by David Smith | Dec. 3, 2010 | State
Galveston Judge Susan Criss is blocking General Abbott’s order for the release of TWIA settlement details. AG Abbott wrote an opinion declaring TWIA a government entity, which makes it subject to the Open Records Request Representative Larry Taylor submitted...
by Fernando Trevino | Dec. 3, 2010 | State
As we edge closer to the start of the 82nd Legislature in Texas, many people are becoming jittery over the biennial budget and its projected $20 billion shortfall. Cutting back is never enjoyable, but then again, neither are tax increases. While budget cuts are sure...
by David Smith | Dec. 2, 2010 | State
The Straus team, which includes the Austin media jack-in-the-boxes, is making hay about the pledge count. Straus has 120 and Paxton has 12. It’s a good sound bite for them. It’s also as hollow as a paper mache speaker gavel. A pledge gotten with campaign money coming...
by Pratt on Texas | Dec. 2, 2010 | Federal
Senator John Cornyn wrote this week that: “A balanced budget amendment is necessary because Congress has proven it cannot agree on how to keep total federal spending in line with total federal revenue. Moreover, the president is not even required to propose a budget...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Dec. 1, 2010 | State
For a variety of bad reasons, political and otherwise, some say Texas will face an insurmountable budget crisis when lawmakers meet in January. But Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst tells the Austin American Statesman that the budget hole won’t be what many have claimed....
by David Smith | Dec. 1, 2010 | State
Joe Straus’s sacrificing of his relationship with Larry Taylor at the altar of establishment control exposes his “let’s all be sweet to each other” scam. Taylor is being scapegoated amid an ethics storm gathering around the Straus team. The...
by David Smith | Nov. 30, 2010 | State
So much for that congenial loyalty we’ve heard about. Texas House Speaker Joe Straus this weekend tossed House Republican Caucus chairman Larry Taylor under the proverbial bus. So much for friendship. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Straus said he...
by David Smith | Nov. 29, 2010 | State
Joe Straus lieutenant Jim Pitts provided a snapshot for the importance of the Texas House Speaker race when he told a questioner that to save any money opting out of federal Medicaid Texas would have to throw people out on the street . Pitt’s obstructionism toward...
by Fernando Trevino | Nov. 28, 2010 | State
With all the commotion surrounding the fight for a more conservative Texas House Speaker, it seems as if the special election to fill the late-State Representative Edmund Kuempel’s seat in HD 44 has been greatly overlooked. Texas Republicans have been busy celebrating...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Nov. 26, 2010 | State
When the General Investigating & Ethics Committee met to hear allegations a member of Speaker Joe Straus’ leadership team threatened to use redistricting as retribution against other lawmakers, Chairman Chuck Hopson didn’t ask the accused to testify...
by Fernando Trevino | Nov. 22, 2010 | State
The biggest argument in defense of Speaker Joe Straus is that under Tom Craddick, Republicans lost many seats in the Texas House, but under Straus we gained 22 seats. While this is true, I don’t think the two are related at all. Texans elected 22 new conservatives to...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Nov. 22, 2010 | State
When it comes to protecting their own, the Texas House General Investigating Committee has no peer. The chairman of the committee says he will have a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning to determine whether a fellow legislator, and leadership ally, made illegal...
by David Smith | Nov. 22, 2010 | State
We’re in the frontier with this speaker’s race. Nobody knows what we’ll find. Nobody’s been here before. With the removal of the law that forbade citizen engagement in the race, all of us have front row seats to the new system. Speaker Straus...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Nov. 17, 2010 | State
Two years is an eternity in politics, which might explain the forgetfulness surrounding the speakership. In November 2008, there were nine members of the Texas House vying to be Speaker. And not one of them was named Joe Straus. In fact, State Rep. Joe Straus was...
by Pratt on Texas | Nov. 17, 2010 | State
“I’m a lifelong Republican and I am conservative…” said Texas House Speaker to the Abilene Reporter News when in the Big Country shoring up support with representative Susan King for his upcoming race for re-election as Speaker. I think Joe Straus is a...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Nov. 15, 2010 | State
State Rep. Fred Brown has put a target on the Higher Education Coordinating Board, with legislation to abolish the agency. The Bryan lawmaker says the board should go so education can be better coordinated. Others aren’t so sure. Mr. Brown (R-Bryan) was one of...
by Fernando Trevino | Nov. 12, 2010 | State
Included in the GOP wave that swept Texas Democrats back to being even more irrelevant than they already were, were five Latino Republicans and two black Republicans. Let that sink in for a minute. Yes, nearly one-third of the newly elected Republican state...
by Empowertexans | Nov. 11, 2010 | State
Incumbent House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio now faces two opponents in the race for the speakership: Warren Chisum of Pampa and Ken Paxton of McKinney. How do these three Republicans compare on taxpayer issues? To get a sense of their priorities, let’s first...
by David Smith | Nov. 11, 2010 | State
Political peace and quiet would be the worst possible sign for Texas voters right now, so we should be very encouraged by the Speaker’s race fight. The old guard will do everything it can to convince us the conservatives we sent to Austin are causing problems, but...
by Michael Quinn Sullivan | Nov. 11, 2010 | State
House Speaker Joe Straus is lashing out at “outside forces” engaged in the discussion about who should be speaker of the 99-seat Republican majority. Would those outside forces be lobbyists and consultants? Business insiders? Major contributors? Nope. The...
