Election is a referendum on the current Republican leadership
Summer vacation is over, the kids are back in school and because it’s an even-numbered year, we need to think about how we will vote.
Because all of us need to answer a simple question: Are the state’s elected leaders doing a good job? In terms of Texans’ life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, the answer is a demonstrable “no.”
(Note: My job as a columnist is to provide my analysis of matters regarding money, politics and life in Texas. I speak for myself and am not a member of any political organization or party. I’m paid to share my opinions; feel free to ignore them.)
Texans will begin voting Oct. 24 for a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, railroad commissioner, agriculture commissioner, land commissioner, state comptroller, congressperson, state senator and House member to represent them.
Since 1998, the GOP has won every statewide election, and Republicans have controlled the Legislature since 2003. After two decades of one-party rule, the 2022 election is a referendum on current leadership.
Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and almost every GOP leader brag about their pro-life politics. But when it comes to Texans’ lives, their record is poor.
Texans’ life expectancy has dropped by 2.1 years, faster than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Re
publicans refuse to expand Medicaid to include the working poor, leaving 1.4 million Texans without health coverage. Our state has the highest uninsured rate in the country, denying working people care until it becomes an emergency.
Abbott and Patrick blocked mask mandates and other public health programs that could have prevented more than 5,000 COVID deaths while triggering $7.7 billion in excess medical spending, a study financed by the Episcopal Health Foundation found.
The state’s leaders have also reduced Texans’ liberty. Texas’ anti-abortion law prioritizes fetuses over women’s rights by omitting exceptions for rape and incest. And Abbott has sicked Child Protective Services on parents seeking the standard medical treatment for their transgender children.
Abbott and his appointees have done a lousy job caring for living children. More than 2,300 workers have fled the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and 600 teenagers spend 23 hours a day locked in cells because the Texas Juvenile Justice Department is in total chaos.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, is interested in overturning the Supreme Court decisions legalizing sodomy and same-sex marriage. GOP leaders have refused to repeal the laws banning both, which means they will kick in if Paxton wins his cases.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has expanded the liberty of young people with anger issues to acquire and publicly carry high-powered weapons that send police running. Lawmakers have also boosted Christian nationalism by requiring schools to publicly hang placards that read, “In God We Trust.”
Many Texans find it difficult to pursue happiness because state officials fail to provide essential services and cannot keep the lights on or protect the environment.
Texas is a playground for the wealthy and healthy but a nightmare for anyone else, thanks to property and sales taxes that shift the burden away from high earners and onto everyday Texans.
The state’s low per capita government spending means more than 200,000 disabled Texans must wait a decade or more for services, such as job training, my colleague Alex Stuckey revealed in an investigative series. Tens of thousands of public school teachers quit this year because of low pay and lousy benefits.
Big industries, meanwhile, are well-protected. Railroad Commission Chairman Wayne Christian refuses to acknowledge the natural gas industry’s role in the February 2021 freeze that killed hundreds of Texans. The commission is dragging out new weatherization rules, hoping people will forget.
Railroad commissioners also inadequately regulate 140,000 inactive oil and gas wells across the state and allow massive methane leaks from those still operating. Pipeline regulations remain a joke.
Last week, Comptroller Glenn Hegar struck a blow against Texans by blocking BlackRock and nine other financial giants from doing business with state and local governments. The Legislature has targeted companies that minimize investments in guns and fossil fuels, and it’s raising the rates Texans pay for financial services.
Some people complain that government is the problem, but the government is us. We choose the people in charge and can replace them. Over the next eight weeks, I’ll dive deeper into the candidates and issues.
Twenty years is a long time for one-party rule, and the current regime seems more interested in scoring political points with extremists than serving Texans. But unlike most one-party states, you can review the regime’s job performance and replace it if you like.
Chris Tomlinson, named 2021 columnist of the year by the Texas Managing Editors, writes commentary about money, politics and life in Texas. Sign up for his “Tomlinson’s Take” newsletter at HoustonChronicle.com/TomlinsonNewsletter. twitter.com/cltomlinson chris.tomlinson@chron.com