The Texas Progressive Alliance would like to thank the Academy by presenting it with this week's roundup.
TXsharon went undercover this week to map methane plumes in the Barnett Shale: "Stealth" measurements contradict Shale Gas industry safe air claims, new technology shows. Big Gas is so BUSTED! And it's all reported on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy covers all of the results of the primary elections including the surprising defeat of Don McLeroy in the State Board of Education District 9 Republican primary. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines, and this week will begin coverage of the local municipal elections.
The Texas Cloverleaf provides a Denton County and Texas primary roundup.
Texas Vox celebrated last week as the student governments of two Texas rivals, UT and A&M, passed "green fees" to support sustainability initiatives on campus.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson takes a first look at the general election race for governor in Texas: White vs. Perry is a toss up.
Neil at Texas Liberal offered up a video of him reading the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution in front of the Beer Can House in Houston. This is a house made out of beer cans.
Off the Kuff looks at primary results in the SBOE races.
Bay Area Houston thinks Harris County Democrats are going to get LaRouched in the upcoming Democratic judicial primaries.
Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog warns those outside Texas to stop being federal snobs and begin to concern themselves with the State Board of Education.
WhosPlayin is watching all hell break loose in Flower Mound, as a group circulating a gas drilling permit moratorium petition is blown off by Town Council, and a political organization in the town tried to have the local school district call the police on them if the group used school parking lots for signature gathering.
Over at TexasKaos, libby shaw writes that Senator Cornyn has found himself a hero: Senator Jim Bunning. Yes that Bunning, the one who scores political grandstanding points at the expense of the unemployed. Read the rest here: GOP Senator to the Jobless and Uninsured: Tough S$it. Cornyn defends him.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Reading the tea(bagger) leaves
-- First let's note Governor MoFo's pollster's contention that the 45% of early GOP primary voters in 2010 -- who had no prior Republican primary history -- put the governor over the top in Tuesday's election.
Now personally I believe that's hogwash. People in Texas who have a voting a history, just not a Republican one, turned out in the tens of thousands to vote for Rick Perry?!? LMAO.
There thousands of people with no prior Republican voting history who voted in the Republican primary, all right, and they were Democrats who voted for Kay Bailey ... and Debra Medina. Yes, we have our share of low-information voters too, and they're almost as ignorant as any conservative. Almost.
Baselice wants you to believe that TeaBaggers are legion, especially in Texas. That's partly right; they're just a whole lot smaller in number than he is spinning. I can't look at the full story on QR but that is ludicrous on its face. This is more of the Perry team trying to drive a narrative; don't fall for it. Moving on ...
-- Incumbent Texas Railroad Commissioner Victor Carillo laments his loss to David Porter ...
Carrillo is, of course, precisely right and one of the commenters has a suggestion for him:
But -- at least in Harris County -- that suggestion's closing point is also inaccurate. Hispanic judicial candidates on the Democratic ballot lost to non-Latinos by the bushel.
Everybody knows what this is all about, and you don't have to be a regular consumer of FOX or local talk-radio to get it.
The Texas Blue has an even better suggestion:
Meanwhile, Porter has hired former TRC member Barry Williamson -- a former finance chair for the RPT -- to raise money for him. I posted a lengthy bit of data on Porter here in January that tells you money is going to be the least of his concerns.
And look for more discussion on this surname topic, here and elsewhere.
-- Kuffner ...
I think teabagging has been pretty cool among certain segments of homosexual men for ... what, decades maybe? Centuries possibly?
Now personally I believe that's hogwash. People in Texas who have a voting a history, just not a Republican one, turned out in the tens of thousands to vote for Rick Perry?!? LMAO.
There thousands of people with no prior Republican voting history who voted in the Republican primary, all right, and they were Democrats who voted for Kay Bailey ... and Debra Medina. Yes, we have our share of low-information voters too, and they're almost as ignorant as any conservative. Almost.
Baselice wants you to believe that TeaBaggers are legion, especially in Texas. That's partly right; they're just a whole lot smaller in number than he is spinning. I can't look at the full story on QR but that is ludicrous on its face. This is more of the Perry team trying to drive a narrative; don't fall for it. Moving on ...
-- Incumbent Texas Railroad Commissioner Victor Carillo laments his loss to David Porter ...
" ... an unknown, nocampaign (sic), no-qualification CPA from Midland residing in Giddings filed on the last day that he could file while I was waiting in Abilene to bury my dad. He has never held any elected office, has no geoscience, industry, or legal experience other than doing tax returns for oil and gas companies. ...
Early polling showed that the typical GOP primary voter has very little info about the position of Railroad Commissioner, what we do, or who my opponent or I were. Given the choice between “Porter” and “Carrillo” -- unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover ...
Carrillo is, of course, precisely right and one of the commenters has a suggestion for him:
Message to Mr. Carrillo - why would you stay in a political party that votes out a qualified person just based on their surname?!?
If ever there was a poster child for the racist attitude that pervades the Republican party, to the point of kicking out a qualified incumbent with a hispanic surname, this is it.
