“Insecure and intimidated men”
Walter Lippmann was the foremost pundit of his time, which was the fifties and sixties. In 1955, he published a book called The Public Philosophy. It is a dark and gloomy treatise, more despairing than cynical, about the inherent flaws of democracy and government’s inability to act wisely. I first encountered it as a freshman at Rice, and I probably hadn’t thought of it in fifty years, until I went to the Article II Appropriations committee yesterday. Here were a group of decent people–legislators, bureaucrats, staff–all wrestling with the problem of the lack of funding for Medicaid, and all of us knew that it was totally futile, that little or nothing would be, could be, accomplished. The House proposed budget contains $2.9B in savings that can be used to draw down federal funds. After that, well, Commissioner Suehs mentioned various possibilities for saving money–$20 million here, $4.5 million there, and other minuscule amounts. Do you know how many twenty millions you need to get to a billion dollars? Answer: fifty.
And now, a voice from offstage. The voice belongs to one Horacio Aldrete-Sanchez, a credit analyst for Standard & Poor’s, a well known bond rating house. “We believe,” wrote Aldrete-Sanchez, about Texas’s approach to its budget woes, “that a balanced approach that includes both revenue enhancements and expenditure cuts has a higher potential of success in preserving the state’s long-term structural budget balance than a strategy that relies solely on expenditure cutbacks.” Why should anyone care what S&P thinks? Here’s why: As we all know, rather than raise revenue, Texas in recent years has gone on a borrowing spree. Bonds for highways. B0nds for equipment. Bonds for curing cancer. Unfortunately, the day comes when debt service on those bonds must be paid to the bondholders. If the bond rating agency doesn’t think much of the way a state handles it finances, it downgrades the state’s bonds, which usually means that the cost of debt service goes up.
Aldrete-Sanchez is clearly right. The refusal of Texas’s leaders to raise revenue is imperiling the state’s fiscal stability. We raise money only by the most expensive means–borrowing. Our revenue and tax structure is untenable. We have a nonperforming business tax that has created a permanent structural budget deficit, and our state leaders, who have known about this since 2006, when they paid no heed to the comptroller’s fiscal note, continue to pretend that it doesn’t exist.
What does all this have to do with Walter Lippmann? It so happens that The Public Philosophy contains a well known passage that seeks to define the malady that afflicts modern government:
With exceptions so rare that they are regarded as miracles and freaks of nature, successful democratic politicians are insecure and intimidated men, They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle, or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. The decisive consideration is not whether the proposition is good, but whether it is popular–not whether it will work well and prove itself, but whether the active talking elements like it immediately. Politicians rationalize their servitude by saying that in a democracy, public men are servants of the people.
This devitalization of the governing power is the malady of democratic states. As the malady grows, the executives become highly susceptible to encroachment and usurpation by elected assemblies; they are pressed and harassed by the higgling of parties, by the agents of organized interests, and by the spokesmen of sectarians and ideologues. The malady can be fatal. It can be deadly to the very survival of the state as a free society if, when the great and hard issues of war and peace, of security and solvency, of revolution and order, are up for decision, the executive and judicial departments, with their civil servants and technicians, have lost the power to decide.
This is all too accurate a description of Texas politics today, particularly the first paragraph. I have never seen so many lawmakers so scared. Insecure and intimidated men (and women) indeed. Republicans in particular live in fear of their own base. I have seen so many members who I respected in the past fall all over themselves to sign on to immigration bills, abortion bills, anything to defend themselves from the pack that is howling for red meat. So great is the fear and the fretting that the Legislature would rather cut spending for public education, something that has not happened in modern times, than raise new revenue. It would rather let federal matching funds for Medicaid stay in Washington than raise revenue. Lan Bentsen, son of the late senator, representing the Children’s Defense Fund, proposed to the House Article II subcommittee a two-cent increase in the sales tax for two years, to be sunset thereafter, to fund Medicaid. Members studied the console in front of them in silence, knowing what is going to happen. Nursing homes will close. Babies will die. Sick people will go to the emergency rooms for treatment, the burden will fall on the local property taxpayer, and lawmakers will congratulate themselves on not having raised state taxes and snookering the public again.
I would prefer that Texas not raise taxes. Who wouldn’t? But when new revenue is off the table and the budget is permanently burdened with a structural deficit that will increase every year, and school districts across the state are having to close schools, the course we are on is crazy.
John Johnson says:
Wow…a well stated, powerful, objective statement. One, I’m afraid, that will be ignored by those in control who are leading us to ruin.
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Fear the fear-mongers says:
Walter Lippman was also known for asking, whenever he was informed about a colleagues dating life, “did you get any lip?”
He kinda went in spurts, Walter did.
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Willie Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 12:57 am
What the fu## does that mean.. Sounds like total nonsense. Must have been said by a right winger trying to create fear out of total nonsense and BS.
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School Trustee says:
I just sat through a 4.5 hour school board meeting last night where the superintendent told us that things were not as bad as rumored and that he thought the state would come up with the necessary funding. I sat in amazement as I was hearing this. He really had no clue about the dire fiscal condition this state is in, but why should he since the state has always bailed out schools. I too fear this message will be ignored. Great article.
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Emptyk says:
Good write, Pablo. Perspective is in short supply as well at the Lege and this posting helps establish some.
I find comments by certain Republican Senators, Ogden, Duncan, Eltife to be signs of hope. I also recall that Ratliff and Sibley were denied advancement because they were considered by Republican power brokers to be unreliably too policy oriented and not partisan enough.
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anon-p says:
So which is it? Do we set our hair on fire and stampede into an income tax, or not?
Burka> “… the course we are on is crazy.”
Who’s crazy? The ignorant or idiotic electorate who voted the Republicans into increased power, or the Republicans themselves who are simply doing their bidding? Do you really think Texans voted more Republicans into office in order to raise taxes?
Mr. Burka, it seems you’re having a difficult time veiling your distaste for the electorate’s majority view.
