Voting Resources
Conservatives Double-crossed by Cowardly Libs
Urgent: Please go to: austinreteaparty.com, sign the petition, and encourage your friends and email loops to do the same, and then PHONE CALL and FAX your Texas Senators. TODAY. NOW.
This is why:
Texas Senators failed to honor the “deal” struck two weeks ago in the House.
As late as Tuesday night, word was being spread that stealth attempts at harming SBOE conservatives via redistricting were being dropped, and the preferred-by-conservatives and preferred-by-SBOE plan “E118” was going to be adopted, as the gentleman’s deal called for.
The committee meeting started a little later than its 8 am posting. All appeared normal.
Then Sen. Seliger of the Panhandle dropped a bomb--a political improvised explosive device with the power to wreck the Texas GOP for years to come. He pretended to not know of the vast support for both the SBOE conservatives and their plan (E118), and submitted a rogue plan (E120), that had not been vetted or discussed or even visible to the public. The fix was in. Conservatives had been had. While E118 had been open and transparently available to the public for nearly two weeks, E120 was not even available online until 8:15 yesterday morning, after the committee starting time! Analytical details of E120, produced by the Legislative Council on all such plans, were not available until after the committee meeting adjourned. The public, and even then committee members themselves, had zero input. The SBOE members, with two possible exceptions, both freshmen rinos, did not either. (Word on the street is that rookie Marsha Farney—whose husband donated to Barack Obama’s campaign--has a paid consultant in a high government office, and does not want Brazos county in her district.) So much for transparent Government. Texas, Lt. Governor Dewhurst, and Gov. Perry should be ashamed of the committee—if not outraged.
To add insult, just before press it has been discovered that the rogue E120 was finalized Tuesday morning, a full day before the committee meeting, but was intentionally hidden from public view!
Senator Dan Patrick of SD7 was the lone “hero” of the day, ably questioning the rogue plan, asking why Midland and Ector counties were flipped, (the unspoken but well-known reason is that Bob Craig does not want an opponent who happens to live in Ector County), its effects on rising GOP star Charlie Garza of El Paso, and importantly, the lack of time to study it. Sen. Patrick was as surprised as everyone else, yet still went to battle for conservatives.
It was later discovered that the rogue stealth and hidden Seliger plan actually violates Federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) law guidelines, where the E118 had been crafted specifically to comply with this and no concerns about this with E118 had surfaced in two weeks! Nonetheless, Sen. Seliger’s non-answer to nearly every issue raised by Sen. Patrick was an un-supported “we had to due to VRA issues” type response, which is patently false as E118 is at least one other plan compliant with the VRA. When unsupported, this is the redistricting equivalent of “playing the race card.”
In short, one political insider described it as the “worse thing I’ve ever seen happen in my political career.”
Please take action today—now—sign the petition AND CALL AND FAX your Senators.
Thank you.
Additional info: See “Radioactive Results” article here.
TO VIEW THE MAP
Please politely indicate to your elected officials that you support the conservative SBOE plan 118 (or improvements) and oppose the rogue plan E120.
To contact Governor Perry or Lt. Governor Dewhurst:
Governor Perry, 800-252-9600 or 512-463-1782 and 512-463-1849 fax
Lt. Governor Dewhurst, 512-463-0001 512-463-0677 fax
To Contact the Senate Members, see names/numbers below. Bolded indicates Committee Members. Faxes may also be sent via [email protected], e.g. [email protected].
