Houston municipal election turnout anemic, and other local updates

-- Early voting concluded Tuesday, and a bit more than 20,000 Houstonians have cast ballots.

The total number of early voters was lower than the 2011 runoff elections for city council seats. More than 23,000 people voted early that year.

How embarrassing is that?  Forty thousand votes is going to be a stretch for this runoff.  The total will probably be closer to thirty.  Update: Charles' spreadsheet makes it look as if 50K might be reachable.

This Saturday is your last chance to be counted.  Kuff has the info you need, including the links to the runoff particulars, if you still need help deciding.  Just keep in mind that money doesn't matter, no matter how many times the political consultants say it.  All that counts is you.

-- Annise Parker opposes the attempt by the Houston historical commission to designate the Astrodome as an historical landmark.  Even though the Dome is outside the city's juridiction -- it's always been the purview of Harris County -- the Dome needs friends in high places and this doesn't help.

After all the good she'd done lately, she was bound to disappoint me in some fashion.  There was no need for her to weigh in publicly on this small detail, whether she supported the effort or not.

-- City council members are furiously and repetitively tagging (delaying via parliamentary procedure) the payday lending ordinance.  Once the elections are passed, you start to see the real people and their priorities.  Al I can say here is: 'remember their names'.  Stace and Noah have more.  Update: And also Burnt Orange.

-- The most-watched television station in Houston (by number of viewers in the coveted 18-49 demographic) is... the local Univision affiliate.

Univision 45 announced this week that it is now the No. 1 station in the Houston market beating out local ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates.

With two days remaining in the November 2013 sweep period, KXLN Univision 45 is Houston's No. 1 broadcast station among Adults 18-49 in major dayparts including: daytime, early news, primetime and late news, regardless of language.

The tide has already turned, and (almost) no one noticed.

-- Finally, there's going be a great documentary next week about the tumultuous 1993 football season experienced by the Houston Oilers.

“A Football Life: Houston ’93,” which airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday on NFL Network, begins with audio/visual doom and gloom: a shot of the deserted Astrodome and, amid NFL Films composer Dave Robidoux’s ominous musical score, the voice of narrator Josh Charles recalling the team that broke the collective spirit of Houston football fans 20 years ago.

“It sits crumbing in the Texas sun, dwarfed by Reliant Stadium,” Charles says. “The Houston Astrodome, once dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World, now looks like a practice bubble.

“Trapped inside this portal to the past are the ghosts of the Houston Oilers. Here in 1993, they were one of the most talented teams in NFL history – and, perhaps, the most dysfunctional.”

That was the year that two of their coaches got into a fistfight on the sidelines, that an offensive lineman missed a game to attend the birth of his child and was criticized by the team's owner, and that a defensive lineman shot and killed himself after he wrecked his car, killing his childhood friend.  I can still remember hearing the 911 tape, with the sound of the gunshot.

Makes this year's Texans travails seem piddling, doesn't it?

Keystone XL finds new life

Remember what I wrote last month?  Back from the dead.

Refusing to be denied, TransCanada is "repurposing" the pipeline that has cost them so  much money and bad publicity in order to relieve the glut of oil being stored at the nation's midsection hub of Cushing, OK.

“TransCanada is pleased to confirm that at approximately 10:04 am Central Time on Saturday, December 7, 2013, the company began to inject oil in the Gulf Coast Project pipeline as it moves closer to the start of commercial service,” company spokesman Shawn Howard told the Houston Chronicle.

The announcement was an indication that the $2.3 billion, 485-mile pipeline is another step closer to completion. The corporation previously said in a letter to regulators that the pipeline would begin service on January 3. It later retracted that claim, stating that it would not be in service before mid-January. 

More on that oil backlog.

Increased southbound pipeline and rail service has reduced a crude oil backup at the Cushing, Okla. pipeline hub, but has created a glut on the Gulf Coast—possibly presenting  opportunities for investment in transportation infrastructure.

Alembic Global Advisors said in a report this week that the smoother flow through Cushing has sent more crude to the Gulf Coast from prolific fields including the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Permian Basin in West Texas.

James Sullivan, an analyst with Alembic, wrote that a resulting oversupply is depressing Gulf Coast  prices, and may increase enthusiasm for more investment in transportation from the Bakken and Permian directly to the east and west coast.

