When Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst addressed a luncheon of the Dallas CPA Society today, the big room where he spoke at the Hilton Anatole was as cold as a meat locker. It wasn’t because the audience was chilly toward Dewhurst’s message, though. In fact, he got a standing O after saying that the state’s budget gap is nowhere near the $24 billion-$26 billion projected by some. And that the budget can–and will–be balanced during the next legislative session without raising taxes.
Nope, the reason the place was so frigid was because Dewhurst wanted it that way. According to luncheon organizers, the lite guv had two requests for his appearance at the Anatole: that a pitcher of ice water be placed at the lectern, and that the temperature in the room be set no higher than 65 degrees. Dewhurst, the organizers were told, “gets hot when he speaks.”
