Are you going to sit by and watch 1/3 of the Representatives control the great State of Texas through busting quorums and fleeing the state or are you going to stand up and do something about it?
However, as an almost-obsessed season-ticket holder of the fledgling Houston Texans, I am attending the first pre-season game at Reliant Stadium on Saturday evening.
Just had to get that shameless plug in there for MY TEAM. :-)
Statewide redistricting protest rally planned
by: Erin Koenig
As the standoff between Texas politicians continues over the GOP congressional redistricting plan, voters from across the state are planning to hit the Capitol steps with a message of their own: “Enough is enough.”A statewide rally against redistricting is planned for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on the south steps of the Capitol. The Texas Democratic Party is sponsoring the event, but any Texan who wants to make their voice heard is welcome to attend, said Damon Mattox, executive director of the Jefferson County Democratic Party.
“We are going there to reinforce the fact that 90 percent of Texans who testified at the House hearings were opposed to congressional redistricting,” he said. “Southeast Texans don’t want redistricting.”
“The Republican leadership is wasting millions on congressional redistricting and holding important legislation hostage,” added Molly Beth Malcolm, Texas Democratic Party chairwoman. “We’re inviting folks from all over the state to converge on Austin and tell the Republicans just what they think about carving up the state just to give (U.S. House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay more power in Washington.”
Buses will be headed to Austin from districts all over the state, with 3,500 to 5,000 people expected to attend the event, Mattox said.
“We have two buses that will be leaving Saturday morning from the Jefferson County Courthouse. Anyone who would like to go just needs to call Congressman Nick Lampson’s office at 838-0061 to reserve a seat,” Mattox said.
The local buses will leave at 6:30 a.m. and will return the same day. Transportation and breakfast will be provided free of charge.
“We need to show our support for what the 11 Senate Democrats are doing — they are fighting for the rights of all Texans,” Mattox said. “This isn’t about Republicans or Democrats; redistricting affects all Texans.”
Currently, Democrats outnumber Republicans 17-15 in the Texas congressional delegation, but Republicans, led by DeLay, are pressing for a new map that would give the GOP the majority. Attempts to pass a redistricting bill failed in both the regular session and the first special session called by Gov. Rick Perry — the first due to House Democrats, who fled to Ardmore, Okla., to prevent a quorum on the issue, and the latter due to a key Republican, Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, who joined Democrats in blocking the bill.
“It is clear that those who are leading this effort apparently have no knowledge of, or regard for, the representative balance between the urban/suburban power base and the diminishing influence of the rural/agricultural community,” Ratliff said last month, noting that the redistricting bill the House sent to the Senate would almost certainly have resulted in someone from Dallas being elected to represent his rural area of East Texas in Washington — something he could not support under any circumstances.
Perry again called a special session to address the issue, but 11 Democrats fled to Albuquerque, N.M., before the second special session officially started. Their absence has effectively blocked a quorum in the Senate, which has prevented lawmakers from taking up business.
Senator Leticia Van de Putte, Senate Democratic Caucus chairwoman, said the move was necessary because under the proposed redistricting plan more than 1.4 million minorities in Texas would lose effective congressional representation.
The Democrats maintain that they will stay out of Austin until the second 30-day special session ends at the end of the month or until Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst restores a Senate tradition of requiring two-thirds of senators to agree to take up legislation on the Senate floor.
So far, Dewhurst has refused; he warned the boycotting Democrats on Tuesday that he might try to force their return by taking legal action.
“I’m not going to discuss our legal options. But it’s very, very clear that there are a number of things we can do to compel the attendance of the absent members,” Dewhurst said at a press conference.
Perry declined to say how long he would continue to call special sessions on redistricting, but he has shown no sign that he plans to give up on the issue.
A typical special session costs taxpayers about $57,000 a day, according to the Associated Press, in administrative costs, per diem payments for politicians and mileage reimbursements.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont. “There are more important issues we should be spending our time and money on.”