Texas Republicans Responsible for Blackouts

Let’s start with the facts, nearly all of the power shortage last week was due to natural gas and nuclear plants being shut down due to frozen gauges, values and other equipment. Gov. Abbott lied to the public when he blamed green energy. In fact your neighbors who had power when you didn’t probably had solar panels on their roofs, that’s green energy. Texans died of hypothermia in their homes needlessly last week because they had no way to heat their homes for too long and nowhere to go to stay warm. In reality had the Green New Deal proposal been in effect years ago far fewer people would have suffered because part of the proposal includes insulating old homes and more of us would have rooftop solar panels to provide at least some power for heating.

Now you ask, how could this happen? Power generating and gas pipeline companies in Texas are lightly regulated and aren’t required to takes steps necessary to keep their equipment running in extreme conditions. Their management chose not to use equipment that tolerates single digit temperatures or provide insulated and heated coverings that would have kept the equipment operational. Were it not that the product these companies provide are relied on by every Texan every day such behavior would be reasonable as it’s been a decade since the last time Texas suffered such weather. If they produced cars, clothing, appliances, or toys and shut down for a week no one would suffer. Instead these companies are part of the public utility infrastructure that is necessary and expected to provide their product all day every day regardless of conditions.

Decades ago the Texas legislature at the behest of management and the wealthy investors in power generation and pipeline companies deregulated the energy market. The legislature also cut ties to interstate power sources in order to avoid federal regulation of these public utilities. They did both in order to make the business more profitable. No consideration was given to the effect on reliability. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is responsible for transferring power from suppliers to users but it wouldn’t surprise George Orwell the regardless of its name ERCOT doesn’t actually do anything about reliability. In fact last November ERCOT fired the organization they had previously contracted with to check on the status of power providers and didn’t bother to replace it.

Statewide blackouts have happened twice in the last 32 years, in 1989 and 2011, in both cases federal investigators found a long list of things utility and pipeline operators should have been doing and suggested that the state take action to force them to do so. As Texas Republicans generally do when regulation is brought up they ignored the recommendations and took little action. Once again the people of Texas have suffered and Republicans don’t care. Former governor Rick Perry is quoted as saying “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.” Ted Cruz fled Texas to Cancun, Mexico with his family during the freeze.

Some of my neighbors claim we shouldn’t politicize a crisis, I say a crisis like the freeze of 2021 is political to begin with. If our legislators are holding power and pipeline companies accountable the we must hold our legislators accountable, that starts with state representative John Kuempel, state senator Donna Campbell, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott. They are all part of the problem and we need to replace them with people who will be part of the solution.

 Published in the Seguin Gazette - February 24, 2021

Published in the Boerne Star - February 25, 2021

Quid Pro Quo by Any Other Name

Around 43 years ago I was introduced to the phrase "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" in Shakepeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Isaac Musselwhite, my high school English teacher. Mr. Musselwhite often reminded us that being able to quote Shakespeare was an indicator of refinement and sophistication; he claimed it would impress girls.

I can’t say that I was an especially good student and I’m still unsure that even if I had been it would have improved my chances for a date. What I can say is that Donald Trump apparently never read Romeo and Juliet and I’ll bet he can quote even less Shakespeare than I can. I’m certain of it because while he has professed “no quid pro quo” since he released the readout of his conversation with Ukraine’s President Zelensky each new document and testimony proves that he was demanding a corruption investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden and withholding previously approved and promised military assistance until he got it. Trump’s demands smell just as sweet as “quid pro quo” no matter what he names it.

