[Politics] Typical GOP skullduggery

"MrSnrub" (sv100) 10/16/2019 at 12:46 • Filed to: None

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The background to this is a leaked recording in which the Texas Speaker of the House offers media access to a far-right PAC in exchange for targeting his political opponents, but what interests me is how the conversation makes explicit what was already obvious: the Texas GOP views political power primarily as a bludgeon to target people they hate. In this case, starving increasingly Democratic cities of revenue.

“Why don’t we just take the two local pennies that are being used for economic development and put those into driving down property taxes? We don’t raise anything, it’s already a statewide average, it’s economic development dollars, we hate cities and counties .”

ttyymmnn > MrSnrub 10/16/2019 at 13:21

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SOP for GOP. Texas Repubs are the worst.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > MrSnrub 10/16/2019 at 13:43

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A lot of talk out there about Texas being a potential swing state for 2020 given demographic changes. Do you see that as really the case (presumably as someone who lives there)?

Latinos make a good chunk of the population, but even given the president’s feelings towards such groups it seems like decent chunks of them still identify as Republican?

MrSnrub > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 10/16/2019 at 14:14

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Beto’s narrow loss last year shows a statewide victory for a Democrat is less of a long shot than it used to be, and Republicans are definitely losing ground in suburban areas - George HW Bush’s old district, which is also where I grew up, flipped to the Democrats for the first time in 50 years in 2018.

But I think true swing state status is a while off yet. Republicans still have solid majorities in the state legislature and Democrats have yet to really mount a serious challenge in a gubernatorial election. Latinos lean about 70% Democratic here, but their turnout is low, if increasing . And Beto was a charismatic candidate running against a uniquely uncharismatic incumbent. He may not have done as well if his opponent was an Earth human and not a poorly-disguised reptiloid from Sigma Draconis. Texas isn’t dark red anymore, but it’s not purple yet either. More of a medium pink maybe.

facw > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 10/16/2019 at 14:19

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I think it’s going to be hard for 2020. Maybe in 4-8 years. But if that’s coming, expect to see something like you are seeing in North Carolina today. Going hard on voter suppression and gerrymandering while moving to strip power from the governor if you actually reach the point where Democrat could win that. 

WRXforScience > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 10/16/2019 at 14:32

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As a Texan here’s my take: Houston, Dallas, and Austin are firmly Democratic (and have been for decades). San Antonio has moved Democratic and Fort Worth has gone from deep red to purple.

2/3rds of Texans live in cities and while Houston is the biggest single city in Texas, the DFW M etorplex (Dallas-Fort Worth) is more populous and larger than Houston. Fort Worth has always been more Republican leaning than Dallas and has a history and reputation of being less tolerant and more conservative (it was where the white people from Dallas went to when they felt that Dallas was too diverse, one of the towns on the south side of Fort Worth is White Settlement ).

Fort Worth has been the last linchpin of Republican control (along with gerrymandering). Texas has been ‘purple’ for a long time; however, the large Democratic population was (and still is) geographically concentrated in huge cities, while the Republican minority are dispersed throughout sparsely populated rural areas and exurbs. Thanks to our “representative” form of “democracy”, where someone lives is more vital to representation than just about any other factor, so the empty counties of Republicans have counted more than the cities and metro areas (with more people than most Midwestern states).

The Supreme Court ruled that Texas redistricting was illegal, but the Republican controlled state legislature has done a great job keeping the old maps through as many elections as possible (it helps that the Texas legislature only meets every other year and isn’t in session for very long, with the Lieutenant Governor deciding what is on the legislative agenda and how long the legislature is in session).

The good news is, once Texas flips (I wouldn’t bet on this election, but definitely by 2040) then we’ll get rid of the Electoral College since without it a Republican victory is nearly impossible.    

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > WRXforScience 10/17/2019 at 11:22

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Any stats  about the demographic breakdown of White Settlement, TX?

I think moving to a town with that name would automatically be a no go for me…but then again I’m a brown so I guess it’s working as intended?

WRXforScience > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 10/17/2019 at 12:37

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86% white and 4 % African American ( and somehow 18% “Hispanic of any Race”?) , turns out the name was given to the city by the Native Americans during its initial settlement (but the city does have a reputation as being less than welcoming to minorities).