During the last legislative session here in Texas, there was a movement among house members to remove Speaker Craddick from office. Many believed the votes were there to get it done. Craddick took no chances. To protect his position in the final days of the session, he refused to recognize any representative he believed might introduce such a resolution.
Several representatives thought this was an abuse of the Speaker's position, and asked the Attorney General for a ruling on the legality of the speaker's actions. Last Friday, the Attorney General issued a muddled opinion that really didn't settle anything.
Craddick immediately claimed victory -- obviously a public relations effort aimed at trying to convince voters that he was in the right. But the Attorney General's ruling really didn't say Craddick was right.
The Attorney General stated that the Speaker was a statewide official (a dubious position), but then said he respected the division of powers and the House could make it's own rules regarding the matter. He did not rule at all on whether the Speaker had the right to not recognize his opponents.
The House has the right to remove the Speaker whenever it desires to do so. But if the Speaker still believes he has the power to recognize only his supporters, then the House would be unable to enforce it's own rules. That makes it more important than ever to remove the despotic current Speaker.
The ball is currently in the voter's court. They could settle this matter by refusing to elect or re-elect those who support giving the Speaker such broad powers as Craddick claims to have. Find out if your representative is a Craddick supporter. If he is, then vote for his opponent.
While most Democrats oppose Craddick, this is not strictly a party-line thing. Several Republicans oppose Craddick and some Democrats support him. Instead, this is a matter of trying to restrict the very broad powers claimed by the Speaker.
It is undemocratic for a Speaker to refuse to recognize those with whom he disagrees. That gives the Speaker the power to defeat any measure he doesn't like, even though a majority of representatives might support the measure. That's just not right. Even opponents of the Speaker should have the right to have their measures debated and voted upon.
Vote for democracy in 2008. Vote against Craddick.
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