The American Spectator

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(Page 2 of 19)

George W. Bush when Governor faced a Texas legislature that was ruled over by two of the most powerful Democrat figures in recent state history: Lt. Governor Bob Bullock and Speaker of the House Pete Laney. When Gov. Bush took office in 1995, the conventional wisdom was that Bullock and Laney would completely dominate him and he would get none of his agenda enacted into law. What happened instead was the spectacle of a green Republican Governor playing these two old warhorses like a pair of cheap fiddles, and the 1995 session was one of the most successful sessions in the history of the Texas Legislature, as Bush kept his promises on every one of the seven major issues he had made the centerpieces of his campaign. For six years he was one of the most effective governors this State has ever known, and he left behind a budget in surplus and a state economy growing much faster than the rest of the nation.

Governor Perry, in contrast, has not even been able to establish fundamentally cordial relationships with a Speaker and Lt. Governor of his own party. The recent school finance reform effort got done over the dead carcass of Perry's own proposal, which was defeated in the House in 2005 by an unprecedented unanimous vote of 126 to 0 (even its own House sponsor could not bring himself to cast a "yes" vote on it), and failed in a later vote by a "closer" margin of 124 to 8. This is not exactly what one might call "leadership." The truth is that this reform would likely have gotten done more than a year ago were it not for Perry's refusal to consider ideas other than his own on the matter.

If Seton wanted to give credit where credit is really due for the good things that have taken place in Texas governance in recent years, he should have written his piece about House Speaker Tom Craddick. Craddick is the real driving force behind the great conservative victories in areas such as tort reform we have seen in Texas in recent years, which of course is why he is so reviled in the Texas news media.

Again, it was nice to see Seton's byline on your website. No doubt even greater things lie ahead for him in the coming years.

p>I just hope he gets his story straight next time. br> -- David Blackmon br> Houston, Texas /p>

Perry has just in the last few months decided to put National Guard on the border; this was after he saw which way the wind was blowing. He has not done anything about all the hiring halls put up for the ILLEGALS and the cities that do not allow their police to check for legal status. At least one of our Montgomery County Commissioners has bragged about hiring ILLEGALS for his work crews. Doesn't the state have anything to say about that?

How can you say we have a "business tax-and-regulatory friendly state in the land," and then turn around with "just passed in special session is a large, broad and incoherent business tax to offset much needed and Texas Supreme Court mandated property tax reduction." Perry pushed this tax increase for business.

And I don't thank him for most of the 300,000+ Louisiana people -- our crime rate has gone up since they showed up. They are not used to having laws to live by, just look at Nagin asking for the National Guard to help catch a gang. Their police are useless.

p>Perry is not doing near enough to stop employers from hiring ILLEGALS and protecting our border. br> -- Elaine Kyle

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