Only in Texas

[Stormbringer]

Legislative Standoff turns into real stand off

Am I the only one that finds this whole situation incredibly funny and incredibly stupid all at the same time? I've got to say it strikes me that both sides are acting like a bunch of little kids.

[Stormbringer]

Hijack split

[weemadando]

Woo. Texas. [/utter un-enthusiasm]

Its just too easy to beat up on some people.

[EmperorMing]

It is stupid. And it makes me wonder sometimes...

[Knife]

Legislative Standoff turns into real stand off

Am I the only one that finds this whole situation incredibly funny and incredibly stupid all at the same time? I've got to say it strikes me that both sides are acting like a bunch of little kids.

I actually find it hillarious. It is good PR for the Demo's, lets atleast face that. Makes the Repubs look like dumbfucks and stiffs at the same time. Good ploy for the lefties.

[Rubberanvil]

I actually find it hillarious. It is good PR for the Demo's, lets atleast face that. Makes the Repubs look like dumbfucks and stiffs at the same time. Good ploy for the lefties.

Problem for the Democrats is their're in Righty territory, also cowards aren't looked upon nicely here in Texas.

[Justin]

Also these idiots are still collecting their pachecks (courtesy of the taxpayers) while fucking off in Oky-ville. The governor is right. They were elected by the democratic process and they lost the vote by the democratic process. Tough titty. Quit your bitching and whining and get your ass back to work. Pity they can't be fired.

[Nova Andromeda]

Also these idiots are still collecting their pachecks (courtesy of the taxpayers) while fucking off in Oky-ville. The governor is right. They were elected by the democratic process and they lost the vote by the democratic process. Tough titty. Quit your bitching and whining and get your ass back to work. Pity they can't be fired.

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

[Sea Skimmer]

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

Fucking around with voting districts is done heavily by both sides. However I don't see Republicans running out of state when they can't get there way.

[Stormbringer]

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

Oh, yeah. The big bad Republican's are trying to take over the world.

Did you not notice the part how they're just redrawing the lines to be more in line with the votes? That's hardly nefarious or sinister. In fact it gives the voters even more say in the government because their votes will actually count.

"Fifty-six percent of Texas voters cast their vote for a Republican congressional candidate last fall, yet Texas sends more Democrats than Republicans to Congress. We're trying to change that," he said.

A shift of five seats to the Republicans would give them a 20-12 edge over Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation and help the GOP in its effort to keep control of Congress.

The Democrats now have a 17-15 advantage in the Texas delegation.

If the Democrats had a problem with it they should have fought it rather than running away. Instead they gave everyone the finger and are trying to block it with their charade. It's an immature stunt that'll only serve to hurt their cause.

Of course the Republican's overreacted in truly Texas fashion. They sent the Rangers after them. It's totaly wacko and it makes them look like a bunch of gun toting nuts still trapped in an Old West mentality.

[Col. Crackpot]

Also these idiots are still collecting their pachecks (courtesy of the taxpayers) while fucking off in Oky-ville. The governor is right. They were elected by the democratic process and they lost the vote by the democratic process. Tough titty. Quit your bitching and whining and get your ass back to work. Pity they can't be fired.

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

oh for fucks sake, i'm goddamn tired of this whole evil republican/evil democrat bullshit spouted constantly. it seems like every time a political party looses an arguement the procalim it as the end of the fucking world or a subversion of democracy. get over it. you win some. you lose some.

[Nova Andromeda]

--So you guys think it is perfectly okay to redraw district lines when you are in power in order to maintain that power
-A 20-12 split in favor of republicans (which is what they are planning on) does not reflect 56% favor of republicans. Don't give me this shit about them making things more "fair."
-I didn't see the Republicans admit that Bush lost the presidency. Why aren't they trying to fix that problem? *waits for everyone to cry foul and demostrate their hypocracy*

[Col. Crackpot]

--So you guys think it is perfectly okay to redraw district lines when you are in power in order to maintain that power
-A 20-12 split in favor of republicans (which is what they are planning on) does not reflect 56% favor of republicans. Don't give me this shit about them making things more "fair."
-I didn't see the Republicans admit that Bush lost the presidency. Why aren't they trying to fix that problem? *waits for everyone to cry foul and demostrate their hypocracy*

where were the democrats when their own party was re-drawing the district lines in the 60's and 70's to better suit their agenda? it is intectually dishonest for one political party to call a practice wrong when they pioneered it.

