Huckabee trips on his own hypocrisy

For a guy who has made a comfortable living criticizing the parenting skills of the Obamas for allowing their children to listen to the music of Beyonce',  Mike Huckabee just skated out over ice too thin.

Mike Huckabee with two child molesters, see a pattern here? pic.twitter.com/MlW1ghy5KV

— philip harris (@pharris830) May 22, 2015

Some review.

Josh Duggar, the eldest of the "19 and Counting" children of the TV family, resigned from his post at the Family Research Council (an extremist Christian conservative organization founded by James Dobson, led by Tony Perkins, and labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) after it was revealed that he had sexually molested five young girls -- including some of his sisters -- in 2006, when he was 14 years old.

That was enough controversy and 'do as I say, not as I do' irony for everyone to use the entire Memorial Day weekend to digest, without having to look at the selfies of Duggar with Huckabee -- and Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz; roughly half of the GOP presidential field.  But Huck went on and threw some gasoline on the coals in the grill, posting a lengthy Facebook status update affirming his "support for the Duggar family," and saying that Duggar was being attacked by "blood-thirsty media" and deserves "our support."

That appears to have been a bridge too far for Huckabee's Facebook 'friends', who are tearing him to shreds on his own page.  A few of those "you've lost my vote" reactions are posted here, with a link to whatever Huckabee's FB page monitors have left up (I did not click over to check).

Media reaction, as you might imagine, has been swift and harsh.  Not quite 'bloodthirsty'.

Huckabee praised the Duggar family, who took over a year to bring the matter to law enforcement, saying that they “dealt with it and were honest and open about it with the victims and the authorities.”

He adds that Josh is a good person who “confessed his sins to those he harmed [and] sought help,” despite the fact that, according to reports, Josh did not receive counseling and was only sent to live with a family friend who worked in the home remodeling business.

The former Arkansas governor saved his anger for the people who have cited the case to point out the disingenuousness of the reality TV stars and the conservative political activists who hold them up as a paragon of moral virtue, or as Josh referred to his family, “the epitome of conservative values.” They also have a record of depicting LGBT people as threats to children.

Coincidentally, Huckabee had just received the endorsement of his 2016 presidential bid from Jim Bob Duggar -- who was himself running for political office at the time of the molestations by his teenage son -- and wife Michelle.

(Huckabee's own son killed a dog at Boy Scout camp in 1998, when he was 17.  Later, David Huckabee became an Eagle Scout.  But that's a digression.)

Yeah, the schadenfreude would be delicious... if it weren't so sickening.

As the picture at the top demonstrates, Huckabee has enjoyed the company of a variety of child molesters recently without being called to account.  Until this week, and by his own hand.

Some people might point out that he has not just immolated his own presidential aspirations, but that he has done considerable damage to the other candidates like him, and to the segment of the electorate that demands a Christian conservative in the White House.  A development that plays directly into the hands of the corporate caucus of the GOP and its preferred choice(s).  That's probably a stretch.

After all, there's still Rick Perry, the perfect marriage of Christian conservative and crony capitalist.  But even he's got some explaining and a little scrubbing to do.

Pastors protected, 'Mr. Tesla' loses, high speed rail survives but not local control

Oh, and the state budget will have a tax cut for property owners and businesses.  No sales tax cut.  It's also pinching schools again.

-- In a  jiu jitsu move, Texas House Democrats decided they would not let themselves be branded as opponents of religious freedom by Republicans.  So they nearly all voted aye to shield preachers and ministers from being compelled to bake a gay cake perform a marriage ceremony if they so objected.

These are the games legislators play at the end of the session.

-- In a classic faceoff between the country-ass representatives and the big city ones, two lines of words were removed from the budget bill that allowed high-speed rail to live another day.

Budget writers on Thursday removed a Senate-inserted rider in the spending plan that said the Texas Department of Transportation couldn’t spend any state money on “subsidizing or assisting in the construction of high-speed passenger rail.”

[...]

The two-sentence provision in the massive, $210 billion state spending plan had proved nettlesome in late-session budget negotiations, pitting rural lawmakers against those who represent Texas’ two biggest metropolitan areas.

[...]

But bills aimed at stopping or slowing the project appear bottled up in both the House and the Senate. And with the budget rider shot down, (GOP Sen. Charles) Schwertner predicted that Texans “will rue the day” that they didn’t stop the project when they could.

This is another way you can distinguish progress from regress.  It's not always Democrats vs. Republicans.

