The Texas House of Representatives had a quorum for the first time in months Thursday evening, as some Democrats trickled back after weeks of absence to block a voter restriction overhaul.
Ok, a really basic question: why did they come back and give Abbott the tools to fuck up the state?
House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-TX) struck a welcoming tone on Thursday
So they came back to TX because of Covid 19 - meanwhile they have NO leverage to pass anything remotely akin to useful covid 19 legislation, the GQP gov has an anti mask exec order in place and wants to defund schools, and the only thing the GOP wants to pass is regressive voting legislation. There is nothing useful they can accomplish in TX.
These damn fools are even dumber than I thought or they are turncoats (possibly both) and should be treated as such.
“Not my circus, not my monkeys!”
Would seem all of the doors for the Dems have closed, so bringing attention to the Repubs authoritarian electoral suppression moves is their last hope. The fact that this happens in a heightened pandemic in TX highlights the Repubs grotesque, self-serving priorities.
They were scared and lacked the courage of their convictions. This is once again about Republicans being willing to use every tool at their disposal while Democrats talk a big game but always ultimately fold.
To address @xcopy, the COVID stuff is just face-saving. All this happened because they were afraid of being arrested. Leave aside the fact that Texas has no jurisdiction to arrest people in another state, and that the D.C. government was, to say the least, unlikely to fully cooperate in delivering them to the tender mercies of a Texas prosecution that was, quite literally, political. Ultimately, they just blinked. If they’d stuck to their guns, they might at least have brokered some kind of compromise that is less-bad than what they are about to be stuck with.
Compare this to how a similar measure went down in Oregon last year:
Oregon Republicans walk out on the regular (four times in three years) but don’t get hit with these sorts of threats. Instead, what happens is Democrats - despite holding all the cards - beg the recalcitrant minority to return and agree to withdraw whatever caused their tantrum proximately.
Is it hypocritical to support Texans’ walkouts and not the Oregonians? No. I just wish the two sides were playing the same game. Instead, Democrats insist on sitting down for a genteel game of chess, only to get slugged in the face when they realize Republicans are engaging in an MMA match…
If Democrats aren’t willing to fight the GQP terrorists win.
Precisely. Now we have the likes of MTG calling the President of the United States a “piece of shit” on the house floor, because wtf will anyone do about it? Republicans are like the Taliban. This is siege warfare to them and they are in it for the long haul and they are in it to win at any cost. Democrats just don’t have that fiery zeal in them.
My opinion did a complete180 in about 10 seconds. From initially feeling some understanding for the “bind” the Dems were in (public health emergency, yadda yadda) to willingly walking right back to where they were a few weeks ago, with nothing to show for it - not yet, and maybe not ever.
Why did the Dems show up? Baffling and stupid, if not traitorous.
ETA This sort of spineless behavior is cause for people to wonder why they should even show up and vote for a Dem. What’s the point if this is what you get?
If you’re gonna pick a fight you better be willing to finish it. This just makes Democrats look weak. The GQP knows that all they have to do is wait the Democrats out and if you scare them enough eventually they’ll come back whimpering with their tail between their legs. The Democrats are a bunch of ______ (the noun I had in mind starts with P).
OK, thanks. That’s what I guessed, although I wondered if they got squeezed in other ways over the last few months. We should have set up a GoFundMe page.
They should have at least refused to go to the statehouse and forced Abbott to order their arrest
One of the good things about living in CA is we all vote by mail, so it really takes little time and effort to fill out your ballot and drop your postage paid ballot in the mail. However, if it took more than that I wonder if I would really make the extra effort? Vote for a spineless Democrat of go do a yoga class? That’s a hard one.
OK so at some point these people have lives and jobs besides being an elected official to a political body that meets every other year.
Another point is, they made their point. And have now firmly established the methods and means for which TX Republicans will go to get to screw the electorate. And there is a general election in TX this Nov.
The general election is Nov 22.
There is a special election in Aug for house district 10.
https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar#Upcoming_election_dates
Republicans have four major advantages.
Eh, since nothing as passed yet Aug 2022 is safe. Now if you had told me that there was an even steven split of Dems to Republicans in the Texas chambers then I’d be all for them Dems staying away.
Oh no I agree with your statement! You are 100 % correct
Hard to say, I guess. I doubt it was really about the money as such, though the potential for significant legal bills might have spooked some.
We’ll probably never really know - but my money is on them simply having lost their nerve after the Texas Supreme Court held that they could be subject to arrest.