President Bush won the election legitimately. in the eyes of the constitution there is no such thing as a singular national popular vote. there are 50 individual popular elections of electors. (but don't take my word for it. see Article 2 Section 1 and also the 12th Ammendment)

[Stormbringer]

--So you guys think it is perfectly okay to redraw district lines when you are in power in order to maintain that power
-A 20-12 split in favor of republicans (which is what they are planning on) does not reflect 56% favor of republicans. Don't give me this shit about them making things more "fair."

That doesn't sound like it's a fair redistricting, more like a reversal of the current system. But the Democrats behaviour was the legislative equivalent of "screw you guys, I'm going home". That's in no way productive; it's simple obstructionism.

And even if it happens it still isn't the end of the democratic system your hyperbole claims.

-I didn't see the Republicans admit that Bush lost the presidency. Why aren't they trying to fix that problem? *waits for everyone to cry foul and demostrate their hypocracy*

Bush won the electoral vote and lost the popular vote. Only one of those counts when it comes to who parks their butt in the big desk and your boy Gore didn't win the right one.

And neither side is in favor of doing it because it'd kick over the happy little anthill that is presidential campaigns. It would cause such a radical shift in how the system works and it would marginalize so many people that it'd never happen. Never mind the incredible challenge of re-writing a big chunk of the Constitution. It's never going to happen.

I think a direct popular vote should be implimented. The American voter should be able to pick our own president after all. But it sadly, won't happen.

[Durandal]

Gerrymandering was voted as legal by the Supreme Court. The Democrats really only have a case if they can show the Gerrymander was obstructing the representation of a certain segment of the populace, i.e. splitting an taking an all black county and segmenting it into a bunch of different ones which are all part of larger, white counties in order to prevent a black representative from being elected.

[Starscream]

This will really be hurting my district no matter which side wins, because my city is right on the edge of the new proposed district instead of in the middle and more than half of the votes are 200 miles away in Ft. Worth. So while the representative that is supposedly represtenting my district will actually be campagning across the state.

[Striderteen]

The Democrats are acting like a bunch of spoilt brats. Redrawing district lines is business as usual in the political game; they're just pouting because they lost.

[The Albino Raven]

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

Fucking around with voting districts is done heavily by both sides. However I don't see Republicans running out of state when they can't get there way.

Maybe so, but this wasn't organized as redistricting is supposed to be, on the state level. The House Majority Leader sent redistricting maps HE DREW to legislatures where he thought they would pass (Texas, Colorado). This kind of national political subversion hasn't happened before, and I don't blame the Dems for doing what they have been doing.

[The Albino Raven]

--I can't believe you people think this is just some big game! This is the republicans trying to subvert the gov. by any means necessary. It is yet another sign that if you aren't on their side you are pretty much screwed and better find the nearest fox hole....

Oh, yeah. The big bad Republican's are trying to take over the world.

Did you not notice the part how they're just redrawing the lines to be more in line with the votes? That's hardly nefarious or sinister. In fact it gives the voters even more say in the government because their votes will actually count.

Seen the map of redistricting for Texas? There are two conservative areas in cities 200 miles away connected as one district by a strip of land 2 blocks wide. If that isn't twisting and tweaking and gerrymandering, i dont know what is.

"Fifty-six percent of Texas voters cast their vote for a Republican congressional candidate last fall, yet Texas sends more Democrats than Republicans to Congress. We're trying to change that," he said.

A shift of five seats to the Republicans would give them a 20-12 edge over Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation and help the GOP in its effort to keep control of Congress.

The Democrats now have a 17-15 advantage in the Texas delegation.

If the Democrats had a problem with it they should have fought it rather than running away. Instead they gave everyone the finger and are trying to block it with their charade. It's an immature stunt that'll only serve to hurt their cause.

