Good turnout and good response in visiting with Northeast Bexar Democrats in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood on Saturday. Here is the energy for Democratic victories this year. Congratulations to John Courage for his leadership.
In the News
What the Supreme Court Decision Means
A lot of folks have asked me what I think today’s Supreme Court opinion means. Below is a helpful post from the Burnt Orange Report. I hope, after reading it, you will click on the Get Involved button to sign-up to join my campaign.
Sincerely,
Lloyd
“There is good news and bad news. The good news is that only Justice Clarence Thomas insisted on imposing the crooked Perrymandered map and rejecting the vital preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act. The bad news is that the Supreme Court did not affirm every aspect of the ruling by Judges Garcia and Rodriquez in San Antonio, so our primary election is not likely to proceed on April 3. Yet nothing in the Supreme Court order precludes a final congressional map like that already drawn by this San Antonio court. Republican comments to the contrary are wishful thinking at best. The mishandling of this matter by Rick Perry and Greg Abbott may unfortunately again delay this election, but it need not prevent full implementation of the Voting Rights Act to assure fair treatment of our Hispanic and African American neighbors. Better later and right than earlier and wrong.”
“However the final lines are drawn, I will seek reelection wherever most of my constituents live. That is CD 25 composed of substantial parts of Travis and Hays Counties under the court map and CD35 under the Perrymandered map. To ensure that our shared progressive values continue to be advanced in Washington, I will continue working hard every day. I have been in San Antonio this week, like last week, and next week, and at every future opportunity. With active campaign offices in both San Antonio and Austin, I need all the volunteer help we can get now at each. I want to be as strong an advocate for working families in other parts of the I-35 corridor as I have been for the communities that I already serve in Congress.”
Republicans are so determined to draw Lloyd Doggett out of Congress that they hacked Austin and Travis County into five Congressional districts with their illegal racist gerrymandered map. This isn’t the first time Doggett’s district has had to be re-drawn by the courts. In 2006, SCOTUS threw out Tom DeLay’s mid-decade redistricting that forced Doggett into a district that ran from Austin to Mexico. That district was redrawn into the current CD-25. That district was warped by the Republican legislature into a conservative monstrosity running from Fort Worth to Austin.Memo to Republicans: Doggett won’t quit, and every time you try to draw him out, he just keeps fighting back. Maybe you should give up and get a new legislative priority other than forcing out Central Texas’ progressive voice in Congress?
State’s maps: Detestable paternalism
By O. Ricardo Pimentel
U.S. Supreme Court justices have an opportunity to make a bold statement either for or against the kind of game rigging that has been going on throughout the country every 10 years.
This is commonly referred to as redistricting but, in practice and in effect, is better known as gerrymandering.
On Monday, the highest court will hear arguments on Texas redistricting cum gerrymandering.
The issue is whether Texas, with a history of discrimination against minority voters, will be able to use redistricting maps that haven’t been pre-cleared to determine if they are discriminatory, per the Voting Rights Act. If the court allows this, it will have to set aside interim maps drawn by a federal panel of judges in San Antonio and do much damage to the Act in the process. Read More »
Congressman Doggett Files for Reelection
A message from Congressman Doggett:
Best to you for the holidays. During this special season, I certainly have much for which to be thankful. First and foremost is a wonderful family and friends and neighbors across Texas, who have stood with me during these recent challenging months. Who would have guessed that even as we enter the new year, we have neither a definite congressional map nor a certain date for the primary election? The sole cause of this delay and confusion is the Republican effort to subvert the Voting Rights Act. With your encouragement, I am prepared to meet any challenge the Republicans present.
Because I believe that Federal Judges Orlando Garcia and Xavier Rodriquez acted properly in reuniting San Antonio neighborhoods, removing District 35 from Austin, and reuniting District 25 as a compact Travis-Hays County district, I have formally filed for reelection in District 25. If the Republican map is once again imposed, I will seek reelection along the I-35 corridor, from San Antonio to Austin, in District 35, about half of which I have represented in Congress. We have to be ready to campaign in either district or some new one that the courts design. I have particular confidence in having my work evaluated by those who know me best. For six months, I have been especially focused on reaching out to those whom I have not previously served in Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe Counties through neighborhood meetings and Democratic gatherings. I will continue doing that with an active presence in San Antonio and by maintaining campaign offices in both San Antonio and Austin.
