March 6, 2015

If You Can't Govern, Spin the Media

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is reaping a systemic failure in the Senate that he helped sow. And he made up for it this week with a public relations campaign of daily topical news conferences.

The Texas Senate once roared like a lion in the early days of every legislative session, priding itself on swift passage of numerous bills. Senate reporters often spent the end of the session lining the back walls of the House to watch bills from the Senate get debated. Angry senators would storm the House, demanding to know what had come of their bills. But this year, the Senate passed its first bill – an emergency transportation item – just this week.

The Texas Constitution forbids lawmakers from passing bills in the first 60 calendar days of a legislative session unless designated as an emergency by the governor. That provision can be set aside, however, if 25 senators vote to do so. Up through the regular session of 2003, voting to suspend the Constitution bill by bill was routine on uncontroversial bills. And with about 1,400 bills passed each session, few are controversial.

In the days of senatorial harmony, the state Constitution was routinely set aside to pass bills in the early days of the session. That came to the grinding halt in the special sessions of 2003 when the two-thirds rule – sometimes called the rose garden rule – was set aside to pass a congressional redistricting plan favorable to Republicans. The rule blocked debate on a bill unless affirmed by two-thirds of the senators present in the chamber. Democratic senators broke the quorum by fleeing to New Mexico, but ultimately returned to Austin and surrendered to the inevitable.

Read more: http://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/if-you-cant-govern-spin-media

March 6, 2015

Texas Association of Business Comes Out Against Religious Freedom Amendments

The Texas Association of Business has come out against two religious freedom resolutions that critics say would enshrine a “license to discriminate” against LGBT people in the Texas Constitution.

TAB, which is the state’s powerful chamber of commerce, unanimously adopted a resolution last month opposing House Joint Resolution 55 and Senate Joint Resolution 10, by Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) and Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels), respectively.

Chris Wallace, president of TAB, said more than 100 members of the board voted to add opposition to the resolutions to the group’s legislative agenda at a statewide meeting Feb. 17.

“We feel that this will certainly make our state look very much unwelcoming when it comes to business recruitment,” Wallace said of the resolutions. “We also have several businesses within the state, our large corporations for instance, that have diversity policies already in place, and what we’re hearing from them is they want their state to look the same way.”

Read more: http://www.texasobserver.org/texas-association-of-business-comes-out-against-religious-freedom-amendments/

March 6, 2015

Tarrant County DA’s office requests Grapevine police not release video of shooting of Mexican nat'l

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office has asked Grapevine police to not release dash-cam video of a February officer-involved shooting that left an unarmed North Richland Hills man dead, the department said Thursday in a news release.

The district attorney’s office requested the video not be released as it is considered evidence.

“Due process requires that evidence not be released to the public while the investigation is pending,” the news release said.

Ruben Garcia Villalpando, 31, was fatally shot last month by Officer Robert Clark following a chase from Grapevine to Euless.

Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/tarrant-county-district-attorneys-office-requests-police-not-release-dash-cam-video-of-fatal-shooting.html/

Related thread:
Protesters chant ‘hands up, don’t shoot!’ to Grapevine council
http://www.democraticunderground.com/107823748

March 5, 2015

Lege Lines: The GOP refuses Medicaid expansion and moves to slash taxes

By Richard Whittaker

The Freedom to Be Sick

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has compared Texas' refusal to accept Medicaid expansion to the Lone Star State's secession from Mexico. On March 2, in a press conference nominally led by Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-George­town, Patrick declared "Texas independence from overreaching federal mandates like Obamacare." The event was meant to publicize the sending of a letter, signed by Patrick and all 20 Senate Republicans, asking Pres­ident Obama for greater state control over the Medicaid budget. Schwertner said the number of people covered has risen from 2 million in 2002 to 4 million now. Meanwhile, state funding has risen from 12% of the state budget in 1989 to 29% this year. He argued that money should instead go to public safety, roads, and public education. The solution? Expanded health savings accounts, allowing Texas to collect copayments, and forcing work requirements on some claimants. As for Medicaid expansion, he said that is "simply not worth discussing." Health advocacy group Cover Texas Now immediately fired back that the state should stop blaming the feds for their bad policies. Noting that Texas has "one of the most bare bones Medicaid programs in the country," the body countered Schwert­ner's headline numbers by noting that enrollment growth has mostly come from kids, meaning the rate of uninsured children in Texas has dropped from 25% in 1997 to a still-unacceptable 13% in 2013. CTN, which represents 13 health care advocacy bodies including Texas Associ­a­tion of Community Health Centers, March of Dimes, and Tex­ans Care for Children, argued that all the Senate's proposals had been tried and failed before, and that cutting health care while pushing tax cuts "represents the wrong priorities for Texas."

