An Opportunity for a More Progressive Member of Congress

Late last year the Texas legislature, in its infinite wisdom and partisan contrivance, saw fit to redraw congressional district boundaries such that Guadalupe County is now split between the 15^th and 28^th districts. The 28^th congressional district encompasses the western most 30% of the county, north of I-10 the boundary is the Guadalupe River, south of I-10 the boundary follows FM 775 south for a bit then zig zags here and there until it hits the county line near Zuehl Crossing.

Since the 15^th congressional district will lean Republican Vicente Gonzalez has filed to run in a neighboring district that is more friendly to Democrats. The 28^th congressional district which included Guadalupe County until the 2011 redistricting cycle has been held by Henry Cuellar since 2006.

Democrats should remember that Cuellar refused to support the Affordable Care Act until some of the most important benefits were stripped out of it. I and many other local activists pounded Cuellar for months before he finally announced his support just days before the bill came to a vote, but not before he worked with a handful of other “conservative” Democrats to add a provision that explicitly banned insurance coverage for abortions. Considering that the Affordable Care Act had so much that would have benefitted the citizens of Guadalupe County and the rest of the 28^th congressional district Cuellar’s diffidence was maddening.

Henry Cuellar has long been known for his ties to Republicans, like when he hosted a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. John Carter in 2018. At the time, the Round Rock Republican was a top target for Democrats in their successful bid to take back control of the chamber that year. Cuellar also champions conservative causes and had an “A” rating with the National Rifle Association. In 2019, he refused calls to return donations from the group. The anti-tax group Club for Growth endorsed Cuellar in 2006, making him the first Democrat ever endorsed by the organization.

In a new campaign video Cuellar claims “I built the relationships to be effective, no matter who is in power, to deliver results for my district,” as photos run of the congressman and recent presidents.  Cuellar goes on to say “... That’s why I’m always able to get to the table where the important decisions are being made.”

Unfortunately his claims aren’t true as he has strongly opposed legislation to address the human causes of climate change even though Laredo’s water supply is the Rio Grande which has seen water levels falling for decades and is projected to dry up entirely by 2040. I’ve already mentioned his failure to champion the Affordable Care Act which could have brought medical care to many low income residents in the district. Cuellar has also shown no interest in raising minimum wage or protect unionization efforts of workers. While Cuellar certainly manages to get a seat at the table he uses it to benefit his wealthy campaign donors especially those in the oil and gas industry.

Just last week Cuellar’s home in Laredo and his office in Washington were raided by dozens of FBI agents who carried out numerous bags of evidence. Media reports say an unnamed law enforcement agent indicated the raid is connected to ties Cuellar has to Azerbaijani government officials and oil and gas industry executives there.

This time around he is being challenged for the Democratic nomination by two strong Latinas, Jessica Cisneros who nearly beat him in 2020 and Tannya Benavides.  I’ll tell you more about both of them next week.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - January 26, 2022

John Cornyn Lies About Voting Rights Bill

In Austin the Travis County Clerk's office says that as of today, their office "has rejected about fifty percent of applications for ballot by mail that have been received for the March 1, 2022 primary election," due to changes to ID requirements made by Texas' new voting law.

Last week in San Antonio a Bexar County election official told Texas Public Radio “Yesterday we received about 80 mail-in ballot applications. Forty-two of those did not fulfill the new requirements. So we have to reject those.”

In Houston Harris County elections officials are reporting similar issues rejection rates and it’s all because of the recently passed Senate Bill 1.

Sen. Cornyn called the Freedom to Vote Act "unconstitutional" in remarks on the senate floor. Coming from a former judge you’d think he’d know better since the United States constitution states in: Article I, section 4, clause 1 - "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."

Also Justice Scalia wrote when interpreting Article I, section 4, clause 1 in AZ v. Inter Tribal Council of AZ: “The power of Congress over the ‘Times, Places and Manner’ of congressional elections ‘is paramount, and may be exercised at any time, and to any extent which it deems expedient.’”

John Cornyn publicly stated “Based on the way our Democratic colleagues talk about the state of voting rights in America, you would think the Supreme Court had struck down the Voting Rights Act.” Cornyn also claims the Voting Rights Act of 1965 "worked as congress intended" but fails to mention that it was Section 4, pre-clearance that did all the work and that’s the part the Supreme Court overturned. Cornyn also fails to mention that Texas was repeatedly sued under Section 4 and found guilty of violating the Voting Rights Act when redistricting, including during the last redistricting cycle.

Cornyn calls Democratic efforts to pass voting rights legislation "power grab" when in fact it is Texas Republicans who have grabbed power by packing and cracking congressional districts to gain partisan advantage. Without pre-clearance a state can redistrict or change any election law in a totally illegal way then until they are sued and lose, those laws or districts are in effect often for several election cycles. Texas was sued in 2011 and the case took several election cycles to get through the courts without anything ever being done about the violations. In the latest round of redistricting last year minority voters suffered discrimination again as Texas Republicans redistricted in such a way that African-American voters lost the only district from which they could elect a representative of their choosing even while Texas gained two additional congressional seats.

Cornyn’s remarks on the senate floor included the claim that Democratic concerns over voter ID are a sham but fails to mention it isn’t the requirement for a photo ID that Democrats object to it’s the difficulty that low income minority voters have in getting the very limited kind of ID that is required. Only the Texas Department of Public Safety offers the necessary ID and getting there then waiting in line can take all day which can be a real hardship for working people who don’t drive.

