Perry v. Sanchez, round 1 of many

Governor Goodhair and Tony Sanchez went at it during their first joint campaign appearance. I found this bit amusing:

But the Republican governor rebuked Sanchez for claiming that he could use businesslike efficiency to milk enough money from the state budget to pay for extensive educational improvements.

Wasn't it Republicans who used to campaign on pledges to run government like a business? We sure live in some strange times.

Seriously, though, Goodhair has a point when he says that Sanchez's promise to find more money for schools by eliminating "waste, fraud, and abuse" is hot air. Of course there's fat in the state budget, even in a low-tax, low-service state like Texas. The problem, as any national politician who ever tried to eliminate things like the mohair and ethanol subsidies can attest, is that one man's waste is another man's vital program. It's easy to get a license to hunt sacred cows, but good luck bagging the limit.

Some good news for those who dislike or distrust school vouchers:

The Laredo businessman scored one of the biggest rounds of applause from the audience when, answering a question, he reaffirmed his opposition to private school vouchers, which are widely disliked among public school officials.

Silence, in contrast, greeted Perry's call for a limited, pilot voucher program to enable some low-income children to use tax dollars to pay tuition at private or parochial schools.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 26, 2002 to Election 2002