One of the most famous annual gatherings of the world’s elite is the Bilderburg Group, described on Wikipedia as “an unofficial annual invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are persons of influence in the fields of business, media, and politics. The elite group meets annually at exclusive,
This is a continuation of the previous post, “Assessing the Vetoes,” discussing the merits of Governor Perry’s veto. The link to the Web site for the list of vetoed bills and Perry’s veto messages appears in Part 1.HB 2006 — Woolley/Janek. This was an eminent domain bill that was intended
Representative Warren Chisum sent this letter to me following the publication of the Best and Worst Legislators article. Mr. Chisum was designated as one of the “Ten Worst.”According to your Best & Worst Legislators article, it’s bad to believe that marriage should be saved if at all possible. It’s bad
The SurveyUSA tracking poll for June reflects an abrupt turnaround in the fortunes of Rick Perry. The governor’s approval/disapproval rating soared from 41/54 to 49/46. Is this just a statistical anomaly? Perhaps not. In the closing days of the legislative session, Perry was very active, vetoing the first transportation bill
The decision of how a blog treats comments has proved to be a difficult one. I never dreamed, when we started the blog, how difficult it would be. Evan Smith and I have had long conversations about this subject. He has generally leaned toward giving readers the right to say
I’m going to evaluate the governor’s vetoes. If you prefer your information unfiltered, the list of bills vetoed together with Perry’s veto messages are available on the governor’s Web site. I must add the caveat that what a bill does is not always apparent, at least to me, and
I’m sure that all of Rick Perry’s 49 vetoes were based upon substantive arguments and not personalities. Really and truly. But … we all know that darkness and suspicion can sway the heart and infect the mind. Just in case some misguided souls might think that the governor would use
A correspondent took us to task for not elaborating on the members who were listed under “Dishonorable Mention.” The blog affords the opportunity to comment on them and on other members. Let’s start with:Honorable MentionRob Eissler was a breath–make that a windstorm–of fresh air compared to his predecessor as chairman
For the next 24 hours, you can read the full story. After that, pick up a copy of our July issue, which will be on newsstands next week.THE BESTRafael Anchia, Democrat, DallasSen. John Carona, Republican, DallasByron Cook, Republican, CorsicanaSen. Bob Deuell, Republican, MesquiteScott Hochberg, Democrat, HoustonLois Kolkhorst, Republican, BrenhamJerry
The worst thing about doing the Best and Worst story (aside from a special session while the story is on the newsstands) is that we have a press conference to announce the list. Evan Smith will do the the actual announcement. Time and place: 9 a.m., the Omni downtown.
The author of the transportation bill sent an e-mail with two corrections to the interview I posted yesterday on the effect of the bill. Here are his comments:In response to your question about how the moratorium effects the proposed managed lane projects in the San Antonio area, the post on
[The conclusion to this post has been updated]What follows is the result of a discussion I had with a knowledgeable person who was involved in the debate over transportation and toll roads and who prefers not to be further identified at the present time. After the discussion, I received two
Let’s wait another week, until the 17th, the deadline for vetoing bills. Even the usual “well informed sources” haven’t heard much. There is a lot of speculation that Perry will come close to breaking his own record of 83 vetoes, as a way of making the point that lawmakers should
politico.com, a recent Internet startup, is reporting that Robert Talton is seriously considering a race against Democrat Nick Lampson in the 22nd congressional district, which is Tom DeLay’s old seat. One person who wouldn’t miss Talton is Tom Craddick, who had to rule on approximately 2 jillion points of
We have heard a lot of brave talk from Texas Democrats about how vulnerable John Cornyn is, but some of the major national political Web sites have a different take on the 08 Senate race. It’s not promising for the Democrats. With $3.8 million in the bank as of April,
Is Mikal Watts the best challenger the Democrats can put forward against John Cornyn in 2008? Watts has announced the creation of an exploratory committee, which usually means that all the exploring is over with and the candidate intends to run. The case for Watts is that he has made
This story appeared in the San Antonio Express-News on May 25. I completely missed it. This is what happens in May of odd-numbered years. You say the world is going to hell? Don’t bother me with trivialities. Just tell me whether a budget compromise has been reached, and
I had a conversation with a Craddick staffer during one of those stand at ease moments in the final days (never was standing at ease so uneasy) during which he said that the speaker believed the Republicans could pick up as many as eight House seats in 08 if Hillary
One of the issues inherent in writing a blog is the extent to which readers’ comments should be subject to censorship. My initial impulse was to publish everything. I make my living under the First Amendment, and I am reluctant to place any restraints on speech. Furthermore, the culture of
The Associated Press is reporting that Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, is resigning after being with George W. Bush for fourteen years. He will seek a career outside of government. This is the point in a presidency — just over a year and a half left — when aides
What the late LBJ confidant Jack Valenti remembered about the longest day of his life.
