So the House finally debated HB 109, the "restoration" of the Children's Health Insurance Program from the cuts of the last sessions. If I seem a little pissed at some of my former colleagues and some Democratic friends, I won't apologize. We took on George Bush in 1999 and won a decent, very popular program for the health of our kids. Not fully restoring it now that the self made budget shortfals are in the past makes me want to …well, I'm not going to put that in print.
One BOR journalist mentioned one Republican's attempt to remove 16,000 kids from CHIP, now we have Rep. Laubenberg trying to kick 95,000 children off too.
Well, Sylvester Turner's CHIP bill- HB 109- just got killed on the house floor real quick. Which is par for the course for Tom Craddick. Helping Texas children? That's a no-go in Craddickland.
What's interesting about this entire event though is who was up front arguing for the bill and who was on the back mike throwing the point of order. In the front you've got Turner, Speaker Pro Tempore Turner, a Craddick Democrat who received the honor of being chosen to shepherd the one CHIP bill through the legislative process.
The bill sailed through a committee chaired by another Craddick D, Patrick Rose, and seemed to be on its way to passing the House. Until Republican Robert Talton decided to gum up the works.
Speaker Craddick sustained a point of order to kill Rep. Sylvester Turner's compromised CHIP bill. This story is really one that should be told in two parts. Today, we will discuss the egregiousness of Craddick's decision to sustain a point of order, and how Rep. Turner should not be surprised by the decision of the Speaker he voted for.
Tomorrow, we will talk about how this should open the door for a much, much better bill to come to the Floor.
When historians look back upon this era they will confront a moral failing so profound that the bloody misadventure in Iraq may be relegated to Chapter Two. The moral failing is the systematic abuse, neglect and abandonment of children by callous Republican leaders who unblushingly describe themselves as "pro-family."
Lobbyist and Right Wing commandant Grover Norquist, whom Karl Rove called "an impresario of the center-right," famously said he wanted to drown government "in a bathtub."
Norquist's choice of a tragically frequent method of child-murder as a metaphor for his political philosophy is damning evidence of the current GOP's abandonment of the innocents.
Norquist is, of course, the Bahamian sailing buddy and advisor to Gov. Rick Perry. The man who speaks favorably of bathtub drownings taught Perry his approach to public education.
UPDATE: Rep. Jim Dunnam just now asked a series of questions of Speaker Tom Craddick, making it clear that while Rick Perry is out of state, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is acting governor. Dewhurst could right now fire the Texas Youth Commission Board and place the troubled agency in conservatorship. Gov. Dewhurst?
Legislators vote to fire the Texas Youth Commission Board, despite Rick Perry's continued resistance and refusal to place the troubled agency in conservatorship. The Texas House overwhelming rejects Perry's deal with Merck and his HPV vaccination order.
Lawmakers want a moratorium on the boondoggle-shaped thing called the Trans Texas Corridor. Another Perry "privatization" scam, Accenture, bites the dust after the company fails miserably to get Texas kids the health care they need and deserve. Perry's fast-tracking of environment-destroying coal plants has cratered.
While Perry was refusing to place the TYC in competent hands, it would appear his entire administration is in a kind of conservatorship as the public and the Legislature try to repair the damage from his years in office. No modern governor has approached failures of this magnitude. Roads. Schools. Health care. Public safety. Environment. What is left?
If not yet convicted of moral terpitude, Perry has certainly become moral turpentine, dissolving the social fabric with his administration's lobby-ridden greed, graft and scandal.
It may not be long before the legislative branch realizes that since it is having to run the government, it may be time to get someone new to run the government. Impossible, you say? Probably, but it is no longer an idle question to wonder whether Perry will finish his term. And not because he's become vice president.
Now Perry is on a tour of the Middle East, and one has to wonder whether his passport shouldn't be revoked. If he can do this to Texas, what in hell will happen to that volatile area when Perry arrives?
(An excellent, interactive explanation of the "surplus" and how quickly Republicans are hijacking the surplus for property taxes. If you want to learn about the Magical Disappearing Surplus, watch the video below. - promoted by Burnt Orange Report)
Just a few hours ago the House Committee on Human Services passed HB 109 by Sylvester Turner and 21 other members that will reform the current CHIP system in large part by restoring cuts made over the last few sessions.
HB 109 will remove the 90-day waiting period, return eligibility to 1 year instead of 6 months, fix the means testing and disallow some income if it goes to pay for child care.
(Today is the day our legislature talks about breaking the Constitutional spending cap. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
What do the surviving Texas House Republicans do after a six pack of their GOP colleagues get beat in the 2006 election because they ignored critical needs Texans want them to meet? Thumb their noses, ignore those needs, and continue to take money from school children, sick children, and strapped middle class families.
Then they give the money to their very, very wealthy contributors.
In the debate on the selfish, irresponsible and woefully out-of-touch HB2, Democrats did a good job of trying to alter the House's course, particularly by offering a substantially different approach -- across the board increase in the homestead exemption -- that would have saved average Texans a good deal more money.
