Insurgents Win, Ruin Voter ID Surprise
May 26th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Rumors of the death of voter ID have been greatly exaggerated, according to well-known bomb thrower Sen. Dan Patrick. By tonight, though, attempts to resurrect the measure will really, truly, be over. Patrick, with a dramatic flourish, says the House hijackers are to blame.
Decrying the lack of order across the rotunda, Patrick held a press conference to complain that the move against Craddick is killing critical bills. The freshman legislator blames “a handful of Republicans” for teaming with Democrats and wasting time. “For the Democrats, they’re sitting back probably enjoying all this,” Patrick said. “They’ve found a handful of Republicans gullible enough to be a part of the coup d’etat.”
“The insurgents and the Democrats would relish the opportunity to see everything come to an end,” Patrick said, referring to the Republican threat to the Speaker. Whether or not “the insurgents” are successful in yanking Craddick from the dais, the senator said they’ve surely killed voter ID.
First he had to explain why, despite appearances, it wasn’t really dead before now. Waving a conference committee request sheet full of Republican signatures, he said the plan was to amend a Dwayne Bohac bill in conference committee with the requirement to show photo ID at the polling place. Yeah, we’re sure that would have worked.
If members of the conference committee agreed to the change, and their version of the bill could draw a simple majority of each chamber, then the long Democratic fight against the contentious proposal would have been finished.
Tonight is the deadline for turning conference committee reports over to the printer, so even at the time of the press briefing, Patrick had some time to change it. He said, though, that after Friday night’s meltdown the conference committee decided the walls of the Capitol might not hold up against a voter ID bomb. “This piece of legislation,” he speculated, “would’ve brought the whole House down.”
Patrick said the events across the rotunda have a lot to do with the public’s disappointment in politicians. “People say, ‘Why is voter turnout low?’” Patrick opined in his usual radio stream of consciousness. “It’s part of the shenanigans going on over there.”
The good news, at least, is that low voter turnout should be offset by the people who won’t be disenfranchised under a voter ID law. And judging by the packed gallery in the House Friday night, few things have engaged the public more than the move on Craddick.
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
[…] the past three sessions. In 2007, the Texas Senate was the only thing standing in the way of the Voter ID bill. Two versions of the bill passed the Texas House, and Gov. Rick Perry made it clear that he was […]