Letters from Linden
by JACK LINDEN
The events happening in Texas may well be an indicator of what is happening across the nation. The issues brought up by our governor can also be seen as the issues that will be at the forefront of the national political scene soon.
Even though the governor of Texas is about fourth or fifth in the constitutional power structure of the state, he still has some unique powers. One of those is the power to designate a bill as an “emergency.” The incumbent, now the longest serving governor in Texas history, has so far designated four issues as emergency measures, thus giving the legislature the power to consider them in the first 60 days of the legislative session.
Those four emergency measures certainly speak to the critical and vital issues facing Texas and the nation. Does he include a deficit of up to $27 billion? Dropout rates, with Texas having the 45th highest rate in the nation? No, our governor doesn’t list these as emergencies.
Instead, he seeks a resolution for a Constitutional amendment to the U.S. Constitution to balance the budget.
He wants to deny a city the option of designating itself a “sanctuary city,” which stops the police in that city from asking about immigration status. No major cities in Texas have that as an issue but it is certainly one for the governor.
The governor wants a voter photo identification law, even though there have been no cases of voter fraud in Texas in recent history.
Finally, the governor is so concerned about getting government out of our lives, yet he has asked for emergency laws requiring sonograms for pregnant women deciding to have an abortion.
It is obvious the governor has been hanging around with entertainers. He has heard the platitudes and strokes that they have given him. He is the same governor who brought up the idea of secession in his speeches. He has insistently argued that as governor, he has always had a balanced budget even as the State Legislature is trying to solve the deficit the state faces. Even his balanced budget the year before required some $3 billion from Federal Stimulus Funds, and all the while he is criticizing the federal government.
What’s going on behind the scenes? The current governor is, in reality, running for the presidency. He is a constant face at Tea-Party events and is often mentioned by the half-governor of Alaska and Michele Bachmann, the rising star of the right. Some interesting questions are now coming to fore among those three.
The question? Who is going to be the presidential nominee and who is going to be second best? There’s a lot of ego involved among the three; it will be a delight to see the power struggle among them.
In the meantime, you may see these three pursuing the objectives of the right when it comes to social issues. Abortion will once again be a topic among tea-party members. The gun issue, though seemingly a non-issue, will come up again with the tragedy in Arizona. Prayer in schools and elsewhere in government will once again be a loud cry from those that are convinced that God wrote the Constitution.
You may hear a lot about what is happening in Texas. What you think is about Texas is really the governor setting his sites on Washington, D.C. What you will be hearing is his appeal to the tea-party and a nomination of some political party. If the Republicans don’t nominate him or the other two, a third party may be on the way.
