Republicans Eroding Our Democracy

Last week efforts to strengthen our democracy by making voting rights consistent across the nation were stymied by our United States Senators, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, when voted against the Freedom to Vote Act. The bill would have overridden parts of Texas’ new election laws by establishing automatic voter registration and lifting various state-level measures that hinder access to the ballot box. In addition, the bill would have strengthened the regulatory powers of the Federal Election Commission, tightened restrictions on foreign interference in elections and modified campaign finance regulations. To put it bluntly Senators Cruz and Cornyn voted to keep it hard for people to vote and to continue allowing foreigners to donate money to political campaigns and groups advertising in support of candidates.

Gov. Greg Abbott and his fellow schemers in the state legislature put on a big show about preventing non-citizens from voting, yet they have nothing to say about preventing foreign money being used to sway voters via political advertising and social media activities. Money provided by rich donors contributing to many Super PACs (Political Action Committees) is often anonymous and known as Dark Money. Since the funds are anonymous no one outside the Super PAC can be sure that the money they’re spending to elect a candidate isn’t from Iran, Russia, or China, or any other foreign nation or company. Our senators had an opportunity to shed light in the dark and willfully chose not to.

Republican lawmakers continue to push to solutions looking for a problem as they use fears of non-existent voter fraud as an excuse to limit voter access to the polls. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick still hasn’t paid the supposed million dollar bounty he offered for proof of voter fraud. Even Donald Trump’s own attorney general, Bill Barr, agreed there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud nationwide. Here in Texas, an official with the secretary of state’s office said the 2020 election was “smooth and secure.”

Sen. Cruz claims that improving access to the polls is somehow a "massive power grab by Democrats" even though measures such as same day registration, which allows a voter to register and vote on the same day, have nothing to do with the voter’s choice of candidate.

Every step that Republicans take to make it harder for citizens to register and vote weakens our democracy. Every time Republicans gerrymander districts to minimize the voting power of people of color in favor white voters erodes the foundations of our democratic institutions. Every measure Republicans take to retain power while only representing a minority of the electorate sends this country further down the road to becoming a failed democracy.

As author and lecturer James Waterman Wise Jr. once told an audience in 1936 - fascism would not come with a “shirt” or “insignia” but “wrapped up in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and preservation of the constitution.” This sounds much like the rhetoric used by Gov. Greg Abbott, former president Donald Trump, and so many more Republicans I’ve lost count. That rhetoric works as we’ve all seen our formerly moderate Republican neighbors fall under the spell of Trump and his ilk; it hasn’t mattered to those neighbors one bit that Trump and his Texas boot lickers have proven themselves incompetent, power hungry, and greedy.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - October 27, 2021

America Needs Build Back Better

Joe Biden and Democrats in congress appear to be losing the messaging battle on his Build Back Better plan. Opponents simply shout about the cost and debt and much of the public reacts in fear. In reality much of the cost is covered by simply restoring the tax rates in place prior to Trump’s big giveaway to big business and the wealthiest among us. Even more is covered by returning to full funding of the IRS so it can collect on taxes due from tax cheats that it is unable to investigate and prosecute due to being underfunded and understaffed. Of course one of the reasons the plan is being bashed is that the wealthy tax cheats don’t want to fund the IRS so it can catch them.

The plan includes increases in educational opportunities by providing two years of free community college for all students, regardless of family income. The bill would also add $80 billion in funding for Pell Grants since funding for the program hasn't kept pace with the increasing cost of college in recent decades. It’s been clear for some years that pre-K makes a big difference in educational achievement especially to lower income children who often don’t get the kind of parental attention young minds need to fully develop. The Build Back Better plan will provide two years of universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds.

For older Americans the bill would expand Medicare to include coverage of dental, hearing and vision services. Given the benefits healthy teeth and gums including protecting against heart disease it’s a wonder dental care isn’t already part of Medicare.

The Build Back Better plan aims to fix one of the problems with Medicare Part D that wasn’t addressed in the Affordable Care Act a decade ago. Americans on average pay two to three times as much as people in other countries for prescription drugs. Provisions in the legislation would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices to get the best deal which it is currently prohibited by law from doing. Of course the pharmaceutical industry is spending millions of dollars on ads, campaign contributions, and lobbyists to fight this change just as they did back in 2009 and 2010.

