Trap Voting: A Rose by Any Other Name…
April 17, 2025 | Media Inquiries: press@mctxgop.org
In the Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet, there is a famous line which states, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The brilliance of that one sentence lies in the simplicity of understanding that you can call a rose whatever name you want, yet it remains a rose.
This concept can be applied to pieces of legislation bearing names that belie their true intent. Voters are constantly fooled by this tactic, making it harder for their representatives to vote “no” on deceptive bills.
Here are a few examples:
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which did nothing to reduce inflation. Instead, inflation skyrocketed.
The Patriot Act of 2001, which further enabled and legitimized domestic spying by our government, infringed on the Bill of Rights, and curtailed our God-given liberties.
The Affordable Care Act of 2010, which made health care and insurance more expensive—all while causing limited access and creating barriers to doctors and health care facilities.
What exactly is a “trap vote”?
Now imagine if you were a lawmaker when those bills landed on your desk. Would you really vote against bills named, “The Inflation Reduction Act,” “The Patriot Act,” or the “Affordable Care Act”? What kind of unpatriotic monster would vote against such things? This is the tactic of what we will call “trap voting” that the “Uniparty” uses on conservative lawmakers in Washington and right here in the great state of Texas.
When the 89th Texas Legislative Session began, conservative legislators faced their first “trap vote” when House Bill (HB) 1 was presented to the public as the “Banning Democrat Chairs Bill.”
The fact that HB 1 actually empowered the Democrats in the Texas House to an unprecedented level was not in any way indicated in the title of the bill. As a result, lawmakers faced the very difficult “trap vote” of either voting against the misnamed “Banning Democrat Chairs” bill or just going along with HB 1 even though they knew better. They had to consider that if they voted against the “Banning Democrat Chairs Bill,” they would have to take lots of arrows from their constituents who did not understand what really happened in this “trap vote.” Trying to explain all of this to your base in the middle of the battle takes a lot of time and distracts away from other important legislation on the table. So for most, it was just easier to go along to get along.
As Ronald Reagan once said about politics, “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” The “Uniparty” in Austin knows this all too well. They are really good at setting these types of “trap votes” up for our conservative lawmakers and the only real defense against this tactic is to have educated voters.
When Democrats are cheering legislation, it’s probably a trap vote
Make no mistake, the 89th Texas Legislative session was derailed when 26 so-called Republicans undermined the hard-won Republican majority in the Texas House by walking out of the House Republican Caucus and joining the Democrats to elect their “Uniparty” Speaker candidate Dustin Burrows.
Since then, we have had House Rules drafted by a leftist Obama lawyer and a budget written by the Democrats and crammed through by the Burrowcrats and their Democrat allies. When Democrats in the Texas House are celebrating the passage of so-called “conservative” legislation, no one should have to explain that you are being lied to.
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