http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2011/04/10/news/doc4da14b1f4df88226186504.txtAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republicans are using their biggest majority ever in the Texas House to promote their conservative vision: government slashed to the bone, more curbs on abortion, far less money for birth control and new ID requirements for voters.
The new supermajority has pushed those long pent-up priorities and more with lightning speed through the often raucous body that gave Gov. Rick Perry his start as a Democrat in the 1980s. With so many cards left to be played, it’s far too early to say what will make it through the less partisan Senate. But it’s clear that Republicans in the House have begun to show their hands — even at the risk of voter backlash.
Look no further than the staggering cuts to education, and the support they received from powerful House speaker, Rep. Joe Straus of San Antonio. House Republicans facing a huge budget shortfall voted in virtual lockstep last weekend to take a whopping $8 billion out of the formula-based funding for public schools, which would be the first such reduction since the modern school finance system was introduced in 1949. The House-approved budget plan also would, for the first time, spend more to pay off transportation debts than it does on new roads.
“I don’t think that education cuts are politically popular. I don’t think that not addressing infrastructure needs in the state is politically popular,” Straus told The Associated Press. “But they require discipline and that’s been the mission. ... I think the voters asked for it.”
The Republicans have 101 members in the 150-chamber after sweeping the tea party-infused elections last year. That’s enough to transact business even if all 49 House Democrats never showed up for work. It’s a far cry from 2003, when Democrats lost control of the chamber but still had enough strength to temporarily block initiatives — including by leaving the state, as their counterparts did recently in Wisconsin.
The Democrats’ only available strategy in the Texas House of Representatives is to complain. They have generally advocated using more money from the so-called Rainy Day Fund, a reserve account that has billions of dollars in it. Most Democrats also say they want to raise more revenue, either by fees or through various tax reforms, to soften the budgetary blows.
Veteran Rep. Pete Gallego, a West Texas Democrat who first took office in 1991, said Republicans are doing everything they can to “make the tea party happy” and are not trying to get any buy-in from Democrats. He compared the experience to a wild and unwelcome ride.
..much more BS.
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