For Some Texas Republicans, Federal Action is Payback

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http://www.texastribune.org/texas-newspaper/texas-news/for-some-texas-republicans-federal-action-payback/

State Sen. Dan Patrick says he knows why the federal government has intervened on two key bills facing Texas lawmakers in the final days of the legislative session: “retribution.”

Retribution for efforts of GOP leaders to stop “intrusive” Transportation Security Administration airport security screenings, and seize control of Medicaid and Medicare from the federal government. Retribution for a flurry of anti-federal health reform and states' rights bills — even the appointment of a specific state sovereignty committee — aimed at pushing back against the Obama administration.

“This is why the Tea Party movement is alive and well,” said Patrick, R-Houston, the day after a threat from the federal government to shutter Texas airports or cancel flights effectively derailed the TSA “anti-groping” bill he was carrying in the Senate. “To fight against a federal government that bullies and threatens individual states.”

A White House spokesman declined to comment on any allegations of payback, instead pointing to efforts made by the Obama administration to offer states, including Texas, flexibility in Medicaid and other joint state-federal endeavors.

But some Republican state lawmakers say the proof is in the pudding.