Don’t Forget To Vote For Reader’s Choice Awards!!!!

Nov 29th, 2007 | Admin | No Comments

The deadline to vote in the Capitol Annex Reader’s Choice Awards is MONDAY!!!! Make sure you vote. No “voter id” required.

Popularity: 5% [?]

A Look At The Rest Of The Speaker’s Interim Charges

Nov 29th, 2007 | 80th Legislature | No Comments

Earlier, we took a look at the first set of Interim Charges for the 80th Texas Legislature. Now, we’ll take a look at the second part of the set.

First, let’s examine the charges for the Civil Practices & Remedies Committee. This one’s an amusing little doozie:

1. Study the cumulative effects of Texas civil justice reforms enacted since 2003,
with particular attention toward effects on Texas job creation, judicial efficiency,
medical access, and medical malpractice insurance rates.

Oh, what fun. As far as job creation, we know that no single job in Texas–save perhaps a few business lobby jobs–can be traced to having been created as a result of tort reform. Of course, every job created in Texas since 2003 will, according to Republicans, be an immaculate conception miracle of tort reform. Sigh. Aside from that, given the Texas Supreme Court backlog, the continued lack of physicians in rural areas (which wasn’t the result of “lawsuit abuse” anyway), and the fact that malpractice insurance rates haven’t exactly plummeted to bargain-basement levels, we all know what the “cumulative effects” of these reforms are.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

A Look At The Speaker’s Interim Charges

Nov 29th, 2007 | 80th Legislature | 1 Comment

I’ve been taking a look at the two sets of Interim Charges for the 80th Texas Legislature (here, here).

I hadn’t even read the first page of Appropriations Charges and found a zinger, so I thought I’d better get to doing a full analysis, which follows. (Keep in mind, if Democrats control the House after 2008, what comes of these charges could be moot. But, looking at the charges tells you where the GOP leadership, especially Speaker Craddick, wants to take the House in the next session.

First, let’s take a look at the Appropriations Charges. Number 4 could be problematic:

4. Study state employee compensation and benefit packages and recommend
alternatives designed to attract and retain superior management personnel and
other areas of potential professional shortages. Review executive director
salaries, classification schedules, merit and bonus pay, pay ranges, and agency
flexibility.

A major issue here is “merit and bonus pay.” Setting up a schedule of merit and bonus pay for state workers could prove to very difficult and unfair, not to mention being bad public policy. How do you reward, for example, Health & Human Service Workers with bonus pay? While in a normal administration it might be based on how many applications they processed (something unfair to other workers) or the number of families they approved for programs, but under the present regime we suffer under in state government, it could be for how many applications staff members have found cause to reject. While state workers need raises and better benefits, bonus and merit pay shouldn’t be a consideration.

Another charge for Appropriations that sticks out like a sore thumb is one related to stem cell research. It should have gone to another committee, but evidently Craddick stuck it with Appropriations to ensure a Craddick Republican had control of the outcome on this one:

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Technorati Tags interim charges

Karl Rove Praises John Cornyn & Ralph Hall Explains What “OTMs” Are

Nov 28th, 2007 | 2008 Texas Elections | No Comments

Karl Rove and U.S. Senator John Cornyn were in East Texas Tuesday for an immigration summit of business leaders. The two were on panel with U.S. Congressman Ralph M. Hall (R-Rockwall).

There were a couple of entertaining soundbites worth noting. First, Karl Rove took the opportunity to praise John Cornyn for helping break a “logjam” on immigration reform and coming to this decision while on hunting trip. Here’s an audio clip:

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The next amusing moment came from Congressman Ralph Hall, the oldest person in Congress, who discussed “OTMs.” For those unaware of what OTMs are, it’s evidently Karl Rove’s special lingo for all of the alleged people crossing the U.S. Mexico border who aren’t Latino, aka “Other Than Mexicans.” Congressman Hall explains:

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags John Cornyn, Karl Rove, Ralph Hall

Hutchison Will Seek GOP Conference Chair

Nov 26th, 2007 | Texas Congressional Delegation | No Comments

Via CBS:

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) will run for Senate Republican Conference chair, seeking to replace Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who wants to move up to minority whip following the expected retirement of Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), according to GOP insiders.

