The last word on the shutdown

What the shutdown cost:

“The bottom line is the government shutdown has hurt the U.S. economy,” Standard & Poor’s said in a statement. “In September, we expected 3 percent annualized growth in the fourth quarter because we thought politicians would have learned from 2011 and taken steps to avoid things like a government shutdown and the possibility of a sovereign default. Since our forecast didn’t hold, we now have to lower our fourth-quarter growth estimate to closer to 2 percent.”

Moody’s Analytics reported a similar number Wednesday, saying by the end of the day the shutdown will  cause a $23 billion hit to U.S. GDP or $1.4375 billion per day.

-- $3.1 billion in lost government services. Although furloughed workers will get their back pay,  taxpayers won’t see the products.  (Source: I.H.S.)

--  According to the U.S. Travel Association:  There has been $152 million per day in all spending related to travel lost because of the shutdown. As many as 450,000 American workers supported by travel may be affected.

--  According to the National Park Service: They welcome more than 700,000 people per day usually in October and visitors spend an estimated $32 million per day impact in communities near national parks and contribute $76 million each day to the national economy.  Those revenues were lost.

--  According to Destination D.C., the official tourism corporation of D.C.: There is a 9 percent decrease in hotel occupancy from the last week in September before the shutdown to the first week of October during the shutdown. This year, hotel occupancy was down 74.4 percent for the week Sept. 29 to Oct. 5 compared to the 2012 numbers. (Source: Smith Travel Research, Inc.) In 2012, an estimated $6.2 billion of visitor spending supported more than 75,300 jobs.

What the shutdown's lost revenue could have paid for:

• The net cost of to the government from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP): $24 billion
• The Department of Agriculture’s proposed budget: $22.6 billion
• NASA’s approved budget: $16.6 billion
• All air transportation programs, including the Federal Aviation Administration, security, research, and other costs: $21.9 billion
• The Child Tax Credit: $22.1 billion
• The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (formally known as welfare): $17.7 billion
• The cost of Head Start, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Women Infants and Children (WIC) program combined: $25.2 billion

The topline figure may not take many other costs into account, such as loans that didn’t go out from the Small Business Administration, permits that got held up, and the loss of billions in tax revenue. Plus the government could still get a downgrade on its credit, which could ding business and consumer confidence and bring about more costs.

The shutdown was just the latest budget crisis that has been costly to the economy. A recent report found that the uncertainty created by fights over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling that have cropped up since 2010 has cost the economy nearly a million jobs. 

Ted Cruz:

"It was an incredible victory." 

Truly epic conservative fail

Your linkage for the above:

"An obvious disaster for the GOP"

"House Republicans are the clear losers"

"Humiliating failure"

"Fiasco"

"Disaster ... Debacle"

"This party is going nuts"

"Republicans have to understand that we have lost this battle"

"We really did go too far. We screwed up"

"Speaker Pelosi Part 2: Opening Jan. 5, 2015"

More surrender roundup here if you need it, want it, like it, have to have it.  A few more developments from late last night worth mentioning....

Senate Conservatives Fund hits McConnell for getting 'Kentucky Kickback' in Senate deal

Ten Takeaways from the Great GOP Cave-in

Ted Cruz admits budget standoff was all about building fundraising lists

No Texas Republican votes to reopen US government or avoid default 

Then there's the actual satire.

Cruz: "The Dream of keeping poor people from seeing a doctor must never die"

His eyes welling up with tears, Sen. Cruz said, “I embarked on this crusade with a simple goal: to keep affordable health care out of the reach of ordinary, hard-working Americans. And while this battle was lost, that dream—that precious, cherished dream—will live on.”

Reflecting on the government shutdown and near-default that almost touched off a global financial apocalypse, Sen. Cruz said, “We’ll give it another try in a few weeks.”

Sen. Cruz’s closest ally, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also spoke reverently of the shutdown, calling it “the most expensive Civil War re-enactment in history.”

“Unfortunately, once again, the wrong side won,” he said.

Over in the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) congratulated his colleagues on the deal to resolve the shutdown, telling reporters, “This proves that when we work together, we can come up with a totally unsatisfactory solution to a completely unnecessary crisis.”

With fail this epic, it's hilarious (or maybe just pathetic) to find there are Teabaggers this morning -- sober, I must presume -- who still think they are winners.  And still support the Speaker, even as they voted 'no' in perfect lockstep last night.

I have to say that this madness among conservatives leaves me astounded.  They're already talking about shutting it down again in a few months.

Is it possible that the Democrats could screw up such a gold-plated gift?  I suppose so, but on the morning after this capitulation by the seditionists in the House of Representatives, it certainly smells like their goose is cooked.  Burned to a crisp, even.

I'd rather see them snapped back to reality in a little over year, and not much sooner than that.

T'was the day before Defaultmas...

...and all through the House,

not a creature was stirring.

Not even a louse.

This is going to be a busy week for the cartoonists, and there are so many good ones already that I need to get a few posted before Sunday.

A new Gallup poll shows 60 percent of Americans think the Democratic and Republican parties have done a poor job of representing the people during the government shutdown.  They think a third major party is needed.

Blog Action Day: Human Rights

Here's what we're doing today.



The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is where the conversation begins. Here's some history, examples of violations, and some additional dimension and focus.



Among the participating partners of #BlogActionDay, Amnesty International is at the forefront of the consciousness of this topic in the USA and the world. This post on the scourge of human trafficking in Houston is my most recent contribution to the discussion. Also my brother Neil is making a financial contribution to Amnesty Int'l every time the Houston mayoral campaigns of Annise Parker and Ben Hall send out an e-mail attacking one another, a noble if too-active public shaming.

There's lots of places to join the conversation. Feel free to pick one.

#BAD2013 #OCT16 #Humanrights

Steve Stockman is still a dope

When Kinky announced for ag commissioner and highlighted the ganja as his primo issue, I predicted that there wouldn't be any Republicans who would ask him not to bogart.  (This definition, not that one.)  My mistake: I overlooked former homeless person -- I prefer this term over 'vagrant' -- and once-jailed-on-a-drug-charge-himself Congressman Steve Stockman.

But even when blind hogs occasionally find acorns, they're still blind... and they remain swine.

Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Friendswood, has recently backed a bill to require federal officials to comply with state marijuana laws, which was introduced in April and has since garnered support from Congressmen on both sides of the aisle.

The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013, introduced by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, would bar federal drug enforcement agents from penalizing any person abiding by the marijuana laws in their own state.

The law “shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with State laws” — that is, people who are in compliance with their state laws regarding possession, manufacture or use of marijuana will not be subjected to federal penalties.

That's the rub here: Texas is the second worst of these United States in which to get busted for pot.

On an annual basis, no state arrests and criminally prosecutes more of its citizens for pot than does Texas. Marijuana arrests comprise over half of all annual arrests in the Lone Star State. It is easy to see why. In 2009, more than 97 percent of all Texas marijuana arrests — over 77,000 people — were for possession only. Those convicted face up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, even upon a first conviction.

Despite Texas’ dubious distinction as the #1 pot prosecuting state in America, police and lawmakers have little interest in exploring alternatives. In 2007, Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation (HB 2391) into law granting police the option of issuing a summons in lieu of an arrest in minor marijuana possession cases. Yet aside from police in Austin, long considered to be the state’s lone bastion of liberalism, law enforcement have continued to fervently make arrests in even the most trivial of pot cases.

In 2011, Houston Democrat Harold Dutton introduced House Bill 458, which sought to reduce penalties for the adult possession of one ounce or less of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500 and no criminal record. Within weeks, over 2,500 Texans contacted their House members in support of the measure. Nonetheless, House lawmakers refused to even consider bringing the measure to a vote. 

You can guess why, can't you?  One word: it starts with an R and ends with 'douchebags'.

Stockman's signing on to this federal legislation does absolutely nothing to advance the cause of marijuana decriminalization -- not to mention fracturing the prison pipeline -- in Texas.  That's why it's perfect for a duplicitous sack of shit like him to support.

So while it may be perceived in some quarters that grass could be a bipartisan issue, the truth once more is that the only way things like this are ever going to change is if people simply stop voting for Republicans running for statewide office.

And if you're one of those people who likes to get stoned but doesn't like to vote, you might want to be the first on your block to change that habit.

Update: More Grits. And also The Defense Rests.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance thanks Ted Cruz for his hard work making the Republican Party more unpopular than ever as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff connects a flap over reduced tuition at UTSA for same-sex spouses of active military members to the 2014 campaign.

Horwitz at Texpatriate reports on the Houston mayoral debate, noting that no matter who you thought the winner was, the real losers were Houstonians themselves.

Of all of Greg Abbott's mistakes, one stands out like a sore thumb: he birthed Ted Cruz. Then again, Democrats should really thank "Poop" for what he's accomplished recently on their behalf.  PDiddie at Brains and Eggs knows you have to take a little bad news with the good when it comes to Abbott and his protege'.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme thinks picking turncoat Aaron Peña to do Hispanic outreach for republicans is ludicrous. Good luck with that.

Though we often take them for granted, streets are vastly important to our communities. They're the true lifeblood of any community. Whether we're are traveling to work, visiting friends, or any reason that we need to get from point A to point B, that journey starts and ends with our streets. Which is why Texas Leftist was glad to hear of a landmark initiative for Complete Streets in Houston. It's been a long time coming.

Neil at All People Have Value said this week that the things you had ordered from Amazon have arrived. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw tells it like it is, in Deadbeats, Bums, Extortionists and Saboteurs. Give it a read.

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

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

Egberto Willies prints a letter to Rep. Ted Poe from one of his constituents.

The Texas Monitor implores Latinas to run with Wendy.

Juanita Jean shows what real political junkies do on their weekends.

Nancy Sims evaluates the Houston mayoral debate.

Rep. Mike Villarreal explains how to get help with the health insurance exchange.

The TSTA blog observes that the Rainy Day Fund is in excellent shape.

AzulTX reports from the immigration reform rally in Houston.

What Ted Cruz has accomplished... for Democrats

Extending the premise advanced in yesterday's post with regard to the fact that Ted Cruz is Greg Abbott's biggest mistake...

First, recall that it was Abbott who hired Cruz to serve as solicitor general for the state of Texas in 2003, where he worked for five years.  During that time Cruz argued several significant cases, including nine times before the SCOTUS.  From the Cruz Wiki page...

In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz drafted the amicus brief signed by attorneys general of 31 states, which said that the D.C. handgun ban should be struck down as infringing upon the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Cruz also presented oral argument for the amici states in the companion case to Heller before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

In addition to his victory in Heller, Cruz has successfully defended the constitutionality of Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds before the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 5-4 in Van Orden v. Perry.

Cruz authored a U.S. Supreme Court brief for all 50 states successfully defending the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, winning 9-0 in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow.

Cruz served as lead counsel for the state and successfully defended the multiple litigation challenges to the 2003 Texas congressional redistricting plan in state and federal district courts and before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 5-4 in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry.

Cruz also successfully defended, in Medellin v. Texas, the State of Texas against an attempt by the International Court of Justice to re-open the criminal convictions of 51 murderers on death row throughout the United States.

That is a cornucopia of "Hall of Shame" conservative litigation.   It's noteworthy that Abbott's won-loss record in lawsuits of all kinds has gone down significantly since Cruz left his employ.

But this post is about mistakes, and Cruz made plenty while he was SG.

In his ongoing gambit to claim Greg Abbott’s record as his own, Ted Cruz has opened up his record to intense scrutiny from Texas voters.

It has been revealed that Cruz as a bureaucratic lawyer severely mishandled a court case that would have expedited justice and punished child rapists with the ultimate penalty.

The Texas Legislature passed “Jessica’s Law,” which imposes the death penalty on certain child rapists. Several states joined Texas in calling for justice, and liberals sued, claiming the laws were unconstitutional.

Greg Abbott told Ted Cruz to defend the law before the Supreme Court, but Cruz completely failed to perform elementary research surrounding the death penalty, and Texas’ law was rejected.

"The oversight became the basis of an unsuccessful effort to get the Supreme Court to rehear the case. The request for rehearing noted that the oversight was a ‘significant error.’"

Cruz’s “significant error” caused the Texas law to be defeated, and tougher penalties for child rapists were dismissed.

