The state received Fs for the accountability of the governor, for public access to information, the accountability of civil service managers, state insurance commissions and the state’s handling of redistricting
Note: Back in the day, taking home a report card full of Ds and Fs would prompt a stern lecture, or worse, from mom and dad. "You're grounded, sonny boy, until you get these grades UP!" We're not sure who to blame more here, the shameless politicians in office who control the levers of power or the voters who keep putting these losers in office. Either way, it is becoming abundantly clear politicians winning elections in the Texas Legislature today essentially believe in closed-door government, with little regard for public accountability, transparency and fair play. Maybe things would change if voters began thinking more as parents and asserted some discipline at the polls come election time. 
You might ask the two state representative candidates running for the 45th House District seat (Hays and Blanco counties) in November what they intend to do about this abysmal report card for Texas. Republican Jason Isaac of Dripping Springs (left photo) is running for a second term. As the incumbent, it is his duty to his constituents to address how he plans to help raise the bar on good government standards at the state Capitol. A grade of D+ in Legislative Accountability certainly is not a good reflection on Isaac or the rest of the members of the Legislature. Isaac's Democratic challenger John Adams (on right) is serving his second term on the Dripping Springs school board. Adams is campaigning on restoring the huge cuts in public school funding enacted by lawmakers last legislative session. He should campaign equally hard on confronting the loose oversight lawmakers place on themselves and the governor's office, and he should not let Isaac take a free pass on this vital public issue. Send your comments to the complete story link, to Rep. Isaac at Jason.Isaac@house.state.tx.us, to Mr. Adams at join@johnadamsforstaterep.com or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the report
Texas Watchdog
By Mark Lisheron
Published March 19, 2012
Read the complete story
Texas does a pretty lousy job creating through its laws and implementation a system of government resistant to corruption.
But so do most of the states in the union, according to a new study headed by the Center for Public Integrity of the accountability of the three branches of state government, public access to information, maintenance of ethics laws and other categories.
Two other nonprofit groups, government transparency specialist Global Integrity and Public Radio International collaborated on the study.
Texas was one of 26 states given a grade of D+ or worse, eight of those Fs. No state got an A, and the apple polisher of the class, New Jersey, earned the top grade of B+ because its history of entrenched corruption prompted the passage of strong government accountability laws recently.
You can find the rankings of all of the states in several major accountability categories here.
The state earned its dismal grade by failing in five of the 14 areas examined in the study: Fs for the accountability of the governor, for public access to information, the accountability of civil service managers, state insurance commissions and the state’s handling of redistricting.
In other news: Women Set Rick Perry's Facebook Page on Fire
“I would like your opinion since I can’t make medical decisions myself being a woman and all,’’ one woman wrote on Perry’s Facebook wall.
17 comments:
Duh! Why is this not surprising?
I am resubmitting a comment I made about Isaac in a previous post.
"Jason Isaac represents everything that is backwards and screwed up about the Republican Party.
He co-authored and supports the big government Texas mandatory sonogram law, which sane conservatives in other states have shunned.
Isaac ignorantly supports blanket de-funding of women's access to birth control and family planning counseling - which immediately prevents unwanted pregnancies and the sad necessity of abortions.
Isaac also supports the racist and totalitarian voter ID laws - which are clearly based on bogus scapegoating and highly exagerated claims of voter fraud.
His record since coming to office shows he is really a closet racist and xenophobe - as well as a big government hypocrite.
He represents everything that has made the Republican Party a crazy fringe party, essentially a pandering political gang for American haters of women and minorities."
Which begs the question: Why would anyone think Isaac is smart enough to do anything about political corruption in Texas?
Yea Jason Isaac-doing everything the voters elected him to do!!
Anonymus March 22, 2012 3:10 PM
To Emancipator March 21,2012 10:12 AM
What is your beef about the voter ID laws? Everyone who drives has a photo ID? There are some that drive that so far don't have a license are you for them? Maybe your emotions are in charge of you.
How about Conley?
No problem with funneling millions of taxpayer dollars to the direct personal benefit of WVWA. Got a $2.6 million mortgage? No problem, call yourself a "non-profit" and ask Conley to have the county taxpayers pay off your mortgage and leave you with clear title to the property they bought.
When things are looking rough, offer to sell some of the land that the county taxpayers paid for right back to the county. I don't know what's more incredible: a) that Conley's used another $1.8 million of taxpayer dollars to acquire 31 acres that the taxpayers already paid for back from WVWA or b) that WVWA was allowed to keep 15+ acres that the taxpayers paid for.
D+? how about F? Is there anything lower? The study was about risk of corruption. How do you rate if it's a forgone conclusion and not just a risk?
