Texas Speaker Race

[Melissa G]

Ah, the race to the farthest right...Strauss and Chisum: mano a mano. :popcorn:
Chisum morphs to Moses with repeated calls of "Let our people go" while Straus comes back with an aggrevated Southern Gentleman response of "Have you no shame?" He leaves off the 'Suh'
Dueling letter/press release under Daily Buzz at Quorum Report. http://www.quorumreport.com/

[sonias]

1. Plus they're threatening to break some knees apparently

The Quorum Report 11/10/10

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GENERAL INVESTIGATING AND ETHICS CALLS ON HUGHES TO IDENTIFY INDIVIDUAL WHO THREATENED

Chairman Chuck Hopson seeks to determine whether laws were broken

From Chairman Chuck Hopson:

If any member, or their staff, is attempting to influence the outcome of the Speaker's race through implications of political retribution, those actors should immediately be brought to the attention of the House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics. Today, allegations were made in a press release from the office of Rep. Bryan Hughes. Rep. Hughes must step forward with the name of the individual referred to in his letter. With that information the committee can conduct an investigation to determine whether violations of state law occurred.

A pox on all their houses. I hope they implode!

[Melissa G]

3. Our national Dem leadership sometimes seems to lack spine,

(it's been so long since we have had Texas Dem leadership, I can barely remember. Okay, Richards, Mattox, Hightower...it's all coming back...)
Anyway, these overly testosterone loaded, strutting, posing pubs in our State Lege might just tear themselves to pieces before the session even starts. :popcorn: And now for the latest installment of Mafia Manners.

[sonias]

2. Website says Paxton running for speaker

First Reading blog AAS 11/11/10
Website says Paxton running for speaker

(snip)
Paul Burka spotted this early this morning: The website for the Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC says Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, will throw his hat into the race for House speaker. The site says, “The Republican Party is beginning to see just what the power of the Tea Party movement is all about in the state of Texas. This is just the beginning.”

Burka’s take: “This divide-and-conquer strategy depends on members believing the Bryan Hughes charges that unnamed Straus supporters are already planning to punish people in redistricting. It is unlikely to work, but it appears that the anti-Straus forces are going to try to chip away at Straus’s numbers by putting other candidates forward who might get a few pledges each away from Straus.”

• So I’d say the moment this speaker’s race became really interesting Wednesday was when SO3 himself threw down “Have you no shame?”

Let them continue to die a death of a thousand cuts. They've already started to lose focus and become too greedy which is exactly how they fail to govern.

[Melissa G]

4. Burka wisdom

"I wonder, in retrospect, whether it was a mistake for the Straus forces to meet with Michael Quinn Sullivan earlier this week. This is war. There is no use trying to negotiate with an intractable opposition." http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=8432

Now, if our National leaders would just heed this advice...

I'm all for sitting down together and working things out, but you need buy in from the interested parties to do that successfully. If you don't have buy in, it's a game changer. Let's see if Strauss figures that out.

Edit To Add: Paxton just officially tossed his conservative hat in the ring.:popcorn:

[sonias]

5. I see fire

Oh goody let them pour more gasoline in the fire!

The only thing I hope is that Chisum does not win this thing. Because he's one of the worst people in the conservative movement. He would be absolutely horrible. Yes I know that might actually help us win back more seats next time around.

But the damage that a conservative majority and a conservative speaker could inflict would be devastating. :scared:

[sonias]

6. The Speaker's Race Goes Statewide

Texas Observer 11/5/10
The Speaker's Race Goes Statewide

(snip)
The outcome also matters a lot. Come January, an overwhelmingly Republican legislature faces an unprecedented budget shortfall and a redistricting battle. The speaker will have a big say in how those fights go down, by making committee assignments, appointing chairs and determining which legislation comes up. For those with a short-term memory, Joe Straus emerged last session, almost out of nowhere, to unseat Speaker Tom Craddick, a hardline social conservative known for his authoritarian leadership style. During the Craddick years from 2003 through 2008 those in favor found it easy to get bills passed, while reps in the doghouse—a crew of mostly Democrats and some moderate Republicans—were often lucky to get even non-controversial bills on to the calendar. Straus rode to power on a wave of disaffection, from both Democrats and Republicans, appointing committee chairs from both parties and emphasizing process.

But despite the speaker's integral role in creating policy, the decision has always been one made by the members alone. Outside groups have rarely tried to impact the decision, and speakers' races are generally considered inside baseball.

(snip)
Straus is considered a more moderate speaker—in part because he arrived to de-throne Craddick. Of the ten Republican allies that brought him in to power, three are gone thanks to primary challengers and resignations. A fourth supporter, the ever-popular state Rep. Ed Kuempel died yesterday. That leaves Straus lacking in Republican negotiators. While he made some big last minute contributions to help several Republicans, likely ensuring their support, Straus also lost many of his Democratic friends on election day. On the other hand, Chisum, who served as Appropriations chair under Craddick, can likely count on many of the same supporters Craddick had—state Reps. Wayne Christian, Phil King and other hard-line social conservatives.

:kick:

[Melissa G]

7. Strauss Keeps All 18 current chairmen.

while the Tea Party activists who spent the money to deliver the races to the pubs now also want to choose the new speaker. Ah, the joys of nameless, faceless corporate money. http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/activists-who-fueled-big-gop-wins-want-voices-1040905.html

"A law born out of legislative scandal in 1973 for years severely limited the involvement of outside groups and organizations in a speaker's race. But in 2008, a federal judge ruled that portions of state law restricting spending by individuals or groups on the speaker's race were an unconstitutional infringement of free speech, thereby making it easier for outsiders to participate in the process. So far, the push for a new speaker among activists has largely been confined to a few websites, social media and plenty of e-mails."

Here is the link to the article and letter of current chairman supporting Strauss who say how conservative they plan on being.

Article: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2010/11/12/house_chairmen_say_theyll_purs.html

Letter: http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/shared-blogs/austin/politics/upload/2010/11/house_chairmen_say_theyll_purs/COMMITTEECHAIRS.pdf