It's that proverbial January of an odd-numbered year which means that the Lege is back to its scary hijinks in Austin.
Everyone always says Session is a dangerous time for Texans, but the 82nd Legislature was kind of a record for badness. Draconian cuts to healthcare for the poor, staggering cuts to education, barely thwarted attempts to pass redistricting plans that maximized the electoral power of white people ... the Republican-controlled Lege is fighting our destiny as a swing state in 2016 very, very hard.
But that just makes such a destiny all the more certain.
I have my concerns about fracking (that's hydraulic fracturing, not sci-fi obscenities) but there is no doubt that it has brought the state a bunch of income since the close of the dastardly 82nd. Our Rainy Day Fund overfloweth, and our coffers are full.
Governor Hair and Lt. Governor Dewhurst do not thus far sound as if they intend to use that new money to rebuild our educational system or care for our poor and sick.
The Speaker sounds a bit more sympathetic to the concerns that the parents for Texas have about education, but I'm not really buying it.
We shall see.
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