Inaugural “Buzz” and Budget
The Governor and Lt. Governor were sworn in to office yesterday. There really wasn’t much new or exciting about the whole thing. The same people returned to the same offices.
Due to the economic conditions, the ceremonies themselves were “toned-down”. I don’t fault anyone for celebrating their re-election victory with the pomp and circumstance of Inaugural ceremonies. It is the reward you get for surviving brutal campaigns. While Rick Perry was retaining his office, he certainly endured a year of challenging elections. He and his supporters deserved to acknowledge their victory.
It did seem that the whole event lacked the heart and spirit that normally accompanies these festivities though. The most exciting news from the swearing-in itself was the fly-over of an advertising plane. The “buzz” nearly drowned the Governor’s speech, according to those in attendance. The Governor, however, seemed completely unfazed and continued right on with his remarks.
The real story from the ceremonies was the too long speech by Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. It is true that in Texas, the Lt. Governor is a very powerful position. But much of his speech focused on D.C. It was clearly the launching pad for his U.S. Senatorial campaign. Good practice for the consultants too. They need to work on brevity and polish and adding a little excitement to their candidate. Even the party faithful were bored.
As the celebrants trekked off to the parties, House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts released the first look at the draconian state budget. Goodbye Pre-K education, get leaner school districts, wing-it higher ed, who needs Medicaid anyway, and much to my surprise – they even slashed some of the prisons.
In fact, in all of this budget talk, we have heard little about prisons. We keep hearing that education dominates the state budget but prisons are outrageously expensive as well. They tend to be a sacred cow as no one wants to release criminals back into society. But this first glance budget even recommends closing some prison facilities. Wow! We must really be broke.
The truth is that this budget is a starting point. Everyone knows that it just serves to start the discussions.
Fasten your seat belts folks – this is going to be one wild ride.
Meanwhile, congrats to the University of Houston for receiving recognition as a Tier 1 level research institution! Go Coogs!