Now, About That Cynicism...

Ain’tcha had ’nuff?

Gov. Goodhair has been conducting secret negotiations to tax us more with tolls on roads we already bought and paid for. The average cost per family is three grand a year. Did you get to vote for that?

Here’s the deal – it all works by keeping stuff secret until there are already facts on the ground, like the 281 corridor between 1604 and Evans Road stripped of all vegetation, and sewage draining into the Edwards Aquifer, our drinking water, for one month. Then we begin to wonder how this happened – we hadn’t heard about it before. We scratch our heads, get a little mad. Then life takes over – that fender bender, that lost job, the 16 year-old getting a few “F’s” on her report card; and we lose sight of the common danger. All it means right now is some trees bulldozed and more chlorine in the water. Then, before we know it, there’s more bulldozing, more sewage leaks, or maybe a fire caused by a spark from one of those big machines on the dry grass, and we are both mad and resigned to being had again, and we’re mad as hell at all politicians, as usual.

But wait – not all politicians are so cynical. There actually are some who want sunshine in government, who want us all to have the chance to vote about such vital issues. It just happens that right now, most of them are Democrats; and I am one of them, even though to call me a politician is a stretch. I’m a Texan just like you – I just want the Lege to do what’s right for all Texans, and I want some sunshine in government. It’s real simple.

And while I’m on the subject of politicians, a note about Frank Corte who wants vouchers for private schools – vouchers paid for by you and me so that some kids can go to private schools on our nickel. Now, I’m actually sort of a fan of private schools; I graduated from a private religious college, and my wife went to parochial schools through high school. Our kids went to private schools at one time or another. But those handy vouchers, so nice for parents of kids in private schools, will take money from our public schools. If just 15 kids from each public school take state-funded vouchers and leave, each school would lose funding for three teachers. How would your kids’ school look with three less teachers? And Frank Corte thinks this would fix broken schools? Yup, the same way you fix a chair with a cracked leg by cutting off the leg.

Now that’s what cynical looks like.