Category Archives: Texas Politics

The Tea Party Believes in Freedom – Unless You’re Gay – Then Not So Much

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The Texas Tribune reports that a House committee has approved a bill to further restrict gay marriage – even though it is already illegal in Texas.  The Tea Party bulldozer continues sweep aside any chance that Texas will treat all of its citizens fairly.

Texas House committee on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriages, even though the state already bans such unions. 

The measure is one of several proposals at the Texas Capitol targeting same-sex marriage and the first one that has cleared a legislative committee this session, according to the Texas Freedom Network, which describes itself as fighting initiatives backed by the state’s religious right.

The State Affairs Committee passed House Bill 4105, which would forbid the use of state or local funds for issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The 7-3 vote was along party lines, with only Republicans supporting the measure. The proposal now heads to a committee that schedules legislation for debate by the full House.

“The intent is to assert the sovereign rights of Texas and of the citizens of Texas,” said Rep. Cecil Bell [TP-Magnolia], the bill’s author. “I believe it is a bipartisan issue — our social rights and our traditional values.”

You sir, are a bigot.

We Just Knew Greg Abbott was a Closet Socialist

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The Texas Tribune  reports that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s committee of hand-picked Tea Partisans has come out against Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to boost Pre-K education in Texas.

In a letter dated Tuesday, the lieutenant governor’s Grassroots Advisory Board, filled with Tea Party activists and appointed by Patrick, called House Bill 4 and Senate Bill 801 “a threat to parental rights.” The bills are aimed at improving the quality of the state’s pre-K programs at a cost of about $130 million over the next two years.

“We are experimenting at great cost to taxpayers with a program that removes our young people from homes and half-day religious preschools and mothers’ day out programs to a Godless environment with only evidence showing absolutely NO LONG TERM BENEFITS beyond the 1st grade,” the letter said.

So the Tea Party is against giving the children of the poorest of the poor anything that might interfere with options that very few of them are likely to take anyway.  Okay.  Red might even concede that Pre-K programs aren’t as effective as we would like, but that is hardly an argument for shutting them down or not trying harder.  And the argument that Pre-K programs keep parents from choosing other options also might be legitimate if it were backed up with any facts.  Of course, it isn’t.  Facts and the Tea Party really don’t get along that well.  Facts tend to interfere with a reactionary agenda based on fear and loathing.  But wait, there’s more.

The Tea Party-infused group, put together at the beginning of the session to advise Patrick on major policy initiatives, said that if the $130 million program becomes law, “Texas would be sending the message to the rest of the nation that parents do not or cannot love and care for their children as well as the state can.”

It also associated the pre-K program, which has already passed the Texas House with overwhelming support, with socialism.

“This interference by the state tramples upon our parental rights,” the letter said. “The early removal of children from parents’ care is historically promoted in socialistic countries, not free societies which respect parental rights.”

Yes, Texas parents – show how much you love your children by refusing to send them to public school.  Patrick should be ashamed of having put this group of morons together.  But as with facts and the Tea Party – shame and Dan Patrick are not even remotely acquainted.

Has Long Has it Been Since We Bashed Ted Cruz? Well that’s too Long!

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Actually this time we will let John McCain do the bashing for us.  On the peripatetic campaign trail, Sen. Cruz claimed that  he had been “pressing” Sen. McCain to hold hearings on gun restrictions on military bases.  McCain responded that Cruz had never mentioned anything about it to him, and then seized the opportunity to make Cruz look foolish – not that difficult a task it seems – but always worth the effort.  The Daily Kos reports on McCain’s take on Cruz’s credibility.

 “I was fascinated to hear that because I haven’t heard a thing about it from him. Nor has my staff heard from his staff,” McCain said of Cruz (R-Texas). “It came as a complete surprise to me that he had been pressing me. Maybe it was some medium that I’m not familiar with.” […]

McCain went to great lengths to ridicule Cruz for suggesting the two had discussed the issue. He joked that perhaps Cruz was bouncing messages off the “ozone layer.”

“Maybe it was through, you know, hand telegraph. Maybe sign language,” McCain said. “Ask him how he communicated with me because I’d be very interested. Because who knows what I’m missing.”

Ted, Ted, Ted. You just don’t piss off crotchety old SOB’s like McCain without expecting some retribution.  But McCain outdid himself with this one.  It takes a special kind of enmity to break out the ridicule stick and smack you around like this with it.  And in Ted’s case it is no doubt well-deserved and keeps him firmly entrenched as the senator most hated by his colleagues.

The Anti-Business (Tea) Party

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Richard Parker posits that the extreme positions taken by Texas Tea Partisans make the movement openly hostile to big business.  The Texas Association of Business has come out against two of the Tea Party’s most cherished legislative goals – enshrining the right of religious bigots to discriminate based on their say-so and keeping undocumented kids as  poor and ignorant as possible.  The schism between the merely self-serving but more or less live and let live Country Club Republicans and the Tea Party extremists who want to fundamentally reshape the way you can live your life is growing.

