Someone Is Flying Planes Over Liberal State Capitals With A Blunt Message About Texas
Why? Trump told 'em so!
In response, Texas Democrats fled to Illinois to block a vote, and now Texas Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to remove them from office over it.
Blue states like California, New York, and Maryland are now looking into redistricting to keep up with Texas.
After all of this, airplanes have been spotted over the Ilinois State Capitol with a message to politicians:
"MESS WITH TEXAS"
A plane carrying that same banner was spotted over the New York State Capitol in Albany:
Annapolis, Maryland saw it too:
And yep, another one was flying over California's State Capitol in Sacramento:
Now, let's see if these Dem leaders actually do something about it.
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Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas Dems Flee Like Cowards And Ditch Their Duties; Abbott Orders Troopers To Arrest Them
One day after Texas House Democrats fled the state in a bid to stop redistricting, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state troopers to arrest them. 'I ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans,' Abbott said in an August 4 press release. 'This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.' Abbott said the absent House Democrats were holding up 'critical legislation' for flood victims and property tax relief. The Democrats fled the state Sunday, attempting to stall a vote on the upcoming Republican-friendly redistricting. Abbott signed the order to 'ensure compliance' with Republican Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, he said. Burrows announced civil arrest warrants for the absent Democrats earlier that afternoon. 'They've left the state, abandoned their posts, and turned their backs on the constituents they swore to represent,' Burrows said in the chamber. 'I will immediately sign the warrants for the civil arrest of the members who have said they will not be here.' Burrows previously warned that if the Democrats did not return, 'all options will be on the table.' Attorney General Ken Paxton said on August 3 that he supports their 'immediate arrest.' 'To those who are absent – return now. Show the courage to face the issues you were elected to solve. Come back and fulfill your duty,' Burrows said when announcing the warrants. 'Because this House will not sit quietly while you obstruct the work of the people.'
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
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Texas Republicans vote to arrest Democrats in stalled redistricting vote
Texas Republicans have voted to track down and arrest the more than 50 Democratic legislators who fled the state to prevent a vote on a controversial redistricting plan that would significantly favour conservatives. The vote passed by 85 to 6, and came after Republican Gov Greg Abbott threatened bribery charges against the absent Democrats. After the vote, the governor ordered state troopers to "to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans". The proposed congressional map, unveiled last week by Republicans, would create more Republican seats in the US House of Representatives in Washington DC where they hold a slim majority currently. At least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum became unreachable more than 50 Democratic lawmakers left the state. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows told reporters after the vote that he had "signed the civil arrest warrants" for the Democrats. Most of the Democrats fled to Illinois where the state's Governor JB Pritzker said he was "going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them" amid arrest threats from Abbott. The Democrats said they planned to stay away from Texas for two weeks until the end of a special legislative session. "We will do whatever it takes. What that looks like, we don't know," Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus leader, said. The vote on Monday is mostly symbolic, according to the Texas Tribune, as the warrants only apply within state lines. The move empowers the chamber's sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to arrest the absent lawmakers and deliver them to the state capitol building in Austin. They would not face any civil or criminal charges as a result of the warrant, the newspaper reports. Republican Governor Greg Abbott warned earlier that lawmakers who refuse to return to vote on the map could face second-degree felony charges. "It would be bribery if any lawmaker took money to perform or to refuse to perform an act in the legislature," Abbott said on Fox News on Monday. "And the reports are these legislators have both sought money and offered money to skip the vote, to leave the legislature, to take a legislative act. That would be bribery." After legislators voted to issue warrants against the Democrats, Abbott issued a statement ordering the Texas Department of Public Safety "to locate, arrest, and return to the House chamber any member who has abandoned their duty to Texans". He added that his order will remain in effect "until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol". Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, had also threatened to have the Democratic leaders arrested. Paxton, who is currently running for the US Senate, wrote on X that the state should "use every tool at our disposal to hunt down those who think they are above the law". At the federal level in Washington, Texas Republicans currently hold 25 out of the state's 38 congressional seats. They hope the new maps could increase that number to 30 - all in constituencies that President Donald Trump won last November by at least 10 points. Trump's party currently has 219 of 435 seats in the US House of Representatives, while Democrats hold 212. The redistricting could help pad the slender Republican majority in the House, which is the lower chamber of Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats have been accused of manipulating boundaries of an electoral constituency - commonly known as gerrymandering. A few Democratic leaders in other states have suggested they may redraw their own legislative maps to counter the proposed losses of seats in Texas. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was exploring a constitutional amendment to move up the timeline to redraw legislative lines in her state. New York - along with California, Colorado and Washington - assigns redistricting to non-partisan, independent commissions, rather than the state legislatures. States typically undergo redistricting every 10 years, when voting maps are redrawn to account for population changes. The most recent US Census was in 2020. Redrawing district lines in the middle of a decade is unusual. Democrats flee Texas to block Republican redistricting map backed by Trump
USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
Texas Democrats flee state amid heated redistricting battle. Has this happened before?