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John Johnson Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:42 pm
The voters in Texas are a truly uninformed lot. Couple this with the fact that the TX Democratic party doesn’t have a pertinent, updated gameplan, nor a person to convey it if they did, and you get not a strong voter mandate, just a Republican vote by an ignorant voter.
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Former Member Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Typical liberal attitude. People who don’t vote like them (the liberals) are just “uninformed” and/or “ignorant voter.” What egomaniacs you liberals are, and such superiority complexes!
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Well how many articles in the “liberal” media did you see about the structural deficit and the $27 billion hole the state is in before the election? How often did it come up in the debates? How that’s right, gutless perry didn’t want to debate, how shocking. Guess he was too busy defending the states joggers from roving bands of coyotes.
John Johnson Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:18 pm
I should have said “just a vote by an ignorant voter”. Ever watch Leno’s person on the street interviews? College grads, school teachers, middle aged professionals…they can’t tell you who the current v.p. of the U.S. is, much less give you a rundown of current events. They don’t read, they don’t watch… they vote for the incumbent since they might have heard his/her name somewhere in the past. For the most part, the elected individuals, and certainly, their party know this and go about developing gameplans based on what the Money wants. They know that most people will never catch on …especailly if you have a governor using his bully pulpit telling you want you want, what you need, and how great everything is.
godmother Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Maybe that is because we are superior.
Oh and Paul, ever wonder what your part in getting us to place has been. Didn’t your Angel W and his man Karl help pave this path. Abortion!! Men kissing!! Watch the shiny keys, and don’t look over there at our crumbling infrastructure… and if you utter the word”taxes” you must be a communist. You were his big cheerleader, right?
Kirk Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Why should Texas voters be informed? Governor Goodhair assured us that the state of our state is STRONG!!! The sheeple bought it.
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Paul Burka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:16 pm
re anon-p (one of the better commenters):
I don’t blame the electorate. I blame the leadership. They have known the fiscal condition of the state for several sessions and have done nothing to address the long-term issues.
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Work?! Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 pm
I blame the media. Remember the good old days when they used to do more than just repeat what the empty suit in power told them? How is the electorate to hold public officials feet to the fire when all they hear is “happy talk” coming from the governor of this state? There have probably been 10 times more articles about the disastrous longhorn football season in the last 6 months than about the structural deficit and it’s consequences in the last 5 years.
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paulburka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:04 pm
True, ten times more articles about the Longhorn football season, but ten times more important too.
Anonymous says:
Yeah Burka….we should expand gambling like Wisconsin…. Ohio….. Pennsylvania?…. California…….?????………..Wait a minute, …..No thanks
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paulburka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:05 pm
Did I mention gambling? Not in this article. I’m for it, if it is done right (casinos that are destination resorts), but the race tracks and the casinos have checkmated each other.
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Imagine... says:
…what would happen if we just got the State out of education decisions.
- No longer mandating curriculum, leaving that decision to the ISDs
- No longer managing a state achievement testing protocol, but requiring ISDs to use national tests like Stanford, PSAT, ITBS, ets.
- No longer placing limits on teacher salaries or mandating pay scales based on tenure
- No longer imposing unfunded mandates on ISDs.
- No longer limiting property tax rates as long as the citizens get to vote on them.
- Having as the only limitation a requirement that ISDs provide vouchers to families when a school is failing to educate according to aforementioned tests.
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Pat Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:38 pm
From a lawyer’s perspective, that’s a great idea. I foresee DECADES OF LITIGATION. Cha-ching cha-ching.
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Imagine Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:15 pm
You had me…and then you lost me. I agree on the unfunded mandates and some of your other suggestions, but vouchers are on tenable. It is the least viable policy suggestion on the table with the exception of Fred Brown’s massive consolidation bill.
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anon-p Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Imagine> I agree on the unfunded mandates and some of your other suggestions, but vouchers are untenable.
A straight-up voucher would probably be the easiest, single best way to educate more children cheaper.
Over the weekend, I heard a Catholic pastor say, “If our parishioners got a $5,000 voucher per child, we’d fill the school to overflowing immediately. I’d be able to give every teacher a raise, we could buy , and we could fix the .”
I confirmed with the pastor that their school is spending thousands less per K-8 child than the Texas public school average.
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Imagine Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:08 pm
But why is it less?
They have no testing. There are no outcome measures. There is no accountability. And there is ZERO evidence the kids in private schools outperform comparable peers in public schools.
It is unacceptable for tax dollars to go to a religious organization.
It is also unacceptable for tax dollars to go to a system with ZERO measurement.
When you start having measurement, you start having costs. Real ones.
Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 pm
apples to apples please.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:43 am
you think it could be fed and state mandates? Discontinue the dept of edu.
paulburka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Re “getting the state out of education decisions”: I worry that it would harm the schools, not help them. You have to have some accountability, so that citizens have some idea of, to quote George W. Bush, “Is our children learning?” Without accountability the public will continue to lose faith in the public schools.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:47 am
why not have the accountability at the local level? Wait I remember the voters are too stupid.
So when are voters smart? When they vote for Obama?
So all we have to do is learn to vote democrat?
Maybe democrats can fix our economy next. By mandating everyone join a union.
Some never learn.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:57 am
@Imagine: yes, there is significant evidence that kids in private schools perform better. According to SAT scores, homeschoolers score highest, followed by private schoolers, then public schoolers. Educrats always say that public schools have to take everybody, so there is no comparison, but the SAT is only given to students wanting to enter college, so comparing SAT scores is a totally accurate way to see which environments are best preparing students for college.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:12 pm
and what is the student/teacher ratio for homeschooled kids? think that might play a significant factor??? Oh, and anyone can take the SAT whether they go to college or not. have you even been around any kids in the last 50 years?
Cow Droppings Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:47 pm
but paul, I thought you said local control is a main tenet of conservatism?
