Headline, money graf

Why do we throw prostitutes in prison?

Texas, not exactly known for its leniency to offenders, also came close to  eliminating its felony penalty this year. (A bill made it out of committee but wasn’t voted on, and there is still felony prostitution in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri.) ”It’s nuts that we’ve got this many prostitutes in prison, people that we’re not afraid of, but we’re just mad at,” the state’s Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire  told the Austin American Statesman last year. “By locking them up, we’re not fixing the problem — we’re just spending a lot of money incarcerating them, warehousing them, when we could be spending a lot less getting them treatment so they can get out and stay out of this business.”  

Why we don't need the Keystone XL pipeline:

Here are some interesting facts you might not be aware of:

• The United States now exports gasoline: Some 15 million barrels of gasoline a month. That's about 500,000 barrels a day. We're selling so much that exports have quadrupled in just seven years.
  

• Americans are using a lot less gasoline. Demand peaked back in September 2007 at almost 9.3 million barrels a day. Today, we consume about 8.7 million barrels a day — a drop of 600,000 barrels a day.

We're producing way more gasoline than we need. The gap between supply and demand is so great, in fact, that the only market oil refiners can find for their product is overseas, where demand is growing (and prices are often much higher).

And this is happening even before booming U.S. shale oil and natural gas production really kick into high gear over the next few years, which brings me to two more observations:

• The United States is on track, says the International Energy Agency, to become the world's top oil producer in just seven years — bigger than Saudi Arabia by 2020.
  

• The U.S. will become a net exporter of oil around 2030 and nearly self-sufficient in energy by 2035.

That means that we'll have so much oil in just a few years that we'll be able to export it — like the Saudis do now — and won't need a drop from anyone.

So with all of that in mind, tell me: Why do we need the Keystone pipeline?

Zimmerman and Martin: Some facts so simple that even Fox 'News' should be able to understand ...

1) George Zimmerman had been arrested and charged for an act of violence. Trayvon Martin hadn't.

2) George Zimmerman had had a restraining order granted against him for alleged domestic abuse. Trayvon Martin hadn't.

3) George Zimmerman had a history of racial conflict. Trayvon Martin didn't.

George Zimmerman's attorney seems to think the personal history of the shot dead unarmed black teenager is relevant. And he's right. It is. Because the shot dead unarmed black teenager had no history of legal problems arising from acts of violence. George Zimmerman, on the other hand, did.

Frank Lautenberg, the last of the New Deal liberals

One of the few members of Congress who could remember listening to Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the radio and going to college on the initial GI Bill, Lautenberg served five terms in the US Senate as a champion of great big infrastructure investments—especially for Amtrak and urban public transportation—great big environmental regulations, great big consumer protections and great big investigations of wrongdoing by Wall Street.

Lautenberg was the only remaining US senator who served in WWII.

True or false

Your first news item.

Texas legislator drops marijuana cigarette while speaking on floor

While speaking during the Texas legislative session, representative Tom Alvin (R) Altruria, dropped something unexpected on the House floor. Upon picking up the item, cameras caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette.

He quickly put it back in his pocket as legislators looked on and then continued to speak. Several DPS officers were on hand but did not seem concerned about Rep. Alvin’s possession of an illegal substance.

Ironically, the bill being discussed pertained to decreasing penalties for the possession of small amounts of cannabis. If passed, the bill would change state law and no longer jail those with small amounts and would instead only require a fine.

Rep. Alvin spoke in opposition to the bill stating “marijuana is a deadly and dangerous drug. It ruins people’s lives and is so addictive that people can become hooked on it just by touching it. We have to keep in mind that allowing any steps towards its legalization will ensure that children have access to this drug. Only by keeping it illegal and imposing tough sentences can we continue to ensure that this plant is no longer consumed by people who should not have it.”

Your second news item.

