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February 08, 2006
The Love Fest Begins Anew
Well, it hasn't taken long for those two bosom buddies, the Governor and Lt. Governor of Texas, to rekindle their season of love, otherwise known as the regular and special legislative sessions of 2005.
In yesterday's Houston Chronicle, Clay Robison reported that Governor Perry told a group of lawmakers in San Antonio last week he is inclined not to address any education reform issues other than reducing property taxes in an upcoming special session this spring. What a surprise.
That a Governor who has recently shown so much leadership and political courage to tackle tough problems facing ordinary Texans -- like renaming highways and working to halt that exploding crisis, gay foster parenting -- thinks a minor issue like education reform can wait until next year just makes you swell with pride, doesn't it? That he would protect his fellow GOP legislators by pushing education reform after the November election shows you his heart is in the right place.
No doubt the Governor's comments reminded the number two man in Austin why he has always thought so highly of the man atop Texas. Not. There he goes again, that Dewhurst, actually saying the Lege should use the special session to work out a compromise on education reform. Doesn't he understand we have an election in 9 months?
You can always count on the Texas House Speaker to bridge the divide. In today's article, Speaker Craddick's spokeswoman agreed in the same breath that education reform is necessary, but that it's the Governor's call. Wow, political guts abound. Cut the Speaker some slack folks. He's up to his neck in 20 Republican House primary races, trying to exact revenge on those GOP legislators who dared question his authority last year. The people's business will simply have to wait.
It's nice to see that a year after a regular and two special legislative sessions, sessions that were so fruitful and productive for Texans -- gee, do we really even need a special session this year? -- the spirit of generosity and kindness between the three Republican men running state government is rekindled once again.
This bodes very well for the people's business in 2006.
Posted by houtopia at February 8, 2006 08:42 AM