– Purported new Saddam Hussein audio tape mourns the death of his sons Uday and Qusay.
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Never mind about the martyred Sons of Saddam, they are safe with their 32 virgins now & soon their dear ol’ Dad will join ‘em in the fun, Allah willing, blessings be upon His Name. // Now looky here: in *important* news, your friend Chris reports, & CNN confirms, that 11 Texas *Senate* Dems, this time, have Taken it on the Lam — to Albuquerque NM! Same issue as before, to delay the DeLay massacre of the Congressional Districts. God bless the brave Albuquerque 11; and can youse 2 pleeze detour on over & tell ‘em so, on yer Way Down South to the Land o’ Scorpions. / If it wouldn’t DeLay you too much. :)Thankyou.
And while you’re there, tell them that there aren’t many jobs where you can not show up for work, refuse to do the task you were hired to do (i.e. debate and vote) and still earn a per diem and a salary.
Yeah; and ya even get a *Speechwriter*, too / HOO HAH / Forgive me Chris, I’m jes’ funnin’. / You make a point both humorous & valid. / What the heck IS the Quorum requirement in Texas? I had thought that just generally speaking, a quorum was a bare majority of the legislative, or other, body. I gather I’m wrong, or anyway that it’s more than that in Texas — where the Repubs are in the minority in each chamber — yes?? Or, No? Enlighten us. / -Joe
Feel proud, y’all are getting the inside scoop here at BrendanLoy.com!!
Well, in other states a quorum might be a bare majority of the full membership, but remember that everything’s BIGGER here in Texas, and so our quorum in 2/3. That means 100 out of our 150 House reps and 21 of our 31 senators. There are 88 GOP house reps and 19 GOP senators, two shy of 2/3. Since 1 Democrat senator chose to stay behind and actually represent his constituents :), we lack only 1 more senator to make a quorum. For all you pols out there, this means a game of “wait until one of the 11 decides he wants to run for U.S. Congress and asks for the GOP to draw him a seat.” Cynical, yes, but accurate, probably.
Interestingly enough, they say they’re prepared to stay in NM for up to 30 days (the constitutional length of a special called session) or “as long as it takes.” Thus, the Governor can conceivably call a session every 30 days, keeping them there 60, 90, 120, etc. days. But hey, the Albuquerque balloon festival’s in October, I believe, so we might be doing them a favor, right? :)
For those who want to know what all the fuss is about, here’s a brief summary: Even though for a decade the Republicans have held every statewide office, the statehouse, both U.S. Senators and 57% of Texans voted for a GOP congressional candidate this year, the Democrats outnumber the Republicans in our congressional delegation 17-15. This is due to the “shrewdest gerrymander of the 1990s,” as the American Almanac of Politics puts it. In 2001, the Dems deadlocked the process and a panel of federal judges drew a map that maintained that political apportionment. The Republicans are attempting to redistrict to reflect the current political reality here in Texas. And honestly, ask any Northeasterner if Texas is a Republican state, and they’ll say yes. Also, it’s a matter of having accountable elected officials draw the boundaries rather than life-tenured federal judges.
Whew. As for the evil Tom DeLay’s involvement, DeLay’s map never had a GOP following in the Senate and died a committee death. The one the Dems are running from (caveat: my boss, Sen. Wentworth’s map) makes for a 19-13 or 18-14 GOP lead in the delegation to Washington. This comports with the percentage of Texans that voted for a Republican congressional candidate in 2000 and 2002.
That’s about it, and much like the Cuban Missile Crisis, I’m pretty sure it’s now just a matter of finding language that allows both sides to save face (seeing as though the leaders of both caucuses–cauci?–have declared their “unalterable” positions). So…that makes us speechwriters even more important, as Texas politicians are not generally noted for their subtlety in diplomacy. :)
P.S. The map DeLay wanted passed called for AT LEAST 22 Republican seats and as many as 24, depending on how you read it. This is patently unfair, and even the Republicans in the legislature resent his attempted meddling with Texas politics–be he U.S. House majority leader or not.
