Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

Ballot order

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Kevin Drum finds this paper, entitled “The Ballot Order Effect is Huge: Evidence from Texas”, by a professor at Sam Houston State, and notes that it confirms what we have all long believed, that being first on the ballot in … Continue reading →

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Yes, cities need lobbyists

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Every few years, this argument heats up. In the run-up to this year’s Texas legislative session, Mayor Sylvester Turner decided to switch Capitol lobbying firms. In was Hillco Partners, considered by many the most powerful player in Austin lobbying. Out … Continue reading →

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Pastoral malignancy

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Know your enemy. A day before the Texas Legislature ended its special session this week, a session that included a high-profile fight over a “bathroom bill” that appeared almost certainly dead, David Welch had a message for Gov. Greg Abbott: … Continue reading →

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Confederate monuments in the Capitol

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Get rid of them, too. A state lawmaker wants all Confederate symbols removed from the Texas Capitol grounds, including a plaque that is 40 steps away from his office that rejects the idea that the South seceded from the Union … Continue reading →

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What’s next for the now-canceled white nationalist rally at A&M

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The legal experts are weighing in. Saunie Schuster, an attorney for The NCHERM Group, which provides consulting for schools on First Amendment issues, said that was the organizer’s big mistake. “You can be here and you can speak even if … Continue reading →

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White nationalist rally at A&M canceled

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve been on the road with limited Internet access, so I’m just now catching up on recent events. Unlike our garbage president, I wholeheartedly condemn the appalling racist violence committed in Charlottesville by a bunch of Nazi scum. As such, … Continue reading →

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Dan Patrick hates Texas’ cities

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I have so many things to say about this. City governments, particularly those led by Democrats, are to blame for problems nationwide, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during a nationally televised interview Friday. “People are happy with their governments … Continue reading →

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Your periodic reminder that non-citizens very rarely vote

Posted on July 15, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I know you don’t need a reminder, being sophisticated followers of the news and all, but here it is anyway. Since Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote in November, our new commander-in-chief has consistently attacked the legitimacy of popular vote … Continue reading →

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Who wants to give Greg Abbott power over their health insurance?

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I sure don’t, but then I’m not the median voter in this state. The Senate Republicans’ health care plan would give governors virtually unchecked discretion over health insurance plans. In red states with governors hostile to health care expansion, such … Continue reading →

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Denton County returns to paper ballots

Posted on July 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I hadn’t realized this. Denton has been using a hybrid voting system that employs both electronic and paper ballots for about a decade. But county officials recently approved spending just shy of $9 million to buy new voting equipment from … Continue reading →

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Another look at redistricting in Texas

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’re in the spotlight right now. The odd shapes tell the story. A huge Republican majority in the Houston-area 2nd congressional district represented by Ted Poe curls around the region from Lake Houston, northeast of the city, makes a meandering, … Continue reading →

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An interesting shift in approval ratings for state leaders

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

More UT/Trib poll data: The figurative wrestling match between the state’s top three officials jiggled their approval ratings, but not by much, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Gov. Greg Abbott remains the highest rated of the … Continue reading →

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Yet another report about how much our voter ID law sucked

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Keep ’em coming. Hundreds were delayed from voting and others nearly turned away entirely during the presidential election because of confusion over the status Texas voter ID laws, a new report from a voting rights advocacy group shows. It’s just … Continue reading →

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Texas Republicans still mostly like Trump

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

There are a few cracks in the surface, however. Most voters in the country’s biggest red state are wary of President Donald Trump — but Republican voters remain strongly supportive of him, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune … Continue reading →

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An SB4 threefer

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We have our first SB4 casualty. A 15,000-member association of attorneys and law professors said on Wednesday that it is relocating its 2018 convention out of Texas in response to the state legislature passing Senate bill 4, a sweeping and … Continue reading →

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Rep. Al Green gets death threats

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

sad, but hardly surprising. During a town hall meeting Saturday, Congressman Al Green played recordings of threatening voicemail messages left for him after he demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump on the House floor earlier this week. “You’ll be … Continue reading →

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Warning labels, schmarning labels

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Sid Miller, ladies and gentlemen, addressing the concerns of rancher Bruce Hunnicutt about the use of poison to try to control the feral hog population. Hunnicutt, 58, operates a hog hunting business on 30,000 acres — he owns 600 and … Continue reading →

