Soros-Backed Group, Beto O’Rourke PAC Pick Up Tab For Texas Democrats’ Gerrymandering Stunt

essentialsaltes · Sunday at 11:59 AM

Judge temporarily blocks Beto from speeking freely.

Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting

The ruling is a victory, albeit potentially a temporary one, for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought the temporary restraining order accusing O'Rourke and his group of a bribery scheme, accusations the Democrat has vigorously denied.

O'Rourke, who said earlier he would sue Paxton in state court, denounced the judge's decision in a statement, arguing that the attorney general is going after his group "because our volunteers fight for voting rights and free elections … the kind of work that threatens the hold that Paxton, Trump, and Abbott have on power in Texas."

wing2000 · Wednesday at 8:24 PM

...another desperate swing....and miss by AG Paxton:

Illinois courts will not force Texas Democrats back to the state, a judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a blow to Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ efforts to restore the headcount necessary to pass the GOP’s new congressional map.

On Wednesday, Illinois Judge Scott Larson rejected the petition, ruling that Paxton and Burrows had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.

Illinois court rejects Texas request to enforce arrest warrants against House Democrats

Judge Scott Larson ruled that the Texas speaker and attorney general had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.

www.texastribune.org

wing2000 · Wednesday at 8:28 PM

essentialsaltes said:
Judge temporarily blocks Beto from speeking freely.

Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting
The ruling is a victory, albeit potentially a temporary one, for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought the temporary restraining order accusing O'Rourke and his group of a bribery scheme, accusations the Democrat has vigorously denied.

O'Rourke, who said earlier he would sue Paxton in state court, denounced the judge's decision in a statement, arguing that the attorney general is going after his group "because our volunteers fight for voting rights and free elections … the kind of work that threatens the hold that Paxton, Trump, and Abbott have on power in Texas."

...and now he wants to lock up Beto....

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday asked a Tarrant County judge to jail former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, in another escalation in Republicans’ broader effort to put an end to Texas Democrats’ walkout over a new congressional map.

Ken Paxton asks judge to jail Beto O’Rourke for fundraising Texas Dems' walkout

Paxton sued O’Rourke and his political group, Powered by People, last week, arguing that the group was deceptively fundraising for and illegally supporting Texas Democrats’ walkout.

www.texastribune.org

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 10:40 AM

essentialsaltes said:
Judge temporarily blocks Beto from speeking freely.

Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting
The ruling is a victory, albeit potentially a temporary one, for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought the temporary restraining order accusing O'Rourke and his group of a bribery scheme, accusations the Democrat has vigorously denied.

O'Rourke, who said earlier he would sue Paxton in state court, denounced the judge's decision in a statement, arguing that the attorney general is going after his group "because our volunteers fight for voting rights and free elections … the kind of work that threatens the hold that Paxton, Trump, and Abbott have on power in Texas."

No - Judge blocks Beto from aiding and abetting people knowingly breaking civil law.

Aiding and abetting is a crime in itself, held against those who would somehow assist a criminal

While not a criminal act - it is along the same lines and can result in:

Civil arrest warrants: Legislatures can issue civil warrants to compel attendance, but these are only enforceable within state borders. If lawmakers are out of state, enforcement becomes symbolic unless another state cooperates.
Fines: Some states impose fines. For example, Texas levies a $500 per day fine on legislators who break quorum.

What Beto is doing is assisting those who have broken quorum by fund raising for them. He is perfectly free to say anything he wants and has since continued speaking about it, but no longer raising funds openly. That pretty much negates the "free speech" rhetoric.

This isn't the first time Democrats ran away from their duties:

Texas Democrats (2003 & 2021): Fled to Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. to block redistricting and voting laws.
Wisconsin Democrats (2011): Left the state to oppose anti-union legislation.
Indiana Democrats (2011): Fled to Illinois to challenge labor-related bills.

Additionally - here is a synopsis of the ruling - you will note, NOT ONE reference to stopping free speech -

Fundraising Ban: O'Rourke and Powered by People are prohibited from raising or spending money to cover travel, lodging, dining, or fines for unexcused Democratic lawmakers during any special legislative session called by the Texas Governor.
Deceptive Practices: Judge Fahey agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s claim that the group engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive fundraising, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Constitutional Duties: The order states that providing financial support constitutes “consideration” for lawmakers to violate their constitutional duties by skipping legislative sessions.
Irreparable Harm: The court found that donors were being misled into believing their contributions were for political purposes, when they were actually used for personal expenses of lawmakers.
Platform Restrictions: The injunction also bars fundraising through platforms like ActBlue, and prohibits transferring any funds or property out of Texas while the case is pending.

There is nothing about restricting Beto from speaking.

BCP1928 · Thursday at 10:49 AM

Always in His Presence said:
No - Judge blacks Beto from aiding and abetting people knowingly breaking the law.

