Sunday Funnies

"No one's taking away all the guns. But now I get it... now I see what's happening. So this is what it is: their paranoid fear of a 'possible' dystopic future prevents us from addressing our actual dystopic present. We can't even begin to address 30,000 gun deaths that are actually, in reality, happening in this country every year because a few of us must remain vigilant against the rise of Imaginary Hitler." 

-- Jon Stewart

"Chuck Hagel is the new Secretary of Defense nominee. They're saying that he may be reluctant to send troops into a war zone needlessly. What kind of a nutjob is this guy?"

--David Letterman

"Folks, once Jack Lew becomes Secretary of the Treasury, this pubic hair masquerading as an autograph will appear on all our money, making our currency a laughingstock! Our money should have nothing ridiculous on it… just old men in wigs and pyramids with eyes." 

-- Stephen Colbert

"Chris Christie lashed out at Congress for doing nothing for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. But in their defense Congress says, 'Hey, we don't do anything for anybody.'" 

-- Jay Leno

Local media goes to work reporting on SD-6

A surprisingly good update on the latest here, from Joe Holley:

Three days into early voting, the race to replace the late state Sen. Mario Gallegos continues to heat up, as does the balloting.

The first large batch of mail-in ballots was returned Friday, outpacing voters who visited the polls in person. Since early voting began, 1,561 ballots have been cast, two thirds of them in person. More votes were recorded Friday, 805, than in the two preceding days, 756.

I'll be helping the county clerk count those mail ballots as soon as the early voting period concludes on January 22. Even Mark Jones at Rice has stepped up his game...

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones describes the relatively late date as "a strategic delay" on the part of Gov. Rick Perry and his fellow Republicans, who realize that the likely winner will be one of the Democratic candidates.

"Under the Senate's two-thirds rule, until the new SD-6 senator arrives, the Republicans need to convince only one Democrat to vote with them to pass legislation, whereas once Alvarado or Garcia arrives in Austin, they will need two," he said in an email.

On most legislation the difference is irrelevant, Jones said, but not on such controversial issues as the fetal pain bill, for example.

"With only 30 senators, the Republicans will need to tailor the final legislation to obtain the backing of only one of the handful of pro-life Democrats, not two of them," he said. "The result will, quite possibly, be legislation that is closer to the Republican ideal than would have been the case if the support of both was required."

For their part,  ABC-13 had this.



Reporter Tom Abrahams mentions "six candidates" at yesterday's EECoC luncheon forum, so he just concentrated on the ones who were in the room. I don't know where Susan Delgado was, but I do know where Maria Selva was.

This is stereotypical corporate media coverage. Ignore the Green candidates (unless they get arrested, that is.) All of the local media reported essentially the same thing -- nothing -- when presidential candidate Jill Stein came to Houston last October.

Sadly, this weak effort at journalism by KTRK soundly defeated all of their electronic competition: KHOU, which last covered the race on November 12; KPRC, televising a general overview at the start of early voting, and Fox 26, whose most recent report was a month ago.

This is nothing more than the politicians and the media -- and the corporations and the environment -- that we have earned, by our actions or lack thereof. Unless we are willing to change the way we do things. Which includes how and what we think, of course.

That's going to be a long, hard slog at the rate we're going. Doesn't mean we shouldn't make the effort, though.

Update: Here's the two-hour "Conversations with the Candidates" video interviews conducted by the League of Women Voters (which includes every one except Delgado).

SD-6 candidate boycotts TransCanada-sponsored debate

The press release, this afternoon:

Candidate boycotts debate sponsored by TransCanada

Inappropriate influence by international firm hazardous to Houston


January 11, 2013, Houston, TX

Maria Selva, the Green Party candidate in the special election for TX Senate District 6, will boycott the debate held by the Houston East End Chamber of Commerce today because it was sponsored by TransCanada, the company constructing the Keystone XL pipeline. The controversial pipeline will, upon completion, transport tar sands oil from Canada for refining at Gulf Coast refineries.

