Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

So in case you hadn’t heard, the state of Arizona (yes, THAT Arizona) has decided to file a federal lawsuit trying to get out of having to comply with the Voting Rights Act.  For those of you not familiar with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, this law, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, allowed the federal government to make sure that all citizens were able to exercise their right to vote as provided by the Constitution.  Those rights had not been won easily.  For African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, women, young people, and many others, the right to vote was granted only after a long, often bloody, struggle during which many of those fighting for their rights lost their lives.

Even after the right to vote was granted to all citizens, many faced discriminatory barriers to voting such as poll taxes, literacy tests, threats to their employment and even acts of physical violence.  This discrimination took many forms and still persists to this day.  In modern day Texas, eligible voters are illegally turned away, purged from the voter rolls, and harassed and intimidated both outside and inside the polling place.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  That is why we still need the VRA.  Because the reasons it was necessary in the first place still exist.

There are those in our country, including many in elected office, who truly believe that voting is a privilege and not a right and continue to seek ways to keep those they deem “unworthy” from casting a ballot.  These same people in positions of power have been trying to slowly chip away at the rights of voters since before the ink was dry on the VRA.  In 2010, a lot of people who think this way got elected to their state’s legislature.  They quickly began a systematic attack on voting rights.  Here in Texas, they managed to pass one of the most restrictive voter id laws in the country (with such haste some of the sponsors of the bill were surprised to learn it disenfranchises veterans in addition to many other groups) and ram through redistricting plans that slice and dice communities of interest into more parts than a victim in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  And that’s just what they actually succeeded at getting passed.  A whole litany of bills attempting to make it more difficult for citizens to vote were introduced but didn’t make it to final passage, thanks to the courageous work of our Democratic members, including one that would have required voters to submit fingerprints!

Many of these outrageous laws are currently awaiting Department of Justice approval, and many of them won’t get it, thanks to the Voting Rights Act.  But the state of Arizona and many others would prefer to be able to discriminate against voters un-checked by the power of the federal government.  And they will fight.  They will use all of the resources at their disposal, including the deep pockets of wealthy proponents of discriminatory legislation, and they will employ every avenue available to try and take away what was earned with the blood, the sweat, and the lives of many Americans of all colors and genders.  Because as State Representative Van Taylor’s Freudian slip told us all, their intent is to make sure the “right” people vote.

I, however, intend to fight back.  I don’t have as many resources as they do, but I will use all that I have to fight back.  I will talk about protecting voting rights to everyone who comes within earshot until my voice is gone.  I will email, Facebook, Tweet, and otherwise send out the message until my fingers ache from typing and clicking.  I will train others in how to run voter education and empowerment programs.  I will knock on doors, make phone calls, sign petitions, march in the streets, protest in the halls of power, give money to support legal action, and whatever else I can to protect the right to vote.  The men and women who fought for the right to vote before me were beaten, starved, imprisoned, threated, and sometimes killed by those who didn’t think they were the “right” people to be voting.  The least I can do to show my gratitude for their efforts in securing my right to vote is to fight to protect it.  I will do whatever it takes.

What will you do?

Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray issued the following statement on Governor Rick Perry’s signing of the anti-gay marriage pledge:

“Rick Perry has executed a flip-flop worthy of Olympic gold. Last week, he invoked the 10^th Amendment in defending New York’s gay marriage law, and today he signed the anti-gay marriage pledge.

“Under normal circumstances, hypocrisy like Rick Perry’s would be jaw dropping – but after 11 years with a Governor who doesn’t know what his convictions are until he reads a poll, Texans aren’t surprised.”

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Texas Democrats have been tangling with Rick Perry since way back. We’ve accumulated sooooo much information on Rick Perry over the years that we felt we owed it to America to give them an informed warning. So on the day Rick Perry announced that he was running for President, we launched MeetRickPerry.com.

And the response has been overwhelming!

Since we launched six days ago, MeetRickPerry.com has gotten tens of thousands of unique visitors from six continents, 86 counties and all 50 states. It’s been mentioned by national press outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, ABC News and CNN.

And the web videos we produced for the site have been a huge hit as well.

Our first video in which we shoot down some of the more outlandish Perry myths – “Meet the Real Rick Perry” – has received 29,329 views as of today.

Our follow-up video – “Dear America” – a letter from Texas to America about George W. Bush and Rick Perry, has been viewed 27,381 times on YouTube as of today, and has been shared over 13,000 times on Facebook.

