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The spotlight wont shine for long on the story of Texas flyaway Democrats. The novelty will wear off. The cable TV networks will have other top stories before you know it, and this will become another of those insider fights of only passing interest to Texans who dont have regular business in the state Capitol.

Voting rights are important to voters, but most people only pay attention to the particulars at election time. Where do I go? What do I have to do? Who and what is on the ballot? Who are all of these people, and which ones are in my way and which ones can I ignore?

But the next big elections in Texas arent until March at the earliest and those, the party primaries, could easily be delayed until May or later because of delays in the 2020 U.S. census, and the resulting delays in drawing new political maps to fit new details of where Texans live and how many of them live there.

For now, its enough to know that the state government in Texas is dysfunctional, but not in a way that has any immediate effect on the lives of everyday Texans.

Thats a particular problem for the wandering Democrats whose political play depends, to some extent, on public attention. They decamped on Monday, faced with the prospect of showing up to watch Republicans approve a bill with new restrictions on voting that they cannot abide.

The Republicans call it an election integrity bill and say its needed to bar practices they fear leave elections open to fraud, though there is no evidence of the kind of widespread chicanery that would change election results. Democrats say the changes would amount to voter suppression, making it harder for people of color and Democrats to vote.

The political lines had hardened even before the special legislative session that has now been interrupted by the Democrats flight to Washington, D.C. The Texas House cant conduct business unless at least 100 of its 150 members are present, and enough Democrats left the state to bust that quorum requirement.

Their aim is to change the voting bill, kill it or preempt it. Maybe the Republicans left behind will soften their stand, a prospect that seemed unlikely even before Gov. Greg Abbott told public radios Texas Standard that, because of the quorum bust, Republicans are in no mood for additional compromise.

The reason most of the decamped Democrats are in Washington is to try to get a voting bill they like one that would preempt state law from Congress. That requires some public attention, too, to get enough voters interested to draw members of Congress away from what they were doing to what the Texans hope theyll do.

But the Texas Democrats arent the only politicians looking for public attention and support. Texas Republicans are promoting other legislation on the special session agenda that might get more public interest.

An example: Abbott put a 13th check for retired teachers on the list a move to give a bonus check to teachers who get monthly retirement payments, because their retirement fund is relatively flush right now. Those teachers are an important constituency for Democrats, and getting them a check, the Republicans hope, is a way to lure the Democrats back to Austin.

The governor, in that same radio interview, was pushing his overhaul of the bail bond system in a way that might appeal to voters, or at least spook them.

There are dead people today because the Democrats have refused to step up and reform our broken bail system that lets very dangerous criminals back out on the streets, Abbott said. So the Democrats have blood on their hands for failing to step up and do their job. We dont know how many Texans may lose their lives until the Democrats finally return to the Capitol and step up and pass bail reform policies in the state of Texas that do not let dangerous criminals back out onto the street.

The first week of this legislative drama got a lot of attention from the news media and from voters. Everyone in the fight grabbed for it, because theyre playing for public favor and also working to prevent their foes from gaining public support.

Barring some new drama, the spotlight wont last for long. Eighteen years ago this month, Texas Senate Democrats were bivouacked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, trying to use a quorum break to stop Republican redistricting plans. It lasted long enough to fall off the front pages of the papers, and they eventually decided to come home to Texas.

And the Republicans in the Legislature got the maps they wanted.

Continued here:
Analysis: Texas Democrats race against time, and flagging public attention - The Texas Tribune

Updated at 1:30 p.m. with fresh comments from the runaways

WASHINGTON After eight nights in a hotel a half-mile from the White House, the Texas Democrats who fled Austin over a voting rights dispute had grown a bit impatient for an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden.

We know the president is watching and were waiting for him to call, said state Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio. We are willing and ready to meet with him whenever he would like that.

But that possibility grew remote Tuesday when an aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi who had chaperoned the Texans at the Capitol last week tested positive for COVID-19.

So did a White House aide who may have spent time with the runaway legislators, six of whom have tested positive since Friday, three days after they spent an hour with Vice President Kamala Harris.