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paulburka Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 2:58 am
I’m not sure what Cow Droppings is referring to. Certainly local control is a main tenet of conservatism, although the Texas Legislature does not practice what conservatism preaches.
Tellnitlikeitis says:
Texas, for the first time, will spend more money on interest for road bonds than it has in money to build new roads – roughly $800 million a year to repay bonds v. $600 million a year for new roads.
And guess how much pavement and interchange $600 million will buy you?
Right now we owe $11.9 billion in road bonds; it’s going to cost you more than $21 billion to repay.
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paulburka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:11 pm
I have been fulminating about borrowing money to build roads, with high interest payments, instead of raising the gasoline tax and issuing bonds secured by the revenue. If Rick Perry were not such an ideologue, we could have been building roads in this manner for a decade. Instead, we are paying twice for the roads we built, once for the bonds, once for the interest. This isn’t conservatism.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I think that you hit on the larger point. Republicans today aren’t conservative. They are right wing radicals. My god, Obama is to the right of Eisenhower and he’s painted a the next coming of Karl Marx.
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Cow Droppings Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Paul, you seem to have lost your bearings: Perry offered a plan, funded by user fees called tolls. His first choice has never been bonding, though that has certainly gone on. Don’t act like he didn’t offer a different solution, and then turn around and call him an ideologue. A little more fairness is in order here.
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paulburka Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 2:54 am
We have been down this road many times. I don’t have a problem with toll roads. I have a problem with turning state roads over to private ownership. I have a problem with non-compete agreements that restrict improvement of free roads. I have a problem with comprehensive development agreements that cede state control over how land adjacent to toll roads will be developed.
Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@ Anonymous 1:14PM 2/23. Yes, the ratio is a factor. It’s a fact that the parents in that situation are committed to seeing to it that their kids are educated, and if they went to public school instead of home school, those parents would still do that because they give parental support. A huge percentage of students in public school do NOT have parental support or encouragement or assistance, so what they get out of public school is through their own effort (pat on the back). But is it realistic to pay for a 1:4 (or so) teacher/student ratio in public school? Of course not, so when it gets to 1:15 or 1:20 or 1:25 at what point is it cost efficient? In some classes (Algebra) the ratio nearly needs to be 1:1, but in History, like in college, maybe 1:200 is okay since it is all lectures & you reading on your own. I don’t want to be contentious, I’m just saying that most of us don’t believe that more money will make any difference, and less money won’t either.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:13 pm
but here you are stating that the SAT results of home schooled children vs. public is a valid comparison. If you don’t want to pay the money to improve student/teacher ratios, then don’t bring up home schooling as a viable alternative to public education. No one is saying that parental involvement isn’t necessary. But do conservatives want to have an honest discussion about why parental involvement is so variable? I doubt it. It’s just another club to defund public education.
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Ghost of Burka's Sunday School Teacher says:
What an odd pick for someone to quote -
“He (Lippmann) saw the public as Plato did: a great beast or a bewildered herd – floundering in the “chaos of local opinions.”
” He (Lippman) compared the political savvy of an average man to a theater-goer walking into a play in the middle of the third act and leaving before the last curtain.”
Unlike Burka and Lippmann, Conservatives have faith in the intelligence and ability of the American people. The same chicken little ‘the sky is falling’ liberal mentality produced the same type of verbal regurgitation in 1974, 1979, 1982, 2006 and now present day.
Remember what Reagan said, “Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.”
Lippmann had no faith in man. Reagan saw us as a shining city on the hill.
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Ted Baxter Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:04 pm
yeah Paul, don’t worry be happy.
P.S. It’s all the fault of unions and liberals and illegals.
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Tellnitlikeitis Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Don’t forget the bogeyman.
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Former Member Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:53 pm
Ted pretty well has nailed it.
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Pri-ista Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Conservatives do not necessarily have faith in people…read Burke.
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Pat Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Lack of faith in people isn’t so much an ideological issue as a magnitude-of-exposure issue. Winston Churchill said it best: “The best argument against democracy is five minutes with the average voter.”
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:29 pm
HAHA, can you imagine if he spent 5 minutes with the average state representative?
I went to that Tarrytown barbershop too! Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:48 pm
THAT would be the best argument against representative government.
Blue Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Pri-ista, that was my immediate thought as well.
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Toby Belch says:
The issues of bonds and credit ratings made we think of the situation in the early days of the newly formed federal government. The government was faced with paying off the debts accrued from the Revolutionary War, as well as establish good credit. To do this, they raised an excise tax on whiskey, which angered many Americans, who assaulted revenue collectors, but statesmen such as Pres. Washington stood by their decision, put down a rebellion and put the nation on a sound financial footing. The lesson: sometimes you have to do unpopular, but necessary things; grow a spine, do them and deal with the consequences.
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andrew aguecheek Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
We also went beyond the expressed powers of the new Constitution and created the Bank of the United States to manage the debt. So much for the founding fathers and strict construction.
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el_longhorn says:
Solid, Burka. Solid. All we can do is speak truth to power and hope that someone listens.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:59 pm
“Truth” was spoken to “power” in 2008. Neither the country nor the state is better off for that one. Got any other ideas?
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JUICE says:
Reagan raised taxes.
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anon-p Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Hmm… Questionable. The overall rate seems to have dropped slightly across his tenure.
cf: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=456
He did raise payroll taxes slightly to deal with the Social Security funding crisis.
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jt Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Actually, Reagan raised taxes every year he was president except his first and last, and the tax cuts he did support disproportionately benefited the wealthy as your own chart points out. In fact, according to this recent WAPO fact check, his 1982 tax package “was the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020403104.html
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:03 pm
So in other words…raising taxes makes the national debt increase. Great model for Texas to follow then.
Jesus Middlesworth says:
The Lege is not going to expand gambling.
The Lege will raise taxes in 2013, when they’re forced to.
Anything else?
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Red says:
Shining cities on a hill can’t pay off your debts.
