Politics & Policy
June 30, 2012
Right to Strife
In Republican-dominated Texas, the May 29 primary might as well have been the general election. And what it revealed is a party perfectly capable of doing battle with itself, no Democrats required.
Contributors
Paul Burka
Former senior executive editor Paul Burka joined the staff of Texas Monthly in 1974, one year after the magazine’s founding. He led TM’s political coverage for nearly forty years and spearheaded its storied roundup of the Best and Worst Legislators each biennium. A lifelong Texan, he was born in Galveston, graduated from Rice University with a BA in history, and received a JD from the University of Texas School of Law.
Burka spent five years as an attorney with the Texas Legislature, where he served as counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. He won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award in 1981. He also received a National Magazine Award in 1985, for his two-part profile of Clinton Manges. After retiring from Texas Monthly in 2015, he taught at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He died in 2022.
3666 Articles
Court upholds Affordable Care Act
Chief Justice Roberts casts the deciding vote. The individual mandate is constitutional because it is a tax, but without compulsion to pay. Virtually the entire act is upheld, except for certain provisions regarding Medicaid. From ScotusBlog: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all
By Paul Burka
Women’s Health Program: Money isn’t the problem
A recent story in the Houston Chronicle, by Peggy Fikac, explains how the women’s health program will be funded. According to the story: The state plans to use funds from a Medicaid fraud crackdown and services deemed unnecessary, plus a hiring freeze on administrative positions in health and human services
By Paul Burka
Who won the Senate debate?
The debate was hosted by KERA in Dallas. Shelley Kofler of the host station, Peggy Fikac of the Express-News and the Chronicle, Ross Ramsey of the Tribune, and Crystal Ayala from Univision were the panelists. The following summary is from notes I took during the debate. It is my best
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst for president! Or is it Perry for senate?
Every idea that comes out of the Dewhurst campaign these days is a Rick Perry retread. Dewhurst has been reduced to reciting Perry’s lines. The latest effort to make Dewhurst sound like he is saying something new is a variation on Perry’s “take a sledgehammer to the ways of Washington”
By Paul Burka
UT/Trib Poll: Insiders and Outsiders
I was particularly interested in Jim Henson’s article in the Tribune earlier this week. As most readers know, Henson is the guru behind the UT/Texas Tribune poll. It addresses one of the mysteries of our times, which is why Texas voters seem to have very little interest in
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst’s “PAC-man” Web video
It’s entertaining — a PAC-man figure goes through a maze gobbling up campaign contributions to annoying music — but I don’t think it is particularly effective. We live in the post-Citizens United age, and it’s not exactly a secret that politics is awash in cash. It’s been a long time
By Paul Burka
Cruz control
The Dewhurst campaign has found some new ammunition it may be able to use against Ted Cruz. It involves a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2008 in which Justice Anthony Kennedy did not know the law. Neither, so it appears, did Cruz. A week earlier, in the case of Kennedy
By Paul Burka
Is every new job a good job?
Not necessarily. Brian Chasnoff, in a story published in the San Antonio Express-News, writes about the mixed blessing that is the so-called Texas “Economic Miracle.” The event that has touched off angst in the Alamo City is the decision by Maruchan Inc. of Japan to locate a ramen
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst’s new consultant
It’s Rick Perry. Well, not exactly. What has happened is that Team Perry has taken over the Dewhurst campaign. Dave Carney is in charge. Mark Miner has joined the communications team. Rob Johnson is heading up the Super PAC. Everyone understands what that means. It means that the Perry playbook
By Paul Burka
Takeaways From the GOP Convention
In reading the last couple of days of convention coverage, I found two key takeaways that have been overlooked:(1) Rick Perry is still very strong with the base of his party. He still connects with the rank and file when he makes a rousing speech, as he did at the convention
By Paul Burka
Perry plugs Dewhurst for Senate, boos ring out
Here is a tweet from today’s Republican convention: When Perry mentioned Dewhurst at #rptcon, the whole convention booed. We want proven conservative Ted Cruz fighting for us! Well, I guess that settles the issue of whether an endorsement by Rick Perry is good or bad. I said “good”
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst camp buoyed by jury verdict
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the original $26 million jury verdict in favor of Jordan Fishman, an American businessman who contended that his intellectual property had been stolen by a Chinese company represented by Ted Cruz. In a statement issued earlier today, the Dewhurst
By Paul Burka
Texas’s share of the national economy in 2011: 8.7%
The Economix blog in the New York Times carried the news that the Texas economy grew 3.3% last year, trailing only North Dakota and West Virginia, two states that rely heavily on energy fuel, and Oregon, which posted a 4.7% gain in manufacturing. From the article: The
By Paul Burka
The office that Bullock made
There has been a lot of criticism, much of it justified, directed at Comptroller Susan Combs, and some observers would say that it is too much for her to move up to higher office.What her critics may not realize, however, is that the comptroller’s office has become something of an
By Paul Burka
Tax revenue up, but what about spending?
