The Legislature probably deserves some credit for trying to protect us from the forthcoming TXU sale. Which is the last nice thing anyone should say about them. Ever. It abdicated its responsibility to the people of Texas, and its members will be forced to make amends at the ballot box in 2008.

Perhaps someone can explain how the TXU sale will provide consumers, the company’s employees or anyone else in Texas with any kind of economic benefit. All the sale does is push paper around to enable fabulously wealthy people to become even more fabulously wealthy. Yes, in our system, that is not a crime. But it is also not a good reason for doing something, and especially something as crucial to our existence as electricity. (And private equity deals like this confuse economists, which I find quite fascinating.)

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How terrible is the deal for consumers? The American Association of Retired Persons, hardly the Socialist Workers Party, is so furious it wants Gov. Goodhair to call a special session to fix this mess.

And how big a mess is this? Conservative Republicans in the Legislature are mad at other conservative Republicans. Everyone is mad at the Democrats. We’re getting such a measly rate cut from TXU that we will still have some of the highest prices in the country. All the rest are promises from people we have no reason to trust. This is the same TXU that has been fined $5 million for cheating customers, been accused of rigging prices and who knows what else?

Private equity companies do not make their money by boosting service, hiring more employees and cutting prices. They do it by laying people off, cutting services and squeezing as much cash out of the company they buy as they can. And let’s not forget the fees they pay themselves to do the deal and how they finagle company debt so others get stuck with it. How these practices have anything to do with running an electric company is incomprehensible.

So, over the next two years, as your electric service becomes worse and your rates go up, remember who made this all possible. And then go and throw them out of office.