But we’re just getting started. As Rick Perry continues to gallivant around the country eating corn dogs, rewriting history and ignoring his job back home, we’re gonna keep churning out content for MeetRickPerry.com. Here’s a sneak peak at just a few of the updates you can look forward in the coming weeks:

• A scary look at some of the state agency scandals that have taken place under Rick Perry.
• A deep archive of data that we’ll be calling RickiLeaks.
• And plenty more web videos that we have in production.

If you’d like us to let ya know when we post new content, you can:

• Sign up for our TDP email list
• Like us on Facebook
• Follow @TXDemParty on Twitter
• Subscribe to our TDP YouTube channel

Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing!! Adios!

(Austin, TX) – Today, State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio), State Rep. Joe Farias (D-San Antonio) and Charlie Jones of Texas Democratic Veterans hosted a press conference at VFW Post #76 in San Antonio to discuss the Texas Secretary of State’s interpretation of the GOP-backed voter ID bill (SB 14) to bar the VA card as an acceptable form of military ID. At last week’s Secretary of State’s Election Law Seminar, participants learned of the SOS office’s interpretation of SB 14 that a VA card does not constitute a “military ID” for the purposes of voting (TDP has an audio file and transcribed excerpt of this explanation, available upon request).

“There is no issue more sacred to me than protecting every Texans’ right to vote.  I am deeply disappointed to learn that the implementation of the Republican’s voter suppression law will not only have disparaging effects on our elderly, minorities, and people with disabilities, but now will ultimately discriminate against our Veterans.  It is disturbing to me that this ‘emergency item’ will potentially disenfranchise those who have valiantly served our country with dignity and respect,” said Senator Leticia Van de Putte.

“I want to emphasize that I am dedicated to protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process. The problem is that the implementation of this Republican Voter ID program may have unintended consequences, like disenfranchising those who have sacrificed so much for our country – such as wounded veterans or veterans who suffer from service-connected disabilities.  I am also very concerned about veterans who have voted 50-plus years without being required to show a photo ID.  This will create more obstacles to getting to the polls for those who have served our nation with honor,” said Rep. Joe Farias.

“They had no problems sending us overseas but now they have problems when we come home and want to vote. To Rick Perry, this discriminatory voter ID bill was an “emergency item”. For some of my fellow veterans, especially older vets, Rick Perry’s political “emergency” could mean they won’t be able to vote next year,” said Charlie Jones.

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(Austin, TX) – Today, Rick Perry’s spokesman confirmed the Governor will run for President, and will make the announcement Saturday, as predicted.

“Not surprising, Rick Perry is making his announcement in South Carolina instead of Texas – there’s nowhere in the Lone Star State he could announce without an angry mob showing up,” said Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray.

“The real “Texas miracle” is that the Governor dares talk about our jobs, after demanding a state budget that will lay off tens of thousands of our teachers and kill hundreds of thousands of jobs.  For Rick Perry, the only job that matters is his own – and starting Saturday, he can finally be honest about why he’s spent the entire year ignoring the problems he created at home.

“As Texans, it’s our responsibility to let voters across the nation know the truth about Rick Perry – that he’s been a disaster as Governor and would make an even worse President,” Gray concluded.

The reality behind Perry’s “Texas economy” talking points:

Rick Perry demanded a state budget that could kill hundreds of thousands of jobs

Fact: “Texas could see 335,000 jobs disappear over the next two years if lawmakers adopt the $83.8 billion budget that will go before the state House late next week, according to a state agency…

Harsh spending cuts in the budget could cost more than 146,000 private sector jobs and 189,000 government jobs, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Legislative Budget Board, a bipartisan committee.

This projection, which is based on mathematical calculations, runs counter to the pro-job push underway by Gov. Rick Perry and Republican lawmakers.”

-  Source: “Texas budget could cost more than 335,000 jobs” – CNN Money

Perry is “creating” extremely low-wage jobs

Fact: More than half a million workers in Texas earn no more than the minimum wage – that’s more than twice as many minimum wage workers as any other state.

-  Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Minimum wage workers in Texas 2010

Rick Perry’s Texas was more dependent on stimulus funds than any other state

“Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

-  Source: CNN “Texas balanced budget with stimulus money from Washington”

Perry’s “economic miracle” is a mirage that he owes to federal stimulus funds

Fact: “Almost half of the state’s job growth the past two years was led by education, health care and government, the sectors of the economy that will now take a hit as federal stimulus money runs out and the Legislature’s 8 percent cut in state spending translates into thousands of layoffs among state workers and teachers in the coming weeks.”

“Construction, manufacturing and information sectors lost jobs overall.”

