The proverbial struggle to claim king of the morality mountain after the 2004 election cycle has obscured one of the most stunning political stories of the year. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Talmadge Heflin lost his seat to political novice Hubert Vo.
Somewhere, the "Little Engine that Could" is smiling. Conservative number crunchers, on the other hand, are not.
Rumors of a potential state budget shortfall will not be confirmed until the comptroller releases the biennial revenue estimate. In the meantime, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst predicted Texas would fall about $2 billion short of current spending levels.
This would be a far cry from the $10 billion gap that Mr. Heflin helped fill in 2003. You know you have hit hard times when being down $2 billion starts to sound easy.
Two years ago, state budget writers were asked to pull a rabbit out of a hat by trimming the budget down to match the projected revenues. Instead, they simply pulled the poor out of social service programs.
Even though the budget hurdle looks to be smaller this time around, lawmakers must jump it without their first-string budget writer.
Few dollars find their way into state coffers unattached from independent state statutes or federal mandates. Much like the board game Jenga, if you pull out the wrong piece, the entire structure collapses. Heflin understood the complex process better than anyone.
The ousted chairman filed a challenge last week to his election loss. In announcing his challenge he declared, "It is not about who won and who lost."
I completely agree: It is only about who lost. Pardon me if my cynicism forbids me from accepting that the samebody that redistricted Austin into oblivion will look out for the voters of Heflin's district.
So, just how will Texas bankroll the ever-decreasing list of state services, especially while state leaders continue to call for reducing property taxes and increasing education funding? Dewhurst indicated revamping the business franchise tax as a possible solution. However, that idea could not gain traction with a shortfall five times larger than the one Texas currently faces.
Gov. Rick Perry took a different strategy during his special session on school finance. He advocated new taxes on "adult"-oriented businesses, as well as video poker machines at racetracks. Unfortunately, the puritanical House reacted by collectively giving the governor the bird. They took up the issue for the sole purpose of voting it down - unanimously.
The governor recognizes that sin taxes represent exactly the compromise American politics needs. They allow conservatives to punish morally reprehensible behavior such as smoking, drinking and strip clubs via a use-tax applicable only to consumers - an ever-popular tax philosophy of the right.
Also, since conservatives are not the people engaging in such atrocities, their burden will remain low.
Liberals continuously mouth off about their willingness to pay more in order to provide services for the poor or to fund education. We also know that these folks are the ones who will be doing all the gambling and drinking.
This even has the potential to solve the gay marriage dilemma. I have no idea what a marriage license costs. However, I would be willing to pay two or three times whatever the breeders pay in order to tie the knot. It would be cheaper than migrating north, and the money would stay right here to build a stronger Texas.
At least it better - because after I add up smoking, drinking, strip clubs and a gay marriage, I will need one heck of a job to pay all those taxes.
Jones is a government senior.
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