First there were rumors of a whistleblower report, then rumors of its contents. Next Trump released the readout of the call with Zelensky which he called perfect but anyone actually reading it saw as strong tactics or extortion and yes, quid pro quo. National Security Advisor John Bolton suddenly resigned. Then came further evidence in the form of text messages between Ambassador Gordon Sondland and Special Envoy Kurt Volker confirming the details of a larger, coordinated effort, dare I call it a conspiracy, that also involved Rudy Guiliani and Attorney General William Barr. Next congress heard testimony from former National Security Council member Dr. Fiona Hill who said Bolton warned her that he would not get caught up in what he referred to as a "drug deal" being cooked up on Ukraine by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Out of the blue news broke that two of Rudy Guiliani’s Russian cronies had been arrested on campaign finance violations involving channeling Russian money to Republican candidates and are also implicated in the effort to pressure Ukraine into providing dirt on Biden. Then there were rumors that our former governor, now Secretary of Energy Rick Perry was involved and within days he suddenly announced his resignation.

On Tuesday the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, testified in closed door hearings. Taylor’s fourteen page opening statement has been released to the public. I’ve read it and if there was ever the slightest doubt that Trump and his cronies were engaged in a conspiracy to extort political dirt on Joe Biden from Ukraine’s president in return for military assistance and a meeting with Trump that doubt has been removed. Taylor provides a very specific timeline and first person testimony regarding many conversations, verbal and written, with various members of the conspiracy. Media reports indicate that committee members and staff at the hearing gasped several times during Taylor’s testimony. I find it hard to imagine what could be more damning that Taylor’s opening statement.

Trump’s demands by any other name still smell like “qui pro quo” and since they involve him accepting a thing of value, dirt on an election rival, from a foreign nation those demands violate both the Emoluments clause of the U.S. constitution and federal campaign finance law. Attorney General William Barr’s efforts to stifle the investigation into the whistleblower complaint constitute a coverup.

It is past time for the House to impeach Trump.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - October 25, 2019

Trump Administration Most Corrupt in a Century

Even putting aside the numerous corrupt and criminal actions by the current occupant of the White House such as obstruction of justice as documented in the Mueller report and violations of the emoluments clause by receiving large amounts of money from various foreign countries and businesses through his hotels the Trump administration is without a doubt the most thoroughly corrupt since at least Warren G. Harding was president from 1921-1923.

Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price was run out of the administration for using tax payer funds to pay for charter flights to various speaking engagements but wasn’t prosecuted. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin got a slap on the wrist for doing the same thing to the tune of over $800,000 and is still a Cabinet member. Former Texas governor and now Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, has been investigated for using $56,000 in taxpayer money to pay for charter flights that could have been made on scheduled airlines for far less.

Before resigning in December, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke was being investigated for possible self-dealing involving a developer working on a project near land in Montana owned by Zinke and his wife, Lola. The question is whether Zinke used his office for financial benefit; the Interior Department’s inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department. He also spent thousands of dollars of public money on charter flights that he could have made on regularly scheduled airlines for a few hundred dollars. In addition friends and campaign contributors of Zinke were awarded a $300 million dollar contract to rebuild the power grid in Puerto Rico even though their company consists of only two people and the company has no experience with such a large scale project.

Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was under investigation by the inspector general of his agency prior to his resignation. The inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency said that former Administrator Scott Pruitt wasted nearly $124,000 of taxpayer money on excessive travel, including first-class airline tickets. Pruitt had EPA staff help his wife, Marilyn, seek employment with an annual salary of more than $200,000. Just three months after Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Pruitt used agency staff to contact Chick-Fil-A about his wife becoming a franchisee. Pruitt paid just $50 a night to stay in a Capitol Hill condominium linked to a prominent Washington lobbyist whose firm represents a long list of fossil fuel companies like Exxon.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson spent about $45,000 refitting his office, including $4,000 for new blinds, more than $8,000 for a dishwasher, and nearly $32,000 for a dining-room table. In March 2018, Congress asked the GAO to investigate the spending. While the blinds were found to be acceptable the table and dishwasher broke the law.

In February, the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) refused to certify Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s financial disclosure statement because he hadn’t sold a stock that he claimed he had. Ross insisted the error was simply a mistake. His claim might have been more believable if the OGE hadn’t already had to warn Ross about inaccuracies in previous disclosures, and if he hadn’t also been caught lying to the press about his finances.

