Joe Straus appears to have solved a problem that escaped former speaker Tom Craddick. Did you notice that the House had to verify a vote last week? After the clerk read the verified tally was read, not a single member announced that his machine had malfunctioned and that he had been shown as voting exactly opposite of how he had intended to vote. It appears that Speaker Straus has finally taken the step that Speaker Craddick failed to take, which was to hire someone to take care of those tricky machines. However, we have all noticed that malfunctions typically increase in May. The problem may not be solved yet.