jury that is weighing possible criminal charges against the governor of texas. the issue is whether perry abused his power last summer when he carried out a threat to veto $7.5 million in funding for prosecutors in the state s public integrity unit. that unit is run by travis county district attorney, a democrat and also someone convicted of drunk driving last april. upon her conviction, perry called on her to resign. when she didn t, he axed the funding for her unit. at the time, the public integrity office happened to be examining one of governor perry s signature projects. and if she had resigned, perry would have been able to p a point her replacement. so questionable timing, poll ethics violations, partisan hijinx in the statehouse. it all sounds really familiar, doesn t it? almost unbelievably familiar.
the republicans continue to talk about how they really want to reach out to hispanics and they support making sure that we can have a path to legal status, yet they have now said repeatedly that we won t deal with that issue this year. so they re talking out both sides of their face. indeed they are. and if we re talking about election year hijinx, i want to get your thoughts on congressman darrell issa s behavior today with congressman cummings. i found it, i ll say personally, i thought it was really beyond just shocking and actually distressing to see a congressperson who is in the halls of capitol hill precisely to represent the electorate shut another one down so roundly and unapologetically, and then sort of brazenly defend himself as if he is on the path of the righteous. i m speaking of course of darrell issa.
a clean from what mcconnell and john cornyn to vote for a clean, it sends a message like the move in the house. my other favorite story out of the hijinx of this week, an anonymous e-mail promising political retribution for those who vote yes for a debt limit increase, in the house, sent to the closely guarded personal e-mail addresses of house republican members. it s got to be another member. probably one of the crazy ones said a republican who had seen the e-mail. it seems to me basic norms of collegiality are breaking down over there. they really are. when you hear about this e-mail, it s one of many episodes right now in congressional politics where there s so much pressure from the outside. especially from conservative groups that republicans are really almost hesitant to move forward on anything. on divided government, on the question of divided government, they re really not willing to concede they can t get everything they want. that s really where the problem right now
legislation going to the senate? you know what s going on. senate democrats would prefer not to do this. they would prefer the pentagon handle it on its own because it s a slippery slope for senate democrats. you know, when we passed the pay the troops act, the senate took care of it. we voted just like this one, unanimously, sent it to the senate, and they passed it. if they don t want to deal with it, if they don t want to take care of the survivors of those who pay the ultimate price, shame on them. i think they should take it up this afternoon, have it on the president s desk tomorrow. and not have any hijinx. we shouldn t be treating our military like this. but with contracting out to the fisher house be considered hijinx or do you consider if that s a solution you would be comfortable with that as chairman of the armed services committee with oversight of the pentagon? it s not normally the way we do things. but there s nothing normal around here. but this should be.
every proppings bill right now? there is no action that has come out of it. the house has passed 7. the senate hasn t taken action. look, we have a whole appropriations process that is falling apart in the last couple of years, whether it is hyperpartisanship or outside interest groups because of buckley versus vallejo. we have a system that is not working for the american people. with people needing jobs and having to save their homes and protect their retirement and their investments, we shouldn t be in this situation. it really needs close scrutiny to ask, how did we get here? how can we make sure this kind of hijinx never happens again. shannon: even if you reach a deal, it will be a temporary patch. everyone knows that. there are so many other big issues, the debt ceiling, entitlement reform, tax reform, is there any way to reconfigure the way the hill is working now? because this is one of many crisis that are coming. is it always going to be at the