10. A series of vetoes put the Perry poison pen to bipartisan criminal justice reform that would slow the pace of incarceration and provide for alternative funding mechanisms. Meanwhile prison guards remain some of the worst paid workers in the state and, as a result, the state prisons are dangerously under guarded. (In fact, we hear the Governor thinks prison guards should be paid minimum wage for the privilege of putting their lives on the line every day.)Like several other items listed, I don't think this qualifies as "high crimes and misdemeanors," which is the standard required for impeachment. But it does tell us that the Governor's ineffable and harmful veto decisions on criminal justice haven't escaped public notice.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Do irresponsible vetoes count as 'high crimes and misdemeanors'?
Via Burnt Orange Report we learn of a new effort by veteran activist Linda Curtis and the group Independent Texans to impeach Governor Rick Perry, and I was interested to see that complaints about his criminal justice vetoes made the list of top ten reasons they want the Governor gone:
I only know of a few die hard Publicans who even admit voting for Gay Goodhair.
ReplyDeleteWow, name calling and a sexuality slur. Nice.
ReplyDeleteBack to the topic at hand: No, vetoes aren't crimes, although I'm sure some Republican backers might think that they are come the next campaign season when Dems hit them with hundreds of ads tying Incumbents with (R)'s behind their name to Perry and his policy decisions.
An impeachment could be one of the WORST things for Dems right now. It'd give the Repubs an out.
His CJ vetos were bad enough, but the Community College insurance money was as bad or worse. That is mostly because EVERYBODY was blindsided, including the 'publicans. IMO, Perry did this solely to stir things up and get more headlines. I think he subscribes to the theory that any publicity is good publicity for a politician, and I guess he has his eye on a national office, altho I can't see how he could get elected to ANYthing. If the lege and the LBB had known he was going to pull this stunt, they could have simply shuffled some money around and fixed it during the session. Of course, this is exactly why Big Chief Happy Hair kept silent until the session was over. Ma Ferguson said "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for Texas". She didn't say that because it was funny. She said it because she was stupid. Still, even with stiff competition, I think Perry is in the running for worst governor in Texas history.
ReplyDelete