“We would expect to see the Bakken rail terminals to the east coast filling up again and renewed talk of a Permian-to-west-coast pipeline, which had been shelved due to lackluster shipper interest,” Sullivan wrote.

A whole new set of problems for our energy producers here in Texas and across the country.  Where's that tiny violin of mine?

Keystone XL (this time I'll condition it slightly) likely remains very dead for the transportation of tar sands oil, which was its original purpose.  Here's why I say that.

John Podesta's return to the White House could dim prospects for the Keystone XL pipeline's approval, environmentalists said Wednesday, as the Democratic Party elder and Keystone critic crafts policies to curb climate change.

Podesta, who was chief of staff under President Bill Clinton, will have the title "counselor to the president" and chiefly advise President Barack Obama on energy and climate change issues, the White House said this week.

In the past, Podesta has aligned himself with environmentalist foes of TransCanada Corp's 1,200-mile (1,900-km) pipeline that would carry 830,000 barrels a day of oil sands crude from western Canada to the Gulf Coast.

The $5.4 billion link between Alberta oil fields and Texas refiners is expected to spur production of a fuel that environmentalists say worsens climate change.

B-B-But, you say, Podesta has recused himself from input on KXL.  True enough.

On Tuesday night, the White House said that because of his pre-existing views on Keystone, Podesta would recuse himself from the matter. "In discussions with Denis," a White House aide told the New Yorker, referring to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, "John suggested that he not work on the Keystone Pipeline issue, in review at the State Department, given that the review is far along in the process and John’s views on this are well known. Denis agreed that was the best course of action."

I'm sure he'll never offer an opinion, even if he is asked.  Right?  Let's go back to see what former EPA head Carol Browner said just a couple of months ago...

Speaking on a panel in October, Brown predicted “there will be some twists and turns” in the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline but “at the end of the day [Obama] is going to say no.” 

Now let's review.

Despite the fact that it is riddled with holes from shoddy welding, the Keystone XL pipeline will transmit oil south very soon.  Just not tar sands oil.  Tar sands oil will still get here (to the refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, the only ones in the country that can process it) by rail, however, and is probably doing so even as this is posted.

That's at least a lose-lose-lose by my count.

And as we learned above, oil is now backing up at the Gulf refineries, waiting to be produced into the various petroleum products the world depends upon, because the nation's refining operations are at peak capacity.  As a result, we (that is to say, the US) may begin exporting to other countries, since demand here -- due to improved consumption efficiencies, a sluggish national economy, and other factors -- is soft.  This was one of the original arguments against KXL; that the gasoline, etc. refined from tar sands oil, or even the crude product itself, would be sold to China.

The only thing that we might be able to point to as a 'win' is lower gas prices in the short term.  Which in the long term discourages weaning the nation off of oil in favor of alternative fuels and perpetuating the boom-and-bust cycles that benefit oil companies, oil traders, and market speculators.  And also punishes those who consume gasoline, those who must breathe the air made toxic by the refining, and those who live in the global climate made unstable by greenhouse gases from fossil fuel consumption and with the political instability created as wars continue to be fought over oil.

So it's all about the invisible hand of the free market, and none of the long-range consequences.  Isn't capitalism wonderful?

The 2014 Democratic statewide ballot

This first in a series reveals a decent ticket for the Blue team. Not bad at all; just a few warts.  Where the candidate's name is hot-linked, you will find additional information, which may be a post of mine, their website or Facebook page, or some other online news.

First, the good...

US Senate

David Alameel
Maxey Scherr
Michael “Fjet” Fjetland
Kesha Rogers
Harry Kim

I think that list is representative, at least for today, of how the order of finish will be in March.  Alameel will put a substantial amount of his $50 million fortune into the race; Scherr will run a progressive populist campaign (she is already), Fjetland will stress his international experience and moderate Democrat background, and the other two candidates (appearing in 'ugly' and 'bad', respectively) will do whatever they will.

Any of these three should be able to acquit themselves honorably in November, and if Steve Stockman pulls off an upset of John Cornyn in the GOP primary, could actually have a hell of a chance to be the next senator from the Great State.  Wouldn't that be something.

Update: Be sure and read Ted at jobsanger's post: "Texas Democrats have 1 Progressive, 1 Unknown, 2 Blue Dogs, & 1 Nutcase Running For Senate".

