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Rich Guys Roasted and Political Cash
There is room for good faith disagreement on billionaire candidates.
Every time the White House Correspondents Dinner goes by and Donald J. Trump is once more among the missing at this major traditional charity event, I remember that politicians used to be able to laugh at themselves.
The judgeship that made my first career was in Travis County, Texas, home of the People’s Republic of Austin and — more to the point of this article — the seat of state government. As a result, Austin is out ahead of some bigger cities in PPC — politicians per capita.
The PPC number rises every other year, when the Texas Legislature is meeting. If you lose track of the calendar, you can tell when the price of cocaine goes up and hookers come in from Dallas and Houston to cover all the extra work.
Texas pols gather to go over the biennial ritual of dancing around under banners reading “No New Taxes!” while addressing how much to cut education to avoid raising taxes. Ever since George H.W. Bush lost his bid for a second term, the slogan “Read My Lips!” has been considered gauche.
The PPC count in Austin means that a common way of raising money for charity is the “roast.” I’m not describing a BBQ (although we have those, too) but rather the fact that people…