There has not been a meeting planned, and there hasnt been a change to that, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki, confirming that a fully vaccinated White House official tested positive on Monday and is experiencing mild symptoms.

Contract tracing showed no exposure for the president, vice president or senior officials, though news of a breakthrough case, afflicting someone who had been vaccinated, was worrisome.

As for the presidents message to the Texans, she added: Thanks for standing up for voting rights and the rights of Americans to have our voices heard at the voting booth, and we appreciate your efforts in that regard.

And, implicitly: Keep your distance.

Everyone stricken so far the six Texas lawmakers and the aides to Pelosi and Biden was fully vaccinated. That should confer protection against any serious illness and mute the potential for contagion. So far, Reps. Donna Howard and Celia Israel of Austin and Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio have said they tested positive.

Were still working diligently through the COVID protocols that weve already set in place, said state Rep. Ron Reynolds, referring to daily tests for lawmakers and aides since Saturday, when the first three tested positive.

But the White House takes the health of the 78-year-old president very seriously.

The president is vaccinated, and that means he is protected, Psaki said, adding that Biden is tested every two weeks. Im tested twice a week. Many are tested twice a week. Some are tested once a week. Were all vaccinated.

Rapid tests are mandatory for journalists and others who enter the Oval Office or other meeting rooms with Biden or Harris. Until June 7, testing was required for anyone entering the White House complex, whether they might be in proximity to the president or not.

That requirement has since been lifted for people who are fully vaccinated.

But White House protocols still aim to keep out anyone recently exposed. And the 55 Texas Democrats have become potential vectors since fleeing Austin. Republicans point to photos of them aboard a flight to Washington, none wearing a mask technically allowed because it was a chartered flight, but a violation of CDC guidelines.

The White House is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. This is another reminder of the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines against severe illness or hospitalizations and of course we wish our colleague, a speedy recovery, Psaki said.

The Republican National Committee labeled the Texans visit to Washington a superspreader event and urged the lawmakers to go back to Texas after self-isolating long enough for the risk to pass.

The Democrats fled Austin to break quorum in the Texas House, halting an elections bill demanded by Gov. Greg Abbott that they view as voter suppression.

If a sit-down with Biden isnt possible, Obviously wed welcome the opportunity to meet with the president virtually, said Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who chairs the Texas House Democratic caucus.

He acknowledged that a Pelosi aide spent time with his caucus last week but said he cant be sure if thats how that person or anyone else caught COVID-19. We have no way of knowing, he said.

Of course we would love to visit with the president, Minjarez told reporters. We had the opportunity to meet with the vice president, and we have made our concerns known, the sense of urgency involved.

MSNBC devoted an hour Monday night to the fugitives. In deference to the outbreak, they appeared remotely rather than in-studio as planned, and a Tuesday meeting with U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn was also done virtually.

Even though were not doing as many in-person visits, were still having many meetings via Zoom, Reynolds said. Were being very creative and innovative.

U.S. Rep. Al Green of Houston led a letter to Biden last week signed by all 13 Texas Democrats in Congress, asking for him to meet with the runaways from the Legislature. Reynolds noted that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, another Houston congressperson, has also been prodding the White House to set that up.

We are optimistic that we will get a meeting with President Biden very, very soon, Reynolds said.

The Texans have used their time in Washington to lobby senators for stalled federal legislation that would supersede state-level elections laws and reimpose Justice Department scrutiny before Texas and other states with histories of discrimination could move a polling site, redraw district lines or make other changes that might impede minority voters. The Supreme Court ended that scrutiny in 2013, ruling that Congress would have to update the formula used to assess whether prior sins still justified such federal oversight.

The Texas Democrats argue that Senate Bill 7, which they killed with a walkout in the regular session in late May and the updated version that Abbott and allies are pushing, are precisely the sort of attacks that the landmark Voting Rights Act was intended to protect against.

These bills are the fire hoses and unleashed dogs of today, said state Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth. They give a green light to insurrectionists to become poll watchers.

The Democrats have been sharpening their attacks on Abbott, accusing him of a relentless focus on whittling away minority voters rights while ignoring a failing electric grid, underpaid teachers and an underfunded foster care system until he needed political cover for this special session.

