Tuesday, October 22, 2019

P Slate: Texas Constitutional Amendments

I perhaps made this post more difficult on myself than it needed to be.

First, the League of Women Voters has the comprehensive guide.

  1. Municipal Judges
  2. Assistance for Water Projects in Distressed Areas
  3. Tax Relief for Disaster Areas
  4. Personal Income Tax
  5. Sporting Goods Tax to Support State Parks
  6. Cancer Prevention & Research
  7. Funding Public Education 
  8. Flood Control
  9. Tax Exemption of Precious Metals
  10. Law Enforcement Animals

A couple of organizations have weighed in with their recommendations; among them:

 -- Progress Texas (Yes on 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10; No on 1, 4, 6, and 9, with a toss-up on 7).

-- Harris County Democrats:


I will vote Yes on 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10.  I will vote No on 4, 6, and 9.

Prop 6 is a no for me not because I think cancer should go unfunded but because CPRIT has been wasted and abused by both Rick Perry and Greg Abbott, and there is little good that will come from giving the governor extra billions of dollars to play favorites with (on his best day).  Let's begin the process of allowing capitalism, especially healthcare capitalism, to pull itself up by its bootstraps rather than rely on handouts from the government.

(See how crappy that sounds?  Don't worry; corporations aren't people.)
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More P Slate

I'll give these Houston council suggestions for your voting consideration a similar treatment as I did earlier, adding a prediction as to how our Bayou City leadership may tilt -- left or right -- following their (that is to say, my projected) outcomes.


I'm listing in bold the names of the Democrats for whom I would vote if I lived in the district.

With respect to the city controller race, Chris Brown is now taking seriously the challenge from Orlando Sanchez, and his own ethics kerfuffle may dent his prospects, but I still feel it's about turnout, and specifically Latinx turnout, that will either hurt him or not.

Prediction: Brown should be able to hang on to Sylvester Turner's coattails and return to his office on Bagby, but if the World Series, the weather, or disinterest in these elections dampens Democratic turnout, he could be in trouble.

District A: ... is for Amy Peck, who's been waiting to take a seat downtown for a long time.  She will be replacing her boss, Brenda Stardig, and whether she is an improvement, conservatively speaking, or not ... I leave to the insiders.

District B:  I believe Tarsha Jackson has punched a ticket to the runoff, with the TOP organizers out in force working the precincts for her.  The Chron picked her over the many solid candidates in the running here.  And with the most money raised, spent, and left to spend, I'll guess that Renee Jefferson Smith joins her.

Prediction: A smooth transition from longtime CM Jerry Davis to either woman -- or one of the others -- should benefit the district.

District C:  I would still mark this one Abbie Kamin and/or Shelley Kennedy from the left and Mary Jane Smith or Greg Meyers from the right, though Daphne Scarbrough has raised some money and may have some input on the outcome.

Prediction: There will be one Democrat and one Republican in the runoff to replace Ellen Cohen.

District D:  Brad 'Scarface' Johnson and one other to December.

Prediction: CM Dwight Boykins, about to have some extra time on his hands and about as conservative an African American Democrat as they come, may have some influence on who wins this race next month.  Maybe the district isn't ready for Jordan.  If anybody wants to give me some feedback off the record, you know how to reach me.

District E:  Dave Martin.

Prediction: The seat is safely conservative for another term.

District F:  As unpredictable as ever.  Tiffany Thomas and Giang "John" Nguyen (party affiliation undetermined by primary voting history) have a little bit of money to spend.  Richard Nguyen, the former council member, and Van Huynh, the COS to the current one, are likely best known to consistent voters.  But handicapping the race without inside intelligence is impossible.

Prediction: A runoff.

District G:  Incumbent Greg Travis will slide back in.

Prediction: Bizness as usual.

District H:  Blogger nonsequiteuse has discovered that incumbent Karla Cisneros has been "hoping" against the I-45 expansion while taking money from its developers.  That's reason enough for those who are opposed to the massive rebuilding project to vote for Isabel Longoria.  (Ejecting a Moron Campos client just for his shitty blog would be reason enough for me, but YMMV.)