Cruz doesn’t mention this embarrassing error when he gives speeches. He instead ignores his failures and claims credit for Greg Abbott’s leadership. In fact, he won’t even publicly admit that his appalling incompetence during the case had any significance.

"At the time, however, Cruz was concerned that a New York Times reporter might write that the office of the solicitor general ‘screwed up by not finding (the military provision)’…"

Official correspondence from a defeated Ted Cruz illustrated his attempt to hide his malfeasance.

"Would love to have some sort of response so we don’t look silly," Cruz wrote to a lawyer in the attorney general’s office.

There's a lot more at the link.  But let's just concern ourselves with the present day, as Abbott bids for governor and Cruz keeps the federal government shut down.  In a nutshell, over the past thirty days Ted Cruz has almost single-handedly resurrected the Democratic Party nationally. "Single-handedly" contains only a little bit of hype, since he couldn't have done it without help from John Boehner and these 32 schmucks in the House.  But the accomplishments are still remarkable:

-- A month ago, Democrats were divided and fighting over Obama as it looked as if the nation would go to war in Syria.  Now the party is united again. (!)

-- The Affordable Healthcare Act was polling badly; now it is trending up.  (!!)

-- Obamacare's glitch-filled start has been obscured by the GOP's machinations over the shutdown -- including Cruz's "filibuster" --  and many Americans are blaming that on the shutdown instead of the administration. (!!!)

-- A tight governor's race in Virginia now has the Democrat starting to pull away.  The Republican nominee, a Tea Party moron named Ken Cuccinelli, skillfully avoided having his picture taken with Cruz at a GOP dinner where they were both keynoting.  (!!!!)

-- Cruz's private practice client way back in 1998, Speaker Boehner, is on the verge of being ousted by the crazies in his caucus.  (!!!!!)

Give Abbott a little credit for recognizing the "Poop" Cruz disaster and trying to distance himself from it, but that won't endear him to the kooks who vote in the TXGOP primary.  As with his weak attempts to court Latinos, Abbott is rolling over thin ice.  There is little doubt that Texas Republicans are eventually going to rue the day that Ted Cruz burst on the scene.  And Greg Abbott owns that.

This past Friday I made a phone call to my Congressman, John Culberson, speaking to a staffer who answered the phone, and it went like this:

"First let me say that your job must be awfully tough right now and I sympathize with you, particularly as your boss is trying to take away your employer-provided health care.  That said, I want to thank Mr. Culberson for the excellent work he is doing for the Democratic Party.  A month ago there was no hope that Democrats could retake the House, but thanks to the work done by he and the other Tea Party caucus members, there are now 24 Congressional districts that have moved from 'likely Republican' to the toss-up category.  Please pass on my gratitude and tell him to keep up the good work."

Yes, you can use that when you call Ted Cruz's office next week.

Update: "Ted Cruz was a smelly, terrible roommate." LMAO

Kinky's in for Ag Commish

As a Democrat. And he's running on weed.

"The better Wendy does, the better we will do," (Friedman) said. "And we will also be able to bring a lot of independent voters and people who have never voted before."

Friedman, who describes himself as "an old time Harry Truman Democrat," had been mulling a gubernatorial bid. He previously expressed interest in promoting the legalization of marijuana and casino gambling in Texas. On Saturday, he said that the two issues would remain a part of his platform as a candidate for ag commissioner, especially the idea that the state should "legalize, cultivate, tax and regulate marijuana."

"It could be an economic engine for the state, enabling us to do whatever we want to do," he said.

What's significant this time around is that Texans are polling solidly in favor not just of decriminalization, but legalization.  And half of those folks describe themselves as Republican.  Normalizing marijuana laws is, as we are all aware, a national trend.  It's building a head of steam in simliar fashion to the increasing tolerance for marriage equality.

The weed issue and the gambling thing are indeed big deals to people who aren't usually drawn to the polls.  And it's not like the TXGOP is going to have any advocates for those, anyway.

Friedman acknowledged that he is not currently an expert on major issues such as water policy, nor is he much of a bureaucrat. But like Jim Hightower, the state's last Democratic agriculture commissioner, he said he hoped to expand the scope of the state's Department of Agriculture to bring attention to issues he feels are important. "I would like to do something for rural Texas," he said, adding that he also hoped to reach out to people who currently felt left out of politics.

My emphasis.  That's Republican heartland, and if Friedman pulls soft Republicans and non-voters to the polls to vote for him... why, they just might vote for a few other Democrats as well.

I've been real harsh on Kinky in too many posts to count, so I'm going to soften up a little myself and say: let him run.  Why?

-- He draws earned media, and as long as he isn't making a racial joke, that isn't hurting.

-- There have been worse Democratic nominees for statewide office, Lord knows.

-- As it relates to his topics, most of the people I know personally who are smoking dope and eligible to vote live in the suburbs and vote Republican, if they vote at all.  The proponents of casino gambling, on the other hand, cut across all demographics, all classes, all geography.  The only people steadfastly opposed to these are evangelical conservatives, who have far too much influence in state government.  Pruning back that invasive species benefits all Texans.  And if Kinky will hire someone who can get him up to speed on the water issues -- and eminent domain -- then he might actually make a real difference in breaking the Republican stranglehold on exurban and rural voters.

That's not a bad thing.  A blue Texas, or a more purple one, has to see that sort of thing happen organically anyway, so why not let Kinky spread some seeds and see what happens?

(I hope I don't come to regret this quasi-endorsement.)

Sunday Funnies

Greg Abbott's mistakes

Paul Burka doesn't think he'll make enough of them for Wendy Davis to capture the governor's mansion.  I disagree, and here's the latest evidence.

Attorney General Greg Abbott, the GOP front-runner for governor, is at odds with the four Republicans running for the state's second-highest office in a key area: In-state tuition for immigrants who are in Texas illegally.

The issue helped sink Gov. Rick Perry's presidential aspirations in 2012 when he said opponents of the tuition policy don't have a heart, and it has dominated much of the talk this week in the races for governor and lieutenant governor.

Abbott gingerly entered the fray Friday with a campaign statement saying he likes the goal of in-state tuition but not its execution. He avoided any mention of repeal.

"Greg Abbott believes that the objective of the program is noble. But he believes the law as structured is flawed and it must be reformed," Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch said.

He provided no other details, saying: "The campaign will unveil specific policy initiatives in the coming weeks and months."

