This is what the Republicans of Texas stand for.....it's DISGUSTING! And hooray for the Democrats for bailing on the legislature to prevent this outrageous and unconscionable attack on the innocents of their own state!!!!
It's the same in Washington....bombs instead of taking care of the PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY
</>The alternative to raising taxes, though, is a series of dramatic cuts in social services that have shocked
even many moderates here.
The Republican leaders say they are trying to be good fiscal wards in difficult economic times. But they
have proposed, among other things, reclassifying 56,000 elderly and disabled people so they are no
longer "frail" — making them ineligible for Medicaid.
An estimated 250,000 children from low-income families would be removed from the rolls of the
Children's Health Insurance Program. Money set aside to replace antiquated textbooks in public
schools has been cut, and teachers' health insurance benefits are expected to drop considerably.
The budget bill containing those provisions is among those that could die this week because of the
Democrats' walkout.
Democrats also disagree with a host of other Republican legislation that is expected to pass, including
one bill that limits damages in medical malpractice cases, restricts class-action lawsuits and shields
some corporations from defective product claims.
"The Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives have taken a stand on principle," said Texas
Democratic Party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm. "They are not going to allow themselves to be run
over by Tom DeLay, Tom Craddick and the rest of the far right-wing Republicans who care more
about their party's agenda than what is best for Texas. The Republicans will attempt to call them
obstructionists. They are heroes."
According to Craddick, they are cowards.
"It's not a disgrace to stand and fight, but it is a disgrace to run and hide," he said.
The Texas Legislature meets just once every two years, for 140 days, during which, on average, more
than 8,000 bills are proposed and more than 1,000 are debated and approved. That means every day
counts, said Peggy Venable, the Austin-based state director of Citizens for a Sound Economy, which
fights for lower taxes and less government regulations.
"They are supposed to do the people's business. Instead they are taking a vacation at taxpayer
expense," she said in an interview. "They are acting like truant schoolchildren. Democrats don't seem to
know how to be in a minority. It is time they grow up."
The Democrats' maneuver is not without precedent. Twenty-four years ago, 12 Texas state senators
went on a similar strike, refusing to work at the Capitol. They hid in an Austin apartment for several
days while Texas Rangers and other law enforcement authorities searched for them. |