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Paul Riddle says:
What does it say about us as a people if we are willing to eat our seed corn by neglecting public education and allow the our most vulnerable citizens suffer unduly, all in order to avoid a modest increase in taxes?
The tension between the individualist impulse and the collectivist impulse is built into our system of government. Each impulse has served us well. The individualist impulse has fostered personal responsibility, innovation, and the risk-taking necessary to start new businesses. The collectivist impulse has fostered community pride and civilization, the establishment of public parks, libraries, schools, hospitals, and charitable enterprises. We need both. However, it seems that the individualist impulse — which seems to have morphed into a selfish, “I’ve got mine and to hell with you” mentality, seems to be winning the day right now.
What’s needed, in my view, is balance. which seems to be in short supply these days.
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jt says:
Good post Paul. It boils down to leadership and a vision for the future, which is in short supply among the current crop in Austin. As you and the S&P analyst point out, it’s about Texas’s persistent structural deficits that budget cuts alone will not address. That’s been the case for years now, only temporarily masked by the infusion of billions of federal stimulus funds in 2009 and 2010.
Unfortunately, it appears deep cuts that will bring real pain and ultimately, a lower standard of living and reduced economic output, will win the day until folks with some conviction and vision can be elected…if that is possible in this political climate.
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longleaf Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:54 pm
It’s not possible and won’t be for many, many years … if ever. You’d best move to one of those other 49 states which may or may not be better places to live than here. But you’ll be “waiting for Godot” if you remain in this one. I am a native Texan and I would never leave. Texas has never been a so-called “progressive” state anyhow, whatever the hell that means.
It is an authoritarian, militaristic society heavily influenced by fundamentalist religion. The only “big gubmint” you are ever going to convince Texans of has to do with expanding the empire a la what Cheney and Bush were doing with the Project for the New American Century. The project basically wound up bankrupting the U.S. “gubmint” and left us on the cusp of being a Third World country, but it was a highly popular “roll of the dice” with most Texans.
This is why I say that you HAVE to rename your “gubmint program” something to do with “defense” or “security” in order even to get a hearing these days, much less get it passed.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:54 am
excellent, more deception from democrats.
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longleaf Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:51 am
I agree it will take deception. I didn’t say I was in favor of it. I don’t vote. I am here for entertainment purposes only.
Thanks JBB Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:47 pm
It seems that Mr. Books’ primary goal in commenting on this blog is to use inflammatory and uncivil language to disparage those who don’t share his views.
Perhaps Mr. Books will motivate us all to use more thoughtful and considerate words to express our thoughts on the issues…
WUSRPH says:
All this, of course, is leading us to a “Bladerunner Society” in which the elite live at the top in the sunshine, their minions live half-way down in the fog and the rest live in squalor at the base. My guide to when this will have happened is the day the Leg. passes the recurring bill to allow “gated communities” to hire their own police forces. We will really know we are there when it is amended to remove any requirement that they be certified by the state commission.
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Rog says:
Historically, democratic societies have gone through a cycle that begins in bondage, and ends in bondage. The start of the downhill slide is selfishness.
I don’t believe Republican legislators will be able to hide the damage they’re doing, because the local school districts will be paying the price.
The state’s population is growing. Cuts can only do so much and additional revenue is needed.
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Tellnitlikeitis Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:08 pm
For the past 10 years, the state’s population has increased by 1,176 people each and every day.
The number of elite Texas universities has not changed since the Gov. Connally days.
The number of low income children attending public schools has increased by 893,000 over the last 10 years – more than the overall enrollment growth.
Many come to school far behind….those who don’t catch up are your prime dropout prospects.
Transporatation: Gas tax has not increased since 1991; there is no more money for new roads (but our population keeps growing).
Water: Pray for rain. The state’s water plan has remain unfunded since Sen. Buster Brown helped write it in the late 1990s.
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Blue Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:09 pm
Buster Brown and the water plan…now there’s something I’ve not thought about in a long freaking time. Anyone else remember the massive Liquid Gold conference that was supposed to chart out HB1 implementation?
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Kirk Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:29 pm
And existing gas tax revenue is about to tank (forgive the pun) due to rising fuel prices. People will start conserving again. The good news is that it won’t take so long to get to work, as we will see a reduction in traffic congestion.
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Robert says:
Why are so many of you lamenting Texans’ wish to have smaller government and to not raise taxes upon themselves? Why do you seem to think that always funding government to it’s wish-levels is good policy? We’ve been doing so for decades and yet many of you still lament all that is wrong in Texas. Your government model hasn’t done so well.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:51 pm
excuse me, but republicans have been in charge for the last 15 years. take some responsibility for the screw ups, eh robert.
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Robert Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:27 am
What screw-ups to you reference? The budget, the subject of which we speak, is a simple matter of less economic activity due to the national recession. Scaling back spending to meet the lower revenue is not some mysterious deal all seem to make it.
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paulburka Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:47 am
Robert: Do you read the news? The national recession has hurt the budget, yes, but that doesn’t account for $27 billion. The biggest budget problem is that the budget has a structural deficit due to three failures of government. One is the failure of the new business tax, passed in 2006, to meet revenue projections. One is the failure of state leaders to address this shortfall by raising new revenue once the existence of the structural deficit became apparent. And one is the determination to balance the budget in this cycle by cuts alone. This is not conservative government. This is reckless government.
Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:51 am
And never mind the fact that the Budget passed the House last session unanimously. Lots and LOTS of D’s voted for it. So, by definition, that means it’s all the R’s fault.
Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Paul answered your question about screw-ups better than I could. Thanks.
Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:20 pm
So the recession, unemployment, deficit and 2 wars are completely Obama’s fault because the prior 8 years have been flushed down the memory hole, but if any democrat votes for a budget pushed by the republican party here in texas it’s also the democrats fault. Got it.
anita Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:32 am
Robert, we are a small government state and we haven’t raised taxes in 2 decades. If you think our budget process has been to simply throw money at a “wish list”, you haven’t been paying attention. Two things have changed — the economy soured, and a replacement tax structure has failed to perform. The problem is primarily on the revenue side.