Districts may change, but my commitment to stand firmly for our shared values will not. Thanks so much.
Bipartisan Lawmakers Offer Alternative Proposal To Online Piracy Bills
A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers released a draft proposal to address their concerns with controversial House and Senate bills that would crack down on piracy and counterfeit products on foreign websites.
The draft proposal was crafted by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Mark Warner, D-Va., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, John Campbell, R-Calif.,Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. Read More »
Doggett pushes bill to extend unemployment benefits
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett promoted his bill Wednesday in Washington to extend federal unemployment insurance programs through 2012.
Doggett’s measure, House Resolution 3346, would prevent Congress from letting federal unemployment insurance expire. Some people will begin losing benefits in six weeks unless the bill becomes law.
“We’re ready to work with anyone in either party to prevent over 5 million of our American neighbors from facing the night before Christmas, wondering if in the New Year, they will have money to pay the rent and put food on the table,” said Doggett, D-Austin, at a news conference. “The rent won’t wait. The car payment, the pickup truck payment won’t wait on the Congress.” Read More »
What Today’s DC Federal Court Ruling Means
Today, the three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. unanimously rejected the State’s motion for summary judgment under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. This is good news for all of us fighting to undo the injustice of the GOP map. And the D.C. Court then went further, writing: “. . . the Court finds and concludes that the State of Texas used an improper standard or methodology to determine which districts afford minority voters the ability to elect their preferred candidates of choice . . .”
It is noteworthy that two of the federal judges who signed the order were appointed by President George W. Bush. This order provides broad discretion to the San Antonio Court in drawing the remedial plan, and does not limit it to using the State map. The matter is not finally resolved. I expect the San Antonio Court will release its opinion before Thanksgiving. We need to keep working every day. Today, I am in San Antonio. I started by meeting with truck drivers and met with members of the Mexican American Bar Association at lunch, and will visit with two neighborhood associations tonight.
Today’s order is a repudiation of the crooked lines dividing neighborhoods from San Antonio to Austin which my challenger, Joaquin Castro, secretly collaborated with Republicans in drawing.
To Preserve a Lifeline for More than 6 Million Americans, We Must Extend Federal Unemployment Benefits Now
In my hometown of Austin, there’s a Texan named Anne. Anne was Vice President for an Austin company that borrowed too much. When the economy tanked, her company tanked to
o, closing its doors and leaving 88 people in the Austin-area — one of the best economies in the country — without a job. Without extended unemployment benefits, Anne says a difficult situation would have become disastrous situation. She has been unemployed for three years. Earlier this year, Anne said that of the 118 jobs for which she had applied, she had gotten 3 interviews. In two of those, employers said that she was overqualified. Unfortunately, being overqualified doesn’t put food on the table, and doesn’t keep a roof over your head.
If it weren’t for unemployment insurance, she says that she and her husband would have been unable to keep their home and purchase necessities to get by, including prescription medications. She is discouraged by the situation and remarked that the real shame is that her story is far too common. This scenario has played out in homes of millions of other people. It has happened to folks from Michigan, from New York and California. It has hit families in every state across our nation..
Don’t Blame the Unemployed for Unemployment
We must work to create jobs. But we must not forget those who need this critical support while they search for one. Unfortunately, Republicans continue to blame unemployment on the unemployed, sounding a lot like the old 1950s doo-wop song by the Silhouettes called “Get a Job”— “Preaching and a crying” telling folks that they are “lying about a job that they never could find.” At a time when there are about five unemployed Americans for every job opening, it is clear that many people remain jobless not because of their lack of wanting to work—but a lack of work.
Congress has never allowed emergency unemployment benefits to expire when the unemployment rate is anywhere close to its current level of 9.1 percent. If this Republican Congress fails to act, more than two million Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own will lose their unemployment benefits by the middle of February, including 124,000 in Texas. More than 6 million will lose benefits during 2012.
Congressman Doggett Talks Redistricting on NPR
This afternoon, Congresman Doggett joins NPR’s Talk of the Nation to discuss the GOP–the Gerrymandering Old Party and their efforts to deny a voice in Washington for our progressive values. As I told host Neal Conan, I will continue to stand up against the Wall Street banks, insurance monopolies, and corporate tax dodgers for families in San Antonio, San Marcos, Lockhart, Kyle, New Braunfels, and Austin.
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