She hurt their fee-fees.
Texas Republicans are still steamed that Texas Sen. Wendy Davis tried to ruin all their anti-wommenfolk fun. Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, a man Texas readers will recognize as one of the more cracked eggs in the Texas crackpot basket, says that Davis should be paying for the second special session they had to have because Republicans weren't able to efficiently ram through their anti-abortion measures
during the first session:
“I am upset at the cost,” Capriglione said. “I think we need to remember why we are having this extra special session. One state senator, in an effort to capture national attention, forced this special session. I firmly believe that Sen. Wendy Davis should reimburse the taxpayers for the entire cost of the second special session. I am sure that she has raised enough money at her Washington, D.C., fundraiser to cover the cost.”
What a sourpuss. I'd say that somebody should be reimbursing the taxpayers for having the first session at all: There were precious few among them that thought closing down a few dozen women's health care centers was so pressing a need that Capriglione and his fellow freedom fighters needed an urgent special session to make it happen
right the hell now. Nobody forced Governor NotBush to call a second special-session do over so that the Republicans could try extra-super-hard to get it "right" a second time—he might want to chip in a few personal bucks too, considering that the entire session was called to deal with the pouting tragedy of Texas conservatives not getting what they wanted (a lollipop would have been cheaper, though I would stay away from Texas-manufactured versions. It would be especially swell if Capriglione and his fellow paint lickers could cover the cost of the current
third special session as well, since the transportation bill that is the subject of the latest state fiasco was supposed to have been done two special sessions ago, had it not been pushed aside for the current Republican obsession de jour.
As it turns out, and exactly nobody is surprised to hear this, the Texas legislature has a bit of a problem with wommenfolk legislators. And wommenfolk reporters. And wommenfolk constituents.
During the House budget debate in April, Brenham Republican Lois Kolkhorst and Austin Democrat Dawnna Dukes were debating an amendment. As the debate intensified, their male colleagues in the chamber started meowing and making angry-cat noises. Several times each session, men in the House will make cat noises when two women are debating. […]
When I asked Van de Putte if this immaturity is ever apparent on the Senate floor, she answered, “At times. You know, [pornographic images] on their personal iPads or something. You just say, ‘Gentlemen, don’t bring that to the floor… Just do that at home.’”
To be fair to Texas, this does not really sound like rampant sexism, it just sounds like Texas should be rethinking its ill-conceived policy of electing dimwitted 13-year-old boys to higher office. Legislating is generally a job best done with your pants on, and I for one would be keenly interested in knowing whether or not the anti-abortionists are reimbursing the state for all that bandwidth they are using looking at porn. Sen. Davis, I don't suppose you'd be interested in introducing a bill to that effect, would you? Now
that would be a debate worth watching.
Sign the petition drafting Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis to run for governor in 2014.