Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: WineMan on May 14, 2003, 10:36:33 AM
-
If you can't beat'em, run away! A bunch of whiners in Texas' Congress decided to boycott the legislature by fleeing the state and denying a quorum.
Full story: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-politics-texas.html
or here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030513/ts_nm/politics_texas_dc_3
Now, I don't care what political party you are, this is the most chickens**t, child-like action by politicians I have seen yet!
Oh, we aren't going to win the votes so we just boycott the legislature.... I hope they lose their pay!
And if I were the majority party in the Texas, when we did get a quorum again, I'd vote to lower it so that the next time a "boycott" occurs, you could could still function and then just pass anything you want.
-
Tar and Feathers
-
Clear out of feathers... Dowding took them all and wont tell us why.
What abotu Cherrios?
-
Oh man you just don't know what all they are messing up. There was actually some important legislation that is dieing now because of this stunt. At first I thought it was all about the redistricting, but the more I think about it and the more bills I hear that are dead now I think it was part of a bigger strategy to kill ALL the legislation they knew they would lose on. ChickenSh*t to the extreme. And not the first time they've pulled this stunt here in Tx.
They arrested one of the scumbags yesterday and took her to the house. I wish Ok would arrest the rest of the bastards and send them to the state line.
[edit] I heard on the radio this morning that it's costing $36,000 a day for this stunt and that a special session could cost over a million dollars......
:mad:
-
ohh yea shure and if the republcans dont get their way we will all go to jail. they are trying to stop blatant gerymandering that will be bad for texas but good for the republican party. im all for um.
p.s. our texas web poll at nbc in beaumont, tx was 3700 for the act. to 400 against till somone bombed them with 4000 votes for ( from a very republican office) guess they dont understand cookies :)
so basicly the majority here want them to do it. and the republicans are showing themselves, bigtime.
"hail texas down with bush"
-
I heard on the radio this morning that it's costing $36,000 a day for this stunt and that a special session could cost over a million dollars......
Seeing how concerned Udie is about wasteful spending, I'm sure he feels the same way about the 1 million dollar campaign ad stunt that Bush pulled doing a tailhook landing on the TR the other day....right Udie?
Udie? :D
-
Originally posted by lord dolf vader
ohh yea shure and if the republcans dont get their way we will all go to jail. they are trying to stop blatant gerymandering that will be bad for texas but good for the republican party. im all for um.
p.s. our texas web poll at nbc in beaumont, tx was 3700 for the act. to 400 against till somone bombed them with 4000 votes for ( from a very republican office) guess they dont understand cookies :)
so basicly the majority here want them to do it. and the republicans are showing themselves, bigtime.
"hail texas down with bush"
Oh man you got it wrong, it's more like trying to correct 130+ years of blatant gerymandering. Oh and doing it in a constitutional way. The dems? Once again the constitution is a barrier to what they want. They sure would have a much easier time of it if they could just get rid of that stupid constitution huh?
:rolleyes: (sorry animal)
-
So, is it really illegal what they are doing, or just annoying?
Granted, it is not very sporting.
-
Originally posted by lord dolf vader
ohh yea shure and if the republcans dont get their way we will all go to jail. they are trying to stop blatant gerymandering that will be bad for texas but good for the republican party. im all for um.
p.s. our texas web poll at nbc in beaumont, tx was 3700 for the act. to 400 against till somone bombed them with 4000 votes for ( from a very republican office) guess they dont understand cookies :)
so basicly the majority here want them to do it. and the republicans are showing themselves, bigtime.
"hail texas down with bush"
I would be just as angry if Republicans did the same thing - it's not the way the legislature is supposed to work. You go in, you vote. You don't leave your job (which is what they are doing) because you can't get your way (anyone else does this and they get fired). And if the majority of people support them according to the polls, why don't they elect more democrats? Besides, I don't lend much credence to polls like this anyway - those who are the most upset or political will vote, it doesn't sound (according to your post) like it was a poll but rather a website-log-in-and-vote. Many people who may have different opinions don't necesarily log in and vote.
They should work within the established rules of the congress. And if they don't like it, the voters need to elect people that share their opinions and then they can change the rules....