-- In the latest example of the word 'local' in local control defined as "under the Capitol dome", legislators don't like it when counties sue polluters, so they're going to stop that.

If finally passed, House Bill 1794 would notch another victory for a wide range of business groups in a legislative session that’s been kind to industry at the expense of environmentalists and advocates for local control. The proposal would set a five-year statute of limitations and cap payouts at about $2 million when counties sue companies that have fouled their water or air.  

A 24-6 vote with no debate set the bill up for a final Senate vote. The legislation already sailed through the House, pushed by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth.

Proponents say that curbing civil penalties assessed on top of those doled out by state regulators would bolster economic certainty for companies and allow them to focus resources on cleaning up their messes.

Because that's been going so well along the San Jacinto River.

In the past five years, Harris County has brought about 10 such cases per year, with penalties averaging about $61,000 per case. But several high-profile environmental cases have resulted in bigger settlements with the county, including a January agreement with AT&T for about $5 million over leaking storage tanks. 

Lawyers for the county and the state recently won a $29.2 million settlement from McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. and Houston-based Waste Management Inc. for pollution in the San Jacinto Waste Pits in the eastern half of the country, where wastewater containing dioxin, highly toxic and carcinogenic, has festered for decades.

-- This session has marked several very big victories for corporations large and small.  'Mr. Tesla' was not one of the winners.

In a turn of events that isn’t terribly surprising, a bill to allow Tesla Motors to sell cars directly to consumers in Texas has failed to make it to the floor, with various state representatives offering excuses about not wanting to "piss off all the auto dealers."

We already know that Elon Musk doubled his lobbying expenses, and even spread another $150K among lawmakers this session, all for naught.  But it was left to "Miz T" to deliver the ignominious coup de grace.

The following criticism from Texas state Representative Senfronia Thompson highlights the challenge Tesla is up against.

“It would have been wiser if Mr. Tesla had sat down with the car dealers first,” Thompson said.

Yes, if only  Mr. Tesla came back from the dead to sit down for a nice little tete-a-tete with car dealers, perhaps then they could have hammered out a mutually beneficial agreement.

Thompson has had an extraordinarily bad session.  She also co-sponsored the anti-fracking ban legislation that many Houston Democrats foolishly voted for.  Twenty years -- ten terms -- in the Lege appears to have been one too many for her at this point.  She was once a progressive warrior, but it looks like she's either sold out or forgotten all she knows.  Sad.

Of all the Texas Democrats that have shamed themselves in the 84th, Senfronia Thompson stands alone at the top of the list.  If she doesn't make the Texas Monthly Top Ten 'Worst', then somebody hasn't been paying attention.

-- Oh jesus, I almost forgot to mention that poor women aren't allowed to use Planned Parenthood for their cancer screenings any longer.

With another ten days, 16 hours, and a few minutes remaining, it's difficult to comprehend that the worst might be yet to come.

Update: GOPLifer seems as disgusted as I am.

American Phoenix funding source sleuthed out, wants his money back

One of the largest donors to the "foundation" that has been secretly filming Texas legislators in recent weeks turns out to be a billionaire and a harsh critic of higher education.  David Saleh Rauf and Lauren McGaughey at the HouChron did the gumshoe work.

A private foundation led by billionaire oilman and higher education critic Jeff Sandefer has given $200,000 in recent years to help bankroll a conservative nonprofit now at the center of a scheme to secretly film lawmakers and lobbyists, tax filings show.

Tax records for Sandefer's Ed Foundation, a philanthropic tax-exempt organization that spreads cash to dozens of causes, provide the first connection to a funding source for the group that over the last six months has strapped hidden cameras onto a band of operatives to track the state's political elite.

Reached for comment Thursday, Sandefer said he was not aware of the group's plan to secretly film lawmakers and was unhappy with his investment after he received no feedback on how the group was using his money.

"I was unaware that they were planning to film politicians. Our intent was that they were going to train journalists," Sandefer said. "We were unhappy with a lack of progress in training journalists and asked for the money back. And we did not receive any money back."

So you have to wonder what it is he wanted for his 200 large.

As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the American Phoenix Foundation does not have to disclose donors and has refused requests to do so, saying only that its source of money has stemmed from more than 11,000 small donors.

A private foundation like Sandefer's, however, must disclose all grantees and grant amounts on an annual filing to the IRS. Tax filings for Sandefer's foundation show $100,000 donations to the American Phoenix foundation in 2011 and 2013, the last publicly available information.