Prediction: I suppose we'll see.  I hope Cisneros is jammed into a runoff.

District I:  Incumbent Robert Gallegos looks to be in good shape.

Prediction: He's about as progressive as Houston city council allows.

District J:  Edward Pollard has had the highest visibility among these.  Without some some inside skinny, though, it could still go to one of Nelvin Adriatico, Freddie Cuellar, or Sandra Rodriguez, all of them Democrats who've raised a little money and worked at getting elected.

Prediction: Maybe a runoff with one of the Dems and the one conservative, Barry Curtis.  Maybe not.  It will be difficult to replace Mike Laster's progressive voice on Council.

District K:  My CM, Martha Castex-Tatum, is also safe.

Prediction: She's done a good job after taking over for the late Larry Green.

Even if Council adds a few Democrats in these alphabet district contests, it may not get more liberal, much less progressive.  The best hope for that lies in the At  Large races, where defeating Knox and Kubosh and replacing Christie offer the best chance for improvement.

And yes, my view on constitutional amendments is still in the pipeline.  Check the Twitter feed at the top-right hand column for everybody else's POV; I'll offer mine shortly.
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Monday, October 21, 2019

The Weekly Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance sends condolences to all who are mourning the untimely passing of Congressman Elijah Cummings.


Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings will lie in state in National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, ahead of a funeral service.

There will be a public viewing in the two-story chamber following a formal ceremony for members of Congress, the Cummings family and invited guests on Thursday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.

In this week's edition of the best of the left from around and about Texas, Trump held a rally in Dallas, while Beto countered it with one of his own.


“Texas is not in play,” he said to raucous chants of 'four more years' from a packed crowd of supporters at the American Airlines Center. “Donald Trump is not going to lose Texas; I can tell you that.”

Unsurprisingly, O’Rourke had a different assessment on Texas in 2020, telling supporters that the work they did in his near-miss U.S. Senate race last year put the state in play.

“You ensured that the 38 Electoral College votes here in Texas can be won and can put Donald Trump away forever,” O’Rourke said.

Addressing a smaller crowd at an counter-rally in Grand Prairie, O’Rourke called on Texans to reject the “false bullshit fear of Donald Trump,” especially when it comes to immigration and the rhetoric that fueled the deadly August shooting in his hometown of El Paso.

Recent polling, as well as the words of the speaker of the Texas House -- on a clandestine tape recording finally released this past week -- suggests that Beto is right and Trump is wrong.  And it wouldn't be a Trump rally without something stupid said by Trump.


Trump's ignorance notwithstanding, the 'Ike Dike' is generating concerns about its expense and functionality, as the Chron reported.


Circling back, Scott Henson at Grits -- no partisan, he -- ties two things together.


Regarding l'affaire Bonnengate, the matter that has had all of Austin's Lege watchers a-Twitter for weeks now ... the boil was lanced, and statehouse Republicans who would like to install a Freedom Caucus fire-and-brimstoner in 2021 were finally allowed to erupt in righteous indignation.  Their Democratic counterparts opted to keep their powder dry for now.

Stephen Young at the Dallas Observer considered the effect of the tape on the speaker's political future.  Kuff rounded up reactions to Bonnghazi.  Matt Goodman at D Magazine dug into the hatred expressed towards cities and counties by Bonnen, and the Rivard Report compared him to his predecessor, Joe Straus, and found him lacking.

In the aftermath of last week's Democratic presidential debate -- PDiddie at Brains and Eggs scored the winners, losers, wieners and loosers -- the two favorite sons of the Lone Star State aren't faring particularly well.  SocraticGadfly blogged about Beto (aka Bob on a Knob) O'Rourke batting 0-2 on recent constitutional issues.  And poor Julián Castro is threatening to drop out again if he can't collect enough cash by the end of the month.


