04.16.09
A few items
Texas Governor Rick Perry is an imbecile, irresponsible, and wrong, (Kuff has more on his antics). It also appears our Congressman, John Carter, may be as well. Watch Keith Olbermann and Jim Moore take Perry to task below. Here was my favorite part.
Now, just as a bit of context, as the previous governor [George W. Bush] was leaving here to go to Washington, there was a joke making the rounds in the Texas capitol press corps that his car had a bumper sticker that said, “If you think I was bad, wait until you see the guy who replaces me.” So that‘s what you‘re looking at right now.
As Moore says, Perry is obviously doing this because of the much anticipated primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Now word yet regarding where she stands on Texas seceding from the Union.
The Texas ACLU hears back from the Department of Justice on Voter ID, Voter ID Would Be Subject to Federal Voting Rights Act, (tip to Postcards).
The proposed Voter ID bill would be subject to Justice Department or federal court approval for it to become law, the U.S. Attorney General’s office told the ACLU of Texas in a letter received Wednesday.
“This strengthens our opposition to this politically motivated and unnecessary piece of legislation,” said Executive Director Terri Burke. “We feel the provisions would violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and place an undue burden on minority voters.”
In March, Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston and Burke asked the attorney general whether a proposed change in Texas law requiring Texans to show photo identification at the polls would be subject to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Christopher Coates, chief of the Civil Rights Division Voting Section, responded to Burke’s request. He wrote, “…before a change such as one requiring photo identification as part of the voting process can be legally enforced in Texas elections, state officials will be required to comply with Section 5.”
This provision requires jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to get permission from the federal government before changing election laws. Congress overwhelmingly approved the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006 and President Bush signed it into law.
The House begins debate on the biennial budget tomorrow. There are 512 pages of amendments for SB 1, the appropriations bill. And today the House Debates $3 Billion in Supplemental Spending.
The day after far right wing yelled at government for spending their taxes, the Texas House will debate a massive supplemental appropriation. The fiscal note on the item is $3,298,596,795. Yep, that is $3.3 billion dollars according to the fiscal note.
As Jason Embry points out, this will be the single most important vote on the House floor to date (of course, the House is voting on Senate Bill 1, a.k.a the budget, tomorrow).
Crunch time is here in the 81st lege.
And last, any Democrat thinking of voting for Carol Strayhorn for mayor needs to read this, Carole’s Greatest Hits, and this, The Best and Brightest (From August 2001).
If you were wondering last week whether the Republican-dominated Legislative Redistricting Board’s newly adopted district maps for the House and Senate are illogical and unfair, all you had to do was ask a Republican. “I was disappointed with my own party,” San Antonio Sen. Jeff Wentworth told the San Antonio Express-News. Wentworth, chair of the Senate redistricting committee, had drafted a workable Senate plan while the Lege was in session — but his fellow Republicans blocked it. That also killed the approved House plan, handing the job to the LRB.
At the final frantic LRB hearings, the Board was voting on backroom amendments that hadn’t even been reviewed, and Wentworth warned them against repeating the “greediness” and “partisanship” of the Democrat-led redistricting 10 years ago. Attorney General John Cornyn, Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, and Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander apparently weren’t listening.
[…]
But my favorite GOP line came from our old Austin chameleon Rylander, who summoned her best hypocritical smile to declare, “The best and brightest future for Texas is our only interest.” To catch the full implication of that sentence, recall the comptroller’s résumé and just substitute the word “Rylander” for “Texas.” [Empahsis added].
When it comes to voting for Strayhorn, just don’t do it.