-  Source: Austin American-Statesman Should Perry get credit for Texas economy?

Perry’s Texas suffers from unemployment

Fact: “In May, some 985,656 Texans were unemployed, virtually unchanged from a year ago, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.”

-  Source: Austin American-Statesman Should Perry get credit for Texas economy?

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Dear fellow Democrat,

The discriminatory Voter ID law that Republicans rammed through the legislature has been submitted for preclearance and the Department of Justice will need to hear from you before they make their decision as to whether or not to approve the law. You can read about the new requirements that will be imposed upon voters by clicking here.

We still have a chance to keep this law from taking effect but it depends on us getting the attention of the Department of Justice and making it obvious to them how discriminatory this Voter ID law will be for minorities, the poor, women, college students and rural residents.

Sign this petition for Voting Rights today to add your voice to the letter we will be sending to the U.S. Department of Justice to object to the new Voter ID law.

After spending a decade accumulating a record of disastrous economic policies, attacks on public education and unwavering allegiance to corporate special interests, it’s no surprise that Texas Republicans would rather try to manipulate elections than have to run on their record.

But it’s up to you and I to make sure they don’t get away with it.

By signing this petition for Voting Rights today, you can help make us make that point clear.

Texas is one of the states still covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protects voters from being disenfranchised by discriminatory practices . That means any changes to election law have to be submitted by the state for approval before they can take effect. This pre-approval process is referred to as “preclearance.”

Note – The petition asks for very detailed information about you and where you live to help the DOJ have the information they need to make the right decision. Please fill out the petition form as completely as possible.

For a printable petition, please click here.

The form deadline is August 31, 2011.

Your fellow Democrat,

Boyd L. Richie
Chairman
Texas Democratic Party

TDP Chairman Boyd Richie issued the following statement regarding Rick Perry’s “The Response” rally, scheduled for Saturday, August 6^th in Houston:

“It’s disgusting that Rick Perry may be trying to use a prayer event to further his political ambitions by trying to manufacture ‘a higher calling’ for a Presidential race.

“As a lifelong devout Christian, I believe in the teachings of Jesus and Matthew – that we are our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers and that we should treat ‘the least of these’ with great respect. And because I’m a Christian and an American, I recognize others can disagree with me and that’s not a license to question their faith or their patriotism.

“What I do have a problem with is the Governor building his profile in coordination with a recognized hate group that promotes an agenda that is anti-Christian, anti-America and anti-family. The American Family Association’s violent, hateful agenda is contrary to the values the vast majority of Texans hold dear.

“Like the Governor, I will spend some time tomorrow praying for our state and our nation.  I pray that we might be more understanding, that we might be more tolerant, and that we might renew our commitment as a society to be sure every child has the opportunity to achieve their God-given potential.”

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Republican Media Hound Fails to File a Single Bill in 112^th Congress

(Austin, TX) – Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert has made a habit of embarrassing Texas by going on national television to issue uninformed rants on various topics.

He famously appeared on Anderson Cooper’s CNN show, AC360, after insisting on the House floor that a “retired FBI agent” had warned him of a “terror baby” plot. Gohmert lost his composure almost immediately and continued screaming about his theory even after Anderson Cooper explained that the FBI responded that no such plot existed. The video of Gohmert’s rant has been viewed over 194,000 times on YouTube.

While this was his most infamous rant, it was not the only time Gohmert embarrassed himself and the people who sent him to Congress. He once said the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law threatens American existence and that the passage of a 2009 hate crimes bill would lead to necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality and perhaps even Nazism.

More recently, Gohmert continued using Nazi-themed metaphors when he spoke of the Holocaust during a speech on the House floor about the debt ceiling, belittling the horrors of the Holocaust.

“Gohmert is all talk and no work – and in East Texas, we call people like that “all hat and no cattle”,” said David Henderson, State Democratic Executive Committeeman for Senate District 1. “The few times Gohmert has actually done some work in D.C. lately, it’s been to hurt seniors and students.”

Despite being in the majority party in the House of Representatives, Gohmert has not filed a single bill in this 112^th Congress. He voted for the initial Republican debt ceiling proposal, which would have decimated Medicare by privatizing it and kicked hundreds of thousands of children out of the Head Start program.

“For someone who makes so much noise about other people’s work, I would expect him to pick up a shovel himself every now and then. We may disagree about how things should be done, but Texans have every right to expect Gohmert to do some work.  Standing around making incoherent noises while others do the work is not how we do it in Texas,” concluded Henderson.

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