As the commenter puts it, “Overall, a pretty poorly written story”, on the HD-20 GOP Primary in the AAS. Here are the mistakes in the article pointed out in the comments.
The statement “Rep. Dan Gattis, R-Georgetown, said last year that he is stepping down to spend more quality time with his family and law practice.” is incorrect. He decided to run for the Senate, and not for his House seat, and later dropped out of the Senate race at the last minute.
Check your facts, Milton Rister is no longer Executive Director of the Texas Legislative Council. He resigned.
Ultimately, these results explain why it is impossible for elected Republicans to work with Democrats to improve our country. Their base are conspiracy mongers who don’t believe Obama was born in the United States, that he is the second coming of Lenin, and that he is racist against white people. They already want to impeach him despite the glaringly obvious lack of high crimes or misdemeanors. If any Republican strays and decides to do the right thing and try to work in a bipartisan fashion, they suffer primaries and attacks. Even the Maine twins have quit cooperating out of fear of their homegrown teabaggers.
Ben Wear in the AAS is reporting the latest TxDOT scam for corporate tolls in Texas, TxDOT mulls way to wire around toll lease ban. And it has a nice loophole for the corporations.
Instead, the private developer would be paid back out of toll revenue, perhaps backed by general TxDOT revenue if tolls fell short of making the payments. The plan is add two free lanes to I-35 in Dallas, and four toll lanes.
For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace‹business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me‹and I welcome their hatred.
I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.
Jeff Maurice officially files to run for Williamson County Commissioner, Precinct 4
On the first day for campaign filing, Hutto resident Jeff Maurice filed to run in the Democratic
Primary for Williamson County Commissioner, Precinct 4. Maurice, a Democrat, will challenge
incumbent Republican Ron Morrison in the Nov. 2, 2010 general election.
“I’m enthusiastic about improving Williamson County’s representation from Precinct 4 on
commissioners court,” Maurice said. “From the Hutto landfill to property tax rates, the citizens of
Precinct 4 have been repeatedly ignored when it comes to issues that have the greatest impact on our
community.”
[...]
“I intend to approach issues professionally and with persistence,” Maurice said. “Like many
Williamson County residents, I’m frustrated by political gamesmanship. As County Commissioner, I’ll
always consider the needs of my constituents first and foremost.”
At the November 16, 2009 regular board meeting, the PEC Board of Directors approved a policy to distribute the names and addresses of the membership to PEC members who request the information. The policy has no opt-out clause, meaning that members have no control over who their names and addresses are provided to. Individuals and businesses residing in the PEC service area have no choice but to use PEC for their electrical service, and now they have no choice in whether or not their names and addresses are given out to other members. (The 11/16/09 board meeting video can be viewed at http://pec.iqm2.com/Citizens/VideoMain.aspx?MeetingID=1004)
The membership list distribution policy, which specifically approves the use for board candidates in their campaign efforts, requires that those requesting the names and mailing addresses of PEC members must: 1) state in writing the purpose of their request; 2) sign a notarized affidavit describing the purpose of the request; 3) and, that the use of the list is directly connected to the members stated purpose. Furthermore, the policy states that the requestor must agree to not: 1) use the membership list in a manner unrelated to the stated purpose; 2) use the list to solicit money or property; 3) use the list for commercial purposes; or 4) sell the list.
As Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus writes to the members of the Texas House in the cover letter to the interim charges he laid out yesterday, “..these charges and the recommendations you develop will form the basis for major legislation we will consider next session”. The letter also made clear that some things were left out, “In the coming weeks, I intend to propose several additional items of statewide importance for the House to study.”
The interim charges include everything from efforts to manage feral hogs (which is a big problem), to whether blogs should be considered “political advertising”. All of the items from the Appropriations, Energy Resources, Environmental Regulations, Higher Education, Human Services, Natural Resources, Public Education and Redistricting Committees should be read in full.
But here are a few that caught my eye (EOW comments are in italics):
House Committee on Corrections
1. Examine implementation of the diversion pilot programs, juvenile case management system, and other policy and funding initiatives to determine whether the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and the Texas Youth Commission have adhered to legislative directive in implementing these programs, and the impact of these programs on commitments at the Texas Youth Commission.
[...]
House Committee on Elections
3. Examine the prevalence of fraud in Texas elections. Study new laws in other states regarding voter identification and recommend statutory changes necessary to ensure that only eligible voters can vote in Texas elections. (This is Voter ID. Read BOR’s take on this issue. Suffice it to say that Straus is unable to tell the right wing to give up on this.)
4. Review the Texas campaign finance law in judicial races in light of the recent United States Supreme Court decision Caperton v. Massey. (This case involves preventing a judge from hearing a case involving a person who has made campaign contributions to benefit the judge.)
[...]
House Committee on General Investigating and Ethics
2. Review the definition of “political advertising” and determine whether the definition should be expanded to include content contained in blogs and other types of Internet communications. (These links give some background on what this may be about, FTC’s New Rules for Bloggers: A Quick Guide, FTC idiocy, and The FTC & Bloggers: New Rules.)
[...]
House Committee on Land and Resource Management
2. Examine unresolved issues relating to eminent domain legislation introduced during the 81st Legislative Session. Monitor any pending litigation. (Still on the agenda even after passage of the Constitutional Amendment earlier this month.)
[...]
House Committee on Transportation
1. Monitor the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to ensure the agency is implementing recommended legislative, sunset, and Grant Thornton management audit changes.