Here Come the Tax Cuts

Taxes aren't exactly the most popular part of government, so when Gov. Greg Abbott promised $2.2 billion in property tax cuts, and a further $2 billion in business tax cuts, it was bound to play well to the peanut gallery. When the Senate Finance Committee met on March 2 to discuss those cuts, Chair Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, was even more bullish, claiming she could produce $5 billion by the end of the session. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who has seemingly stepped in to replace his predecessor Dan Patrick as the chamber's most aggressively anti-tax zealot, said this is simply delivering what voters demanded. However, there's a long way to go before any cuts are actually passed, and Monday's discussion centered on what to do with the margins franchise tax. Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, reminded everyone that he voted against it when it was first passed, and every fear he had about it has come to pass. Top of that list, as Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, reminded everyone, was that it created a structural debt in school finance. Schwertner's solution to this Gordian knot was to simply get rid of it and just push sales tax up a penny – even though that will hurt working-class Texans hardest.

Short Lines...

More schadenfreude, as former fiscal conservative senators bemoan the level of deferred maintenance in their state offices. Comptroller Glenn Hegar has talked publicly about rabid bats inside the building, and holes stuffed with toilet paper, while Attorney General Ken Paxton has a leaking roof over his servers... House Ways & Means Chair Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, is pushing for quick passage of border security bills, as DPS deployments to the border are leaving holes in law enforcement elsewhere... Krispy Kreme franchise Glazing Saddles celebrated Texas Independence Day at the Capitol with a Texas flag made out of 1,836 doughnuts... Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, has filed HB 2165, a bill to end marijuana prohibition, saying that it should be "regulated like tomatoes, jalapeños, or coffee." In a release, Simpson – a Christian conservative – wrote, "All that God created is good, including marijuana. God did not make a mistake when he made marijuana that the government needs to fix."

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2015-03-06/lege-lines/

March 5, 2015

Edinburg man gets sixth DWI in 2 years after crashing into school bus

An Edinburg man was charged with driving while intoxicated after he crashed his car into the back of a school bus Monday morning.

Alexander Correa, 23, was arraigned Monday by Municipal Court Judge Toribio “Terry” Palacios, who set his bond at $50,000. This is Correa’s sixth DWI charge in less than two years. He has four open DWI cases and one dismissed case, according to court records.

Palacios also ordered Correa to get a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring Bracelet after making bond, police spokesman Lt. Oscar Treviño said.

The SCRAM bracelet is much like an ankle bracelet but takes alcohol readings every 30 minutes.

Read more: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/edinburg-man-gets-sixth-dwi-in-years-after-crashing-into/article_fd0f16f4-c2d5-11e4-85e7-177a259d7b63.html

March 5, 2015

Family Research Council Plans Another Anti-Gay Hatefest In Houston Next Week

For the second time in four months, the Family Research Council will host an anti-gay hatefest at a Houston megachurch next week.

Back in November, FRC staged an "I Stand Sunday" rally in response to the city of Houston's decision to subpoena the sermons of pastors as part of its defense of an Equal Rights Ordinance.

SummitNext week's two-day event, the "National Stand Summit," reportedly is designed exclusively for pastors and will be held at the same venue, Grace Community Church. Speakers at the National Stand Summit will include GOP presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, reality TV star Josh Duggar, Fox News commentator Todd Starnes, FRC President Tony Perkins, FRC radio host Craig James and fired Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, among others.

