Tag Archives: Congress

A couple of maps to contemplate

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Over at the Swing State Project, frequent commenter blank has taken a crack at drawing a new Congressional map for Texas that looks mighty plausible. He’s also contributed a couple of scenarios for redrawing State House districts in Dallas County, … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Away with Click and Clack!

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

A bit of high quality snark from the floor of the House: See here for more.

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The opening bars of the redistricting overture

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that we have Census data, you know what comes next. Here’s an Express News story that discusses how redistricting will be different this time around. Democrats still are smarting from the redistricting plan engineered in 2003 by then-U.S. House … Continue reading →

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Metro in the President’s budget

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

They did all right. Houston Metro’s expansion is getting a $200 million boost in Obama’s budget request to Congress. The money for the North Corridor and the Southeast Corridor projects is $50 million more than the $150 million set aside … Continue reading →

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Do we now expect to get those federal education dollars?

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You may recall that last year, Congress passed a supplemental appropriations bill that included $830 million in education funds for Texas, but which came with the requirement that Texas maintain its spending levels on education for the next three fiscal … Continue reading →

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It’s going to be a misogynistic year

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It already has been, unfortunately. Here’s Gail Collins on the recent efforts by some right wing activists who are targeting Planned Parenthood: The people trying to put Planned Parenthood out of business do not seem concerned about what would happen … Continue reading →

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Clergy still pushing for immigration reform

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to see it. Just two days after President Barack Obama renewed a call for immigration reform, a group of Houston religious leaders said Thursday that despite a discouraging political climate, they see signs of change. “I feel the people … Continue reading →

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Yet another threat to light rail expansion

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Great. The House could vote as soon as mid-February on a plan by the conservative House Republican Study Committee to end the 35-year-old Federal Transit Administration’s “New Starts” program,” which pours $2 billion-a-year into urban transit projects such as Houston … Continue reading →

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Yeah, it is too early to be polling for 2012

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But that won’t stop anyone from doing them. 2012 could be the year Democrats are finally competitive for President in Texas…but only if the Republicans nominate Sarah Palin. There are vast differences in how the various different potential GOP contenders … Continue reading →

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Garcia writes about the New Metro

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Metro Board Chair Gilbert Garcia wrote an op-ed for the Sunday Chron that outlined what Metro did in 2010 and plans to do in 2011. If you’ve already listened to my interview with Garcia and Board member Christof Spieler, what … Continue reading →

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What now for Sylvia Garcia

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This story about Sylvia Garcia’s last Commissioners Court meeting leads to the obvious question of what she might do next. A former Houston city controller and an attorney who hasn’t practiced for more than 25 years, she’s still interested in … Continue reading →

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We have a Census number

Posted on December 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here you go. After knocking on 50 million doors and handling tens of millions of surveys, the Census Bureau on Tuesday announced that the official population of the United States is now 308,745,538. The 2010 census also shows America’s once-torrid … Continue reading →

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Still DREAMing

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The good news is that the DREAM Act passed the House last week. The bad news is that means it had to go to the Senate, where good bills go to die these days. At this point, it may not … Continue reading →

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The war on lightbulbs

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t even know where to begin with this. Light bulbs – the universal icon of a bright idea – have become for conservative politicians and activists a symbol for something much more nefarious: Big Brother. Gov. Rick Perry writes … Continue reading →

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More on Amazon and the sales tax

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From Slate: Amazon has aggressively fought state efforts to impose sales tax on its operations. In 2008, New York passed a law that required online companies to collect taxes if they had deals with marketing affiliates based in the state. … Continue reading →

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Redistrict-a-palooza

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Greg attends the Houston redistricting hearing so you don’t have to, and liveblogs it till the bitter end, then follows it up with a summary report. The Chron has a bunch of related Tweets from the hearing here. And Michael … Continue reading →

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Ortiz asks for a recount

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, one of three Texas Congressional Democrats to be defeated on Tuesday, has asked for a recount. U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, trailing Republican challenger Blake Farenthold by 792 votes in the race for Texas’ 27th District, officially announced … Continue reading →

