justices -- installed by a corrupt US Senate process and its former leader, Mitch McConnell -- standing by, ready to strike it down.

When the previous president outsourced judicial selection to the Federalist Society, everyone understood that McConnell's long game of blocking Obama's bench appointments had paid off.  And Senate Democratic leadership declined to pay it back, allowing Moscow Mitch to pack the courts, which included ram-rodding the abominable Amy Barrett onto the Supreme Court just a few weeks after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  Barrett's well-known beliefs on this issue is the linchpin.

Their scheme is coming to fruition.  There have been many players and many circumstances that got us to this point, but do not discount the subtle, conservative extremism of the still shiny-new Speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan.

A number of states have already passed six-week abortion bans, only to see them struck down -- including by conservative courts such as the Fifth Circuit, which last year threw out a Mississippi law banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. “All agree that cardiac activity can be detected well before the fetus is viable,” the court wrote, adding: “That dooms the law.” Under Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court held that women have the right to an abortion prior to the point of viability.

Pro-life groups in Texas are trying a different tack. SB8, as passed by the Senate, would leave enforcement to individuals by creating a private cause for action. Such a law might not pass constitutional muster, but it can’t be challenged via the same litigation strategy that has thwarted all the other statewide six-week bans passed to date.

“It’s legally clever in some ways,” conceded Blake Rocap, the legislative director for Avow, the nonprofit formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice Texas.
This is Phelan's agenda.  His role -- appointing the chairs and members comprising the House committees who carry this water -- has been key.

That’s right: under SB8, anyone in the country could sue a Texan who “performs or induces an abortion in violation of this chapter” or who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance of an abortion” -- or, for that matter, who “intends to engage” in such conduct. [...] It would be absurd to be sued for such a thing, of course. But sillier lawsuits have been brought. And in addition to everything else -- and in stark contrast to the state’s general approach to frivolous lawsuits -- SB 8 would protect the litigants in such a situation, no matter how vindictive their motives or ridiculous their arguments: if you successfully defend yourself from such a lawsuit, you can’t even recoup your legal fees or other costs. [...] That may not be sufficient to thwart SB8’s passage in the House, or to prevent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott from signing it; he has declared abortion restrictions a priority for this session. Advocates are curious to see if it’s amended on the House floor -- and pessimistic about their chances of stopping the bill’s passage outright, given that the chamber is controlled by Republicans, more than 60 of whom have signed on as sponsors or cosponsors.

They will brag about this for years to come.  They will fund-raise on it.  They will gerrymander their seats so they can remain in Austin and Washington to do more and do worse, and they will restrict and suppress the votes of those who oppose them.

It's what they do.  Who's going to stop them?  Texas Democrats?


In other bad Lege news:


That's a great civics and First Amendment lesson for the kids, isn't it?


Update: The House permitless carry bill, HB1927, is being jammed through the Senate, courtesy Charles Schwertner, as I write this.


I don't have the tolerance for any more today.  I'll have a catch-up post on Friday.  I need to go long on the "calm-me-downs", previously assembled.

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