Teenage Pregnancy In Decline, But Texas Still #1 For 'Repeat' Teen Births

Jajuana Thomas, 19, and her toddler son Nathan outside their apartment in Greenspoint. Thomas is five months pregnant with another child.

It's hard enough having one teen pregnancy, but what happens when you have two or more?

Public health researchers say teen birth rates are at a record low in the United States, falling 44 percent since the peak in 1991. But the problem remains, with more than a thousand teenagers giving birth every day.

Now, for the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has examined a troubling sub-group: teens who give birth to a second, third or even fourth child. These are called “repeat teen births.” Of all 50 states, Texas ranks #1 for this phenomenon. (CDC Factsheet.)

Jajuana Thomas, 19, is five months pregnant with her second son.

“I wasn’t expecting to have a second child but now that I am I’m happy about it,” she said during an interview at her apartment in the Greenspoint neighborhood of Houston. “I wanted a girl, but I’m having another boy. So it’s okay.”

Here's a better question than true/false: Which news item is true but ought to be false, and which is false but likely to be true as well?

The Weekly Wrangle

The thoughts and prayers of the Texas Progressive Alliance are with the families and friends of the Houston Fire Department as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff discusses why the special session won't wrap up as quickly as first thought.

We said goodbye to Michele Bachmann and Susan Combs on the same day last week. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs tried hard to hold back the tears (of laughter), but ultimately submitted to the overwhelming schadenfreude in anticipation of a few Texans who might next wear the crown.

Dos Centavos provides a response to HB 5 by a statewide coalition of Latino groups who have much to say about the education assessment bill.

Texas' plan to finance roads is privatized gains and socialized losses. WCNews at Eye on Williamson writes about the poor revenue performance of corporate toll roads in Texas: But you can drive 85 mph on it.

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

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

Colin Strother joins the blogging world with a comparison of Battleground Texas today to the Assorted Republicans of Texas 30 years ago.

Concerned Citizens offers its own take on how BGT is perceived by its boosters and detractors.

Texpatriate wonders what the heck is going on in Galveston.

Texas Vox asks how ExxonMobil will adapt to the climate change it is helping to create.

Texas Leftist gives his impression of Houston mayoral candidate Ben Hall.

Mean Green Cougar Red wants to know how safe our bridges are.

Lone Star Ma is upset about the politically-motivated death of CSCOPE.

Beyond Bones celebrates the sequencing of the coelecanth genome.

Sunday Funnies

Another conservative bedrock principle crumbles (or maybe melts)

Under the hot weight of reality.

One major principle of Barack Obama's presidency that his foes love to hate — that government, when it works right, can be best-equipped to aid and protect Americans — is finding fresh currency among some Republicans.

Their doctrine that smaller government is better government is being tested by pressing needs in storm-battered states, security threats that play up the need for a robust defense apparatus and offers for federal funds that are tough to turn down.

[...]

...(U)nmet needs are forcing Republicans to concede more publicly than usual that minimalist government isn't necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution.

To be certain there are legitimate concerns about the overreach of the executive and judicial branches that are serious, troubling, and in dire need of being checked and balanced by the legislative branch. But whatever the incessant wailing about Obamacare, the IRS, bailouts, stimulus spending, etc. blahblahblah may have accomplished outside of the conservative bubble, the argument for austerity collapses with every tornado in Oklahoma, and every hurricane on the Gulf -- or Atlantic -- coast.

Obama walked side by side this week along the Jersey Shore with Republican Gov. Chris Christie, a fiscal conservative who has shown no patience for massive government spending — except when it comes to billions in federal aid for his state after Superstorm Sandy. In fact, it was Christie and other Northeast Republicans who criticized members of their own party for insisting that Federal Emergency Management Agency aid be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

[...]