-
well from what I've learned from local talk radio it's illegal but there is no punishment, other than having the DPS or Texas Rangers hunt them down and arrest them to bring them to the House. (which is why they left the state) Meanwhile a bill that would ballance the state budget without raising taxes withers on the vine while they cost the state $36,000 a day PLUS the salaries of all the cops looking for them, PLUS the extra million or so that will be needed for the special session to pass the shreck'n budget.
Sad part is that people actually back them on this. A local radio station had a reporter at the hotel they are staying at in Ok. He said it was a party up there. Water volleyball all day, clubs at night. I can only hope that one or more of them was stupid enough to use state money for this. Then we'd have something to nail them with that would hopefully put them in jail.
BTW, the dems had control of the congress here in 2001 when the redistricting was supposed to be done. They didn't even bring it up for a vote then and a 3 judge panel had to do it. THAT"S why it's up for a vote now. The Republicans are fufilling their constitutional duties unlike the otherside. Even when it passes it still has to be aproved by the courts here too.
If I get time I'll try and find the current district maps. They are funny. Shiela Jackson Lee's (d-houston) district meanders all over town only as wide as a street in some places. And THEY talk about gerrymandering, LOL...
-
So why is redistricting being shoved down the throats of the Dems when the State budget is in turmoil? Maybe the Republiclowns need to get their priorities straight!
Killer Bees... part II
-
I figured I'd better paste the story before Yahoo updates its pages. My comments are in italics; bold added for emphasis.
=====From Yahoo News=====
Top Stories - Reuters
Texas Democrats Flee State, Paralyze Legislature
Tue May 13, 6:07 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Jim Forsyth
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Renegade Democratic Texas legislators hunted by state police made their stand against a Republican congressional redistricting plan and holed up in a hotel across the border in Oklahoma on Tuesday.
The Democrats claim the redistricting plan would unfairly favor Republicans in U.S. congressional elections.
The walkout by more than 50 Texas House Democrats effectively shut down the Legislature on Monday by denying Republicans a quorum of 100 -- enough legislators present to conduct business in the 150-member chamber.
"This is the last weapon available to us. It is used once in a generation. This is our Alamo stand," fugitive Democratic Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon said from Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Fifty-one Democrats set up shop in the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, just a few miles km over the state line, to protest a redistricting plan engineered by Texas Republican Tom DeLay, the majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"We have a message for Tom De Lay: Don't mess with Texas," Rep. Jim Dunnam, one of the walkout's leaders, told reporters gathered outside the Democrats' refuge. That same quote was used by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live when he impersonated the President!
Texas police, including the famed Texas Rangers, were powerless to do anything other than offer to escort the legislators back to Austin. The Democrats rejected that idea.
House Speaker Tom Craddick ordered police on Monday to track down the runaway legislators and return them to the House floor, forcibly if needed. But Craddick's order holds no legal force outside of Texas, since the legislators are not technically accused of a crime. What about abandonment of their constituents? If I was a citizen of Texas, I'd be itching for the next election to come around.
A spokesman for Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, said police in that state would not remove the legislators without an Oklahoma court order. None was forthcoming.
HOLDING OUT
The Democrats plan to stay in Oklahoma until a key voting deadline passes on Friday or until Republicans take the redistricting plan off the table, which Craddick has refused to do. In a way, I'm kind of glad to see them refuse to accept the yoke of a dominant party, but at the same time I can't help but wonder why the Republicans are so adamant about the redistricting plan. Something doesn't seem right there.
Dunnam said the DeLay plan, which would change a U.S. Supreme Court-approved redistricting plan, had derailed discussion on more important issues -- a nearly $10 billion budget deficit, school funding and health care problems. Wait a minute, so the Republican leader is defying a Supreme Court decision? Now I'm really suspicious of the Republican motives.
DeLay criticized the fugitive Democrats and said he hoped federal agents could be called in to bring them back.
"You ought to stand and fight for what you believe in and not turn and run," DeLay told reporters at his weekly briefing in Washington. "It's just so contrary to what Texas is all about, to turn tail and run."
On Tuesday, plainclothes state police investigators nabbed Rep. Helen Giddings as she got into her car in Austin.
