Wharton Journal-Spectator (Wharton, Tex.), Vol. 124, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Page: 4 of 14
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Opinion
Wtjarton Journal-Spectator
www. j ournal-spectator.com
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 • Section A Page 4
Old dogs
and children
‘Doc’
Blakely
Pokin’ Fun
Tom T. Hall is a favor-
ite with country music
fans because he has such
a distinct voice, catchy
lyrics and is surrounded
by superb musicians. Of
course he does have his
critics.
To quote Kinky
Friedman, “I love all
of Tom T. Hall’s songs and
both of his tunes.” Many of
his tunes do sound alike, but
that one song about Old Dogs,
Children and Watermelon
Wine gets me every time.
I’ve looked and looked for the
wine down at H-E-B, but as
close as I can get to it is Mad
Dog 20/20. But hey, if I get
one of my grandkids to come
over I’ve completed the triad.
Let’s break down this song
bit by bit. Old dogs could refer
to a Pit Bull, Rottweiler, or
any of the designer dogs like
the Peekapoodle or Catahooli-
nese. They all get old though
unless they get too near
the swamp and try to cross
swords with a Gator, especial-
ly the six wheel variety made
by John Deere.
And there are all sorts
of dangers for a young dog
before he earns the right to
live to his designed life span.
A fellow called his neighbor
once and said, “Get over here
quick. Your dog is killing my
dog.” The guy said, “How
could my dog be killing your
dog. I have a Chihuahua and
you have a Great Dane.” The
answer was “My dog is about
to choke to death. Your dog is
hung in my dog’s throat.”
I love dogs. I’ve had a lot of
them to grow old and I have
missed them dearly when
they reached the end of their
days. I understand the term
“Comfort Dogs” completely.
Children are real charmers
too. My boys used to curl up
with a pile of dogs and nap
with the best of them. We
just let’em mingle. Everybody
had their own flea collar so
it worked out fine. The dogs
never caught anything seri-
ous from the boys.
So Old Dogs and Children
are quite compatible. The
Watermelon Wine is still a
mystery to me but I suspect
it has something to do with
spiking the melon with a
syringe full of Vodka, which I
have heard of some doing for
festive occasions.
There was this one restau-
rant that did this as a special
dessert for the Knights of Co-
lumbus meetings. They mis-
takenly sent it to the Ladies
Temperance Society meeting
in the adjoining room. When
the head chef discovered
what was happening he sent
the waiters in to correct the
mistake before it was put on
the tables. Alas, they were too
late; the liberated ladies had
served themselves and were
already eating it. The chef
asked for a report. Did they
detect the liquor; was the
hotel about to be in a heap of
trouble?
The head waiter told the
chef to relax. He said the girls
had scraped everything down
to the Rhine, drank all the
juice and were putting the
seeds in their pockets. Tom T.
Hall got it right.
■
Hey folks: The Java Jam
for June will be this Friday,
June 21 instead of the usual
fourth Friday. Terry Barnett
and Swingin’ On, a trio from
Baytown will be featured
guests from 6 to 9 p.m. at the
Milam Street Coffee Shop in
downtown Wharton.
Bring $15 per person and
a covered dish for Wharton’s
unique dining/live music ex-
perience. See www.milamst-
coffee.com for directions and
www.whartoncountytx.com
for more on Swingin’ On.
Doc Blakely is a humor-
ist and motivational speaker
who resides in Wharton. For
more information, visit www.
dochlakely.com.
How to reach your
elected/public officials
TEXAS
• Gov. Rick Perry (R)
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711-2428
Phone: 512463-2000
Fax: 512463-1849
Email: www.governor.state.
tx. us/contact
Website: www.governor.state.
tx.us
• State Senator Glenn Hegar,
District 18 (R)
P.O. Box 1008
Katy, TX 77492
Phone: 281-391-8883
Fax: 281-391-8818
Email: www.hegar.senate.
state.tx.us/#form
Website: www.hegar.senate.
state, tx.us
• State Rep. Phil Stephenson,
District 85 (R)
Room E1.316, Capitol Extension
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
Phone: 512463-0604
Fax: 512-463-5244
Website: www.house.state.
tx.us/members/member-
page/?district=85
WHARTON COUNTY
• County Judge Phillip Spen-
rath (R)
309 E. Milam St.
Wharton, TX 77488
Phone: 979-5324612
Fax: 979-532-1970
Email: judge.spenrath®
co.wharton.tx.us
Website: www.co.wharton.
tx.us
• Pet. 1 Commissioner Leroy
Dettling (R)
3738 FM 3012
Wharton, TX 77488
Phone: 979-532-1991
Fax: 979-532-0838
Email: leroy.dettling@
co.wharton.tx.us
Website: www.co.wharton.
tx.us
WHARTON
• Mayor Domingo Montalvo Jr.