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Pat says:
The beauty of Public Philosophy is the range with which it can be applied: 17th-century Poland, 19th-century America, present day, etc.
And it makes the legend of Bob Bullock all the more mysterious. But in the absence of a figure with instant credibility and substantial power willing to assert themselves on behalf of sound public policy, we’re subject to the wild spirits of democracy.
I don’t think things would be any different had White been elected and the Democrats roughly held to parity in the House. We lack those Bullock-esque and Gov. Bush-esque figures who were the stabilizing forces in our politics for a generation.
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JUICE says:
They won’t be naming any buildings after the current bunch. Except maybe in College Station.
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Anonymous says:
Yes, raising taxes, oh, I’m sorry I mean raising revenue, oh, excuse me I meant to say making investments, oh wait that’s not right, I mean effectuating transfer payments to achieve social and economic justice is how to solve the problem. Because, government has a reliable track record of effciently spending increased tax revenue and applying that revenue directly to the problem and doing so in ways that do not waste the taxpayer dollar and result in measurable outcomes that are best for the collective good.
Now, Burka tells us that legislators who are resisting tax increases are “insecure and intimidated”. So, we learn that legislators who favor governmental policies that Burka dislikes are motivated to follow these policies because they are intimidated, not because they really feel they are doing the right thing. Intimidation, rather than historical data that shows that tax increases during tough ecomonic times are exactly the wrong prescription, is the reason for not going along with Burka’s big government solution. Burka is long on emotional rhetoric, much like those protesting Gov. Walker’s attempts to bring fiscal sanity to the State of Wisconsin and who compare Gov. Walker to Adolf Hitler. No, Burka, Gov. Walker, conservative Texas legislators and other common sense governors who refuse to raise taxes like Christie, Cuomo, McDonnell are not scared and intimidated– they are brave and principled and understand that that they will be skewered by big government libs like you but they will remain steadfast and do the right thing.
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anita Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:34 am
Pass that joint this way . . .
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Very astute article Paul, republicans are afraid of the voters and the voters are afraid of democrats.
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Former Member says:
If you want me to be happy to pay more taxes for public education, then you will have to prove to me that more money will produce students who are better prepared for the world than what the system currently is producing. Evidently millions of Texans feel the same way I do about it. The problems are in the homes, not in the schools.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:31 pm
and your solution to that is???
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Former Member Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
There’s probably not a solution, sadly, but certainly there is no govt solution. It’s a moral issue, or a responsibility issue, or something. I don’t even know the right words, but I am convinced that it is a problem that money won’t cure, because the record is that we have spent more and more and the quality of education is worse and worse. I have total faith in TX teachers that it is not their fault. It is something inherent in our society.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
how about government policies that value families and working men and women over corporations? so I take you think that a school in eanes is exactly the same as one in east austin and there is no sense pumping money into either since they are both failures? I’ll be a lot of parents in eanes would disagree with you.
texun Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Unfortunately, we can locate the problem in many areas: home, school, peer cultures,electronic media, easy access to drugs…and the list goes on. It’s difficult to find the end of that string!
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Former Member Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Right, texun, but more money won’t help any of those things.
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andrew aguecheek Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 4:06 pm
Not quite: investment in drug enforcement and drug counseling programs had paid off. We just don’t do enough of either, in my opinion.
linda says:
re: John BB’s post: and when the repugs have defunded education, health care, nursing homes, child protective services, libraries (heavens no, we can’t let people have access to information) etc. then maybe the rest of the country will be afraid of Texas.
How many members of the current House and Senate have children in public school?
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:15 pm
so you approve of illegals getting tax dollars. I’d say thats how we differ?
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crazy uncle says:
WALTER LIPPMAN!!! His comentern did not work as well as our legisllature.If Texas Leg is so bad show me a better one. Thank goodness I was reading Eric Hoffer and Ayn Rand in the sixties. The increase spending in state services in the last 50 years has not increased the quality of those services. The lower the taxes the better the economy.Rich people buy bonds, everyone pays taxes.
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holy moly my brain hurts says:
How about Texas spend less money. chop some programs. lots of programs. Stop trying to be all thigns to all people. Folks want to fund programs they can donate the funds. Paul you go first!
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Alan Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:21 pm
If your brain ever stops hurting, let us know what programs you would “chop.” And no, “wasteful spending” is not an acceptable answer.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 am
“holy moly my brain hurts” is correct. Govt cannot be all things to all people. Govt should only be doing things that we cannot do individually, such as highways, national defense, and public education. However, we should expect some accountability & positive results even in those matters, and from reading posts by both libs & cons, I would say there is agreement that govt management of these issues has not been good & gets worse all the time.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:22 pm
glad the founding fathers didn’t have your attitude.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:09 pm
The Founding Fathers DID have my attitude. In fact, they didn’t even have public education.
Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Thomas Jefferson is rightly given much credit for emphasizing the importance of education in a democracy. He believed education for all to be a crucial part of the success of the “experiment” undertaken in 1776. He had faith in the “common man” and his ability to elect wise and virtuous leaders if that man were educated to do so.
stop getting your information from Beck and Rush limpdick.
Rep. Crazy Wu says:
Have any of them started dressing up like tigers and emailing the photos to staffers?
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Alan Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:18 pm
One dressed up like a coyote but Rick Perry killed him.
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Rep. Crazy Wu Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:05 am
Ha!
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:05 am
LOL
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crazy uncle says:
Throughout the history of civilization, it has been better for government being afraid of the people rather than the people being afraid of government. Sadly, there is no middle ground.
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Rodney Hoffman says:
I have never understood why supposed fiscal conservatives think that “borrow and spend” is better than “tax and spend”.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Please name some true FISCAL conservatives that think borrow and spend is better than tax and spend.
