By Juan Montoya
There is a lust for sex, a lust for money, lust for immortality, for respect, you name it.
On a higher plane, there's a lust for life, for example.
But it is the baser measures that our Texas State Rep. for District 37 Rene Oliveira has made his mark.
There's no denying that since he divorced he has not been shied away from chasing a well-turned ankle, especially after he latched on to the state rep gig now going on 34 years and yearning for another two to make it 36.
("My work isn't finished after more than three decades..."), his spiel beings.
While that longevity might be likened to a barnacle (which is just as difficult to dislodge), it does not necessarily translate into appointments to chairmanships or important positions. That's not likely in the Republican-controlled state legislature. Although his sycophants don't tire of extolling the fact that their benefactor is " fifth in overall seniority of the 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives."
In fact, he holds only one chair, that of the Business and Industry Committee, although looking around his district, there doesn't seem to be much of anything happening in those sectors. Outside his district Corpus Christi got a multi-billion plastics plant, and he champions LNGs at the Port of Brownsville and pushed for SpaceX (from whom he got a nice campaign contribution.), but the dearth of business and industry here don't necessarily say much for his three-decade tenure in Austin.
In fact, his lust for power has been neatly chiseled down by the Republicans to the point that his biography is full of "former" chairman of this that or the other, none of which really matter in 2018 or into the future. He's like the guy for Tuvo, Nuevo Leon who says"que el tuvo esto, tuvo llotro, ect."
In English the rough translation is a "has-been."
Right now – with 34 years in "seniority" – the "dean of the Valley delegation" can only garner a simple membership in the "select" Economic Competitiveness committee, Texas Ports, Innovation and Infrastructure, and State Affairs.
Even in cases where he crows about his prowess in promoting education pales before the glare of criticism with his stance of submitting a bill against local wishes to turn over all the $200 million in assets of Texas Southmost College to his oil-and-gas wealthy Alma Mater the University of Texas. (What did Rene tell UT to do to TSC?: Gig 'em Horns!)
It didn't seem to matter much to Rene that his uncle Arnulfo "Nuco" Oliveira was one of those community leaders who fought to make TSC a standout among community colleges to provide accessible and affordable education opportunities to local residents.And when he and Sen. Eddie Lucio promoted the "partnership" sham between UT and TSC, they accepted the restriction that the billions available to UT and A&M system universities would not be available to TSC. "Don't turn your back, Rene..."
In fact, that stripe of malichismo was evident in the fact that his cousin David Oliveira was a TSC trustee who also went along with the "partnership" scam and was pushing for the swallowing up of the community college by his alma mater, also UT-Austin.
And his bill to make the UT System pay the $13 million in rent arrears to TSC was hinged on whether UT thought there was anything in the budget left over for that. Of course, there wasn't, podner!
But when it comes to the babes, Rene has used his position to garner his share of conquests. Social media being what it is, there is no dearth of postings by a handful of female office employees who were swept off their well-turned ankles by the publicly-funded and silver-tongued devil. Once discarded, they have turned on him with fury. Should we count the gueys?State Affairs, indeed!
(Don't ask current Democratic Party Cameron County Judge candidate Robert Sanchez for his opinion on this subject. Sanchez accuses Oliveira of romancing his ex and even went as far as to confront Rene in Austin only to be held at bay by the state rep's assistants while he cowered in a back office.)
If anything, Rene has shown that his lust for acceptance by the Austin crowd, his lust for power that makes him accept outside PAC money to stay in office, and his lust for the life of the bon vivant conquering uninitiated lasses at the expense of his constituents, keeps him salivating for yet another term in Austin.
