Give Houston a problem, boycott Texas products
The founders designed a republic with a chamber recognized as the people’s branch. Elections for Representatives would reflect the will of the country. It would be the preeminent political institution. In actual modern reality it is the Members of the political class choose their voters and not the other way around. After the census every decade state legislatures learn how many seats they will have and draw lines favorable to the party that controls the state legislature.
Rather than having a chamber designed to reflect the will of the people there are only about 50 districts nationwide that are genuinely competitive and might change hands. Thus, the US Constitution and the crucial role played by elections to the House — intended to set the course of the country — don’t do much at all. What was intended to be an orderly process to draw the lines for new districts — more aspirational than real — has shrunk down to the electoral outcome of these few dozen seats. Most House members are safely ensconced in power. Even in years of tremendous turmoil like 1968 about 95% of incumbents are returned to office. Challengers must raise $20M or more to defeat one of them, a massive barrier and yet one that is dwarfed by the advantages of incumbency. The largest source of campaign contributions for House Republicans are not citizens but special interest PACs, buying the influence that is sold by Republican Members of Congress.
The largest Democratic states have tried to remove redistricting from politics with independent commissions and even amendments to the state constitution. Fair elections are the foundation of a republic. The moral high ground is to protect the legitimacy of core institution.
The Republicans, however, are using this process to give themselves an advantage and control the Congress, all the way off in Washington. This is the lowest of the low ground. They figure that they could redraw the lines in the most baldly unfair way to ruin and banish political competition entirely, and do this again after having already done so following the Census. They are diluting Democratic votes in urban areas like Austin with tens of thousands of reliable, rural Republican votes. In a last ditch effort to derail this power grab led by Trump and his underlings Democratic state legislatures have fled the state. Their objective is to deny the legislature a quorum, enough legislators present to pass legislation. They need to hide out because if they remain in the state its Republican governor would order Texas state troopers to round them up and bring them back, like criminals subject to arrest. This strategy can’t work in the long run but in the short run it generates a widespread understanding of their predicament.
How can you show them your support? Stop buying anything that says Made in Texas, since that is where the corruption comes from. Don’t travel there. Some products to stop buying include pecans, salsas, barbecue sauces and leather products such as cowboy boots. Specific brands include Yeti, Lone Star and Shiner beer. Do not fly on American Airlines or Southwest. Let them know why you won’t buy their products any more. Forget, as best you can, the Alamo. Erase Davy Crocket from American myth and culture.
This works, as it did to pressure Georgia to throw overboard its voter suppression laws.
Tell Travel Texas you’re not traveling to Texas. Travel Texas is part of the governor’s office. Use the form on the site to express your opinions to its director.
It won’t take more than a hundred letters for tourism agencies and the corporations to realize that Houston, we have a new problem.
