OK, I am losing faith … I am thinking a few people need to die before poker becomes a priority.
Right now the debate on the Texas House floor is about some consulting fee to improve county jail standards — and it\’s turning into a bitter fight about who\’s got a worse lock-up, Dallas or Harris County. (Dallas has had major inspection failures four years in a row — and the Dept. of Justice is not happy.)
It\’s all reminding me of the last time I followed a specific legislative push in Texas — looking to address dire circumstances faced by prison guards in 2000. The correctional officers had been getting stabbed and beaten at an alarming rate, Hepatitis was running wild, and the gangs were growing stronger with the violence seeping into the free world … and they never got anything heard on the floor. Why? Because too many pols (who weren\’t specifically opposed to improving things for prison guards) were afraid of looking soft on crime.
The best EV in the eyes of the Legislature came from just not getting to the matter.
ALT HED: RE: Not-so-Super/System
UPDATE: Here\’s the totally non-poker article on Texas\’ prison woes, for those who happen to be interested in the potential for bad decision-making by elected officials.