XPost: alt.politics.republicans, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Old and busted: Republicans are a threat to democracy! New-ish hotness:   
   Democrats refuse to participate in legislatures unless they can dictate   
   the outcomes.   
      
   Is this actually a new hotness? Democrats have used the absconding   
   strategy for at least a decade, starting in Wisconsin over public employee   
   union reforms, and most recently in Minnesota over the fact that Democrats   
   didn't want to admit being in the minority. Now Democrats plan to bring   
   fleebagging back to Texas in an attempt to obstruct a new redistricting   
   effort, which launched officially today:   
      
   Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, filed a redistricting bill Wednesday   
   morning, submitting a district map that would reduce representation in   
   North Texas and Houston by one seat each, according to an analysis from   
   Dave’s Redistricting App website based on 2024 results.   
      
   Democrats immediately criticised the report.   
      
   “Let’s be clear – this map is racist, it’s illegal, and it’s part of a   
   long, ugly tradition of trying to keep Black and Brown Texans from having   
   a voice,” U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said. “What Donald Trump   
   and Greg Abbott are doing isn’t about democracy – it’s about consolidating   
   power.”   
      
   Ah yes, the 'everything is raaaaaacist' argument. That should sell well in   
   2025, no? It's right up there with 'Sydney Sweeney's ad is faaaaaascist'   
   arguments.   
      
   Even if one believes that the effort to redistrict in Texas is based on   
   racial animus -- when it's clearly based on electoral prospects in 2026 --   
   that would be an argument for debate in the legislature, and then in   
   court. After all, the state legislature exists to debate such legislation,   
   and its representatives are expected to do that work on behalf of their   
   constituents. It's the model of representative democracy and   
   constitutional order, which Democrats claimed to be fiercely defending all   
   of last year in the election.   
      
   So will Democrats fiercely defend democracy in the Texas state   
   legislature? According to the Texas Tribune, Texas 'Democrats' may opt to   
   hold democracy and the legislature hostage instead. They've already begun   
   fundraising to cover the legal costs of fleebagging:   
      
   As Republicans in Texas move full steam ahead with a plan to redraw the   
   state’s congressional districts, Democrats are privately mulling their   
   options, including an expensive and legally dicey quorum break.   
      
   If they go that route, it appears they will have the backing of big-dollar   
   Democratic donors.   
      
   By fleeing the state to deprive the Legislature of enough members to   
   function, Democrats would each incur a fine of $500 per day and face the   
   threat of arrest. Deep-pocketed donors within the party appear ready to   
   cover these expenses, according to three people involved in the   
   discussions.   
      
   It's not the first time that Texas Democrats held democracy hostage. Four   
   years ago, they tried to deny Republicans a quorum over voting reforms   
   that were hardly Draconian, and in fact turned out to have been fairly   
   mundane. They also called that effort raaaaacist, and also fundraised to   
   defray the legal costs.   
      
   That might be tougher this time around, as Republicans forced changes to   
   campaign-finance rules after the last fleebagging effort:   
      
   Texas House rules prohibit lawmakers from dipping into their campaign   
   coffers to pay the fines. Republicans approved the $500 daily punishment   
   in 2023, two years after Democrats fled the state in an unsuccessful bid   
   to stop Republicans from passing an overhaul of the state’s election laws.   
      
   Democrats' solution to this problem? Lying about the money:   
      
   Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat who was part of the 2021 quorum   
   break, sees a path to circumvent the campaign finance rules: With minimal   
   limits on external income, Texas lawmakers can simply accept the donations   
   as another salary, she said. As one of the most prolific fundraisers in   
   the U.S. House, Crockett said she’s willing to tap her donor base — and   
   her $3.7 million war chest — to cover the expenses.   
      
   Ahem. Even if this managed to tiptoe around campaign finance laws in Texas   
   -- and I doubt that -- it establishes a model for massive grift. Campaign   
   disbursements to cronies can use the same "salary" dodge, paying off   
   special interests and pals.   
      
   I fail to see how any of this 'protects democracy.' It looks more like a   
   massive effort to deny democracy, staged by a bunch of sore losers who'd   
   rather hold voters hostage than do their jobs. And I suspect that Greg   
   Abbott and Ken Paxton have plans to ensure that this hostaging will be as   
   painful as possible to the fleebaggers, if and when they use this lily-   
   livered strategy.   
      
   https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2025/07/30/dems-against-democracy-   
   fleebagging-comes-to-texas-n3805307   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)