After the implication that people in Texas needed to die over real estate practices, I was seriously contemplating iwethey--. I stayed away for almost a week before I decided to come back and just ignore the Texas bashing(like [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=101734|this] recent example).
As far as the Democrats fleeing the state, the impression I have (and get from the people I know) is that after 130+ years of majority rule, the Democrats are acting like little kids who take the game ball home when they don't get their way.
For more viewpoints, The Chronicle has a lot of [link|http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/03/legislature/1908229|reader feedback] on the issue.
As for the rest, I'll think on it tonight.