WASHINGTON - A president jumping out of a window, a senator carried feet-first from their office, and state legislators moving into an out-of-state hotel: For as long as Americans have been legislating, they've been fleeing from legislatures to prevent votes from happening. Texas House Democrats fled the Lone Star State on Aug. 3 in an attempt to block a redistricting that would give Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives up to five more seats in the 2026 midterms. The Democrats dispersed to friendly blue states: Many traveled to the Chicago area in Illinois, greeted by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, while other groups landed in Boston, Massachusetts and Albany, New York. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to expel any Democrat who was not back in Austin by the time the legislature reconvened Aug. 4 at 3 p.m. CT. Republicans need what is called a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed to be present on the floor to carry out business. But the tactic of fleeing to deny quorum is one that's been used by both parties since the 1800s. Some lawmakers have hid out in their offices, while others have fled their state to avoid being compelled to show up to vote, as is the case with Texas Democrats. These are some of the most prominent examples from history. 1840: Abraham Lincoln jumps out of a first-floor window Before Abraham Lincoln served as president, he was a member of the Illinois state legislature from 1834 to 1842. He once jumped out of a first-floor window to try to prevent a quorum on a vote to shut down a state-run bank in 1840, according to The New York Times. Lincoln, a member of the Whig Party at the time, was an advocate of the state-run bank while his Democratic colleagues were not, the Times reported. Samuel Wheeler, who is the llinois state historian, told the Times that Lincoln had already been marked present for the quorum, making his effort pointless. 'It's not an episode that he's very proud of later,' Wheeler said. 1988: Bob Packwood carried into the chamber Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood, a Republican, tried to avoid a quorum call in February 1988 amid opposition to a Democratic-driven campaign finance reform bill, according to the U.S. Senate. He hid in his office until Capitol police later found him. The New York Times reported that Packwood had placed a chair against one door to prevent the officers from forcing it open. 'It was their mass against my mass,' he said at the time. The officers entered Packwood's office through another door, and they 'transported him feet-first into the Chamber,' the U.S. Senate website says. 2003: Texas Democrats protest redistricting effort Texas Democrats fled the state in 2003 to break quorum over Republican redistricting efforts. House Democrats went to Oklahoma until the regular session of the legislature ended, the Texas Tribune reported. Eleven Democratic state senators went to New Mexico after former Gov. Rick Perry called a special session, according to the Tribune. Then Democratic Sen. John Whitmire returned to Texas, officially allowing Republicans to advance with their redistricting plans after reaching a quorum. 2011: Wisconsin Democrats challenge anti-union bill Wisconsin Democrats fled their state in February 2011 in an attempt to block a budget-repair bill that would curtail collective bargaining rights from public employee unions, though the bill still ended up passing, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lawmakers went to Illinois, but stayed at different places due to security concerns. When they returned in March, nearly 70,000 trade union and Democratic supporters greeted them at Capitol Square, according to The Guardian. 2011: Indiana Democrats flee to Comfort Suites in Illinois Indiana Democrats fled their state 14 years ago to halt legislative business and challenge the passage of a controversial anti-union legislation, The Daily Illini reported. They headed to the Comfort Suites hotel in Urbana, Illinois, on Feb. 22 that year and didn't return to their home state until March 28, the paper reported. Their bill total came out to be over $84,000 dollars. 'It was a very difficult decision - very difficult - and it got more difficult every day,' State Representative Ed DeLaney, who fled with his colleagues, told The New York Times in an interview. 'You only have so much ammunition, and this is a way to spend an awful lot of your ammunition on one point, and draw a lot of criticism in the process.' Contributing: Savannah Kuchar, USA TODAY
