Monday Roundup: Community College Dollars

The Lubbock press is proclaiming that this week will see the restoration of all that community college money cut by Perry's veto. The Legislative Budget Board will make the call and it is seemingly a foregone conclusion.

I'm actually surprised it took this long, and when I hear how it will be done — from what I can tell, the veto will essentially be undone, as if they are calling a mulligan — it makes me wonder what kind of deals were made. It is certainly in Perry's best interest to restore that money, but this sort of thing makes him look bad. He had to get something out of it. Although I guess I could be off the mark: maybe what he's getting is the restoration of the funds, without some sort of protracted battle and the suffering of ill consequences.

Speaking of the state's executive leadership, the Statesman interviewed David Dewhurst last week. The Lieutenant Governor is on one of those vaunted tours of the state, listening to Texas voters about what he should do with his political future. This practice has always seemed weird to me, even though I understand it to be necessary in Texas politics. Observe as the elected official (or, in some cases, the ex-elected official) mounts up and asks people all over the state, earnestly, if he or she should keep the current job or seek a new one, can I count on your support, the pie at this diner sure is good, etcetera and so on. How strange our lives would be if this sort of search were required of all of us as we made career choices. (And how time consuming.)

Also from Statesman, the design details of the border fence have been revealed at long last. It must be able to withstand a massive vehicle crash, it must be twice the height of any man, and — oh yeah — it must be "aesthetically pleasing." I'm glad we have that figured out.

If you were wondering how the dollar was doing and longing for one of our Bleakonomic updates, here you are: on Friday, the dollar traded at the lowest rate ever against the Euro. European economists say the dollar seems to be trading at less than it is worth, but there is resultant "reluctance to buy the dollar." The overall meaning of such a development is for sharper minds than mine, but we enjoy foreign investment here in the US, so if the dollar could start looking a little stronger that would be great, thanks.

The Roberts Court is back in Washington, and that means more conservative rulings, according to this editorial from the New York Times. The moderate conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy is looked to once again as the vital swing vote for this session of the court, and the editorial ponders the past of the court and wonders exactly how conservative it is now, and what sort of agenda the court might have. I shudder to think of a Supreme Court with an agenda, but I also admit it is a possibility.

Lastly today, a word on the EPA. Under the Bush administration, the EPA has taken a decidedly hands-off approach to polluters. This isn't exactly surprising, despite any recent summits or conferences Bush may have had on the environment. The story carries comments from people who have resigned from the EPA to protest the lack of cleanups and prosecutions that have followed as a result of what appears to be the new agency philosophy. Is it a lack of political will, or political will operating in the opposite direction of protecting the environment? You'll have to decide, although you can guess what I might say on the subject.