"Texas Senate OKs New Redistricting Map"

[Cha]

http://www.rr.com/v5/2/news/frame/0,2331,,00.html?213~ap~1~9000_503761

" The Texas GOP scored a victory Wednesday when the Senate gave final approval to a redistricting bill designed to boost the GOP's strength in the state's congressional delegation."

"The Senate approved the plan 18-12"


I don't see this anywhere on DU..but did see it on Roadrunner!

My comment! "Oh Shit!"

I hope it comes back to bite them in the :kick:

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Once Goodhair signs that into law

It's going to be immediately challenged in the courts.

The redistricting plan is going nowhere.

Hawkeye-X

[GreenGreenLimaBean]

3. what courts have you been watching???

I hope your right, but current history indicates this will stand.
SCOTUS will gladly approve anything Delay tells them to.

[Trek234]

18. Sure it won't

Cause we got our Texas courts packed with dems right? I wouldn't be so optimistic if I were you.

[Skittles]

26. the courts in Texas?

Please. They're so f**ing repuke.

[LightTheMatch]

2. Voting #'s wrong?

I thought it was supposed to be 18-13, with one republican voting with the Democrats.

The Republican who voted against was Teel Bivins, of Amarillo, who just didn't like the map in regards to west Texas.

[Cha]

4. I didn't hear that! Just got if off of Roadrunner as I was logging

on to DU.

[cjbuchanan]

9. One Dem voted for it!

Here is a link
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/2117965

Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, voted for it.

[Cha]

12. I wonder what this ken armbrister's agenda is?

[GOPisEvil]

14. Ken Armbrister is from Victoria and has PETROLEUM interests down there.

He's not exactly the most liberal fella in the world either. He also might aspire to one of those new House seats. :eyes:

[Trek234]

19. Typical republican

with a D next to his name.

[hiphopnation]

5. Has this passed

in the Texas House yet?

[Cha]

6. I got this from the article!

"The House adopted a different map last week. The two chambers are expected to try to work out a compromise between the two maps in a conference committee"

[hiphopnation]

7. Yeah I just read that...

after I posted. Woops! Thanks!

[goobergunch]

8. Hopefully they won't be able to work something out...

Is there still time for the HOUSE Dems to break quorum?

[Parche]

10. Invade

We should invade Texas and occupy it, since it is a state
of mass deception

[Cha]

11. Wouldn't that be nice?!

:toast:

[GOPisEvil]

13. I do hope you'll be benevolent dictators!

There are some people on the correct side of all this down here! :hi:

[lindashaw]

15. Come on down...:)

[library_max]

21. Who's "We"?

D'ya think the President is on our side in this one? Or do you have a Democrat-controlled army up your sleeve?

[CO Liberal]

16. Once a New Map Is Agreed On.......

...private citizens in Texas will be able to petition the courts to throw it out.

[Cha]

24. Sounds Good!

:bounce:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

17. It's a SILENT effing COUP!

Christ, the right wingers are taking over.

[sonias]

20. Ever since Quitmire crossed the Democrat picket line -

We knew this was coming. Nothing we could do to stop it, all our Democratic Senators could do was delay it. Now it's time for the courts and frankly the way they've been going lately, I don't have as much faith in them as I used to. I think there's clear evidence of voting rights act violations in these maps, but the courts are probably going to rule that it isn't bad enough to overturn. This is how these bastards are winning they just keep grabbing more and more power and nobody is there to hold them back.

Thank you very much John Whitmire, I hope the money you make from Locke, Lidde and Sapp will make satisfy your empty soul, you traitorous scab.

Sonia

(edited for typos)

[sham]

22. Whitmire

They showed him on the local news tonight. He was giving some impassioned speech about the injustice of redistricting. I just wanted to :puke:. He's trying to have it both ways. I almost punched the TV. What a piece of shit.

[Cha]

23. As you probably know...Dean mentioned this yesterday again

(the redistricting in Texas)in his speech in Copley Square. All the ways that the repugs are trying to hijack our Democracy.

