Friday, January 28, 2011

Things to do in Houston this weekend

-- The Houston Auto Show, now through Sunday the 30th, is offering free test drives on dozens of different models -- GMC, Buick, Chevy (including the Camaro), Toyota, and Kia. There are also free gifts for test-drivers.

-- The Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon will run through the streets of H-Town on Sunday.


This lists the street closures, so whether you're spectating or avoiding you'll know where to go. If you need a reason not to go, click here.

-- Sam Houston Race Park's thoroughbred season gets under way with the Connally Turf Cup, a $200,000 affair attracting some outstanding entries.

-- And if that's not enough for you, check out Artopia, sponsored by the Houston Press.

-- In a more partisan vein, the HCDP Comedy Showcase will be Sunday evening from 6-9, in coordination with the Houston Comedy Union.


Recent post updates

Re: More Senate stirrings and The Bush family pushback against the Tea Party ...

-- Dewhurst does DC, so does Leppert (ew):

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, widely presumed to start the race for U.S. Senate as the favorite if he decides to run, was in Washington (last) Thursday to meet with members of the Texas delegation on a range of issues.

Dewhurst was spotted in a meeting with a group of GOP lawmakers over the lunch hour, and a spokesman confirmed that the lieutenant governor was on the Hill to talk policy. ...

Asked if his political future was a subject of discussion during the meetings, Walz would only say that Dewhurst "was encouraged by his meetings with members of the delegation." ...

Rep. Joe Barton, now infamous nationally for apologizing to BP during the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, told The Hill Thursday he likely would not pursue a Senate bid if Dewhurst does.

A GOP lobbyist also tells POLITICO that Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert was making the rounds in Washington Thursday.

Leppert, who recently announced he would not run for another mayoral term, is also toying with a Senate bid, but will face the challenge of being a regional candidate with little statewide name recognition.

-- Two Railroad Commissioners join the fray ...

Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams formally announced he would run for the U.S. Senate at a Texas Tribune forum Thursday morning.

During his announcement Williams told the Tribune's Evan Smith that he and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, who's also running, would probably attract some of the same supporters. He blasted the federal government for the Environmental Protection Agency "is sticking its nose in our business." He also said that he didn't feel that Dewhurst was the front-runner in contest.

He made a point of referring to himself as the "big dog" in the primary. He most certainly has the biggest head in the affair. Meanwhile, EAJ makes a little tiny ripple ...

Construction workers Jim Graf of Houston and Stacy Roberts of Conroe know barbecue, which is why they took a break from putting up a new Pizza Hut to chow down on brisket, chicken, beans and slaw at Goode Company Barbecue on Kirby. They didn't know Elizabeth Ames Jones, the Texas railroad commissioner who, coincidentally, was setting up in the parking lot out front on this chilly Tuesday to tout her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

"State senate or U.S. Senate?" Graf wanted to know.

"Republican or Democrat?" Roberts asked.

Ah ha ha ha ha.  More:


Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones continued her U.S. Senate announcement tour at the Texas Capitol, showing up a bit later than scheduled this afternoon with an anti-Washington message she hopes will take her to Washington....

There wasn't a crowd to greet her, although there were some supporters on hand -- including her husband, two nephews and former Texas Supreme Court justice Craig Enoch -- plus a handful of reporters who asked questions afterward.

Even Big Jolly is less than impressed. Kuffner has a bit more.

Re: The Texas Budget Cluster ... let's just load up the linkage.

-- As Perry bashed Recovery Act, Texas relied more heavily on stimulus funds than any other state to fill budget hole (Think Progress)

... in addition to filling nearly his entire budget gap with Recovery Act funds, Perry also used the Build America Bonds program — created as part of the Recovery Act — to fund billions of dollars in infrastructure projects. He also grandstanded against — and then promptly accepted — federal funding meant to prevent teacher layoffs.

-- Senate Passes Voter ID (Austin Chronicle)

-- The first ten amendments to the Voter ID bill and their fates, and the 11th through the 24th, and the 25th through 38th.

-- What would veteran lawmakers do about Texas' budget deficit? (Dallas News)

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance congratulates the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on their advancement to the Super Bowl -- and notes the delicious irony in that they are playing the game in Dallas -- as it brings you this week's roundup.

WhosPlayin helped organize a cleanup for an historic African American cemetery dating back to about 1845 that had been the target of litterbugs and illegal dumpers. Respect for the dead, and respect for the land are still values that people from left and right can agree on.

Off the Kuff analyzed the initial Republican budget proposal and the utter havoc it would wreak on the state.

TXsharon at BLUEDAZE: Drilling Reform for Texas reported on two important developments on hydraulic fracturing: 1) the EPA is confident gas in Parker County water wells is from the Barnett Shale, and 2) the media took a lie about the EPA and regulating diesel fuel and repeated it without fact checking.

At Letters From Texas, Harold points out that Rick Perry keeps calling things "emergencies" that aren't, and continues to ignore emergencies that are.

Capitol Annex takes a look at a study showing that Texas gets an "F" when it comes to reporting outbreaks of food-borne illness and wonders why the media wasn't paying attention last year when candidates were making an issue of food safety in Texas.

There's a muddy, grunting scrum developing among the Republicans coveting the US Senate seat Kay Bailey is vacating, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs posts an update at a safe distance from the bottom of the pile.

Exactly why does Governor Perry want to insist that you can cut spending and maintain services? McBlogger's pretty sure it's a case of cognitive dissonance.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos gets it dead right whem she tells Goodhair to Man Up Governor Perry. Of course he won't. He has already double-downed on completing the demolition of Texas public education according to everything coming out about the new state budget.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know why Republicans hate people so very much.

TexasVox welcomes guest blogger Jim Hightower as part of a one-two punch on the nuclear waste dump in West Texas: Hightower's Dumping on Texas for Fun and Profit and an expose of Harold Simmons' last-minute contributions to Texas politicians in 2010.

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote on the massive budget deficit in Texas, offering the view that Republican mismanagement of the state is not the only reason for the shortfall. Neil also cites poor citizenship by the many Texans who don't want to pay taxes in a state with no income tax, but who at the same time kick up a fuss when government services they use are cut.