There is good news on all fronts about state revenue. The Statesman reported today that the franchise tax, the weakling among state revenue producers, is performing above expectations. Overall, tax collections have been robust, up 12.56%, year to date, over 2011 levels. Sales taxes are up 11.71%. Oil
By Paul Burka
Bryan Hughes, MQS, on the Hughes speakership
UPDATE: Earlier this afternoon, Representative Hughes called me to say that his statements during the conference call last night “bore no resemblance” to the summary I posted below from another blog. After I wrote about Mr. Hughes, Empower Texans posted the audio of the conversation, which I subsequently listened to.
By Paul Burka
Biggest headlines from the primary
Boiling down the primary results to the ten most important events:1. Three Straus chairs lose; two others face runoffs2. It’s Dewhurst vs. Cruz in U.S. Senate runoff3. TLR’s candidate finishes third in SD-25 brouhaha4. Wayne Christian defeated for reelection5. Jana Duty defeats John Bradley for Williamson County D.A.6. Doggett easily
By Paul Burka
Representative Ken Legler, R.I.P.
It is always sad when someone passes before his time. Ken Legler was a member to be reckoned with in the Legislature. It was Legler who sounded the alarm to his colleagues that redistricting was taking a turn that could cost Republicans seats. His involvement in the redistricting battle spurred
By Paul Burka
A fellow blogger’s perspective on MQS
Robert Miller published this on his blog yesterday. I agree with everything he says. Michael Quinn Sullivan is trumpeting the fact that three Republican Texas House Committee Chairs were defeated in Tuesday’s primary, and two others are in runoffs. He states that primary “race after race was
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst’s fatal mistake
Dewhurst has no business being behind the eight-ball in this race. His campaign should have wiped the floor with Ted Cruz.In late January, Cruz’s name ID was 40%. All Dewhurst had to do was stay with his message–that is, touting his record as a conservative light guv and basically ignoring
By Paul Burka
The Party Never Ends!
You might think they’re invincible, but Texas Republicans could soon find themselves in peril. At least that’s what Steve Munisteri says. And he should know.