To Anonymous of March 22, 3:13 PM:
Do you really need someone to explain to you why making a driver's license as proof of voter eligibility is ridiculous:
Here are three reasons:
1. The Blind can drive. Should they not be allowed to vote?
2. Senior citizens - who are no longer able to drive - hence no DL - but can get a ride to the polling place. Deny them the right to vote?
3. People who live in city and choose to use public transportation who don't want to own a car and choose not to get a DL. Are they criminals?
4. How about criminals who get a forged DL or passport? Should they be able to vote but not the three groups above.
Or are you just too stupid to come up with valid examples of groups that don't fit your non-democratic profile of a good citizen.
I think it must be the latter!
There's the VWWA nutcase again.
Obsesssing on David Baker again.
He must have a gay thing for Baker!
Nah, maybe Conley does.
Conley directed $5 million or more of taxpayer dollars in Baker's direction. You'd think Conley was working for the WVWA instead of the county. Their "tryst" has cost the taxpayers a lot of dough. See how long the love fest lasts when Conley no longer has access to the taxpayer-funded trough.
Rick Perry spoke at the annual Gridiron Dinner on Saturday evening, where he apparently won over the crowd with a series of jokes about gay marriage and his former presidential primary opponents.
During the dinner, Perry noted that he majored in "animal husbandry," which he said is "what Rick Santorum thinks happens as a result of gay marriage."
However, Perry's knowledge of animal husbandry, as many know, might not be quite up to snuff either. He received poor grades within his major, including a D in veterinary anatomy.
The Texas governor also poked fun at himself as "The weakest Republican field in history, and they kicked my butt," he said.
Funny, except when you think about he and his extremist wing of the Republican Party - which includes Jason Isaac - who have no problem imposing animal husbandry techniques on women.
In fact, their big government mandatory sonogram laws and forced breeding programs designed to defund organizations that provide birth control services and family planning counseling - actually increase the need for abortions.
It is this ignorance and hypocrisy that should make the attendees at the Gridiron Club ashamed of such humor.
But maybe more important is not the fact that male Republicans agree with such crude ignorance, but that Republican women passively allow themselves to be legislatively mandated to be broodmares by their own political party.
If the silence by Republican women on this issue continues, it is probably the worse example of "family co-dependency" I can imagine.
Isn't it time Republican women take a stand against such ugly ignorance within their own party?
Talking about an event you surely did not attend....... Any excuse to spew your tired old rhetoric.
I read the same reports about Perry's sick Gridiron Club comments as Rocky did.
Thank God someone even has the courage to point out the ugliness that gets vomited out by Perry and the right wing extremists.
As Rick Perry said during a Groucho Marx impression:
"Who would want to belong to a club that would have me as a member."
Jason Isaac is our ineffectual, lazy Representative to the Texas House.
Early on various posters on this blog wondered how Isaac could possibly be reading up on bills that were before the Legislature because he was so often out schmoozing with lobbyists. "Frat boy" is how he was often described.
The only weighty piece of legislation he sponsored was a bill to give more powers to the Hays County Development District #1 (Caliterra) which Patrick Rose had previously shepherded to passage. Fortunately (since Isaac's additions to Rose's bill would have had residents in the District paying for such things as fountains, golf courses, skywalks, etc.) the House committee to which Isaac's bill was assigned wouldn't even let it get out of committee. A defeat for Isaac and his backers in development of subdivisions.
But Isaac was able to make his mark and do some damage by co-authoring and sponsoring the sonogram bill which passed and by getting several MUDs created for developers in Hays and Caldwell counties.
I'm looking forward to the candidate forums with Isaac and his Democratic challenger, John Adams, also from Dripping Springs. John is a smart, likeable DSISD school board member who can think on his feet -- not put them in his
mouth.
Do you think Isaac has reconciled himself to being a one-term TX House rep? I never hear anything from or about him these days.
To 9:01-
Hm-m-m. It could be Isaac WILL be a one-termer. I doubt his Dripping Springs patron will lend him another $300,000+ to run this second campaign.
I also cannot wait to see a numbskull like Isaac try to debate actual issues with a well-informed John Adams.
Republicans need to take a look at John Adams as a way to finally get a smart (and honest and not beholden to special interests) guy in that office.
I suspect they will realize this is a person who might keep the interests of people around here foremost in his mind for longer than 30 seconds.
Tell Jason Isaac to leave the Texas House and return to his own.
Vote for John Adams (Dripping Springs) instead.
www.johnadamsforstaterep.com
He's also on facebook (john adams for state rep) and twitter
(@adams4staterep).
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