Whoops!
Posted on 11/09/2014 6:31:55 AM PST by BobL
Imagine a 2/3rds rule in Washington where 1/3rd of Senators could block any legislation from coming to the floor.
Now imagine how our Republican squishes would be falling all over themselves to reach out to the other side. “We’re not really squishes, this is just the only way to get anything done. It’s not us, it’s the rules.”
That’s Texas’ 2/3rds rule in action.
Patrick ran on killing it. If it dies, so will the excuses for many Senators on why they’re really much more conservative than their voting records show.
Whoops!
“Patrick has a reputation for putting Patrick first. Who cares. If he does just those two things: kills the 2/3rds rule and no Dem Chairs, then he earned my vote.”
You have to...to win. But I hear you. He’s talked NON-STOP about killing off the 2/3s rule. The rule dates back to one-party Democrat rule and was intended to keep their extreme elements from mucking things up. It is TOTALLY OUTDATED now. He may concede a bit, such as a 60% rule, but he WILL NOT permit the Dems to use their 11 votes and be able to stop legislation - those days are over in the State Senate.
As to Dem chairs, I suspect that he’ll hand out some. Believe it or not there are some elected Democrats left in Texas that support American values...probably no other state, but there are some here. Let’s see what happens on this before passing judgment.
“Best news I’ve heard all day.”
It really is. I was sweating this particular election because I knew that the Dems would target it. If they lost this election, their party would be finished for DECADES in Texas, and they had to know it. If they could win this election and have the Dem be Lt. Gov., then everything would be in play.
But then something went TERRIBLY WRONG for them. Seems that their stunt regarding Voter ID backfired. They got their hack (Hispanic) federal judge to write a 147 page opinion shooting down Voter ID in 10 WORKING DAYS (i.e, she wrote it in 10 working days), complete with hundreds of footnotes (in an earlier post, I noted how amazed I am by the work ethic of Hispanics...but a 147 page judicial opinion, with the level of detail there, is simply not possible by any human).
So they tried to rig a rejection of Voter ID in Texas. They had the hearings (for 2 weeks) in September, and 10 working days later (early October), an ‘opinion’ that could have served as a PhD Thesis was written...right. The higher courts wanted NOTHING to do with it, and Voter ID, the toughest in the country, held, and any chance of Democrat victory ceased. They tried to get that opinion out so late that NO ONE could stop it - they learned a lesson regarding federal courts - they can move VERY QUICKLY, when required, and they did.
To vote in Texas, in 2014, required you show ID. The Dems lost by 20 points...winning is a lot harder when you are forced to play by the rules.
Look carefully at her face...and then compare it to Dan Patrick. SOMETHING IS THERE...for sure.
The Tea Party is very strong in Texas!
It is the Democrats who make an issue of Race, not Republicans!
The idea that one puts Democrats in charge of committee's is simply political treason!
“The Tea Party is very strong in Texas!”
Of course, and what has to SCARE THE HELL out of the Democrats is that Hispanics here REFUSE to be part of the Democrat reservation. In fact, should we get fed up enough to finally pull out of the United States, most (legal) Hispanics here, would likely be taking up arms on our side. We are MUCH MORE UNIFIED here in Texas now, and in a way that has no room at all for Democrats.
If they are that conservative, let them switch Parties.
I wouldn’t want my children and grandchildren to have to carry my baggage, how could I do the same to another..
...
Unless it’s the one reason they were elected to an office that doles out a tremendous amount of political favors.
“No Dem should be heading a chair. If they are that conservative, let them switch Parties.”
I hear you, but it had been different here. Dems COMPLETELY ran the show 25 years ago, and still let Republicans chair committees. It’s a WEIRD CONCEPT but, back then, there were a lot of Dems that loved America. Things are different now...I suspect that Dan will give the Dems some chairmanships, but if they act like Harry Reid, then those positions are FINISHED in the next legislature. We will see how it goes.
The Democrats blocked 50% of GOP legislature.
I am not sure about the Democrats allowing Republicans heading any committee's.
Also, Strauss (in the House) was elected to Speaker with Democrat votes with some Republicans, not by the majority of Republicans.
That has to be stopped as well!
There are 150 seats in the House. 76 is a majority for electing a Speaker.
Straus was originally elected in 2008 with almost the entire caucus of 65 Dems and 11 Rep voted him in. It was a coup against Speaker Craddock and a deal with the devil.
Dems control 1/3 of the Texas House but originated 51% of all bills signed last session.
Straus wife was on the board of Planned Parenthood and Straus has resisted bringing pro-life legislation to the floor, another reason why pro-life legislation in Texas has to go through special sessions specifically convened by the Gov. for that purpose.
Every election since 2009, Strauss has sought and funded squish primary opponents against conservatives.
I’ll give you another example of the politics played. In 2010, Straus directed PAC money to fund Tea Party member Marva Beck to defeat hard Dem Jim Dunham in the district that skirts Waco. They spent 500K on a state race to support a Tea Party activist that could oust the Dem. For 2012, they redistricted Beck and propped up a Republican squish, Trent Ashby, to take her out, which they did.
Of course, all that help “required” Tea Party member Beck to support Straus during the 2011 session, something she got hell for doing. What she got for her support was a sandbag.
Marva Beck raised almost 700K in 2010 and about 100K in 2012. Plus, they moved her where 2/3rds of her electorate was new. Staus wasn’t above riding the tea party wave in 2010 to defeat a political opponent (for reasons not related to party), demanding loyalty for his help to do so, and then stabbing Beck in the back two years later to ultimately get one of his own.
Politics in Texas is like everything else: Bigger.
Dan Patrick’s predecessor in the TX Senate was Jon Lindsay:
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=5922
Thanks, name sounds very familiar...he may well have been the jerk that treated Patrick and his busloads like garbage in Austin.
They thought they were cute, after all, what power could the owner of a small-time radio station in Houston have, against the people sitting at the highest levels of power in the state government (and a big state government at that)? They must have gotten a BIG LAUGH out of watching Patrick having a tantrum up there in the Senate Visitors’ Gallery. Now they answer to him.
Dan Patrick put T. “Bone” Pickur Pocket on a committee today.
I want my Vote back.
Bass Turd.
Dan Patrick is ALREADY the best LT Governor in Texas History.
Long overdue. All those years DewCrist was in that office and he did nada.
“Dan Patrick is ALREADY the best LT Governor in Texas History.”
THANKS FOR THE PING!!! I always knew this guy meant business. He made Senators vote on this same bill when he first took office (as a State Senator) 8 years ago. He lost 30 to 1. My how things change when you’re the person assigning committees, rather than the “nobody” in the Senate peanut gallery (as he was 10 years ago), or the peon freshmen Senator 8 years ago.
I still remember some of the Senate elders saying (always without attribution) how Patrick was a bit too “combative and divisive” for the chamber...and that he would eventually learn how to behave, if he wanted to get anything accomplished.
Seems like he just accomplished something in his first day that Dewhurst had 12 years to do. This will be FUN!!!
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