More Al Edwards ...

This from Sue Davis ...

On HB 2, Al said he could not vote against a bill that included a major pay raise for teachers.

On HB 3, he told me he had three reasons to vote for it. One, property taxes are reduced in this bill by as much as a third, depending on the rate for each school district. Second, he appreciates the fact that under HB 3 businesses are now carrying part of the tax load, including the 85% of Texas businesses that had not been paying a franchise tax; they will now pay a franchise or payroll tax. And third, as chair of the Rules Committee, Al knows the rule that Representatives who vote against a bill are not put on a conference committee for that bill. Makes sense--why would you have someone who voted against a bill on the committee to hammer out a final document? But just to be sure, Al spoke to House Speaker Craddick about this, who confirmed that he, Craddick, would likely follow that rule when the tax bill goes to conference. So Al decided to take the political hit and vote for HB 3. Al does not want to be on the conference committee himself; he has recommended Harold Dutton or Scott Hochberg.

Agree or disagree with Al?s tactics, but at least he had the guts to take a stand and take the heat to try to ensure that the final outcome will be good. Did Al?s vote make a difference in the House vote? No. Does anyone really think that the Senate version of this bill will bear much resemblance to what the House passed? No. But maybe, just maybe, Al?s vote got the Democrats a seat at the table, someone who at least can bear witness to what the Republicans are doing.

Now, I know there are those who think Democrats should not even speak to Republicans, much less work with them in Austin. Who do those Democrats think they are, going to work every day and fighting Republicans? We should just give up and roll over and play dead and let those bad Republicans do whatever they want. Boy, that?ll show those Republicans, won?t it? Well, won?t it?

Except, it won?t. The Republicans will do all the damage they want to do and the ones who will be hurt will be the children without health insurance, seniors without nursing home and hospice care, abused kids with no protection, pregnant mothers without prenatal care, teachers, who perform one of the most important jobs in our society, working for low salaries with few benefits, state employees laid off from their jobs and prison inmates with no substance abuse programs who are doomed to repeat a criminal cycle.

I, for one, did not elect Democrats to go to Austin and play political roadkill. I just about bust with pride seeing our Democrats getting in Republican faces and scrapping with them for every dollar. Why should we let the Republicans run roughshod over us and all the Texans who look to us for help? Martin Luther King said ?Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.?

So, I say to Al and the other Democrats ?Speak up! Demand to be part of the process! Don?t let the Republicans get away without a fight!? If anyone walks out of this legislative session without being bruised and bloodied, something is terribly wrong. Disagree about tactics but don?t give up.

Analysis: There's some inconsistencies here and I'm not sure whether to fault Sue's account of the explanation, Al's answer as explained, or a lack of knowledge of House Rules on my own part. But we've already had two claims that Al did this to get a seat at the conference committee table (this being the second), but this one turns around and says, basically, "Al wants Dutton or Hochberg" in conference, instead. Well, if the rule is that only yes votes get a seat at the table, then those two voted no. Something's gotta give.

Furthermore, I can't accept the HB2 explanation. MANY good Democrats who range from being supportive to demonstrating outright fealty to teachers unions managed to vote against the bill. And, unfortunately, the number of votes already cast by Al are starting to cast doubt on his closeness to Team Craddick. Want more evidence? Al didn't vote for a single of the seven rules offered by Democrats when the House began the session. He is the only Democrat to have yet to cast a vote in favor of any of those seven reforms, HB2, and HB3. So the question now, exactly when is Al Edwards going to start voting like a Democrat?

Lastly, I'll take a few pokes at Sue's defense of Al's tactics. Frankly, I don't see how "getting in Republican faces and scrapping with them for every dollar" equates with voting with them. There's a time and place for any number of tactics and I'd be among the last to ask my own representatives to merely cast themselves up as roadkill. But voting is pretty much a zero-sum exercise. You're either for or against. You can't claim to have voted for something with Republicans while "getting in Republican faces" at the same time.