Governor

Wendy Davis
Reynaldo “Ray” Madrigal

Lieutenant Governor
Leticia Van de Putte

Attorney General

Sam Houston

Comptroller
Michael Collier

Land Commissioner
John Cook

Agriculture Commissioner
Hugh Fitzsimons
Jim Hogan
Richard “Kinky’ Friedman

Railroad Commissioner
Steve Brown
Dale Henry

Supreme Court, Chief Justice
William Moody

Supreme Court, Place 6
Lawrence “Larry” Meyers

Supreme Court, Place 7
Gina Benavides

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
John Granberg

This likewise is a reasonably strong slate.  With the non-filing of Maria Luisa Alvarado in the lite guv race, only Collier and Granberg have no prior experience as an elected official* (a qualification possessed even by gubernatorial challenger Madrigal, who is mentioned here as a magistrate judge from Sea Drift, near Corpus Christi).  The ticket is unfortunately bereft of African American candidates, save Ms. Rogers and Mr. Brown. From BOR, this with regard to Fitzsimons.

Hugh A. Fitzsimons has filed to run for Texas Agricultural Commissioner. He is from Carrizo Springs, Texas and is a fifth generation rancher. He currently raises bison with Thunderheart Bison. Mr. Fitsimmons (sic) currently sits on the Wintergarden Water Conservation District and has said water and responsible environmental protection will be some of the main issues behind his campaign. You can read more about Mr. Fitzsimmons (sic) in the following New York Times article on water fracking in Texas.

... and this on Granberg.

He is a lawyer from El Paso who practices criminal law at the state and federal level. He is licensed to practice in both Texas and New Mexico. Mr. Granberg had previously run for a Justice of the Peace position in El Paso many years ago. 

One of the things that stands out to me is that El Paso is ably represented on this slate, with Scherr, Moody, Cook, and Granberg.  More to come about candidates down the Harris County ballot, and other parts of Texas after that.

*Not quite. Some corrections appear in the comments.

Update: And read this also from Battleground Texas about Judge Meyers: The Switch.

Texas Green Party fields over 50 candidates for 2014

Socratic Gadfly was first, and The Texas Tribune has left all of them off their brackets so far, but from the inbox...

The Texas Green Party has recruited more than 50 candidates for state and local office across Texas to occupy the ballot in 2014. This is historically the largest number of Green Party candidates that will appear on the ballot in Texas.

"We are very excited to be running so many principled progressive candidates throughout the state," said David Wager, co-chair of the Texas Green Party.

"Our goal is to provide a progressive alternative to the other two parties in Texas and offer voters more voices and more choices than they might otherwise have on the ballot," Wager said.

The most widely known candidate is food safety advocate and whistleblower Kenneth Kendrick of Wilson, who is running for Agriculture Commissioner.

Kendrick was a former manager of a Plainview peanut plant, operated by the now-defunct Peanut Corp. of America, where he alerted authorities and the public regarding alleged food safety violations. PCA went bankrupt after a nationwide salmonella outbreak that was traced to the Plainview plant. Seven people died and hundreds suffered from severe illness.

Many Green candidates, including Martina Salinas of Fort Worth, who is campaigning for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, advocate regulating, limiting, or banning the oil and gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing.

"With our state's future and the future of our families in mind, we need to hold all fracking operations, especially waste water disposal, to a high standard," said Salinas. "Even if it means stopping operations, we must ensure that our children's children and beyond can enjoy the beauty that is Texas."

Other Green candidates for statewide office include Emily Marie Sanchez of Del Rio for United States Senate; Brandon Parmer of Dallas for Governor; Chandrakantha Courtney of Houston for Lt. Governor; Jamar Osborne of Dallas for Attorney General; Deb Shafto of Houston for Comptroller; and Ulises Cabrera of Bryan for General Land Commissioner.

A full list of candidates will be released and a press conference held on Thursday in cities across the state. Details to follow.

Parmer ran against Joe Barton in CD-6 two years ago.  Courtney's husband, David, ran in 2012 for state Senate against Joan Huffman (garnering almost 9% of the vote without a Democrat in the race).  Shafto was the Greens' candidate for state representative against Garnet Coleman two years ago, and the party's candidate for governor four years ago.

No mention here about statewide judicial candidates, which would appear to be key to securing ballot access in 2016.  In 2012, two Greens cleared the 5% threshold for the party to acquire ballot access this election season; one was Charles Waterbury, who ran for state Supreme Court.  Texas Democrats left vacant the Place 8 slot on the SCOTX, and two positions on the state's Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4 and Place 9.  If there is a Green running for those, then the absence of a D is usually enough for the GPTX to clear the ballot-access bar.