"Tar sands refining will increase toxic air pollution along the Houston Ship Channel, negatively impacting the health of the people in District 6. The whole tar sands operation from mining to refining drastically increases carbon dioxide emissions which contribute to global warming and climate change, and is at odds with the push for clean, safe energy that is one of the principal goals of my campaign," Selva said.

"This controversial firm [TransCanada] that Houstonians and Texans have been fighting to keep out of the state should not have inappropriate influence over the candidates by sponsoring a debate among candidates who would make decisions affecting it," said Selva.

"Candidates who seek to represent the citizens of Texas Senate district 6 should not be attending events sponsored by corporations that will poison the air of the people they claim to want to represent. We need to keep money out of politics, and that starts with removing money and inappropriate influence from the decision-making process of citizens."


Maria Selva
TX Senate 6 Candidate

http://MariaSelva4TXSenate.NationBuilder.com
facebook.com/vote4maria
twitter.com/vote4MariaSelva
vote.4.maria.selva@hotmail.com

It's a great place to begin the process, at the local level, of getting the corporations and their money out of our political system. When every evaluation of a political candidate's viability starts and ends with how much money they have raised, you know the system is broken.

The system needs fixing.

More Austin/Washington transit

As is often the case during the first week of the legislative session, there's too much going on for me to cover in any depth, so I'll just dump the links that I've been collecting and let you draw your own conclusions. (Well, mostly.)

Hutchison mentioned for vacant Transportation Secretary position: Ludicrous at face value. Kay Bailey resigned from the Senate in order to return to Texas, be with her children, and earn speaking fees while she decides what to do next. She is NOT going to turn around and go back to DC and work in the Obama administration. FWIW I think that job is likely to go to Jennifer Granholm, who has some time on her hands now that Current has been sold to al-Jazeera.

Ron Kirk is also leaving the Obama administration. I just hope he has a Senate seat -- or perhaps the top job in Austin -- in his 2014 sights.

Greg Abbott is telling donors he's running for governor. This I believe. Even if "run" is the wrong verb to use. Update: Via Kuff, Paul Burka has some deep thoughts on this.

Folks, if we don't stop this guy, he'll wind up in the White House not so many years from now.

Twenty state parks may have to close next year due to funding cuts. Abominable.

Worse than abominable: Rick Perry’s Refusal to Expand Texas’ Medicaid Program Could Result In Thousands of Deaths.

Strong opposition stands in front of Dan Patrick's school vouchers legislative effort: I don't think the opposition is all that strong. The Republicans have the numbers in both chambers. This is probably going to happen. However...

Senate keeps two-thirds rule and eliminates exceptions.

Following a closed-door meeting, senators with little debate agreed 27-0 to leave in place the so-called “two-thirds rule” that allows 11 of the 31 senators to block a bill from coming up for debate. But they voted to remove a provision added four years ago that allows for “special exceptions” — a change made by Republicans that allowed them to debate a voter-identification bill that Democrats had been blocking.

State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a leading proponent of dropping the rule, said it “cuts off our ability to have debate” on issues that are important to Texas — sometimes because senators don’t want to have to cast a public vote that some constituents or interest groups might not like.

He suggested that a more robust and open debate of state issues would result from dropping the rule, which has been in effect for decades. Most senators have said privately they believe the rule gives them more clout — that one vote can make a difference in whether a bill can be considered by the full Senate.

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, championed the rule as “a long tradition that has served this body well” in requiring consensus-building before bills come up for a vote. “It distinguishes us from other bodies,” he said.

Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, the author of Wednesday’s resolution and chairman of the Senate Administration Committee, said most senators for months have not supported dropping the rule, even though a behind-the-scenes drumbeat for the change has continued in recent weeks.

“It’s now back to the way it read before 2009. There are no special exceptions,” Eltife said.

Since I mucked up that post with bad math, this development makes me very happy despite the strengthening of Dewhurst's hand, mostly because it weakens Patrick's.

That's why they call it the lesser of two evils.

Update: EOW has a good collection of things I did not mention above, including this.

