EDDIE "EL CHAQUETERO" LUCIO JR.'S TRUE COLORS: "FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU, FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME."

"This is Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., after 32-years as a Democrat Senator from the RGV, yesterday I cast my vote for Dan Patrick for Texas Lt. Governor. Early voting is going on now. I encourage everyone to vote early for my friend Dan Patrick."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

That cadaverous-looking gent in the photo above is none other than Texas District 27 Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr., the same Eddie Lucio that spent the last 36 years deceiving the people in South Texas and Cameron County that he was a yellow-dog Democrat to get local voters to send him to Austin.

The first four years Eddie Jr. went to Austin he went there as a Democrat state representative. Thereafter, he was elected to represent South Texas in the Texas Senate running and making the people believe he was one of them, a good Democrat.

All that time he was lying. But Eddie, and then his son Eddie III, milked their Democratic roots to the hilt to rub elbows with the Republican elite in Austin and to beg them for scraps off their table. He parlayed those scraps for his constituency into a personal industry and will retire at the end of this year as a millionaire. Treason and fraud do pay, apparently.

It was Lucio who cast his vote with Patrick to overthrow the two-thirds senate rule that had the practical effect of forcing Republicans to earn the support of one or two Democrats to get a bill through the chamber — and of shielding moderates in both parties from difficult votes. It also protected minority interests in situations where the divide is not partisan, such as on issues where regional rather than political allegiances come into play.

With Lucio's vote, the Republican majority merely barrels their legislation through without consulting with the Democrats or even considering the impact on minority representation. With that vote, Lucio opened the way for minority voter suppression, laws that ban abortions without exceptions for rape or incest victims, book banning, and gun laws that do not require background checks and leave the road wide open for just about everyone over 18 to purchase assault weapons. 

The two-thirds rule, a long-standing agreement that meant a bill would only move to a second senate vote if two-thirds of senators felt it deserved a hearing, died, replaced by the new, lower, three-fifths threshold.

Patrick had been an outspoken critic of the old rule since his first day as a freshman senator, and had pledged on the campaign trail to get rid of it. Then, when he became president of the senate, he got his wish, as the chamber voted 20-10 to dump the operational restriction in favor of the lower target.
Slightly surprisingly, the measure did not pass on purely partisan lines. Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr, D-Brownsville, joined 19 Republicans to back the changes.

The rule was always seen as the spirit of collegiate agreement and measured deliberation that the senate was supposed to be known for. Per the Legislative Reference Library of Texas, "It is generally acknowledged that the Senate's two-thirds rule fosters civility, a willingness to compromise, and a spirit of bipartisanship."

Now, as he faces retirement at the end of the year, Lucio is probably hoping that in handing control of the senate to Republicans will place him in the catbird seat and that his "advertising and consulting" firm will continue to get a scrap here and there from his "friends" up there to keep him in beer money and pay for his golf fees for a while.

And he's not the only one who is courting the Republicans locally. While the Brownsville Independent School District races are non-partisan, as are the port, the college, and City of Brownsville elections, it appears that the Republican bug has also found a home there. 

In the photo to the right, Victor Caballero, a candidate for Place 2 on the BISD board, is depicted carrying a campaign sign for U.S. House of Representatives District 37 congresswoman Mayra Mentiras Flores.

Caballero, a retired school principal is running against incumbent Denise Garza for the BISD board. One wold think that as a former elementary school principal he would be an advocate for gun safety legislation that keeps children in schools safe.

This is interesting. After all, Flores is a gun-rights zealot who – even after the Uvalde massacre of 19 elementary school kids and two of their teachers by an assault weapons wielding 18-year-old – voted against a gun safety bill supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress immediately after the tragedy.

Flores was the only U.S. representative from the Texas-Mexico border region to vote against the gun safety legislation authored by Sen. John Cornyn.

The bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law by President Biden. It won the support of four of the five members of Congress representing the Texas-Mexico border region: Veronica Escobar, Tony Gonzales, Henry Cuellar, and Vicente Gonzalez. Vicente Gonzalez is locked in a tight race against Flores.

Tony Gonzales, a Republican, represents Uvalde, Texas.

The one border member to vote against Cornyn’s bill was Flores, R-Los Indios. Explaining her vote, she tweeted: “I’m willing to work with anyone on a single issue bill that will provide the proper resources to secure our schools and protect our children; both mentally and physically. Our children’s mental health and safety should be a top priority.”

And what did Cornyn's bill provide for? 

"It established the first ever federal laws against interstate gun trafficking and straw purchasing to stop the flow of illegal guns into cities. Additionally, the bill includes $250 million for community violence intervention, expands mental health services and provides school safety funding."

When she was allowed to rent space in the San Benito Annex by the Cameron County Commissioners Court, Flores said she had voted against the bill because she was going to introduce a bill that would bring in "millions" to local schools.

Of course, that has never materialized, and never will. But as long as there are gullible voters enchanted by the Republican siren song, Flores and her chaquetero friends like snake-in-the-grass Lucio will continue to flourish and deceive the people.