Boy ..nice of there to be a traitor! As if things aren't hard enough!

[dusty64]

25. I'm glad someone is talking

about this fascist illegal powergrab. I know the Democrats are all over the California recall, is this not as important?

[AndyTiedye]

28. We Still Have A Chance Of Saving California from the Repubs

Texas looks like a lost cause. How many seats are we losing there?

[SoCalDem]

31. The news said FIVE

isn't that "special".. These fools voted themselves out of a job :eyes:

[Lexingtonian]

32. One, two, three, or four- net

There's lot more and better information on blogs about this (i.e. Political State Report, www.polstate.com).

Basically, a whole lot of Democratic districts remain almost untouched- Frost's, Bell's, Doggett's, Edward's. Also the two previously destined to flip are changed insubstantially-

TX-4 Hall-Dino => will become Republican (Deuell is waiting for it)
TX-23 Bonilla-R => will go to a Latino Democrat in another cycle or two
(this is a VRA district, btw)

So the redistricting plan is really about flipping three or four districts. Three in East Texas: TX-2 Jim Turner and TX-9 Nick Lampson are utterly demolished/cut up- they're as good as gone. (The new TX-2 and TX-9 seem to be set up for (supposedly) Michael Berry-R and some so far unidentified Republican from or around Tomball.) OTOH Max Sandlin has a fighting, but probably less than 50/50, chance of keeping the new TX-1. (Which is said to be designed for Eltife, Republican mayor or ex-mayor of Tyler.)

The fourth district likely on the chopping block, but the Texas House and Texas Senate are arguing about it, is in West Texas- Charlie Stenholm's TX-17. Basically TJ Craddick (House Speaker) wants to chop it and some Republican ones up and get a new district for himself out of it, centered on his hometown of Midland. The problem is partisanly that Craddick could, on the one had, get Stenholm paired up with Republican newbie Neugebauer (TX-19) and- Stenholm is well thought of- get Neugebauer knocked off. On the other, the constituents and Republican state Reps and Senators want to keep Charlie, in part because he has all that seniority on the Agriculture Committee (translation: access and pork), partly because that good/non-sellout a representative is hard to find in rural areas anyways, and partly because Craddick's schemes involve a lot of chopping up of cities/regions/counties/'communities of interest' into districts that are silly economically and socially.

My impression is that Stenholm gets saved. We lose Turner and Lampson (Blue Dogs no one outside Texas has heard from in years) and maybe Sandlin, Hall is/was already gone over to the other side, and we get Bonilla's seat.

So we lose net two or three, as most likely outcome. Making the Texas delegation 18 R-14 D, or about 43% Democratic.

So that may be what Texas Legislature Democrats have achieved by their fighting- they lose, but what they're losing is about the minimum that could be expected and is partisanly a realistic proportion. They do seem to be fighting it all less vigorously, now that they seem assured of approximately minimal changes and of losing (almost) only fairly passive Blue Dogs, Old Democrats that reflect the past rather than the future of the Party in Texas. They are putting up a real fight for Stenholm, though, and I guess they hope Sandlin survives at the polling booth.

I don't see a serious judicial challenge being mounted either, if they manage to save Stenholm anyway.

[Nottingham]

27. Texas & Florida hold a helluva lot of Electoral Votes

Its gonna be tough without these states but it looking very sad right now! We can only hope the Repukes don't know these new districts very well! :bounce:

[AndyTiedye]

29. The BFEE OWNS Florida and Texas

If we count on winning those states we will LOSE
(or, more accurately, get robbed again).

[tlb]

30. On the face of it I don't see a basis for judicial intervention.

State legislatures have the primary duty of redistircting and while it is the practice to visit the issue only every ten years, there is no statute they can't do so more often.

Further as I understand it, the minorities congressional seats are unaffected so there goes the claim of racial bias.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Is either map available online? (n/t)

[Bucky]

34. Rrrr...

I'm a pissed Texan. Damn them.