Tag Archives: Rick Perry

Abbott files suit over WHP

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Say what? Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is filing yet another lawsuit against the federal government, this one, no surprise, over the Women’s Health Program. Federal health officials announced Thursday what state leaders had predicted for weeks: that they are … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye, WHP

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks, Rick! Federal health officials announced Thursday what state leaders have predicted for weeks: that they are halting funding for Texas’ Women’s Health Program. Cindy Mann, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, said Texas left her … Continue reading →

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Trying to find a way with the WHP

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I admire and applaud the effort. I abhor the fact that it was needed. Leading Houston Democrats in favor of a seemingly doomed health care program for low-income women are pushing to bypass the state to keep federal money flowing … Continue reading →

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Perry’s empty promise on the Women’s Health Program

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Our Governor talks big, but his words have no meaning. The state will find the cash to continue a women’s health program whose federal funding is threatened because of a decision to keep Planned Parenthood from participating, Gov. Rick Perry … Continue reading →

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It’s time to go on the offensive for women’s health

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I believe that just as Democrats must make the 2012 elections in Texas about public education, they must also make them about health care, in particular access to health care for women. There’s some polling data to suggest this will … Continue reading →

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Millions more Texans will have health insurance under the Affordable Care Act

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t happen soon enough. The percentage of Texans with health insurance will increase to 91 percent – up from 74 percent today – after the national health care law takes effect in 2014, the state’s Medicaid director told lawmakers Monday. … Continue reading →

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A place to start

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

At least one elected Republican is feeling a bit angsty about the Republican war on women’s health. For some GOP lawmakers, the issue gets deeply personal, and the line between party loyalty, allegiance to anti-abortion politics and public health is … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Who cares about women, anyway?

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas certainly doesn’t. If there was any hope that the state was seeking a compromise with the federal government over Texas’ Women’s Health Program, it’s fading fast. At the direction of lawmakers and Texas Attorney General Greg … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

HISD to contemplate uniform start times again

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They’re back. Bleary-eyed teenagers in Houston ISD could sleep later, but not everyone is cheering a budget-cutting proposal that would change school hours and bus schedules next year. The school board last year rejected a plan to tinker with the … Continue reading →

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Who’s on the Perry 2014 bandwagon?

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe not so many people. If he really wants to run for another term as governor — as he told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday — Rick Perry has some work ahead of him. While 39 percent of Texas voters … Continue reading →

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No, there won’t be a special session to help the public schools

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Someone managed to catch Rick Perry during the few minutes he was in the office this week to ask about about having a special session to appropriate some of the extra Rainy Day funds to mitigate the cuts to public … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget ballyhoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From the “How can we miss you if you won’t go away?” files

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry is doing his best to make us miss him. After almost six months away from the state to campaign for president, Rick Perry has barely returned to his Capitol office since arriving back in Austin, state records show. … Continue reading →

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The feds will run Texas’ health insurance exchange

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

That seems to be where we’re headed. Texas is almost alone among the nation’s largest states in failing to start work on a key piece of the Affordable Care Act, as legislators and state agencies follow Gov. Rick Perry’s wish … Continue reading →

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Calling for a special session

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It started with the Texas State Teachers Association. The Texas State Teachers Association today urged Gov. Rick Perry to call the Legislature into special session now to appropriate $2.5 billion from the Rainy Day Fund and head off another round … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Truly Awful Presidential Candidates

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You tell ’em, Daniel Radcliffe. [Daniel Radcliffe, star of the “Harry Potter” movies, says] that he has been “disgusted, amazed, stunned” by candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, such as Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann, who have been openly hostile to … Continue reading →

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As always, the hole is bigger than we thought

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Remember how the Republicans in the Lege underfunded Medicaid by $4.5 billion, which they will have to tap the Rainy Day Fund in 2013 to deal with, in order to make the budget for this biennium appear to be “balanced”? … Continue reading →

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Perry’s (lack of) popularity

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Gov. Rick Perry’s ill-fated presidential campaign left a sour taste with many Texans and damaged his standing with Republican voters, according to a new poll commissioned by the American-Statesman and other state … Continue reading →

