The Weekly Wrangle

Unlike the president and the Republican Congress, the Texas Progressive Alliance does NOT promise to repeal last week's roundup and replace it with something 'better' and 'cheaper' this week.

Off the Kuff identifies the top legislative districts to target in 2018.

Socratic Gadfly sees Greens and other left-liberals talking libertarian-style about getting rid of the Federal Reserve and offers them a reality check about it, with suggestions for proper reform, while noting its neededness.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme warns Texas Republicans on track to destroy local rule, another anti-democratic war on citizens and on voters.

It was another lousy week to be a Republican as Trumpcare went down in flames, the Russian problems flared up again, and the TXGOP started fighting with each other right out in the open. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs managed to cram all the action into one blog post, with some crow left over for the Democrats.

Neil at All People Have Value has four observations on the failure of Trumpcare.

Teddy Wilson at Rewire investigates the state's contract with the anti-abortion Heidi Group.

The Lewisville ISD superintendent testified in a federal civil trial that he did not believe a 14-year-old student was sexually assaulted, as she alleges, as reported by the Texan Journal.

Texas Leftist repeated the story told in the Texas Observer about one Texan's effort to bring living transgender into focus for members of the Texas Legislature.

Texas Vox has the bulletin regarding the public hearing on the toxic chemical emergency alert system, tomorrow at the Lege.

jobsanger took note of Politifact's report that millions of guns have been sold in the US without a background check.

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More news and blog posts from across the Lone Star State!

Via the Houston Chronicle, Energy Secretary Rick Perry somehow found time in his busy schedule to weigh in on the Texas A&M student body presidential election.

The San Antonio Express News reports that plans for a fracking sand mine in Atascosa County -- near the site of one of the state's historic battlefields, and over the objections of residents -- are moving ahead.

Edinburg Politics reports on Rep. Terry Canales' bill in the Lege that would reform the practice of jailing Texans who cannot pay fines for petty offenses.

The Austin Monitor took pictures of the new MetroRail trains arriving (by tractor trailer) in the capital city, and Streetsblog highlights five good transportation bills in the Lege.

Save Buffalo Bayou sees the private organization in charge of Houston's Memorial Park still determined to make some wrong-headed decisions about the fate of the bayou.

Jennifer Mercieca identifies the real harm of Trump's conspiracy theories.

Michael Li shows what a redrawn CD27 might look like.

Beyond Bones provides a road trip map from spring breaks of yore.

Juanita Jean gets in one last cackle over the Trumpcare debacle.

And congratulations to Somervell County Salon, celebrating her twelfth blogging anniversary.

Sunday "Death of a Salesman" Funnies

Scattershooting the abominable GOP and their lame opposition

Hasn't been much going on this week, has there?

-- Trumpcare is, as predicted, DOA, but in the House and not just the Senate.  Ryan's hope, along with whatever is left of his tattered reputation for caucus discipline, cannot let him pronounce it deceased yet.

A frenzied 24 hours filled with hushed deliberations on Capitol Hill, senior-level meetings at the White House and back-to-back phone calls with the President came to an end Wednesday -- quietly and unceremoniously.

Well before midnight, this much was clear: Republicans still had no deal on their health care bill to repeal Obamacare, as a Thursday vote loomed ...

House Speaker Paul Ryan and his top deputies huddled with a group of moderate Republicans in the Speaker's office Wednesday night, as members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus sounded increasingly optimistic that they were close to getting a major concession from the White House.

Hours later, Ryan and his top deputies never came out to speak to the cameras and dozens of reporters waiting outside, and it was clear that leadership had no good news to share. With the exception of a few members who rushed away without speaking to press, all leaders in the room, including Ryan, appeared to have ducked out using side exits.

While this gathering was wrapping up, House leaders had gotten more bad news: GOP Rep. Charlie Dent, the leader of the moderate Tuesday Group, released a statement opposing the current bill spearheaded by Ryan and President Trump.

It would be valuable to remember that the Freedom Caucus is opposed to Trumpcare because it isn't cruel enough to sick people, and that sociopathy goes way beyond higher deductibles and premiums.  So let's make sure dumbass Democrats aren't under the impression they have some allies here, or that they 'won' something.  When the attacking army decides it would rather attack itself ...

-- The Russian thing comes to a full rolling boil, with House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes breaching protocol and maybe something more serious.

Investigators don’t normally brief the people they’re investigating. But on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the Republican who’s leading a congressional investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s team colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, went to the White House to talk to the president. 
 