The provisions I’m most interested in have to do with combating climate change. Slowing the rate at which Earth warms will mean transitioning away from fossil fuels, the major source of greenhouse gas emissions. One provision that Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has objected to is the $150 billion "clean electricity performance program," which would pay utility companies that increase their renewable energy supplies by 4% per year. Companies that do not hit this benchmark would face financial penalties. The bill also provides significant funding for forest management and other wildfire control measures. There are also measures to incentivize the buying of electric vehicles and the construction of charging stations; consumer rebates to homeowners who weatherize their houses; and financial penalties for oil and gas producers for methane leaks, among other things. Manchin’s family and major campaign donors are heavily invested in coal mining which stands to suffer further reductions as coal fired electric plants are phased out so his opposition is self-serving and not in the best interests of either his constituents or the American people.

There’s plenty more in the bill including paid family and medical leave and a wide range of other areas that would serve to improve the lot of most Americans. It would be a shame if fear of change prevented us from having what every other advanced nation on earth has.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - October 20, 2021

Texas Redistricting An Exercise In Racism

The Texas legislature is once again in special session, this time to draw new maps congressional, state senate, state house, and state board of education districts. The maps proposed are an exercise in using power to maintain power in that the districts are drawn to increase the number of districts that likely to be won by Republicans who already hold a majority that is not supported by the actual vote counts.

The Republican leadership has employed an out of state expert whose primary qualification for the job is successfully slicing up communities to enable Republicans to win more districts with fewer votes. The techniques for doing this are known as packing and cracking. Packing is when the mapmaker jams as many voters of the opposing party into as few districts as possible so while the opposition is guaranteed to win those seats they don’t have enough voters in other districts to win any others. Cracking is when the mapmaker spreads out opposition voters across enough districts that they can’t possibly achieve a majority in any of them. Careful use of such tactics has enabled Republicans to hold 64% congressional seats with only 52% of votes going to Republicans in 2020.

The newly proposed maps, providing two additional seats to Texas as required by the decennial census results, preserve the unwarranted Republican majority. Those two additional seats were necessary due to the population growth of which 95% was among people of color. It’s bad enough that Republicans skewed the maps to maintain a stranglehold on the vast majority of districts but they made it worse by doing it in the most disrespectful way possible. The 2020 census shows that Hispanics make up nearly the same percentage of the population as white Texans yet the new maps include 23 majority white districts and only 7 majority Hispanic districts. The new map removes the only Black majority district and one of the previous 8 Hispanic majority districts thereby diluting their voting power and reducing the opportunity to elect a representative of their own choosing.

House Speaker Dade Phelan admonished legislators not to use the term racist in their discussion of the maps yet looking at the demographic makeup of the proposed districts it’s hard not to conclude that there was racist intent in the process of drawing them. Until the Supreme Court gutted the bi-partisan Voting Rights Act the Department of Justice would have had to review and approve Texas maps. There is still hope that Congress will pass The Freedom to Vote Act which among other important provisions imposes new standards prohibiting partisan gerrymandering including maps drawn prior to passage.

Texas Senators Cornyn and Cruz both oppose The Freedom to Vote Act as do every other Senate Republican therefore passage through the Senate will require suspension or elimination of the filibuster something West Virginia senator Joe Manchin opposes. Our democracy is imperiled by power hungry Republicans supported by their Trump cultist voters. If this nation is to stand as a beacon of democracy for another century we must all hope that The Freedom to Vote Act is passed this year.

Wrecking Health and Safety to in the Name of Piety

Both the United States and Texas constitutions have strong protections for religious liberty incorporated in them. Unfortunately some folks have let their desire to participate in church services overwhelm their sense of self-preservation and their duty to protect their community by demanding the right to attend church services where their actions increase the chances of spreading a disease that is as much as 20 times more deadly than influenza. In response to efforts by local government to protect public health through limiting the number of attendees in churches and other businesses and in some cases closing them down temporarily some legislators proposed a bill to disallow any level of government from putting limits of any kind on services at churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples.

Should Proposition 3 pass in November the following text will be added to Article 1 Sec.6-a of the Texas constitution. "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not enact, adopt, or issue a statute, order, proclamation, decision, or rule that prohibits or limits religious services, including religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and places of worship, in this state by a religious organization established to support and serve the propagation of a sincerely held religious belief."