Please join the Democratic party. This will not happen to you there!
But -- at least in Harris County -- that suggestion's closing point is also inaccurate. Hispanic judicial candidates on the Democratic ballot lost to non-Latinos by the bushel.
Everybody knows what this is all about, and you don't have to be a regular consumer of FOX or local talk-radio to get it.
The Texas Blue has an even better suggestion:
If (Carillo) is truly interested in supporting the candidate with the most oil & gas experience, he and all Texans should cast their votes in November for Democratic candidate Jeff Weems, a former roughneck and energy lawyer. I don't know about y'all, but I'd rather see an oil & gas person do an oil & gas person's job rather than leave it up to a candidate whose most germane qualification is that he lives near oil & gas infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Porter has hired former TRC member Barry Williamson -- a former finance chair for the RPT -- to raise money for him. I posted a lengthy bit of data on Porter here in January that tells you money is going to be the least of his concerns.
And look for more discussion on this surname topic, here and elsewhere.
-- Kuffner ...
Meanwhile, Harris County Tax Assessor Leo Vasquez suffered the same fate as Victor Carrillo.
Don Sumners won the Republican nomination for county tax assessor-collector Tuesday, ousting incumbent Leo Vasquez on his promises to continue the anti-tax crusade that characterized his tenure as county treasurer in the 1990s.
Sumners campaigned on a slogan of "I was Tea Party before Tea Party was cool."
As treasurer, he publicly criticized Commissioners Court for increasing the tax rate and was an outspoken opponent of a bond measure that approved hotel and car rental taxes to fund football, basketball and baseball stadiums.
I think teabagging has been pretty cool among certain segments of homosexual men for ... what, decades maybe? Centuries possibly?
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Best, worst, and most surprising results from yesterday
-- Perry won without a run-off and Kay conceded fairly early, before it was known for certain whether there would be one. At least she's a quitter in that respect.
-- Bill White got 76% of the vote against his five challengers. Farouk Shami appears to have paid about $10,000 per vote with less than 13%. No one else even got to 5%.
I am both amazed at the result and disgraced in my prediction. Humble pie for a month.
-- Hank Gilbert salted away Kinky Friedman and it was as close as I thought it would be: 52-48. Linda-Chavez Thompson cruised past Ronnie Earle 53-35; Marc Katz had 12.
-- Hector Uribe barely got past Bill Burton for GLO commissioner. The percentage was 51.6 to 48.4 and Uribe trailed late into the evening.
-- Borris Miles defeated Al Edwards by eleven votes. Another incumbent in the Texas House, Fort Bend-area Rep. Dora Olivo, lost her primary challenge to Ron Reynolds.
-- Sheila Jackson Lee thumped her two rivals and drew 67% of her district's vote. I'm convinced she can have that seat for life if she wants to, and she deserves it. I hope some day I get gerrymandered back into the 18th.
-- Keisha Rogers will be the Democratic nominee for US Congress in CD-22, besting two challengers with 52%.
-- And Ann Bennett topped Sue Schechter in the race for County Clerk. 63-37, in my personal biggest shocker.
Worth noting: Reynolds, Burton, Rogers, and Bennett are all African American candidates and may have benefited from increased AA turnout across the state. Jackson-Lee's contest and the Miles-Edwards battle certainly boosted tallies in Harris County for Burton and Bennett.
Bennett will square off against TeaBagger Stan Stanart for Beverly Kaufman's old job. He trounced the establishment candidate, Kevin Mauzy 60.5-39.5. This race was already at the top of my list, but because the two expected participants were both upset, big, it becomes impossible to predict in November.
-- In other Republican results, Ed Emmett-appointed lackey Leo Vasquez got pummeled by Don Sumners 57-43 in the race for Harris County tax-assessor/collector. Oh, the woe of a having a Latin surname in a GOP primary. And beleaguered HCRP chairman Jared Woodfill enters a run-off for his job with reform candidate Ed Hubbard.
-- Bill White got 76% of the vote against his five challengers. Farouk Shami appears to have paid about $10,000 per vote with less than 13%. No one else even got to 5%.
I am both amazed at the result and disgraced in my prediction. Humble pie for a month.
-- Hank Gilbert salted away Kinky Friedman and it was as close as I thought it would be: 52-48. Linda-Chavez Thompson cruised past Ronnie Earle 53-35; Marc Katz had 12.
-- Hector Uribe barely got past Bill Burton for GLO commissioner. The percentage was 51.6 to 48.4 and Uribe trailed late into the evening.
-- Borris Miles defeated Al Edwards by eleven votes. Another incumbent in the Texas House, Fort Bend-area Rep. Dora Olivo, lost her primary challenge to Ron Reynolds.
-- Sheila Jackson Lee thumped her two rivals and drew 67% of her district's vote. I'm convinced she can have that seat for life if she wants to, and she deserves it. I hope some day I get gerrymandered back into the 18th.
