Texas Republicans Are Ignoring Their Voters — Again
The Lone Star State is copying Florida’s playbook of focusing on culture wars rather than real solutions.
Culture warrior.
Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesMore than 800 new laws took effect in Texas last week, the result of a busy legislative session in the Republican-controlled state. While much of the new legislation was aimed at addressing the traditional nuts and bolts of government and the quid pro quo of transactional politics, some of the most sweeping bills followed a pattern: Texas Republicans enacted laws to concentrate power in the executive branch, regulate thought in public schools and universities, and ignore the opinion of the majority of voters.
Texas has now matched Florida in creating a template for using the levers of state government to institutionalize the norms of authoritarian rule — the consolidation of political power through suppressing speech, reducing civil liberties and undermining checks and balances.