You wouldn’t know it from reading all of the negative press accounts but the Texas House Republicans took a giant step yesterday towards keeping the “Texas miracle” alive by passing a budget that limits spending to projected revenue over the next two years. And that, my friends, is awesome!
Let the naysayers be the naysayers, on both the left and the right. The left, which apparently includes almost the entirety of the Texas media, continues to push sob stories and dire warnings of disaster because Republicans refused to spend more than they are taking in. A small minority on the right continues to insist that more cuts should have been made and that Republicans shouldn’t be proud of what they accomplished. I really don’t mind the attacks from the left and the media (one and the same?) but the attacks from the right are very frustrating to say the least.
I mean, c’mon guys, give me a break! The House R’s just passed a budget with the first meaningful cuts to General Revenue spending in the state’s recent history. For years, we’ve talked about “cuts” in terms of not growing as much as some wanted. This time, we are talking real cuts in actual spending. Actual dollars, folks. In terms of the overall budget, which includes federal funds, the R’s passed a budget that cut real spending by $23 BILLION. That would be $23,000,000,000. If you don’t understand that, how about this: 12.3 percent. When was the last time you saw an actual, hard reduction in spending of even 1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} by ANY government body. This one is 12.3{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} – that is huge!
So to my friends on the right, stop your whining about not cutting enough and CELEBRATE your victory! To my friends on the left, and the media that supports them, I know you’ll keep trying. And I know that you think, you think, that you have an ace in the hole with the Senate.
I think you are wrong. I don’t think that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is as spineless as you think he is. I don’t think you are going to see him allow the Republican dominated Senate to raise taxes, raise fees, or raid the Economic Stabilization Fund. I think that his track record is better than people realize and I think that as soon as the session is over, he is going to start telling us his story and we will be given facts about his record that are important to the voters that participate in Republican primaries.
And guess what? Voters in Republican primaries are much like me and don’t give a rat’s patootie what people on the left or in the media think. I think that Republican primary voters care about the future of this state and they know that the House did the right thing. And they will be very pleased to know that “the Dew”, as many like to call him, held firm and supported the House budget.
And if “the Dew” doesn’t hold firm?
Adios Dew.
It really is that simple.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to imply that it will be easy. Far from it. The sob stories will increase, no doubt about that. And we all know that conservatives like Sen. Dan Patrick love to “fix” sob stories. But I’m betting that the ambitions of “the Dew” will overcome those hurdles.
See there? The budget “process” isn’t really all that complicated, is it?