Does Texas Size Fit All?
In Texas there are three accepted defenses to a charge of murder. The first is innocence, the second is insanity, and the third is “he needed killing.”
That old joke is losing some of its chuckle as America increasing becomes a bigger version of Texas under the guiding hand of the Bush Administration.
What’s so wrong with becoming more like the great state of Texas you ask? Well, in America we have a tradition of one size, even Texas size, not fitting everyone. Now I am not about to “mess with Texas," but what works for some folks just is not the way other folks may want to live their lives. Consider the following unique qualities about living in Texas.
In Texas can be found the greatest percentage of polluted freshwater riparian habitat in America. Of the ten cities in America with the highest amount of smog, six are in Texas. This is the result of corporations in Texas influencing the Texas legislature to ease restrictions on environmental pollution. What some corporations call “government non-interference with a free market.” So Texas power plants that are nearly a half century old are not being forced to upgrade but rather are spewing out pollutants at a rate that exists in few other places in the country. That is not something that citizens all of the other 49 states may want to have forced upon them by a Texas run federal bureaucracy. Yet, the Bush Administration is systematically dismantling decades of environmental law without a whimper or whine of complaint from the corporate owned media.
In Texas the governor is little more than a figurehead. This is called the “weak governor” system of state government. Power rests more with the legislature than the executive. But the Texas legislature is prohibited from meeting more than once every two years. With that system, change from the status quo does not happen easily or quickly and that is by corporate design. Corporations fund virtually all of the campaigns for the Texas legislature so candidates without independent wealth or strong corporate backing have a very tough time being elected. The new Republican leadership in our nation was very opposed to a strong Executive in federal government while Clinton was the President, lauding the Texas model as the way for America to go.
That course of action changed 180° when George W. Bush took over the White House. Since 2001, the GOP has acted to centralize unprecedented power in the President. The PATRIOT Act is the most widely known of the actions that have help to centralize this power. Much of this authority is put to use to benefit corporate owners rather than the poor or middle classes. Some of it is used to stack the federal judiciary with former corporate lawyers believed to be willing to base their rulings upon neo-liberal ideology rather than evidence.
The Texas judiciary is elected to discrete terms of office. The justices who have the most corporate financial backing have the best chance of being elected and the others will be “also rans” in the race for a seat on the bench. If a judge does not rule in a way that corporate owners approve they threaten to pull financial support from the next campaign. So the corporation owners are able to exert great power over the legal system in Texas. No judge who rules against a corporation will remain on the bench for long. Thus, law west of the Sabine River is bought and paid for with corporation money. Think of it as a “free market system of justice.” Good for a wealthy few but overall not so good for the majority of us.
There are probably corporation managers and owners though out America who salivate over the prospect of bringing Texas style corporatism to their own neighborhood. But where the people are still able to control their local governments this notion of government by and for the rich holds very limited appeal.
The best way to foil the attempt by the new GOP leadership is for voters like you to elect progressives who are more in favor of making life better for the middle class or poor segment of society. Si, se puede.
That old joke is losing some of its chuckle as America increasing becomes a bigger version of Texas under the guiding hand of the Bush Administration.
What’s so wrong with becoming more like the great state of Texas you ask? Well, in America we have a tradition of one size, even Texas size, not fitting everyone. Now I am not about to “mess with Texas," but what works for some folks just is not the way other folks may want to live their lives. Consider the following unique qualities about living in Texas.
In Texas can be found the greatest percentage of polluted freshwater riparian habitat in America. Of the ten cities in America with the highest amount of smog, six are in Texas. This is the result of corporations in Texas influencing the Texas legislature to ease restrictions on environmental pollution. What some corporations call “government non-interference with a free market.” So Texas power plants that are nearly a half century old are not being forced to upgrade but rather are spewing out pollutants at a rate that exists in few other places in the country. That is not something that citizens all of the other 49 states may want to have forced upon them by a Texas run federal bureaucracy. Yet, the Bush Administration is systematically dismantling decades of environmental law without a whimper or whine of complaint from the corporate owned media.
In Texas the governor is little more than a figurehead. This is called the “weak governor” system of state government. Power rests more with the legislature than the executive. But the Texas legislature is prohibited from meeting more than once every two years. With that system, change from the status quo does not happen easily or quickly and that is by corporate design. Corporations fund virtually all of the campaigns for the Texas legislature so candidates without independent wealth or strong corporate backing have a very tough time being elected. The new Republican leadership in our nation was very opposed to a strong Executive in federal government while Clinton was the President, lauding the Texas model as the way for America to go.
That course of action changed 180° when George W. Bush took over the White House. Since 2001, the GOP has acted to centralize unprecedented power in the President. The PATRIOT Act is the most widely known of the actions that have help to centralize this power. Much of this authority is put to use to benefit corporate owners rather than the poor or middle classes. Some of it is used to stack the federal judiciary with former corporate lawyers believed to be willing to base their rulings upon neo-liberal ideology rather than evidence.
The Texas judiciary is elected to discrete terms of office. The justices who have the most corporate financial backing have the best chance of being elected and the others will be “also rans” in the race for a seat on the bench. If a judge does not rule in a way that corporate owners approve they threaten to pull financial support from the next campaign. So the corporation owners are able to exert great power over the legal system in Texas. No judge who rules against a corporation will remain on the bench for long. Thus, law west of the Sabine River is bought and paid for with corporation money. Think of it as a “free market system of justice.” Good for a wealthy few but overall not so good for the majority of us.
There are probably corporation managers and owners though out America who salivate over the prospect of bringing Texas style corporatism to their own neighborhood. But where the people are still able to control their local governments this notion of government by and for the rich holds very limited appeal.
The best way to foil the attempt by the new GOP leadership is for voters like you to elect progressives who are more in favor of making life better for the middle class or poor segment of society. Si, se puede.
posted by S. Munzel | 2:18 PM
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