"We picked her up outside of her apartment and we escorted her to the House chambers to the sergeant-at-arms," Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.
Three other missing Democrats, not part of the walkout, returned to the Capitol on Tuesday. Democrats hold 62 seats in the legislature and the Republicans 88.
This is the third time Texas legislators have resorted to denying quorum to defeat legislation. The last time was in 1979. (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell in Washington and Jon Herskovitz in Dallas) Anyone know what the issue was back then?
-
I've got mixed emotions about this. While I don't like their methods, I think the dems do have a point regarding redistricting.
The law states that redistricting should happen after every census. This has already occured in Texas after the 2000 census. The courts (not a gerrymandering democratic party) did it after the legislature was unable to pass a redistricting plan. This was all before the Republicans gained control of the legislature in 2001. Since then, the Republicans have pushed for re-redistricting without any precedent for changing an already-adopted redistricting for a census cycle. That is why this will go to the courts if it passes.
I think the dems should have just let this pass, though, and taken the fight to the courts. This may stop redistricting, but I think they will turn a lot of centrist voters against them.
-
GoFaster, here (http://www.statesman.com/hp/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/killerbees/killerbees.html) is an article about the 1979 episode.
-
Funny thing is, they're stayin in MY town. (Ardmore)
Why couldn't they at least be Republicans so I could make fun of em..
-
Originally posted by Rutilant
Funny thing is, they're stayin in MY town. (Ardmore)
Why couldn't they at least be Republicans so I could make fun of em..
LOL Rutilant,
Get those bastages! Make a citizen's arrest! LOL Being neither a staunch Democrat or Republican, I must admit that this behavior is ridiculous regardless of which side you're on.
To me, it's like striving to grab the grapes, and when you can't reach them, say you didn't want them in the first place and run away.
It's pathetic behavior at best.
-
The dems are just cry baby *******s.
They must have gone to the Slick willy Clinton school of how to get things done.:p
-
They must be pony pilots,,run run run run:p
-
Originally posted by rc51
The dems are just cry baby *******s.
They must have gone to the Slick willy Clinton school of how to get things done.:p
When are you guys gonna get over the fact that Clinton kicked your prettythang for 8 straight years?
-
He sat on his prettythang and got a blow job on the tax payers salery!!!
then has the balls to lie about it.
Other than that there is samolia to blame him for .
the list of his F %^&k ups goes on and on.
-
Where the hell is Samolia?
-
you can get samolia from raw chicken, so wash you hands and make sure the chicken is well cooked.
-
Clinton's handling of Somalia was an embarrassement.
-
I won a few samolians on the last Laker game.
-
Originally posted by Rutilant
Funny thing is, they're stayin in MY town. (Ardmore)
An entrepreneur would be out there selling t-shirts out of a backpack and donuts and popcorn out of a lunch cart. If the politicians won't buy, I'm sure the reporters milling around waiting for something to happen sure will. :p
"Popcorn! Donuts! Fresh boiled peanuts! Get'em right here, folks!"
-
Originally posted by midnight Target
I won a few samolians on the last Laker game.
That's the best one yet!
-
One good thing about all the Dems in Texas running to Oklahoma is that the average IQ's of both states went up :D
-
Vader, you've finally shown what a complete love muffin-moron you are. It is so self-evident now that I need not go on, but I will.
That you lefty's think it's ok to play by the rule of government until it's not convenient for you is sickening.
"Well, we'll play fair until we are losing, then we'll take our game token(you have no balls) and go home. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
What a bunch of rutabagas. That you agree with their behavior says all it needs to about your character, Vader.... or utter lack thereof.
-
Midnight Target quote:"So why is redistricting being shoved down the throats of the Dems when the State budget is in turmoil? Maybe the Republiclowns need to get their priorities straight! "
MT, get your facts straight before you post such comments. Revealing your ignorance in such a manner undermines what little, if any, credibility you had. Let me post a snippet for you that should, but won't, enlighten you as to why you are ignorant.
