Over the weekend, the Democratic contingent in the Texas Legislature used a last resort measure to abort more restrictions on voting by the GOP:
Texas Democrats on Sunday night used every parliamentary tool at their disposal to effectively kill a bill that would add new restrictions to elections in the state, ultimately staging a walkout to prevent a vote from being held before a midnight deadline. [NBC News]
How bad are the restrictions? Steve Benen thinks they’re fairly awful:
Republicans in the Lone Star State went to great lengths to craft a bill, negotiated in secret, that attacked the franchise in a multifaceted way, making it more difficult to cast absentee ballots, while curtailing early voting, banning drive-through voting, empowering partisan poll watchers, and even discouraging Texans from transporting voters to polling places. The common thread tying together nearly all of these provisions was an unsubtle attempt to make it harder for Black and Latino voters to participate in their own democracy.
What’s more, Republicans also included provisions to make it easier for state judges to overturn election results, inviting future electoral crises. For all intents and purposes, the proposal was designed to move Texas away from democracy itself.
Without having read proposed legislation myself – and perhaps gotten a law degree and a degree in philosophy – it’s hard for me to say if they’re awful or just bad. However, in view of the circumstantial evidence of
- no evidence of systemic fraud;
- a GOP full of doubtful characters;
- a GOP which didn’t even bother to craft an agenda for the 2020 elections – they literally took the 2016 version and stamped 2020 on it, from what I’ve read;
- a GOP committed to its own infallibility, meaning modifying its policies is now considered anathema
I’m inclined to believe these are the actions of a Party that, not knowing how to appeal to an increasingly skeptical electorate, and convinced that its political tenets are holy and good – and, in some ways, that’s a literal belief, not an analogy – is becoming frantic to shape the rules to favor it and its agenda, rather than sell its agenda to the voters – and modify it as necessary.
I wouldn’t take the assertions of such pundits as Erick Erickson that the Democrats are engaged in hypocrisy too seriously, as he wishes to see this somehow equated to a filibuster. But let’s stipulated to it. Then we realize that when in the midst of a game in which the rules are not changing, one does not put aside a tool or rule just because it may be repugnant in another arena or context. Crippling oneself is not a virtue.
Finally, I found King Governor Abbot’s (R-TX) reaction a trifle autocratic:
Democrats vowed to continue to fight a Texas bill that would add restrictions on voting as Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to cut off funding for the Legislature if they do so.
“I will veto Article 10 of the budget passed by the legislature. Article 10 funds the legislative branch,” Abbott tweeted Monday. “No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities. Stay tuned.” [NBC News]
While fans of hardball politics may argue that the Emperor Abbot is perfectly within his rights to call a special session and threaten the pay of the legislators, they forget that legislatures are not paid to kow-tow to the Governor; they are paid to exercise their best judgment. Financial coercion is a corrupt approach to politics. The Democrats chose to pay the cost of terminating the Legislative session prematurely, meaning certain of their legislation was not given final votes, in order to abort voting restrictions that they consider beyond the pale.
Abbot and his cronies didn’t get what they wanted? Tough shit, buds. The Democrats played the game by the rules and the GOP should just swallow the rocks they were handed. Calling a Special Session is just as pathetic as Trump whining, without evidence, that the election was stolen from him.
Punishing legislators for doing their jobs is corruption.