We might research some cancer treatments while we get rich

The scandal that is CPRIT just gets worse every day.

In an interview this week, Perry said the embattled Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas must regain public trust so it can carry out its dual mission of cure discovery and commercialization.

“The way that the Legislature intended it was to get cures into the public's arena as soon as possible and at the same time create economic avenues (from) which wealth can be created,” Perry said. “Basic research takes a long time and may or may not ever create wealth.”

Perry made the remark in response to questions about the scrutiny CPRIT is facing as a result of two grants, totaling more than $30 million, that were awarded without proper review. The problems, both involving grants to commercialize discoveries, have prompted numerous investigations. 

I just grimaced and moved on when I read this at an early hour this morning, because I am so worn out on Rick Perry that it's just not funny any more. It's his unique blend of insensitivity, piety, and crony capitalism that makes me nauseous at this stage.

Some people understand how crass he is, though.

Legislators and activists contacted Wednesday disagreed with Perry's characterization.

“We're trying to get drugs to the marketplace to help people fight the disease,” said Rep. James Keffer, R-Eastland, who co-authored a 2009 bill establishing the agency after voters authorized it two years earlier. “Our goal is not to make pharmaceutical companies any more wealthy.”

Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, who questioned the need for commercialization grants at a hearing last month, said “the market should handle the rest” if CPRIT money attracts the best cancer minds to Texas and their research proves promising.

“I believe that the purpose of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas was to research and develop cures and treatments for cancer, not act as an investment bank or hedge fund to 'create wealth,'” Eiland said. “The state has the Emerging Technology Fund and the Enterprise Fund as business development tools.”  

I can't add anything to what Burka and EOW have already said. How much more of this embarrassment can a state as big as Texas take?

An H-Town Roundup

-- The Chron put their endorsement in the SD-6 special election behind their new paywall. (Psst: it's "pick one of Garcia or Alvarado".) No, I am not willing to pay to read that.

-- Get your flu shot.

This influenza season is shaping up to be one of the earliest and worst in years, with the flu-sick and those with respiratory illnesses that masquerade as influenza clogging Houston-area clinics, emergency rooms and doctor's offices.

According to local health officials, most of those who have become ill did not get the flu vaccine.

Get your flu shot. Don't be all Alex Jones about it, either.

-- Gasoline prices will be back up to four bucks a gallon sooner than you think.

The fuel price forecasting website says Houston area gas should crest between $3.85 and $4.15 a gallon sometime this spring. Patrick DeHaan is a senior petroleum analyst with Gas Buddy.

“Prices generally will start a bit sluggish this year, prices moving up in January and February just slightly, and then the accelerator gets hit in March, and that lasts for about a month or so.”

DeHaan says the wild card will be refinery performance.

“In the past year, a major refinery in Houston, the Motiva refinery, opened a 300,000 barrel a day expansion. That expansion had to be closed down again, and that certainly resulted in some upward pressure at the pump.”

The Motiva refinery — located 90 miles east of Houston in Port Arthur — was forced to shut down in June due to severe chemical corrosion, just weeks after the completion of a five year expansion project.

I have a second cousin working at that refinery as a contractor, and they have had him onsite seven days a week for twelve hours a day for the past few months. Motiva -- a joint venture with Shell and Saudi Aramco -- has been furiously trying to get online for six months now. Just this past weekend they tried and failed once more. This refinery -- along with at least two others in Port Arthur -- is scheduled to receive and process some of what gets delivered via Keystone XL.

Since the tars sands oil's refined petroleum products will mostly be sold on the global market, it's no wonder we won't see any gas price relief locally. But we will get to breathe all of that pollution.

What a bargain!

-- Here's your guide to the Houston Marathon this weekend. The sponsors are Chevron and Aramco. Don't breathe too deeply, runners. Update: it is possible that the weather might cancel the event for the first time in its history.

Today's opening of the legislative session in Austin

That's three posts in a row on SD-6, so let's talk about something else.

Before today's inaugural session, there was good news...