Late in the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump began using the slogan “Drain the swamp” to represent his purported intention to stamp out corruption and self-dealing in Washington. From the examples above its pretty clear he didn’t mean what he said.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - June 14, 2019

Trump a Danger to Our Democracy

There is so much press on the latest crazy thing Trump tweets or says that you’d think that was all there is to worry about with his presidency. Unfortunately those things are just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t mean that in just the sense of scale but also in the sense of what is readily visible as compared to the damage being done under that visible layer.

Although the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause prohibits taking things of value, like money, from foreign nations or their leaders Trump continues to profit from their spending at his various hotels and resorts. All Presidents in the last century have avoided such things with those in our lifetimes having put their businesses or investments in blind trusts or otherwise even having the appearance of profiting from their office. Trump does it proudly and often. What’s worse is that the Republican controlled Congress can’t be bothered to take action to enforce it and the courts have thrown out lawsuits filed by those who attempt to hold him accountable.

Trump has made numerous nominations or in some cases appointments of people who were manifestly unqualified. In one case a judicial nominee that couldn’t answer first year law student level questions. In another case the nominee lacked experience and failed to disclose that his wife works in the White House counsel's office. This from the man who when he campaigned claimed that he always hired the best people.

Trump’s first Secretary of Health and Human Services, former congressman Tom Price, was forced to resign over using tax payer funds to pay for private travel expenses. Other cabinet members were caught doing the same thing but managed to get away with it under cover of Price bowing out.

In addition to nominating those who are manifestly unqualified he has been installing agency heads who have previously urged the destruction or shrinkage of the agencies to which they’ve been appointed. First among them is our on former governor, Rick Perry, who when he ran for president said that the Department of Energy was one of the three agencies he wanted to eliminate and now he is the Secretary of Energy. Perry publicly admitted after his appointment he didn’t know that the Department of Energy is responsible for the development and maintenance of the nation’s nuclear warheads.

At the Environmental Protection Agency Trump appointee Scott Pruitt previously spent his career working to dismantle environmental regulations that keep Americans healthy. Pruitt has simply ignored a 2015 law that requires the agency to review areas of the country that aren’t meeting the standard set in 2015 and force compliance in order to protect the health of Americans in those area. Pruitt has begun replacing highly qualified scientific and medical professionals who server on agency advisory committees with people that have a track record of disagreeing with established scientific research and in some cases have financial connections to polluting industries.

Trump has repeatedly attacked judges who have ruled against him on issues like the travel ban. He has attacked the FBI which is investigating allegations of collusion with Russian agents. He has attacked the press and wants to enact laws to make it easier to sue for libel which would weaken the protections afforded by the Bill of Rights.

He has done all this and more in his first year in office and yet the only substantive legislation he has signed is a tax break for millionaires. The damage to our nation and most importantly to our democracy has only just begun.

Trump Tweets Cover for a Host of Sins

I don’t for one moment believe that Trump’s Twitter rants are calculated measures designed to cause the public’s eye to watch one hand while his other hand he attempts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act with executive orders, but they do have that effect. His controversial and often insulting lies eat up news cycles to such a degree that both his actions and those of Congress seem to be ignored all too often.

The heartless remarks Trump made while on a phone call with the widow of one of the four United States soldiers killed in Niger have succeeded in stopping most major media sources from asking; what are U.S. troops doing in Niger? Even Congress doesn’t know according to elected officials from both parties.

Among the other damage Trump’s tweets and outrageous behavior have masked are the failure of the Republican controlled Congress to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which along with their proposed budget which makes severe cuts to Medicaid would leave millions of Texas children without any form of health insurance. This means that tens of thousands of Texas children won’t get the health care they need to do well in school which will penalize them in their future earnings.

Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos is rolling back guidance to colleges and universities regarding handling sexual assault allegations which were created to protect young women who far too frequently suffer more punishment than the perpetrators.

Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price was run out of the administration for using tax payer funds to pay for charter flights to various speaking engagements. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin got a slap on the wrist for doing the same thing to the tune of over $800,000.

Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke is working to eliminate some national monuments and shrink others. He advocates giving big mining and fossil fuel companies access to the lands rather then the public. He has also spent thousands of dollars of public money on charter flights that he could have made on regularly scheduled airlines for a few hundred dollars. Now there’s word that friends and campaign contributors of Zinke have been awarded a $300 million dollar contract to rebuild the power grid in Puerto Rico even though the their company consists of only two people and the company has no experience with such a large scale project.

Our former governor and now Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, has also carelessly used $56,000 in taxpayer money to pay for charter flights that could have been made on scheduled airlines for far less. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has done the same and like Perry and Zinke is under investigation by the inspector generals of their respective agencies.

The members of the Trump administration have exhibited the same callousness and disregard for the public as Trump has and there is no end in sight to the greed, corruption and abuse of the American people. I hope that in the future the news media will spend less time with shocking headlines over Trump’s latest tweet and more on holding him and his appointees accountable to the people they pledged to serve.

Published in the Seguin Gazette October 27, 2017

Trump's Host of Controversies

The controversy of the moment is the unacceptable and un-Christian action taken by Trump to stop Muslim refugees from seven countries from entering the United States. The problems with Trump’s order are several, it was sudden and to all appearances not based on any new intelligence or even the recommendation from his National Security team. The order appears to be unconstitutional at least to the eyes of the acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, who he fired for doing her job. I say, for doing her job, because her oath of office calls for her to defend the constitution and her job is to provide counsel to the president so he doesn’t violate it. Yates told him the order was wrong and told her staff not to defend the indefensible in court and she was fired for it. Had she done his bidding Yates would have been complicit in the crime just as the German soldiers were who claimed they were just following orders as they gassed Jews in places like Auschwitz.

Trump’s action on refugees is far from the only issue worthy of protest. Hearings are still going on for his often incompetent, occasionally dangerous, possibly criminal, and sometimes unethical nominees for cabinet posts as well as a terrible nominee for Supreme Court justice.

So we have a C student from Texas A&M nominated to head the Department of Energy which among other vital tasks is responsible for the safety and maintenance of our nuclear arsenal. Yes, it’s former Governor Rick Perry, the same incompetent dullard who ran for president and wanted to eliminate the Department of Energy entirely except he couldn’t remember its name during the debate. Now he says he hadn’t realized how important the agency is. Don’t you think the responsible thing to do before you suggest eliminating something is to find out what it does?

Then there’s Betsy “Billionaire” DeVos who never saw a public school she didn’t want to dismantle to feed her investment portfolio and has been nominated for Secretary of Education. Senator Al Franken asked DeVos for her views on the controversy over mastery versus improvement for judging student achievement and teacher competence. Sadly DeVos is so incompetent she didn’t even understand the question let alone have a coherent response. For someone who claims to be informed about education in general and public schools in particular Betsy “Billionaire” seems mighty ignorant.

Trump’s dangerous nominee for the job of among other things defending civil rights is a man with a history of using his position to prevent minorities from exercising those civil rights. The nominee is Jeff Sessions who was previously denied a federal judgeship by a Republican controlled Senate due to his racist actions in attempting to prosecute African American voter registration volunteers for doing their best to turn out voters to the polls. Sessions also took credit for prosecutions while a US Attorney for which he didn’t even exercise oversight let alone actively participate.

For a potentially criminal and certainly unethical nominee there’s Tom Price who is Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. He’s been proven to have invested in medical product companies then used his position as chair of the committee overseeing them to improve their profits thus fattening his own wallet.

Finally, there’s Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s nominee for justice on the Supreme Court. Gorsuch decided the Hobby Lobby case which defying all logic allows a business to claim it has religious rights just like a natural person. He opposes regulation of businesses, so it’s OK if the coal mine poisons the water for everyone downstream.

Failure to Expand Medicaid in Texas hurts all Texans

The failure of Gov. Perry and Sen. Campbell to expand Medicaid in Texas does a shameful disservice to Texans whether or not they currently have health insurance. Obviously those without health insurance suffer most directly. Those with insurance are also affected by the higher cost imposed when people visit the emergency room for problems that could have been treated in a doctor’s office for one third the price according to the Texas Medical Association. Those uncompensated emergency room visits are subsidized through higher bills from hospitals and higher property taxes.

