(Committee Chairs Pitts, Talton, Ritter and Eiland have declined to endorse Craddick for Speaker. Look for a couple of Dems to switch sides this week but to those that continue to hang on to the sinking ship... - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
They Should Remember Ron Wilson's Fate
If the Craddick "Democrats" support him for Speaker, they will be voting directly against the needs of their voters for economic opportunity. Many of these supposedly Democratic legislators have urban districts that are heavily minority and poor and desperately need large public investments in education and health care to have a good life. Yet these legislators are saying that they will vote for Craddick for Speaker, even though he always has opposed and always will oppose the very programs that their constituents need.
The perfidy of the Craddick "Democrats" is clearest when you look at their districts. |
| The districts of three Craddick "Democratic" stalwarts and committee chairs are good examples: Harold Dutton ( Houston , chair Juvenile Justice), Kevin Bailey ( Houston , chair General Investigations), Robert Puente (San Antonio, chair Natural Resources). Their constituents are poor and lack education, according to the US Census data.
Dutton's district has a per capita income of $13, 187, which is 1/3rd less than the state's average of $19,617 (which itself lags behind the US average). The high school dropout rate is 39.4%, compared to the state's pathetic average of 24.3%.
Bailey's district is even poorer. Per capita income is only $10,409, slightly more than half the state's average. The high school dropout rate is 59%! Puente's district is also struggling to get out of poverty. The per capita income is $13,583 and the dropout rate is 32.9%.
How can these legislators vote for Craddick whose rigid, retrograde Grover Norquist ideology condemns their districts' families to a mediocre education and abysmal health care?
These legislators can talk all they want that they will vote for CHIP expansion and additional educational resources, but their support rings hollow. For if they vote for Craddick for Speaker, then they are ensuring that their constituents won't get these essential additional public investments.
The Craddick "Democrats" apparently have spent too much time at country clubs hobnobbing with special interest lobbyists and the powerful, and too little time in their districts. They are mistaken if they think their voters will forget and forgive a vote for Craddick as Speaker. Their voters understood why supporting Craddick on redistricting was apostasy; they won't be fooled by a vote for Craddick as Speaker and against their families' interests.
The Craddick Democrats would be wise to remember Ron Wilson's fate before they vote for Craddick for Speaker. |