... State Comptroller Susan Combs (told) lawmakers they've got billions of additional dollars at their disposal.

"Robust revenue collections driven forward by a recovering Texas economy led by sales taxes will result in a budget surplus," Combs said, projecting new revenue of $96.2 billion.

And not-so-good news...

But after paying leftover bills from the current biennium and stuffing $3.6 billion in the "Rainy Day" fund, the balance left for distribution is likely to leave many disappointed, especially advocates for Texas public schools.

"We are not going to see the restoration of the $4 billion to $5 billion cut during the 2011 session," Rice University Political Science chair Mark Jones said.

Indeed, Charles made this salient point this morning about the Comptroller of Public Accounts' underestimate.

This is all well and good, but the bottom line of Combs’ misfire is that the Lege cut billions of dollars from the budget that ultimately didn’t need to be cut. We may be able to do something good with this extra money now, but we can’t go back two years and un-fire all those people who lost their jobs as a result of the Republicans’ budgetary chainsaw massacre. We can’t go back and un-shortchange all the school districts and students that took those cuts right where it hurts. It’s all so much bloodstained water beneath the bridge.

And sure enough, the governor followed through on a tax cut mantra in his welcome to newly-sworn-in legislators later in the day.

Rick Perry was defiant as ever this afternoon at the Capitol. The governor sketched out his priorities for the legislative session in a brief speech to the Texas Senate on the Legislature’s opening day and made clear his approach this session will look very familiar. If you were hoping that the state’s improved budget outlook might lead to a slight increase in spending on items like schools and health care, Perry intimated this afternoon that those items aren’t high on his priority list.

After welcoming special guest Rick Santorum—who was sitting among the senators’ family and friends in the back of the chamber—Perry said the state’s budget surplus, announced yesterday by Comptroller Susan Combs, is proof that “we put Texas on the right path.” And lawmakers need to resist the urge to spend. “There are interest groups in the state who view Monday’s revenue estimate as ringing the dinner bell.”

At that, a young woman lost consciousness, as Dave Mann at the Texas Observer observed.

Moments before Perry said those words, a young Senate staffer standing in the back of the chamber—standing right behind me, actually—fainted. She collapsed on to me and Reuters correspondent Corrie MacLaggan. The young woman’s head hit the floor hard, and she lay motionless for what seemed an eternity, though it was probably only 15-20 seconds. It was a scary moment.

The commotion stopped Perry’s speech, and Sens. Bob Deuell and Donna Campbell, both of whom are doctors, rushed to the woman’s aid. She soon regained consciousness and was helped into a side room. She appeared OK. I hope she is OK. Perry, after seeing the woman helped shakily off the floor, quipped, “I haven’t had that effect on someone in a long time.” Then he added that talk of higher taxes can literally cause “people to swoon.”

Ha. Ha. Ha. What a douchebag we have as governor.

We can console ourselves with the hope that since the calendar reads January of 2013, he's not -- at this time -- capable of being as large a douchebag as the Attorney General of Texas (or whoever writes his legal briefs). Or even, for that matter, as masterful at douchebaggery as the new US Senator from Texas.

Update: Utter dumbass, though? Hell to the yes.

"I will suggest to you that you can ride into infamy with the decisions that you will make." -- Gov. Rick Perry, comparing lawmakers of the 83rd Legislature to the doomed defenders of the Alamo at a speech (Tuesday morning) to the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

Webster's defines infamy as "an extreme and publicly known criminal or evil act." The word is best connected with FDR's description of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And now it's a good summing up of what at least a few Texans might expect from their elected representatives over the next few months.

But dumbass over douchebag is small consolation. Tiny, actually. Miniscule, in fact.

At least we can hope that the Lege isn't capable of as much damage as two years ago. After reading this about the Republicans, though, I have to be skeptical. Thank goodness for Wendy Davis and Abel Herrero and Gene Wu and Harold Dutton and Senfronia Thompson and most of the other Dems. They'll make the next five months tolerable.

Hopefully.

Update: Eye on Williamson has the short and sweet summary.