As Rep. John Turner pointed out during debate on the bill, if passed by the citizens of Texas the language in Proposition 3 "... would mean there could never be any restrictions on capacity." Those signs you often see at various venues servicing large numbers of people that say something like “Capacity Limit 230 by order of the Fire Marshal” would no longer be enforceable at any site where religious services are occurring because the Fire Marshal would be prohibited from regulating the number of people allowed in such a building even though that regulation is in place to prevent people from being killed in case of a fire.

Since Proposition 3 is so broadly worded, current prohibitions which have been upheld by the courts against congregations using psychedelic drugs such as mushrooms or peyote would be overridden, Rastafarians would have to be allowed to use of ganja (marijuana). I actually don’t have a problem with relaxing drug use prohibitions but point it out as an unintended consequence of unnecessary and poorly thought out legislation.

This kind of foolishness is counter to most underlying religious principles and weakens religious communities. Just like anti-mask and anti-vaccine behavior has caused far more deaths among Republicans, allowing Proposition 3 to pass likely will lead to higher death tolls from highly contagious diseases among religious people. Fortunately some religious leaders are forming coalitions to push back on Proposition 3 because they recognize that the health and safety of their flocks and the larger community is far more important than missing a few weeks of church services in the grand scheme of things.

If you truly care about your friends and neighbors push back on Proposition 3, talk to your family, friends and neighbors about it, warn them of the unintended consequences that risk so much, and urge them to vote no.

 Published in the Seguin Gazette - September 22, 2021

Martin Luther on Pandemic Responsibilities

I find it really interesting that the majority of anti-mask and anti-vaccination activists are Republican who are vocally Christian. You’d think given the early years of Christianity when much of the Roman world was consumed in plague it was Christians who cared for the sick and dying such that their caring and sacrifice made many converts that such a tradition would be maintained today. Instead we see many behaving in an uncaring and frankly un-Christian manner flouting mask requirements and worse beating those seeking to care for their fellows by reminding everyone to wear masks in their places of business.

Martin Luther had a lot to say about how Christians should behave in the midst of a pandemic, as the Black Death, bubonic plague, swept through Wittenberg and much of Europe. Luther was asked one of his followers Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, pastor in the city of Breslau, about proper behavior for a Christian in response to the deadly plague. Luther wrote a multi-page pamphlet — “Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague” — in response.

Regarding the responsibility of public officials in time of such a crisis Luther wrote: Accordingly, all those in public office such as mayors, judges, and the like are under obligation to remain. This, too, is God’s word, which institutes secular authority and commands that town and country be ruled, protected, and preserved…

Luther’s view of the individual’s responsibility toward others was also quite clear, he wrote: It is not forbidden but rather commanded that by the sweat of our brow we should seek our daily food, clothing, and all we need and avoid destruction and disaster whenever we can, as long as we do so without detracting from our love and duty toward our neighbor. How much more appropriate it is therefore to seek to preserve life and avoid death if this can be done without harm to our neighbor. Anyone who does not do that for his neighbor, but forsakes him and leaves him to his misfortune, becomes a murderer in the sight of God.

Luther pulled no punches on the topic of “Disregarding Everything Which Might Counteract the Plague and Death” writing: They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God’s punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so with-out medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health.

If one makes no use of intelligence or medicine when he could do so without detriment to his neighbor, such a person injures his body and must beware lest he become a suicide in God’s eyes.

Luther took a dim view of anyone who couldn’t be bothered to act in the best interest of the community likening not taking protective measures to safeguard one’s neighbors to letting a neighbor’s house burn without attempting to put out the fire. He considered it murder. I imagine he’d take the same dim view of today’s right-wingers who spread their anti-mask and anti-vaccine vitriol while simultaneously spreading COVID-19 and from time to time dying of it.

Texas Republicans Reward Snitches

As of September 1 women in Texas Republicans have essentially outlawed abortion in the state. SB8 makes it illegal to have an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy and since women are often unsure they’re pregnant before six weeks this bill essentially prohibits 85% of abortions in Texas. The five worst members of the Supreme Court of the United States, three of whom are Trump appointees, have refused to even delay the effect of the bill until it can be reviewed.

I am deeply angered that women in Texas are already suffering from losing the choice of whether or not to continue their pregnancy as I don’t see where any man has the right to control what a woman does with her body. There’s been a lot of discussion of that already and most Democrats are pro-choice so let’s put that part of this disturbing bill on the side and focus on another insidious effect of this bill.

