Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Pontificating


To pontificate is to talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner. To pontificate properly, you need to be a know-it-all with very strong opinions and the urge to share them.

I obviously fit the bill.

As the Cardinals go on techno-lockdown to pick from amongst themselves a leader to guide the Church away from the shoals of misfortune, bad judgment, and pertinacious thinking that brought them to this moment in history, I have to say that I will be marginally encouraged if they choose a non-European (but not an American. That would demonstrate more enabling behavior, IMO).

Try out the Pontifficator here, before we get the holy smoke. I couldn't find this guy among the photos, spring break or otherwise. And I'm thinking this guy deserves to win on the strength of his headgear alone.

Update (3/13/13): Habemus Papam Franciscum.

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is a little groggy and stumbling in the dark as it springs forward to bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff wrapped up his analysis of 2012 election returns versus 2008 returns with a look at the Congressional districts, and a suggestion for where Democrats should look next.

The prognosis for Medicaid expansion in Texas -- after a huge rally at the Capitol and many committee meetings and statements from legislators -- still appears to be guarded, observes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.  

WCNews at Eye on Williamson believes there's no other conclusion to be drawn from SCOTX Justice Wallace Jefferson's State of the Judiciary speech this week: The Texas justice system is broken.

From McBlogger's Please God, Make It Stop! file comes Kinky Friedman 2014.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes that John Cornyn, one of 22 Republican men in the Senate who voted against the Violence Against Women Act, is now claiming credit. Cornyn was one of 30 Senate Republican men who voted against the Franken anti-rape amendment in 2010. What a prince Cornyn is.

Neil at Texas Liberal is in Los Angeles this week. Neil posted a picture of a Los Angeles police helicopter flying over Santa Monica Beach as the sun sets. This type of surveillance is far more picturesque than a drone hovering over you snapping pictures.

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

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

Better Texas Blog reminds us that Texas' public pensions are on sound financial footing.

Texas Leftist thinks the "Arkansas option" for Medicaid expansion isn't a good idea for Texas.

Socratic Gadfly notes that legislators tend to vastly overestimate how conservative their districts are.

The Great God Pan Is Dead reports that small press and independent comics are alive and well in Texas.

Burnt Orange Report says that if the Lege truly did give the people what they wanted, they'd restore funding to public education.

Juanita minces no words about Rick Perry.

Letters From Texas uses the math to remind us that John Cornyn is a fool.

The Rev. Beth Ellen Cooper writes about being lectured on morality by a couple of legislative staffers.

Mean Green Cougar Red has a few thoughts on Dubai becoming a hub for international air travel.

Texas Redistricting maps out what might happen to Texas' legislative districts after SCOTUS rules on the Voting Rights Act.

When In Session celebrates the bill filing deadline.

Lone Star Ma commemorates International Women's Day.

And while it doesn't have anything to do with politics, good beer news is always welcome.

Friday, March 08, 2013

Two and a half candidates for mayor

I'll be having lunch today with the incumbent. The Chronic covered the challenger's announcement earlier this week (but put the story behind the paywall)...

Former Houston City Attorney Ben Hall formally launched his mayoral campaign against incumbent Annise Parker Wednesday night, decrying the burden of taxes and fees he said are driving city residents to the suburbs, and saying Houston's mayor must have a grander vision.

Mike Morris has a pretty good summary of the state of play today.

"A mayor must do more than simply balance a budget," he said. "A mayor must do more than simply dream of ways to tax and penalize residents. We need more than just a manager, we need a leader. And we need more than just a leader, we need a leader with vision, someone who sees a way out of this morass. You can continue the strangulation hold on the taxpayers and residents, or we can choose a different way forward … by opening up the city to the international marketplace."

Parker said Hall seemed to be describing "an alternative universe." Parker said she has led the city through a deep recession without raising taxes, and said the major fee imposed under her watch was a voter-approved drainage fee. As for international efforts, Parker said, the city recently has added direct flights to Turkey and China.

"I don't think I've ever heard any political candidate, but most especially a candidate for mayor, imply that it wasn't important to have a balanced budget," Parker said. "He clearly sees a different city than I see. The city of Houston is one of the best cities in America to live and work and raise a family. It is a magnet for the best and brightest from all over the world, and it continues to get better as we pull out of the recession. I see a city of growth and optimism."

