State lawmakers are poised to take sides in the battle between the NFL and cable companies. Not unusual, politicians tend to be a meddlesome bunch, sticking their noses in economic places they shouldn’t. The real problem, of course, is that in doing so lawmakers will run roughshod over your wallet in an effort to appease wealthy team owners.

The hubris of the government planners varies between scary and laughable. Social engineers are whining in the press that thousands of “eligible” children are not enrolled in the government health “insurance” plan. Their solution, of course, is to spend a lot of your money to “educate” wayward parents into placing kids in the care of government bureaucracy. It never occurs to these folks that maybe moms and dads aren’t excited about letting whining bureaucrats take care of junior.

State Rep. Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock) is set to announce today that he won’t seek re-election to the Texas House after 16 years of legislative service. He has served as the chairman of the House Transportation Committee since 2003.

On the one hand, transportation officials tell us that they just don’t have the funds available to build roads. Yet on the other hand, toll roads dollars are being used to let executives take European vacations complete with first-class and business-class airline seats.

Why must the taxpayers be on the hook to pay for the indulgences of the politically connected? A case in point is the alleged tourist attraction known as the “Texas State Railroad” running between Palestine and Rusk. I say alleged because it doesn’t attract enough tourists to keep it afloat. No worries, lawmakers just force you to pay for a service none of us apparently want to use.

When we consider the lack of progress on important fiscal reforms, the blame lies almost exclusively with a small group of legislators who campaign as if they are budget conservatives, but legislate like liberals.

Proceeds from all those new red-light cameras are flowing into the state coffers – but the money isn’t being spent like people were told it would be. Oh, the shock and surprise.