<<how bad things are in Texas is clearly exaggerated>>
Well, I guess that depends whether or not you are living in a box in Austin like Luc. <g>
Seriously, I think your observation is correct. Things are better now in Texas than at any point in the last 15-20 years. The world-wide oil industry has consolidated in Houston. The high-tech story in Austin is well documented. Here in Dallas the telecom and overall corporate expansion has been very impressive. But in a lot of the secondary markets such as Lubbock, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, etc. they have not moved much since the mid-80's.
Bush should not get any more of the credit for the Texas expansion than Clinton should the overall expansion. Likewise, it's not fair to blame Bush for all of the educational and environmental problems of an entire state.
I would include his major accomplishments as - (1) he made good on campaign pledges to reform the tort laws and clean up the judiciary, (2)his appointments, both judicial and executive, have generally been very good and he seems to have a lot of bright people around him; (3) the environmental enforcement arm, the TNRCC, has actually become very creative and proactive in solving some of the state's myriad environmental problems.
The reason I don't include education in that list is because the bulk of the educational reforms were the result of Ross Perot's commission that developed a number of excellent recommendations that were brought on line.
Dissappointments would include: (1) Bush has been TOO effective in reforming the judiciary to the point that many genuine cases are not getting a fair day in court, (2) failure to deliver any MEANINGFUL tax reform, which has the hallmark of his last campaign, and (3)he IS in the pockets of the big corporations (as is most of the legislature) and they have gotten their money's worth.
On balance, he is a guy that can make the trains run on time and you don't have to worry about the conductor hitting you up for a bribe. But don't expect a lot more than that.
I too miss any semblance of passion or ideology from either canidate and actually hope that Nader gets in the debates because he is the only one that has any passion for what he believes in. I also wish that ANY of the canidates would pay even passing homage to a voter group other than seniors or women. McCain did, and that is why he was so popular with the Gen-x crowd.
Regards, Ken |
