Why are our utility rates increasing faster than any other state?

Frankly, I don't know, but Peter Stern, writing in the Texas Observer, lays the blame squarely at the doorstep of the Governor's Mansion (or wherever it is Gov. Perry is living since the Mansion fire). Stern claims: "... the real reason Texans pay higher costs of electricity is due to a governor who places the needs of his wealthy campaign contributing special interests than that of the Texas community. "

Stern claims that Gov. Perry and his cohort, former House Speaker Tom Craddick pushed for deregulation in many areas to open up free competition and to reduce costs to consumers. "If not outright lies, Perry’s words are either extremely naive or delusional," Stern writes.

But then Stern also claims "Once upon a time in American deregulation was good." I'm trying to remember when that time was. Let's see, after the deruglation of the airlines, too many of them were forced out of business. After the government broke up the utility monopoly known then as "Ma Bell," the various phone companies were deregulated, leading back to the formation of an even larger monopoly.

Yes, Perry was an idiot for promoting deregulation and continues to be an idiot for pushing for private companies like Cintra to build tollroads, allegedly to reduce the costs of highway construction. Certainly, he shouldn't be re-elected, but Stern and others need to realize that, in Texas, the governor's office is possibly the least powerful of any statewide elected position and that the real villain here is probably the aforementioned Craddick.