Talton’s Tussle
January 24th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
The Sage of Pasadena strikes! Rep. Robert Talton has shown that despite picking the losing side in the speaker’s battle by supporting Waxahachie Republican Jim Pitts, he does not intend simply to vanish.
Rumor has it at the Capitol that Speaker Tom Craddick will announce his committee picks tomorrow. So as the session was ending today, Talton took to the back microphone and gave the impression of a man who expected something bad to befall him soon. Talton asked the speaker three questions, among them:
1) What is the speaker’s policy if a member doesn’t want to serve on a committee for personal, moral, or health reasons?
And:
2) Do the rules require the speaker to use seniority to pick a chairman?
We suspect that Talton, who chaired the Committee on Urban Affairs last session, feels the shadow of the reaper about now. Of course, Craddick pledged to the Dallas Morning News that he wouldn’t retaliate against rebellious Republicans with bum committee assignments. That didn’t seem to put Talton’s mind at ease, and we can’t blame him.
After a pause of a few minutes, a less-than-pleased Craddick responded that Talton’s questions would be answered tomorrow. Like maybe with committee assignments?