Cornyn makes much of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema as Democrats being unwilling to vote for the bill but fails to mention that the reason is they want Republicans to support it too.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - January 19, 2022

Defend Our Democracy

Last week was the anniversary of the violent insurrection at the United States capitol by right wing activists attempting to stop the certification of presidential election results. The attack included ransacking congressional offices, theft of official computers, and vandalism including smearing their own feces on walls. Our democracy is so imperiled that Civil War historian David Blight recently wrote "Trump has birthed a dangerous new ‘Lost Cause’ myth" to describe the claims Trump lost the 2020 election due to voter fraud.

Reports is various media outlets say that the House select committee investigating the insurrection received copies of communications turned over by Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and others suggesting the White House coordinated efforts to stop Biden’s certification. The documents have led House investigators to become interested in whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy. Some of the documents indicate the Trump White House briefed several House Republicans on its plan for then-vice president Mike Pence to abuse his ceremonial role and not certify Biden’s win. Having these documents could give reason for the panel to consider criminal referrals of Trump administration members and possibly Trump as well. The committee’s first step is to determine whether the attempt to stop certification violated federal laws prohibiting obstruction of congressional proceedings.

Regardless of whether or not Trump is ever charged and convicted of an attempt to overthrow the government it’s important that the Freedom to Vote Act that I described last week be passed so that the gerrymandering that allows the Republican party to hold a disproportionate number of congressional seats as compared to the number of votes they earn. Our senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, refuse to support such efforts to restore our democratic institutions. Cruz in a recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson even backpedaled on calling the January 6 insurrection at the capitol a “terrorist attack”.

Cruz like most other Republicans holding federal and state office continue to abase themselves to Donald Trump because Trump supporters are so vocal. Around the country some state level Republicans have retired from office because they are unwilling to toe the Trump line and are afraid for themselves and their families due to the threats of violence made by local Trump supporters.

Sen. Cornyn, a former state judge, projects the elder statesman persona but has been instrumental in organizing Republican opposition to all efforts by Democrats to take the necessary steps to hold any officials accountable for organizing or assisting the insurrection as well as the effort to prevent passage of the Freedom to Vote Act or the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It’s all about gaining and retaining power in service to their wealthy campaign donors, they make no effort to helping anyone else while giving lip service to the middle class even as their policies and actions cause the middle class to shrink as a percentage of the population.

Trump’s authoritarian populism aligns with white nationalist rhetoric while Republican ideology has drifted into neo-fascism. Remember that the characteristics of fascism are: absolute power of the state - such as making all abortions illegal, rule by a dictator – Trump’s claim that “I alone can fix the system”, corporatism – controlling labor by making unions, strikes, and other labor actions illegal, something Reagan started, extreme nationalism – such as the ginned up threats about immigrants especially those from the southern border, and superiority of the nation’s people – Trump’s appeal to white supremacists.

We the people must fight back, call our senators  and demand that they publicly support and vote for the Freedom to Vote Act today.

Looking Forward to Strengthen Our Democracy

Last week I reminded readers of some of the Joe Biden and the Democrats major accomplishments since the inauguration on January 20th such as rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, a 100 country pledge to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane by at least 30 percent by 2030, another agreement to end and reverse deforestation, reinstatement of a pause on federal executions, significant improvements in job and wage growth, the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since March 2020 while jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1969 in early December, disposable income grew 3% after inflation, and finally the American Rescue Plan along with the historic economy recovery combined to cut child poverty in half.

Looking forward two very important pieces of legislation are on the docket, the Build Back Better Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. Build Back Better is a wide ranging bill that combines major infrastructure projects with improvements in economic fairness. The bill funds government purchases of electric vehicles and zero-emission, heavy-duty vehicles in addition to incentives to consumers for buying electric cars and trucks. This is an important step in both reducing the damage from climate change and developing energy independence. There is also funding for wildfire prevention, drought relief, conservation efforts, and climate change research; all of which affect Texas greatly. The bill also provides funding transit services and clean energy projects in low-income communities, some of which Seguin would likely qualify for.

The Build Back Better Act also includes funding for up to six semesters of free community college so that our young people who aren’t interested in university degrees have a chance to develop skills that lead to good paying jobs in construction, healthcare, and a wide range of fields. For families with very young children the bill will provide funding for universal preschool. An important provision here in Texas is funding health benefits for eligible individuals who reside in states that have not expanded Medicaid. There’s plenty more in the bill like expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing along with require that Medicare negotiate prices on prescription drugs which is currently prohibited.

The Freedom to Vote Act would ban partisan gerrymandering and establish clear, neutral standards for congressional redistricting and strengthened protections for communities of color. These rules would be applicable to all maps created in the current cycle, including those that have already been enacted. This provision would significantly change the district lines and likely the partisan makeup of the Texas congressional delegation as Republicans have used extreme gerrymandering techniques to increase the number of white Republican districts while the percentage of white Texas voters has declined.

The Freedom to Vote Act would require all 50 states to offer early voting periods for at least two weeks prior to Election Day, including on nights and weekends, for at least 10 hours per day just like Texas does. The bill would create a national standard permitting no-excuse vote by mail for every eligible voter and states would be required to permit voters to apply for absentee ballots online. The bill would promote a national standard for states that have an identification requirement for in-person voting, allowing for the use of a wide range of forms of identification (including electronic copies) and alternative options for voter validation meaning that Texas college students could use their student ID to vote.

Republican leaders object to the Freedom to Vote Act with the ridiculous claim that making it easier to vote and supporting the notion of one person – one vote is somehow a Democratic takeover.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - January 5, 2022