I'm also looking forward to the reveal of the Congressional candidates, as I heard some interesting rumors about a challenge to Sheila Jackson Lee.  According to my sources it's Remington Alessi, who ran against Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia in 2012.  Another intriguing campaign will be David Collins' bid for Harris County Judge.  The Democratic candidate in that race has been already been disparaged by the mighty Kuffner (scroll down to the third paragraph after the excerpt there).  I would expect Charles to vote for the Republican before he voted for a Green Democrat he didn't like, as he did in the last cycle in the DA's race.

More on the Democrats' filings, state and local, later today tomorrow.

Update: Via Indy Political Report, the Texas Libertarians.  They can also be found on the TexTrib's brackets at the top link.

Update II: Video of the Webb County Green Party press conference, en Espanol.  And the Laredo Morning Times...

Democratic incumbents U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, State Rep. Richard Raymond and State Rep. Tracy King were all expected to run unopposed.

However three candidates from the Green Party announced Monday that they plan to challenge each representative for their respective seats. Michael D. Cary of San Antonio will look to unseat Cuellar, who has held the office since 2005...

Both King and Raymond will be challenged by Green Party newcomers Marco Buentello and Nicolas Serna III for their respective district seats. King has represented District 80 for nearly 20 years while Raymond has been in office since 2001.

"I'm a little teapot"

I'm telling you, start ordering your popcorn by the boxcar...

Stockman will primary Cornyn

Get your corn popped now.

Stockman, 57, walked into the Texas Republican Party headquarters in Austin at about 5:45 p.m. — 15 minutes before the filing deadline — and withdrew his filing for his congressional seat, then filed a new application as a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, said Spencer Yeldell, a GOP spokesman. “Until then, it was a pretty laid-back day,” Yeldell said.

 Taegan Goddard links to WND for the exclusive (I won't):

Stockman blamed the incumbent GOP senator for undermining Sen. Ted Cruz's "fight to stop Obamacare."

Said Stockman: "We are extremely disappointed in the way he treated his fellow congressmen and broke the 11th commandment and undermined Ted Cruz's fight to stop Obamacare. And now, it looks like Cruz was right and Cornyn was wrong. He sided with the president, essentially, in making sure Obamacare became law while Cruz did everything possible to stop it."  

This is going to be some funny shit.  Once Cornyn pinches off that brick, he'll get to work Tweeting some more insanity to the far right.  As for the Congressional seat Stockman leaves behind, there remain three Republicans who filed in CD-36: John Amdur, Phil Fitzgerald, and Kim Morrell.  (Update: This, from Texas on the Potomac, adds the additional names of Chuck Meyer, Doug Centilli -- who is believed to be the chief of staff for Cong. Kevin Brady -- and Dave Norman.  Unless these freaks start cannibalizing each other before next March, I won't post on them again until two of them are in a runoff.)

John Amdar, an attorney from Houston and city council member in nearby Nassau Bay, has filed for the seat. So has Phil Fitzgerald, who owns a construction business in Hull.

Also in the running is Kim Morrell, who ran for the seat in 2012. He’s a former city councilman in Seabrook who owns a printing and shipping company. Morrell says he’s pro-life, pro-gun, and against Obamacare. He’d been thinking about running again for a long time, he said, but Stockman’s Senate run convinced him.

“My sources told me Steve wasn’t going to run for the seat, and so I made a last-minute decision to run,” he said. He says he’s hired a campaign manager and hopes to have the rest of his team put together very soon.

And Michael Cole has filed, this time as a Democrat.

Meanwhile, Michael Cole has had his eye on the heavily-Republican district since 2012, when he ran as a Libertarian. He got about 6,000 votes in that election.

Now Cole, a 38-year-old teacher from Orange, Texas, is running again as a Democrat. He says he has a campaign team in place, has been crisscrossing the district, and is about to file his first report on fundraising to the Federal Elections Commission. He said he’d focus on getting things done and charged outgoing Stockman with wasting time on politics.

“I can listen to what my constituents want instead of just showboating against Barack Obama,” he said, noting that his major focus would be on middle-class job growth.

Cole explains his conversion from Lib to Dem here.  Update: This Daily Kos diarist has written a few about a Cole, with some links and embedded video.

Things just got a lot more fun for those of us who track these things.