Welcome to Texas, Toyota, and all the accountants, lawyers, contractors and other companies — big and small — that are making the long trek to relocate here. You will find Texas to be immensely friendly. We’re especially friendly to business, which is why you’re coming, of course. Hence, the outlook for Texas is bullish: It’s on track to supplant Germany as the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2050. Texas is so friendly to business that even Democrats stress the word pro-business before mumbling the word Democrat.

But there’s something the eager chambers of commerce and glad-handing mayors probably didn’t tell you before you made up your mind to come to Texas. There’s a political party emerging in Austin the likes of which we’ve never seen. Until recently known as the tea party, it’s the Anti-Business Party of Texas, and it’s about to open the door to a future of uncertainty that will affect your workers, worry your shareholders and befuddle your customers. If you saw the uproar from businesses — from Apple to American Airlines — in Indiana over a so-called religious freedom act, then brace yourself, because Texas could be next.

Two measures in the Legislature would unravel a law that seems to have worked well since 1999. State Sen. Donna Campbell and Rep. Matt Krause, both of the Anti-Business Party, propose to bar state or local governments from enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the event of a religious claim. They even want to enshrine the ban in the Texas Constitution. This would effectively gut anti-discrimination protections, particularly for gay people, in most cities. Campbell also is effectively trying to deny an affordable college education to the children of unauthorized immigrants.

TP stands for Tea Party or Texas Politics or the Same Thing Perhaps

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The Houston Chronicle reports on the Tea Party’s legislative successes in Texas – a state where it rules the roost like in no other.  If you have any doubts about whether the Tea Party is running (some say ruining) this state, this article will disabuse you of that notion.   Only Joe Strauss and some House comrades stand in the way of ceding complete control of Texas to extreme conservatives.

Before 2009, the tea party was more like a tea brunch. The movement that has found such success in Texas, unlike arguably anywhere else in the country, brought its six years of work at the local level to Austin.

At a Wednesday rally at the Capitol, conveniently on Tax Day, the first-ever statewide gathering of local tea party groups took pride in their legislative gains that have remade Texas politics and have launched – and killed – many politicians’ careers.

Rep. Jonathan Stickland, the Bedford Republican who was introduced at the rally as “the No.1 conservative,” went on his usual tirade against House leadership. He seemed less of a legislator and more of a kingmaker as he introduced several new Republican lawmakers, mostly in the Senate, who have yanked the upper chamber to the right this session.

“This session, so far, has been filled with great things” in the Senate, Strickland said. “Conservative legislation is dying every single minute that ticks by.” There are about 47 days left in the legislative session before lawmakers go home until 2017, barring a Gov. Greg Abbott-called special session.

Texas Is Redder than Red, New York and California are Blue and Florida is . . .?

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Letters From Texas explains why the Tea Party ignores Electoral College math at its peril and why another Bush and Rubio might last for a while in primary winnowing process.  The succinct point is that there is no path to victory for a GOP presidential candidate that does not lead through Florida.  In contrast, a Democrat that wins Florida is almost assured of victory but has other routes to the White House.

Steven Hotze – Bigot or Ignoramus? You Decide

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Raw Story reports on Dr. Steven Hotze’s testimony before a Texas House Committee comparing gays to rapists and murderers.  Hotze, a well know right winger who was once Chairman of the Harris County GOP, made his argument that Texas should ignore the U.S. Supreme Court if it should rule that same-sex marriage is protected under the U.S. Constitution.  Hotze apparently believes that Texas need not follow the supreme law of the land and should chart its own course in discriminating against gays.

Saying the state should only enforce laws that are “morally right,” Hotze explained how that determination is made, stating, “First you look in the Bible.”

“There are ways around the law. We have legalization — the Supreme Court, even though I believe it was completely wrong, said it is constitutional to kill a baby in the womb,” Hotze said. “I think it’s a horrible injustice and it’s unconstitutional. But, let me just say this, in Texas we said ‘We don’t believe that’s right. So we’re going to do everything we can to protect the unborn that we possibly can,’ and we’ve done that. And that’s the same thing.”

He added, “If they were to come out ruling that marriage between two individuals is legal, I would say let’s do to stop it just like we stopped abortion. Cut off funding for it, that’s all I’m saying.”

Told by Turner that he respects people no matter how they live their lives, Hotze claimed that sexual preferences  is a choice homosexuals make, just as murderers and rapists choose to commit “immoral acts.”

