"Texans for Sale or Rent"

special to FreeRepublic ^ | 17 August 2003 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

[SolidSupplySide]

The first Special Session was brought to a screeching halt when one-third of the House (all Democrats) skedaddled off to a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and had meals and press conferences in a nearby Denny's.

This is false. The House Democrats killed the clock on the regular session.

Everyone stayed in town for the first special session as the Senators had the 2/3 rule in place.

The second special session invoked the Bullock Precedent and removed the 2/3 rule.

[SolidSupplySide]

The first Special Session was brought to a screeching halt when one-third of the House (all Democrats) skedaddled off to a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and had meals and press conferences in a nearby Denny's.

This is false. The House Democrats killed the clock on the regular session.

Everyone stayed in town for the first special session as the Senators had the 2/3 rule in place.

The second special session invoked the Bullock Precedent and removed the 2/3 rule.

[chuckles]

Just as an aside to this wonderfull article, take a look at whats hapening in Ill. with the Phillip Morris suit with a $12billion BOND! The lawyers thought it was cool till all the state AG's got together and decided bankrupting the goose was not good for their tax base. Now the lawyers don'r know how to backtrack what they've done. We will see how dedicated the SC is to "the law" or the state budget within 60 days.

I'm betting on Phillip Morris. Forty some odd AG's are all pulling for big tobacco after trying to put them out of business.

[humblegunner]

Dang good summary. Thanks.

[TexasCajun]

This deserves a big

ATTA BOY!! ...I'm passing this on!

[TexasCajun]

This deserves a big

ATTA BOY!! ...I'm passing this on!

[TexasCajun]

This deserves a big

ATTA BOY!! ...I'm passing this on!

[Doctor Don]

Thank you New Mexico for taking Texas' trash. Oklahoma is glad to have the Texican political trash go elsewhere! Guess we'll have to add a couple of touchdowns to the Red River Shootout!

[Dubya]

bump

[Congressman Billybob]

Others pointed out my mistake. I corrected the text and posted the correction. The article will be published on ChronWatch in San Francisco, tomorrow (Tuesday).

Billybob

[MeekOneGOP]

The article will be published on ChronWatch in San Francisco, tomorrow (Tuesday).

Please make sure to ping me to the article, ok ?? Thanks !!

[Congressman Billybob]

No need to ping you on that. ChronWatch likes my stuff and publishes it without change. So, when it goes up, it will be the same as you've already seen.

Billybob

[Victoria Delsoul]

It should be noted that while the House members holed up at the Holiday Inn and Denny's, the Senators are lounging by the indoor/outdoor pool at Albuquerque's Marriott Pyramid North, with its waterfall in the lobby, its $99-and-up weekend rates, and its restaurants with comparable quality and costs. Obviously, rank does have its privileges.

Not bad. I'm glad Republicans have the chance to gain six or seven seats in its House, and as this article indicates "that alone could be sufficient to make tort reform pass in Congress."

[CPT Clay]

Awesome bump!!!!!

[Alamo-Girl]

Interesting! Thanks for the heads up!

[Rocky]

What irks me is that the facts as you have stated them do not get an airing in Houston. Only the Democrats' side gets publicity. They are heroes, they won't be stampeded, the Republicans are trying to take unfair advantage of their majority, it's a racist move do disenfranchise minorities, blah, blah, blah. I'm amazed that people don't seem to be able to see through this baloney.

[TheGrimReaper]

Texas dimocrats gather for yet another "executive session".

[BreitbartSentMe]

Question for you, I assume that since there is one Democrat left in the special session, in order to call for a quorum anytime they want to do business, it seems that if the Republicans would begin fillibustering the session, and not allow it to adjourn, they could spell each other, allowing them to sleep in shifts. I'm sure after a few days, the remaining democrat would at one time or another fall asleep, and then the Republican shoud be able to pass something by unanimous consent to change the rules suspending the quorum rules. Where am I going wrong?

[Congressman Billybob]

Two different legislative rules are in play in Texas. One, in the Senate only, allowed one-third of the Senators to prevent any matter from being introduced. That was merely a Senate rule, and I understand that the Republican leaders in the Senate have eliminated that one.

The quorum of one-third of each House to be able to vote on any issue, is in a different category. That one is in the Texas Constitution, so it is beyond the power of the legislature to change it. Only a proposed and ratified constitutional amendment could get rid of that requirement.

Hence, you have the effort of the Senate -- and later the House if the Democrats play tag-team obstruction and the Senate Dems come home as the House Dems skedaddle -- to use fines and other disciplines to punish the missing members. These are matters of internal discipline in each House, and under normal circumstances they are no business of the courts. (Federal courts have long since recognized that sort of autonomy for internal Senate and House discipline in Congress.)

However, I wouldn't count heavily on the Texas courts, because the judges are all part of the raise-trial-lawyer-money-and-get-elected process. So the Texas courts might not be as protective of their constitution as the federal courts are of the US Constitution. (And, yes, I recognize that amouonts to d*mning with faint praise.)

John / Billybob