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Texas Lawmakers on Lam in Oklahoma
Edited for brevity.State troopers found Democratic lawmakers in Oklahoma after they brought the Texas House to a standstill by going into hiding, but the legislators declined to return to the state Capitol. The Republican leaders sent the troopers to Ardmore, Okla., on Monday to ask the Democrats to return. The lawmakers left Austin on Sunday, after days of strategizing to waylay a contentious GOP-led battle to redraw the state's congressional lines. The absence of the 58 Democrats denied the House its required 100-member quorum. The boycott capped months of tension between Democrats and the newly-in-control Republicans over a bill to limit lawsuits and a GOP budget that would make deep spending cuts without raising taxes. I'm not posting this to spawn more conservative vs. liberal political debate on this forum, but out of concern for what this means to our political structure as a whole. What does it mean to the future of political debate and change in our society when the minority party bows out of the process entirely? Is this a fair tactic, or is it a refusal to accept the situation? Is there a precedent to this? Posted by: Dar 2003-05-13 |
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