Even though it saved billions for his beloved property tax cuts, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, still had to complain about Thursday’s Senate budget.
After getting testy with Sen. Mario Gallegos , D-Gallena Park, back from a liver transplant, Patrick then got into it with Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. Whitmire had enough of his fellow Houstonian blithely claiming to anyone with a mic or a notepad that he could have shaved $3 billion off the budget with his eyes closed – without ever showing anyone in Senate his math. Whitmire decided to call him on it, saying, “You didn’t think it was important enough to share with the Finance Committee or this body. The press doesn’t have a vote.”
“This member of the press has a vote,” snapped back Patrick.
Hey, let’s not say anything we may regret later, Daniel. Speaking as a component of the Fourth Estate, we at Chronic might like to suggest that there’s a definitional difference between being a broadcaster and being part of the press and an even bigger difference between being an irate talking head with a radio bully pulpit and “the press.” Also, we probably shouldn’t note that Patrick is such a fan of the media that, on separate occasions, he called for boycotts of Politically Incorrect … With Bill Maher, Houston’s KILT-FM, and his own hometown daily, the Houston Chronicle.
This article appears in April 13 • 2007.
