The redistricting scheme Tom DeLay has tried to force through the Texas Legislature is still stalled in the state Senate because 11 brave Senate Dems are still denying the chamber the quorum needed to approve the effort. They’re still in New Mexico and nothing much has happened since I last wrote about this.
Some of the names Texas Republicans are calling these 11 Dems probably aren’t suitable for a family blog, but needless to say, they’re unpleasant. Some of the more common charges are that the Dems “aren’t doing their jobs,” and that voters didn’t elect them not to work. The GOP has generally labeled the quorum-breaking move “cowardly,” because Dems aren’t showing up to fight for their cause.
Naturally, these criticisms are baseless and self-serving. What I didn’t know is that they’re also hypocritical.
As Carpetbagger regular Chief Osceola brought to my attention today, some of the same Republicans whining about Dems leaving the legislature to deny the majority a quorum did exactly the same thing 10 years ago.
In 1993, when Democrats had a clear majority in Texas, the state Senate was set to consider a judicial redistricting plan that would have ended at-large elections for state judges in a handful of Texas counties.
Republicans opposed the plan, but with 13 members in the 31-member Senate, they were set to lose. So what did they do? They left the legislature to deny the Dems the chance to vote on the measure.
Granted, this wasn’t a huge deal at the time. Republicans left the capital, but they didn’t leave the state. Dems didn’t call the cops, misuse federal resources, harass the Republicans’ families, or destroy any official records. The whole ordeal lasted one day.
However, on principle, Republicans did exactly the same thing in 1993 as Dems are doing today. If leaving to deny a quorum is so wrong, then Republicans are no better than those they’re criticizing now.
Apparently, some of those Republicans would prefer not to be reminded of the similarity. When a Texas AP reporter asked then-Sen. David Sibley, one of the Republicans who broke the quorum in 1993, if such a tactic is a legitimate option within the rules of the lawmaking process, Sibley responded, “I’ve got nothing to say about that. I’m sorry, I’m just not going to go there.”