Aiding and abetting is a crime in itself, held against those who would somehow assist a criminal

While not a criminal act - it is along the same lines and can result in:

Civil arrest warrants: Legislatures can issue civil warrants to compel attendance, but these are only enforceable within state borders. If lawmakers are out of state, enforcement becomes symbolic unless another state cooperates.

Fines: Some states impose fines. For example, Texas levies a $500 per day fine on legislators who break quorum.

What Beto is doing is assisting those who have broken quorum by fund raising for them. He is perfectly free to say anything he wants and has since continued speaking about it, but no longer raising funds openly. That pretty much negates the "free speech" rhetoric.

You've forgotten about Citizens United already? Or is it that the shoe doesn't fit when it's on the other foot?

Always in His Presence said:
This isn't the first time Democrats ran away from their duties:

Texas Democrats (2003 & 2021): Fled to Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. to block redistricting and voting laws.

Wisconsin Democrats (2011): Left the state to oppose anti-union legislation.

Indiana Democrats (2011): Fled to Illinois to challenge labor-related bills.

Of course, those Democrats saw their action as fulfilling their duty.

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 10:52 AM

BCP1928 said:
You've forgotten about Citizens United already? Or is it that the shoe doesn't fit when it's on the other foot?

Nope - I just know the difference between fundraising for a political group's election and aiding a group while running from their the duties they were elected to do.

BCP1928 said:
Of course, those Democrats saw their action as fulfilling their duty.

Too bad it goes completely against the office they hold - can they now pick and choose which rules to follow?

essentialsaltes · Thursday at 11:00 AM

Always in His Presence said:
No - Judge blocks Beto from aiding and abetting people knowingly breaking civil law.

What 'civil law'?

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 12:15 PM

essentialsaltes said:
What 'civil law'?

Read my post.

essentialsaltes · Thursday at 12:18 PM

Always in His Presence said:
Read my post.

It says they 'broke quorum'. That's not a crime. Making Abbott mad is not 'along the same lines' as a crime.

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 12:58 PM

essentialsaltes said:
It says they 'broke quorum'. That's not a crime. Making Abbott mad is not 'along the same lines' as a crime.

Also said exactly ZERO about stopping Beto’s speech.

perplexed · Thursday at 4:00 PM

It is not wrong for political party raise money to help them to prevent gerrymandering by having officials flee their jurisdiction. Very clear case of the lesser of two evils.

Always in His Presence · Thursday at 4:09 PM

perplexed said:
It is not wrong for political party raise money to help them to prevent gerrymandering by having officials flee their jurisdiction. Very clear case of the lesser of two evils.

Not according to the judge.

perplexed · Thursday at 6:04 PM

Always in His Presence said:
Not according to the judge.

Judges don't compare evils

SimplyMe · Thursday at 7:06 PM

Always in His Presence said:
Not according to the judge.

And it seems somewhat obvious that Paxton went "judge shopping," just so he could get a judge that would ignore the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to be filing suit in Tarrant County rather than in the area of the Capitol (Travis County) or where Beto lives/his political group is located (El Paso County).

perplexed · Thursday at 7:45 PM

Are people aware that in theory with perfect gerrymandering you can win with 25% of the vote
and in practice there were actual cases were having 35% is enough. Sane people should condemn both the Democrats and the Republicans for their shenanigans

ThatRobGuy · Thursday at 8:28 PM

To be fair, all of the Democratic gerrymandering stunts have been a direct response to the Republican gerrymandering stunt.

Fair is fair...

While I'm by no means a progressive (as my posting history will easily show -- I'm a moderate-to-CenterRight), I noted in the other thread that I respect Newsom's moxie in what they're doing.

It's pretty evident Trump wants to pressure Texas into carving out additional house seats because he realizes that that the "clean sweep control" dynamic is in jeopardy, and if Democrats take back control of the house (presumably with a speaker Jeffries), some of his agenda is in jeopardy.

Also, your infographic about "x% voted for Trump, but they have zero seats" is also a bit misleading...

What’s the Matter with Massachusetts?

In November 2021, then-Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, a Republican, signed into law new congressional maps that would, as before, give Democrats all nine of the state’s House seats—despite the fact that roughly a third of the electorate votes Republican. That is, although they constitute o

democracyjournal.org

This article explains the challenge...there's no rational/feasible way to draw districts to address that. Sometimes a minority vote is just that in a state...a minority.

Unless they're going to draw a broken district that's simply "Steve's house, Jeff's house, and Ryan's House" (all 80 miles apart from each other with no interconnecting corridors), there's no way to practically carve out a republican house district there.

Note, seat-vote mismatches exist in several red states as well.

Soros-Backed Group, Beto O’Rourke PAC Pick Up Tab For Texas Democrats’ Gerrymandering Stunt

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Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting

Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting

Judge blocks Beto O'Rourke from providing financial support to Texas Democrats who fled state over redistricting