Two days earlier, in a tornado-razed community in Oklahoma, it was Mary Fallin, another Republican governor with a stated distaste for over-the-top government spending, who welcomed Obama and the aid his administration brought to her state. She praised FEMA and Obama, reprising a scene that's played out in other disaster areas when the federal government and its considerable resources have been in high demand.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, GOP Gov. Jan Brewer is going to the mat to force lawmakers in her conservative-leaning state to embrace a dramatic expansion of Medicaid made possible by an infusion of federal dollars under Obama's health care law.

Although she joined other Republican governors in suing the Obama administration over the constitutionality of the president's health care law, she's now told the Republican-controlled Legislature she'll veto every bill they send her until they approve the expansion. She nixed five bills last week — a move that led the state Senate president to accuse her of extortion.

Texas -- much by its own hand -- remains extremely vulnerable to an imminent vagary of the weather. That's obviously different than Rick Perry believing he is immune to electoral fallout from the response to an offer of federal Medicaid funds with a raspberry (and forcing his fellow travelers in the Lege to join him in the buzzing chorus of flapping lips). But when wildfires devastated Texas a couple of years ago, and more recently when the West fertilizer plant blew up, he crammed his snout right into the federal trough. Our governor proves to us again that he doesn't even have the stones of a Tom Coburn or a James Inhofe.

Forget about having as much compassion as Jan Brewer (!!!).

But the macro point is that it becomes increasingly difficult, even ridiculous, to defend the premise of austerity when all around the world there are not just indications but examples of how badly it is failing. It is of course failing the US also; the sequester demonstrates once more the rank hypocrisy of those in Congress who make exceptions for the elite even as regular people suffer.

The administration estimates that the elderly will get 4 million fewer Meals on Wheels this year. The Head Start program has been hurt, with critics saying 70,000 children will be excluded, and one center in Georgia recently shut down. HUD will hand out 125,000 fewer rental assistance vouchers, advocates say.

I don't expect elected Republicans to get it until the people voting for them start to wake up and realize they've been had. And I don't know how long that's going to take. But it's going to happen, incrementally at first and then there will be a sudden shift, like a glacier calving an iceberg. And then a few dozen more, until the entire ice shelf fractures and melts like the cubes in a highball glass.

And a whole bunch of folks will be left with a serious hangover.

In a post-Bachmann world, Texans vie for top GOP moron

Ben Sherman at BOR has already covered this, and Mother Jones decided to enlarge the field by adding a few from outside Deep-In-The-Hearta. But everything -- as everybody knows -- is bigger in Texas. Especially conservative douchebags.

The nominees are...

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas)

Is he crazy? Once caught with 30 mg of Valium in his underwear. Lived in a Fort Worth park for a year with a homeless man he compared to Lenny from Of Mice and Men. Warned that sex ed classes were teaching kids the virtues of bestiality. Started an AR-15 sweepstakes for his constituents. Actual campaign bumper sticker: "If babies had guns they wouldn't be aborted."

Put it in granite: "The best thing about the Earth is if you poke holes in it oil and gas come out."

Do people care? Stockman has had no discernible impact on public policy and Democrats have written off his seat—he won his last race by 44 points.

Stockman gets style points for his flamebait on Twitter. Which is something far too smart for our next honoree...

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)

Is he crazy? Opposed gun control by comparing gay marriage to bestiality. Supported Alaska oil drilling so that caribou would have more sex. Cosponsored a birther bill. Wanted Congress to investigate the threat of Shariah law in America. Sounded alarm about terrorists who "are now being trained to come in and act like Hispanic[s]." Sounded alarm about terrorists who are babies.

Put it in granite: "The attorney general will not cast aspersions on my asparagus."

Do people care? Gohmert represents an overwhelmingly conservative district and is better known for his outrageous statements than his impact on public policy.

Even Charlie Wilson (well, Tom Hanks) famously noted that the people of the Deep East Texas district he represented -- and Gohmert represents now -- "don't want anything" except "their guns" and "low taxes". Short of a massive die-off, we're stuck with Louie for another 25 years, just like we are with Stockman.

