Budget problems? Weird...

In order to stay consistent with my concern over budget cuts from anything involving education, I have chosen to discuss our state's current stance in that department.  The latest hot topic in Texas government is the current legislative session; particularly bills proposing budget cuts.  Controversy has arisen as a result of these bills and has become problematic between members in both the House and the Senate.  Debate is over which funds to cut in order to reduce our debt.  

But that's not the primary concern.  The main problem is the time constraint they are facing with only 31 days left.  Obviously the budget proposal is the necessary motive for these sessions, but debt is a simultaneous deterrent at the time also.  If the members don't reach a consensus in time it'll lead to a special session.

Senator Ogden proposed what he calls an "adequate" bill that he is struggling to get sufficient votes for and is the prime culprit of why decision making has dramatically slowed down.  Aside from that, the House and the Senate seem to be having a hard time reaching an agreement on the budget for the next two years to come.  The Senate is proposing a 12 billion dollar higher proposal than the House.  The amount difference is due to higher budgets for Health and Human Services, public schools, and scholarships proposed by the Senate, the House has cut funding form all these areas.

Another idea of Senator Ogden's was to dip into 3 billion dollars of the state's reserves in case the economy doesn't improve; which of course stirred up further controversy and continues to slow down progress even more.  Many say that using that back up would only worsen the situation and that we should save as much as possible, but the senator believes it necessary in order to further support those previously stated services.  No one is saying it's they are going to take out more money from the reserves, he is only keeping that option open in case the expected growth of the economy is not met.

Hopefully an agreement is made and a debate can start before a special session has to be held.  Most importantly, hopefully funds are not cut from the ever so important educational services.  Like I always say, priorities must be set and Congress must organize a level of importance to these services up for debate.  Education is the key to our future and aside from the most essential of services it should be last on the list of budget cuts.  This will have a very long and detrimental effect on the state in the long run if placed last on the list of importance.  Representatives need to take a long hard look at what is really worth keeping alive and what isn't, because they hold the fate of this state's potential.

Guns on campus

I decided to comment on your post because this is an area in which I have struggled with since word about this bill began to spread shortly after Colton Tooley opened fire on campus before turning the gun on himself. 

It directly affected me since I was one of the few students who actually passed by him on his way into the library. Remembering him turning around, smiling, and waving at a couple of us going into class with one hand while holding on to his weapon inside his coat with the other remains so surreal to me and still sends shivers up my spine. 

Since the incident, I have always consdiered the benefits and drawbacks of carrying a concealed weapon on campus. Much is to be considered. But this is the initial fear I had when debating whether I support it or not. It's no secret that while inebriated you become more reckless and make decisions that you normally wouldn't in sound mind. This can cause the obvious problem of the weapon being used for the wrong reason when the consequences are not measured. 

But another option to consider is how reponsible people seeking their concealed weapon lincense would behave in a possible future gunman rampage. Let's say Tooley had actually opened fire on those he encountered along the way in to the library, if someone mentally stable and using their best judgement had been around and carrying his/her personal weapon they would have been able to stop him and possibly prevent the wounding or even killing of innocent bystanders. 

I am by no means giving my full support to this proposed bill, I definitely still have mixed feelings about the entire issue, but that is something to consider. Which would be the lesser of the two evils?

Opinion of Texas State and Local Government

Standing back and surveying the effects that government has on it's citizens, it is notable that all states function in (essentially) the same manner in terms of their Constitutions and three branches of government. Obviously this is due to the Constitution based republic style of government that our country functions as.  So, in order to give the best critique of our state's government I will attempt to narrow down this broad concept and focus on political party control.

What distinguishes us from other states is the vast spectrum of diversity among our people.  There is so much variation among our population's ethnicity, backgrounds, ideology, socioeconomic status... the list could go on for days.  And all these distinctions become more noticeable as you travel from region to region.  You could almost say that Texas stands as a nation all it's own.

Along with these differences among our state's citizens comes choosing sides.  When forming opinions about the government, most people establish their political party preference, giving them something to fall back on because they can relate to a particular party's stance.  The results in determining ones political ideology and affiliating oneself with that chosen political party is directly linked to which party will become the dominant one in mandating how all citizens will be governed.  I can relate it all to a big puzzle, one piece links to another until they are all strategically placed in to completion.  Political parties are the basis of each candidate's platform running for office, individuals select their preferred party based on the development of their ideology, this preference comes from their background and the culture that they are a part of that was created by their environment, which in turn leads them to vote or not vote for our future leaders accordingly.  It's a given that Texas is a Republican dominant state, but this stems as a result in the shift of principles among the Democrats' ideology during the Civil Rights movement and completed with the rezoning battles.  However, as years progress and ethnic minorities become increasingly more and more the majority (as patterns have shown), the possibility exists that the Democratic party will regain its throne and rise as the dominant party once again. 

As it stands, Texas government hasn't faced much more problems than any other state given the nation's current economic condition.  Overall, we are facing the same tough decisions necessary to improve our situation.  It is tremendously unfortunate that our debt is so great that we are having to dip into our funds for education and it is something that I completely disagree with, but there doesn't seem to be any way around it.  But this is just one of many pieces of legislature that is made as a result of the Republican party establishing their dominance in this state.  I can not say whether things would be different if the Democratic party were in power and making decision based on their more liberal inclinations.  As I said initially, the choices we make, whether it be which political party we agree with or vote for or if we even  choose to vote at all, directly influences how we will be affected in our daily lives.