Right-Sizing Texas

Suppose for a minute, that the radical right is correct in assuming that the government needs to be small enough to drown in a bathtub.  The state of Texas has taken that leap of faith and is now “right-sizing” government in its current budget. Education took the biggest hit, and Texans are still thanking God for Mississippi, which continues to spend less and get even worse results in education. What else did Texans not need?

Abstinence Ain't All of It

Bristol Palin came to Bryan, Texas this weekend to help a local charity raise funds. The name of the charity is the Central Texas Orphans' Mission Alliance (CTOMA). It ought to be the Central Texas Orphan Making Alliance, since one of its main tenets is that abstinence works as birth control.

Texas Budget: What Shortfall?

The too-cheap-to-pay-my-fair-share people have gotten to the top of the heap in Texas government. They have decided that a country with 300 million people can get by with a government that apparently does only three things: defends against foreign invasion, locks up criminals, and defends corporations from lawsuits.

As a result, the too-cheap people are telling lawmakers to “examine the basic functions of government.” In case you don’t know the code, I’ll translate: quit educating those peons.

Arizona Shootings Foreseeable

The shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona on Saturday has energized two interconnected national debates.

The first issue is gun control. Arizona may have the least-restrictive gun ownership laws in the country. This event may be a catalyst for changing that fact, but already the second-amendment camp is setting up a hue and cry that someone is going to take their guns away. Americans love their guns, and few are willing to give up their second amendment right to keep and bear arms. This fact seems not to register on a large segment of society, typically associated with the radical right, which brings up the second debate.

Let's Talk About Government Waste

There are some new kids in town, and they are all about cleaning up the governmental act. They have positions of power and plan to use them. They cannot wait to show you how much better off you will be when there are beggars on the streets and infrastructure is a mere memory. The big prediction is that the new kids, in the name of “tax relief” will gut Social Security. They have not said it out loud yet, but the operative word is yet. Here is a look at two of the shining stars of the Republican majority, and what they plan to do to (or for) you.