The DUI arrest of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg could have far-ranging consequences. The DA's office is home to the Public Integrity Unit, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed by public officials. Republicans have long hungered to get their mittens on the office, which has a history of prosecuting high-profile Republicans, including Tom DeLay and Kay Bailey Hutchison. (It has also prosecuted high-profile Democrats, including former speaker Gib Lewis, and, more recently, state representative Kino Flores.
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Fri April 12, 2013 8:12 pm
At last, Rick Perry has decided to back more spending on transportation. His plan, which was developed by a group of trade associations (Realtors, Texas Association of Business, Texas Oil and Gas Association, and Texas Motor Transport Association) and announced today at a meeting of the Texas Lyceum, calls for raising $41 billion over twenty years. I can foresee two problems with the plan. The first is that motor vehicle sales taxes are general revenue. If you dedicate it to road projects, how are you going to fund other areas of the government -- in particular, the big-ticket items of education and health care? Democrats (and pro-education Republicans) are going to go nuts if a major source of funding education is shifted to highways.
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Fri April 12, 2013 6:31 pm
Wayne Slater has a piece in the Morning News today that touts Rick Perry's viability for a political comeback. His thesis is that Americans love a good comeback story, and he cites the examples of former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and former New York congressman Anthony Weiner. But his showcase example is Tiger Woods, who has regained his position as the top ranked golfer in the world, and, of course, is seeking to win a major championship that has eluded him during his comeback (as of press time, he was 3 under).
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Thu April 11, 2013 8:37 am
The Hill reported on April 9 that the anti-incumbent super-PAC Campaign for Primary Accountability is back, and it will once again target long-serving lawmakers. Why should this concern us in Texas? It so happens that one of the targets of is Lamar Smith, of San Antonio.
I trust that most readers will figure out that another San Antonio politician might be interested in filling a vacancy, should Mr. Smith's seat become available. I don't think that is likely to happen, and I can't imagine that Joe Straus would get a hankering to serve in Congress. As I have already written, it's the worst job in American politics. In any event, I think Straus is too smart to think about running for Congress. He would hate it.
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Wed April 10, 2013 2:10 pm
The main bill up for discussion was Dan Patrick's SB 23, which would establish the Texas Equal Opportunity Scholarship Program. It would allow certain organizations to award scholarships to pay educational expenses for eligible students in public elementary or secondary schools to attend private or parochial schools. To be eligible, a student's family income must fall within the guidelines for the national free or reduced lunch program.
Make no mistake about it: SB 23 is a backdoor vouchers program. It relies on public money to serve a private purpose.
Several religious groups were represented at the hearing, foremost among them Catholics, who flooded the Capitol and were overwhelmingly supportive of the bill. The archdiocese of San Antonio showed up in force. "This gives people hope for the future," was their testimony. "It's assistance based on need." Most of the witnesses testified for the bill, but there was also substantial opposition. A Baptist minister said in an assertive voice, "I'm not here on God's behalf, just the Baptist General Convention." "The Christian Life Commission sees this as a voucher," he said, added. "It's a diversion of public funds to private schools. My chief objection is church-state separation. This state has no right to establish any religious cause. Most of our churches see the public school system as a basic building block for the public good."