Burnt Orange Report

Vince, to be fair to the GOP, if the lazy ass reporters for the Chronicle wouldn't allow themselves to be spun so easily (even "address the concerns" would've been better than "meet the objections"), then we might read something occasionally about the fifth failure in four years to fund public education by the 100% Republican 'leadership' in Texas.

I'm no defender of the Lege, but the "superintendents and other educators" and the 1000+ school boards are as bad or worse. This is a battle between state bureaucrats and local bureaucrats, and no matter who wins, actual teachers and students will lose.

No, let's not be fair to the GOP. When, in the last 20 years or so, have they been fair about anything? This is typical of the blame-shifting that goes on all the time within the Republican Party. Jim Pitts breaks his signed pledge, and blames his constituents. Scott Hochberg was blamed for the implosion that shut down the House the other day, simply for having the temerity to introduce an amendment that had bipartisan support, passed handily, and that would actually benefit Texas students. Iraq was blamed for 9/11. Clinton was blamed for the recession (for that matter, Clinton gets blamed for everything). There's nothing to be fair about. This whole fiasco of two blown special sessions is entirely the fault of the Republicans in the Texas Legislature, especially Tom Craddick, and the sooner the people of Texas are made aware of this, the better off they'll be.

This is not to let the press off the hook. They've done a horrendous job of covering the Lege. I don't see the Chronicle, but here in Austin, the Daily Texan does a better job of Capitol coverage than the American-Statesman. Enough bending over backwards trying to be fair. It's time to stand up and start shoving back.

The Statesman story on Thursday had a great quote about what a mistake is was to call special sessions in the summer when superintendents and educators have plenty of time to monitor what is going on and to contact their legislators.

It is becoming more and more apparent that the stalemate is resulting from a leadership that sees itself as accountable to constitutents interested in tax cuts and a membership that is hearing from constituents that are interested in education.

How can you call it a partisan issue when the republicans control everything? Gimme a break. The republicans are screwing it up just like the democrats screwed up for years and years when they were in power. Honestly, the only way something would get done is if Perry's team came up with its own plan, did the backroom dealing it needed to and passed it as quickly as possible. This worked for former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes when he and the rest of the democrats got it all done in the late 90's. Then again, it cost him an election in 2002 when the teachers were so pissed about the plan...but in Texas, teachers aren't going to vote for Perry anyway, so what does he have to lose? The real problem is that he has no plan...he has no people to come up with a plan...and so he's at the mercy of the House and Senate...who have more disdain for each other than republicans do for democrats. This session is dead...the issue is dead...and it will take a mandate from the all-republican Supreme Court to get anything done. However, that seems unlikely given the ass-kicking handed to the plaintiffs by Ted Cruz and the state in oral arguments. Not to sound cynical and jaded, but in all honesty, we're f**ked.

Uh, Dave?

I was being facetious about that being "fair" to the GOP thing.

Sorry that was so obtuse...