THE CHRONICLE once had a quota, apparently, of at least one editorial a week comparing Texas unfavorably to enlightened states, usually California or New York. Not such much anymore. Both California and New York are tiptoeing . . .
. . . along the narrow edge of fiscal insolvency while their better-off citizens -- weary of the taxes and regulations necessary to finance and administer utopia -- flee to, well, Texas.
Last Saturday, though, the editors reverted to form, crooning like Sinatra in Vegas about the little town blues of Houston, Texas, compared with the wonders -- in this case the moral superiority as expressed through legislation -- of New York. ("If I can make it there . . . .")
So what had bad old Texas done this time to excite a fresh round of nagging by our betters, the Clever People?
Well, it seems that New York -- the state is broke, remember, and its productive citizens are fleeing about as fast as U-Haul can get empty trailers back from Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin -- is about to enact "a bill to ensure paid holidays, vacation, sick days, notice of termination and overtime pay for the especially vulnerable workers who toil inside private homes." (Editorial, "State of the nanny: New York may soon lead in fair treatment of domestic workers. Texans should take note," Houston Chronicle, June 19, 2010)
Translated from the ever-earnest and politically correct idiom of the left into plain English, the editorial is talking about maids, nannies, and yard workers, among others.
The New York legislation is another example of the left's idea of virtue: doing good with other people's money. And doing good that is certain to trigger unintended consequences that hurt many supposed beneficiaries. See, e.g., minimum wage laws and black teenage unemployment.
Saturday, a traditional low readership day at the Chronicle (though how it is any different from Sunday through Friday is increasingly difficult to see), is usually assigned Lisa Gray, who demands for the umpteenth time that Houston force landowners not to tear down buildings that liberals enjoy driving past.
She, like her spiritual counterparts in New York, enjoys purchasing virtue with other people's money. But her editorials are mostly harmless, charming in their own way.
Last Saturday, however, she apparently ran short of derelict buildings to save, so she took up the cause of the downtrodden.
Ms. Gray is no dummy, though. She knows heartless Texans won't pass the bill she wants. So she concluded her rendition of "New York, New York" with a guilt-tripping suggestion that "Texas employors of good conscience" should voluntarily provide vacations, paid holidays, and the rest for the folks who trim the shrubbery, wash the dishes, and change the diapers.
Here's an idea: She should get get a copy of the New York legislation, distribute it to the Chronicle's top management, and do a story a year from now on how many have followed her suggestion.
* * *
How do I know it's Lisa Gray?
I just do.
You can take the girl out of the Houston Press, but . . . .
Now cue the bumper music for this segment, which I dedicate to Ms. Gray and her colleagues:
These vagabond shoes
They're longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
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