Concerning my post of Friday (Stimulus Funds: more to come?), in which I wrote that Texas will qualify for $600 million in additional stimulus funding if the unemployment rate reached 6/8% for three consecutive months, the chairman of the House select committee on the stimulus sent me an e-mail with
You can love Dunnam or you can hate him, and I’ve done both, at times, but I’ll say this about him: He doesn’t miss much. He had some Voter I.D. proposals to present to the Elections committee today, and when the hearing started, Todd Smith spoke generally to the audience
Aside from responding to hurricanes, I cannot remember the last time Rick Perry did something that resembled leadership. It's just not in him. The rejection of the stimulus package for unemployment compensation was all about political posturing: "I am here today...to stand with Texas employers and the millions of Texans
This will not come as news to anyone who has kept up with transportation issues in the stimulus package: Dunnam loveth not TxDOT. On Friday he filed H.B. 2701, which would abolish the Transportation Commission and replace it with an elected commissioner. The legislation provides that in the event the
Yesterday (Wednesday) was a tough day for TxDOT. After the usual routine of resolutions congratulating this and that, and welcoming these and those, the House session ended with a resolution aimed squarely at the transportation agency. Dunnam, Coleman, and other lawmakers are unhappy that TxDOT rushed to decide how to
The state’s Republican leadership appears to be warming up to the $17 billion in federal stimulus money, Gov. Rick Perry’s voluble aversion notwithstanding. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who breakfasted today with Perry and House Speaker Joe Straus, gave some insight about the leadership’s thinking to reporters in
It was an amazing thing to be in the House for Wednesday’s rules debate. It was as if someone had taken a giant vaccuum cleaner and sucked all the tension out of the air. The House went about the business of adopting its rules without dramatics. Speakers come and speakers
I received the following e-mail from Democratic operative Glenn Smith as a response to my post about Jim Dunnam’s statement yesterday. I will comment at the conclusion of Glenn’s remarks. Paul, as much respect as I have for you, as much as I value your respect (I think I have
Sometimes the Democratic leader can be really smart, as when he pinned down Tom Craddick with parliamentary inquiries over the past three sessions, and sometimes he can be way off base. Yesterday he was way off base when he intervened in the Senate dispute over the voter I.D. bill. He
Note to readers: This original post (scroll down below the asterisks) noting the ironies for both parties surrounding the presumed election of Straus as speaker, has kicked up a bit of a furor. I unwittingly blundered into a fierce debate among Democrats. Party people such as Matt Angle think that
Why is it that the Democrats insist on trying to act bossy? Is it genetic? Can’t they help themselves? The demand upon party discipline before they have won a majority is foolish. My last post on this subject was, I have to admit, a bit on the hysterical side, and