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The last Presidential poll involving Rick Perry you’re ever likely to need

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Yes, I know, there’s some talk that he might try again in 2016. Bring it, I say. In the meantime, PPP shows what might have been in Texas. Our poll of the state last weekend found Perry leading Obama just … Continue reading →

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Don’t say “We won’t have Rick Perry to kick around any more” just yet

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

By now everybody knows that Rick Perry has suspended his Presidential campaign and endorsed Newt Gingrich as his preferred not-Romney. The news of this was on the TV screen in the lobby of my office building as I entered this … Continue reading →

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How gassy are we?

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m talking about greenhouse gases, of course. And the answer is, now you can find out for yourself. The greenhouse gas wars are about to heat up again in Texas. Next month, a federal court hears oral arguments in lawsuits … Continue reading →

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CSAPR stayed

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There was some bad news at the end of the year. A federal court ordered [last] Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial cross-state air pollution rule be stayed — to the delight of Texas officials and the chagrin of … Continue reading →

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A little schadenfreude to end the year

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our only Governor. Gov. Rick Perry was once again stumped on the stump Thursday, this time with a question about a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that threw out Texas’ anti-sodomy law. Perry, taking … Continue reading →

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Ballot failure

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Newt Gingrich will not appear on the Virginia presidential primary ballot, state Republican Party officials announced Saturday, after he failed to submit the required number of valid signatures to qualify. The announcement was … Continue reading →

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Double dippin’

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

How do you know when you’re on really shaky ground when trying to justify what appears to anyone with a lick of common sense to be a craven and shameful maneuver in one’s own naked self-interest? Gov. Rick Perry has … Continue reading →

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From the “You don’t like me! You really don’t like me!” files

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is Rick Perry’s latest TV ad, uploaded to his Presidential campaign’s YouTube channel, in which he promises to end President Obama’s war on religion. No, I don’t know what he’s talking about either, but that’s not important. Look at … Continue reading →

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Still waiting on SCOTUS

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Responses to the State of Texas’ stay request for State House and State Senate elections were due Thursday. Responses to the stay request for Congressional elections, which was filed Wednesday, are due this morning. It’s not clear when SCOTUS will … Continue reading →

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Will Rick Perry lose his superpowers?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman wonders what will happen to Rick Perry once his incredibly incompetent Presidential campaign finally implodes and he comes limping back home to Texas. Even as Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign works to get back on track, some are … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Oops, he did it again

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m going to take a break from the Popdose covers list for this entry because it’s never a bad idea to kick Rick Perry when he’s down. I’m sure you’re aware of his “Oops” moment the other night, and I … Continue reading →

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DMV votes down Confederate license plates

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The state Department of Motor Vehicles’ governing board this morning voted down a controversial proposal for a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag. The vote was 8-0, with Vice Chair Cheryl Johnson absent. The decision … Continue reading →

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Confederate flag license plate decision coming

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to debate [this] week whether to create a state license plate with a rebel flag that commemorates Confederate soldiers. The new agenda posted for the Nov. … Continue reading →

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Still nothing interesting in the 2012 Presidential polls of Texas

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s a new UT/Texas Trib poll of the Presidential race in Texas, and while most of it is about the Republican nomination, the bit that interests me as always is regarding the general election: Perry would do better in a … Continue reading →

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Assessing the wildfire damage

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This will be grim work. A multiagency environmental response task force will soon issue a report assessing the environmental and ecological damage of the wildfires. “It’s almost complete,” said Roxanne Hernandez, administrator for the county’s Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan … Continue reading →

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Perry opposes Confederate license plates

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Credit where it’s due. Gov. Rick Perry does not support a Confederate flag specialty license plate under consideration by the state Department of Motor Vehicles board, he said in Florida this morning. In an interview with Bay News 9 following … Continue reading →

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The Rick Perry bailout

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think I’d ever heard about this before. Over his eight years as Texas’ [Agriculture Commissioner], [Rick] Perry oversaw a loan guarantee program with so many defaults that the state had to stop guaranteeing bank loans to startups in … Continue reading →

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