Friday, May 30, 2008

State Sen. Louis Renault and Colleagues Shocked, Shocked! at Tuition Increases

Sorry for the infrequent posting lately, but we've just been swamped. And frankly, that makes it kinda tough to think of anything interesting to say. And I don't post when I don't have anything interesting (to me) to say.

So a State Senate panel raked some public university regents over the coals this week for increasing tuition by as much as 50% over the past 5 years.

That is, since they gave them the power to do just that.

They were all Shocked, Shocked! about how expensive an education has gotten in this state and how it's getting more and more out of reach for average Texans at a time when we should be doing more to enhance the competitiveness of our workforce.

Reminds me of Captain Renault, Prefect of Casablanca, who is handed his winnings after declaring his shock to learn that there is gambling going on in Rick's Cafe Americain. Like those members who voted for tuition deregulation, he tolerated it until someone more powerful wanted to shut it down (in his case, Major Strasser of the Luftwaffe, in the case of the Senators, the voters.)

I was lobbying in 2003 when that stinker of a bill passed even though most members had to have been against it. Like a lot of legislation, people held their noses and voted for a bill they didn't like because someone higher up required them to. Same with the budget that year that Pat Haggerty described from the front mic with a big ol' raspberry. I'm gonna miss him.