Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

Sen. John Cornyn, apparently with some free time on his hands, takes his turn tackling the pernicious issue of Democrats winning judicial races – er, the problem of partisan judicial elections. I’ll give him credit for this much – he … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The subject of the partisan polarization of Congress came up in conversation recently, and along with it was the topic of redistricting and gerrymandered districts. That made me hunt up this paper (PDF) from Princeton’s Nolan McCarty, UCSD’s Keith Poole, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I agree with State Supreme Court Justice Wallace Jefferson that the way we elect judges in Texas needs reform. I just don’t think he’s proposing a real fix for the problem he’s identified. Texas remains one of only seven states … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m sure by now you’ve seen that Gallup poll, which measured party affiliation in all 50 states and showed Democrats to have a slight edge, by a 43-41 margin, over Republicans in Texas. For a discussion of the methodology, you … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, you can read the text of Governor Rick Perry’s State of the State speech and see for yourself what it was all about. Frankly, I think Matt got it in one: This was a campaign speech. I mean, stem … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Governor Perry will be making his State of the State address today at 11, in which he’s expected to talk about the budget, hurricane relief, and some red meat for his primary voters. You can get a preview of it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My first reaction upon reading this story about lobbyist spending on food and drink and entertainment for elected officials and their staff is the old chestnut about how government should be run like a business. People who say that, especially … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Someone once said that no one’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. I’d extend that observation to note that no one’s intelligence or education is safe when the SBOE is in session. For those … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, good luck with that. You know, I recently came across an article that talked about how for all of the technical prowess of the Obama campaign, they never lost sight of the fact that it was all about enabling … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Unfortunate. The Sunset Advisory Commission agreed Tuesday night to recommend that the Texas Residential Construction Commission be reviewed again in four years, instead of the usual 12. But it said the agency must resolve disputes more quickly and recommended that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It probably won’t mean much, as I have my doubts the Lege will take up this recommendation, but it’s still a shot across the bow from the Sunset Commission. Describing the Texas Department of Transportation as “a mess” that must … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Texas Ethics Commission is getting set to act on an ethics complaint filed in 2007 against State Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. (A more recent complaint against Hecht is still pending.) Something about this case really caught my eye: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hill Research Consultants, the group that did that poll I mentioned earlier, is also the employer of David Benzion of the Lone Star Times. He’s got some more info about the poll, including the full poll memo, which clocks in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Burka was the first one to report on a survey of Texas voters done by Hill Research Consultants, a Houston-based Republican polling firm, which contains some not so good news for the state GOP. Here’s a quick summary of some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We can only hope. Texas risks becoming a national joke if state educators insist on clouding the teaching of evolution, scores of scientists, science teachers and concerned residents Texans told the State Board of Education on Wednesday. They pleaded with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

File this under “Privatization Blues”. The $863 million IBM Corp. contract to consolidate the computer data centers of 27 state agencies offered the promise of doing more for less. IBM and its partners — the Team for Texas — would … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Back in September, Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint with the Travis County Attorney’s office, which handles misdemeanor criminal cases, including those involving state officials, alleging that Dewhurst was insufficiently forthcoming about his trust fund in his financial disclosure … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice. For years the Texas Legislature has resisted calls to publish politicians’ personal financial information on the Internet. But the modern world caught up with state lawmakers today, when a fledgling watchdog group posted the disclosures online. Texas Watchdog, a … Continue reading → Continue reading →