Expanding Medicaid would create $19.6 million in direct economic activity in Guadalupe County alone, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which is enough to pay 290 additional Registered Nurses and 107 additional Doctors. Imagine how adding nearly 400 high paying jobs would affect businesses large and small in just one county. What would be the impact of adding nearly $7 billion a year to the Texas economy?

We’ve already paid the taxes to make this happen and because Gov. Perry and Sen. Campbell refused to accept that money other states will be using our tax dollars to improve the lives of their citizens and their economies.

We need new leadership in Senate District 25 and in Texas that’s why I’m excited that Dan Boone is running for state senate and Wendy Davis is running for governor. They won’t let our tax dollars go to other states and leave our hard working people to fend for themselves.

What New Orleans should know about presidential candidate Rick Perry

As a New Orleans native transplanted to Texas a decade ago I thought your readers should know a little more about our Governor, Rick Perry, now that he’s announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

Perry talks about the Texas economic miracle and touts the states high level of job growth as proof that his business friendly policies are successful. While it’s true that Texas is creating jobs faster than most other states you should also know that the Texas also has the highest percentage of minimum and low wage jobs in the country.

Rick Perry boasts of low taxes and no state income tax but fails to mention that Texas also spends less per student on education than almost any other state and ranks near the bottom in high school graduation rates.

If it’s true that you can judge someone by the company they keep consider that when organizing his recent prayer rally, The Response, he partnered with such men as John C. Hagee who claims that the Catholic Church is "the Great Whore," an "apostate church" and a "false cult system." and Dr. John Benefiel who believes the Statue of Liberty is “a demonic idol”.

Representing Americans United for Separation of Church and State in McAllen Texas

Thank you all for being here to represent the millions of Texans who have been excluded by Gov. Perry’s sectarian prayer event today.

Supporters of this un-American event often claim that it is atheists and Muslims who object to it but that’s really not so. There are many Christians here in this group today and one of the most vocal criticisms of Gov. Perry’s shindig is Rev. Barry Lynn, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and the Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. There are over two dozen members of the Houston Clergy Council who along with Rev. Dr. Stephen Sprinkle, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Texas Christian University believe that Rick Perry is wrong too and no one would call any of them atheists.

Rev. Lynn sent a letter to Gov. Perry June 8th urging him to step back from his exclusionary event. Here’s a brief excerpt that I think summarizes it well:
"To be blunt, you have overstepped your constitutional bounds. I am a Christian minister and would like to remind you that it is not the job of government officials to call people to pray, recommend that they fast or prod them to take part in other religious activities. That job belongs to me and my fellow clergy. We are capable of doing it without government “help” or interference. We are offended when you attempt to usurp our role.

Furthermore, in a pluralistic nation where people hold many faiths (and none), it is certainly not the job of any government official to sponsor and promote a worship service that reflects a narrow segment of our religious community."


Not only is Gov. Perry violating the spirit if not the letter of the constitution in his sponsorship of this religiously exclusionary event he is coordinating with religious groups and figures with very controversial theological ideas. The rally isn’t just exclusively Christian in nature; it’s only for certain types of Christians.

The event’s most prominent sponsor, the American Family Association, is well known for slinging extreme anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. One of its bloggers, Bryan Fischer, says Adolf Hitler invented church-state separation and believes the United States should yield to biblical law. The AFA is also known for blaming gays and lesbians for the Holocaust and for Hurricane Katrina.

Then there is the International House of Prayer, a controversial congregation based in Grandview, Mo. The church’s founder, Mike Bickle, who claims that Oprah Winfrey is the "pastor of the Harlot Movement" a pre-cursor to the anti-christ.

And there’s Dr. John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network in Oklahoma City. Benefiel’s views are so outside the mainstream that he believes the Statue of Liberty is “a demonic idol”.

And let’s not forget Rev. John Hagee who claims the Catholic Church is "The Great Whore," an "apostate church," the "anti-Christ" and a "false cult system."