Oh please come back and say Rick Perry is a FISCAL conservative. I need a good laugh today.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Once again, conservatism can never fail, it can only be failed.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:50 pm
When did “conservativism” ever take the position that when the national economy tanks, Texas would be completely immuned?
Is the claim that if liberals were in charge of Texas during this recession that we wouldn’t have a budget shortfall? Or just that would it be better?
Kenneth D. Franks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:11 am
Conservatism has been failed by a long list of so called conservatives. Texas would have been better prepared for the recession if Perry had been defeated in 2006 or had not run the first time. There are plenty of Educators that could have earned degrees in other fields to (J.K.) below. The problem is not that schools are run by Education graduates but that there is to much meddling by non education graduates that think they know more than they actually do about education.
Anonymous says:
Let’s face it, there was not an honest discussion during the election about what was at stake with this session. We only heard how Texas was doing so great relative to the rest of the nation. We didn’t know that our kids’ educations were going to be shortchanged or that we would see our grandparents’ nursing home close.
Some of the cuts are healthy and overdue. At least the reality of what’s at stake is finally being discussed around kitchen tables (as opposed to the political rhetoric of the election season).
With the magnitude of these cuts, even the conservative legislators can’t deny that some cuts will set us back significantly, especially in education where parents are already seeing how they will impact their kids’ classrooms – even the wealthy families will be impacted.
I used to think the Senate would save the day but now that doesn’t appear likely if you listen to Senate Ed subcommittee deliberations. Our future looks gloomy.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:35 pm
all cuts are created equal. apparently republicans have never heard of “penny wise, pound foolish”.
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Anonymous says:
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/two-thirds-wisconsin-public-school-8th-g
As if we didn’t already know, the solution to better education results is to spend more money.
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JK says:
The problem is that schools are run by Education graduates. These are folks who picked Education because they were not smart enough to get Engineering, Science or Accounting degrees. Every school district should have a Superintendent, a secretary, a couple of deputy management types, and two principals for each school. The remaining non-teaching staff should be bus drivers, janitors and cooks, hired as needed for seasonal employment. Everyone else must go…
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:17 pm
you mean run it like a business? Why thats crazy, insane!
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Wow, let’s run everything like a business. AIG perhaps. Because lord knows no company has ever gone out of business or needed a government bailout to survive. What simplistic nonsense you spout jbb.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 5:59 am
I know the New Deal, the Great Society, The Fair Deal and now Hope and Changey and all the massive giveaway programs have nothing to do with our massive debt.
FortBend5yearold Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:42 am
LALALALALA I can’t hear you.
Kenneth D. Franks says:
How about term limits? Politicians that have been in the state legislature for 4 or 5 terms have a tremendous advantage. The big money contributors have so much invested in them that just their campaign accounts give them an advantage that is almost insurmountable in many cases. Last year there were some exceptions such as Jim McReynolds losing to Tea Party supported candidate James White. Term limits for governor, such as two elected terms, eight years is long enough. We don’t need to do it in one election cycle (we do need some people with experience in the legislature) but about one third of legislators per election should be term limited after eight years. This alone would give legislators more courage to do what is right for the state instead of just doing what will keep them in office indefinitely.
The current group is leading us to a future not worthy of what the state of Texas deserves. We can’t trust them to fix the structural deficit. We can’t balance a structural deficit by punishing teachers and other individuals that have dedicated their life to an important public service to the state.
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Blue Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Term limits in a part time Lege would be a disaster.
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Kenneth D. Franks Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:56 pm
Please explain, Blue. A disaster is what the legislature did when it created the structural deficit. It is not really part time. There are things going on even when they are not in session
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Blue Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:47 pm
It would be a disaster because there would be zero institutional memory and the unelected staff and agency people would have a much greater role in decision making.
And, yes, the Lege really is part time. A few weeks of work on interim charges doesn’t account for all that much in the grand scheme of things. Most of what a legislator really needs to know to be effective can only be learned while in regular session.
Anonymous says:
These education cuts are the only thing our elementary PTA parents are talking about at our kids’ basketball and baseball games. It is “the” topic this spring.
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GOP Realist says:
My gosh, what a fatalistic post! The budget deficit is a problem, but you, yourself wrote a post below explaining thatit was not just the structural deficit but THE WORST ECONOMY SINCE THE DEPRESSION that had a lot to do with it. The economy will turn around, as it already is, & there will be more $$$$.
Budget cutting can be a good thing, like a controlled burn; seems bad while the fire is burning, but lays the fertile ground for the re-emergence of healthy growth. It forces Texans to have difficult conversations about what government should do, in stark, real terms. That is good.
If this turns out badly, the Dems will ROAR back. Taxes will be raised, & govt will have all this $$$ to spend on reinstating cuts in areas voters will be telling them was too much. Voters know a vote for a Dem is a vote for higher taxes.
When we hear complaints about cuts, I wants the complainer to tell me immediately thereafter how much & on who he/she wants to raise taxes to pay for it. They never seems to add that part.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:52 pm
and want the complainers about spending being too high to tell me immediately thereafter what programs get cut and by how much. Oh and show how cutting spending in the short term saves money in the long term. they never seem to add or even understand that part.
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paulburka Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:16 pm
I don’t care if the Democrats roar back. It makes no difference to me whether the Democrats are in power or the Republicans, the king or the barons. I just want for Texas to have a fiscally responsible government instead of one that refuses to fund the traditional services of state government without putting the schools and the nursing homes in danger of closing down.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:16 am
The problem is that we have never been able to make the transition from a state govt funded by oil to a state govt funded by something else. When oil quit carrying us, we needed a revenue raising system based on the economy we have now, but the Public does not have the courage to change anything in TX, so therefore the elected reps don’t either. That’s why I am such a believer in a tiny sales tax on the wholesale level, exempting ONLY food (for humans) products.
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Pat Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:36 pm
I agree. We should get rid of property taxes and charge income taxes instead. Boom.