Update: So if anybody else wants to file as a Repuke in CD-36... you still have some time to do so.  Thanks, GOP!

CCA Judge Meyers switches parties, to run for SCOTX as Democrat

Burnt Orange, Quorum Report, and PoliTex appear to have it first.

Longtime Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Lawrence "Larry" Meyers announced Monday that he is leaving the Republican Party to run as a Democrat for the Texas Supreme Court.

Meyers, of Fort Worth, filed Monday on the last day of filing to seek Place 6 on the Supreme Court, currently held by Jeff Brown.

How long ago did I say that there would need to be a lot more of this sort of thing before the media people would start sitting up and taking notice?  About six weeks.

Meyers was rumored to have contemplated switching parties two years ago.  The significance of his flip today is that he will still be on the CCA as a Democrat even if he does not prevail in his bid for election to the state Supreme Court.  So the Dems just picked up a statewide officeholder.  More filing updates later.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is doing its best to stay warm as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff highlights the introductory campaign video by Senate candidate Maxey Scherr, who vividly links her opponent Sen. John Cornyn to his junior master, Sen. Ted Cruz.

Texpatriate opened voting for its 2nd Annual Person of the Year contest. Please consider voting for who YOU think had the biggest impact on Houston and Texas politics by clicking on the link!

Eye On Williamson is still, yes still, blogging at our temporary home. Without any new ideas, the Texas GOP resorts to scare tactics: Fear and the Texas GOP.

Nelson Mandela and the life he lived taught us much about human rights and peaceful protest, observed PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, but the conservative response to his passing taught us almost as much about them.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks that the GOP candidates for lieutenant governor are vying for king of the racist homophobes, aka the Republican base. Will David Dewhurst outdo Todd Staples?

Neil at All People Have Value posted a picture of the oldest structure in Harris County, Texas. The longstanding virtues of home and family are only strengthened when we add the more modern values of full inclusion for all our fellow human beings. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

=======================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Austin Contrarian explains the difference between "filtering up" and a general rise in rents.

Robb Fickman concludes that one of the biggest problems in our criminal justice system continues to be how we treat the poor.

Paul Burka eulogizes Texas historian T. R. Fehrenbach.

Zippidy Doo Dah gives an update on Rep. Steve Stockman.

Lone Star Ma criticizes the principal that forbade students from speaking Spanish at school.

The Bloggess promotes her annual holiday philanthropy project.

Sunday Funnies

Sid "Sonogram" Miller, Ted Cruz, and Louie Gohmert

The updates are flying in over the transom as we close in on Monday's candidate filing deadline for 2014.  Let's focus on the news of the weird... and that -- generally speaking, at least -- involves the TXGOP.

The former state legislator responsible for the Texas sonogram law -- in which women must have a wand inserted in their uterus, and must look at the generated image of the fetus before the clinic can perform an abortion -- is, naturally, running for Texas agriculture commissioner.  And it seems he thinks as highly of his prized quarter horses as he does the women of Texas.  First, Gator in The Bayou...

Former state representative Sid Miller wants to be the next Agriculture Commissioner of Texas. He was fired by his constituents in a 2012 Republican primary run-off election.

A serious candidate for the Republican primary, Sid hired ‘Nuge’ as his campaign manager. Yes, Ted Nugent.

Now the hopeful and self-described ‘arthur’ of the Texas sonogram law has been accused of mistreating his high-dollar, prize-winning quarter horses.

It happened at the Alamo Quarter Horse Breeder Association show in San Antonio back in May of this year.  He tied three of his horses to a trailer and pulled it with a truck.

And from that DMN article...

 “If anybody thinks that I would tie three half-million-dollar horses to a trailer and they had a chance of getting a scratch on them or injuring themselves, I would have to be an idiot,” (my emphasis) said Miller, who raises and sells the animals. “My horses get the very best of care that they can get, and not just because they are worth a lot of money, but because I think a lot of them. I love my horses.”

Sid, you took the words right out of our mouths. Sid also seemed to eventually come to an agreement with himself that he indeed is an idiot.

“I shouldn’t have done it. I just wasn’t thinking. It’s just such a common practice for me that I really didn’t think nothing of it,” Miller said. “I just should have known better because not everybody understands it.”

There's some excuse-making in there -- he's probably not going to trot his quarter horses behind a truck when anybody else can see him doing it -- but since this is Sid Miller, half-baked contrition still qualifies as progress.