This is a landmine for Abbott, and he's about to roll right over it.  He simply cannot pander -- Stace calls it Hispander; I like that -- for the Latino vote and not lose the goon vote at the same time.  Update: Just need to add this, from the TexTrib.

But Abbott's hyper-careful, muted approach to the hot-button issue speaks volumes about the trouble confronting Republicans who try to balance their outreach to the exploding Hispanic population with their ongoing courtship of Tea Party activists who fiercely oppose any perceived benefits going to illegal immigrants.

“For Attorney General Abbott, the fact that this issue has come up places him right in the middle of one of the central dilemmas facing the Republican Party in Texas, and the Republican Party in the United States for that matter,” said Jim Henson, a Tribune pollster and the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. “They have their eye on the increasing Latino vote, but their primary voting base is not taking the same view.”

Abbott has drawn another challenger from his right -- no, not talking about Larry Kilgore or even Miriam Martinez -- and she is as nut-jobby as they come.

A tea party activist and frequent guest on Fox News has entered the race for governor in Texas, offering an alternative on the right of frontrunner Greg Abbott.

Lisa Fritsch, an author and conservative radio host from Austin, announced Tuesday at a hamburger restaurant in Austin that she is seeking the GOP nomination in next year’s gubernatorial primary.

If you want to know any more about Fritsch, the Statesman and the Fox affiliate in Austin both have excellent reports.  I know as much as I need to, though, and that is that Debra Medina has been beaten to the punch tea.  There's no room in the primary governor's contest for her any longer.  As for Abbott, he just rapidly filled up his colostomy bag.

Scatological humor aside, even Tom Pauken says that Abbott has screwed up.

Pauken noted that former GOP gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina, a favorite of tea party voters, is considering running as an independent for governor, as Christy Hoppe reports today.  Pauken predicted if Medina were to run, she would siphon 5-10 percent of the conservative vote in the general election from Abbott, jeopardizing his prospects against Davis.

“I don’t think Debra Medina would run if I’m the nominee,” Pauken said. “These guys who are scared about a potential liberal takeover of Texas with the election of Wendy Davis had better take a look at who would be more effective against her in the November election – someone who represents the grassroots and the average person rather than the Austin establishment.”

I agree with Pauken.  As it relates to Abbott and mistakes, Matt Angle (the man running Davis' campaign) is in harmony with Burka about one thing...

I don’t always agree with Paul Burka, but I recognize and respect that he is one of the most astute and knowledgeable journalists and political observers in our State. His comments that Greg Abbott cannot avoid the fallout over the Ted Cruz-led government shutdown debacle are correct. Abbott cannot – or at least should not be allowed to – cowardly dodge and duck his close association with Ted Cruz or his active participation in a divisive brand of politics that seeks personal advancement by pitting Texans, and all Americans, against one another.

Yep, that's been mentioned before.  If Abbott is going to run for governor of Texas against Barack Obama, Davis has to run against Cruz.  Ted Cruz is in fact the biggest mistake Greg Abbott has made.  Yet.

And there's nothing he can do about fixing it.

Update: And I didn't even have to mention Douchebag Robbie Cooper's name change (scroll all the way down).

Since my lovely wife is part Hispanic, I've decided that it's OK to adopt an Hispanic surname as my own. Is this OK, Trey Martinez Fisher?
— R. Martinez Cooper (@RobbieCooper) October 11, 2013

What a mistake that bastard is.

Ben Hall's bad week

The bad weeks are running together at this point.

Top mayoral challenger Ben Hall refused to attend a candidate screening with incumbent Annise Parker at the Houston Chronicle Friday afternoon, just 15 minutes before it was scheduled to start.

“The Chronicle has failed to provide unfiltered information or to inform the Houston electorate, instead serving as a megaphone for the interests of Ms. Parker and her cronies,” said Julia Smekalina, press secretary for the Ben Hall campaign. “This final refusal to accommodate increased transparency and access is further evidence of their loyalty to only a select few at City Hall.”

The release cited failed negotiations with the Chronicle to “open the screening process to the general public or members of the media. No allowance was made for the Hall campaign to film the meeting for distribution. Negotiations with the Chronicle ended in a disrespectful ‘No’ from their executive vice president.”

Disrespecting the Chronicle right back seems to be a big hit with Republicans.  They have been squawking since Labor Day about poor picked-on Hall and the mean old newspaper.  I'm sure there will be some reaction to yesterday's development from Jolly and the new and improved Khronically Obsessed in due time.  I'll update this post when it shows up.

But back to Ben Hall and his bad week.

In the final weeks before November's election, the only time top mayoral challenger Ben Hall appears in television ads could be in those crafted by the opposition.

After spending more than $1.3 million since July - most of it out of his own pocket - public records show that, as of Thursday, Hall had not purchased any more airtime leading up to the Nov. 5 vote.

"I don't understand why he's running at this point," said Bob Stein, Rice University political science professor. "Why announce a campaign months ago, put millions of your own money in, spend very early on, attack the mayor and build momentum only not to spend the money?"

Hall's campaign played down a report on KRIV (Channel 26) that the campaign did not plan to run any more television ads before the election.

That was the very last line in Fox26 reporter Greg Groogan's account.

(Political insider and UH professor Bob) Stein speculated that perhaps Hall's mediocre debate appearance, coupled with poll numbers that are not definitive about whether he has the support to make a runoff, have persuaded him not "to throw good money after bad."

[...]

Records of advertising purchases show Hall's campaign usually bought television spots in two-week chunks, often just before air times. Parker's campaign paid for slots as much as a month in advance, following what (Stein's colleague Brandon) Rottinghaus and Stein called conventional political wisdom.

Because the most critical days are those immediately before Election Day, they said candidates often purchase those dates early and work backward through the calendar.

The incumbent has scheduled hundreds of television spots on local and cable channels for the last three weeks, which Stein says gives her a definitive edge over her eight challengers.

I think this story must be an example of the Chronicle "bias" Hall -- and Big Jolly and Dr. Whited and those others -- constantly whine about.  Horrible, isn't it?  I wonder why they don't blame the local Fox affiliate for negative accounts of Hall's candidacy?

