In the land of David K, you will hear about all sorts of Congressional Caucuses. You have a Black Caucus, you have the Brown Caucus, the White Caucus (aka the Republican Party), the Farmers' Caucus, and so on. These like-minded individuals form these groups so they can spread the costs of the bar tab and dish out free labor (internships) to its members. And every so often they might actually flex their political mucsle. The caucuses work, so to speak, in Worshington because Congress meets year around and in the House alone you have 435 members.
But what about Austin? Austin also has caucuses, but for the most part they are ineffective. Unlike Congress, the Legislature meets every two years for 140 days, and you have a lot less members to caucus with (150 State Represenatives vs 435 Congressional members). This greatly hampers the ability of a caucus.
So what are the caucuses in Austin and what do they do? I would talk about the Republican caucuses, but since El Paso sent nothing but Democrats to Austin it really makes no sense to talk about how the Republicans roll.
So let's talk about the Democrats and their caucuses.
They are two: the Texas House Democratic Caucus (THDC) and Mexican-American Legislative Caucus (MALC). What's the difference? Nothing. There are no policy distinctions between these caucuses. Just like in El Paso, a member of the Stonewall Democrats is also a member of 5 different Democratic clubs, the same applies here. A member of the THDC is very likely a member of MALC.
Does it serve a legislator to be a member of both caucuses? Not really. Being a member of two caucuses means double the meetings, which means less time to push your legislative agenda in 140 days.
If anything these two caucuses will pose as a liability for Democratic members in the Legislature. MALC is led by a less fat Trey Martinez-Fishcer from San Antonio. THDC is led by abortion cheerleader Jessica Farrar from Houston. Farrar wants her colleague from Houston, Armando Walle, to take over the reins of the THDC. There is some guy from Corpus Christi who would like to lead the THDC, but that is probably too close San Antonio for Farrar. Which explains why she wants someone from Houston taking over. Among the Houston Delegation, Farrar is kinda of the political madrina to most of the Hispanic legislators, which is why she wants Walle...she can control him.
Now Democrats from other parts of the state, including El Paso, are going to be dragged into this petty political feud between some asshats from San Antonio and Houston.
It is already bad as is for Democrats in the Texas Legislature, things will only get worse because of this.
Looking for some help here....is there any blogs in El Paso that would be considered liberal/progressive? Looking for some balance to recommend to my students.
EPCC Gov Instructor
Posted by: Gov Teacher | 01/24/2013 at 07:55
Oops, bad gammar...should have said "are there any blogs".
Posted by: Gov Teacher | 01/24/2013 at 07:56
No. You can only write posts demanding handouts so often before it gets old and you lose interest in your blog. Liberalism is a one trick pony - "give me money for nothing" - not much to write about there.
I suggest you keep your students off of all blogs - liberal or conservative and instead have them read something by Madison.
Posted by: David K | 01/24/2013 at 08:23