120 E. Caney St.
Wharton, TX 77488
Phone: 979-5324811, Ext. 229
Fax: 979-532-0181
Email: dmontalvo@cityofwhar-
ton.com
Website: www.cityofwharton.
com
WHARTON ISD
• Rachel Rust, school board
president
2100 N. Fulton St
Wharton, TX 77488
Phone: 979-532-3871
Fax: 979-532-6228
Email: rrust@wphk-law.com
Website: www.whartonisd.net
Ornery Perry running again?
If Rick Perry isn’t planning to run
for re-election as governor in 2014 and
to try for president again in 2016, he’s
certainly not acting that way.
The longest-tenured governor in
Texas history has been playing coy
about whether he’ll seek yet another
term, or the presidency — or both. But
all the signs he gives would indicate
that he wants to make both races.
His calling a special session to have
the Legislature adopt as their own the
legislative and congressional districts
drawn by a three-judge federal court for
the 2012 elections is designed to appeal
to Republicans.
His inclusion of some anti-abortion
laws in the special session that hadn’t
survived the regular legislative session
is aimed to appeal to right-to-life voters
in Texas, but also in other states.
And, the continuation of Perry’s
campaigning in blue states, ostensibly
to invite firms to relocate to Texas, is an
opportunity to build name identification
and presence there.
It is a cheap way to campaign for the
Republican presidential nomination,
and he can sell it as trying to act as a
one-man chamber of commerce hawker
for the Lone Star State. He uses a
private fund called TexasOne to finance
the trips.
The TexasOne funding includes
underwriting Come-to-Texas TV ads
to run in Connecticut and New York -
featuring guess who - and limited radio
ads that ran earlier in California and
New York in advance of Perry’s trips
there.
However, if you’re a Texas taxpayer
who didn’t relish footing the bill for Per-
ry’s security detail on out-of-state trips
for his 2011-12 presidential run, sorry.
You’ll also be paying for guarding Perry
on his campaign sorties this month.
This kicking of sand into the faces of
those blue-state Democratic governors
generates a lot of free publicity about
Perry’s confrontational style. It also
gives him a chance to brag on Texas’job
performance during his watch - though
he may not be mentioning the oil-and-
gas boom from fracking.
Perry has repeatedly said that he
would disclose his political plans after
the Legislature left town.
And why wouldn’t he run? He likes
the job, which comes with a free house
and staff, a security detail to drive
him around, air travel to go wherever
he wants, and to already be collecting
retirement of more than $92,000 a year
on top of his $150,000 salary.
Perry knows from experience that all
he has to do in red state Texas, unless
things change drastically, is win the
Republican primary — which he’s done
repeatedly. No Democrat has won a
statewide election since 1994.
Perry may think without an incum-
bent in 2016, running for president may
provide the same opportunity.
Perry, 63, is not shy about taking
chances, as he demonstrated when he
upset popular Democratic Agriculture
Commissioner Jim Hightower in 1990
to get his start in statewide office, and
when he ran for president last time.
He’s only 63. And how many people
have a chance to run for the most pow-
erful office in the world?
Stay tuned.
■
As part of his consideration of legis-
lation passed in the regular legislative
session that ended May 27, Perry used
his line-item budget veto power to cut
off the $7.5 million to operate the Travis
County District Attorney’s Public Integ-
rity Unit for the next two years.
Perry had said earlier he would veto
the appropriation for what is essentially
the state’s investigator of ethics infrac-
tions unless DA Rosemary Lehmberg
resigned.
She had pleaded guilty of driving
while intoxicated in April, after the
police videotape of her arrest ran inces-
santly on news programs.
Perry said while Lehmberg remains
as DA, the ethics investigative unit “has
lost the public’s confidence.”
Lehmberg, who received the stiffest
penalty for first-offense DWI in Travis
County history, had indicated she had
no intention of resigning. She’s a Demo-
crat, and if she did resign, Perry would
almost certainly appoint a Republican
to replace her.
After Perry’s veto threat got to the
media, Craig McDonald, director of
Texans for Public Justice, a progres-
sive watchdog on state government and
campaign expenditures, said Perry’s
threat may well have broken the laws
against bribery, and coercion of a public
official.
McDonald said legal efforts to force
Lehmberg from office have already been
filed in Travis County, and Perry has
“overstepped his authority by sticking
his nose in Travis County’s business.”
Perry’s “official threats attempt to
obtain two things that he can’t achieve
through legal democratic means,” Mc-
Donald charged.
One is removing an elected Demo-
cratic DA so he can appoint a Republi-
can. Another is axing the ethics investi-
gative unit checking into corruption “in
at least one of the governor’s signature
corporate subsidy programs.”
That is the Cancer Prevention and
Research Institute of Texas. It suffered
a major shake-up after disclosures that
tax-supported bond funds had gone to
contributors to Perry’s campaigns, and
to projects that hadn’t gotten required
clearance from scientific advisers.
Perry also vetoed a bill, sponsored
by Republican state Sen. Kel Seliger
of Amarillo, that would have trimmed
some of the power of university regents.
