April 21, 2005
Sylvester Turner on His Vote for Talton's Amendment
By Byron LaMasters
Sounds like a lame excuse to me:
"There has been some confusion surrounding my vote on Representative Talton's amendment to SB 6. The vote was cast mistakenly while I was at the appropriation conference committee working group. I am NOT in favor of the amendment, and my previous record and actions reflect that. Foster children need loving comfortable homes and I would never let prejudice or discrimination stand in the way of these children finding those homes. I am hopeful that the conference committee on SB 6 will remove discrimination from this piece of legislation."
The vote was cast mistakenly while Turner was gone? Why did Turner not have his voting machine locked? Who cast the vote by accident? Will Sylvester Turner tell us this, or should we demand an investigation? I know that Sylvester Turner is often a sell-out to the Craddick leadership team, but I would at least hope that he wouldn't let Craddick's team cast his vote for him when he is away. However, Turner's explaination can only lead me to this conclusion (unless there was some legitimate malfunction of the voting machine). I'm really getting tired of one excuse after another coming from the office of Sylvester Turner.
So, who's next? What's Al Edwards's excuse? What's Richard Raymond's excuse? What about you, Tracy King? As Houston Democrats points out, the Texas Democratic Party Platform is very clear on this issue.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at April 21, 2005 06:09 PM
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When I worked for Appropriations, Sylvester Turner was the chair of my subcommittee. I had the chance to work with him very closely and, whatever you think of his dealings with the Speaker and leadership, I'd be inclined to believe him on this. Bottom line - I don't think that Turner would ever support Talton's amendment. And I don't think the TX Democratic Party does itself any favors by questioning the motives of D's they feel aren't quite "D" enough.
That happens all the time on the House floor. Watch a verification vote some time. If you don't blow your brains out from boredom, you'll see all the people who somehow voted without being on the floor scurry back to the floor.
What the law regarding voting on someone else's voting machine?
No law, House rules. Specifically prohibited, but rarely, if ever, enforced.
I think we have every right to question whether some D's are D enough--especially nowadays when in Austin friend and foe look so much alike--and are often the same person. If I were Sylvester Turner, I'd make damn sure my voting button got pushed exactly right. Ditto Al Edwards. Granted that the Lege is full of fools and charlatans and other Republicans, Houston has a lot of smart D's. You might fool them once, but, as BirdbrainBush infamously misquoted, you'd be hard-put to fool 'em twice with stories about how that goldang voting device just sort of malfunctioned or your phone just sort of rang and made you and those other D's named Benedict Arnold just sort of disappear until the crucial vote was done.
In these perilous and hateful times presided over by ignorant demagogues--Talton is a good example--D's should be D enough to be recognized by their brothers and sisters.