Update: It took all weekend and half of Monday, but there's finally a response from Jennings and Whited posted.  It's not as sputteringly indignant as I was expecting., so there's that...

I don't hold a high opinion of political consultants as you know, but I'm still on speaking terms with a few, and what they say is that Hall's campaign probably neglected to purchase his ad time "backwards" from Election Day months ago, as described above.  That's called incompetence, and wouldn't surprise me a bit based on what Hall's team has already demonstrated.

We might still see some TV ads and mailers from Hall, of course.  I just don't think it's going to make any difference in the outcome.  He's either going to make a runoff or he is not; that feels like a pure coin flip at this point.  And that could also change in these last few weeks, but any movement won't have anything to do with what Ben Hall does or doesn't do.

The mayor is still coasting to re-election, runoff or no.  As long as her team doesn't make a big mistake, this race is over.

Texpate was ahead of me on this and has a POV on the ed board boycott by Hall with which I completely agree.

FBI raids Houston nightclubs for underage sex slaves

There was a rally a couple of weeks ago to conclude a month-long awareness campaign at which notable local Democratic politicians -- Mayor Annise Parker, Council member Ellen Cohen, Harris County Education board member Diane Trautman -- called for an end to the scourge of human trafficking in Houston.

And this week, a raid on Telephone Road.

The FBI and other state and local law enforcement agencies raided clubs in the southeast Houston area on Thursday night.

The FBI agents and other law enforcement officials began serving search and arrest warrants about 6:30 p.m. at multiple nightclubs, including one in the 5600 block of Telephone Road.

Neighbors said they saw 20 or more clearly underage girls being led out of the Nuevo Amanecer nightclub after the raid.

Margarita Martinez said the girls -- who appeared no more than 12 or 13 -- were wearing miniskirts and high heels. "They could hardly walk," Martinez said. The girls were taken away by officials in a bus.

Agents at the scene wouldn't talk and local FBI officials said the details of the investigation remain sealed, but federal officials have made human trafficking a top priority.

So the reality is bad enough, but there's nothing so hideous that the Houston Chronicle's Khronically Konservative Kommenters can't make worse.

What's missing among the most vile of the reader remarks on that article is a "Let the market decide" whine.  And that's because even the Ayn Rand devotees know that there's a simple economic theorem at play here: supply and demand.

Just as there would be no supply of cheap immigrant labor if Republican business owners would not hire people for less than minimum wage, there would be no supply of underage girls as sex slaves if there weren't men lined up wanting to buy them.

In order to make themselves feel better (yet doing nothing) about this travesty, conservatives blame it on someone's else's race, culture, etc.  Yet, try as they might to convince themselves otherwise, not all of the men doing the buying are Mexican.  Not all of the girls being forced to sell themselves are, either. What the girls have in common is not their country of origin but their economic caste.

That's two inconvenient truths for libertarian-inclined Republicans. Here's a third.

Border guards, border walls, and bigoted rants aren't going to stop human trafficking.  They aren't even slowing it down.  But as long as conservatives have some poor brown people to blame for something evil -- and to justify their political beliefs -- that's good enough for them.

Sick of this racist, misogynist shit.

Dan Patrick attacks DREAMers even as RNC crows about Latino outreach

These is no discernible irony -- and no such thing as hypocrisy -- in the conservative hive mind.

The four leading GOP candidates for lieutenant governor want to overturn the state’s 2001 version of the DREAM Act, the Dallas Morning News reports. The position is sure to draw criticism from Latino politicians responsible for passing the law, even as the Republican party launches a seven-state outreach effort to boost its popularity among Latinos after Mitt Romney’s poor performance among Hispanics in the 2012 election.

Dan Patrick, a Republican state senator representing Houston, got the ball rolling this week with an ad trumpeting his opposition to illegal immigration.

“If Sam Houston, Travis, Bowie and Austin were here today, they would be proud of Texas, but they would be ashamed of Washington,” Patrick says in the ad. “Illegal immigration is Washington’s responsibility, but it’s our problem.”

You need to see it to believe it.



Patrick, campaigning like so many other Texas Republicans against Barack Obama in the GOP primary, is wrong again on the facts (or he is lying again, which is more likely).

Sam Houston, William Travis, James Bowie and Stephen Austin were part of a wave of Anglo-American immigrants to what was then northern Mexico in the early 19th century. Travis immigrated illegally, according to the Texas State Historical Association’s “Handbook of Texas.” Migrants from the United States wound up outnumbering Mexican nationals and wrested the territory from Mexican control, along with the support of several Tejano leaders, in the Texas Revolution in 1836.

The ad goes on to incorrectly say that he’s the “only candidate for lieutenant governor to oppose in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.” In fact, three of his Republican rivals -- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurt, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples – also oppose the measure.

“It’s unfortunate seeing everybody clamor to see who can be the most extreme on that,” Art Martinez de Vara, a co-founder of the Texas Federal of Hispanic Republicans, told the Dallas Morning News. 

Todd Staples has the most to lose in this strategy, since he has an actual voting record that goes against Tea Party orthodoxy.  But really, who cares what any of these lunatics say or believe?  They're all as crazy as a quartet of shithouse rats.

Texas cannot stand to have even one of them anywhere near elective office in 2015.  The good news is that three of them won't.  And the last gaffe standing needs to be taken out by Leticia Van de Putte.

#GivetoWendy

Today Brains and Eggs is teaming up with over 30 blogs from all over Texas and across the country to urge readers to do one thing: Donate to Wendy Davis's campaign for Texas Governor. Why give to Wendy Davis? Because our kids deserve the best education possible, and our public schools and teachers need more funding to be competitive, not $5.4 billion in cuts. Because women are equal to men and Texas needs a governor who not only agrees but is willing to sign legislation that affirms this basic fact. Because as Wendy herself said, "quid pro quo has become the status quo," and Texans don't benefit when contracts, grants, and appointments are handed out as favors to donors. Because Texas can do better than being ranked near the bottom of high school graduation rates and near the top of cancer-causing pollutants in our water and air. If you donate to Wendy Davis, you give her the best opportunity to run a strong, hard campaign that has the resources she needs to win.   Make sure Wendy Davis has what she needs to run the best campaign possible. Give to Wendy Davis today.