By Paul Burka
When in doubt, produce an internal poll
I can’t believe the Dewhurst campaign resorted to the old internal poll gimmick. Accrording to the Statesman, Mike Baselice has written a memo indicating why Dewhurst will defeat Ted Cruz in the runoff for U.S. senator: Recent internal campaign polling found that Dewhurst has a 65 percent favorable
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst falls short of the magic number
If there was one refrain I heard from the Dewhurst camp, it was that they wanted to win without a runoff. But they didn’t make it. From the start of the evening, it was pretty clear that Dewhurst was going to fall short. The closest he got was 47.3%. Hours
By Paul Burka
Straus posts solid win but chairs struggle
Straus’s margin of victory was of landslide proportions. Despite having more than $100,000 spent against him, and a blizzard of negative mailers, he cruised to a decisive victory over Matt Beebe. But the big story of the election is the carnage that befell Straus’s chairs. Vicki Truitt, Tuffy Hamilton, and
By Paul Burka
Ames Jones misses runoff
Now what? Texans for Lawsuit Reform invested a ton of money in Elizabeth Ames Jones, their handpicked candidate to defeat state senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio. But Ames Jones failed to make the runoff, leaving physician Donna Campbell to oppose Wentworth. Jones is well known in San Antonio, in
By Paul Burka
Quorum Report: Bryan Hughes will run for speaker
Couldn’t Hughes wait until the election was over before the speaker’s race began? The July 31 runoffs now loom large, as they will be battles between the Straus- and anti-Straus factions of the Republican party in the House. The party is undergoing a purification, driven by Perry’s endorsements and alliances,
By Paul Burka
Endangered species list
These are the House incumbents whom I believe are in trouble as election day approaches: Sid Miller — He blew a huge lead and now appears to be headed for a runoff. Incumbents seldom fare well in runoffs. Jim Landtroop — Same story, second verse. An incumbent in a runoff.
By Paul Burka
Expect close races
Close races are the norm in redistricting years because candidates must communicate with large numbers of people they have never represented before. They don’t know their constituents and vice versa. The most effective campaign tool is direct mail, and candidates may not know what their opponents are saying about them
By Paul Burka
Public Policy Polling on the Senate race
The Tribune has the numbers: Dewhurst 46% Cruz 29% Leppert 15% James 3% I was not a believer in the recent UT/Tribune poll that showed Dewhurst’s lead down to single digits (40% to 31%). I don’t believe that the race has ever been this close. The PPP numbers seem much
By Paul Burka
Where is Perry on Senate leadership issue? Where is Cruz?
There doesn’t seem to be much love lost between the governor and the state’s soon-to-be senior U.S. Senator John Cornyn. When Perry was contemplating a race for president in 2011, Cornyn’s comment was a lukewarm, “The field is already pretty full. There have been a lot of people working at
By Paul Burka
Turnout could reach 1.4-1.5 million
This number comes from pollster Mike Baselice, based on high turnouts in Harris County. I’m surprised, because I thought there would be a lot of apathy in the absence of a presidential race. This level of participation would be good for David Dewhurst, because it would indicate that a lot
By Paul Burka
UT regents post notice for meeting tomorrow
Patricia Kilday Hart reported the development in the Houston Chronicle blog about two hours ago. She writes: Remember those rumors that the University of Texas Board of Regents were considering firing UT-Austin President Bill Powers for “insubordination” after he mildly complained that they rejected a proposed tuition increase?
By Paul Burka
Perry goes on TV to tout Dewhurst
Here’s what he has to say: Texas Republicans have an important election on May the 29th. We have a lot to be proud of. That’s why I’m proud to endorse David Dewhurst,” Perry says in the 30-second TV spot. “David Dewhurst repeatedly cut spending. David strongly opposes a
By Paul Burka
Politicalwire.com: Palin robocalled wrong state
From the politicalwire Web site: The Topeka Capital Journal reports that robocalls made by Sarah Palin to influence the outcome of the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Texas were actually going to voters in Kansas. Said Palin: “Hello, Texas! I’m Sarah Palin.”
