Which Pledge? The Texas Budget Compact

Which Pledge? Governor Perry, already a signer of Grover Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, has sought to score political red blood density points by publicizing a "me too" pledge he calls the Texas Budget Compact. I was pleased to find out that Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (R-San Antonio) refused to sign based on his policy of not signing any such pledges. As Speaker, Straus fills a much stronger position in state government than the governor. It gives me faint hope, particularly for restoring some education funding, that he would refuse to limit his budget options before the next legislative session.

During a visit to Washington on Tuesday, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus also lauded the goals in Perry's "compact" - including a ban on assorted budget gimmicks, and a pledge not to raise taxes or create new taxes - while saying flat out that he doesn't sign pledges and won't sign this one. Dallas Morning News

As cause for despair, here is the list of Texas legislators on the Americans for Tax Reform website who have signed Norquist's pledge as of March 27, 2012. Presumably they will support Governor Perry's mini-pledge. I hope they all will give more weight to representing the interests of their districts than aligning themselves with Norquist's or Perry's goals. If the legislators themselves won't put Texas and Texans first, however, Texas voters can have their say in the Texas primary May 29th, The primary runoffs July 31st, and the general election November 5th.

6 Senators of 31
Brian Birdwell (S-22)
Chris Harris (S-9)
Joan Huffman (S-17)
Robert Nichols (S-3)
Dan Patrick (S-7)
Tommy Williams (S-4)

67 House members of 150
Jose Aliseda (H-35)
Alma Allen (H-131)
Doc Anderson (H-56)
Rodney Anderson (H-106)
Marva Beck (H-57)
Leo Berman (H-6)
Dwayne Bohac (H-138)
Fred Brown (H-14)
Linda Harper Brown (H-105)
Angie Chen Button (H-112)
Cindy Burkett (H-101)
Erwin Cain (H-3)
Bill Callegari (H-132)
Stefani Carter (H-102)
Wayne Christian (H-9)
Tom Craddick (H-82)
Brandon Creighton (H-16)
Myra Crownover (H-64)
Sarah Davis (H-134)
Joe Driver (H-113)
Gary Elkins (H-135)
Allen Fletcher (H-130)
Dan Flynn (H-2)
John Frullo (H-84)
John Garza (H-117)
Larry Gonzales (H-52)
Lance Gooden (H-4)
Kelly Hancock (H-91)
Patricia Harless (H-126)
Harvey Hilderbran (H-53)
Charlie Howard (H-26)
Dan Huberty (H-127)
Bryan Hughes (H-5)
Todd Hunter (H-32)
Jason Isaac (H-45)
Jim Keffer (H-60)
Phil King (H-61)
Tim Kleinschmidt (H-17)
John Kuempel (H-44)
Jim Landtroop (H-85)
Lyle Larson (H-122)
Jodie Laubenberg (H-89)
George Lavender (H-1)
Ken Legler (H-144)
Jerry Madden (H-67)
Dee Margo (H-78)
Geanie Morrison (H-30)
Jim Murphy (H-133)
Barbara Nash (H-93)
Ken Paxton (H-70)
Tan Parker (H-63)
Charles Perry (H-83)
Four Price (H-87)
Debbie Riddle (H-150)
Connie Scott (H-34)
Charles J. Schwertner (H-20)
Kenneth Sheets (H-107)
Mark Shelton (H-97)
John Smithee (H-86)
Larry Taylor (H-24)
Van Taylor (H-66)
Raul Torres (H-33)
Randy Weber (H-29)
James White (H-12)
Paul Workman (H-47)
John Zerwas (H-28)
Bill Zedler (H-96)

Recommended reading: Simon Johnson and James Kwak, White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters to You