Patricia Kilday Hart and I are now working on the Ten Best and Ten Worst story for the 80th Legislature. We are offering a one-year subscription to TEXAS MONTHLY for the correspondent who can come closest to predicting our choices. Anyone caught hacking into the magazine’s web site, as a
Did your antennae go up when Sylvester Turner filed for Speaker? Mine did. There’s no way for Sylvester to win. Republicans can’t vote for a Democrat for speaker. The best Turner can hope for is to hold the Craddick Ds (who may not be as solid as they were before
The death of S.B. 482 raises the possibility of a special session. Electricity by itself may not be enough reason for the governor to bring the Legislature back, but the absence of a rate cut as we enter the 2008 election cycle may motivate Governor Perry to call the lawmakers
Since everyone on the floor was thanking their staffs and anybody else they can think of, I want to thank the readers of this blog, the correspondents who posted their comments, and the members of the 80th Legislature, who graciously made sure that no day went by without their giving
Anyone who stayed up to the last bill in the last hour on the last day was rewarded with some high drama–and I hope they weren’t hijinks. Dunnam had a valid point of order on the electricity bill, which missed the runway in trying to land safely in the conference
First my colleague, Patti Hart takes out after me for my post earlier today about the Haggerty walkout last night, and then my friend Glenn Smith does the same, in Burnt Orange Report:Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka is suddenly quoting Coleridge and Thomas Wolfe, so perhaps he
Patti,You’re the greatest colleague a writer could wish for, but I think you’ve been watching the Senate too long. They don’t fight in public. They don’t try to skewer each with the rules. All they do is tell each other how wonderful they are. You can’t possibly know the difference
With all due respect to my esteemed colleague, I rise to offer another point of view on last night’s House drama. I can’t agree with Mr. Burka’s comparison of last night’s walkout to Arlene’s calendar-killing motion. The stakes are entirely different, as is the back-story of provocation. Craddick wants a
Or maybe my headline should have been, Goodnight Arlene. The walkout in the House last night wasn’t a protest; it was a temper tantrum. It was so juvenile, a thoughtless, willful act that did nothing to hurt Tom Craddick, just the strollers’ own colleagues who had worked feverishly to beat
In light of Tom Craddick’s assertion over the last couple of days that he is a statewide officeholder and should be treated as such when members seek to defrock him, a commenter mentions an interview the Speaker did with our editor, Evan Smith, on the public television show
The insurgents will surely try to keep the pressure on today. The resolution to go outside the bounds of the two budget bills is a plump target, and so is the budget itself. I don’t think that an attack on either will be successful. The Craddick Ds tend to be
I received an e-mail this morning containing a scholarly analysis of the speaker’s argument that he can only be removed from office under the provision of the Texas Constitution authorizing the House to expel any of its members by a two-thirds vote.The author is known to me as an expert,
I received this message today from Alexis DeLee. It is the rationale for Speaker Craddick’s ruling on Friday night that various provisions of the Texas Constitution overrides the rules of the House of Representatives and prevents the House from taking action to remove the speaker from office during a legislative
I don’t want to get hysterical about what happened in the House Friday night. It was not the end of democracy as we know it. It was not a coup d’etat. It was just the end of any pretense that Tom Craddick is influenced by a normal sense of right
Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath, nor motion (to vacate the chair)As idle as a painted shipUpon a painted ocean (is there nothing there?)Where does the insurgency stand?I don’t see how anyone in either camp can be confident of victory. Unless there has been some late movement