Donald Trumps party chose not to call a special session during a pandemic. Instead, they forced voters to go out during a pandemic and vote, said state Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, who represents parts of North Dallas, Addison and Richardson. But when it comes to bathroom bills and ... limiting the vote, they want to call a special session.

Ramos called the current special session nothing more than a monthlong campaign commercial for his re-election.

For the second day in a row, the Texans spent their morning hearing from advocates for minority and voting rights.

Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF, recounted President Donald Trumps efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census to deter, if not eliminate, minority participation. When courts shot that down, Trump sought to create a nationwide database and subtract non-citizens from state tallies when it came time to reapportion U.S. House seats.

The follow-up to that attempt at statistical genocide is what youre seeing today in these efforts across the country to limit participation in voting, Saenz said.

See original here:
Texas Democrats may have infected Pelosi and White House aides, dimming prospects for Biden meeting - The Dallas Morning News

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

Tomorrow, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said the Senate will vote to begin debate on the infrastructure deal. That's one of those Senate votes that needs 60 votes. Now, this is plan A for the Democrats. The hope that they want is that they will get those 60 votes and that they would have a bipartisan infrastructure deal written by Thursday. But, right now, those 60 votes are not there.

So, let's talk about what plan B is if this vote fails tomorrow. The vote fails. And then Leader Schumer could just move that deadline. Some Republicans tonight are asking him to move it to Monday, saying they will vote no tomorrow, but perhaps they would be ready by Monday.

Now, what if even then the infrastructure deal doesn't come together? That's a possibility. Now we're talking about plan C. Then there would be no bipartisan deal. And many Democrats now, including the budget chairman, Senator Sanders of Vermont, says that the infrastructure deal could go into or some sources near him infrastructure deal could go into a large reconciliation bill.

That's my reporting tonight, is that many Democrats expect that would be sort of like the fallout the fallback plan, if all of this infrastructure talk, if it all falls apart. But the timing is very important here.

Link:
Why the bipartisan infrastructure deal may be in jeopardy - PBS NewsHour

WASHINGTON Democrats are preparing to muscle through the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to head the Bureau of Land Management, despite united opposition from Republicans who have branded her an eco-terrorist because of her involvement in a tree-spiking episode as a graduate student in the 1980s.

The vote over her nomination, scheduled for Thursday in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sets up a battle between Republicans and Democrats over an agency at the center of climate policy.

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the Interior Department that oversees grazing, logging and drilling on 245 million acres of public land and manages 700 million acres of mineral rights. It is responsible for balancing oil, gas and coal extraction with recreation and the protection of natural resources. It also is key to President Bidens goal to phase out oil and gas drilling on federal lands a plan that is being challenged by 15 states led by Republican attorneys general.

The concerns that many folks have about Stone-Mannings nomination is that shes going to be more on the side of protecting public lands for public uses, and the folks who want public lands to be used for more development dont like that, said Mark Squillace, a professor of natural resources law at the University of Colorado Boulder.

These other issues are being used as a way to block her confirmation, he said. I dont think anybody really cares what she did 32 years ago.

Ms. Stone-Manning, 55, has built a career in environmental policy, working as an aide to Senator Jon Tester of Montana and as chief of staff to former Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, both Democrats, as well as the head of Montanas environment agency, where she gained a reputation as a bridge-builder among environmentalists, ranchers and fossil fuel interests. She is currently the senior adviser for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit conservation group.

But Republicans argue that her actions in 1989, and her account of that episode in the intervening years, make her unfit for the post. They wrote to President Biden asking him to withdraw her nomination and they plan to vote against her as a bloc in the committee.

Republicans also fought the choice of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous cabinet secretary, because of her opposition to expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands. While Ms. Haaland narrowly won confirmation, that process morphed into a proxy fight over climate policy.

Conservatives were more successful in March in forcing the Biden administration to withdraw its pick for deputy interior secretary, Elizabeth Klein, after senators from coal and oil states objected to Ms. Kleins belief that the nation needs to curb its use of fossil fuels.

