Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott lost another case. This is very good news for Texas families, school teachers and administrators.
This has not been a splendid week for Republican politicians across the board. This is also true in Texas where a judge ruled the school finance system as unconstitutional. He noted that the public education in the state is "inefficient, inequitable and inadequate."
This is the second time a judge has ruled the school finance system as unconstitutional. For the method of funding schools is a de facto state property tax in which such is not permitted by the state. In 2011 the state's Republican dominated Legislature had cut $5.4 billion from school budgets in order to close a financial shortfall. The Republican dominated Legislature refused to touch a penny from the state's rainy day funds so they slashed and burned budgets for education and human services instead. Of course everyone in this state should know by now that the Texas GOP has always been anti-public education and most of those on the far right also loath human services, especially those for the poor and minorities. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis tried to filibuster the deep cuts to school budgets in 2011 but the ruthless Republicans in the majority prevailed.
This recent second ruling is not good news for the state's Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate, Greg Abbott. For he lost his case for the Texas Legislature vs. 600 public schools.
A judge on Thursday again declared Texas' school finance system unconstitutional, reaffirming his 2013 ruling that struck down the current mode of funding public education as inefficient and inadequate.
"The court finds that the Legislature has failed to meet its constitutional duty to suitably provide for Texas public schools because the school finance system is structured, operated and funded so that it cannot provide a constitutionally adequate education for all Texas schoolchildren," state District Judge John Dietz wrote in his ruling.
He also ruled the system "constitutionally inadequate" and "financially inefficient." Finally, he said it effectively imposes a state property tax in violation of the state Constitution.
Greg Abbott has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to protect a broken school finance system while other Republicans such as candidates for Lt . Governor, Dan Patrick and state Comptroller Glen Hegar have publicly applauded the cuts to education.
"Republicans like Sens. Dan Patrick and Glenn Hegar have touted their education cuts as a victory, and Attorney General Greg Abbott defended those cuts in court," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said. "The decision today is clear: these cuts were bad for Texas students and our state."
David Hinojosa, Southwest Regional Counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, said the ruling was especially important for Texas' Spanish speaking students.
Meanwhile it seems that Greg Abbott has chickened out on the one scheduled debate with Democratic candidate Wendy Davis. Ms. Davis had requested six across this huge state but Greg Abbott was apparently too afraid to debate more than one time. And now it seems he is too terrified to debate at all.
Hide and don't watch oversight.
Wendy Davis has been attacking Greg Abbott on his past record especially one in which he looked the other way when his donor cronies looted the state's cancer institute's (CPRIT) piggy bank.
It is not quite September yet but the elections in the state are already heating up.
Just know that those of us on behalf of the Texas Democratic Party and Battleground TX are working around the clock in order to elect Wendy Davis and other Democrats. We are registering voters, making phone calls and knocking on doors. All throughout the state, several times a week. We had four events in my area alone in Houston last weekend. We ignore the polls, we blow off the pundits and we keep our noses to the grindstone instead. Yours truly is a neighborhood team leader and let me just say we have one pretty amazing and dedicated group of volunteers. We are more than ready for transformational change in leadership in Texas.
As of now we have a Governor who has been indicated for the abuse of the power of his office and a candidate for Attorney General who is threatened with indictment and censure for sleazy financial dealings.
A culture of corruption and greed has pervaded this state for far too long. And if Republicans like Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ken Paxton are elected, it will get even worse.
Vote, Texas, Vote. Right now we are a low voting state.
Intolerant, lacking compassion, wanting to drag women into the past.
Moving along to the national Republican loony tunes bubble, Karl Rove actually thought he had to commission a poll to learn how women feel about the GOP. I cannot repeat what some of my lady friends on Facebook had to say about this. Karl Rove may as well have hired a poll to ask if the Pope is Catholic.
Please follow me under the orange croissant.
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