Dan Patrick's Bathroom Fixation

Texas' "bathroom bill", or SB 6, recently passed the Texas Senate and is headed to the House. The bill, which intends to prohibit transgender people from using the restroom that matches their identity in public schools, universities, and government buildings, as well as doing away with local requirements to provide trans-friendly bathrooms, is very similar to the infamous North Carolina bathroom bill. North Carolina's bill, passed last year and repealed (with stipulations) just yesterday, had many impacts on business and jobs as businesses pulled out of the state and events were held elsewhere. Other states have rejected similar proposals because of the consequences it had in North Carolina. So why is such a pro-business state as Texas seriously considering such a useless and harmful bill?

It's incredibly difficult to understand what the bill's supporters, most notably Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, think that they're accomplishing by pushing this agenda. Their worry is supposedly that sexual predators will take advantage of trans-friendly restrooms by claiming they're transgender if caught committing a crime in a restroom. This doesn't really make any sense, considering the people who want to partake in such acts will do so with or without such laws. No known case exists involving a transgender person creeping on women in bathrooms.

It is already illegal to assault people. It is already illegal to be a "peeping Tom". These things already happen to women constantly by cis-men, in many environments. Trying to force transgender people into bathrooms that don't match their identity does nothing to protect women. I think of my trans-woman friends being forced to use a men's restroom, and how awkward it would be for everyone involved. I worry about them getting harassed by the same intolerant men who wanted this law in the first place. I think of the shock on the face of the woman who authored this bill as she enters the restroom to find a bearded man washing his hands because the "F" box is marked on his birth certificate, and she realizes, not having understood who transgender people actually are, that she herself is now to blame for men in women's restrooms.  I also wonder how on Earth this could ever be enforced, short of paying for birth certificate checking bathroom guards in every public building.

Luckily House Speaker Joe Strauss, apparently the only Republican at the Capitol still on his meds, has acknowledged that the bill is "a contrived answer to a manufactured problem" and is completely against it. This bill is an absurd waste of time, proven bad for business, and totally discriminatory. If legislators actually care about the safety of women and children, it would actually make more sense to try to keep football players away from them than transgender people trying to use the restroom without anxiety.

Free Market Solution to Health Care

In an article on Texas Insider written by David Limbaugh, the brother of Rush Limbaugh, called "Free Market Solutions the Key to Health Care Reform", David puts his full faith in the free market system to come up with fair and affordable solutions to health care. He argues that "competition and free markets are the best avenues to economic prosperity, liberty and, in the case of health care, accessibility, affordability and quality."

I agree with him when he says that the end goal should be quality, affordable health care, and not simply larger numbers insured, but my faith that the free market will just work it all out is not as strong as his. I would be surprised if he wasn't one of the "just don't buy an iPhone and you'll be able to afford medical bills" crowd, but then what else would I expect from Rush Limbaugh's brother? He doesn't seem to understand what being poor is really like, and sometimes I get a real "survival of the fittest" vibe from this sort of logic. He worries that by helping people in any kind of "socialistic" way, we're hurting their ability to help themselves, or encouraging them to be lazy, or preventing them from learning how to budget. I wish it was that simple, that being good with money and working hard will pay off and make you financially secure, but that's usually just not reality, and it's becoming even less so. It's a romantic American fantasy that Republicans will probably never put to rest.

 This is of course written for a conservative audience, and I understand how it could be easy to read something like this and agree, as it comes off as sounding like a smart and sober, realistic approach to dealing with things. He admits that he doesn't pretend to be an expert on the specifics, and neither am I, but having a radically different experience with life than him makes it hard to see how this would really work. Medical care is absurdly expensive without insurance, and I know many people who were never able to afford it before the ACA. They say "let the free market work it out" and then turn around and try to de-fund one of the few places that provide basic affordable healthcare to low-income women. It's hard to feel like they have everyone's best interests in mind when they only think in terms of business. I suppose this is a case of two completely different experiences, two completely different viewpoints.

 

 

Criticism of Greg Abbott

In a Statesman article called "Abbott Wrong to put Politics Before People", Rep. Eddie Rodriguez criticizes Gov. Greg Abbott for his actions in response to Sheriff Sally Hernandez's "sanctuary" policies. Abbott cut funding to several local services which Rodriguez says weren't even handled by the sheriff's office, seemingly to punish Hernandez for not complying with his demands for full cooperation with ICE. Rodriguez says that there's nothing illegal about Hernandez's policies, and considering she's an elected official, this type of "political bullying" is dangerously undemocratic.

Rodriguez has been a State Representative since 2003 and is a very active member of the community, and I would trust that he knows what he's talking about. Most of the article is pure opinion but any claims he does make are easily substantiated. While I agree with his position, I'm not sure this will persuade anyone who's already on the governor's side. He clearly feels like he's talking to an audience who is already at his side, taking a stand against a tyrannical executive office. While many of us are, a quick look at the many comments proves there are also many who aren't, and they aren't being persuaded by Rodriguez's passionate speech.

Personally I think his logic is valid: the executive office should let local elected officials do the job their constituents elected them to do. It doesn't seem controversial to me. However, it might not be as easy to feel that way if they were doing things I personally thought were wrong. The people defending the governor's actions are scared too, and truly believe executive intervention is necessary to maintain peace and safety. Those already on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum won't be easily persuaded by some passionate words and assumed agreement, but then again I'm not sure if that was the goal here. Overall I think it was simply a firm reassurance to his supporters that people are still working for them. It seems to me quite like a microcosm of the state of the rest of the country right now.

ICE Raids in Austin Confirmed

I woke up today to see reports of ICE agents spotted around town circulating on Facebook by many concerned friends, and the sightings were confirmed by Rep. Joaquin Castro, as detailed in this article from the Statesman. ICE reportedly started conducting raids Thursday, without even notifying local police. The article explains how the local Mexican consulate is notified whenever a Mexican immigrant is detained in the Austin area, which is usually around 4 or 5 a day, but went up to 14 yesterday and at least 30 today.
This is one of the most informative articles on this subject I've seen so far, including a short interview with the family of one of the detainees. I think this is one of the most important local issues to stay informed about right now. Even if this doesn't affect you or your family, you can sense the fear and panic in the community after today's raids, and no one knows how many more tomorrow will bring.

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