Sandefer, a board member of the Austin-based conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation and one-time adviser to former Gov. Rick Perry, said (Foundation founder Joseph) Basel approached him for the 2011 grant. After the first $100,000, Sandefer said he received no indication from Basel how the money was being used. After he agreed to give the foundation a second $100,000 in 2013, he expected a progress report but received none.

"We did not get into specifics of what they were going to do. I never got that far. I never heard a specific plan to do anything," Sandefer said. "I have no legal right to ask for that, but I would like my (second) contribution returned."

Sounds a little sour grape-y to me.  But my original suspicions have been confirmed.

State lawmakers who have been targeted by the secret videotaping operatives say they were not surprised to hear Sandefer's name as a potential major donor behind the group. Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, said Sandefer's connection only heightened his suspicion that the group originally set out to target Republican House Speaker Joe Straus and his allies.

"It's all about transparency," said Larson, who said he has been approached six times this week by American Phoenix operatives. "It's unfortunate that some of the fringe elements in our party continue to take this approach to what we're doing in the Texas House."

Sandefer has been a prolific political donor in recent years, contributing more than more $1 million to conservative candidates and political action committees since 2010. That includes more than $400,000 to a political action committee called Accountability First that took aim at Straus and his top lieutenants during last year's primary. Sandefer also gave $100,000 to state Rep. Scott's Turner's campaign to challenge Straus for the position of House Speaker.

George Strake has also been a player with APF, albeit at the smaller tables.

A foundation run by former Texas Secretary of State and one-time state GOP chairman George Strake, a staunch Republican and former TPPF board member who has called for a more conservative House speaker, also gave the American Phoenix Foundation a total of $30,000 between 2011 and 2013 to help launch "training programs."

And The State Policy Network, a national umbrella group for conservative think tanks that counts TPPF and the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute among its state members, also gave a $25,000 grant to the Phoenix Foundation in 2012.

Combined, the grants reflect a total of $255,000 in funding to the American Phoenix Foundation over a three-year period.

More on Sandefer.

Sandefer has never sought elective office, but he once was one of the most influential men under the pink dome. A long-time friend and donor of then-Gov. Rick Perry, the ex-University of Texas adjutant professor drew widespread derision from the higher education community with his "Seven Breakthrough Solutions," a set of business-oriented policy recommendations for the state's public colleges and universities.

Other than a brief and controversial effort at Texas A&M to give teachers cash bonuses for good student evaluations, however, Sandefer's proposals largely have been rejected by higher education leaders.

What he did accomplish was to set off years of infighting at the University of Texas System, between those who supported Sandefer's approach and those that backed the flagship's president and its history of strong academic research. The feud continues to simmer, with new UT System Chancellor William McRaven now butting heads with regent Wallace Hall.

Isn't it amazing how these concentric circles all contain the name 'Rick Perry'?

"(Sandefer) was the mastermind, supposedly, of the greatest attack on excellence in higher education in the history of our state," said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a leading higher education policymaking and long-time critic of Sandefer's methods.

It's always nice to find out who the puppetmasters are in these schemes.  And even more fun when they turn their knives on each other.  Trust me; nobody's going anywhere until we find out how much Dan Patrick -- and perhaps Greg Abbott -- knew about this plot.

Hillary Clinton will be president because of the Latino vote

Not just because of the Mexicano she will select as ticket-mate.  Because boosting Latino turnout is one of her core strategies.

Nearly every time I've asked a Latino political professional, "What are the early signs I should be looking for that Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign is serious about Latino outreach?", the answer has been, "Look at who the campaign is hiring, and how early it's hiring them."

By that measure, the Clinton campaign has just passed an extremely important test. Clinton has already hired her 2016 national director of Latino outreach. And the woman she's hired is a leading immigrant-rights activist — someone with more experience confronting politicians about their shortcomings than consulting them.

Some of the complaints I have consistently registered from Latino activists is that politicians of both parties wait until late in the cycle to engage them, or make a half-energized effort to do so, and/or commit unforced Spanish-language errors in communication, and so on like that.   Clinton simply isn't going to make those mistakes.  More importantly -- and unlike areas of concern for progressives -- she is very likely to do more than just talk about improving the lives of immigrant families, even if that happens only on the virtue of making the circumstances that affect American women of all creeds better.  This effort is all but guaranteed to turn out Mexicanos in droves for her.

And here it's important to note the distinction between Mexicanos and Latinos for the purpose of where the laser-beam focus of the Clinton campaign will be.  There are many, many more Americans of Mexican descent, there is tremendous room for improvement in turnout among their number, and that will make the electoral difference for her in a half-dozen different states.  Not in Florida, where the Republicans' best answer is a couple of lame Cubanos -- and where the distinction between 'Mexicano' and every other Latino subgroup is most apparent -- but in Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and even Georgia and Illinois.