Kirk Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Wake up! The economy is not coming back any time soon. We are about to enter the second dip of our double dip recession. Gas prices are going up. Employment figures are barely improving. Stimulus money is gone. Governments are cutting services and laying off workers. It is about to get really, really bad. Fasten your seatbelt.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:17 am
I am afraid that Kirk at 11:43 2/22 is correct.
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Kirk Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Did I mention inflation?
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:16 pm
@ Pat 12/23 12:36PM. You are probably right. We probably should tax people based on what they make (income tax) and what they spend (sales tax). That way, the people who spend less because they earn less have a tax advantage in both types of tax, especially since the sales tax is exempt on necessary items. As you will agree, that option cannot be passed in TX. I think it’s because Texans are afraid the state income tax will become just like the fed income tax: full of exemptions for special interests, heavily bureaucratic, and simple to increase when politicians want to buy votes through new govt spending. Also, our main advantage in recruiting new biz in TX is the absence of a state inc.tax.
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I went to that Tarrytown barbershop too! says:
Brilliant post, Paul. This needs to be chiseled in stone and stuck outside the House Chamber.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Progessives had created the debt and most other problems we’re facing. Republicans were complict by buying into the notion they needed to reach across the asile and work with them. Didn’t work.
The stupids as democrats call the voters have had enough. We’ve put our foot down and just said no mas. Now its time for republicans to lead us out of this fiscal quagmire democrats have caused.
Democrats can help by fleeing, ie Wisconson. Indiana et al. as in moveon.org yo time is up.
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Tellnitlikeitis says:
JohnBernardBooks churns out a lot of goofy posts but this one rises to the top of the charts.
I supported Clinton’s impeachment but the record is clear. Thank GOPers for the massive debt.
The national debt stood at $5.6 trillion when Clinton left office….and we were seeing annual budget surpluses during his final years.
And then the GOPers came in. It took this nation about 230 years to reach an accumulated debt of $5.6 trillion.
Eight years of GOP rule pushed the debt to $10.7 trillion.
And what do we have to show for it…..any infrastruture? No.
Just two unfunded phony wars….an unfunded prescription drug deal for seniors – and more tax cuts for the fatcats.
Your grandkids will be paying for this mess for a long time.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:26 am
this is the result of 24/7 propaganda, first from Rush the drug addict, then Fox and even more added on by Glen the drug addict. Everything wrong with the world is the fault of democrats. Bush Jr.’s wars and borrow and spend not working out for you, well he’s magically a liberal democrat. Amazing. Why does jbb insist on getting his news from drug addicts???
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JUICE says:
Many of the folks promoting the idea of running government like a business are lobbyists trying to secure taxpayer money for private enterprise.
Running government “like a business”, while appealing and even laudable in seeking to be more efficient, isn’t always practical, as people are not widgets.
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Vernon Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:20 am
Some ideas and practices could be implemented from the business world and put to use in government. I’m thinking general efficiencies, sound financial management, using innovative technologies, etc.
The problem that JUICE refers to is a very real one. People and their lives aren’t products.
Capitalism creates winners and losers. And that’s perfectly acceptable when it comes to selling digital cameras or distributing designer clothing or investment banking.
However, I want governments to focus on helping people and (to a degree) protecting their livelihoods – and here’s where the arguments will start – not in maximizing profits.
I fear using a business model will shift government priorities to where its’ citizens are no longer the beneficiaries of services.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
I know I know, the debt has gone down under democrats.
“In the 1,461 days that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) served as speaker of the House, the national debt increased by a total of $5.343 trillion ($5,343,452,800,321.37) or $3.66 billion per day ($3.657,394,113.84), according to official debt numbers published by the U.S. Treasury.”
You democrats have any idea what the message sent in November was?
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:40 am
and how much the the deficit increase under bush jr. jbb?? why are you so allergic to reality?
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Anonymous says:
Im sure JohnBernardBrooks had nothing to say when his party controlled Congress from 2002-2006 when they expanded medicare and education programs and fought two wars off budget.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:23 am
I am mostly Republican, but I definitely am not accepting of the Bush Medicare Rx program, any new education programs, or any other new programs by any administration. I do, however, support the war on terrorism, and believe that there was no place to start other than Afghan & Iraq. Our efforts on that front must have worked, because Bush-era programs in that war have kept us much safer since then.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:39 am
tons of money for wars, but none for investment at home. typical conservatard.
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Former Member Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 12:13 pm
“Investment” is something you spend expecting a return. Social programs bring nothing back. It’s money down a rat hole; and it causes the recipients to quit trying to do for themselves. I temper that by saying that I don’t mind doing for people who are mentally unable to do for themselves.
texun Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 2:35 pm
I wish that there was an objective way to support FM’s belief that the wars have made us safer. One can argue that there have been no attacks akin to 9/11 since then, but we went a long time before 9/11 without a catastophe of that level on the mainland that was linked to foreign-based terrorists.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 11:58 am
in 2000 when Bush was elected the national debt was 5.6 trillion. In 2006 the debt was 8.4 trillion. In 6 years a gain of 2.8 trillion.
In just four years under democrats it grew to 5.3 trillion.
Democrats win the debt race hands down.
I can’t imagine what the massive democrat loses in Nov were about, can you?
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:26 pm
and what was it at the end of 2008, which was the end of bush’s term? how convenient you left off the last 2 years when the sh*t really started to hit the fan. and don’t forget to include the cost of Iraq and Afghanistan which bushie boy conveniently keep off the books.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Democrats controlled the US House, Senate and the purse strings from 2006 to 2010.
Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:06 pm
and how many budgets did bush veto???
JohnBernardBooks says:
In 2005 President Bush proposed to cut 36 education programs. This minor reduction in spending was met with great caterwalling from the progressives.
Democrats need to be put in timeout when it comes to public office until they get the message “stop spending now”.
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Imagine... says:
The only time public school stakeholders ever get motivated is when their funding gets cut. Tie funding to performance and you will see ISDs improve academically overnight.
