From the Annals of Chutzpah: State Rep. Debbie Riddle Plays the Role of Champion for ‘Poor Families of Texas’

State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, made herself sound like a champion for the poor during Thursday’s debate in the Texas House over a measure barring public funds for private school vouchers. (The measure passed overwhelmingly.) She wanted to know why opponents of private school vouchers weren’t considering “the poor families of Texas” who can’t afford private education for their children. Wow. Talk about chutzpah. Just two years ago Rep. Riddle voted with a majority of Texas legislators to slash billions of dollars in funding for the very public schools that educate the children of those “poor families of Texas” (and most other kids in Texas). But here’s what she said Thursday on the House floor:

“I’m really surprised with this amendment because it appears that you oppose for families that do not have a great deal of wealth to have the same choice that families that have wealth can make for their children. Is that correct? I find that hard to believe that you would actually do that to the poor families of Texas. I would think that you would want them to have the same choices for education that the wealthier families in Texas have for their children.”

Not only did Rep. Riddle vote in 2011 for the draconian budget cuts that are strangling public schools in Texas. In 2003 she also crassly defended deep cuts in social services that help low-income families:

“Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education, free medical care, free whatever? It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell. And it’s cleverly disguised as having a tender heart. It’s not a tender heart. It’s ripping the heart out of this country.”

That’s the real Debbie Riddle — the one who thinks public education is communism.

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7 Comments

  • Chutzpah: A man kills both of his parents and then throws himself at the mercy of the judge because he is an orphan.

    Has anyone considered that when someone speaks the truth it is called being True Blue?

    Pubs tend to be opposed to telling the truth. It isn’t necessarily because they tell outright lies, it is just that they shade it, making the truth obscured. Okay, sometimes both sides tell outright lies, but for some reason, the reactionary Pubs seem to bend the truth to meet what they want, even if the end result is a lie.

    Yeah…chutzpah is the right word.

  • David says:

    Riddle hails from Tomball. Voting her out would require a critical mass of voters in her district who either give a damn or respond to anything beyond Rush Limbaugh sound bites. Not likely. Here, where I live
    in North Texas the same applies: “Vote Republican-it’s easier than thinking.”

  • dbtexas says:

    I think a lot wishful thinking is going on with these comments. To my chagrin, this lady is my representative. She is re-elected by a landslide every time. You are assuming the right wing faction is capable of reflective analysis and thought.

  • Thanks to Debbie and her shameful statements she may singlehandedly be responsible for turning Texas blue.

  • Apparently Republican Rep Debbie Riddle has introduced a bill that will abolish The Harris County Dept of Education that currently costs Harris County tax payers 1/2 cent. The same educational services will then fall under County Commissioners Control, and cost the tax payers just under $50. per household instead of 1/2 cent per household. How do people like Riddle get elected when they can’t even add? Vote her out next election.

  • Time for change is coming sooner rather than later. Hypocrites won’t lead much longer

  • Riddle was the one who added “one state under God” to the Texas Salute to the Texas Flag. She is more interested in indoctrination than education. Any why would poor children want a private school education anyway when they could have a much better public school education? While the top secular private schools are indeed better than almost all public schools, 85-90% of private schools are religious schools-in Texas most are Fundamentalist Protestant schools-where children learn that evolution is a lie, dinosaurs were on Noah’s Ark, and the Loch Ness Monster is a plesiosaur.

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