Ag Commissioner homophobic dress code. GOP’s gift to Democrats. GOP Legi goes after local AGs

Texas Observer Journalist Kit O’Connell exposes Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller. Republican Congressman gives Democrats a gift. Whatever happened to Republicans’ belief in local rule?

Kit O’Connell exposes ag Comm. Democrats got a gift from GOP.

GOP’s gift to Democrats.

Dana Bash pointed out that President Biden said he would not going to negotiate on the debt ceiling. After all, that is money already spent by the United States government. She also pointed out that the President will negotiate on a budget but that it is unrelated to increasing the debt limit.

Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer claimed that given that the new budget is the same as the 2022 budget and as such it is not a cut. He is playing with words. As an example, with there are 10,000 retirees making $100. that is a bill of $1 million. If the next year there are 11,000 retirees, keeping their retirement the same would cost $1,100,000. And that does not include the additional cost of inflation.

As usual, Republicans continue to look out for the rich and corporate class. Corporations use inflation to take more money away from the working class with undeserved higher prices. To cool inflation, the Feds take money from the working class by increasing interest rates. The defense budget is not decreased even as there is waste and exploitation. And the wealthy and corporations continue to extract more from the economy than they are willing to pay as they continue to live with huge tax cuts.

Dana Bash pointed out the actual cuts that working-class Americans would have to endure.

Dana Bash gave Congressman Tom Emmer an option to soften Republicans’ support for stiffing the working class. He pretty much dug in and made a statement that Democrats must use to paint all Republican politicians.

“I would hope this becomes the law of the land,” said Rep. Emmer. “Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans have given you the roadmap of how to do that. … Just take the bill we passed last week, Dana, and make it law.”

Hang that around their necks.

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Ag Commissioner homophobic dress code.

A good friend texted me with an article from the Texas Observer that he wanted me to cover. He suggested that I contact the author. After reading the article, it was clear that I needed to interview Kit O’Connell.

Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) Commissioner Sid Miller has received an avalanche of media attention about a new memorandum that requires agency employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” First reported by the Texas Observer on Monday, the policy forces transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming employees into the closet by preventing them from expressing their gender identity.

In a Wednesday morning appearance on Spectrum News 1 Austin, Miller doubled down on his anti-trans bigotry.

“When a man comes dressed in drag or vice versa, it’s very disruptive; it’s not professional,” he told Spectrum. “We want you to come looking like you’re professional and representing.”

Miller further insisted that the policy revision was necessary after workers returned to the office after the pandemic.

“After COVID, when everyone was working from home, in their pajamas on their couch, they kind of brought that same attitude back to the agency,” Miller said, equating trans self-expression with having poor fashion sense.

The policy has been widely condemned by both legal experts and LGBTQ+ rights groups, who have suggested it could land the department in legal hot water. It is unclear how the policy could be implemented without threatening the rights of queer and trans workers.

O’Connell used this interview to enlighten the listener about gender issues. He pointed out that there is a difference between sex and gender. He also points out that the homophobic dress code change should not be surprising as Ag Commissioner Sid Miller’s Twitter feed is decidedly homophobic.

It is clear that for O’Connell, this is personal. In a country that is as polarized as we are, actions of this type are not only traumatic for employees but put one’s employment at risk. It is one story after another in these Red States. They continue to create discriminatory environments.

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GOP Legi goes after local AGs

Remember when Republicans used to talk a lot about local control? Here is yet another bill to arrest that, as reported by the Texas Tribune.

Locally elected prosecutors who do not enforce certain laws could be removed from office under a bill approved by the Texas House of Representatives on Friday. The bill passed 97-51, –and will now move to the Senate.

Republican-led House Bill 17 is a response to elected district and county attorneys in Texas’ large, left-leaning counties who have said they will not enforce the state’s abortion laws and seem disinterested in pursuing election fraud cases.

“The purpose of this bill is to eliminate politics from prosecution,” bill author state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, said while on the House floor Thursday. “This also sets up sufficient guardrails for prosecutors … that want to legislate instead of prosecute. I would urge that they run for a seat in this house as opposed to running for DA.”

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