Some of you may think vouchers are untenable. When they are used as both a carrot to parents and a stick to ISDs, even the threat of vouchers will lead to vast improvement in public school academics.
What’s the harm in giving it a try. DC’s done it, suburban Denver is about to try it, New Orleans is thriving on vouchers and charters.
Don’t be afraid of something different….
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Rog says:
JBB, you made the common mistake of failing to account for the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The democratic numbers reflect the costs of those wars.
Yeah, if I was you, I’d like to forget about that little bit too.
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Jeff Crosby says:
About 10% of all Texas students already attend private schools. If we allow vouchers, we’d have to start spending tax dollars to pay for those kids as well as all the other kids in public schools.
We can’t afford to pay for the public school kids we have now. We sure as hell can’t afford to pay for the private school kids too.
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Anonymous says:
Throws up facts about the opposition and blames the Democrats again, but JBB can’t answer why the GOP expanded government roles in Education and Medicare and could not budget the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
well I did but maybe you missed it. Republicans reached across the aisle on education and Medicare. Republicans have to understand what reaching across the aisle means, more spending.
We’ll see if this House makes the same mistake. Push the spending cuts and ask the democrats to get on board, if they don’t then moveon.org. We’ll vote more democrats out in 2012.
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anita says:
I’m hopeful that if we just ignore JBB, he’ll go back to posting on the wingnut sites, let us get back to reality.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Fat chance. He’s got nothing better to do until mommy comes home with more cheesy poofs.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 4:22 pm
And a hot pocket. Why are the uber right wingers so deluded and uninformed? Do they really believe that Rush and Sean have reasonable answers? Are they so insecure and =scared that they give dishonest statements?
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JohnBernardBooks says:
On this day in 1836 the Alamo was attacked. All but two were killed. Texians persisted and won their freedon on 4.21.1836.
Texas is under seige again, this time by democrats. Its time to stand-up and be counted. “¡No rendirse, muchachos!”
Remember the Alamo.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Man, you never get tired proving me right do you? HAHA
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Anonymous says:
Amen. Texas legislators have no answer, don’t know the questions and have no clue or the means to fix things. The conservative mindset has come home to roost. Raise taxes on the rich, you dummies. Oops, you are the rich….
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Anonymous says:
Well hell, our legislature needs to focus on the real problems and make sure college kids can go packin’……
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JohnBernardBooks says:
When liberals demanded that girls softball, synced swimming, badmitton, baton twirling etc.getting equal treatment under Title IX, didn’t you realize someone had to pay?
How do you like them new tuition rates?
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Anonymous says:
So Title IX, which was passed in 1972 is the reason for tuition increases in 2011. God, you are a complete moron. Just go eat your cheesy poofs and let the grown ups talk.
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Rog says:
I join JBB in regretting that the democrats in Texas ran up a $27 billion deficit. I realize JBB and his conservative cohorts had no chance. All those liberal tax and spend socialists are ruining our state with their careless economic policies. But you know the old saying. Don’t blame the office holders, blame the people who elected them. Right JBB?
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 6:22 am
Well it looks to us dummies like the voters held officeholders accountable in Nov.
Except the democrats they just need to work on their messaging.
Democrats look down on minorities, voters etc and then have the audacity to claim they were misunderstood?
Which was it democrats were you misunderstood are or the voters too stoopid?
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geographylady says:
Tie funding to performance and you will see ISDs improve academically overnight.
As a teacher, I look forward to the miracles that will occur when my students realize my salary is tied to their performance on tests, and they magically improve.
On the other hand, since their parents are getting divorced because one’s an alcoholic spouse-beater, and the student lives with grandma and 6 cousins, maybe some other miracles are necessary.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Test scores improved last week in Wisconson.
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g. oeuf says:
Did you see the “Alamo” letter sent by a school superintendent in Texas. It begins: Gentlemen,
I am besieged, by a hundred or more of the Legislators under Rick Perry. I have sustained a continual Bombardment of increased high-stakes testing and accountability-related bureaucracy and a cannonade of gross underfunding for 10 years at least and have lost several good men and women…
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/educational-leadership/texas-superintendent-issues-pl.html
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JohnBernardBooks says:
@ g. oeuf, Democrats in Wisconson have the answer, flee, shirk your responsibility. It won’t be the first time democrats have cutNrun.
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Former Member says:
Evidently a lot of Democrats are of French heritage.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Former Mem, I know. Good thing we don’t have a crisis in Texas today, or it would be Oklahoma here I come, redux.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
The irony, a crsis in Texas? republicans stay and face it.
A crisis in Wisconsinon? democrats flee to avoid facing it.
“insecure and intimidated men” just about nails it.
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Anonymous Reply:
February 25th, 2011 at 7:36 am
It’s easy to “face” a crisis when you have not plans to fix it.
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Anonymous says:
Do you people really think that you are going to change the uber conservative’s take on things by responding to his rants and cute comments?
He is “one of them”. The far left has them, too.
We can only hope that if you don’t respond to their antagonistic, subjective posts that they will go away.
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Usually silent says:
Oh my! Soo many opinions and so much finger pointing!! And, what posters think are solutions. But, the people who can actually bring about change are not reading these comments. Also, the persons posting on this comment page are not running for office.
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Gene T says:
We, as a state, lose hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue each year because we refuse to accept the reality of legalized gambling. New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana (not to mention which other states with licensed gaming) are raking in money that Texans spend out of state — not to mention hotel, food, car rental, etc revenues that their local economies take in from our visits.
Instead, we allow a few shrill and strident, Bible-thumping politicians, who are always a bit fuzzy on the concept of separation of church and state, to keep licensed gaming out of the state of Texas.
And PLEASE do not say that legalized gambling increases crime; statistics show the opposite to be true. In almost all cases, in communities within proximity of licensed gaming, most crime actually decreases. There’s simply more policing in the areas of casinos — bought and PAID FOR by local taxation on gambling revenue.
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