Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

The DMN editorial board, for which I write, has slammed Rick Perry for a lot recently, like his handling of the Willingham capital murder case, his quip about the Texas recession and his heavy hand in university affairs. I have written some of these, and with relish. He deserved both barrels for hitting the ejector button on the Forensic Science Commission chief, for example.

Were I to write something about Perry’s handling of the Trans-Texas Corridor issue, I’d slap him around there, too. TxDOT’s announcement of TTC’s burial was the second such proclamation this year and was nakedly political.

I have more of a problem with Kay Bailey Hutchison’s failure to articulate any vision at all on transportation. Her statements on the subject have been overwhemlingly politically opportunistic — essentially, what she’s against — and scarcely illuminating on what kinds of programs she would put forth. Look at the “issues” section of her campaign website. Instead of stating what she stands for, she asks opinions from the public. And this after identifying transportation as one of her big five issues.

At least I know where Perry stands — or stood. It doesn’t take a civil engineer to figure the timing of the TxDOT announcement on the TTC, which was pre-announced one day after KBH got the Farm Bureau endorsement last week.

Is the massive project really dead? Hard to say, since a citizen advisory committee is still looking at ways to relieve I-35 congestion. Look at the fine print of the TxDOT FAQs (link above). What if they come up with a recommendation someday for a parallel reliever road to I-35? What if they would come up with that recommendation during, say, a Hutchison administration?

To read more go the Dallas Morning News post.