I assume that most readers know by now that Speaker Craddick and his consiglieri Bill Messer are the defendants in a lawsuit filed by Amazon Tours, Inc. of Dallas. The dispute involves the defendants’ request for a refund for a fishing trip that never took place. Thanks to the Quorum
The battle over the transportation bill is hot hot hot. For the last two years, the opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor has been led by rural Texas — in particular, by Lois Kolkhorst, who has championed a two-year moratorium on comprehensive development agreements, the financing tool used by Tx-DOT
I have removed this post from the blog. It consisted of a letter “reporting” a phone conversation among major Republican donors in which they agreed to raise $10 million to use against members who had failed to support Speaker Craddick. I normally post submissions from readers in the comments section
On cooler reflection, the bills setting up a $3 billion, 10-year commitment for cancer research still face significant challenges. While the Senate today gave approval to a constitutional amendment and enabling legislation, an amendment tacked on by Troy Fraser will require the House to concur with 100 votes. I’m told
If Craddick is indeed using $160 million in higher ed funding above the Senate and House bills for political purposes, he may find a roadblock in his way: the Senate. There is no chance that the Senate is going to let the House have $160 million to play with. They
Pitts, Hill, Dunnam, Gallego — just pounding away at Chisum. About the higher ed money. Point of order. The Craddick forces (he’s not in the chair, Woolley is; he’s working the floor) run huge risks if the game the rulings tonight. This is real drama. I hear Pitts may be
I really enjoyed writing the post below, to which the headline applies, and I’m rather fond of it, but I wrote it before Rose and Lucio withdrew their support from Craddick. I knew that Patrick was going to have to come home to the Ds eventually if he wanted to
Jane Nelson just won final passage of the Cancer Research bill — which, upon approval by Texas voters, gives the state the authority to borrow up to $3 billion through the sale of bonds to finance cancer research over the next 10 years.The bill was strongly promoted by a host
A moment of silence, please, for SB 4, the charter school bill that offered facilities funding for charters, while also demanding fiscal and academic responsibility. Unless it finds a vehicle, the trip is over. Today has witnessed the death of a lot of bills, but this deserves attention for some
Eiland made an effort before lunch to put Craddick on the spot, asking whether there would be a break for dinner or whether he should order dinner to be brought in. Eiland wasn’t interested in food. He was interested in how long Craddick intended to keep the members in session.
Exclusive! Here is the list of those who would like to succeed Craddick as speaker (alphabetical order):B. CookHillKefferMcCallPittsTaltonandAllen, Alonzo, Anchia, Anderson, Aycock, Bailey, Berman, Bohac, Bolton, Bonnen, Branch, B. Brown, F. Brown, Burnam, Callegari, Castro, Chavez, Chisum, Christian, Cohen, Coleman, R. Cook, Corte, Crabb, Craddick, Creighton, Crownover, Darby, J. Davis,
Let’s assume that the process of vacating the chair has been set in motion by a resolution. Then what?Rule 5, Section 36 says, “Questions of privilege shall have precedence over all other questions, except motions to adjourn.” Therefore, the only way to slow down the proceedings is for a pro-Craddick
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere wellIt were done quickly — Macbeth, Act I, Scene 7A move against Craddick seems inevitable now. Three things have occurred that have changed the nature of the insurgency. First, and most important, the effort to dethrone the speaker is now being
Even before Dan Patrick won his Senate seat, speculation around town was rampant that he would run for governor in 2010. I think it’s wrong. He doesn’t have the name identification or the money to make that race, and he would be up against a formidable array of political talent.
