Do they not watch national news?
AP Wire | 01/09/2007 | Radio host turned senator loses first legislative fight
AUSTIN - Conservative radio host Dan Patrick didn’t have much luck on his first day as a state senator.
Making good on a campaign pledge, Patrick passionately advocated for the end of the “two-thirds rule” - a Senate tradition that prevents legislation from being considered unless two-thirds of senators vote to bring it up.
The Senate promptly voted 30-1 to keep the rule in place.
Before the vote, Democratic Sen. Royce West of Dallas said the rule ensures Republicans work with Democrats and senators from urban areas work with their suburban and rural counterparts.
Republicans have a 20-11 majority in the Texas Senate, one shy of the two-thirds necessary.
I find it hard to believe that a conservative talk show host turned senator hasn’t been paying attention to the national political news. Have we not been listening to the Republicans whine about how the democrats are being so unfair by using the rules the republicans put in place to trample them when they were down in numbers? Wow, that was a mouthful and I probably should work on rewording it but I am in a wordy mood today so I think I will just leave it and you will all just have to read the horrible run on sentences that are coming from the ends my fingers. Okay, I will stop now and I really will try to do better.
Making laws and rules that take the voice from the minority party is just a bad idea. Sure, in the short-term you might have more control but the political winds will change at some point and you will be sitting in a very bad place all of your own making. Shouldn’t we elect people who have some foresight? I know I am a idealist but we can do better than this, People. Our Senators are elected to protect the state for the future, not for just this minute. They should be working towards the greater good, not some petty power ploy that will backfire on them when the Democrats regain the Texas Legislature. Yes, it will happen, maybe not today but it will happen. Where are all the statesmen and stateswomen when we need them? I am so sick of short-sighted politicians.
Patrick, a Republican from suburban Houston, pledged to keep fighting to end the rule, even if he has to do it alone. Citing the civil rights movement, he said sometimes one person has to take a stand to make a historic change.
That is just pathetic. The civil rights movement was about stopping oppression against minorities not oppressing the minority party.
He deserved to lose 30-1 and given his audacity in likening himself to Martin Luther King Jr. I hope this is just the first of many losses for his hopefully very short term as a Senator in Texas.
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