We've saved the best for last.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Is he crazy? Believes George Soros masterminded a plot to ban golf and force Americans into "hobbit homes." Said that "Shariah law is an enormous problem" in the United States. Thinks states have the constitutional right to disregard federal law. Bragged that he helped nullify a gay divorce. Thinks Harvard Law School has been overrun by communists.

Put it in granite: "I think President Obama is the most radical president we've ever seen."

Do people care? Called the "next great conservative hope" by the National Review, Cruz may have presidential aspirations. But his Senate obstructionism has annoyed more compromise-minded Republican colleagues, including John McCain, whom Cruz said he doesn't trust.

To quote W, we've hit the trifecta! By my morning line though, Cruz is the favorite... mostly on the strength of his insufferable arrogance. He's also the only one of the three that thinks he's smart enough to run for president and win.

Expect weekly one-upsmanship from this Texas Triumvirate of TeaBagging Tools straight through to November of 2016. The comedians shouldn't mourn the loss of Bachmann for more than a few minutes once they reassess the field.

This one's for you, Greg.

Greg, in the comments in a prior post, thinks it's sexist for me to post a picture of Michele Bachmann fellating an Iowa corndog. (What is it called if I post a picture of Rick Perry doing the same?)

I have reminded G of this several times, so here's another opportunity for me to do so: my bias is against ignorance, wherever it lies.

We lose Susan Combs and Bachmann on the same day!?!

Oh happy day.

It is with a deep sense of gratitude for the past, coupled with excitement for the future, that I announce today I will not be seeking elective office in 2014. I want to make my intentions clear as soon as possible for prospective statewide candidates.

We are all so privileged to live in the great state of Texas, and the rest of the country has much to learn from our successes. I have been very fortunate to have served the citizens of this state in elected office for what will be 20 years when my present term as Comptroller ends.

I want to thank blahblahblah...

Honestly, I'm just looking forward now to her next pornographic novel.

Harvey Kronberg smoothly shifts gears right into speculation on her potential replacements -- state Sen. Glenn Hegar, state Rep. Harvey Hildebrand, and Tea Party darling Debra Medina.

Update:

Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, confirmed he would seek the position. “I plan to run for comptroller,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to talk about the Texas economy and business climate.” He said his business background, as well as his years in the Texas House and Senate, had prepared him to tackle the issues handled by the office...

Ahead of that, Harvey is handicapping the Republican primary for lieutenant governor with a total of four horse faces candidates: incumbent David Dewhurst, and challengers Jerry Patterson (incumbent Land Commissioner), Todd Staples (incumbent Agriculture Commissioner) and state Sen. Dan Patrick.

That's a lot of open statewide seats. Finally.

We were already aware of Patterson's bid  -- his campaign manager is the former "Safety for Dummies" local blogger Chris Elam -- as well the fellow who hopes to replace Patterson in the General Land Office, George P. Bush. Staples' campaign for Lite Guv has been a bit lower-profile despite Nolan Ryan's involvement.

As yet there are no rumors about any Democrats running for any statewide offices. But I'm not as plugged in to Democratic scuttlebutt as I used to be. Democrats failed to field a candidate for comptroller in 2010, which enabled the Green Party of Texas to easily qualify once again for ballot access. The TDP, you may recall, sued to try to keep Greens off the ballot because of GOP machinations in their bid for signature qualification; I wrote extensively about that. (Of course Dems are not beyond doing their damnedest to prevent Texans from voting Green, by hook or by crook.)

It's 2014 already, people. And you thought this year was going by fast...

Bye bye, Michele Batshit

OK then; just cut and run when the going gets a little tough.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the tea-party firebrand facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — abruptly announced on Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term.

Her move marked a spectacular fall for a congresswoman with a bull’s eye on her back every congressional cycle: Less than two years ago, she won the Iowa straw poll and was briefly regarded as a serious contender for the GOP presidential nomination.