Of course the Republican's overreacted in truly Texas fashion. They sent the Rangers after them. It's totaly wacko and it makes them look like a bunch of gun toting nuts still trapped in an Old West mentality.

[The Albino Raven]

Damn it. Sorry, i made an error in my above post. The follwoing text was not part of the quote by Stormbringer, I wrote it.

Seen the map of redistricting for Texas? There are two conservative areas in cities 200 miles away connected as one district by a strip of land 2 blocks wide. If that isn't twisting and tweaking and gerrymandering, i dont know what is.

[NapoleonGH]

Fact is that the redistricting of a state should not be allowed to be done by the party that would most benefit from said redistricting.

BTW i laugh at whoever said that this would better serve democracy as 56% of the voters voted republican but there aer more democrats in office, i take it that the voter majority being a good way of judging who should win elections applies only when republicans want it to, but say when George W. Bush got elected while not getting the most popular votes, i never heard republicans complaining that democracy wasnt being served.

[Beowulf]

Fact is that the redistricting of a state should not be allowed to be done by the party that would most benefit from said redistricting.

BTW i laugh at whoever said that this would better serve democracy as 56% of the voters voted republican but there aer more democrats in office, i take it that the voter majority being a good way of judging who should win elections applies only when republicans want it to, but say when George W. Bush got elected while not getting the most popular votes, i never heard republicans complaining that democracy wasnt being served.

We went over the Electoral College bit already. It got split. Take your bullshit about GWB failing to get .5% more of the vote to that thread. And naturally the party that's in control will get the benefit from redistricting. You'd have to be a loonie to say that they should make the other party benefit.

[Cosmic Average]

Isn't redrawing district lines done because of the census?

The Texas Legislature failed to pass a new district map after the 2000 census, so a federal court ordered a reapportionment plan in 2001. November's elections gave Democrats their 17-15 edge in congressional seats, but Republicans took control of the state House and Senate, and reopened the redistricting debate.

Democrats want to keep the court plan in place until the 2010 census.

The Republicans tried a similar gambit.

In Washington, some Republicans poked fun at the walkout in Texas, but Democrats pointed to a 1988 incident in the U.S. Senate, when Republicans in that chamber boycotted a debate on a campaign finance reform bill.

[/quote]

[ArthurDent]

--So you guys think it is perfectly okay to redraw district lines when you are in power in order to maintain that power

The Democrats did it in Texas in 1991 (the time when the Republicans didn't leave the state). In fact three of the districts the Democrats created in 1991 were thrown out in 1996 because a court found them to be illegal gerrymanders. Are you going to condemn what the Democrats did or is it only bad when Republicans try do it?

-A 20-12 split in favor of republicans (which is what they are planning on) does not reflect 56% favor of republicans. Don't give me this shit about them making things more "fair."

So apparently you believe that the current political swing to the Republican line shouldn't be reflected in all elected offices? Look at the last election. The Governor, Lt. Governor, the vast majority of judges, all the major executive elected positions, and control of both the State House and the State Senate for the FIRST TIME since RECONSTRUCTION isn't indicative of the will of the people? And that's not even including the fact that BOTH US Senators from Texas are Republicans.

The redistricting of 1991 was done to solidify Democrat control of those Congressional seats. The Republican proposal would reverse that gerrymandering to more favorably match the mood of the voting populace, which put the Republicans in control of the state government in almost every singe aspect possible. The decline of Democrat power in Texas is such that they had to leave the state to have any influence at all. Hopefully the Democrats will lose more House seats in the next election and a quoruom can be achieved without them.

-I didn't see the Republicans admit that Bush lost the presidency. Why aren't they trying to fix that problem? *waits for everyone to cry foul and demostrate their hypocracy*

Bush didn't lose the presidency. If he had he wouldn't be in the White House - even the Democrats recognize him as the the President. Besides, Bush carried the state of Texas quite easily so no action is required on a state level in Texas since our process worked.

[Iceberg]

Ah, yes. Arthur. Mr. "Everything a Republican does is automatically justified; everything a Democrat does is automatically wrong."