03.12.07
Ironic
The beginning of this DMN editorial, A Powerful Need: Weak governorship does not serve Texas well, on their recommendation for a stronger governor in Texas is very ironic:
Blame it on the Civil War. Or, more precisely, on the bitter Reconstruction period, which led to the Texas Constitution of 1876, designed to bar any official – say, our governor – from hoarding too much power.
To see the irony you have to know that “the bitter Reconstruction period” was the last time we had a Republican governor until 1978, more than one hundred years between them. The irony is that the reason we have a weak governor is because of overly powerful Republican governor’s abusing their power during that period. Isn’t it IRONIC that this editorial comes up in the wake of a unconstitutional power grab by a Republican governor? It wouldn’t be right to reward Perry’s bad leadership and overreaching power grab by giving him more power.
There have been plenty of governor’s in Texas that have been able to use this office, in it’s current state, to lead, and lead well. It’s not the rules of the office it’s the measure of the person that determines the power they will be able to wield.
They also advocate for “.. a Cabinet style of government, as in Washington and many state capitals..” While that is, more than likely, a better system then the current boards and commissions model we currently have, it doesn’t eliminate the fact that the governor would still have to get his initiatives through the legislature. The governor’s attempt to legislate by executive order is wrong and should stay that way, no matter what future powers we may want to give the governor of Texas.