Brains and Eggs will take a break from coverage of Texas politics to request one thing and one thing only: Give to Wendy. We're excited to be part of an effort that includes the following blogs: Ann Friedman * Behind Frenemy Lines * Brains and Eggs * Brittanie Shey * Burnt Orange Report * Concerned Citizens * DailyKos * Dos Centavos * Eclectablog * Egberto Willies * Eye on Williamson * Feminist Justice League * Feministing * Greg's Opinion * In The Pink * Jessica Luther * Juanita Jean's * Julie Gillis * Letters from Texas * Mean Rachel * Nerdy Feminist * Nonsequiteuse * Off the Kuff * Rude Pundit * Sensing Place * Texas Leftist * TexPatriate * The Oeditrix * The South Lawn * The Texas Monitor * Too Twisted for Color TV You can also follow the action on the Twitter hashtag #GiveToWendy . Here's a few excerpts from some of those linked so far... What does your gift mean to her campaign? Stability. Momentum. Energy. Stability, because money early in a campaign allows a candidate to build a team and work strategically to take advantage of every available opportunity. Momentum, because early money really is like yeast—it makes the dough rise. Energy, because early money tells the candidate that the grassroots are strong, which gives her the courage and credibility to stake out bold positions. In my almost-25 years in politics and government, I’ve never seen anything in Texas like the excitement for Wendy Davis. If this were shaping up to be a typical election, and Wendy Davis was shaping up to be typical Democratic nominee for Governor, I’d be ready to throw in the towel – Democrats would suffer the same typical result. But this isn’t the typical election. And Wendy Davis damn sure isn’t the typical candidate; she’s extraordinary. I worked with the Ann Richards campaign back in the day. Governor Richards finished with a ton of enthusiasm, but she didn’t have it from the starting gate like Wendy does. Indeed, she started out her race for Governor 27 percentage points down in the polls. Let me throw cold water on things: Wendy can’t do this. If you stand still and wait for her to win this election, you’ll be disappointed. The good news: we – together – can do this. Not just Wendy alone, but all of us. We all know -- yes, even Republicans, in the darkest place of their hardest hearts -- that Texans need Wendy Davis in the governor's mansion. We need to give her the resources she needs to run the best campaign possible. Please Give to Wendy Today. Update (10/13): Just wanted to shoot y'all a quick note of thanks for helping with our blograiser this week. We pulled in over $18K -- the ActBlue page raised $12,275 and the email DailyKos sent raised $5858 on a separate page. Plus, there were $185 in monthly recurring donations so that should bring in another $2000 or so over the course of the campaign, so all told we've collectively boosted Wendy's coffers by a potential $20K!! Wendy herself Tweeted her thanks this morning: Wow! Thank you to the TX bloggers and others who joined @BOR for #GiveToWendy. Because of your help we're off to a huge start! #TeamWendy — Wendy Davis (@WendyDavisTexas) October 13, 2013

The messiest democracy ever

Last night's debate among six of the contenders for Houston mayor was, in a word, brutal. Two of the most excruciating hours of the city of Houston's existence (including yours, mine, and ours). And that is not hyperbole.

My experience of last night's mayoral debate was to a) tune to Channel 8, and b) follow the Tweet stream of the hashtag #HouNews, switching over to #HouVote when that became the category of preference. I also began making notes as the questions began, but abandoned that within the first ten minutes and just let it all wash over me.

For the uninitiated: Following Twitter is analagous to drinking water out of a firehouse... except sometimes the hose turns into Niagara Falls, and you're at the bottom with the rocks and the broken pieces of barrel and dead fish.   It is difficult to endure the unemployed comedians, actual snark artists, and misspelled rants in order to find the occasional kernel of cogent observation during a live event at which you are not present.  It's all but impossible to process when six candidates, four questioners, and one moderator are talking in order while sixteen observers -- some of your friends, some acquaintances, some random strangers, and a couple of fringe freaks from the opposite side of the political spectrum as you -- are all talking on your digital screen, all at once.  But that's why I'm here: to make the sense of the nonsensical.

Except in this case, I can't.  And that's not Twitter's fault.

I began this election cycle as a fierce advocate for those candidates who won't get another chance to put themselves before the voters and present their ideas in a public forum (that more than fifty Houstonians will get off their couches and participate in).  After last night, it is obvious that in addition to the three or four candidates who could not be bothered to show up for the debate, there were some who simply should not have been allowed to enter the building.

And one of them was most certainly Eric Dick, the candidate currently leading the Houston Chronicle's online preference poll.

I'm not going to spare you any more agony.  You have to experience it for yourself.  Queue up the debate on video when the League of Women Voters or KUHT posts it in the coming days, then search Twitter for the hashtag #houvote and scroll down (backwards in time) to around 7 p.m on October 8, and then watch and read in chronological order, like I did, until the two hours is up... or you can't take any more.  Or you can just read this.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker defended her initiatives and deflected a bevy of criticisms from her challengers on the state of the city's roads, finances and public transportation on Tuesday night in the first and only televised debate of this year's mayoral contest.

Parker, vying for a third term, joined her top challenger Ben Hall and four lesser known and funded competitors for the two-hour forum-style debate aired on KUHT (Channel 8) and hosted by the League of Women Voters. Candidates answered dozens of questions about topics including crime, transportation, economic development and quality of life.

Candidates Eric Dick, Don Cook and Michael Fitzsimmons managed to "land some points" on some important issues that may chip away at Parker's substantial lead, said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus, but she is still the likely victor this fall.

Early voting in the Nov. 5 election begins in less than two weeks.

"Several of them I think took her to task on questions about Metro and fixing the streets, and I think that's something that Houstonians broadly could probably empathize with," Rottinghaus said. "But with that said, none of these criticisms really rose to the level of being a truly damaging issue for her."

My scorecard likewise had Parker winning because she made no mistakes (except for her seemingly ever-present contemptuous body language), and Keryl Douglas for being the most prepared among the challengers.  It's already the Year of the Woman, fellas.  Get your shit together.

Update: Besides those photos at the Chron, this one with the mayor, her chief strategist Sue Davis, and campaign manager Stuart Rosenberg celebrating her win with fried chicken from Frenchy's is something of an instant classic.

