Thumbs up, down
A $50 million check for Houston, and Trump punts on female judicial talent, again.
It was nice of Gov. Abbott to fly over to Houston on Friday for a meeting and news conference with Mayor Sylvester Turner. There was backslapping and handshaking despite the governor’s patronizing remarks toward the mayor earlier in the week. Instead of saying “I’m sorry,” Abbott did the equivalent of buying your wife diamond earrings. He pulled out a $50 million check (from a state emergency fund) and presented it to Houstonians. That wasn’t so hard, was it? The mayor reciprocated by calling off a planned one-year tax increase that we still believe could go to good use. We need tax dollars, and we need them any way we can get them. Both men deferred to the Feds for the Big Three flood prevention projects that must be appropriated and funded: a third reservoir, bayou infrastructure work and coastal protection. Our disappointment is that Abbott is acting slowly and without vision. He should call a special session of the Legislature to establish a regional flood control authority so everyone is truly working together; he should figure out a way to accelerate the building of safety projects along our watersheds; and, among other things, he must lead an effort to bring ordinance-making powers to unincorporated areas. Our thumbs are twitching to write something nice about him.
Show us an elected official, and we’ll show you a person who pulls punches and plays it politically correct. Not Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack. He visited the editorial board this week about flooding and pointed a finger of blame at many of his fellow conservatives who have sat on their hands when they had an opportunity to help. Congressman John Culberson, Radack says, is more concerned about space aliens than flood control. Gov. Greg Abbott is making a “terrible mistake” by not calling a special session. And his fellow county commissioners should approve a property tax increase for flood projects.
Karma happens. The week after Harvey, the Astros were to host a three-game series with the Rangers. Our hurricane-ravaged guys asked Texas to make a trade: Let us play the August games in Arlington and move the September games to Houston. The heartless, we-don’t-have-your-back Rangers said “no,” and the first series was relocated to Florida. The second three-game series ended Wednesday with the soon-to-be-World Series champion Astros winning by a combined score of 37-7. We still think the Rangers shouldn’t be allowed to wear a Texas flag on their uniforms.
State District Judge Bill Burke, a Republican, this week refused to overturn a law that gives Texas doctors the power to suspend life support in cases they deem futile. More important, he stood up to Attorney General Ken Paxton, who, instead of defending the state — as he is elected to do — filed a brief supporting the plaintiff. “I find your presence very unsettling,” Burke said. “I suspect you’re looking for a shoehorn into the abortion debate. I’m not going to go there.”
When you think of progressive cities in Texas, Lubbock doesn’t exactly make your Top 10 list. So imagine our surprise when Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec showed that he’s a First Amendment absolutist by not bowing to the politically correct when he learned that a visiting lecturer dubbed a “bigot” was scheduled to deliver an on-campus talk. “I said, ‘How can you promote that kind of serious discussion on social issues if the first time you are given a controversial case you say, ‘Let’s avoid this,’” Schovanec told the Texas Tribune.
The city of Pasadena blatantly discriminated against Latinos, a federal judge ruled in a January voting rights case. Instead of accepting the verdict, the city decided to drag out the pain with an appeal. That was until Friday, when new mayor Jeff Wagner announced he’ll seek a $1 million settlement. All of this would have been unnecessary if Pasadena had not adopted a system designed to shut out Hispanic voices. Let this be a lesson to the state and Harris County, which keep getting smacked around with their own unending lawsuits that crack down on the less fortunate.
For someone who entrusts his daughter with one of the most important jobs in the United States, you’d think Donald Trump would understand that gender equity in the workplace is essential. This page recently bemoaned his administration’s appalling lack of female appointments to U.S. attorney jobs. He’s nominated only one — yes one — woman for 42 openings. So, maybe he’d show some atonement in judicial appointments? If the Fifth Circuit is any indication, the answer is “no.” Trump named four circuit judges this week to the New Orleans-based court. All answer to “his honor.”