The names of Trump associates — and perhaps even Trump’s own name — appeared in surveillance reports compiled by U.S. intelligence agencies in the final months of the Obama administration, Nunes said he told Trump.

Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a close Trump ally, said the intercepted communications didn’t mention Russia and were therefore unrelated to his investigation. 

But Nunes’ briefing with Trump broached the theme of an ongoing FBI investigation ― the president’s and his associate’s connections to foreign powers. And Nunes’ objective appeared political: Deflect attention from Trump and his associates’ ties to Russia, and back up Trump’s claim that he is a victim of “deep state” loyal to former President Barack Obama.

Democrats responded with a strongly worded statements; about the Russian thing itself and about Dunes' tipping off Trump before he mentioned it to his committee members.

“If a Democrat had done this, Republicans would have been asking for him to be investigated both for disclosing classified information and for obstructing justice,” said Matthew Miller, a Department of Justice spokesman during the Obama administration. “It is so far beyond the pale for the person who is conducting an investigation to both brief the subject of that investigation and potentially jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI.”

Stern.  That ought to really get Dunes in line.

-- This is the closest anyone has come to saying -- with some supporting evidence, that is -- that "the Russians stole the election".  Not hacked, mind you.  But read the last, bolded sentence.

The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign, US officials told CNN.

This is partly what FBI Director James Comey was referring to when he made a bombshell announcement Monday before Congress that the FBI is investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, according to one source.

The FBI is now reviewing that information, which includes human intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing.

As someone who has scoffed at this notion since it first broke last summer, I'm waiting with bated breath along with the rest of the country for Jim Comey's reveal.

-- It's not just the Republicans in Washington who fight with each other over who is the bigger bunch of assholes; their junior partners in Austin are cranking it up, too.

Speaker Joe Straus on Wednesday accused Senate budget writers of "cooking the books" and using an "Enron-esque" accounting gimmick to achieve their wish to spend more but not incur fiscal hard-liners' wrath by tapping state savings.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick swiftly defended Sen. Jane Nelson, the chamber's chief budget writer, and other senators on the Finance Committee. He said the panel's $217.7 billion, two-year budget was "terrific work ... using a very sound fiscal method to do so."

Texas Senate Democrats joined Republicans on the Finance Committee, voting their budget to the full body in a unanimous 15-0 vote.  Resistance!

I could add something about Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, but the Democrats' weakness in regard to his imminent confirmation has barely been redeemed by Al Franken.  Not going to be enough to stop it or even slow it down.

I'd blog more but I'm too busy spitting.

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates the vernal equinox today with the latest blog post roundup.

A whiff of the Eighties -- specifically Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone's vault -- accompanied Rachel Maddow's big reveal and subsequent letdown of Trump's tax returns last Tuesday evening, at least according to PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.  And Socratic Gadfly also took Maddow's fluffery (and Maddow herself) to the cleaners.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston publishes Dan Patrick's response to the Texas men's masturbation bill: "I will beat this bill off with both hands!"  And speaking of self-abuse, Neil at All People Have Value said that the Trump budget is a pornography of self-mutilation and cruelty for his supporters. (APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.)

Off the Kuff covers the redistricting decision and what it all means going forward.

Dos Centavos implores Texas liberals to stop SB4 (the anti-sanctuary cities bill).

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme links to the story about the four international bands scheduled to play at SXSW who were denied entry to the US, and other performers who had their visas revoked.

Easter Lemming reminds people that Pasadena, Texas has a chance to put voter discrimination behind them in their upcoming mayoral election.  He is busy working for Pat Van Houte's campaign.

MOMocrats follows up on the story that former US attorney Preet Bharara was investigating HHS Secretary Tom Price's stock trading at the time Bharara was fired.

Texas Vox reports that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is extending the comment period for its environmental impact statement on the proposed expansion of Waste Control Specialists' facility in west Texas, in response to public requests.

And Leopold Knopp at the Lewisville Texan Journal thinks you should just stay home and watch the original 'Beauty and the Beast' instead of the latest version in theaters now.

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More Texas news and blog posts!

Anna Tinsley at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes about state Rep. Ina Minjares' bill intended to spare the canine and feline subjects of research and testing from euthanasia by offering them for adoption.

Jay Leeson at Burkablog has the backstory of Rep. John Smithee's bill to honor Nelda Laney, the wife of former Speaker Pete Laney.

Ashton P. Woods at Strength in Numbers explains how the Trump budget could affect you.

Somervell County Salon ruminates for the easily amused about MAGAmericans.