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Amazon was just the beginning

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I agree with this. By telling retail giant Amazon.com that it owes $269 million in uncollected sales taxes, the State of Texas has waded into the national debate over taxing Internet sales. The state comptroller’s office said it has sent … Continue reading →

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Opening thoughts on the carnage

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

In no particular order… – Republicans gain 22 seats in the State House, for a 99-51 advantage. That’s with Pete Gallego, Hubert Vo, and Donna Howard, all of whom had been trailing early, coming back to win. Howard’s margin of … Continue reading →

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I’ve had worse days, but not by much

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So as I write this, it looks like the optimistic projections for the Republicans weren’t optimistic enough. Big wins for them in the state, in Harris County, and in the Legislature, where a circa-2003 partisan mix looks like a good … Continue reading →

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Another look ahead at redistricting

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The short version of this Chron story is basically “Republicans would like to control every aspect of the redistricting process, while Democrats would at least like to win the Governor’s office and maintain some semblance of parity in the House”. … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Congress

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing to see here. Six contested Congressional races in Harris County – the 7th CD, in which there is a write-in candidate but no Democrat on the ballot, is not included – six recommendations for the incumbents. Had there been … Continue reading →

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Casinos look to the Internet

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Many of the country’s largest casinos, long opposed to gambling games like poker on the Internet, are now having second thoughts. Although online gambling is popular with millions of Americans, it is illegal in the United States, and the … Continue reading →

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Latinos still prefer Democrats

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure if it’s the poll itself or just the way the numbers are being presented, but if you can get past that, the news is good. Latino voters overwhelming back Democrats over Republicans in the upcoming election, but … Continue reading →

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Look in the mirror, John

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It is of course a terrible thing that the actions of a single Republican will keep the Houston/Galveston area from keeping $40 million in federal disaster funds, but the reaction to it from certain quarters is more than a little … Continue reading →

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Federal education funds still in limbo

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

All talk, no action. A high-level meeting of state and federal officials aimed at finding a way for Texas to access $830 million in emergency education aid failed to produce a clear path forward, according to the Texas Education Agency. … Continue reading →

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Where in the Constitution is that?

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m reading this story about the just-passed federal legislation that would provide some $850 million in extra funds for public school districts in Texas to help prevent layoffs and whatnot, conditional on Texas agreeing to actually use the money on … Continue reading →

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Feds clear DeLay

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll be honest, I’d forgotten there was an ongoing federal investigation of him by this point. It had been so long since I’d seen any news about it. Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, today said he … Continue reading →

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It’s easier than you think to behave responsibly

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

With all the clutching of pearls and threatening of lawsuits surrounding those federal funds that Congress intends to be used for education and not general fund budget balancing tricks, we should all take a deep breath and keep in mind … Continue reading →

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Congress wants education money spent on education

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It sounds simple, but around here these things never are. State leaders on Thursday threatened to sue the federal government over a restriction Congress is placing on $830 million in education funding for Texas. Texas educators and Democratic congressional allies, … Continue reading →

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Interview with Ted Ankrum

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Not a whole lot of Congressional action in Harris County this year, as no Democrat ran in CDs 02, 07, and arguably 22. The one race to watch is in CD10, where Ted Ankrum takes another crack at Rep. Mike … Continue reading →

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The immigration wedge issue for the GOP

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this story. Evangelical ministers in Texas and across the nation are splitting off from the hard right, declaring immigration reform is needed that includes a path to citizenship without first deporting millions of … Continue reading →

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Redistricting hearing in San Antonio

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s that time of the decade again. Monday’s joint hearing of the House Committees on Redistricting and Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence — on the University of Texas at San Antonio’s downtown campus — marked the unofficial kickoff for that process. … Continue reading →

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This is why we call him “Smokey Joe”

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen it by now, but feast your eyes anyway on Rep. Joe Barton apologizing to BP for that mean ol’ government making them pay for their mess in the Gulf. He’s since apologized for the apology, but given … Continue reading →

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