“If you make that a standard, that it’s a person’s chosen behavior, no matter what it is, it gives them minority status? You’ve got to be kidding. Where do you stop?’ Hotze said incredulously. “Look, if people are involved in activities that are immoral and wrong, you can love them, but you don’t respect what they do and you try and help them find a way out. Whether they’re alcoholics, whether they’re murderers or adulterers. Whether they’re perverts, pornographers or whatever. You want help them. Or homosexuals, you want to help them out.”

Turner again stated that people should be respected, no matter their differences, to which Hotze replied, “Then we can get rid of all the laws against people that do immoral acts, like murder and rape and embezzling. Cause you want to make them feel good, don’t you? You don’t want to make them feel bad about their actions because they might be born that way.”

Reefer Gladness?

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Under current Texas law, possession of small amounts of marijuana can result in up to $2,000 in fines, up to 180 days of jail time, and a conviction of a Class B Misdemeanor on your record just for the first offense.  And the law is used to disproportionately punish minority offenders.  When was the last time you heard about an upper-middle class white kid going to jail for holding a joint?

But now, the Texas Legislature is awash with bills to change the current laws on marijuana possession.  They range from complete decriminalization to making possession of small quantities essentially equivalent to a traffic violation.  Progress Texas gives an outline of the essential features of each bill.

Rep. Joe Moody’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 507

  • The most effective civil penalties bill filed
  • Changes possession of less than one ounce of marijuana to a civil penalty – similar to jaywalking or not wearing a seat belt
  • Anything over one ounce of marijuana remains a class B misdemeanor

Rep. Harold Dutton’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 414

  • Would change any marijuana possession less than one ounce to a Class C Misdemeanor
  • Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
  • Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Gene Wu’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 325

  • Possession of less than .35 ounces of marijuana becomes a Class C Misdemeanor
  • Makes possession a simple ticketable offense you could pay
  • Punishments increase if ticketed multiple times in a year

Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s (Democrat) Bill – HB 1115

  • Rather than potentially being arrested when carrying up to four ounces of marijuana an officer will only give a citation; However, the person charged is still responsible for appearing in court at a later date.
  • Does not reduce the penalty of marijuana possession (Class A or B misdemeanor), which can still result in jail time.

In Texas, we like our illegal aliens to be poor and stupid.

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The Texas Senate is again trying to take down one of former Gov. Rick Perry’s signature accomplishments.  Yes, the Legislature is trying for the third or fourth time to undo a statute which provides in-state tuition to some undocumented students who were brought here as children.  Remarkably, Texas was the first in the nation to pass such a law, but that was in 2001 before the Tea Party all but took over the Texas GOP.

Sen. Donna Campbell (TP-New Braunfels) has introduced a bill that require Texas colleges to charge undocumented students only out-of-state tuition.  This would double the cost of a college degree for some of the poorest students.  Campbell and her supporters claim that Texas needs to focus on giving college privileges to American citizens only and that this is about fairness.  What this is about, however, is playing to the hard core anti-immigrant base of the Republican primary electorate who live in abject terror of the day when Latinos are in the majority in Texas.  So rather than help educate these kids who did not come to Texas of their own volition, the Tea Party will place every obstacle in the way of a better life for them.  Sadly, this is exactly what the base and leaders of the Texas GOP want. Campbell’s proposal is a major legislative goal for the Senate’s tea party-backed members. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made it a campaign promise in 2014 to repeal the law.  In a rare act of political courage, Perry has said recently he still supports the law.

Don’t Bother Us With Talk About Preventing STDs – Just Control Thy Zippers Heathens

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Rep. Stuart Spitzer (TP- Kaufman) wants to cut $3 million from programs to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  Spitzer instead wants Texas to spend that money on abstinence education – something even he admits has not been particularly effective. Texas has the third highest HIV infection rate in the U.S. and the fifth highest rate for teen pregnancy.  But these daunting statistics did not prevent the GOP-dominated House from overwhelmingly approving Spitzer’s budget amendment.  But that did not happen until Spitzer had made a fool of himself in verbal jousting with Democrats opposed to the measure.

Spitzer, a surgeon, proclaimed that his personal goal “is for everybody to be abstinent until they’re married.”  Spitzer then backed up his wishful thinking about controlling other people’s sex lives with an example from his own personal experience. Spitzer extolled the virtues of abstinence by telling his fellow Legislators that he practiced abstinence until marriage.

“What’s good for me is good for a lot of people,” argued Spitzer.

Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) then asked Spitzer if abstinence worked for him.

“It did. I’ve had sex with one woman in my life and that’s my wife,” Spitzer answered alsco claiming that he was a virgin at age 29 when he got married, and that his decision not to have premarital sex enabled him to become a surgeon and state representative.

Dutton wasn’t through Spitzer yet, “Is that the first woman you asked?” Dutton asked.

Spitzer kept digging the hole deeper, when claimed that sexual intercourse was the only way to contract STDs.

“If you think you can’t get an STD without having sex, maybe we need to educate you on how to get STDs,” said Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth).