When I saw that my friend Bryan Hughes had posted to this blog, I decided it was time for me to get off the sidelines. Representative Hughes is one of the members of the Texas House for whom I have tremendous respect, in part because of his principled opposition last session to Tom Delay's redistricting effort.
You've probably heard a lot about how TRMPAC (Texans for a Republican Majority PAC), led by Tom Delay, funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into Republican campaigns in 2002 in order to influence the 2003 Legislature to pass Delay's Congressional redistricting plan. What you may not know is that Bryan Hughes was one of the biggest recipients of TRMPAC contributions, and voted against redistricting because of its negative impact on his district. As a current freshman member of the House, I can only imagine how much courage it took for Representative Hughes to take that stand in his freshman session two years ago.
I and several other legislators have introduced bills this session to create an independent commission to handle redistricting -- so that voters can choose their political leaders, instead of vice versa. Unfortunately, these bills have been met with little enthusiasm from legislative leadership.
The hardest thing to get lawmakers to vote for is any measure that would diminish their power as lawmakers. The only way to pass reforms that empower citizens and make politicians more accountable to the people who elect them is when the public demands it. So I hope everyone checking out this blog will weigh in with your representatives on the need for an independent redistricting commission.
And thanks to Representative Aaron Pena for starting this blog and bringing us all into the digital age!
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
In this day and age gerrymandering should be a thing of the past. Let software use the information gathered by the census to automatically group the districts. If this carves up an incumbents district, so be it.
In this way the representatives can save their courage to debate important things like the Ducth oven or heaven forbid meaningful property tax relief for the home owners.
TRMPAC's 2002 contributions to the Republicans proved crucial to DeLay's goals of installing a dominant GOP majority and a Republican House Speaker (Tom Craddick). This facilitated the redistricting plan designed only to strengthen Republican control of Congress. They won, now we know the extent of the illegal money they used to achieve their goal.
There is a legal precept that you cannot benefit from your crime e.g. you cannot recover the life insurance money after you murder your parents.
Neither should you benefit from gerrymandering voters after using illegal contributions.
How can we set aside redistricting? Why should Craddick and the Republicans profit from their crimes? If you steal money and use it to buy something else, the law will take it away. The same principle applies to the thieves in Austin.
Another abortion services Resource... LifeLaw.org . A discussion forum for all that deals with such hot-button issues as abortion services .
Great blog. I surf the web looking for blogs like
this. Your site was on point and will be back again!
I can't explain, but you need to check my cash advance now blog!
I really must say this is the best blog I have ever come across in a very long time. I am not just saying that either! I am studying for my associates degrees and spent the last 5 hours (and 12 cups of java) researching this area topic. Many blogs have very generic information but yours is very different. I can actually apply some of this information to my associate studies. No worries I will give you full credit in my references section.(I will even give you a link in my blog!) I took it upon myself to add you to my favorites and will visit back to let you know how my grade ends up. Thanks so much from!fl home owner insurance.
Thank You for visiting my car insurance blog. I will be posting more car insurance insurance related articles
in the future. Please leave your own comments, articles or info....Thanks
http://cheapcarinsurance1.blogspot.com
For more insurance information please visit
http://thehomeworkco.com/insurance/index.php
Thank You for visiting my travel insurance blog. I will be posting more travel insurance insurance related articles
in the future. Please leave your own comments, articles or info....Thanks
http://cheapcarinsurance1.blogspot.com
For more insurance information please visit
http://thehomeworkco.com/insurance/index.php
I was searching blogs,and I found your site.Please,
accept my congratulations for your excellent work!
If you have a moment, please visit my site:
insurance center
It pretty much covers insurance center related issues.
Have a good day!
I just came across your blog and wanted to
drop you, Blogger, a note telling you how impressed I was with
the information you have posted here.
If you have a moment, please visit my site:
insurance center
It covers insurance center related contents.
I send you warm regards and wish you continued success.
Hi Blogger! I like your blog! Keep up the
good work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!
If you have a moment, please take a look at my site:
insurance center
It pretty much covers insurance center related issues.
Best regards!
Post a Comment