Texas Republicans gave abortion opponents in Texas the right to sue women who seek abortions and anyone who provides assistance to them from the doctor or nurse, to the friend or family member who drives them to the clinic, or anyone who helps finance the cost of the procedure. Texas Republicans pushed this bill through the legislature over the objections of women of all ages and Democrats on both houses of the legislature. Those who snitch on their neighbors or co-workers are guaranteed a minimum of $10,000 from anyone they successfully accuse of having, providing, aiding or abetting an abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy. Given that there are typically at least three people involved in an abortion, the pregnant woman, a doctor, and a nurse the snitch stands to get at least $30,000 in rewards.

There is historical precedent for this Republican legislation going back to Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Russia. The Nazis rewarded snitches who turned in Jews or anyone who hid or helped Jews flee. In Soviet Russia snitches were rewarded for informing on anyone who opposed or criticized Stalin or his policies. In Stalin’s Russian no one could be trusted as even family and friends might turn on you at any moment. As you might imagine such snitching was often abused by jealous neighbors, spurned lovers, and others with a grudge. Sociologist Jan Gross refers to such snitching as a form of ‘privatisation’ of the totalitarian state, since they enabled individuals to draw on the state’s coercive power to settle private grievances. Texas Republicans seem to want to privatize everything else so add snitching as another means.

Reliance on snitching is something that totalitarian regimes are known for. I find it interesting that my conservative neighbors refer to many liberal policies as communist and something out of Soviet Russia yet it is their restrictive policies and practices like snitching that most resemble the totalitarian Soviet state.

According to Psychology Today the term projection “is most commonly used to describe defensive projection—attributing one’s own unacceptable urges to another. For example, if someone continuously bullies and ridicules a peer about his insecurities, the bully might be projecting his own struggle with self-esteem onto the other person.”

If conservatives quack like ducks maybe they are ducks, or in this case totalitarians.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - September 8, 2021

Gov. Abbott Willing to Sacrifice Our Children

Gov. Greg Abbott is doing his best to sacrifice the life of your child or grand-child. By issuing an order banning local governments from passing mask mandates Abbott has willfully chosen to sacrifice the lives and health of the children of this state. You may hear plenty of “its might right” talk coming from Republicans and especially Libertarians who don’t want to wear a mask in public but they’re wrong.

Isn't your right to drive drunk? Shouldn't parents be able to decide whether or not to use a car seat for infants and toddlers? Why can’t paint companies and gasoline refiners use lead in their products like they used to? The answer is public health; we all have a right to life and health that cannot be subordinated to the right of an individual to just do as they please. That’s why government must have the power to mandate public mask wearing and should use it at this critical time. In fact the U.S. Constitution makes that very point in the preamble which states: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Here in Texas the weekly number of new, confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now greater than it was last year at this time. Hospital capacities in ICU’s all over the state are again near peak levels and deaths are again on the rise. As parents, children, and teachers prepare for the new school year its incumbent on school boards and administrations to look out for the best interests of those children. It’s important that they consider the best available information.

At the request of the North Carolina legislature Duke University researchers tracked COVID-19 transmission in North Carolina K-12 schools across 100 school districts, 14 charter schools, 160,549 school staffers, and more than 864,515 students attending in-school instruction.  The researchers, Dr. Kanecia Zimmerman, associate professor of pediatrics at the Duke University School of Medicine, and Dr. Danny Benjamin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Duke Health wrote; "We have learned a few things for certain. Although vaccination is the best way to prevent COVID-19, universal masking is a close second, and with masking in place, in-school learning is safe and more effective than remote instruction, regardless of community rates of infection."

Dr. Benjamin stressed the efficacy of universal in-school masking in an interview with PBS News Hour stating "What we found was despite having extremely widespread COVID in the communities in North Carolina, if universal masking is in place, the chances of one child infecting another is less than 1 percent," he said. Voluntary masking, on the other hand, is about as useless as universal masking is effective. "Having a voluntary mask policy is like having a no-peeing section of a pool or a no-smoking section on an airplane," Dr. Benjamin explained. "That's absurd."

Given their constitutional duty to promote the general welfare, in this case public health, it is necessary for all levels of government to have the ability to impose mask mandates as appropriate in order to protect the lives and health of our children whether some parents are smart enough to understand that or not. Gov. Abbott’s presidential ambitions are insufficient cause to sacrifice our precious children’s health or lives.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - August 18, 2021