Notwithstanding my picayune criticisms, this article is a very sobering look at Texas public policy and its driving forces. 25 years of unchallenged GOP supremacy at the ballot box has produced a corrupt cadre of state leaders who think themselves accountable only to the most extreme and, frankly, crazy primary voters.
Bob Bullock used to tell the senators, "Do what's right for Texas." There can be legitimate argument over what's "right," but the current state leadership does not even pretend to be governing in the best interests of most Texans.
As Texas politicians are doing their best to drive me away, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places in this country where their bloody fingers don't reach. I truly fear what's coming.
You said, "The big bonus, if you win, is $10,000 from the state of Texas." In fact, the fetal so-called heartbeat bill is even more of an abomination. The $10,000 bounty, while ordered by the State of Texas in a civil judgment, must be paid by the doctor, or nurse, or clinic, or friend who drives the person to the clinic. In a deep nod to the cynicism of its authors, this keeps the bill "revenue-neutral."
Actually, Bullock, Sharp, Mauro and Morales were re-elected to their offices in 1994. It was not until 1998 that the GOP swept TX statewide offices, a lamentable condition that continues to this day.
Notwithstanding my picayune criticisms, this article is a very sobering look at Texas public policy and its driving forces. 25 years of unchallenged GOP supremacy at the ballot box has produced a corrupt cadre of state leaders who think themselves accountable only to the most extreme and, frankly, crazy primary voters.
Bob Bullock used to tell the senators, "Do what's right for Texas." There can be legitimate argument over what's "right," but the current state leadership does not even pretend to be governing in the best interests of most Texans.
As Texas politicians are doing their best to drive me away, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places in this country where their bloody fingers don't reach. I truly fear what's coming.
You said, "The big bonus, if you win, is $10,000 from the state of Texas." In fact, the fetal so-called heartbeat bill is even more of an abomination. The $10,000 bounty, while ordered by the State of Texas in a civil judgment, must be paid by the doctor, or nurse, or clinic, or friend who drives the person to the clinic. In a deep nod to the cynicism of its authors, this keeps the bill "revenue-neutral."
Well, that’s a flat ass blunder in my reading of the measure. I’ve made the correction. That inconsistency should have also occurred to me.
Actually, Bullock, Sharp, Mauro and Morales were re-elected to their offices in 1994. It was not until 1998 that the GOP swept TX statewide offices, a lamentable condition that continues to this day.
You are right, and I should have remembered that since I was there. I need a good editor for when I am writing late at night.