Dos Centavos explained his previously-presented Stace Slate for H-Town's elections.  And PDiddie also posted his P Slate (for mayor and at large council races, with more to come).

Some environmental news:



And in social justice (or the lack thereof) headlines ...





And a Texas federal judge ruled that medical doctors could refuse care to transgenders as a violation of their religious freedom, striking down part of Obamacare in the process.

Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas vacated an Obama-era regulation that prohibited insurers and providers who receive federal money from denying treatment or coverage to anyone based on sex, gender identity or termination of pregnancy.

It also required doctors and hospitals to provide “medically necessary” services to transgender individuals as long as those services were the same ones provided to other patients.

O’Connor, the same judge who last year ruled that the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, said the rule violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

His ruling is likely to be appealed.

TransGriot celebrated the opening of an LGBTQ center at Prairie View A&M.

Spanish language media pioneer Emilio Nicolás -- he founded what has grown into Univision -- passed away earlier this month.  Services are this afternoon.

“His contributions go beyond even just Spanish language media,” said Luís Patiño, his former understudy at Univision San Antonio and now the president and general manager at Univision Los Angeles. “I think his contributions for the Hispanic community, in general, are probably understated in most cases. People need to realize how important it was in the 1950s -- when in most places in South Texas you weren’t even allowed to speak Spanish -- that he and his partners went out of their way to create the first Spanish radio broadcast station.

Some lighter stories to close this Wrangle.


And a new biography of Janis Joplin by Holly George-Warren, reviewed by Karl Richter at the Texas Observer, explores the iconic singer's 50-year legacy.



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The P slate

Ahead of today's usual TPA Wrangle, here's my suggestions for Houston's municipal elections, with early voting opening this morning.  It's worth noting that Clerk Trautman has expanded these hours for the working class.


For Mayor: Sue Lovell

This seems like a safe protest vote in light of yesterday's UH polling, which reveals Mayor Sly almost within reach of being re-elected without a runoff.

The poll, published on the eve of early voting, shows Turner with 43.5 percent support among likely voters, followed by lawyer and businessman Tony Buzbee at 23.4 percent. Bill King, Turner’s 2015 runoff opponent, trails with 7.8 percent, while 6.8 percent of voters said they support Councilman Dwight Boykins.

Turner's numbers have strengthened since the last survey was taken.


Lots more of this Tweet thread for you crosstabs kind of people.  Buzbee's millions spent on media has them rooting for a runoff for sure.


Way back here I was considering casting my ballot for Derrick Broze, whose website is ... entertaining, to say the least.  But I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who was convicted of felony meth possession because he violated parole.  That is supposed to make him and others ineligible for the ballot, but somebody at City Hall apparently isn't doing their job.  Another thing for me to hold against Turner, I suppose.  If the mayor gets pushed into a runoff with Buzbee, I'll vote for him, but not under any other circumstance.

For At Large 1:  Raj Salhotra

Everybody likes him, so let's get Mike Knox outta there.  Still, with all the others bidding this is probably a runoff, and if Democrats fracture the vote too much -- a typical mistake for them -- Knox could ease his way back around the horseshoe.

For At Large 2:  David Robinson

Conservative pastor Willie Davis took him to a runoff last time, but Griff and the others may make it possible for Robinson to avoid that this go-around.

For At Large 3:  Marcel McClinton

The young activist gets the nod over Janaeya Carmouche from me because of all of his tribulations, and because I don't have any use for age-related discrimination.  (John Coby sucks; that's why his blog no longer appears here).

For At Large 4:  Nick Hellyar

I wouldn't have predicted Hellyar would be the liberal favorite last month.  I thought Bill Baldwin, the deep-pocketed, well-connected fellow Realtor would have swamped him.  But Baldwin hasn't raised -- or loaned himself -- much money, leaving me to wonder if he isn't quietly conceding the race to his earnest, well-qualified, and (frankly, overlapping demographical) challenger.  Hellyar picked up the Chron's endorsement, making a good impression on them.  Dr. Leticia Plummer may still get enough votes to put Nick into a runoff with Nepotism Dolcefino despite the latter's questionable residency qualification.

