Editorial: Let's ‘Hammer' some urgency into lawmakers on school finance

Editorial: Let's ‘Hammer' some urgency into lawmakers on school finance: "Perry shouldn't wait for a court ruling. He should summon lawmakers back. And as an added incentive – it worked in 2003 – there's someone else he should invite back: House Majority Leader Tom “The Hammer” DeLay.

Yes, except for the fact that he's a Texan and a citizen, he really has nothing to do with the state legislation at hand. Then again, no one elected him in 2003 to be a shadow governor, to draw up redistricting plans for Texas lawmakers, to shuttle plans between the House and the Senate, to run the show behind the scenes while everything else stopped dead to allow for the redrawing of congressional districts.

Ask Tom to strong-arm people on behalf of schools? Well, schools are just places where children read, write and learn, or so we trust. Congressional redistricting is about something else entirely. It's about power. The Republican leadership had to have that.

Additionally, in 2003, GOP leaders like Perry said this (congressional redistricting) was lawmakers' responsibility, not the courts'. So they were going to get it done no matter what got put to the side."