I ran this cartoon by Ben Sargent last month that explains exactly why Sonogram Sid is going to be the Republican nominee, and it has nothing to do with Ted Nugent or quarter horses.

All Sid needs to do now is go on an Obamacare rant and he'll have the nomination locked up.

-- Speaking of rants, Ted Cruz seriously misjudged the depth of the bigotry among his base.  He posted a respectful acknowledgement of the passing of Nelson Mandela to his Facebook wall, and what he got back from his followers almost defies belief.  For that development we go to Burnt Orange.

... (O)ur Senator Ted Cruz shared kind words and condolences to Mandela's family and the people of South Africa. Unfortunately, the response to his statement on his Facebook page did not reflect this sentiment. And while Ted Cruz's Facebook page has never been ground zero to discover human intellect and compassion, the outpouring of racism, bigotry, and ignorance was absolutely unprecedented to see for a man who had just recently passed and did so much for the country he led. Instead, the majority of comments referred to Mandela as a communist and a terrorist.

BOR has posted some screenshots of the filth, just in case the original should disappear.

Apparently the people who comprise Ted Cruz's supporters think it's better to be a racist than it is to be a communist.  This really shouldn't surprise anybody.  More on this from TFN Insider.

-- Finally, ahead of John Cornyn's hilariously ridiculous Tweets, ahead of Joe Barton declaring he would vote to repeal the minimum wage, and even ahead of Pete Olson and Steve Stockman circulating proposed articles of impeachment (of the attorney general and the president, respectively)... we have the undisputed king of the dipshits, Louie Gohmert.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) seemingly tied Christianity to U.S. national security during a bizarre speech on the House floor on Thursday, the Huffington Post reported.

“If you were completely areligious, completely atheistic, but you wanted to have a free country, and you wanted to have it safe and protected, then it would sound like, from historical purposes, that it might be a good thing to encourage those who believe in God to keep doing so,” Gohmert said. “Because when a nation’s leaders honor that God, that nation is protected. It’s only when it turns away that it falls.”

The remarks came during a speech about what Gohmert described as the continued persecution of Christians worldwide. The Tea Party congressman also referred to Israel during his remarks, which came less than a month after he criticized President Barack Obama’s administration for not using Biblical prophecy as the basis for U.S. policy in dealing with the country.

“If the God who protected Israel since its inception through many generations until they stopped honoring the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — which, by the way, no country has ever fallen while it was truly honoring the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” Gohmert argued.

The Post also noted that Gohmert has blamed atheists for the June 2012 mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater and for the increase in suicide among military service members.

This half agnostic/half atheist is going to take a pass on the encouragement to anyone of speaking to an invisible Duck-Dynasty-bearded senior citizen living in the clouds for any purpose whatsoever.  But you go ahead and pray your ass off, Louie.  Hell, you can even pray for me if it makes you feel better.

The rest of you Republican elected pikers can quit now; there's no topping that.  This week, anyway.

Greg Abbott, CPRIT, and an indictment

Despite the deep freeze Texas finds itself in this morning, Greg Abbott is lying in bed sweating and hitting his call button, trying to wake up the maid to turn down his thermostat.

Texas Democrats, including their presumptive nominee for Governor Sen. Wendy Davis, sought on Friday to make Attorney General Greg Abbott feel political heat for an indictment related to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. As the (Austin) Statesman first reported, former executive Jerry Cobbs was indicted in relation to an $11 million grant that did not go through the agency's proper review process. An agency audit faulted Cobbs for “improperly” putting the application of the company in question on a committee agenda.

“The indictment of a former CPRIT official confirms that Greg Abbott has betrayed Texas taxpayers by failing to show up to even one CPRIT oversight board meeting,” Sen. Davis said. “Abbott has yet to fully explain why he failed in his basic oversight responsibilities to Texas taxpayers.”

As Harvey Kronberg has noted at the link above: "nearly silence from Abbott's folks".  Maybe they're all snowed in.

Just one year ago, Glenn Smith predicted the cancer/cronyism scandal would engulf the GOP.  The fire has been smoldering all this time, and -- despite Harvey's casual toss-off as just some political maneuver -- is about to erupt in flames.  Then...

In a series of explosive articles, the Dallas Morning News has revealed that many of the grants went to Perry and Dewhurst’s allies and donors. The agency’s scientists that review grant proposals have resigned in protest. Those actions have already made the scandal news in international science journals like the well-respected Nature.

