Throwing Tom Under the Bus

Now I don’t really know why the state legislature just passed a bill that would strip state pension benefits from lawmakers and former lawmakers who are convicted of a felony (or two). Maybe it is spending cuts. After all the state pays into the pension fund and the less the outgo, especially to people who were such bad legislators that they became felons in the commission of their jobs, the better it is for the state’s budget.

Maybe it is, or maybe it isn’t. All I know is that the convicted felons that this article in the Austin American-Statesman names, these guys who would be affected, may not be the only ones who have been in the news of late.

Isn’t Tom DeLay a convicted felon? Convicted of two counts of conspiracy? Tom DeLay is also a former state rep. Isn’t this the kind of guy the bill is meant to cover?

Did the Republican supermajority in the legislature just throw Tom “The Hammer” DeLay under the bus?

Seems like it to me.

So in addition to spending some time in the slammer, it looks like Tom DeLay is also going to be deprived of his state pension.

All the more reason for his high-priced lawyers find some way to get DeLay’s conviction overturned on appeal.