God forbid Texas even.  In states where the Mexicano surge does not help sweep Clinton into the White House, her coattails will be long and wide, pulling Democrats of all shades into office along with her.  There is a massive blue wave coming in 2016, and Republicans running for office up and down the ballot, coast to coast, should rightly be terrified.   

Update: It's already affecting the local GOP calculations for political office.

"I don't want to depend on Hillary Clinton being on the top of the ticket for the Democrats and trying to run county-wide when I don't know how it's going to play out," (Rep. Allen Fletcher) said (as he withdrew from running for Harris County sheriff next year).

So while Hillary Clinton may be a militarist and a corporatist, she is also a pragmatist, and she is capable of capitalizing on the "it's time for a woman to be president, and then it's time for a Latino president" sentiment among the electorate.  This is a much better angle to victory than the incessant nattering that 'Hillary is a liberal' still going on.  To repeat: she's only a liberal from a very conservative point of view.  In the eyes of actual liberals and progressives -- predominantly late middle-aged and Caucasian, if you hadn't already noticed -- she is as far from our position as a person can get on far too many issues.  (The conversation among those on the left is already coalescing on how the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, once he is eliminated from contention in the Democratic primary, can be used to help build a stronger progressive movement.  Outside the Democratic party.)

Your takeaway: Mexicanos by and large won't be giving a damn about any of that.

See Stace for more, and click on his link to the NPR story about the swelling perceived value in the eyes of both major parties of the Latino vote.  I contend that 'Latino' -- most certainly 'Hispanic', a word you can ban from your vocabulary going forward -- isn't effectively focused to win the 2016 election, especially if you're a Republican gabacho who speaks Spanish and is married to a Latina.  I've managed that much... and I couldn't get elected dogcatcher.

And neither will Jeb, as we already know.

Update: Clinton drags the money bag through Dallas and Austin next week.

American Phoenix, the group behind the Lege secret videos

American Phoenix Foundation was the organization behind the clandestine videos of Texas legislators revealed earlier this month.  Hannah Giles and Joseph Basel are the -- well, sounds like maybe former -- conservative activists that organized APF, originally designed to expose corrupt public officials on one side of the aisle... but evolved into both sides (to hear them tell it).  As background, Giles was the "hooker" in James O'Keefe's 2009 ACORN sting video; Basel was the "telephone repairman" arrested for trying to bug Sen. Mary Landrieu's offices in another 2010 O'Keefe sting operation.  They have dissolved their relationship with O'Keefe for this new venture.  The source of their funding remains undisclosed by them, however.

RG Ratcliffe at Texas Monthly has burned the "report, decide" shoe leather here for us.  Excerpts...

RGR: You’ve talked about wanting to disrupt the narrative. So what is the narrative of the Texas Legislature that you want to disrupt?

HG: One of the biggest things I’ve personally seen is little old ladies that organize and cheer-lead for certain politicians and they think, “Oh they are the greatest and they’re going to go to Texas and represent us.” And then being in Austin and having people who’ve worked in the Capitol and keeping an ear to the ground, I tell people, “No, that politician is just not a good person. They’re not who you think they are.” That person is in Austin partying, and first of all not a Christian like they think – which is fine; we don’t care – but it is just the hypocrisy of representing themselves one way to their constituents and then acting a totally different way, filing bills that aren’t consistent with things they’ve said they’d do.”

[...]

RGR: Is “progressive Republicans” just another way to say Republicans in Name Only, RINOs?

HG: What I was trying to explain or get people fired up about is they are all, “Rah, rah, Republicans are doing what’s right!” And I’m, No, not necessarily. I look at both parties as a political class. I don’t see a lot of difference between Republicans and Democrats now that I see what’s going on at the Capitol.”

[...]

HG: I’ve changed a lot. I became very disillusioned with the conservative movement after all my ACORN stuff. Philosophically and politically, I’ve evolved a lot.

RGR: Why did you become disillusioned?

JB: It was the enemy of my enemy is my friend problem. All the good right-wingers were: “She took down ACORN and they’re leftist, so we like her.” They probably invited us into the back rooms way too quick. What we saw there made us so cynical of the American right that we have no country in that sense.

We're all anxious to see what they have on tape, and whether it is legitimately bad news for Texas legislators or just more sophomoric antics on the part of bored millennials.