By Charles McClure

news@ltview.com

As one friend in the Texas House of Representatives tells me, “We have no adult supervision around here.” None of that will change with the selection of Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who appears to be the new Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

Sadly, the House is trying to do the right thing in the wrong way. Without a doubt, Rep. Tom Craddick, easily the worst Speaker of the House in my lifetime, needed to go. He turned what was once the picture of bipartisan government — the Texas House — into a bickering disaster area incapable of governing with any degree of fairness.

Craddick rose to his Speaker’s seat from the ashes of disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay’s behind-the-scenes redistricting hatchet job. Craddick and DeLay, in an effort to fulfull Karl Rove’s dream of a premanent Republican majority, then immediately turned Texas politics on its proverbial ear. Early on, it was clear that Craddick would rule through fear and intimidation. 

Over and over again, Craddick couldn’t get along with Gov. Rick Perry, or Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, or, for that matter, virtually anyone in the Texas Senate. When not bickering with other state leaders, Craddick spent virtually all of his time doing everything he could to keep the House completely divided were his own political party had complete control. It isn’t that he couldn’t work with Democrats — he couldn’t work with many Republicans. On several occassions during his reign of terror, he all but helped state government grind to a halt. 

I can speak from personal experience that Craddick’s office played fast and loose with the truth at every turn, particularly in his dealings with the press. Trust me, I have the files to prove it.

So why am I so worked up? After all, Craddick was an unqualified disaster who ruled the House with all the skill of a bull in a china closet. 

While Straus may turn out to be an improvement, he simply does not have the experience to be Speaker. He has only been in the House for three years, elected in a special election in February 2005.

Straus has no meaningful history of how the House once functioned in the days when both political parties actually worked together for the good of the state. And in Texas, where the Legislature only meets once every two years, bipartisanship is absolutely essential. However, the state representative who truly did the most to unseat Craddick — Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland — did. Keffer was the ONLY logical choice for this job.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have called Keffer my friend for well over a decade, so I also confess to being a bit biased where he is concerned. But when someone repeatedly proves to me they are a person of the highest professional and moral caliber, I take notice. And from my perspective, having actually worked in the Texas House and having some first-hand knowledge of its internal workings, experience is still experience. By ANY measure, Straus does not fit the bill.

Yet it is my personal experience working in the House that gives me insight as to why Straus, rather than Keffer, ended up with the job — it is all about the power of urban Texas over rural areas of the state. Keffer hails from tiny Eastland — not big, ol’ San Antonio.

Straus represents District 121, which includes the communities of Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, Terrell Hills, Windcrest, and northeast San Antonio. 

For years now, urban areas have been flexing their political muscles over rural residents. They have the numbers and at times the division between rural and urban in the Texas House is greater than party affiliation.

Still, what are they thinking? They are choosing to put someone in with a very, very slim a resume in power simply because he lives in a city. As usual, forget what is best for the state. Heck, why not just plow up some ground and slap down the much-hated Trans-Texas Corridor while we are at it? Then we can sell it to the highest, foreign bidder.

Of course, all of us should be accustomed to disappointment with Texas government. Just one example is how for 30 years the state has faked its way around the essential issue of financing state schools. It hands out so-called property tax breaks while leaving our independent school districts with gigantic funding shortfalls, knowing this is going to happen in advance. After all, why should we fix it anyway? It’s just the future of our kids and immoral, out-of-control property taxation. All this in the face of court-order after court-order saying these funding mechanisms are unconstitutional. Were the current funding laws challenged, I have no doubt they would again be declared unconstitutional. Besides, why would we want to actually do something right for a change anyway?

While Straus may be a person of good character, I know Keffer is a person of good character that has been seasoned with experience. He would have brought an intimate knowledge of the inner-workings of the House to the job.

According to the rumor mill, Straus was chosen because he doesn’t “have enemies.” Well, of course he doesn’t — he’s been in the House for less than three years.

It is just mind-boggling that this has happened. Straus will almost certainly be completely unacceptable to virtually all conservatives, and the Texas House is a very conservative place indeed. Keffer would have easily bridged the gap between conservatives and liberals while keeping the base of the House members in line.

Keffer supported Straus, but he understands that if the House didn’t dump Craddick, the continuation of the atmosphere of distrusts that has gripped the House for so many years simply would have continued. Sadly, the hunch here is the selection of Straus virtually assures more of the same.

Oh well, I guess everyone had good intentions, but as my dad, who also worked in the Texas House, was fond of saying, “good intentions pave the road to…” You get the picture.