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July 29th, 2003 at 10:26:19 am
Never mind about the martyred Sons of Saddam, they are safe with their 32 virgins now & soon their dear ol’ Dad will join ‘em in the fun, Allah willing, blessings be upon His Name. // Now looky here: in *important* news, your friend Chris reports, & CNN confirms, that 11 Texas *Senate* Dems, this time, have Taken it on the Lam — to Albuquerque NM! Same issue as before, to delay the DeLay massacre of the Congressional Districts. God bless the brave Albuquerque 11; and can youse 2 pleeze detour on over & tell ‘em so, on yer Way Down South to the Land o’ Scorpions. / If it wouldn’t DeLay you too much. :)Thankyou.
July 29th, 2003 at 1:28:49 pm
And while you’re there, tell them that there aren’t many jobs where you can not show up for work, refuse to do the task you were hired to do (i.e. debate and vote) and still earn a per diem and a salary.
July 29th, 2003 at 2:26:44 pm
Yeah; and ya even get a *Speechwriter*, too / HOO HAH / Forgive me Chris, I’m jes’ funnin’. / You make a point both humorous & valid. / What the heck IS the Quorum requirement in Texas? I had thought that just generally speaking, a quorum was a bare majority of the legislative, or other, body. I gather I’m wrong, or anyway that it’s more than that in Texas — where the Repubs are in the minority in each chamber — yes?? Or, No? Enlighten us. / -Joe
July 29th, 2003 at 3:14:51 pm
Feel proud, y’all are getting the inside scoop here at BrendanLoy.com!!
Well, in other states a quorum might be a bare majority of the full membership, but remember that everything’s BIGGER here in Texas, and so our quorum in 2/3. That means 100 out of our 150 House reps and 21 of our 31 senators. There are 88 GOP house reps and 19 GOP senators, two shy of 2/3. Since 1 Democrat senator chose to stay behind and actually represent his constituents :), we lack only 1 more senator to make a quorum. For all you pols out there, this means a game of “wait until one of the 11 decides he wants to run for U.S. Congress and asks for the GOP to draw him a seat.” Cynical, yes, but accurate, probably.
Interestingly enough, they say they’re prepared to stay in NM for up to 30 days (the constitutional length of a special called session) or “as long as it takes.” Thus, the Governor can conceivably call a session every 30 days, keeping them there 60, 90, 120, etc. days. But hey, the Albuquerque balloon festival’s in October, I believe, so we might be doing them a favor, right? :)
For those who want to know what all the fuss is about, here’s a brief summary: Even though for a decade the Republicans have held every statewide office, the statehouse, both U.S. Senators and 57% of Texans voted for a GOP congressional candidate this year, the Democrats outnumber the Republicans in our congressional delegation 17-15. This is due to the “shrewdest gerrymander of the 1990s,” as the American Almanac of Politics puts it. In 2001, the Dems deadlocked the process and a panel of federal judges drew a map that maintained that political apportionment. The Republicans are attempting to redistrict to reflect the current political reality here in Texas. And honestly, ask any Northeasterner if Texas is a Republican state, and they’ll say yes. Also, it’s a matter of having accountable elected officials draw the boundaries rather than life-tenured federal judges.
Whew. As for the evil Tom DeLay’s involvement, DeLay’s map never had a GOP following in the Senate and died a committee death. The one the Dems are running from (caveat: my boss, Sen. Wentworth’s map) makes for a 19-13 or 18-14 GOP lead in the delegation to Washington. This comports with the percentage of Texans that voted for a Republican congressional candidate in 2000 and 2002.
That’s about it, and much like the Cuban Missile Crisis, I’m pretty sure it’s now just a matter of finding language that allows both sides to save face (seeing as though the leaders of both caucuses–cauci?–have declared their “unalterable” positions). So…that makes us speechwriters even more important, as Texas politicians are not generally noted for their subtlety in diplomacy. :)
July 29th, 2003 at 3:24:09 pm
P.S. The map DeLay wanted passed called for AT LEAST 22 Republican seats and as many as 24, depending on how you read it. This is patently unfair, and even the Republicans in the legislature resent his attempted meddling with Texas politics–be he U.S. House majority leader or not.