Texas Legislature: First heal thyself
Plus, Louie’s last legacy and, why can’t we ‘Warnock’ our state?
Here’s a quick question for parents: Who do you want deciding important health issues for your child, a qualified physician, or a majority vote of the Texas Legislature?
If you selected the Legislature as your go-to on medical matters, best find some incantations in your book of witchcraft because you may need it if some folks in the state’s body of “leaders” have anything to say about it.
It’s the time for pre-filing bills for the next legislation session that will crank up in January, when we get to hear the goofiest ideas from some of the clowns in the legislature. You know, the people who will decide the laws under which we will live.
Mind you, many of these bills will never see the light outside of a committee meeting room. The chances for that, though, often aren’t decided by the bill’s worthiness but by political deal-making.
Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison of Waxahachie has filed a bill that will prohibit any heath official from mandating a vaccination in the event of an epidemic. Harrison’s bill gives only the legislature the power to do that.
This is exactly the kind of legislation that members have been passing over the last few years, taking away control from local communities and vesting it in the legislature or some other government department.
So much for small government. Our Republican-led state House and Senate has consistently increased intrusive government in Texas and lessened any community’s ability to set its own course. You might wonder what caused the change.
Simple, really. When given the freedom to do what they wished, local communities didn’t do what the Republicans wanted or expected. They did what they thought was best.
“Best” isn’t always a consideration for any political party. Democrats have been just as guilty in their own ways in those long-ago years when they held power. Republicans are the focus because they have been in power for decades.
If you have a problem with governance in Texas, you can’t blame a Democrat.
Harrison’s bill would prohibit any official who has not been elected to make a decision to require vaccines and ultimately puts the power with the legislature.
If it isn’t obvious, the problem is that the legislature is not always in session, thus can’t react quickly to any problem. The governor can always call them to an emergency session but that is not instantaneous, either. Members must be allowed time to get to Austin.
Harrison, served as former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services but he is in no way qualified to make medical decisions. Anyone who followed the convoluted management of Trump’s Covid-19 response will know that.
Unfortunately, these are just the kind of outlier bills that have the chance to pass the legislature with the stamp of Trumpism. We can but hope that medical decisions will be left to doctors, not fringe Republicans.
By the way, the bill doesn’t touch any other vaccines that have been a part of public health efforts for years, only for when a new threat arises. Fortunately for all, it seems as if we once were smarter than we are now.
***
Retiring U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert seems to leave on the same note that he has spent all his years in Congress — introducing laws that don’t amount to the paper on which they are printed.
Louie’s latest adventure is a bill that makes sure that no money we give to another nation is ever used to support a drag queen performance. Republicans will control the House of Representatives in the next Congress, so, who knows if it might get a little push, but it has no chance to be the second piece of legislation he introduced to become law.
The current push against drag queens does make one wonder if there will suddenly be a ban on those pep rally performances by coaches and fathers who dress up like cheerleaders, sticking balloons in their shirts and wearing skirts and make-up.
Nah, if the topic is football, we can’t imagine anyone trying to stop it. Perhaps, though, the drama teacher might not want to schedule any performances of the play, “Tootsie,” for a while. Probably best to put the kibosh on “Mrs. Doubtfire” for a while, too.
***
Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia this week is certainly a boost for Democrats in the U.S. Senate and particularly in Georgia itself ,but it sure does make us behind the Pine Curtain wonder: What the heck is wrong with Texas?
Often Democrats have a problem with candidate quality in Texas, but Beto O’Rourke was a great choice to run against incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, who wasn’t exactly adored, even by his own party. No one could question O’Rourke’s energy level. He worked and travelled tirelessly. His campaign strategy seemed solid from beginning to end. The issues should have favored him, too.
O’Rourke had thousands of committed and hard-working volunteers. It was all to no avail.
In the end O’Rourke didn’t come close and that leaves the mystery of just what it will take to a Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas.
Obviously, one thing it will take is people actually voting. Voters came out in force in Georgia while voter turnout in Texas is still dismal. The best candidate ever is not going to win if people who support his way of thinking don’t get off their rears to vote. This isn’t a matter of voter registration, as half of those registered don’t utilize their right.
Can Beto ever run again for significant office in Texas? Good question. It is difficult to overcome three straight losses, but the hope here is that doesn’t disappear for good. He still has a lot to offer Texas.
Besides, Texans may one day decide that voting is important.