Lawmakers rarely let their guard down, but it happens sometimes when they are on their way out of office. There are two recent examples of this from the exiting establishment crowd.
The first is Representative Burt Solomons. This weekend the retiring lawmaker had a colorful Twitter exchange with one of his constituents. A condescending Solomons mocked her for being on “meds.”
LOL…I see where u have to have the last word. Please, please increase ur meds & get some rest!
— Burt R. Solomons (@burtrsolomons) October 21, 2012
@marisamarshall Glad the meds are working. Take care & get some rest. :-)
— Burt R. Solomons (@burtrsolomons) October 21, 2012
Solomons was one of the “Gang of 11″ Republican lawmakers who sided with Democrats in 2009 to elect Joe Straus as Speaker of the House. In 2011 Solomons chaired the roundly decried Redistricting Committee.
The other example is Senator Florence Shapiro. Normally establishment moderates don’t broadcast their affection for Texas Municipal League (TML) and Texas Association of Counties (TAC) since both groups use tax funding to lobby for higher taxes, something conservatives oppose. As a result, moderates generally support TML and TAC on the down-low.
Stakes are suddenly lower for the outgoing Senator Shapiro, though. In a hearing to consider constitutional spending limits, Shapiro chastised a citizen for saying TML and TAC were tax-funded lobbyists.
The citizen was right. Taxpayer advocate group Empower Texans pointed out the ways in which TML and TAC have worked against taxpayers.
If either one of these moderates had spoken their minds when they were seeking office, it would have been much more difficult to win. However, the guard seems to come down when they have nothing left to lose.
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