~terry
Wed, May 14, 2003 (09:55)
seed
Texas State Legislature members, faced with Tom Delay's redistricting plan,
cut bait and ran. All the way to Oklahoma.
"Rumors swirled all day that the missing-in-action House members had jetted
off to New Orleans or Santa Fe, N.M., for their self-imposed vacation. In
the end, the truth was a lot less exciting.
Some of the Democrats were located by reporters Monday night as they ate a
late dinner at Denny's in Ardmore, Okla.
The city of 23,700 is about 90 miles north of Dallas on Interstate 35, and
the locals like to boast that it was named an All-American City not once but
twice and that it's home to the Gene Autry Oklahoma History Museum."
(from the Austin Statesman report)
The Republicans want to cut up Lloyd Doggett's district which is mostly
Austin, Texas and make it into 4 strips of bacon which run all over the map
and down to the Rio Grande. Even if you're from California, you probably
know about liberal Lloyd Doggett, one of the few Congressment to oppose the
Iraq War and one of the few independent minded politicians on the scene
today.
Redistricting is just wrong, I believe. But the Dems would do it if they
had the chance.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are trying to get Federal Authority to arrest the
Legislators holed up at a Holiday Inn in Oklahoma and forcibly bring them
back the Legislature to vote.
It's comical, laughable.
More from the Snakeskin, er Statesman, article:
The visiting Texans covered their tracks carefully at a Holiday Inn where
they stayed. They checked in under assumed names, and the hotel manager was
well-prepared for reporters' calls, saying only that she could neither
confirm nor deny the lawmakers' arrival.
But their cover was blown at the Denny's in the hotel lobby.
"There's probably a good 15 of them," waitress Crystal Dawn Hale told the
American-Statesman by telephone. "They've been here all day."
The group ordered pot roast dinners, mini-burgers and chicken salad while
working over laptop computers, Hale said.
"We're working," Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, said Monday evening. "We'll
put out a bunch of stuff tomorrow."
~terry
Wed, May 14, 2003 (09:56)
#1
The Republicans are just aching to get the ok for the cops to round up these
legislators who didn't show up to work. They're are 53 of them holed up at
the Holiday Inn enjoying the fine Denny's cuisine. If they cross the State
line they *will* be arrested. DPS is asking the Feds for permission to
arrest them and haul them back to the State Capital. The House can't do
business without at least 100 of the 150 members there. There were only 92
members at the House on Monday.
~terry
Wed, May 14, 2003 (09:57)
#2
from the New Mexico AG:
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1388041,00.html
"Perry's office asked New Mexico officials if they would arrest House
Democrats who might have gone to that state.
New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid responded that the flap was "an
internal political matter" and advised Perry to follow standard extradition
procedures.
"I have put out an all-points bulletin for law enforcement to be on the
lookout for politicians in favor of health care for the needy and against
tax cuts for the wealthy," she said."
~terry
Wed, May 14, 2003 (10:00)
#3
And it gets weirder. Austin is the land of the weird isn't it?
A state trooper actually picked up one Legislator lady and delivered
her to the legislature and then said it was a "mistake"; they're not
letting the legislators who are at the Capital leave and they're now
getting closer to getting a quorum for a vote.
They're five short but the Troopers are out pressuring the legislators
to ride with them to the Capital without actually having the authority
to arrest them.
The Capital building is locked up and under armed guard, no one gets to
leave. The place is swarming with Texas Rangers and DPS Troopers. Now
they're talking about handcuffing the awol legislators and bringing them
back to the locked up Capital compound.
It's a crisis for Tom Delay, but no one else seems to think this
redistricting has to happen.
The 88 Republicans and four Democrats who showed up Monday remained locked
in the room until nearly 11 p.m., when Craddick got word that the absent
Democrats refused to return when approached by state troopers Monday night.
The Democrats have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon in
Ardmore, where they are holed up in a Holiday Inn.
The House has three days before a crucial deadline to consider major House
bills. House Bills that don't receive final House approval by midnight
Thursday are dead unless they can be resuscitated in the Senate or tacked on
to other bills.
http://www.statesman.com/legislature/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/0503/0513walk_update.html
Molly Ivans on the current Texas legislature:
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14981
"Believe me, stopping the legislature from functioning at this point is high
public service."
poor choice of a hideout.
Oklahoma?
Come one, give me a break. We have Santa Fe, New Orleans, even Little Rock.
Or how about a Carribean island? Puerto Rico. This break to OK shows
little imagination and sense of adventure.