Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Voting Results

Prop 1: Yes 53.7% No 46.2%
Prop 2: Yes 76.1% No 23.8%
Prop 3: Yes 51.8% No 48.2%
Prop 4: Yes 84.8% No 15.2%
Prop 5: Yes 43.4% No 56.6%
Prop 6: Yes 62.7% No 37.4%
Prop 7: Yes 59.8% No 40.2%
Prop 8: Yes 61.2% No 38.8%
Prop 9: Yes 46.6% No 53.4%

The two proposals that failed:

Prop 5: "would authorize the Legislature to exempt commercial loans from state usury laws that set maximum interest rates. "Commercial loans" are loans made primarily for business, commercial, investment, agricultural, or similar purposes and not primarily for personal, family, or household purposes."

and

Prop 9: "would authorize the Legislature to provide staggered six year terms of office for board members serving on regional mobility authorities, with no more than one-third of the board positions being appointed every two years."

So, Texans don't want to exempt commercial loans from state usury laws - which is probably a good thing - and don't want to create "regional mobility authorities" (whatever that is) to make a whole new level of government that is unaccountable to the public.

Gotta say, I agree with both outcomes.

Of course, there was nothing but Amendments on the ballot - and Texas inches closer to overtaking Alabama as having the longest (most Amended Constitution) in the country. Voter turnout was extremely low. Of 12.5 million plus voters, barely 2 million decided the fate of the state. Prop 2 (the ban on gay marriage) collected the most votes with 2.24 million people casting votes - or about 18% of all voters.

This will be interpreted as Texas overwhelmingly being against gay marriage. I would point out that Texans are even more overwhelmingly indifferent to gay marriage. What you had here was the most motivated voters on each side voting. Had this been held in a regular election cycle, more voters would have turned out and it still would have been approved - though probably by a closer margin.

The problem is that gay marriage turned into a religious issue. Texans who want to see homosexuals treated as full citizens need to mobilize and re-claim the language of the debate and turn it into a question of government running your life. As Prop 4 and 9 show, Texans really are voting to have less government interferance in the ways things are done.

Yeah, it's gonna be an uphill battle. Way uphill.

Rabid conservatism defeats itself!



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IMPLODING RIGHT WING?

A site for cross-posting and posting original stories from around Texas that reveal the character of the Texas right wing. So much dirt. Such a big state.

This site brings Texas bloggers together to keep an eye on the actions of Texas right-wingers. Yes, friends. The radical conservative Republican politicians and activists who rule this state assume that nobody is watching.

They are hoping that nobody remembers Sen. John Cornyn's statements justifying violence against judges or Majority Leader Tom DeLay's zealous intervention into a private family dispute that spawned a media circus. Or Congressman Sam Johnson's intimation that he could personally nuke Syria. Or that Kay Bailey Hutchison has hired one of the "swift boat" smear architects for her gubernatorial campaign. Or that Republican corruption in the Dallas County Police Department has contributed to outrageous crime rates. Or the actions and stunts of the Young Conservatives of Texas on college campuses all across the state.

Well, they have had over ten years to lead. They haven't led. We will.

"Adios, MoFo."

Email GaremkoReport at yahoo dot com to join.

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