Trimming the Fat in Texas
.
Juanita has just one question: How come when lawmakers say we need to trim the fat, the hogs never get touched?
Gov. Rick Perry, statewide elected officials and appointed agency leaders — many of whom are paid $150,000 or more — may not personally share the financial pain that teachers, disabled care workers and other state employees are expected to feel when Texas swings a budget ax aimed at trimming its $15 billion budget deficit.
House and Senate draft budgets make no cuts to the salaries of Texas’ statewide elected officials — all Republicans — and the leaders of the state’s largest agencies, including the Texas Education Agency, the department of Health and Human Services, and the departments of Aging and Disability Services and Family Protective Services.
“So, it’s tinkle down economics in Texas,” Juanita explains. “Rick Perry and his overpaid buddies tinkle down on top of teachers, mental health workers, the guys who keep the lights on at the Capitol, and tell them it’s raining.”