Hall, who holds a law degree from Harvard University and master of divinity and doctoral degrees from Duke University, entered the 2009 mayor's race, but withdrew and supported Gene Locke, who lost to Parker in a runoff. Hall also considered running in 2011, when Parker narrowly missed a runoff against a group of unknowns, leading some to speculate she would be likely to draw a challenger this year.

Hall might have been a stronger candidate than Locke in '09, and could very well have prevailed in '11 when Mayor Parker was most vulnerable. Parker is riding the wave of the Houston economic tsunami, however, and has improved her standing in just about every measure. I agree with Bethel Nathan....

Hall has no moment of historic import going for him, Nathan explains.

“What’s the cry going to be? ‘Elect one of us?’” Nathan asked. “We already elected one of us,” Lee Brown, who served as mayor from 1998 to 2003.

[...]

“There’s nothing emotional that’s driving me to turn out in mass numbers for Ben Hall,” Nathan said. “The only thing Ben Hall does is take African-American votes from Annise Parker and make it possible for a white conservative” to win.

... and Mustafa Tameez.

"There's not a case to be made that she's an awful mayor and that if she was around for two more years it would be detrimental to Houston's future. The Houston economy has done well, there have been no major scandals and, for the most part, Houstonians like Annise Parker."

The last line of that Chron article mentions the 'half' candidate.

One other candidate has filed a campaign treasurer form indicating he may run: Green Party candidate Don Cook, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2009 and 2011.

I'll append this post later with any developments from our luncheon today.

Update: Greg adds...

The bigger, tactical mistake is Hall attempting to recreate the “Pincer Strategy” that didn’t work terribly well for it’s (sic) original practitioner, Gene Locke. There’s a big difference between winning broad Anglo GOP support and having a GOP consultant along with a fringe Republican Kubosh brother by your side at one of the way-too-many announcements of your candidacy.

Well, Hall can always hire Marc Campos.

Update: Since I have been a laggard at attending these, it was great to see so many new (to me) faces; Wayne from Texas Leftist and Stephanie TexansChick among others. And Ben Mendez, Rogene Calvert, Jenifer Rene Pool, and Lissa Squiers were just a few of the aspiring politicos. Here's some pics.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

The prospects for Medicaid expansion in Texas

After yesterday's first-hand experience, I would have to say that the prognosis is guarded. Here's what happened the day before yesterday's lunchtime march and rally at the Capitol.



The House GOP Caucus met in a closed door session Monday in which they decided overwhelmingly to reject Medicaid expansion as proposed under the Affordable Care Act. After a meeting that sounded a bit like a pep rally –- with lots of cheering happening behind the closed doors –- Caucus Chairman Rep. Brandon Creighton emerged to say they would stand with Gov. Perry and hold the line on Medicaid expansion.

So into the valley of death rode the six hundred thousand some number in between.


Keep in mind that there are Republicans in key positions in the Lege who appear to be looking for a way toward -- and not away from -- Medicaid expansion. It's just those efforts might be a Trojan Horse in order to deflect the criticism from their intransigence.

Some leaders, including State Senator Tommy Williams, a Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, have insisted that the state needs flexibility to administer a “Texas solution,” like requiring co-pays and deductibles for Medicaid recipients and enrollment in private or employer plans if available. 

Slicing more skin off the necks of poor people to throw into the game is, frankly, a non-starter. They have already given enough of their lives -- children, seniors, and those below the poverty threshold. We are already at the blood-out-of-a-turnip stage in Texas.

-- Many working, low-income Texans aren't offered healthcare coverage through their jobs, and many more simply don't get paid enough to purchase it. (Forget for a moment the unemployed, the underemployed, and the under-self-employed.) These are the crisis situations: people who put off doctor visits because they cannot afford them, and then go to the emergency room when their health takes a turn for the worse.

-- Large majorities of Texans polled say they want Texas to accept the federal dollars for Medicaid.

-- Then there are the personal stories. For example: my father, 86 84, who had a good job all his working life and then a comfortable retirement, is at medium-to-end-stage dementia and has essentially outlived his assets. So it's humiliating enough for seniors like him who find themselves at the prospect of spending the very end of their lives on the government dole (when they are even capable of understanding that). But because health care providers are refusing new Medicaid patients -- in large part because the state pays its Medicaid bills very slowly -- people like him are falling straight from middle class all the way through the shredded safety net.

