Frustrations become vocal as Dems control State House Calendar
While enjoying a pleasant Memorial Day weekend Texas voters have no doubt by now been thrown into moments of dizzying frustration as they read or hear the news that business is not being accomplished down in Austin. The Democrats are in control of the calendar and voters dont understand why someone can not or will not do something about it. Voters think the word chubbed" must be some kind of joke and cannot understand how a filibuster is stopping something they overwhelmingly care about Voter ID from being passed.
Before House members pick up the phone to try and defend the state of affairs or give us their perspective we respectfully recommend you talk amongst yourselves. Please note these statements have been checked verified through countless conversations with handfuls of House Members and we believe represents the current state of the Chamber itself.
Voters dont know the House rules or much care about the details. They dont care that the Speaker Pro Tem is in the chair" during most Local & Consent Calendars having no idea what such a calendar means. Voters and now Members of the House themselves want to know where Speaker Joe Straus is or more importantly perhaps why he hasnt been in the chair" for more than a couple hours during the home stretch when crucial issues come to a head.
Texas Insider has learned a growing number of House Members importantly Republicans & Democrats alike now want to know why Speaker Straus when seen is over along the rail laughing & joking as if their bills going down in flames is something hes totally unaware of.
Said one Republican member The lights appear to be on but nobodys home." Said another on the condition of anonymity The Speaker or the House Caucus should have at the least been communicating to members or showing some strategies for getting our message out. Nobody knows whats going on and nobodys in charge."
Some members have reportedly told Speaker Straus You get up there in that chair." They are hoping though most say they have not spoken directly to the Speaker saying they feel commenting directly to Straus would not be construed as being constructive that at some point the Speaker will exhibit the leadership associated with that of the position. Members are saying hes deserted hes gone hes not even in the process."
Even Paul Burka of Texas Monthly recently noted in his blog comments entitled
Wanted: Adult Supervision The House was out of control Thursday during the debate on the TxDOT Sunset bill. The process was living proof of the old saying that there are two things you should never see being made: sausage and legislation. This was not serious lawmaking.
Its one thing for voters to be frustrated quite another when Members are asking the questions. As evidence of their concern some members want to know why Rep. Eiland (D-Galveston) has been in the chair for virtually every parliamentary inquiry or ruling of note.
Many members as of their comments this weekend lay blame at the feet of the 11 Cardinals for current predicaments. Those same 11 members as of the past 48 hours appear to believe that could be the case given the amount of their activity to try and cut a deal to break the logjam. Many say speechifying in caucus meetings is wearing thin on fellow members.
Voters believe legislators say its the House Democrats as well as those Republicans who at the beginning of the Session encouraged letting the will of the House" rule over the Sessions proceedings that are out of touch with Texans on both policy and tactics. An increasing number of House Members say their constituents believe it is they who are manipulating the House rules in order to kill hundreds of important bills that matter to all Texans including Voter ID.
One thing is certain plenty of finger-pointing will take place over the coming weeks and voters will soon be hearing what actually happened from their elected officials as Legislators return home to explain Parliamentary Procedure and abiding by the House Rules. Heaven help them Legislators should they try to explain that should a Suspension of the Rules occur every single bill on the 28-page Calendar would have been considered eligible for taking out of order which inevitably kills the majority of the remaining bills.
Voters dont care about special calendars with special rules or talking about 10 minutes worth of questions. Voters believe the dying bills to be important and of concern to them locally.
To most legislators in politics you are either moving forward or you are moving backwards … never standing still. Legislators however appear to now believe standstill is the case.
Frustrated legislators have heard from enough constituents to realize that Texas voters understand hundreds of bills are dying. This includes Democratic & Republican Legislators.
While enjoying a pleasant Memorial Day weekend Texas voters have no doubt by now been thrown into moments of dizzying frustration as they read or hear the news that business is not being accomplished down in Austin. The Democrats are in control of the calendar and voters dont understand why someone can not or will not do something about it. Voters think the word chubbed" must be some kind of joke and cannot understand how a filibuster is stopping something they overwhelmingly care about Voter ID from being passed.
Before House members pick up the phone to try and defend the state of affairs or give us their perspective we respectfully recommend you talk amongst yourselves. Please note these statements have been checked verified through countless conversations with handfuls of House Members and we believe represents the current state of the Chamber itself.
Voters dont know the House rules or much care about the details. They dont care that the Speaker Pro Tem is in the chair" during most Local & Consent Calendars having no idea what such a calendar means. Voters and now Members of the House themselves want to know where Speaker Joe Straus is or more importantly perhaps why he hasnt been in the chair" for more than a couple hours during the home stretch when crucial issues come to a head.
Texas Insider has learned a growing number of House Members importantly Republicans & Democrats alike now want to know why Speaker Straus when seen is over along the rail laughing & joking as if their bills going down in flames is something hes totally unaware of.
Said one Republican member The lights appear to be on but nobodys home." Said another on the condition of anonymity The Speaker or the House Caucus should have at the least been communicating to members or showing some strategies for getting our message out. Nobody knows whats going on and nobodys in charge."
Some members have reportedly told Speaker Straus You get up there in that chair." They are hoping though most say they have not spoken directly to the Speaker saying they feel commenting directly to Straus would not be construed as being constructive that at some point the Speaker will exhibit the leadership associated with that of the position. Members are saying hes deserted hes gone hes not even in the process."
Even Paul Burka of Texas Monthly recently noted in his blog comments entitled Wanted: Adult Supervision The House was out of control Thursday during the debate on the TxDOT Sunset bill. The process was living proof of the old saying that there are two things you should never see being made: sausage and legislation. This was not serious lawmaking.
Its one thing for voters to be frustrated quite another when Members are asking the questions. As evidence of their concern some members want to know why Rep. Eiland (D-Galveston) has been in the chair for virtually every parliamentary inquiry or ruling of note.
Many members as of their comments this weekend lay blame at the feet of the 11 Cardinals for current predicaments. Those same 11 members as of the past 48 hours appear to believe that could be the case given the amount of their activity to try and cut a deal to break the logjam. Many say speechifying in caucus meetings is wearing thin on fellow members.
