More on the Dem Desertion

First, the lighter part.

I'm sure the Daily Ardmoreite is getting as much out of this as they can.

The Texas GOP has the Chicken D's playing cards in PDF format for download, a la the cards the US government issued to find important Iraqi officials. They are in alphabetical order and look pretty nice. I don't see any reverse-side art, however. Someone needs to get on that pronto.

The Dems apparently won't accept their daily pay while AWOL. Also, the Oklahoma House passed (47 to 44) a resolution authored by Rep. David Braddock comending the missing Dems.

TexasISD.com reports a rumor of Democrat return:

The buzz is that members will return Friday after the deadline for Major House bills passes at midnight on Thursday.

Which would jepardize many bills in the pipeline. The Texas GOP listed some of them, mostly keyed towards conservative tastes. To be honest, the vast majority of bills being considered I have no love for in the first place and I don't mind seeing them die. Some do advance a pro-liberty agenda, but of those, most are symbolic or were submitted to please a constituency and were never likely to get out of committee.

The Dems have sent (PDF) a letter and a "Declaration in Defense of Self-Determination" to Speaker Craddick. The letter, signed by Rep. Jim Dunnam, places much of the blame for the fiasco on "Washington Republicans" and a "misplaced priority" to push for congressional redistricting. It also politely asks to stop law enforcement from "following and staking out" the AWOL members' "loved ones." It's a very calm plea, but the following Declaration is much more forthright.

A Declaration in Defense of Self-Determination

We must defend against the use of raw political power used to attack the constitutional and natural inalienable rights of the people. The national Republican Party, through state legislatures in Texas and Colorado, is currently attempting to obstruct the will of the people in determining their elected representatives in the U. S. Congress.

In our democracy, power rests with the people. The founding documents of our nation declare the self-evidence of this natural law.

Government is only as strong as the people who choose their representatives through elections, through their consent granting government its legitimacy.

One of the great distinctions of our country and our state is its individualism. When Texans elect representatives, they elect individuals. In Texas, people who voted for George Bush, Rick Perry and John Cornyn, also voted for a Democratic representative in Congress. The Congressional Republicans argue that those individuals are wrong and that their votes must be denied. But what is wrong is their shameless quest to deprive citizens of their vote.

As common citizens of our nation and as elected officials of our state who believe we must defend these attacks on the natural rights of our people and our Constitution, we are obligated to act. We use the law of the land to break a quorum and stop this raw misuse of political power.

Our aim is right. Our means are right.

It is for this very reason that government has principles -- the natural laws of the Declaration of Independence -- and it has rules by which we govern, such as the rule of a quorum. Our founding fathers created the rule of a quorum as a prescription for the ill occasion in which we now find ourselves.

Issued May 13, 2003
at Ardmore, Oklahoma

The partisan rancor has gotten worse and I doubt it's on track to get better any time soon. And the matter has impacted Washington, no matter how important you may feel the issues are. In that respect, the Democrats have at least achieved one of their goals: bringing the redistricting issue to as bright a spotlight as possible.

Tom Delay asked for federal help in bringing the Dems back.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Monday he wants federal authorities to pursue Texas Democrats dodging a vote on a plan he authored to increase Republican seats in Congress.

The Sugar Land Republican told reporters that bringing in either U.S. marshals or FBI agents is justified because redistricting is a federal issue, involving congressional seats.

"If it is legal for them to do so, I think it would nice for them to help out the Texas Rangers and the Texas troopers," DeLay said.

Spokesmen for the Justice Department and FBI indicated those agencies likely would have no reason to assist the state officers in apprehending the Democrats whose absence has deprived the state House of a quorum needed to do business.

*sigh*

UPDATE(10/12/2003 9:32pm)
Big News: a plan has been finalized and passed by both the House and the Senate.

Posted by Drizzten at May 14, 2003 09:33 AM