Tag Archives: Greg Abbott Big Government

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of August 18th

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The Texas Progressive Alliance stands with the people of Ferguson in their quest for peace and justice as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff reminds us that there’s one more special Senate election to go this year, and this one features a Democrat that’s worth supporting.

Harold Cook warns us to keep a sense of perspective on the Rick Perry indictment.

Texas Leftist keeps wondering when the national media is going figure out that Texas could be a swing state today if enough people were actually voting. Plus clarifying Wendy Davis’ stance on LGBT equality issues, and what we can expect if she’s elected.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. Unfortunately in Texas we have the government that we voted for, or didn’t vote for, as the case may be, Avoiding Medicaid, Non-Voting, And Ferguson.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos finds it amusing how Greg Abbott promotes himself as a small government fiscal conservative while he squanders taxpayer dollars on frivolous lawsuits. Greg Abbott’s Frivolous Fights with the Feds Cost Taxpayers Millions.

After the late Friday afternoon news broke about Rick Perry’s felony indictments, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs consumed more adult beverages than he planned. All weekend long.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme notes that audit of Hidalgo voting machines shows no tampering. Of course, without a paper audit trail, you can’t really be sure. Kudos to Travis County for their efforts to provide auditable elections.

Neil at Blog About Our Failing Money-Owned American Political System bought a Texas cake to mark the indictment of Rick Perry. NeilAquino.com has many pages and is well worth your time to consider.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Nonsequiteuse would like Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to invest in Texas the way they invest in themselves.

Juanita disagrees with the calls for Rick Perry to resign.

Lone Star Q decries Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s attack on transgender inmates.

The Texas Election Law Blog games out the state’s strategy in the redistricting litigation.

Lone Star Ma celebrates National Breastfeeding Month.

Scott Braddock shows how Rick Perry’s border posturing is bad for the people that actually live and work there.

And finally, The Bloggess wants us to know that help is always available if you need it.

 

(photo credit:  Brandi Grahl, panoramio)

Equality, Texas Politics

Greg Abbott: LGBT Texans Aren’t Stable Enough For Marriage

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Marriage in most families is a momentous occasion, and for those that choose to walk down the aisle, it marks the beginning of a new life for the wedded couple.  Marriages form a backbone of not only family history, but American history as well.  But for LGBT Texans that treasured history is being not only prevented, but destroyed by the state’s Big Government Attorney General.  As revealed this week, Greg Abbott has decided to be a roadblock to equality yet again, filing an appeal to the recent ruling that struck down the state’s marriage ban.  Here’s the information directly from the full text of the Attorney General’s filing…

Texas’s marriage laws are rooted in a basic reality of human life: procreation requires a male and a female.  Two people of the same sex cannot, by themselves procreate.  All the Equal Protection Clause requires is that Texas’s marriage be rationally related to a legitimate state interest.  Texas’s marriage laws easily satisfy that standard.  The state’s recognition and encouragement of opposite sex marriages increases the likelihood that naturally procreative couples will produce children, and that they will do so in the context of stable, long-lasting relationships.  By encouraging the formation of opposite sex marriages, the State seeks not only to encourage procreation but also to minimize the societal costs of procreation outside of stable, lasting marriages.

Curious how the Attorney General, and Republican candidate for Governor keeps bringing up this point about stability.  Clearly Abbott doesn’t think that LGBT Texans are “stable enough” to handle meaningful relationships.  Of course, as the Houston Chronicle points out, these are the very same flawed arguments that have been rejected several times in other Appeals courts…

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and pro-gay marriage activists were surprised Abbott led with the “responsible procreation” argument since it has been rejected in the 10th and 4th Circuit Courts.

“It hasn’t succeeded very often because it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it doesn’t really comport with what most of us think about marriage,” said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. “(State law) doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be reasonable.”

Any outcome in the 5th Circuit would be a win for the gay marriage movement, said Steve Rudner of Equality Texas.

If the court upholds Judge Garcia’s ruling overturning the ban, it will bolster LGBT activists’ case. If it becomes the first appeals court to toss out such a ruling, creating a circuit court split, it could put the Texas case on a fast-track to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Whether or not this ridiculous appeal is part of some meticulously orchestrated plot to entice the Supreme Court, or if it’s just the Attorney General’s blunt ignorance on display, only time will tell.  But one thing we can be sure of:  Greg Abbott is no friend of the LGBT community, or of any kind of equality for the state of Texas.  He has shown time after time that he doesn’t support women’s rights, property rights, or even the rights to obtain vital information.  This latest infringement on the rights of Texans should not be ignored.  If you care about personal freedom for anyone in any capacity, please do NOT vote for Greg  “Big Government” Abbott this November.

(image credit:  Texas Democratic Party)