Most Americans do not accept these extreme views. It’s bad enough that Perry is using his government office to promote a prayer rally; it’s even worse that the one he is promoting excludes the majority of Americans.

As Kim Kamen, of the American Jewish Committee, told The Times, “There are many houses of worship here in Texas, not just Christian churches. As the leader of our state, we hope that he will bear that in mind.”

Americans United believes Perry’s sponsorship of a “Christians-only” event fails to honor our country’s religious diversity. Gov. Perry's actions are divisive, unwelcoming and constitutionally inappropriate.

Responding to claims that tradition justifies Gov. Perry calling for Day of Prayer

In Ms. Nuckols letter “Day of prayer one of Texas’ oldest public traditions” she makes the argument that because we’ve always done it that way we can keep on doing it. That’s really odd for someone in the Republican Party which prides itself on being the party of emancipation. After all slavery was an accepted practice for nearly all of recorded history and amongst Christians and Jews alike.

Tradition doesn’t make something right, if it did Nuckols wouldn’t have the right to vote just because she’s a woman. Of course if we really want to operate on the premise that we should do things the same way we’ve always done them then we should take “In God We Trust” off our paper money because it was only added in 1957 during the height of the Red Scare.

The problem with Gov. Perry’s prayer shindig is that it isn’t just exclusively Christian in nature; it’s only for certain types of Christians. The event’s most prominent sponsor, the American Family Association, is well known for slinging extreme anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. The AFA is also known for blaming gays and lesbians for the Holocaust and for Hurricane Katrina. And there’s Dr. John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network in Oklahoma City. Benefiel’s views are so outside the mainstream that he believes the Statue of Liberty is “a demonic idol”.

Our governor should be working to make all Texans feel included whether they are a member of his religious tradition or not.

Letter responding to "freedom of religion" doesn't imply freedom from religion

In Beverly Nuckols’ recent letter “A Little Perspective for Texas Atheists” she makes the absurd assertion that the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion does not also imply the option to choose freedom from religion.

If you walk into a pizza parlor and the sign says – “Large Pizza $9.99 choose any single topping”, does anyone really think you can’t order that pizza without a topping? Must you only select from sausage, pepperoni, ham, green peppers or black olives, isn’t no topping an option?

Regarding Gov. Perry’s shindig, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, led by Reverend Barry Lynn, has this to say on the issue: “AU believes Perry’s sponsorship of a “Christians-only” event fails to honor our country’s religious diversity. His actions are divisive, unwelcoming and constitutionally inappropriate.”

Rev. Lynn isn’t the only faith leader to take an opposing position. Over two dozen members of the Houston Clergy Council as well as Rev. Dr. Stephen Sprinkle, Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Texas Christian University and others believe that Rick Perry is wrong too and no one would call them atheists.

Letter to the editor: Calling out Texas Republican leadership for failure to fix the budget

After ten years of Republican control of Texas state government and calls for small efficient government we’ve gotten a $27 billion state budget shortfall and nothing but talk about cutting spending. If there was really such waste in our state budget for the last decade why didn’t Texas Republicans deal with it earlier? The answer is there isn’t much waste in our already proportionally small budget but since the Republicans leadership hasn’t seen fit to address the structural problems of our tax code they need a scapegoat.

This Republican leadership failure will hurt citizens all across Texas because state agencies will be forced to cut jobs in an already depressed economy and add to the jobless rate. Those lost jobs will further reduce tax revenues because those folks won’t be spending and paying sales tax and they’ll be collecting unemployment insurance all further deepening the deficit.

With those jobs cuts will also come cuts in services like education and health care even though a recent poll shows that more than 70% of Texans don’t want those areas cut. In addition we can look forward to higher property taxes so that cities and counties can fund police and fire departments as well as hospital districts and schools.

All this and yet Gov. Perry and the Republican led legislature refuse to tap the Rainy Day Fund’s $9.4 billion which would at least ease the damage. If a $27 billion shortfall isn’t a rainy day I don’t know what is.