Don't Fear the Reefer

     In class we are always discussing the budget deficit facing our state in the upcoming two years. We also discuss the disturbing ways that we will likely go about closing this gap. Most commonly we talk about the cuts on education and health care. I often suggest the legalization and taxation of marijuana as a possible way to at least make a dent in that deficit. It is usually laughed about, but I believe we should look at the real financial benefits of doing so. Most economists and even politicians such as Ron Paul are against the prohibition of marijuana. Economists estimate that the state of Texas would generate as much as 6.2 billion dollars annually if they taxed marijuana as they do alcohol or tobacco. They also say that the we would save 7.7 billion dollars in state and federal expenditures that are used for prohibition enforcement. I don't know exactly how that translates to Texas but considering Texas incarcerates more people than any other state and we have the most active border; I'm guessing Texas makes up a large percentage of that money. Even if it's only 10 % that equates to 770 million dollars per year. Over a two year span that equates to a total of nearly 14 billion dollars in savings and revenue. That is more than half of the estimated deficit. For all of you prohibitionists out there, you are not stopping people from smoking pot by making it illegal. You are only making it dangerous for them to do so. You are also paying for punishing a person for committing a victimless crime. Think about the price you are paying to keep it illegal. If you think it should be illegal, ask yourself why, and then investigate to see if your reasons are justified. This is a situation where being narrow-minded could rob your own child of a quality education, or even cause many children to go without health care. Maybe it's time for a priority check.

Getting More Dumber!

     While reading my classmates blogs, I came across a blog written by Mr. Trevino called , "Who's Paying for the 25 Billion ?". The blog is referring to the huge budget debt the state is facing and the likely methods the majority republican state government will use to close the gap. I must say that I agree with Mr. Trevino and would like to add some additional reasoning as to why these are not good methods. He first discusses the fact that education seems to be the first place the government is looking to make budget cuts.Let's take a look at how Texas stacks up to the rest of the states when it comes to education. These stats come directly from the state comptrollers web site..
#14 Percentage of 4th-graders scoring at or above proficient in math in school year 2005 (40 percent)
#20 Percentage of 8th-graders scoring at or above proficient in math in school year 2005 (31 percent)
#35 Number of schools identified as needing improvement based on adequate yearly progress, school year 2004 (199)
#35 Percentage of 8th-graders scoring at or above proficient in reading in school year 2005 (26 percent)
#35 Percentage of 4th-graders scoring at or above proficient in reading in school year 2005 (29 percent)
#36 High school graduation rates in school year 2002 (68 percent)
#46 Average math SAT scores in school year 2005 (502)
#49 Average verbal SAT scores in school year 2005 (493)
It seems like cutting education budget would be like pourring salt into an already wounded system. It does make sense though. Keeping the education level low creates uneducated laborers, which benefits corporations. The main concern of Republicans.
     Mr. Trevino then points out the next place to make cuts will likely be law enforcement. Texas currently ranks 37th in # of homicides per 100,000 people. This means that you are less likely to be murdered in 36 other states. Texas also ranks #44 in crimes per capita and #39 in number of violent crimes per capita. Seems to me this is another bad place to look for budget cuts.
     According to U.S. census figures. in March of 2009 alone the state of Texas paid government employees a salary of  $1,225,533,903. With those sort of numbers it is hard for me to imagine that better places to make budget cuts do not exist. The people of Texas will , however, continue to vote these people into office. Somebody, please give me an educated reason why! Please tell me soon because at this rate the "educated Texan" will soon be extinct.

When Our Backs Are Turned

     I just learned today of a very disturbing law concerning the Governor's veto power over legislation. The Texas state constitution gives the Governor the power to veto bills that have been passed by the legislature.
Though this a very powerful tool I believe it essential, and one of the few things that strengthen the generally weak office of Governor in this state,but it seems it is being used in an unfair and dishonest way. Once the governor receives a bill he has ten days to veto, if there are still ten days or more remaining in the 140 day session. If there are less than 10 days remaining the Governor is given 20 days to veto. Once the Governor vetoes a bill the Legislature is given the power to vote down the Governor's Veto, requiring a 2/3 vote to do so. The problem with this law is that it is being manipulated by the Governor's office to take the power of voting down a veto out of the hands of Legislature. Once the legislative session has ended, the legislators go home and no one is there to vote down the veto. Governors often wait until the last day available to them to veto a bill so there veto can not be overturned. This essentially makes our Legislature powerless. These are the people we vote into office to protect our interests in government. We should be very concerned that constitutional laws can be used in such a dishonest manner. Clearly the intention of the law is to provide the Governor more time to make decisions on bills at a time when his or her desk tends to be a little crowded. The law is definitely not there to strip away the power of the Legislature. This is especially crippling to the legislature due to the fact that the Governor alone has the power to call for a special session. This means that if the session has ended when a veto takes place there is nothing that the Legislature can do about it. This could potentially cause a very unjust law to be upheld for at least two years, until the Legislature meets again. The argument has been made that Legislature should not wait until the last minute to submit bills to avoid this situation. I believe that this frame of mind would cause Legislature to prioritize every issue presented to them and could cause some issues to be overlooked all together. I also fear that some complex issues may require the entire session to address properly. If this is the case it places the most important issues in the hands of one person. The situation could also arise where an important issue does not come to light until late in the session. I, for one; do not want Legislature making hurried decisions about anything. I can think of two possible resolutions to this problem. One possible solution is for Texas to adopt a full time legislature. The other would be to allow the legislature to call for special sessions to deal with these issues. Maybe a 2/3 vote would be needed to call the special session. Something has to change since it is apparent that no Governor will call a special session to have his own veto overridden