Bogart flicks live on ...
Sen. Kip Averitt, R-McGregor, fends off press inquiries about who will be the Senate's five negotiators with the House on the budget by reworking a line from the classic Humphrey Bogart film, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."
In the movie, a Mexican bandit leader named Gold Hat tries to convince Bogart's character, Fred C. Dobbs, that Gold Hat and his buddies are the Federales.
Dobbs: "If you're the police, where are your badges?"
Gold Hat: "Badges!? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!!"
Now back to the Capitol extension yesterday ...
Reporter: "What's the latest on the budget conference committee?"
Averitt: "Conference committee!? We don't need no stinking conference committee!! Take it or leave it!"
That was pretty clever, given the sensitivity of the subject.
Mr. Averitt and Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, are walking on eggshells these days.
Neither is certain to be picked this session to repeat his 2005 role as a Senate budget negotiator. The reason? About a half dozen hard-line conservative Republicans are pushing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to name some of their group instead. In Mr. Averitt's case, it's presumably because he's strongly backed full undoing of 2003 cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program. (He's hardly a spendthrift, though. His Senate Finance work group on natural resources, environmental protection, general government and regulatory agencies spent less than it was allotted this session.)
Mr. Duncan's perceived sin? As they say around the Senate, I'm not advised, sir.