And people like him have no advocates. My dad can't write a letter or an e-mail; can't make a phone call, can't go to a townhall meeting to speak to his state rep, can't march at a rally. You know what's even worse about his situation, though? If he lived in Arizona, or New Jersey, or Florida, he would be getting covered. Because their conservative governors can see the benefits of expanding Medicaid. Not our governor, though.

I find empathy, however, to be somewhat fungible among Texas Republicans. So a straight appeal to the financials is what we are left with, and it's a good thing those arguments are pretty solid.

-- Medicaid expansion is free to Texas for the first three years, and after that pays the state at a 9:1 ratio. The net expense for Texas over ten years is $15 billion, and for that investment the state receives $90 billion in federal revenue.

-- It's our tax dollars we are getting back. We have already paid for it, and if Rick Perry remains obstinate about not taking it, then the money will just go elsewhere. This is some powerful stupid even for the governor, folks.

-- The annual Medicaid funds are enough to cover an additional 13,839 nurses and 5,131 family doctors in Harris County alone. Almost a billion dollars -- $935.25 million to be precise -- is greater Houston's share of the pie. And -- this is for the conservatives, now -- additional savings can be recognized from reduced property-tax-supported spending on the uninsured for emergency care, mental health, public health, and so on. (These numbers come from CPPP's Anne Dunkleburg. I'll add some links to this post later.)

So after the rally we targeted a few of those Republicans who have a lick of sense and a somewhat open mind; one was Rep. John Zerwas of Fort Bend County, who sits on the House Appropriations committee and serves as chair of the Health and Human Services subcommittee. His aide, Cameron Cocke, met with our group of six and indicated that the representative sees that Medicaid expansion is "something that is eventually going to have to happen". We shared our personal stories, made a call to action, left behind some of the research, and all felt that the messages we delivered were heard.

Wish I could say the same for Speaker Straus, who has a phalanx of policy advisors and gatekeepers in a separate sprawling office on the first floor of the Capitol (the old Purchasing Agent's office). We did not meet with anyone except the women guarding the front, and were only able to secure the card of the Speaker's policy analyst for healthcare issues, Jennifer Deegan. At least it wasn't the waste of time that some of our group endured at the hands of Sarah Davis' staff, though. Dozens of other legislators got visits from the hundreds of activists who made the day trip from Houston, Dallas, and elsewhere.

So while Medicaid expansion remains viable as of this posting, I am -- a word I am using a lot lately, made up specially for occasions like these -- skeptimistic that the Lege will do much about it in this session unless Rick Perry's fever breaks. The pressure is working, however; they are getting deluged with calls, letters and e-mail from both sides of the issue (so they say).

Kicking the can down the road would be more than a little unfortunate for millions of Texans, some of whom will probably die as a result of this recalcitrance. This is your state government in action -- or better expressed, inaction.

Kuffner, Stace, EOW, Juanita Jean, and of course Progress Texas all have more to say on the subject. Update: And also the Texas Observer.

The clock is ticking. The federal government will only provide its generous 100 percent match (later shrinking to 90 percent) through 2016. It’s late in the game for Texas to draft an entirely new waiver application and program, and Perry already rejected setting up a state exchange like the one Arkansas will use.

We could know a whole lot more about where Texas is heading later this week. House Appropriations Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie) announced today that his committee will discuss Medicaid expansion Friday.

Update (3/7): This qualifies as both discouraging and a example of the disgraceful lack of leadership on this issue. I don't believe that is unintentional, either.

In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News, Straus said he and other Republicans have made it clear they oppose expansion of Medicaid as the program now stands.

“But I think it's time that we said more than that. It's time that we put forth a good-faith effort to find a Texas solution,” he said.

“We need to move beyond the word 'no' to something that the administration might entertain,” Straus said. “There are no winners if nothing is agreed to. We have a very large state, a significant population of uninsured people ... and I think it could be an opportune time to put some proposals on the table that could be supported by Texas leadership.”

Yes, Texas cries out for leadership. It's a crying-ass shame we can't expect any from the governor or the House speaker. These grandiose remarks consist of nothing but excusing failure in advance. Prove me wrong, Mr. Speaker.