Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched an full-fledged attack on local government control yesterday when revealed an initiative to prevent Texas cities from issuing regulations that he personally doesn’t like.  The Houston Chronicle reported on Abbott’s remarks:

“Texas is being California-ized and you may not even be noticing it,” Abbott told hundreds of government officials, lobbyists and business leaders at the Texas Public Policy Foundation event. “This is being done at the city level with bag bans, fracking bans, tree-cutting bans. We’re forming a patchwork quilt of bans and rules and regulations that is eroding the Texas model. We need to peel back some of these ridiculous, unnecessary requirements.”

This is a curious position at best for Abbott, who can’t sue Pres. Obama or federal agencies often enough in his crusade to challenge federal legislation that he personally believes is bad for Texas.

“Gov. Abbott is talking out of both sides of his mouth as fast as he can,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, of Texas Public Citizen. “On one hand, when it comes to the federal government telling states what to do, he says ‘local control.’ When it comes to cities taking steps to protect themselves, he says ‘statism.'” 

In other words, local government control is good as long as it comports with Abbott’s personal view of how the world should run.

For the full story see  http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Abbott-attacks-local-regulations-as-state-leaders-6003099.php