"...the dems had control of the congress here in 2001 when the redistricting was supposed to be done. They didn't even bring it up for a vote then and a 3 judge panel had to do it. THAT"S why it's up for a vote now. The Republicans are fufilling their constitutional duties unlike the otherside."
Get it MT? The dems had a chance to do their job in 2001 but once again declined to do so. Kinda like Clinton... don't do anything of substance for 8 years... just let it become the problem of future administrations.
It may take many years but you liberals, with opinions that are nowhere near based in reality, will be the death of this country. Thankfully, if anarchy ever reigns, the rebulicans will be that only ones with the 'nads to do anything. You dems will just sort of well... die off because all the public assistance programs will be gone and you'll have to fend for yourselves. That and all your whining will probably get you shot.
-
Originally posted by Steve
Vader, you've finally shown what a complete love muffin-moron you are. It is so self-evident now that I need not go on, but I will.
That you lefty's think it's ok to play by the rule of government until it's not convenient for you is sickening.
"Well, we'll play fair until we are losing, then we'll take our game token(you have no balls) and go home. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
What a bunch of rutabagas. That you agree with their behavior says all it needs to about your character, Vader.... or utter lack thereof.
interesting
-
Revealing your ignorance in such a manner undermines what little, if any, credibility you had. Let me post a snippet for you that should, but won't, enlighten you as to why you are ignorant.
And I so wanted you to like me too.
LOLOLOL
My favorite quote from those brave souls in OK.
the Democrats holed up in a Holiday Inn across the Oklahoma state line and returned verbal fire. They said the row was all down to carpet-baggers in Congress trying to fiddle the 2004 election, led by Texas's own Tom DeLay, the Republican majority leader with the disturbingly French-sounding name.
Your hero's!!!
Republicans have been mostly idle since Monday, engaging in paper-wad fights and designing "wanted" posters and playing cards with the missing lawmakers' pictures.
Or maybe the dems could just follow the example of the reps and hire a special prosecutor at 100 million dollars plus to find SOMETHING on the opposition.
-
Ahh but MT, I DO like you. :)
We just disagree.
-
Originally posted by Steve
Ahh but MT, I DO like you. :)
OK, but don't let Dowding know....
-
Originally posted by Udie
One good thing about all the Dems in Texas running to Oklahoma is that the average IQ's of both states went up :D
:)
-
Originally posted by Udie
Oh man you just don't know what all they are messing up. There was actually some important legislation that is dieing now because of this stunt.
Udie, what more laws could Texas actually pass? I mean, once Texas outlawed dildos you'd think all the really important laws, like those outlawing murder, rape and jaywalking, would already be in place. What "important legislation" is getting held up? A ban on thong underwear?
-
I love my thong! I may never be able to go to Texas again. :/
-
Originally posted by WineMan
If you can't beat'em, run away! A bunch of whiners in Texas' Congress decided to boycott the legislature by fleeing the state and denying a quorum.
Now, I don't care what political party you are, this is the most chickens**t, child-like action by politicians I have seen yet!
Oh, we aren't going to win the votes so we just boycott the legislature.... I hope they lose their pay!
And if I were the majority party in the Texas, when we did get a quorum again, I'd vote to lower it so that the next time a "boycott" occurs, you could could still function and then just pass anything you want.
oh yah. maybe they should have fillibustered.
-
shows just what a sad sack of numbnuts the handsomehunkcrats have become .. rolling back into town, honking their horns and claiming this run and hide action a "victory" :rolleyes:
Texas Dems return home (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/16/texas.legislature.ap/index.html)
-
Originally posted by Eagler
shows just what a sad sack of numbnuts the handsomehunkcrats have become .. rolling back into town, honking their horns and claiming this run and hide action a "victory" :rolleyes:
Texas Dems return home (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/16/texas.legislature.ap/index.html)
Hey, it works for the French! (sorry, haven't bashed the French in over a week, and was having withdrawels:))
-
Originally posted by Steve
"...the dems had control of the congress here in 2001 when the redistricting was supposed to be done. They didn't even bring it up for a vote then and a 3 judge panel had to do it. THAT"S why it's up for a vote now. The Republicans are fufilling their constitutional duties unlike the otherside."