Her decision had nothing to do, of course, with the fact that she nearly lost last November in a district that voted for Mitt Romney by a margin of 56-41. Nor did it have anything to do with the federal inquiry into her campaign finance irregularities.

Nope, she just wants to spend more time with her husband Lee Liberace the voices inside her head telling her to file another bill repealing Obamacare.

Sadly, this probably doesn't represent a flip opportunity for Democrats but a door opening for some "reasonable Republican" (sic) to replace her. You just have to hope that the TeaBags don't already have a replacement lined up.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes their legislators get to go home soon as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff doesn't profess to know whether Rick Perry will run for governor again or not, but he does know that Greg Abbott would not be any improvement over him in the governor's mansion.

Williamson County does it again! WCNews at Eye on Williamson posts on the latest outrage from the WCGOP: Religious test for constable applicants in Williamson County .

A Dick decided to run for mayor of Houston. Like THAT's newsworthy. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs decided to blog about it anyway.

Darth Politico is back with some Memorial Day musings about how we treat our veterans and that not all those who die because of war are killed in combat.

Dos Centavos celebrates the death (for now) of the latest Republican attack on the poor-- drug testing for TANF beneficiaries. He does support some sort of test for Lege members.

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And here are some more posts of interest from Texas blogs.

Hair Balls listens to Steve Hotze's anti-Obamacare song so you don't have to.

Brewed And Never Battered thanks everyone who helped pass the craft beer bills this session, while Open The Taps explains what all that craft beer legislation will do for you.

Juanita already has a reason to look forward to 2016.

Sara Inés Calderón offers her perspective on Battleground Texas.

Austin Contrarian reassures his neighbors that Austin isn't as big as the 2010 census may have you believe.

Jason Stanford explains how the Legislature screwed you this time around.

Better Texas Blog laments that the Lege still doesn't account for growth in its budget.

BOR updates us on the redistricting effort in the city of Austin, and Texpatriate applauds the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay bill.

Honor the dead, heal the wounded, stop the wars

On a makeshift stage outside the NATO summit in Chicago, antiwar veterans fold an American flag that flew over NATO operations from Bosnia to Libya and which represents the flag that is “draped over the coffins of thousands of Americans killed in combat and thousands more who have committed suicide after they returned from service." They present the flag to Mary Kirkland, mother of Derrick Kirkland, who joined the military in 2007 and committed suicide in March 2010 after his second tour of duty in Iraq. "I am not ashamed that I have to tell people that my son committed suicide. I am ashamed of the military for failing to give him proper mental health treatment," Kirkland says. The military originally reported that her son was killed in action.

The news at Sine Die

Lawmakers moved to restore cuts made two years ago in public education and health care Sunday by sending a $197 billion, two-year state budget to Gov. Rick Perry, defending it against both those who call it too costly and those who say it shorts state needs.

"We've got to educate our children," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, applauding the restoration of some school funding. It was approved 118-29.

Senate Bill 1 is the centerpiece of a spending package hammered out in tough negotiations over how to appropriately fund key state programs, deliver tax relief demanded by Perry, reduce budget gimmickry and create a $2 billion infrastructure fund to address long-neglected state water needs.

Perry could veto bills in the package, and he has the power to kill particular spending items through a line-item veto. Many elements of the package were on his desk or on their way by late Sunday - although Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, briefly threatened to kill a tax break for businesses with a filibuster, in which he would talk until the deadline passed to consider it. Ellis has pushed for the Legislature to review existing breaks to gauge their value to Texas.

More about my senator's involvement:

A high-profile bill to give a $711 million business-tax break passed at the stroke of midnight Sunday with a House vote of 131-14.

House Bill 500 by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, had been approved by the Senate on Sunday after surviving the brief threat of a filibuster by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston.

Also...

A conference committee report for a proposal that criminalizes the use of drones for surveillance and permits Texans to document the activities of law enforcement personnel was adopted by both the Texas House and Senate late Sunday.

