This is great
Woo!
Texas Republicans vote to arrest Democrats blocking redistricting plan
Texas Republicans have voted to track down and arrest dozens of Democratic legislators who have fled the state to block passage of a plan to re-draw electoral boundaries to favour Republicans.
After the vote, Republican Governor Greg Abbott ordered state troopers “to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans”.
Abbott has also threatened to charge the absent Democrats with bribery if they raised public money to cover the daily fine they incur for boycotting the chamber.
The redrawn Congressional map would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, where Republicans hold a slim majority.
At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable after more than 50 Democratic lawmakers left the state.
Most of the MIA Democrats flew to Chicago on a fossil fueled airplane, despite many having missives about climate doom on their webpages.
Obviously, the media and other Democrats are incensed over this step, including one of the dumbest members of Congress
Now, I wonder, what happened to get Democrats worked up about the arrest orders?
Oregon Republicans flee, facing fines, state police chasing — Democrats demand they return
Republican state senators in Oregon continued to engage in a high-stakes game of brinksmanship Friday with Democratic lawmakers, saying they are prepared to sue if the Senate president goes through with her threat to impose a $500 fine for each day they delay a vote on a landmark climate plan that would be the second of its kind nationwide.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown deployed the state police Thursday to try to round up 11 Republican senators who fled the Legislature — and in some cases, the state — to thwart the passage of a cap-and-trade proposal that would dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The minority GOP caucus wants the plan to be sent to voters instead of being instituted by lawmakers — but negotiations with Democrats collapsed, leading to the headline-grabbing walkout.
“It’s time for the Senate Republicans to show up and do the job they were elected to do,” Brown, a Democrat, said at a news conference Thursday.
They were also being fined. The media and Democrats were fine with this. Why not now?
Read: Too Bad: Abbott Orders Arrest Of State Democrats Who Fled »