Texas Freepers: New 'killer bees' aiming to break legislative quorum (More Democart Obstructionism)

Think I'll try to get on the radio today... ;-)

Ain't it fun stirring the pot?

What idiots! All they ever want is MORE MONEY$$$$$$!

41 posted on 05/12/2003 12:41:55 PM PDT by Humidston (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law)

Think I'll try to get on the radio today... ;-)

Good idea. I've got Chris Baker on right now. I'll see if I can get past his snotty little screener. LOL

42 posted on 05/12/2003 12:45:33 PM PDT by Allegra (Liberals..do NOT try to figure out the meaning of this tagline. It will cause your head to explode.)

LOL ! It does, doesn't it?

'RAT party, dinosaur. They're BOTH extinct (or well on the way). hehehe !

43 posted on 05/12/2003 12:54:56 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Dixie Chimps! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)

These guys ought to be put on double secret probation, at the very least.

44 posted on 05/12/2003 12:57:41 PM PDT by Iwo Jima

Hmmm, time to call in the Feds to find them.

Paging Delta force.... Paging Delta force...

Good idea!

(A quorum would be 2/3rds of living legislators, right?)

45 posted on 05/12/2003 12:58:33 PM PDT by Stultis

To: Torie; GraniteStateConservative

Ya'll might find this interesting. It is going to be the story of the week here in Texas, and my hunch(and hope) is that it gets national play.

46 posted on 05/12/2003 1:05:55 PM PDT by Diddle E. Squat

To: anymouse; The South Texan; Constitutionalist Conservative; yall

Just fyi, from the Dallas Morning News . . .

House walkout reverberates in Washington
05/12/2003
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A walkout by state House Democrats on Monday will backfire as important pending legislation begins dying, according to an aide to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
But Democrat U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio countered that voters will understand that the walkout is part of the democratic process and was a "courageous" act.
Much of Texas' congressional delegation was in the state when the more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers notified Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick that they would not be showing up for business. The U.S. House reconvenes in Washington on Tuesday.

Also Online

Texas House Democrats break quorum

Plan took cunning, secrecy and overnight bags

By failing to show up, the absent Democrats halted state House business because the House did not have the minimum number of representatives necessary for quorum.
The walkout came the day that the state House was to take up a redistricting bill being supported by DeLay. It could help more Republicans from Texas get elected to Congress.
Republicans won 15 of the state's 32 congressional seats last November, but DeLay has said Republicans deserve more of those seats.
"This is going to backfire on the Democrats for shutting down the government when there are important pieces of legislation pending," said Jonathan Grella, a DeLay aide. "Texans will agree that a budget, cloning ban, (Health and Human Services) reorganization, Medicaid, prescription drugs and funding for schools and hospitals and the disabled should not be partisan issues."
Gonzalez, who was in San Antonio, said he applauded those who walked out for their "strength of convictions."
"It's a courageous thing. At some point you have to stand up and be counted and sometimes the only way to stand up and be counted is by not being there and not allowing a process to take place that is not fair," Gonzalez said.
In Austin, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton said the walkout is not "going to cause a total meltdown (of) the Democratic process."
"This is kind of a little temper tantrum," said Barton, who helped lead Republicans redistricting efforts in Texas in 2000-01.
Texas Rangers were sent to seek out the missing state lawmakers and bring them back to the chamber, but the Democrats had a head start, leaving Sunday.
Gonzalez said the walkout was not just about the redistricting bill but about an overall frustration among Democrats of being shut out of the process.
He added that he hoped the two sides could work out a solution and continue the legislative process in a meaningful way.
Barton said that Craddick has been fair to Democrats and very bipartisan and as an example he pointed to Ron Wilson, a Democrat from Houston who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
"I don't think this bugout is going to last very long," Barton said.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, whose Democratic district would be carved up four ways, was at the state Capitol to lend his support to the walkout. He said he had nothing to do with the Democrats' disappearing act but his message to the missing lawmakers was "keep up the good work."
Doggett was one of the group of state senators, known as the "Killer Bees" who staged a walkout in 1979. That group was out for five days.
"I think it's pretty clear that it takes more to put their political life on the line, which they're doing, than just follow like sheep," Doggett said. "It took courage to do this."
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/051203dnnatwalkout.108fa137.html

47 posted on 05/12/2003 1:18:47 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Bu-bye Dixie Chimps! / Check out my Freeper site !: http://home.attbi.com/~freeper/wsb/index.html)

To: Diddle E. Squat

I sure don't see any reason to find them or let them come back to Texas. I'm hoping they find their way to California where they'd be more appreciated.