Redistricting is done every ten years in conjunction with the census, and Democrats said this plan was unnecessary because new districts were drawn two years ago.
Well... were they drawn or weren't they?
-
You guys should think this through. Personally I wish ALL politicians would leave town. There's not one politician on the planet that isn't convinced we're only one more law, rule or regulation away from a perfect Utopian society, and they are just the leader we need to "lead" us into that perfect Utopian society.
The only downside I can see if all politicians vanished is that we'd have nothing to discuss on these bbs other than bashing the French.
-
Originally posted by midnight Target
Well... were they drawn or weren't they?
it was up for a VOTE to see if they should reconsider redistricting
they are suppose to vote on these and other issues...that be that them thar job.
so any vote on an issue they know they ain't gonna win - they all just going to jump on a bus and head outa town?
handsomehunk crybaby chicken ****s
-
I got to believe that you Eagler would be jumping on the Republigoons bandwagon if the roles were reversed. Imagine that the Dems took over the legislature and decided to redraw the districts 2 years after the census redistricting had already been done?
-
Hell yea MT. If the Republicans were to ban plastic lawn flamingos you'd see Eagler become a liberal tree hugger so quick you'd think he was Blitz.
-
Originally posted by Airhead
Hell yea MT. If the Republicans were to ban plastic lawn flamingos you'd see Eagler become a liberal tree hugger so quick you'd think he was Blitz.
hey - leave my flamingos out this :)
nope MT I'd think them chicken****s and would let them know it ...
-
Originally posted by Eagler
shows just what a sad sack of numbnuts the handsomehunkcrats have become .. rolling back into town, honking their horns and claiming this run and hide action a "victory" :rolleyes:
Texas Dems return home (http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/05/16/texas.legislature.ap/index.html)
Ya oughta read the whole article before posting a link. Talk about a sad sack of numbnuts!!
"Meanwhile, the federal Department of Homeland Security said it had been drawn into the four-day standoff when a Texas law officer indicated that a plane carrying Democrats might have crashed.
The call to Homeland Security was placed Monday, when Texas Republicans were desperately seeking Democrats' whereabouts. The Homeland Security Department said in a statement that it did not use its aircraft in response"
Nice use of fed resources, eh?
-
Originally posted by Arfann
Ya oughta read the whole article before posting a link. Talk about a sad sack of numbnuts!!
"Meanwhile, the federal Department of Homeland Security said it had been drawn into the four-day standoff when a Texas law officer indicated that a plane carrying Democrats might have crashed.
The call to Homeland Security was placed Monday, when Texas Republicans were desperately seeking Democrats' whereabouts. The Homeland Security Department said in a statement that it did not use its aircraft in response"
Nice use of fed resources, eh?
huh?
if they wouldn't have run away, the call would never have been made..
another enlightened gronk post
-
Originally posted by midnight Target
Well... were they drawn or weren't they?
NO, The congress couldn't decide so the courts ruled to leave them the same way.
-
Originally posted by JBA
NO, The congress couldn't decide so the courts ruled to leave them the same way.
Well, there ya go then- all's well that ends well. :D
-
Originally posted by Eagler
huh?
if they wouldn't have run away, the call would never have been made..
another enlightened gronk post
Well, not quite enlightened yet, but thanks for noticing.
The point for those too blind (or stupid) to see, is that both sides are quite capable of over reacting in the name of political "winning", even when the public is the ultimate loser.
-
MT, I'd be up in arms if my republican reps did this. One plays by the rules even if at a disadvantage or that person has no integrity. I absolutely would not have behaved this way, nor would I have tolerated it from my teammates. Imagine being in a game, late in the third period and you had one of your teammates called for some ticky-tack minor that shouldn't have been called at all and you had to play the last two minutes short handed. Instead of digging in and trying to get the job done, your team just skated off the ice, into the locker room. Think, in that private part of yourself... how would you really feel about yourself? I don't know you very well, but I imagine that if you actually managed to do this, that you'd feel shame...like any other competitor would feel.
-
Politics aren't a game Steve- politics is life. The rules said they had to have X number of reps to vote on redistricting, the Dems were shure to be losers on the issue, so they worked around the issue by staging a mass defection to Oklahoma. (Personally they should have picked someplace nicer to hide out, like California or Hawaii.) It's how the "game" of politics is played by both sides.
-
Airhead, I respectfully disagree. Frankly, the voters spoke and the reps were elected accordingly. Nowhere is it written or implied that if you don't like the status quo, you can go home.
How would you feel if this happened in our Senate, during some budgetary crisis, war?....if EITHER side did something like this, I'd be disgusted..as I am now.
You could riposte that the clowns in TX are no comparison to the buffoons in the Senate.. but the situation is similar.
I think it's just plain irresponsible.
-
Originally posted by midnight Target
When are you guys gonna get over the fact that Clinton kicked your prettythang for 8 straight years?
He he, me thinks the disgrased and impeached Clinton lost the house in 94 then the Senate then the Presidency in 2000. Yep, come kick more prettythang,please LOL!!!
When are you Dems going to wake up and realize that the disgraced and impeached Bill Clinton isn't doing anything good for your party. Surely you realize that the Dems will field a presidential canidate that can't win because if they field a winner then Hillary can't run in 2008! Wake up and take your party back!!!!
-
They denied quorum as a political tool is all. More underhanded than a filibuster? Sure, but they didn't actually violate the law, or if they did that all too brief article didn't mention it.
Politics is a dirty business- add to that the fact the renegade Dems were fighting to maintain their jobs and it gets even dirtier. Really, I'd say the same thing if it was Repugs that ducked out, and anyway the only difference between Texan Republicans and Texan Democrats is the method of execution they favor for all convicted of anything more serious than jaywalking.
-
Can't disagree with some of what you said Air... but I still think it's irresponsible.. regardless of which side prepetrated the act.
Let's agree to disagree there.
-
There is a bit of sniffle to running away from the first legislative session in 150 years where you haven't been the controlling party.
-
"irresponsible politician" is an oxymoron... like "jumbo shrimp."
-
Originally posted by Airhead
"irresponsible politician" is an oxymoron... like "jumbo shrimp."
Think it through, Airhead! This is no oxymoron. It's a genuine bonafide REDUNDANCY.
-
Doh... I meant to say responsible politician...:confused:
-
Check this... http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=669
Apparently, the DHS "played a critical role in tracking down the Democratic legislators who went missing from the Texas Capitol."
WTF?
-
IIRC, DHS stated that the Texas cops misrepresented the situation to them. Said they were looking for a "downed aircraft".
If so, I think the finger points at Texas, not DHS.
-
from the above link.
"The agency got a call, it's unclear exactly from when or from whom, to locate a certain Piper Turbo-Prop aircraft."
The Air and Marine Interdiction and Coordination Center in Riverside reportedly tracked the aircraft in question -- which belongs to former House Speaker Pete Laney, one of the departed Democrats -- to Ardmore, Oklahoma.
When questioned, Republican Tom Craddick admitted that the information about the plane's location was critical to solving the mystery of where the Democrats had disappeared to. "We called someone and they said they were going to track it," Craddick said of the plane. "That's how we found them."
cite for your comment toad?
-
I'm just curious....let's say in the future the Democrats have the majority,and the Republicans pulled the same action to block a similar move or legislation they didn't like.
Would those of you defending the Democrats action do the same then?Or would you complain about those crummy ol' Republicans?
-
there is a time and place for changing the districts. every 10 years after the census changing doing so now makes sense on one level only. a grab for power and to get rid of some opposition types permenently.
yea i would be pissed they ( the republican party ) came out looking like bumbling idiots.
time to run the rupublicans out of the state again we did fine without them for 150 years.
anyone remember what they did last time? i do. my great great grandady lost an eye fighting um.
-
I hate to break it to you, but the parties have effectively swapped platforms since your great grandaddy.
-
If I failed to show up for work, I know I'd get fired from my job.
-
my great great grandady lost an eye fighting um
Shame it wasn't 3 feet lower!
-
Over 200 bills expired due to this stunt.....did the taxpayers of Texas foot the travel and lodging expenses in OK?
130 years of a Dem majority and the first time they don't hold the hammer, they act like children.
They won a battle, but will lose the war.