I doubt that a faceoff between Hall and Parker would have been -- make that "will be", since it's going to happen -- much more tolerable than last night's event.  Hall spending all his time blasting Parker while advocating ridiculous crap like Batcaves under the city filled with drinking water; Parker nonchalantly defending herself as casually as she swats flies while sitting on the porch.  See?  My blog post for that is already written.

For the future, let's consider a series of these in a format where three candidates are drawn at random, or even with the two leading candidates and one other, to "debate" for thirty minutes and then rotate in the others over two hours, or one hour over multiple evenings.  Maybe that would produce a more coherent policy discussion.

You just have to hold out some hope for something better than this.

Houston mayoral debate tonight

Starting in about an hour. You can livestream it at this link, or at this one and follow the Tweet-stream of the Chron's Kiah Collier.  I'll update this post with some thoughts during and after.

6:25 p.m.: All mayoral candidates were invited to participate tonight, but a couple are not.  Scheduled to appear, in alphabetical order, are Don Cook, Eric Dick,  Keryl Douglas, Charyl Drab, Michael Fitzsimmons, and of course Ben Hall and Annise Parker.

6:30 p.m.: Also showing immediately after the debate on KUHT (PBS Channel 8 is televising it, if you don't want to be cluttered up with all this new and social media) is the Frontline documentary on the NFL's concussion controversy, "League of Denial".

6:35 p.m.: The Twitter hashtag for tonight appears to be the the generic #HouNews. #HouVote

6:45 p.m.: Longtime Houston network anchor -- and host of Channel 8's political show, 'Red, White and Blue' -- Linda Lorelle will serve as moderator for the debate.  Asking the questions are Laurie Johnson of public radio's KUHF, Mike Morris of the Houston Chronicle, Doug Miller of KHOU and Pedro Rojas of Univision.

6:55 p.m.: Doug Miller's Tweet has a picture of six candidates in place just before the start. Left to right it looks like Douglas, Fitzsimmons, Dick, Hall, Parker, and Cook.

#Hounews Candidates in place for mayor debate at Channel 8. Watch it live on http://t.co/J5MF03pix3 pic.twitter.com/gguA4SpSg7
— Doug Miller (@DougMillerKHOU) October 8, 2013

Follow my Tweet feed at the right, as I make notes for blogging later.

9:00 p.m.: Well, that was brutal. Tune in later for some perspective, because after the last two hours... I got nothin'. (Until tomorrow morning, that is.)

Bloglunch with Mike Sullivan

Last Friday, the Harris County tax assessor/collector's new media and communications manager, Justin Concepcion -- he recently moved over from Mayor Annise Parker's office --  arranged a sit-down with us blogger types.

John filed a brief report about it already, and Noah has been a fan of Sullivan's for some time.

Sullivan's term as TA/C so far is in marked contrast with his way-too-high-profile predecessors Paul Bettencourt, Leo Vazquez, and Don Sumners.  (Between the three of those assholes, it seems I have written more than fifty blog posts.)  Sullivan appears to have figured out that the tax office doesn't need to make headlines, and that's to his credit.

Sullivan really wanted to brag a little on the improvements in customer service he's made, which include shortening the queues at the 16 branch offices and taking credit cards as payment for vehicle license registrations.  We wouldn't let him, however; much of our focus was on the voter registration side of things.

Mike Sullivan knew he had a big job ahead even before he was elected TA/C of Harris County. He just didn't know HOW big.
(photo courtesy Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)

Let's get some advisories out of the way first: it's too late, as of yesterday, to register to vote in Houston's municipal elections on tap.  You still have time to make sure you have the proper photo identification in order to do so, and here's everything you need to know about that.  Make sure you get that done, and do it now.

Sullivan was avuncular and candid in our hour-long meeting.  He makes a good impression as an administrator and his record so far seems to reflect that competence.  I'm still not bowled over by his efforts to be bipartisan (or non-partisan, as the case may be).  He demurred when asked about things connected with the controversies of the recent past in regard to voter registration; he said that purging of the voter rolls is continuous and ongoing and in coordination with the Texas Secretary of State, John Steen.  But he dodged my questions about whether he favored or disfavored the creation of a county elections administrator.  The topic of True the Vote and Catherine Engelbrecht unfortunately did not come up.

And I am not at all impressed with his appointment of voter registration manager Albert Cheng.  Greg has a couple of posts on Cheng's testimony during this past summer's redistricting hearings, and how badly he misunderstands the concept of "candidate of choice".

But overall, like John and Noah, I admire Sullivan's work ethic and his efforts to improve the county's tax office are apparent.  I just won't ever be a fan of the man's politics.  He does, however, set an example that other Republicans would be wise to follow: leave the BS about Obama outside and do your job.

I'd like to see a lot more of that.

Update: Greg and Charles were also in attendance.

Wendy Davis introduces herself

In this campaign video, also released today.

Annise Parker isn't counter-punching any longer

She went on offense yesterday with the spot embedded below, airing it several times during the Sunday morning blabfest.



It's not a new ad; it was posted to Youtube a week ago. But her press conference at lunchtime today -- happening as this post goes live -- is the second of two punches she's landing against her leading challenger.

Mayor Annise Parker will be available to the media to discuss today’s Houston Chronicle story revealing that Ben Hall again has had to pay back taxes and penalties to the IRS. Hall agreed to pay $680,000 in January 2013.

Here's the Chron with the details on that.

Top mayoral challenger Ben Hall agreed to pay the IRS more than $680,000 in back taxes and penalties earlier this year, court documents show.

On Jan. 16, less than a week before Hall made his first campaign expenditures as a mayoral candidate, the challenger and his wife signed a document in U.S. Tax Court agreeing to pay $520,782 in back taxes and about $160,350 in penalties to cover four years of deficiencies, from 2005 through 2008. The amount was a little more than half of the $1.28 million the IRS claimed the Halls owed when it issued a formal "notice of deficiency" in June 2011.

Hall is going to pick up a few extra Republican votes with this response.

"It's clear there's no intent to hide or misrepresent revenue," Hall said. "The way I look at this is, I won because I sued them and I reduced their amounts and justified my conduct. I'm willing to live on that record. I'm going to pay exactly what I'm supposed to pay in taxes and I'm not going to let anybody bully me, especially not an IRS that's out of control."

The IRS did not respond to requests for comment due to the federal government shutdown.

