Joe Straus

[Bladed]

The threat of the Democrats leaving the state is not as big a concern as some people are making it out to be. The last time that happened was more than eleven years ago, and it was over redistricting, which is quite possibly the most contentious subject the Texas Legislature is required to address (fortunately, they won't be addressing it this session).

The only way the Democrats could shut down the Texas Legislature by breaking quorum is if all but one Democratic Representative or every Democratic Senator left the state. Absent an issue as divisive as redistricting, it's unlikely that 100% of the Democrats would agree to scrap an entire session, especially when they know that Governor Abbott can just wait and call a special session after they return, to address whatever issue they were trying to avoid.

With that said, if Lieutenant Governor Patrick succeeds in persuading the Republicans in the Senate to do away with the two-thirds rule, there will be a lot of animosity from the Democrats, and that could potentially lead to some end-of-the-session theatrics (e.g., filibustering, breaking quorum, and/or calling points of order on the entire Calendar) designed to torpedo all remaining legislation. However, I still think it would take a particularly divisive bill to persuade the Democrats to take such drastic action (remember, they too will have pending legislation they hope to pass).

[LDB415]

I think they should set a rule that if you aren't a native Texan you can't run for office in Texas. Oh, and if you are a lawyer you can't run for office.

[Wolverine]

There's no reason for the Democrats to leave if their guy is Speaker again, but it might be funny if conservative legislators did, assuming there's enough conservative legislators left in Texas to prevent a quorum.

[Bladed]

There's no reason for the Democrats to leave if their guy is Speaker again, but it might be funny if conservative legislators did, assuming there's enough conservative legislators left in Texas to prevent a quorum.

What would that accomplish? Breaking quorum is a way for the minority party to block undesirable legislation. If you're in the majority, you can defeat undesirable legislation by simply voting against it.

Even if Turner won the Speaker's race, the chance of the Democrats leaving would be relatively relatively low. They understand that they accomplish more by staying and fighting than by running and hiding.

[Wolverine]

I didn't say it was an effective political move, but it would be funny in a Man Bites Dog kind of way.

P.S. If conservatives were the majority, there would be no risk of Straus continuing as Speaker next year.

[Liberty]

I dee everyone jumping on Strauss, I understand. I'm not so crazy about him myself. Hard to like someone who seems to always ride in the middle. All the same time maybe if we look at things closely.

The fight for speaker 2 years got pretty ugly. The fight itself did a lot to hurt feelings and divide Republicans even further. Politics is dirty, inside politics is crappy dirty. Lots of charges were made. One of the conservative contenders was accused of being an antisemite and valuable time was eaten up in an internal family fight. We had important bills die not just because of Strauss' committees blocking them but because we simply ran out of time. In the end the output of the 2913 Legislature was pretty conservative by any measure. Our 2nd amendment rights were extended even further. Admittedly we gain as much as we had hoped, but it was forward and productive all the same.

I suppose there are many who would be excited about a very conservative Legislature, Senate Court and Governor. We have historically valued "minority rights" Its important to all of us to have a healthy minority, in our government. We need to have people look at all our bills with a critical eye, and try to perfect them so they serve all or at least the most amount of people. I know some might think I'm being a heratic, but please remember that a democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner.

I'm a libertarian. and I mostly vote for conservatives. For my values to be represented I need to have the leftist heard. I admit they are mostly wrong, but on some important issues they may have a point.

Remember when we had A leftist congress with a progressive speaker with a Democratic Senate and an Obama for president? We had Obamacare rammed down our throat. without debate without public scrutiny. We Americans were told to just lay back enjoy it

OK chew me up and spit me out..

[fickman]

It looked like the "find an alternative to Strauss" movement had picked up steam again last week, but I still think it's a long shot and am not sure how much political capital it's worth.

Anyway, I really like my current representative, Giovanni Capriglione, and I noticed he's gone public in support of Strauss. I thought I'd share our exchange on the matter:

Rep. Capriglione,
I wanted to write to you briefly and express my wishes that you would consider supporting any conservative alternative to Joe Strauss as speaker. I really support you and what you stand for - and that won't change based on the speaker vote. I have no ultimatum, and I imagine those who do become tiresome to you.

Anyway, I'm a large supporter of gun rights, pro life measures, and school vouchers (or a rebate program for homeschoolers), and I do feel like Strauss has purposefully subverted good legislation in the last two sessions by playing games with committee chairs and calendar.

I saw that you expressed support for Strauss and felt compelled to communicate my viewpoint.

All the best in the upcoming session, I hope you can continue your momentum of resolved conservative leadership. My family and I will be praying for you.

Respectfully,
fickman

Thank you fickman, I very much appreciate the content and tenor of your note. I am going back to Austin to help pass conservative legislation. I, myself, carried gun rights legislation last session and of course I am thankful to have participated in one of the three biggest pro-life advancements under the current speaker (HB2 which today has shut down over half the abortion clinics in Texas, the defunding of planned parent hood and the sonogram bill). I carried a school choice bill last session, and while I have my children in public school, I do believe that we should provide more opportunities to parents who seek alternatives. The reality is that the speaker plays less of a roll in 'killing' bills than people give him credit (blame) for. Truth is that many/most members don't want some of these bills to pass - for a wide variety of reasons.
Thank you again for the message and I hope you all have a great New Year's! -Giovanni

Thanks and Happy New Years to you as well!

[suthdj]

It looked like the "find an alternative to Strauss" movement had picked up steam again last week, but I still think it's a long shot and am not sure how much political capital it's worth.

