Kinky Katz

That would be the musician/author and the deli magnate who could lead the Texas Democratic ticket in 2010.

“I don't think he's a serious candidate,” said former state Democratic Chair Molly Beth Malcolm. “Filing deadline's not there yet. I'm hoping there's some other names.”

Political consultant Glenn Smith said (Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Marc) Katz is not the “ideal” candidate: “He's an affable guy who's got a good restaurant. But, as his mayoral bid demonstrated, he lacks a certain something on the stump.”

Katz said his 2003 bid for Austin mayor failed because “I didn't know what I was doing.”

Or perhaps the DeLay slayer works his way in.

Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who most recently got national attention for his prosecution of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, said Friday that he is "leaning toward" running for governor in the 2010 Democratic primary. Earle, 67, said he hadn’t set a timetable but will probably make a decision "sooner rather than later."

I still prefer the straight-talking cattleman from Whitehouse, personally. And I agree with jobsanger ...

Earle is not going to cut into Kinky Friedman's base -- they'll vote for Kinky no matter who else is running. He's also not going to cut into Tom Schieffer's base -- these conservatives will not support someone as liberal as Earle as long as there's a real conservative in the race. That means he'll be splitting the liberal/progressive vote with Hank Gilbert, and that means there will be less chance of a liberal/progressive candidate winning the primary.

At least things are getting interesting. I think the most important thing to note is that Kay Bailey's stated strategy of pulling Democrats into the Republican primary in March to vote for her is a failing one. She should now be thinking seriously of not running, because her success is increasingly based on the appeal to GOP primary voters of the two candidates running to the right of Rick Perry: Larry Kilgore and Debra Medina.

If that happens -- Kay staying put in the Senate, that is -- then the scrum among Bill White and John Sharp, as well as David Dewhurst and Roger Williams and Michael Williams and all the other ladies and gentemen is completely moot. Ted Cruz and Dan Branch and the millions they have raised for a run for attorney general, based entirely on the supposition that Greg Abbott moves up to replace Dewhurst as lite guv, have to sit tight ... or transfer to some other contest.

If Kay goes on and quits the Senate though, then the game's afoot. John Sharp says the special could be held within 37 days of her resignation, though I believe it will likely happen during the holiday season.

More popcorn, anyone?

Update: Lisa Hernandez of the Carreno Group has the "wise-Latina-consultant" perspective.

Eight years ago now

And the recollection is still a little raw. Let's continue to remember and mark the day, and not in that Glenn Beck distorted way, either.

Michael Moore goes after the pigs

Capitalism: a Love Story doesn't just go after the seamy side of the American economy, although that is captured neatly in the scenes of "condo vultures" feeding on Florida's housing bust, alongside the corporations (including Wal-Mart and Amegy Bank) which take out insurance policies on their employees and cash in big when they die young. These ghoulish derivatives go by the charming name of "dead peasants" insurance – which says it all, really.

But Moore has bigger targets in his sights: he is questioning whether the whole incentive structure, moral values and political economy of American capitalism is fit for human beings. Although this will not seem so radical in Europe, where most countries have had governments in the post-second world war era that at least called themselves socialist, or in most of the developing world, where socialist ideas have popular appeal, it's pretty much unprecedented for something that can reach a mass audience in the US.

But you don't have to be a revolutionary to appreciate this film. Indeed, it can be seen as a social democratic treatise, with Franklin Roosevelt's proposed "second bill of rights" – an "economic bill of rights" that included a job with a living wage, housing, medical care, and education – as its reform program. Roosevelt is shown proposing this now forgotten program back in 1944.

As in his previous films, Moore combines the grief and tragedy of the victims – people losing their homes and jobs – with hilarious comedy, cartoonish film clips from the 1950's, and sober testimony as needed. And there are victories, too – as when workers occupy their factory in Chicago to win the pay that they are owed.

As an economist who operates in the think-tank world, I have to appreciate this work. He gets the economic story right. How is it that Michael Moore's father could buy a house and raise a family on the income of one auto worker, and still have a pension for his retirement? And yet this is not possible in the vastly more productive economy of today? The answer is not complicated: ...

More.

In defense of Joe Wilson: he called the president a liar, was correct, and paid a price

Oh, you were thinking of that other Joe Wilson? Fail.

Honestly, Joe Wilson was the best thing that happened last night.

Well, that and Eric Cant'or Twittering on his Blackberry, and Louie Gohmert holding up his signs, and the booing, hissing, laughter and general town-halling going on by the GOP during last night's joint session address. His Democratic opponent has raised nearly OVER $100,000 -- $40,000 in the first hour after Wilson screamed "lie" at the President.

Lord Charles Boustany -- thrice sued for medical malpractice, a "death-panel" advocate and former Birther -- managed a less-than-tepid response. The best that can be said for him is that he wasn't foaming at the mouth as he delivered his remarks (unlike many of his colleagues).

This behavior does nothing but vindicate Van Jones's original opinion of the Republicans.

Immediate polling reaction is pretty favorable for health care reform. Oh well, August was good for the GOP ... while it lasted.

Pastrami King for Lt. Governor

*heavy sigh* This is what happens when you have a weak state party chairman ...

As proprietor of the venerable Katz's Deli and Bar on Austin's West Sixth Street, Marc Katz has prospered by dishing up Reuben sandwiches, hot pastrami, Kahuna Burgers and Yankee pot roast to a Texas clientele pehaps more accustomed to barbecue and Tex-Mex.

Now the 62-year-old self-anointed Pastrami King is cooking up plans for a big career change by seeking the number two post in state government. Katz said he is running as a Democrat for lieutenant governor, a post now held by Republican David Dewhurst. Dewhurst has been widely mentioned a possible appointee to replace U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Gov. Rick Perry's leading Republican challenger in the 2010 governor's race. Hutchison has said that she will resign the Senate later this fall.

Katz has previously run for Austin mayor, a contest in which he garnered about a hundred votes. You'd think there were more stoners eating his sandwiches at 3 a.m. on any given Sunday in Austin than that, but there you go.

Rachel brings it meaner.

The irony is making me ill