The Florida Supreme Court has rejected efforts by the Republican-dominated legislature to kill or weaken ballot initiatives to bar political gerrymandering of state and congressional districts.
Be nice if we could get something like that in Texas. I won’t be holding my breath.
Perry vetoed the odious SB1440, which would have rewarded the Department of Family & Protective Services for the YFZ Ranch fiasco by granting them even more power. Well done, Good Hair!
Tom Craddick: bully, coward, thug. Unemployed. Even better, replaced by a (for Texas) moderate Republican. Unsurprisingly, Rob Orr, who had previously been firmly lodged in Craddick’s duodenum, went for the new Craddick, Smithee, then jumped ship with the other rats at the last minute.
A Democratic resurgence in Texas has been predicted for a long time now by lots of people (myself included), but this poll seems to indicate that the GOP may finally be wearing out its welcome. If true, the Democrats have a VERY short window to get their act together. Assuming the State House stays divided (or even goes Democratic) in 2010, Democrats need a majority of three (from among the lieutenant governor, speaker, attorney general, comptroller and land commissioner) in order to control the Legislative Redistricting Board. Without more competitively-drawn district lines, Democrats cannot hope to regain the state senate or the majority in the congressional delegation.
A secret ballot would seem to doom everyone’s least favorite egomaniacal legislative dictator (even his supporters are getting disgusted), but many people (including me) have written Craddick’s political obituary before. He’s harder to kill than a cockroach.
Works Hard. Listens. Sues the Beejeezus out of people at the drop of a hat.
Burka brings teh funny.
“Fellow Republicans and patriots,
I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Democrats under Wendy Davis–I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade by their lawyers for 24 weeks and have not won a case–The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion; otherwise, my political career is to be put to the sword, if the seat is taken. I have answered the demand with a press release & our campaign signs still stand proudly on our campaign headquarters’ walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of partisanship, of ambition, of incumbency, of everything dear to the Fort Worth character, to come to our aid. Victory or death!”
In a blast from the past, dozens of House members walked out of the chamber, breaking quorum to protest the shabby, petty (and increasingly crumbling) dictatorship of Speaker Tom Craddick.
More from Kuff and BOR and the Observer.
Texas democracy: a full-body contact sport.
…George W. Bush? Apparently, there’s a “Unitary Speaker,” too. And with an “enemies list,” Craddick is apparently channeling the ghost of Dick Nixon, too.
Actually, all this is pretty damned entertaining; reminds me of the old days with Gib Lewis, Gus Mutscher, guys like that. BOR thinks Janek’s threat to filibuster the budget is really just water-carrying for Dewhurst, who hates Craddick’s guts (hey, get in line!) and knows the Speaker can’t survive a special session.
It’s too damned bad Molly Ivins isn’t still around; she would’ve loved this.
Eye on Williamson has more. Never fear, though, Mr. Speaker; Dan Patrick has your back. The Texas Observer (pissing off the powerful for 50+ years) has a breakdown on where Craddick’s bribe money–excuse me, I mean special higher education appropriations–has gone. Oh, apparently all this has happened before, in 1870. What is it with Republican Speakers of the Texas House? Is there some kind of curse?
The Local Crank