By Paul Burka
White fires back at Hamilton
Allegations against Hamilton, posted on the Web site “Texas Conservative Republican News” include: * Tax liens of $601.92 and $2,657.91 against Hamilton * A $2000 civil penalty levied against Hamilton for ethics violations * Sexual harassment allegations against Hamilton The latter was an incident that took place on the floor
By Paul Burka
Robert Gates: UT “blessed” to have Powers as leader
During his commencement address to UT graduates and their families on Saturday, Gates praised Bill Powers, saying, “You are blessed to have him as your leader. The best I can wish for all Longhorns is that people like Bill Powers and [former president] Larry Faulkner continue to lead
By Paul Burka
Counties with high % turnouts
This is a correction of an earlier post concerning the counties with the highest percentage of registered voters who have cast ballots. The corrected numbers: Montgomery 3.01% Galveston 2.68% Williamson 2.33% Fort Bend 2.23% I am somewhat surprised by the result. I don’t think Montgomery has a lot of hot
By Paul Burka
Former A&M president Robert Gates will give UT spring commencement keynote tonight
Gates’ resume includes his current job, Chancellor of William & Mary, as well as Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration and Director of Central Intelligence. It will be interesting to see if Gates alludes to the current controversy at UT. Perry wanted Phil Gramm to be president
By Paul Burka
Implications of the James White revelations
The first obvious point to make is that somebody failed to vet White. The question that should be asked of every candidate for office is, “Have you ever done something that could cause you a problem if it becomes public?” In the White campaign, who did the vetting? Some consultant’s
By Paul Burka
Wall Street Journal reports on UT tuition battle
Here is the lead from the Journal’s story: The national debate over the cost of a college degree is roiling the University of Texas’s flagship campus, where the school’s president has been at odds with board members and with Gov. Rick Perry over the wisdom of raising tuition. The
By Paul Burka
Hamilton campaign says students, teachers, cited improprieties by White
[Readers can find the story in the Daily Buzz section of the Quorum Report.] From the QR story: HE 19 candidate James White this evening described as “a desperate lie” the disclosure by the Tuffy Hamilton campaign of student and parental complaints against White of inappropriate and sexual references made
By Paul Burka
Why mail-in ballots are so high in Harris County early voting
Mail-in ballots exceed in-person voting in a couple of counties. For example, in the first day of voting in Harris County, 3,380 votes were cast in person. Mail-in ballots totaled 10,027. The other big county for mail-in ballots was Tarrant (Fort Worth). On the first day of voting, 2,147 votes
By Paul Burka
The Perry non-endorsement
I don’t know why the Statesman has made an issue of Governor Perry’s failure to endorse Joe Straus. No one with political savvy should have expected otherwise. The speaker does not need Perry’s endorsement to buttress his conservative bona fides; his record of budget cuts and conservative legislation in the
By Paul Burka
Tribune interview: Cigarroa says Powers’ job not in jeopardy
The Texas Tribune today posted a story saying that in an exclusive interview, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa contradicted published reports questioning the job security of UT-Austin President Bill Powers. As the author of those published reports, I wish to reiterate to readers that TEXAS MONTHLY has a
By Paul Burka
GOP pollster warns R’s on gay marriage issue
From politicalwire.com: Former Bush pollster Jan van Lohuizen warns Republicans in a new memo they are increasingly on the wrong side of the gay marriage issue: “The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among
By Paul Burka
Does Leppert have a political future?
The race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the United States Senate has not produced any stars. Some national conservative publications ballyhooed Ted Cruz, but ultimately his boomlet was a ripple, not a wave. The only candidate who advanced himself politically (other than Dewhurst, the likely winner) is Tom Leppert.
By Paul Burka
Dewhurst poll: winnable without a runoff
The Texas Conservatives Fund PAC, an independent expenditure group, polled in the Senate race recently. May 1-7, 800 Republican primary voters, MOE +/- 3.5%. Here were the results: Dewhurst 57% Cruz 16% Leppert 12% James 4% Undecided 11% Positive/Negative Cruz 30/22 Leppert 30/7 James 25/18 The Indiana Senate race is
By Paul Burka
Cigarroa: “Regents’ chairman has never directed me to fire anyone”
This was the statement released by the chancellor’s office earlier today. Last night I reported that Dr. Cigarroa had been asked to fire Powers. Obviously there is a conflict here, but it is not surprising given the tension that exists between the board of regents and the office
By Paul Burka
DEVELOPING: UT PRESIDENT’S JOB MAY BE IN JEOPARDY
A source tells me that UT president Bill Powers may be in danger of losing his job as a result of his opposition to Governor Perry’s insistence on a tuition freeze. After the Perry-appointed regents approved the freeze, Powers expressed strong opposition to the decision, stating, “I am
By Paul Burka