Anyway, I really like my current representative, Giovanni Capriglione, and I noticed he's gone public in support of Strauss. I thought I'd share our exchange on the matter:

Rep. Capriglione,
I wanted to write to you briefly and express my wishes that you would consider supporting any conservative alternative to Joe Strauss as speaker. I really support you and what you stand for - and that won't change based on the speaker vote. I have no ultimatum, and I imagine those who do become tiresome to you.

Anyway, I'm a large supporter of gun rights, pro life measures, and school vouchers (or a rebate program for homeschoolers), and I do feel like Strauss has purposefully subverted good legislation in the last two sessions by playing games with committee chairs and calendar.

I saw that you expressed support for Strauss and felt compelled to communicate my viewpoint.

All the best in the upcoming session, I hope you can continue your momentum of resolved conservative leadership. My family and I will be praying for you.

Respectfully,
fickman

Thank you fickman, I very much appreciate the content and tenor of your note. I am going back to Austin to help pass conservative legislation. I, myself, carried gun rights legislation last session and of course I am thankful to have participated in one of the three biggest pro-life advancements under the current speaker (HB2 which today has shut down over half the abortion clinics in Texas, the defunding of planned parent hood and the sonogram bill). I carried a school choice bill last session, and while I have my children in public school, I do believe that we should provide more opportunities to parents who seek alternatives. The reality is that the speaker plays less of a roll in 'killing' bills than people give him credit (blame) for. Truth is that many/most members don't want some of these bills to pass - for a wide variety of reasons.
Thank you again for the message and I hope you all have a great New Year's! -Giovanni

Thanks and Happy New Years to you as well!

Truth is that many/most members don't want some of these bills to pass - for a wide variety of reasons.

Truth is how would we know as the bills never make it to the floor.

[fickman]

Truth is that many/most members don't want some of these bills to pass - for a wide variety of reasons.

Truth is how would we know as the bills never make it to the floor.

That definintely piqued my interest. I felt it's more of an in person conversation the next time I get a chance to bend his ear a little.

I have seen legislators throughout my life that - when they don't get bills passed - trumpet the ones they introduced. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if a lot of bills are submitted to committee to pad the stats and the authors never intended to do any work to move them along.

I'm taking his word for it.

If you look at the whole landscape, Abbott and the new leaders have been so vocal, it'll be easy for them to put Strauss in the hot seat if he's seen as subverting their agenda. They have the visibility and pull to undermine him in his own district and support an opponent who could win. He can easily be made into the scapegoat by people he can't control.

The only problem with this scenario I've imagined is that once again - it leaves us waiting for the next session to finally get our favorite legislation passed. It seems like we're always waiting for "the next session".

[mojo84]

As an example of why Straus remains speaker, look at what Boehner and the establishment republicans are doing to those that opposed Boehner for speaker. Within hours at least two have been stripped of their committee positions.

Restating the obvious here, governing and politics has become about nothing other than power and greed for those in office. We have to return to citizen legislators.

[anygunanywhere]

As an example of why Straus remains speaker, look at what Borhner and the establishment republicans are doing to those that opposed Boehner for speaker. Within hours at least two have been stripped of their committee positions.

If they all would MAN UP and do what is right that would not happen.

When the majority cowers like whipped puppies what do they expect?

Wait, What was I thinking? They are not men, nor adults. They would not know what ethics is if you spelled it out.

We are done.

[RoyGBiv]

Truth is that many/most members don't want some of these bills to pass - for a wide variety of reasons.

Truth is how would we know as the bills never make it to the floor.

That definintely piqued my interest. I felt it's more of an in person conversation the next time I get a chance to bend his ear a little.

I have seen legislators throughout my life that - when they don't get bills passed - trumpet the ones they introduced. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if a lot of bills are submitted to committee to pad the stats and the authors never intended to do any work to move them along.

I'm taking his word for it.

If you look at the whole landscape, Abbott and the new leaders have been so vocal, it'll be easy for them to put Strauss in the hot seat if he's seen as subverting their agenda. They have the visibility and pull to undermine him in his own district and support an opponent who could win. He can easily be made into the scapegoat by people he can't control.

The only problem with this scenario I've imagined is that once again - it leaves us waiting for the next session to finally get our favorite legislation passed. It seems like we're always waiting for "the next session".

I sent Gio a similar message and he phoned me the next day. Spent 30 minutes+ on the phone talking about Straus and the inside baseball of getting bills passed, specifically 2A. I wasn't particularly happy with his position, but appreciated him taking the time to reach out and have a discussion.

What it comes down to is this... From the outside (us) it looks like compromise without a fight. But, the insiders reality is that there's a myriad of legislative priorities, not just 2A. Legislators will line up behind the Speaker candidate they feel will best help them move forward on the biggest slice of their agenda. That decision necessarily takes into account the ramifications of going against a Speaker they believe will ultimately be re-seated. Look at what Boehner is doing in the US House, punishing those that voted against him.

Is it what we want? No... But it's reality.
I don't hold Gio at fault for taking the tack he feels will be most productive. I'm confident he has the best interests of his constituents at heart. That's why things like calls to action and reaching out by phone or email (or in person) are so powerful.... they let legislators know what's important to their constituents, helping to shape their priorities.

[anygunanywhere]

I just spoke with my congressman's office about the status quo in DC. It was a one sided conversation. I sent him a followup email just in case his staffer neglects to inform him of my opinion of his lack of performing at the level I expect from him.

[mojo84]

Voting for the speaker will happen tomorrow. It's not too late to let your rep know you want him or her to vote for Rep. Scott Turner from Frisco. I encourage you to let your voice be heard regardless how much of a longshot it may be.

[anygunanywhere]

Voting for the speaker will happen tomorrow. It's not too late to let your rep know you want him or her to vote for Rep. Scott Turner from Frisco. I encourage you to let your voice be heard regardless how much of a longshot it may be.

My rep's election is tomorrow.