It was aimed at some University of
Texas regents appointed by Perry, who
were accused of meddling in the school’s
administration in an attempt to get rid
of UT Austin President Bill Powers.
One provision of the bill was that
regents couldn’t fire a university presi-
dent without the chancellor’s recom-
mendation.
Perry said limiting regents’ over-
sight “is a step in the wrong direction.
History has taught us that the lack of
board oversight in both the corporate
and university settings diminishes ac-
countability and provides fertile ground
for organizational malfeasance.”
Contact Dave McNeely at davemc-
neelylll@gmail.com or 512-458-2963.
Perry releases final decisions on bills
AUSTIN — June 16 was the dead-
line for the governor to veto or approve
legislation passed in the regular session
of the 83rd Texas Legislature.
Gov. Rick Perry beat the deadline
by two days, releasing a list of vetoed
and approved bills on June 14. Just a
few among the 24 bills Perry prevented
from becoming laws by strokes of his
pen were:
• HB 217 — prohibiting school
districts from selling beverages with
added sweeteners, milk with more than
one percent fat or juices less than 100
percent juice.
• HB 950 — providing uniformity
between state and federal anti-discrim-
ination laws so that employees and
employers have consistent laws govern-
ing employment relations.
• HB 2836 — requiring all statewide
standardized tests to be determined
valid by an entity independent of the
Texas Education Agency or the State
Board of Education.
• HB 3063 — giving state-sponsored
competitive advantage to some Texas
communities over others in attracting
aerospace industry businesses.
• SB 15 — adding to the manage-
ment responsibilities of boards of re-
gents of institutions of hi gher education
and would expand the training require-
ments of individual regents.
• SB 17 — providing for a free-of-
charge, state-provided school safety-
training program for certain employees
of a school district or charter school that
does not have a peace officer or secu-
rity personnel assigned full-time to the
campus.
A few from the list of bills Perry put
his signature of approval on include:
• HB 8 — revising statutes relating
to protective orders issued for victims
of human trafficking and the offense of
human trafficking;
• SB 21 — requiring mandatory
drug screening as a condition for the
receipt of unemployment benefits;
• HB 308 — allowing public school
Ed
Sterling
State Capital
Highlights
students and staff to use traditional
holiday greetings and display religious
scenes and symbols on school property.
However, SB 1, the state’s general
appropriations bill for fiscal years 2014-
2015, suffered a number of line-item
vetoes by the governor. One of those
vetoes was of the budget for the state’s
Austin-based Public Integrity Unit, a
state agency tasked with investigating
ethics complaints lodged against public
officials.
In explaining his veto, Perry wrote,
“Despite the otherwise good work the
Public Integrity Unit’s employees,
I cannot in good conscience support
continued State funding for an office
with statewide jurisdiction at a time
when the person charged with ultimate
responsibility of that unit has lost the
public’s confidence. This unit is in no
other way held accountable to state
taxpayers, except through the state
budgetary process. I therefore object to
and disapprove of this appropriation.”
In April, Travis County District
Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, chief of
the Public Integrity Unit, was arrested
on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
After serving a short jail sentence, she
was released. Some lawmakers pres-
sured Lehmberg to resign, but she
chose to remain in office.
Redistricting bills move
The Texas Senate, in special session
on June 13, approved the four major
redistricting bills Gov. Perry originally
called state lawmakers to pass in the
current special session of the Legisla-
ture.
Senate bills 1, 3 and 4, as tentatively
approved by the Senate, would preserve
the federal court-drawn maps of the
state’s U.S. Congressional districts and
Texas House districts.
Those three bills were passed on
split votes with 16 Republicans voting
aye and 11 Democrats voting nay. SB
2, relating to the redistricting maps of
state Senate districts, was approved on
a unanimous vote. All four bills move
to the House, where that body’s select
committee on redistricting will take up
and consider its own set of bills relating
to the districts as redrawn in 2012 by a
San Antonio federal court. Differences
in the House and Senate versions of the
bills would have to be worked out in a
conference committee.
Perry adds to session call
On June 10 Gov. Perry added items
relating to the funding of transporta-
tion infrastructure projects to the
special session call and June 11 he
expanded the call to include two more
items: legislation relating to the regula-
tion of abortion procedures, providers
and facilities; and legislation relating to
establishing a mandatory sentence of
life with parole for a capital felony com-
mitted by a 17-year-old offender.
Revenue goes up again
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs on
June 12 reported that state sales tax
revenue in May was $2.26 billion, up
7.9 percent compared to May 2012.
She attributed the increase to collec-
tions from the information services and
construction sectors, and said, “restau-
rants also showed notable growth” and
“oil and natural gas-related activity
remains a major source of strength.”
Ed Sterling writes a weekly State
Capital Highlights column for the Texas
Press Association, where he is director
of member services. Email: edsterling@
texaspress.com.
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Wallace, Bill. Wharton Journal-Spectator (Wharton, Tex.), Vol. 124, No. 49, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 19, 2013, newspaper, June 19, 2013; Wharton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth656010/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wharton County Library.