Nipuni Gomes deconstructs conservative author Dinesh D'Souza after he spoke at Trinity University in San Antonio earlier this month.

Rice University professor Dan Wallach offers some practical advice for buying “Internet of Things” devices.

Johnathan Tilove at First Reading has some highlights of Will Hurd and Beto O'Rourke's bipartisan road trip, while Melissa del Bosque at the Texas Observer notes Henry Cuellar's slam against Trump's proposal to take border residents' land for the wall he wants to build.

Beyond Bones identifies seven native Texas bugs that you don't want to touch.

Shari Biediger at the Rivard Report found it not too difficult to cope with SXSW mobility without Uber or Lyft.

And Pages of Victory observes that even Fox News recognizes (by their own recent poll) that Bernie Sanders is the most popular politician in the country.

Sunday Funnies

Rick Casey looks behind the scenes of the Texas redistricting ruling

Via the SAEN, Rick Casey writes at San Antonio public television KLRN's blog, Texas Week (added links for background):

Last week’s ruling by a three-judge panel in San Antonio that the Texas Legislature racially discriminated in drawing three congressional districts is being hailed as a major civil rights triumph in some legal quarters.

“This is a huge victory for voting rights plaintiffs,” wrote nationally-recognized elections law expert Richard Hasen in his Election Law Blog. He predicted the 2-1 decision was unlikely to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court because “it closely tracks Justice (Anthony) Kennedy’s views of the issues in this area.”

Kennedy is often the swing vote on the closely divided court.

Hasen said the ruling was especially important because it could lead to Texas once again being required to pre-clear redistricting and other election matters with the Justice Department, as was required before the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. This is because Judges Rodriguez and Orlando Garcia found intentional discrimination in the case.

The Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not likely to be much of a watchdog on voting rights matters, but that would likely change if a Democratic president is elected in 2018. (sic)

The three judges who decided the case include one Democrat and two Republicans. Ironically, the decision may have gone the other way if one of the judges hadn’t been punished for joining in an earlier ruling in the case. Here’s the back story.

Judge Xavier Rodriguez, a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Texas law school, was first appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by then-Gov. Rick Perry. He lost in the Republican primary, however, when he had to stand for election. He returned briefly to private practice before being appointed to a federal district bench here by President George W. Bush.

Back in 2013, Rodriguez was asked to fill out the voluminous paperwork to be considered for promotion to the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. President Obama had selected a Democratic judge from Corpus Christi, but the two Republican senators reportedly made it clear they would block her nomination. So the Obama Administration lit on Rodriguez — a non-ideological choice who had been appointed to important benches by two Texas Republican leaders.

But the appointment languished until 2015 when, a friend of Judge Rodriguez said, he was told his name was withdrawn because of a lack of support from the two senators. The reason: His previous rulings in the redistricting case.

Had Rodriguez been elevated to the appellate court, he might well have been replaced with a more conservative Republican on the three-judge panel hearing the redistricting case. The 2-1 decision could have gone in the other direction with Rodriguez’s replacement joining the very conservative third member of the panel, Judge Jerry Smith of Houston.

Smith, a Reagan appointee, issued a bitter dissent. He was especially hostile toward lawyers from Obama’s Justice Department.

“It was obvious, from the start, that the DOJ attorneys viewed state officials and the legislative majority and their staffs as a bunch of backwoods hayseed bigots who bemoan the abolition of the poll tax and pine for the days of literacy tests and lynchings,” Smith wrote. “And the DOJ lawyers saw themselves as an expeditionary landing party arriving here, just in time, to rescue the state from oppression, obviously presuming that plaintiffs' counsel were not up to the task.”

A postscript: The seat on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for which Rodriguez was considered remains vacant. In fact, two seats reserved for Texas judges on the appeals court are vacant. So, going back as far as 2011, are 11 seats on federal district courts around the state.

It appears that Republican refusals to grant President Obama his Supreme Court nominee last year wasn’t the sum total of Republican resistance, at least here in Texas.

Next week begins the confirmation hearings for Neil Gorsuch to be elevated to the Supreme Court, to fill at last the seat left vacant by the demise of Antonin Scalia fourteen months ago.  Senate Democratic resistance to Gorsuch is reportedly impotent.  Scalia oversaw appeals to the SCOTUS from the Fifth Circuit; that will likely also be Gorsuch's beat upon his confirmation.  As for the rest of these federal bench vacancies, it remains to be seen whether Chuck Schumer, et.al. will have the skilz to play the stalling game as well as Mitch McConnell, etc. until 2020.

No bets taken.