The Confusing Republican Texas

Well, the entire Republican party and all of their relatives got voted into office yesterday. It seems like that would be a good thing for gambling. Since the Republican party caters to big business and is supposed to be anti-taxes it seems like casino-style gambling would be the perfect way to bring in more big business to Texas and create a new revenue source to avoid having to raise taxes right? Especially when we have an 11-17 billion dollar state budget shortfall to deal with this session.

But wait a second, we have had a republican-dominated State for many years. Rick Perry has been in office so long, they are going to have to retire his underwear and hang it in the Capitol after this term! And he has dealt with big budget shortfalls before--he gave us the gift of a state income tax in the disguise of a franchise tax.

Perry has already come out against expanding gambling in Texas. And we all know he likes to wield his veto power like a Cuban dictator. The only glimmer of hope I see in the situation is that Perry flipped on his "no state income tax" platform, so maybe he will sell out his anti-gambling supporters too this time.