Oil and gas, coal, those industries are declining or facing serious declines, said John Leshy, an emeritus law professor at the University of California Hastings.

He attributed that to market forces more than government policies, but said the Interior Department had become the place where the fiercest battles over the future of those industries are currently playing out.

Theres a lot of frustration connected with that, Mr. Leshy said. And were at a moment when those frustrations have come to the fore.

Ms. Stone-Manning has never been charged with a crime and did not participate in the effort three decades ago to drive 500 pounds of metal spikes into trees in the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho, federal crimes for which two men were later convicted.

Tree spiking is a tactic to try to prevent logging by inserting metal rods into trees that could damage the blade of a saw. It was used in the 1980s by activists who hoped to make it uneconomical to cut down trees but the practice was dangerous; spikes can injure or kill loggers.

Ms. Stone-Manning, then a 23-year old graduate student, retyped and mailed a profanity-laced letter to the United States Forest Service on behalf of one of the activists who spiked the trees. Ms. Stone-Manning has described her act as an effort to warn authorities and protect people from harm.

Republicans have accused Ms. Stone-Manning of lying to lawmakers about whether she had ever been a target of an investigation, an accusation the administration has denied.

The 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee are expected to split evenly along party lines. That would force Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, to discharge the nomination, a rare move that would bring it before the full Senate for a vote. If the Senate also divides along party lines, Democrats would need Vice President Harris to break the tie.

The White House issued a statement this week in support of Ms. Stone-Manning.

Tracy Stone-Manning is a dedicated public servant who has years of experience and a proven track record of finding solutions and common ground when it comes to our public lands and waters, said Vedant Patel, a White House spokesman. She is exceptionally qualified to be the next director of the Bureau of Land Management.

Republicans say that new statements from figures involved in the spiking episode indicate that Ms. Stone-Manning was more involved than she claimed.

We now know that President Bidens nominee to run the Bureau of Land Management lied to the Senate about her alleged participation in eco-terrorism, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said in a statement. The White House should immediately withdraw her nomination.

Mr. Tester said the accusations against Ms. Stone-Manning smack of political smear.

The Tracy Stone-Manning I know is someone who spent the last 20-years-plus bringing people together from both sides of the aisle from all components of industry, he said.

According to court documents, in the spring of 1989 when Ms. Stone-Manning was an environmental studies graduate student at the University of Montana in Missoula, activists with Earth First!, including John Blount and Jeffrey Fairchild, drove nails into old-growth trees in the Idaho forest in an attempt to stop a timber sale.

Afterward, Ms. Stone-Manning testified, Mr. Blount asked her to mail a letter he gave her warning the Forest Service, which she did after retyping it. She later told prosecutors that was the first time she learned about the tree spiking and was shocked by it.

In 1993, Ms. Stone-Manning testified against Mr. Fairchild and Mr. Blount in exchange for immunity.

Last week, Michael W. Merkley, a retired U.S. Forest Service investigator who was the special agent in charge of the case, wrote to Senate lawmakers and said that when the government initially investigated the tree-spiking crime Ms. Stone-Manning was unhelpful and combative. He also said that she received a target letter indicating she would be indicted in connection with her participation.

Ms. Stone-Manning came forward only after her attorney struck the immunity deal and not before she was caught, Mr. Merkley said.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, cites that and a 1990 interview that Ms. Stone-Manning gave as evidence that she lied in response to written questions from the committee asking if she had ever been the target of a criminal investigation.

Shes an eco-terrorist, Mr. Barrasso said in an interview, adding, Shes lied to the committee, misled the committee in terms of her past behavior and investigations.

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas companies, said opposition to Ms. Stone-Manning is based on her behavior in 1989, not her opposition to expanding fossil fuel drilling on public lands. Its not like were going to get someone from industry if we get rid of Tracy Stone-Manning, Ms. Sgamma said. This is about her judgment.

Mr. Fairchild, who spent time in prison for his role in the tree-spiking incident, defended Stone-Manning when reached by telephone.

