The State of Texas: May 6, 2016

Quote of the Day

“Why not stand in a street in a suit.”

—Raul Sanchez, of Houston, to KHOU. Sanchez was a recent victim of the oil and gas layoffs, but he had a pretty inventive response, donning a suit, plastering his resume to a sign and standing on a street corner to advertise his job candidate qualities—one of which, according to his resume, is that Sanchez is a “stellar dancer.” He told KHOU that he’s gotten “a lot of thumbs up” and “cheering,” and even handed out more than a few resumes.

Daily Roundup

Uber Insanity—The election that will almost certainly decide Austin’s Uber future, and perhaps the future of ride-hailing services throughout Texas, is just one day away. If Austinites choose to strike down Proposition 1 on Saturday, then come Monday morning, the state’s capital could be Uberless. A huge amount of early voters have already cast their ballots in the battle over fingerprint-based background checks (the City wants them, Uber doesn’t) and this week alone has seen a few bombshell developments. On Thursday, the Austin American-Statesman reported that the Austin Police Department released new data showing that there was no real drop-off in drunk driving wrecks in 2014, which pretty much destroys the strongest selling point for ride-hailing services. The Statesman also reported that Uber dumped another $500,000 into its ridesharing PAC, bringing the total amount of donations—all from either Uber or fellow ride-hailing service Lyft—to a staggering, city-record $8.6 million. And, according to the Statesman, a local activist filed a lawsuit earlier this week against Uber, alleging its robo-texts to voters violated federal campaign regulations. The Travis County Commissioner followed that up by filing a complaint with the FCC. Neither Uber nor Lyft appears ready to walk back their threat to abandon Austin should things not go their way at the polls tomorrow. It’s anyone’s guess how the vote might turn out, but man, Austin’s Uber saga has been quite a wild ride.

Trump/Perry 2016?—Former Texas Governor and two-time failed presidential candidate Rick Perry endorsed Donald Trump on Thursday, becoming the latest influential Texas political figure to officially embrace The Donald. As the Texas Tribune noted, Perry is remarkably now stumping for a guy he once called a “cancer on conservatism.” Perry was really one of the first GOP candidates to call out Trump. In July, according to the Tribune, Perry said the real estate mogul “offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued.” But that was a whole ten months ago. Things are totally different now! Well, Trump’s pretty much exactly the same, but his “barking carnival act” is now the only act in town for Republicans, leaving Perry little choice but to endorse. One choice, as Bushes 41 and 43 announced they’d be taking this week, is to not endorse anyone and just lay low, but come on, this is Rick Perry we’re talking about here. Perry even said he’d be open to sharing a ticket with Trump, telling CNN that he is “not going to say no” if Trump offered him the veep spot.

Court Day—Johnny Manziel had his first court appearance on Thursday since being indicted by a Dallas County grand jury and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence related to an incident where he allegedly abused his ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley. According to the Dallas Morning News, the hearing lasted less than five minutes. But five minutes in public is more than enough time for Manziel to make a mess. While the judge set bond terms and ordered Manziel to stay away from Crowley, it was Manziel’s middle finger and his attorney’s big mouth that stole the headlines. Busted Coverage was the first to notice Manziel’s rudest digit slightly protruding toward the cameras set up in the rear of the courtroom while he clasped his hands behind his back (this seems a bit subtle for a guy who once openly flipped off an NFL opponent on national television). Manziel will likely plead not guilty. But one of Manziel’s attorneys said that in a perfect world, “everybody would kiss and make up,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a cliche that is skin-crawlingly tone deaf during a domestic violence case.