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Culberson’s stock purchase

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. In a heated confirmation hearing for then-Georgia U.S. Rep. Tom Price for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Democrats raised pointed questions about the congressman’s trading in stocks of companies regulated by the House committees he serves on. One … Continue reading →

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State seeks Medicaid money it gave up over Planned Parenthood ban

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Ugh. Four years after Texas gave up millions of dollars in federal Medicaid funds so it could ban Planned Parenthood from participating in a family planning program for low-income women, the state is asking the Trump administration for the money … Continue reading →

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The state’s voter ID failure is much bigger than you think

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

You really have to read this. The confusion started in the first hour of the first day of early voting in San Antonio last October. Signs in polling places about the state’s controversial voter ID law contained outdated rules. Poll … Continue reading →

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Bathroom bills and business interests

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly’s Dave Mann reviews the Republican schism over the bathroom bill and comes to the same conclusion as I have. At the moment, the Legislature—and the Republican party, for that matter—has settled into an uneasy stalemate between Patrick’s right-leaning … Continue reading →

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Progressives in East Texas

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, they exist, and they are coming out of the woodwork these days. “It was remarkable,” says Lee Hancock, a Tyler resident of over 20 years who formerly covered East Texas for the Dallas Morning News. Hancock is now a … Continue reading →

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Texas Lyceum poll on Trump and 2018

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, the promised Day Two results: Statewide poll numbers released today by the Texas Lyceum, the state’s premier, non-partisan, nonprofit statewide leadership group, show U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Houston (Lyceum Class of 2004) isn’t guaranteed another … Continue reading →

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Greg Abbott wants to kill off cities

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

That’s the only way to describe it. As state lawmakers gather for their biennial session this spring, they’re weighing whether to rein in localities that ban plastic grocery bags, extend civil rights protections to LGBTQ residents, discourage cooperation with federal … Continue reading →

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A tale of two Congressmen

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Ted Poe has a status update. U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, a Republican from Humble, announced Sunday afternoon he is resigning from the hardline Republican group that helped sink GOP attempts to repeal former President Obama’s 2010 health care law. … Continue reading →

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This is why you leave women’s health to the professionals

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Because amateurs and zealots do a lousy job. In pushing a replacement for the Affordable Care Act that cuts off funds for Planned Parenthood, Republicans are out to reassure women who rely on the major health care organization that other … Continue reading →

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On pot and potties

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Two more poll results to note. Opposition to legal marijuana is dropping in Texas, with fewer than one in five respondents to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll saying they are against legalization in any form. Support for marijuana … Continue reading →

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Trump approval

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib does its poll thing. In his second month in office, President Donald Trump is getting overwhelmingly good grades on his job performance from the state’s Republicans, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Trump is popular … Continue reading →

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Abbott shakes fist at NFL

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? Gov. Greg Abbott is blasting the NFL for raising the prospect that Texas’ so-called “bathroom bill” could impact future events in the state — wading into a debate he has so far mostly steered clear of. “The NFL is … Continue reading →

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How all that activism is being received

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly looks at the recent spate of rallies and visits to Texas elected officials’ events and offices to see what’s up. John Simpson and Mark Leech had never participated in a protest before last month. In fact, the couple—who … Continue reading →

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Nancy Drew – I mean, Dan Patrick – and the case of the missing jersey

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Seriously? Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked the Texas Rangers and Houston Police Department to team up in finding New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s football jersey, which was stolen Sunday night after the Super Bowl, according to an emailed news … Continue reading →

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More on the STAR Voting System

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron updates us on the latest in modern voting technology. The drumbeat of election rigging and foreign hacking of voting machines have energized ongoing efforts to develop a new model of digital election equipment designed to produce instantly verifiable … Continue reading →

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Abbott goes authoritarian

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose this shouldn’t surprise me, but it is still shocking, even in the world we now inhabit. Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that he and state lawmakers will pursue legislation that would “remove from office any officeholder who promotes … Continue reading →

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Marching

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

In Austin. Up to 50,000 activists swarmed the Capitol grounds on Saturday to fight for women’s rights on the heels of Trump’s inauguration. The high-spirited crowd joined more than a million protesters nationwide. The Austin march was so large that … Continue reading →

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