Having been one of the main participants in that event and one of the main planners, to the best of my recollection she knew nothing about it beforehand, Mr. Fairchild said, adding that Ms. Stone-Manning was known for opposing violence.

Tracy was always a moderating voice, he said. We were talking about ending the logging of old growth forests, and she was the first one to say Yeah but loggers have families, too.

Mr. Tester said he also was not worried about the allegations. We have the votes to get her confirmed, he said.

Here is the original post:
Democrats Prepare for Vote on Tracy Stone-Manning to Lead Bureau of Land Management - The New York Times

From a political perspective, the fact that Democrats run everything in Washington means they get the blame for everything that goes wrong.

And many, many things are going wrong.

The Nationals game was suspended on Saturday night because a drive-by shooter on South Capitol Street was confused for a terrorist. Drive-by shootings have become all too common in the nations capital, lately. A six-year old girl was gunned down earlier in the week.

Democrats want to blame guns for violence, but the guns dont shoot themselves. What causes the violence are violent criminals who arent prosecuted by a criminal justice system that has been systemically dismantled by a woke leftist mob.

This surge in violence isnt contained to the nations capital. Indeed, it has suddenly become endemic to big cities across the country. And it is a direct result of two progressive campaigns, one to defund the police and the other to fund the campaigns of left-wing pseudo-prosecutors who refuse to prosecute actual crimes.

The American people arent stupid. They get what the Democrats have been up to. And while they may have been asleep at the switch in the last couple of years, when these progressives sneakily used George Soros money to win down-ballot elections, I think most voters will start to wise up. The message is simple. There are no law-and-order Democrats left. Vote them all out.

Its not just crime that has reared its ugly head. Its inflation. My wife tells me that the two New York strip steaks she bought at Costco used to cost 30 bucks and now costs $52. You cant get a gallon of gas anywhere for under $3 a gallon, when just last year, when the mad-tweeter was president, you would routinely find it for 2 and half bucks. That leaves a mark for family budgets that were already struggling to get by, post-pandemic.

Spending like a drunken-sailor, which seems to be the current fiscal policy of the Biden administration, is no way to hedge against inflation. It actually makes things worse. So, on this key quality of life measurement, the Democrats are going to get blamed. There are no fiscally responsible Democrats left. Vote them all out.

Sending your kids to school in the fall used to be the best, happiest moment for parents all over the country. That is going to change this year, sadly. In most blue-dominated areas, kids will be forced to wear masks, after going through the summer largely mask-free. And who knows, the unions might be successful in again in getting the politicians that they largely fund to keep education virtual, the way the COVID-19 hysteria is trending lately.

And once the kids are in school, who knows what nonsense they are being taught. Is America irredeemably racist and incapable of doing great things? Thats what the school board in Loudon County and other progressive enclaves want the kids to believe. Thank God that parents have decided to stand up and stop this nonsense. But the fight wont be easy and it will remind those who live in the suburbs what the stakes are in this next election. There arent any Democrats who are willing to take on the teacher unions anymore. Vote them all out.

President TrumpDonald TrumpOn The Money: Schumer pressured from all sides on spending strategy | GOP hammers HUD chief over sluggish rental aid | Democrat proposes taxes on commercial space flights Overnight Health Care: Fauci clashes with Paul - again | New York reaches .1B settlement with opioid distributors | Delta variant accounts for 83 percent of US COVID-19 cases Overnight Defense: Military justice overhaul included in defense bill | Pentagon watchdog to review security of 'nuclear football' | Pentagon carries out first air strike in Somalia under Biden MORE decreed during his time in office that consumers have the right to a good shower. The Biden administration reversed Trumps decision, because in their opinion, nobody should be able to get a fully functioning shower.

Its a small thing, really, but emblematic of the progressive mindset. You cant escape violence. You must pay more for basic consumer products. Your kids cant escape leftist indoctrination and they must wear a mask while they listen to it. And you cant even get a good shower. Thats the Democratic dystopia in a nutshell. Running against the Democratic dystopia should be an easy campaign for the GOP. Vote them all out.

Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs at http://www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).

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Feehery: Running against the Democratic dystopia | TheHill - The Hill