Back in April, the Senate declined to act on the confirmation of Don McLeroy as the chair of the State Board of Education, as Nomination Committee Chair Mike Jackson decided there weren’t enough votes to confirm him. That may not be the case any more, as McLeroy has now been approved by the committee and will get a hearing before the full Senate soon. I’d like to see this go down in flames, because both he and Governor Perry deserve the dishonor, but it’s not like this boots him off the SBOE, and it’s not like we’ll get anyone better. It’s more optics than substance, and while the SBOE could use all the help it can get on either score, in the end this doesn’t amount to that much. I’m hoping for the best, but neither too optimistic nor too wigged out about it.
May 20th, 2009:
Gearing up for the voter ID showdown
SB362 was not on the calendar today, but it is expected to be brought to the House floor before the Tuesday deadline for approving Senate bills, perhaps as early as tomorrow. House Dems had a press conference today, accidentally pre-empting a Republican presser in the process, to decry voter ID and vow to fight it tooth and nail if it does come to the floor. None of that is new, though the hints that there might be a quorum-busting maneuver, plus the suggestion (on Twitter) that the Dems have the votes to defeat SB362, are. I suppose if the latter is true then there’s no need for the former, though given Rep. David Farabee’s comment that he could support a voter ID proposal that had a phase-in period, I suspect no one wants to take any chances in the event the Republican hardliners decide to grab the half a loaf that’s almost surely available to them. The clock is the Democrats’ friend on this (at least until Governor Perry calls a special session), and they emphasized the short amount of time remaining till sine die and the long list of things like windstorm insurance reform that still need to get done. I think in the end it will come down to counting noses. If the Dems really can beat this thing, which I think they can do as SB362 stands (remember, the GOP is a vote short right now), it’ll die. If the Republicans give a little, they can probably peel off enough support to get something passed. I’d say the choice is theirs.
UPDATE: Via Twitter, voter ID is not on the calendar for Friday. This is just a guess, but maybe Jim Dunnam is right and the votes aren’t there to pass it, and the delay is to give the Republicans time to get a majority. At which, needless to say, I want them to fail. Keep hope alive.
Endorsement watch: Yolanda backs Maverick
Yolanda Navarro Flores, who finished third in the District H special election on May 9, has endorsed Maverick Welsh for the runoff. From the email the Welsh campaign sent out:
“Maverick Welsh will be a great city council member. He is sensitive to our Latino needs and issues…his door will be open to black, brown, and white. Maverick will not put the personal political agenda of others before the interests of the people.”
Yolanda is a distinguished resident of District H, serving on the HCC Board and having served in the Texas House of Representatives. She and her family have a proud history of standing for the people of our community.
“Today, I offer my endorsement to Maverick Welsh,” Yolanda said Tuesday. “My endorsement is for change and responsiveness for our District, not the same politics of the “patron/patrona” hand-picking the candidate for the people. No more status quo politics. My endorsement is for Maverick Welsh–he represents hope for a new and better future for all people in District H and our great city.”
That seems like a big deal to me. The question for the runoff, as noted by folks like Miya and Greg, is whether the Hispanic majority in the district will turn out in enough numbers for Ed Gonzalez to overcome Welsh’s advantage in the Heights. If Flores’ endorsement gets some of her supporters to vote for Welsh, that could be the difference-maker. I’m going to guess that Gonzalez will counter with a push from the elected officials that support him. We’ll see how it goes.
Having said this, it’s not that big a surprise that Flores would back Welsh. We know that there’s no love lost between Flores and Gonzalez. For her to endorse him would have been the bigger surprise.
The runoff is scheduled for Saturday, June 13. Early voting begins on Monday, June 1, and runs through Tuesday, June 9, at the same locations as for the May election. You can see the times and places here (PDF). If you voted in the May 9 election, expect to have your door knocked sometime between now and then.
Even fewer voters are expected at the polls for the runoff than the initial contest, when about 4,200 out of 93,000 cast ballots among nine candidates. That, political analysts say, and the already slim 183-vote difference between Welsh and Gonzalez, is expected to transform the next three weeks into a campaign blitz between two highly-motivated candidates with vocal and ardent supporters.