House Bill 912 carries more than 40 exemptions, including one that permits members of the media to use drones to photograph and record breaking news activity. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, more than 30,000 unmanned aircraft are expected to be in use in the U.S. by 2020. It now heads to the governor’s desk for approval.

One exemption will need further clarification, said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, before the Senate approved the measure 26-5: as it’s written now, one exemption states that the ban does not apply to residents who live within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Our legislative intent was to have law enforcement be able to use drones,” Estes said, and he added that “we don’t want private citizens to be able to use drones at the border, either.”

A call to special session -- as referenced last week -- remains imminent.

As the Legislature's regular 90-day session winds to an end, state lawmakers are girding for Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session that could start as early as Tuesday on congressional and legislative election maps.

Meanwhile, a federal court is putting its gears back in motion to again take up a lawsuit by minority and voting rights groups challenging Republican-drawn redistricting maps passed by the Legislature in 2011. A hearing scheduled for Wednesday in San Antonio will mark the first time the three-judge panel weighs in on the case in about a year. The flurry of action on the state level on redistricting comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling next month on a case involving Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Texas Republicans already are coming off a court-issued setback revolving around their 2011 voting maps. A D.C. federal court last August threw out the state GOP's redistricting plans on the basis that they discriminated against minority voters.

It's up to the judges, who had to draw temporary maps as a last-ditch effort to ensure Texans could vote in 2012 primaries, to resolve the fate of Texas' redistricting skirmish.

Before the federal court potentially pens new maps that chip away at a GOP stronghold, Republicans are expected to cement as permanent those provisional maps drawn up in San Antonio during a special session.

And not just redistricting, either; the pet projects of the TeaBags are likely on the docket.

(Lt. Gov. David) Dewhurst told the Star-Telegram’s Dave Montgomery last week that he had asked Gov. Rick Perry to call lawmakers back for another round before they could skip town once the 83rd regular session ends Monday night.

According to Montgomery’s report, Dewhurst wants a full plate of conservative red meat: drug testing for welfare recipients (already done), concealed handguns inside campus buildings (only in locked cars for now), a package of abortion restrictions, political redistricting, school choice and a more restrictive constitutional cap on state spending.

Redistricting is a favor of a kind to Greg Abbott. The rest is a favor to Dewhurst, which the governor may not be willing to grant.

"He (Dewhurst) is not concerned about what Texas values are," state Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) told KVUE. "He's concerned about an extremist right wing agenda that will serve a feather in his cap as he goes forward in a future possible primary election to regain his seat."

Davis argues such an effort would put a damper on a legislative session that has been largely marked by bipartisan cooperation, and worries that Republican leaders are anxious to use the special session to bypass the two-thirds majority required to pass legislation during the regular session.

"I'm very proud of the way Republicans and Democrats have come together this session to reflect the values of people who live in Texas. Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst's actions threaten to poison that as we go into a special session," said Davis. "He's going to spend hundreds of thousands of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a special session for purposes that serve his interests alone."

Dewhurst has at least one and maybe two downballot TeaBaggers drooling for a shot at him.

Dewhurst, who’s held his current office for a decade, is expected to announce re-election plans shortly after the regular session ends. But he’s almost certain to face challenges from Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, both Republicans with solid conservative credentials.

Uh huh. Back to that "do-me-a-solid" business.

The Austin American-Statesman’s Jonathan Tilove wrote on the “First Reading” blog that “the operative question” is whether Perry sees the special session Dewhurst wants as helping the governor should he run again or try another bid for president, and “how much he wants to do Dewhurst a [favor] by calling a session that would help burnish his conservative credentials.”

So much for the greater public good.

Much more of interest in that Statesman link. And Paul Burka piles on the lieutenant governor. Winners and losers to be revealed later today... or maybe tomorrow, depending on how late they go.

Update: It's worth mentioning that 64 House representatives sent a letter to the governor asking for four anti-choice pieces of legislation to be added to any special session call. And Eye on Williamson has some good links as well.