48 posted on 05/12/2003 1:24:33 PM PDT by FITZ

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, whose Democratic district would be carved up four ways, was at the state Capitol to lend his support to the walkout. He said he had nothing to do with the Democrats' disappearing act but his message to the missing lawmakers was "keep up the good work."

Nothing to do with it at all. Right.

49 posted on 05/12/2003 1:27:10 PM PDT by Dog Gone

You're right. On the one hand, I hate to see the Dims succeed at anything, but ALL of the new tax proposals I've seen out of Austin are ridiculous!
8% sales tax on cars!
State property tax!

Let 'em stay gone.

50 posted on 05/12/2003 1:40:06 PM PDT by Redbob

To: The South Texan

"I guess we will be called obstructionists, or maybe worse. But we are making a statement. If this is going to be the only way to stop bad legislation from being rammed down our throats, then so be it," the South Texas legislator said.

I love their open hypocrisy. When it is their agenda, it is merely "majority vote rules" and "the will of the people." When they are in the minority, a simple majority-vote motion is "rammed down their throats". The same "logic" is being applied in the US Senate, with the judicial nominations. My uber-liberal professor wrote in to the local paper, supporting the filibuster as it prevents justices from "being forced upon us"... as if the centuries-old majority-vote method is suddenly somehow illegitimate, but the thousands of previous nomination votes are acceptable.

LOL. Dems in disarray. Gotta love it. The best part is that they have no clue that Joe Six-Pack can actually see through political BS that is that blatant. Here's to hoping for an additional 3-6 seats in the Senate and the House in 2004!

51 posted on 05/12/2003 1:44:50 PM PDT by Teacher317

To: The South Texan

Here's the e-mail I'll continue to send my Rep, although the server appears to crash each time I attempt to send it. I guess I'll just have to send it to KLIF or O'Reilly... :-)

Dear Ms. Giddings,

As a taxpayer and registered Independent voter in your district, I do not appreciate my hard-earned dollars paying for your notable absence from the capital this week.
As an elected official, I expect you to show up for work and record your vote. I do not expect 51 Representatives, yourself included, to record absences in an effort to obstruct legislation supported by the majority.
Please rest assured--if these tactics continue, thousands of voters like me will gravitate to the GOP. I have already given up on the Democrats and this action confirms my decision.
Get back to work and do the job you were elected to do!
Sincerely,
Chrystal Leamon

52 posted on 05/12/2003 1:47:52 PM PDT by Texas Chrystal (Hippies....everywhere....can't...escape......)

To: The South Texan

In Email from my rep--

"This is worse than fiddling while Rome burns. These Democrats have taken a torch to Texas government," said Representative Wayne Christian (R - Center). "And they did it to advance the narrow, partisan agenda of Nancy Pelosi and her liberal cohorts in Washington, D.C.. I never thought I'd see the day that Texas state government was held hostage by a liberal congresswoman from San Francisco. And now they're on the run from the law. House Republicans believe in the bipartisan legislature that President Bush envisioned for Texas, and we continue to stand for his beliefs today," Christian continued.

53 posted on 05/12/2003 1:51:12 PM PDT by lonestar (Don't mess with Texans)

To: The South Texan

Here is a few statements from groups on the "bees"
http://www.allsouthwest.com/bees

54 posted on 05/12/2003 2:04:34 PM PDT by asneditor (A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away)

Thanks for the list of names.

55 posted on 05/12/2003 2:05:16 PM PDT by asneditor (A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away)

I see this as more Lloyd Doggett than Pelosi. If this redistricting plan goes through, his district will gone, as will he. And since he was integral in the first Killer Bee fiasco, it was probably his idea.

56 posted on 05/12/2003 2:05:40 PM PDT by GunRunner

It's actually $7,200 per year. The $6,000 you were thinking about is probably $600 a month.

57 posted on 05/12/2003 2:15:26 PM PDT by Theodore R.

Hmmm, time to call in the Feds to find them.

That actually isn't too far off the mark. The state troopers have been dispatched to locate the missing reps. Under state law, reps that are out breaking quorum may literally be arrested from their homes and taken back to the capitol. The problem is finding them.

The last time this happened, back around 1979, a group of senators broke quorum and spent a good part of a week hiding in some guy's garage or something.

58 posted on 05/12/2003 2:23:13 PM PDT by GOPcapitalist

Is a quorum of 2/3 also needed to change the rules?

59 posted on 05/12/2003 2:30:22 PM PDT by aristeides

Did the Republican majority approve the rule with the 2/3 quorum at the beginning of this session? If so, maybe they'll think better the next time. (By the way, would a special session be subject to the same rule? Maybe a new rule could be adopted by majority vote?)

60 posted on 05/12/2003 2:35:33 PM PDT by aristeides (q)

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