The event is being promoted by the US Pastor Council, which led opposition to Equal Rights Ordinances in Houston and Plano. In both cases, the cities rejected the Pastor Council's petitions seeking to overturn the ordinances. In Houston, the Pastor Council filed suit, and that case is pending.

http://www.towleroad.com/2015/03/family-research-council-plans-another-anti-gay-hatefest-in-houston-next-week.html#.VPi0oEilBF8.twitter

March 5, 2015

Top 20 Ways that Fire Ants Are Better than Republicans

By Susan Bankston

[font color=green]Susan Bankston lives in Richmond, Texas, where she writes about her hairdresser at The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., at juanitajean.com. This is an excerpt of an article she wrote in April 2014 for OutSmart Magazine, the LGBT magazine for Houston.[/font]

1. Fire ants seldom make racist or antigay remarks, but when they do, it never, ever involves misspelled signs.

2. A fire-ant sting hurts women the same exact amount that it hurts men—none of this 82 percent stinging level crap.

3. Most fire ants do not have their own radio talk show.

4. Even fire ants believe in evolution.

5. Among fire ants, “The Queen” is a good thing.

The list continues at http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2014/04/whats-better-republicans/ .

March 5, 2015

SMU Frat Bros Pee on Neighbor's Fence, Hurl Meat into His Yard over Noise Complaint

Timothy O'Connell did what anyone would do faced with a bunch of frat bros constantly telling him to "fuck off" and using his fence as a toilet. He got in touch with the local news -- WFAA in this case -- and let them do the rest.

As Jason Whitely breathlessly reports for Channel 8, O'Connell's trouble with the boys from SMU's Sigma Chi started -- just as it did for Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne in Neighbors -- when he called police with a noise complaint. The bros who rent the house next to O'Connell on Ellsworth Avenue in the M Streets, apparently, were unhappy with this, as shown by footage captured with O'Connell's home security cameras.

One dude at the Sigma Chi brothers' house, upset with being unable to light the backyard grill, gives up and chunks a hunk of raw meat into O'Connell's yard. Another stumbles out of the house and pees on the Sigma Chi side of the fraternity and O'Connell's shared fence. Perhaps most galling, kids from the house carved "fuck you" into the snow in front of O'Connell's house last week, before returning to take pictures of their handiwork.

O'Connell, who does seem to see the humor in his situation to his credit, warned on Facebook that it could happen to anyone.

Read more: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2015/03/smu_frat_v_neighbor.php

March 5, 2015

Jeb Bush Picks Up Major East Texas Fundraiser

WASHINGTON – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush now has a serious GOP fundraiser in East Texas backing his early presidential efforts.

Oil and gas attorney Gaylord Hughey, Jr., the top GOP bundler of East Texas, said in a Thursday interview with The Texas Tribune that he will round up Piney Woods money for Bush.

“I think he’s pragmatic. I think he’s thought a lot about his positions,” Hughey said in a phone interview. “I don’t think he will change his public policy positions to pander to folks, and I think that authenticity will come through in his campaign."

"And I think it will make him successful,” he added.

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/05/jeb-bush-picks-major-east-texas-fundraiser/

March 5, 2015

Rick Perry Supporters Form Opportunity and Freedom PAC

Allies of former Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday rolled out a super PAC that can raise unlimited amounts of money to boost the likely 2016 presidential candidate.

The Opportunity and Freedom PAC will "educate voters on Perry’s record as Governor of Texas and promote his vision for the future of America," supporters said in a news release. The PAC also unveiled a Web video touting Perry's rise to the governor's office, starting with his small-town childhood in Paint Creek, Texas.

Mississippi-based Republican operative Austin Barbour is leading the effort as a senior adviser to the super PAC. He is the brother of Henry Barbour, a longtime friend of Perry's and informal adviser over the years. Their uncle is former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

Also on board as a senior adviser is Tony Russo, a strategist who is close to Perry confidante Jeff Miller. Two former chiefs of staff to Perry — Ray Sullivan and Mike Toomey — are serving as co-chairmen of the super PAC.

Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/05/rick-perry-supporters-form-opportunity-and-freedom/