2. Review the organization and operation of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). Consider the relationship between MPOs and TxDOT regarding transportation planning and programming.
3. Study the practices and procedures used in the development of toll roads and make recommendations as necessary. (Toll roads are still on the agenda. Nothing here on the gas tax or transportation financing. Hopefully we will hear about that in the coming weeks.)
One interesting item is that there is nothing in the charges about gambling, gaming, slot machines, horse racing, and the like. The charges should be at least scanned for items of particular interest. Because as Straus wrote, they are the basis for the next legislative session in 2011. No matter who is Speaker, or who wins the statewide races next year, the effort and research put in on these issues, and those in the Senate when Lt. Gov. Dewhurst releases the charges for the Senate, are the frame which the 82nd Legislature will begin it’s work.
(Kurt Kuhn is a Democratic candidate for the 3rd Court of Appeals, running for Jan Patterson’s soon-to-be-vacant seat.)
We tend to remember where we are when we hear big news. I was on an elevator last Thursday afternoon in downtown Austin. I had spent the day meeting with lawyers, and was on my way to teach at UT Law. My mind was focused on the things I had to do, so I hardly noticed when two office workers stepped on. As I overheard their conversation, I first heard about the tragic shootings at Fort Hood, the worst mass shooting ever on a U.S. military base.
Fort Hood is outside of Killeen, Texas, mostly in Bell County, and it is in the Third Court of Appeals district. I have visited Bell County numerous times, both for the campaign and professional and personal matters. It is hard to visit Killeen and not notice how much a part of daily life the military personnel are, and it is impossible to leave Killeen without feeling proud of our men and women in uniform and the families and community that support them.
When I first heard about the shootings at Fort Hood, my first reaction was concern and sorrow for those affected. But like so many others, my second reaction was that I had to do something. When faced with the enormity of a tragedy like the shootings, it is easy to feel like there is nothing really meaningful we can do. My answer was small–I wanted to give blood.
I soon learned that many other people across Central Texas, without any request, had the same reaction. Even here in Austin, sixty miles away from the shootings, the local blood donation site was overflowing with walk-ins. The community reaction reminded me of the response when Hurricane Katrina hit, and ordinary people put aside their daily lives to try to help. Personally, Katrina inspired me to become involved with the Red Cross of Central Texas, and I’ve been proud to serve on the Board of Directors in recent years. In response to Fort Hood, I made an appointment to donate blood this week.
A day before that appointment, on a beautiful Austin morning, I stood with thousands of others to walk up Congress Avenue and honor our veterans. Veterans Day was all the more poignant in the wake of the tragic events at Fort Hood. It was humbling to see the generations of men and women, both old and young, who have served so bravely. And it was touching to see the children and spouses lining the parade route with pictures of their loved ones in uniform.
As I gave my two pints of red blood cells yesterday morning, I could not help but think that marching in a parade or donating blood are tiny gestures compared to what our men and women in uniform give us. But all Americans serve in some way, and in times of crisis ordinary Americans rise to service.
To all our men and women who are or have served in our military, thank you for your service. You inspire us all.
The Democrats, and to a lesser extent Barack Obama, ran on a populist message in 208. As we know things got worse for most middle and lower income Americans between election day and inauguration day, when the new President and Congress were finally in place. While Obama never campaigned on such an idea many of us, myself included, began to think more New Deal/FDR was needed, and not the bipartisanship at any cost kind of governing we’ve gotten thus far. People were, and still are hurting, and want to see things be done to help them. The President and Congress having little to show those who organized, donated, and voted for them last year. And that’s the problem facing them.
Many who voted for Obama and Democrats last fall wouldn’t mind the rising deficits and debt if they were getting help to stay in their home or get a job, instead of it going to a millionaire executive to pay their bonus. Or if they could see that they were going to have the same health care a member of Congress has, instead of seeing members of Congress, who receive millions in health corporation campaign contributions, telling tales about how it can’t be done. Not to mention the double cross many in the GLBT community feel they received, or re-regulation of the financial sector.
Here’s a take on the Democrats predicament in 2010 from FiveThirtyEight, Time for Dems to Panic?.
My 30,000-foot view is that between the pressures of the jobs situation and the health care debate, the Democrats are in fairly bad shape. But, there’s a long way to go before next year, and their situation does not seem to be quite as bad as it was in August.
Certainly, if I were the Democrats, I’d be adopting a fairly defensive posture, putting money into defending seats — especially those held by non-Blue Dog incumbents — rather than getting cute and trying to pick off more than a handful of potentially vulnerable Republican seats. I’d also be thinking about policies — like a jobs package and financial regulation — that tap a little bit into the populist spirit and might result in somewhat awkward Republican positioning.
So, should the Democrats be panicking? Yeah, maybe a little. But the fundamentals — particularly the poor labor situation and the Republican enthusiasm advantage — should be the reasons for their concern, rather than the results of any one particular poll.
It’s not even close to time for Democrats to panic. Pass a Democratic health care bill, pass a second stimulus that is focused on job creation and help to the states only – no tax cuts – and a clean energy bill, and next year will be a good year for most if not all Democrats. Go back to the populist message and help those that are hurting. Or….mid-term elections are about turnout and turnout is about firing up your base. Without passing legislation that helps those who are hurting and those that voted in 2008 looking for change, those voters will stay home. And if Democrats continue to vote like Republicans on the issues above, and those voters stay home, then Democrats shouldn’t be surprised in 2010 when a real Republican takes their place.