For At Large 5:  Ashton P. Woods

My favorite candidate this cycle.  I much prefer radical activists over establishment robots like Sallie Alcorn, who is probably favored to win here, but either would be a vast improvement over Jack "You don't Die from the Flu" Christie.

Dislodging or blocking these conservatives from Council goes a long way to a better city.  Let's hope those suburbs and exurbs have purpled up, like the analysts keep telling us.

I've got the alphabet council races, state constitutional amendments, and more coming.
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Sunday, October 20, 2019

Sunday 'Quid Pro Uh Oh' Funnies








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Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Wieners and loosers

Going short today because recent posts have run a little long.  Seriously; as short as I could.

-- Bernie won.  Bigly.  Even his detractors at Daily Kos approve of the Unclogged, Stented Bern (as reflected in the comments).  A calmer, quieter, yet still smoldering and intense Bern got after Trump, made his case for the GND and M4A, and was applauded by his peers after thanking them for their well wishes.  Then at the conclusion of the debate, the endorsement of the cycle broke.  Not Bill O'Reilly's, either.


That's called momentum.

-- Warren held serve for the most part, but everybody thinks she needs to a) actually have a healthcare plan, and b) defend a little better whatever it is she supports at the moment.

Some talking heads say she won because she survived.  Others say not so much.  Meh.

I did enjoy watching her bust Biden's balls, though ...


-- Biden wasn't the biggest loser, but only because there were two other nasty neoliberals trying to steal his eroding base of voters.


Biden’s most aggressive moment in the debate was his most cringeworthy. After he claimed that he was the only person on the stage who’d gotten big things done, Warren noted that she had ushered in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the first regulatory agency built in a generation, and did so over the fierce objections of Wall Street. Biden responded by claiming loudly that he had gone to the Senate and secured votes for it. That claim is dubious at best; Biden had no public presence in the debate over the CFPB and people involved with the fight over it say he did little to nothing behind the scenes, either.

In shouting and pointing at Warren and attempting to take credit for her signature achievement, he finished with a verbal pat-on-the-head: “You did a hell of a job at your job,” he told her.

It escapes me as to why any woman with an ounce of self-respect would so much as consider -- any more than one would for Trump -- casting their ballot for Biden.

But there were shittier centrists on the debate stage last night, and their names are Pete Buttigeig and Amy Klobuchar.

-- I wrote yesterday that Boot Edge tops my shit parade.  Everything he did last night, and prior, cemented his standing.

I would have liked seeing him go after Warren on the basis of her disingenuousness on a variety of issues beyond M4A, but she left herself open for that.  Maybe I shouldn't be too picky.  Then again ...


And ...


And ...


I could not be more out on Pocket Change Pete.  But Minnesota Nice is right behind him.



I can't take any more, but the establishments want another serving.

-- So Bernie's a winner, Biden's a wiener and a loser, Boot Edge and Bathroom Book Collector are losers, and Warren gets a draw on my scorecard.

-- Sadly, Beto and Castro did not do what they needed to.  Loosers, not losers.

-- Kamala flopped.  Loser.

(Harris) made a curious decision in choosing to challenge Warren to call on Twitter to suspend Trump’s account, part of a larger discussion about checking the influence of big tech. It seemed to miss the point of the conversation -- holding big tech accountable means kicking trump off Twitter? -- and Warren did not take the bait.

-- Gabbard and Steyer also came up losers on everybody's list.  Booker did the same thing he always does: "Hey y'all, stop fighting".  "I'm a vegan."  "Aren't I a swell guy?"  Looser.  Yang's online cult is growing but nobody knows what it portends.  Wiener.

-- Far and away, the biggest loser was CNN.


The last twenty minutes wasted on some sort of 'let the healing begin' attempt.  Let's not spare the rest of our corporate media's blathering bobbleheads.


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