Pena's Opponent Charged with DWI

Question (0.00 / 0)

Colin, as spokesman for the Democrats for Reform, can you clarify a few things?

First, who exactly are the Democrats for Reform?  Is the group a legislative caucus, a PAC, some other entity, or basically just a name?

Second, which state reps are members of Democrats for Reform?  

Lastly, as the spokesman for this group, can you tell me whether members of the group will rule out voting for Tom Craddick for Speaker in '09?

Thanks.

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by: austinite @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 01:57:11 AM UTC

simple (0.00 / 0)

Democrats for Reform are Dems who desired a specific, progressive agenda for the last legislative session.

We were the only Democratic group to lay out specific goals, and, therefore, specific benchmarks by which we would be judged.

It is an unofficial legislative caucus open to any Democrat in the Texas House or Senate.

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that because I haven't asked every member for whom they might vote.

I have advised every member to vote for a Democrat for Speaker...not a republican.

I believe in the DC method: every person stands and speaks aloud for whom they vote.

And your thoughts on Eddie Saenz's drunken ass are what???

I answered all of your questions, I hope you have the dignity to answer my one question.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 03:44:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Clarification (0.00 / 0)

1) This question came up during the initial conference ("why are only the 15 of you here"), and Rep. Turner correctly said everyone was invited to join.However, the majority of House Democrats were not told about the press conference (and, thus, Democrats for Reform) until 30 minutes before the press conference.I know, because I received the invitation by hand-delivery a half hour before it happened. So while it is open to anyone, it was originally designed exclusively for the Democrats that voted for Craddick.

2) It is completely inaccurate to say that the group was the only one to lay out specific goals. Most all Democrats lay out goals during campaigns. Also, every piece of legislation filed is a "goal" that can be easily measured. DFR had a press conference, which is laudable. But there were numerous press conferences on issues throughout the session.

I'd also point out that all Democrats -- regardless of their position for Speaker -- submitted an agenda called "Moving Texas Forward." In contrast to DFR, Moving Texas Forward was something that we worked with every office for a couple weeks, and there were explicit efforts to bring everyone together. Every House Democrat (except Rep. Bailey) had legislation included in Moving Texas Forward. MTF was similar to an agenda laid out in 2005, and it carries forth important specific legislative ideas to match the values Democrats discuss. Here's a website that discusses this all-inclusive group:

http://www.movingtexasforward....

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 15:30:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

kind of clearer (0.00 / 0)

1) I assume you also know that Dems were told by the caucus leadership to stay away from the press conference. (Let's not get into how inappropriate that act was.) But you don't really know how it was designed. I'll tell you: weeks into the session we still had NO Dem agenda...no list of specific goals...no list of specific items we would sacrifice everything else for. It was formed because these folks were being asked: "you voted for craddick, now what are you going to do with it". They stepped up and offered a progressive agenda with a specific set of goals.

2) At the time DFR put out the progressive agenda for the session, the MTF sent around LAST SESSION'S agenda. This was obviously meant to show "we're working on one as well", but it had not yet been decided what the agenda was. We filled the void and got to work. And, for the record, we followed the session up with a report card showing the DFR agenda and how we did on it.  To prove that Dems are better for Texas it is critical that we lay out specific goals and hold ourselves accountable in a very public way.

Regardless of how many members were at the first press conference, the caucus accomplished great things this session by working together. When the repubs were trying to cut neo-natal healthcare for LEGAL immigrants, no one at the back mic was asking "which agenda did you sign on for".

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 16:38:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Democrats (0.00 / 0)

I'm not trying to disparage any Democrats. The DFR set their thing up, and they did it. Some folks thought they did well, others didn't. But I still contend that this idea that we had "no agenda" was absurd. Democrats have been fighting on the same issues --- the exact same issues DFR decided to do --- ever since Craddick took over. It's not like they "discovered" protecting top 10%, teacher pay, CHIP, state parks, etc. Those were all issues everyone worked on --- so for DFR to claim them as their own is a bit weak. They had a press conference to announce those issues (which, again, was laudable), but they didn't invent an agenda out of nothing.

Now, a very great man once said that some people rob you with a fountain pen.

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by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 20:10:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

you're right (0.00 / 0)

didn't mean to imply that.

the reality at the time was that there was no "Democratic Agenda" on a piece of paper, offered to the public, juxtaposed to the rpub agenda.

again, all Dems worked together to accomplish 99% of these goals.

Please refer to KT's signature.

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by: colin @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 20:32:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Toilet sounds (0.00 / 0)

at least Saenz didn't POST TOILET SOUNDS link to his personal blog:

http://texasdeathpenalty.blogs...

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by: persiancowboy @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 10:02:17 AM UTC

there's a slight difference (0.00 / 0)

between being really immature and getting a DWI.  I'm really not wild about either candidate in this race.

What ever happened to that Democrat For Reform, Harold Dutton's DWI?  Is Terry Keel still his lawyer or did that stop when he went to work for the state?

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by: Joe @ Fri Dec 07, 2007 at 14:22:28 PM UTC

[ Parent ]