-- Keisha Rogers will be the Democratic nominee for US Congress in CD-22, besting two challengers with 52%.
-- And Ann Bennett topped Sue Schechter in the race for County Clerk. 63-37, in my personal biggest shocker.
Worth noting: Reynolds, Burton, Rogers, and Bennett are all African American candidates and may have benefited from increased AA turnout across the state. Jackson-Lee's contest and the Miles-Edwards battle certainly boosted tallies in Harris County for Burton and Bennett.
Bennett will square off against TeaBagger Stan Stanart for Beverly Kaufman's old job. He trounced the establishment candidate, Kevin Mauzy 60.5-39.5. This race was already at the top of my list, but because the two expected participants were both upset, big, it becomes impossible to predict in November.
-- In other Republican results, Ed Emmett-appointed lackey Leo Vasquez got pummeled by Don Sumners 57-43 in the race for Harris County tax-assessor/collector. Oh, the woe of a having a Latin surname in a GOP primary. And beleaguered HCRP chairman Jared Woodfill enters a run-off for his job with reform candidate Ed Hubbard.
Monday, March 01, 2010
The Weekly Wrangle
The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for primary election day and reminds all of you to vote if you haven't already. Here is your Primary Day roundup.
From the Barnett Shale, TXsharon announces a new "Watchdog" for drillers and her SOS to EPA about benzene and other dangerous toxins in the Denton Creek watershed was heard. The EPA has responded! Read all about it at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS
After the latest prevarication on her date of departure from the Senate, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs opines: "Kay Bailey, won't you please GO HOME?!"
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme shows the Texas Supreme Court flipping the finger to Texans, yet again.
Snowmageddon may have struck Austin -- but don't let that cold, hard evidence convince you that global warming ain't real. Let Citizen Sarah (with a little help from President Obama) break it down for you at Texas Vox.
Bay Area Houston highlights yet more hypocrisy from Rick Perry with his I Came and Took It! teabagging campaign.
At WhosPlayin the recent discussion has centered around equity in the Lewisville ISD. It looks like the district may be taking a big step by considering a tear-down and rebuild of the district's oldest high school after costs for asbestos remediation and fire sprinkler installation in the old building went too high. Construction is not equity, though, and there are still issues to be addressed.
Over at McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze takes a look at the Republican HD 47 primary fight and finds it almost as entertaining as an old-fashioned pie fight.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison changes her story again about when she might leave the Senate. Off the Kuff has lost count of how many times this has happened.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has a round up of the campaign cash and who's giving in Williamson County: Bob Perry looms large in Williamson County GOP House races.
The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the early voting turnout in Denton County and the GOP surge.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy makes the case for Brazos County Democrats to vote in the Republican primary, and releases the L o C S Democratic primary candidate endorsements. Left of College Station also covers the debate in the Texas A&M student senate over the anti-discrimination policy.
Pollchecker over at TexasKaos calls out McCain on using Texas health care as an example of "success". And he wonders why he is not president?
Neil at Texas Liberal offered up his 2010 Democratic Primary slate. Neil also noted that Texas Liberal passed one million page views. Thanks to everybody who has read the blog.
From the Barnett Shale, TXsharon announces a new "Watchdog" for drillers and her SOS to EPA about benzene and other dangerous toxins in the Denton Creek watershed was heard. The EPA has responded! Read all about it at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS
After the latest prevarication on her date of departure from the Senate, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs opines: "Kay Bailey, won't you please GO HOME?!"
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme shows the Texas Supreme Court flipping the finger to Texans, yet again.
Snowmageddon may have struck Austin -- but don't let that cold, hard evidence convince you that global warming ain't real. Let Citizen Sarah (with a little help from President Obama) break it down for you at Texas Vox.
Bay Area Houston highlights yet more hypocrisy from Rick Perry with his I Came and Took It! teabagging campaign.
At WhosPlayin the recent discussion has centered around equity in the Lewisville ISD. It looks like the district may be taking a big step by considering a tear-down and rebuild of the district's oldest high school after costs for asbestos remediation and fire sprinkler installation in the old building went too high. Construction is not equity, though, and there are still issues to be addressed.
Over at McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze takes a look at the Republican HD 47 primary fight and finds it almost as entertaining as an old-fashioned pie fight.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison changes her story again about when she might leave the Senate. Off the Kuff has lost count of how many times this has happened.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has a round up of the campaign cash and who's giving in Williamson County: Bob Perry looms large in Williamson County GOP House races.
The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the early voting turnout in Denton County and the GOP surge.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy makes the case for Brazos County Democrats to vote in the Republican primary, and releases the L o C S Democratic primary candidate endorsements. Left of College Station also covers the debate in the Texas A&M student senate over the anti-discrimination policy.
Pollchecker over at TexasKaos calls out McCain on using Texas health care as an example of "success". And he wonders why he is not president?
Neil at Texas Liberal offered up his 2010 Democratic Primary slate. Neil also noted that Texas Liberal passed one million page views. Thanks to everybody who has read the blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)