[...]

The Dallas Morning News video above gives a thumbnail version of the growing scandal. I would also encourage you to read articles here, here and here.

... and now:

A former top executive of Texas' $3 billion cancer-fighting effort was indicted over an improperly awarded $11 million taxpayer-funded grant that plunged the state agency into turmoil, prosecutors said Friday.

Ending a yearlong criminal investigation into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, prosecutors said a single felony count against former chief commercialization officer Jerald "Jerry" Cobbs will be the only criminal charge filed after an Austin grand jury declined to issue indictments related to other agency missteps.

Cobbs, 62, is charged with securing the execution of a document by deception. He is accused of allowing Dallas-based Peloton Therapeutics in 2010 to secure one of the agency's most lucrative awards ever even though the merits of the company's proposal were never scrutinized.

There's been lots written here about it, and lots more by others.  In July, the HouChron...

In the more than four years he served on the state cancer agency's governing board, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott exercised no oversight as the agency made misstep after misstep in awarding tens of millions of dollars to commercial interests.

The state's top lawyer and watchdog instead appointed one of his deputies, who missed about a third of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Oversight Committee meetings, and, by all accounts, was not much of a presence in the agency's questionable decision-making.

"It turns out that Abbott sitting on the oversight board was a green light rather than a caution sign," wrote Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, a Democratic political action committee. "Businesses backed by Abbott contributors - many of whom are partisan Republicans - have received large grants and contracts from CPRIT without fear of any oversight at all."

And yesterday, the Texas Tribune.

Cobbs served as the institute's chief commercialization officer for three years, before resigning (in November 2012). In that role, he was responsible for presenting the Peloton grant to the Oversight Board for approval. Given the amount of the grant, and the allegations that Cobbs failed to disclose that it had not gone through the required review process, he is being charged with a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine. He turned himself in (Friday) morning and was released on an $85,000 bond, according to the Public Integrity Unit's Gregg Cox.

Frankly I think Tom Pauken pulled out too soon.  But that assessment is dependent upon Texas Republicans finally discovering some understanding of the moral corruption and ribald incompetence of their presumptive gubernatorial nominee.

Based on the enthusiasm expressed in this advance from Big Jolly of Abbott's appearance at the Houston Pachyderm Club just this past Thursday -- I'll link to his slideshow of the festivities as soon as he puts it up -- I'm not holding my breath on them getting it.

Update: Slideshow linked.  They ain't getting it.

More on how this topic is a ready-made cudgel with which to beat on Abbott from Socratic Gadfly.  And from John Coby: Abbott's campaign wheels wobble.

Judge Susan Criss resigns, will run for Texas House

From her Facebook wall.

For fifteen years I was honored to wear a black robe for the people of Galveston County. Four times I raised my hand and swore, so help me God, to faithfully execute the duties of the office of the 212th District Court of Galveston County, Texas and to the best of my ability protect, preserve and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of Texas.

While I dearly love this job, it is time for me to serve my community in a different capacity. In order to do that I am required by law to resign from this position before December 9, 2013. I sent a letter to Governor Perry resigning from this bench effective at 5 pm December 6, 2013. I ask that he appoint someone to fill this term.

On Sunday December 8, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. I will file for the office of State Representative of District 23 at the Texas Democratic Party office in Austin.

For a decade and a half I administered justice to the best of my ability. I tried to be fair to everyone who appeared before my bench. When I was a young prosecutor, Judge Raymond Magee told me that the man who drives to the courthouse in a pickup truck deserves the same justice as the man who drove there in a Cadillac. I never forgot his words and aspired to live up to them every day.

I was addressed as “Your Honor”. That was an appropriate term, but not because I was special. It truly was my greatest honor to be able to serve the people of Galveston County in our justice system. I loved this job, the people I worked with, the lawyers who appeared before me, and the people I served.

One sign on the door of my courtroom reads: ”This court belongs to the people.” The other has a quote by Sam Houston: “Do right and risk the consequences.” Both signs reflect my beliefs about justice and about government service. The pink granite building in Austin also belongs to the people, the ones who drive Cadillacs, the ones who drive pickup trucks and the ones who cannot drive at all.

The people of District 23 deserve strong effective representation in the Texas House. I am excited about working hard to ensure that District 23’s voices are heard in Austin.

The news just gets better and better.