“It’s all about turnout and who has the organization and can deliver their voters to the polls,” said Robert Stein, a political science professor at Rice University.
Anyone want to take a guess at the turnout figure for this race? In 2007, Melissa Noriega and Roy Morales combined for 22,306 votes in the first go-round, out of 34,274 ballots cast (65.1% of the total), and 24,954 votes in the runoff. Here, Gonzalez and Welsh accounted for 2,413 votes out of 4,141 cast (58.3% of the total). I’ll place my chips on 2,000 to 2,500 total ballots on June 13. What do you think?
What, me secede?
Shorter Rick Perry: “I never actually used the word ‘secede’.”
Fine, whatever. The judge grants your motion to dismiss on the technicality. But we all know that you’ve raised your national profile while gaining ground in the polls, because the voters you’ve been so assiduously courting like the secession talk just fine, whether you’ve been doing it explicitly or just making with the winks and the nudges. It’s been more than a month since the teabagging parties, at which the Governor didn’t quite say the word “secession” while addressing a crowd that clearly loved the idea, and he’s just now writing a letter to the editor to set the record straight? That’s some kind of decisive action right there.
What, me secede?
Shorter Rick Perry: “I never actually used the word ‘secede’.”
Fine, whatever. The judge grants your motion to dismiss on the technicality. But we all know that you’ve raised your national profile while gaining ground in the polls, because the voters you’ve been so assiduously courting like the secession talk just fine, whether you’ve been doing it explicitly or just making with the winks and the nudges. It’s been more than a month since the teabagging parties, at which the Governor didn’t quite say the word “secession” while addressing a crowd that clearly loved the idea, and he’s just now writing a letter to the editor to set the record straight? That’s some kind of decisive action right there.
Injunction issued against auto warranty robocallers
Yes! Yes, yes, yes!
A federal judge has issued two temporary restraining orders designed to stop what officials describe as a wave of deceptive “robo-calls” warning people their auto warranties are expiring and offering to sell them new service plans.
[…]
The FTC filed suit against two companies and their executives on Thursday, asking a federal court in Chicago to halt a wave of as many as 1 billion automated, random, prerecorded calls and freeze the assets of the companies.
Officials say the calls have targeted consumers regardless of whether they have warranties or even own cars and ignore the Do Not Call registry. They say telemarketers have misrepresented service agreements consumers have to buy for warranties that come with the price of the car.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. had asked for an FTC investigation into what he described as the scam of “robo-dialer harassment.”
“These calls are annoying, but worse, many Americans have been fleeced,” he said.
U.S. District Judge John F. Grady issued the temporary restraining order against Transcontinental Warranty Inc. on Thursday and Voice Touch Inc. on Friday.
Grady’s orders also applied to Transcontinental CEO and President Christopher Cowart, Voice Touch executives James and Maureen Dunne, Voice Touch business partner Network Foundations LLC and Network Foundations executive Damian Kohlfeld.
[…]
Besides ordering a halt to the automatic telephone sales calls, Grady’s order froze the assets of the two companies. The FTC alleged in its complaints that the calls were part of a deceptive scheme and asked the court to assure the assets will not be lost in case they might be needed to repay consumers who have been victimized.
The temporary restraining orders are to remain in effect until May 29, when Grady scheduled a hearing on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Halle-freaking-lujah. May this put these bastards out of business once and for all.
The FTC isn’t immediately seeking civil fines against the companies but may do so later, agency officials said.
I still think public execution would be a just outcome, but I’ll take what I can get. Thanks to Kevin Drum for the pointer.
Outside agitation
I’ve got to agree with Stace here: Why should anyone in Houston care what some outfit that’s based in Spring thinks about anything related to Houston politics or policies? Last I checked, the citizens of Spring don’t vote in Houston elections or pay Houston property taxes. Some of them may pay sales taxes in Houston, which would put them on roughly the same footing as the undocumented immigrants this particular outfit is so worked up about. Beyond that, I’ll give these guys the same advice I give other non-residents who want to tell us how to run things: Move here and run for Mayor yourself. Until then, who cares what you think?