Every one of the usual insider suspects the newspaper calls for reaction to these stories managed to curb-stomp Hall while he was down.

Democratic political consultant Mustafa Tameez said the case raises questions about Hall's ability to manage details, undercutting the challenger's criticism of Parker as a manager who lacks a grander vision.

"One way to look at it would be that many of the issues that Ben Hall has had regarding his taxes can individually be explained, and some of it is unfair to him," Tameez said. "The challenge he faces is that he has so many of these issues that now it looks like a pattern. There's a sense of carelessness on his personal finances that will make voters question his ability to manage the details of a city the size of Houston."

Republican communications consultant Jim McGrath said, "People understand accountants getting things wrong. You trust accountants to handle these matters because the tax code is such a monster. I'm sympathetic there, but when you put it in the broader fact pattern, it just raises that many more questions. One thing you don't need as a challenger coming up against an incumbent with a strong economy are doubts as to whether your own financial house is in order."

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said the case either is a business lapse or an ethical one, neither of which helps Hall.

"In the best case, he did not do a particularly good job managing his business affairs, which is not a good attribute for a mayor, particularly in a strong mayor system, because the mayor is a chief executive and one of the mayor's jobs is to hire the right people and to manage those people," Jones said. "From the worst light, he was trying to avoid his fair share of taxes."

The odds for Parker clearing the field and avoiding a runoff just got a lot shorter.

An ACA showdown, a Cornyn fail, a D for Comptroller, and the Texas Libertarian slate

-- It's high noon here between the Poop Cruzers and the Affordable Healthcare Act supporters.

The ground war over Obamacare — the one that will determine whether people sign up — will be won and lost in places like Texas.

If Obamacare fails in the Lone Star State — that is, if a significant portion of the 6.1 million uninsured Texans don’t or can’t enroll — then the White House could miss its national enrollment targets, the new health insurance exchanges could falter and insurance rates could spike.

[...]

Advocates are banking on the idea that a grass-roots push in more liberal, urban areas of Texas, plus the demand among the uninsured to get health coverage, will overcome the state’s institutional opposition and deliver on the promise of Obamacare.

“Some of my friends on the other side of the aisle are doing as much as they can to make it difficult for this program to work,” state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat from Houston and prominent supporter of the law, said as enrollment began a few days ago. He thinks the Republican strategy will backfire. “One more election cycle and all of this is going to go away,” he predicted.

I'm going to keep shouting out to my state senator to run against John "RINO" Cornyn next year.  Go read the whole article as always.  Here's more to tease you.

The best hope of Obamacare backers is to support the efforts of local allies in regions such as Houston, Dallas and Austin, the bluest areas of a deeply red state. That’s because these areas lean liberal and also have an existing network of progressive activists. The Obama administration sent Texas nearly $11 million — more federal grant money than any other state — to fund “navigators” who are trained and tasked with helping people through the sign-up process.

In Houston, with 1.4 million uninsured residents, city officials are modeling their efforts on hurricane-force emergency response to counter the adamant state opposition, said Stephen Williams, director of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services.

“We believe this effort is so critical that we have created an incident command structure,” Williams said. “This is the same structure that we use to respond to hurricanes and to respond to public health disasters.”

The city of Houston has provided free office space to Enroll America, a nonprofit group closely associated with the former Obama campaign that is now spreading the word about the health law. The city has provided at least 55 people to help residents enroll and created space for a phone bank. It has ordered public library computers to have links to enroll access and it’s even printing Obamacare information on local water bills “so the broader population can all be informed,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Gonzalez, a Democrat.

-- Speaking of Corndog, he was humiliated by Bob Schieffer on Facepalm the Nation yesterday, and appeared to be completely oblivious to it.  There's video of the exchange at the link.  It's just laughably absurd to watch Cornyn parrot his talking points as Schieffer compared Republicans to colicky babies, and then gangsters.

Update: Cornyn's TV spot joined the flurry of campaign ads breaking today -- trumpeting his "Conservative" bonafides -- but the senior senator from Texas has already lost the race; Glenn Beck has informed Louie Gohmert that God wants him to run for the US Senate.

-- Mike Collier makes official his bid to be the state's Comptroller of Public Accounts.



Please, somebody tell the man how to pronounce the name of the office he's running for.

-- Texas Libertarians are once again fielding a full slate of candidates next year.

Saying that the current federal government shutdown and tensions between Republicans and Democrats have made Texans ready for a change in leadership, Libertarian Kathie Glass on Wednesday officially announced her candidacy in the 2014 governor’s race.

"We’re going to be active in every aspect of this race,” said Glass, a Houston lawyer who also ran for governor in 2010. “We are getting out there a lot sooner.”

Glass said she plans to visit every county in Texas during her campaign and will talk to Texans about their frustrations with the current state of affairs.

That's a page out of the David Van Os playbook.

“This shutdown is just a glimpse of what might happen,” Glass said at her Austin news conference, at which several other Texas Libertarian hopefuls also announced their candidacies. “Voters know that what they want they are not going to get from the two other parties, so we are looking forward to offering them this alternative from the Libertarian Party.”

Glass said her campaign would focus on the idea of nullification, a legal theory that a state can invalidate federal laws it finds unconstitutional. [...]

She said she would nullify the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and federal regulations on companies that lead them to ship jobs overseas to nations with laxer regulations.

More on the Libs down the ballot.

Her husband, Tom Glass, the vice chairman of the Texas Libertarian Party, announced at Wednesday’s news conference that he will be running for attorney general in 2014. He said he is running to battle unnecessary restrictions from the federal government.

“I will use the force of the office to stop unconstitutional federal acts in Texas,” Glass said, citing Obamacare, privacy laws, prison regulations and spending.

[...]

Other Libertarians who announced their candidacies Wednesday include journalist Brandon de Hoyos and Allen businessman Ed Kless, who are running for lieutenant governor; Lago Vista City Council member Ed Tidwell, who’s running for land commissioner; rancher Rocky Palmquist, who’s seeking to become agriculture commissioner; and Austin businessman Mark Miller, who’s running for railroad commissioner.

The Libertarians are always entertaining, and if Texans who vote in the GOP primary actually paid attention to them, they'd see that the Libs come closest to representing their isolationist, xenophobic views.

I simply don't think those voters are intelligent enough to figure that out, though.