Hutchison “is already making calls to other Republicans seeking their support,” said a GOP source close to the issue.

The Texas Republican, though, wants to keep her position as Republican Policy Committee chair if she does not win elevation to Conference chair, said the source. When Senate Republicans vote for their new leaders, Conference will be voted on before Policy, providing Hutchison with an opportunity to run for Policy if she loses out on the Conference chair role. No date has been set for that vote yet.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

More Evidence Of Problems At TCEQ

Nov 26th, 2007 | Texas Environment | No Comments

Yesterday, we told you about some current problems at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality with regard to the agency and even its scientists cozying up to big business and urging the feds to allow for exemptions to pollution regulations.

As you’ll recall, we noted that this appeared to be symptomatic of a much larger problem within the agency. Lo and behold, Bloomberg News Service manages to verify it this morning by telling us that garbage like this at the agency has gone on for years. At issue in the Bloomberg story, about ongoing British Petroleum litigation, is a revolving door allowing regulators to work on permits from both directions.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

What Does Court Of Criminal Appeals Ruling Mean For Legal Abortion?

Nov 26th, 2007 | Notable Court Decisions | 2 Comments

A Court of Criminal Appeals ruling on fetal murder last week garnered the obligatory media attention, but few seemed to pay serious attention in part, I suspect, because the AP story and every other coverage included an interesting tidbit in the lead graf or somewhere pretty close to the top:

Texas laws allow the killing of a fetus to be prosecuted as murder, regardless of the fetus’ stage of development, but they do not apply to abortions, the state’s highest criminal court has ruled. [Emphasis mine.]

Is this, however, disinformation?

The folks at Dungeon Diary seem to think so:

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Lyndon Wants You To Vote For The Capitol Annex Reader’s Choice Awards!!

Nov 26th, 2007 | Reader's Choice 2007, Uncategorized | No Comments

Yes, that’s Lyndon, one of Capitol Annex’s official mascots. And, yes, he has been kind enough to put on reindeer antlers in the hopes of enticing you to vote for the Capitol Annex Reader’s Choice Awards. You can cast your vote here. Lyndon hopes you will, so he won’t have to wear the costume any more.

So, please vote.

Popularity: 5% [?]

As State’s Top Corporations Continue Giving To GOP, Cornyn Gets More Than Anyone

Nov 26th, 2007 | 2008 Texas Elections | No Comments

Although most major corporations around the nations are becoming a little more ‘blue’ in their giving following the Democrats’ takeover of both houses of Congress, Texas’ Fortune 500 remains blood red. Their favorite money pot? The campaign coffers of one U.S. Senator John Cornyn:

The favorite candidate of Texas’ largest companies is Cornyn, a first-term Republican senator who is up for re-election in 2008.

Cornyn has received $66,330 from the state’s Fortune 500 companies in the first nine months of 2007, according to FEC records.

The free-enterprise conservative from San Antonio has received 100 percent of the business PAC donations to the Texas Senate race, where the early Democratic front-runner is state Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston.

Cornyn campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin says the senator “understands that government’s role is providing a pro-growth environment, where taxes are low and government red tape is kept to a minimum.”

I’ll be glad when Bablefish puts online a “Conservative Doublespeak to plain English” translator so you at home can figure out what Cornyn’s spokesman is really trying to say. In the interim, I’ll translate for you.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Technorati Tags John Cornyn

Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round Up: November 26, 2007

Nov 26th, 2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments

It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round Up, compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

Dealing with recalled toys that contain lead is putting a damper on charities’ holiday toy drive efforts. Muse discovers some charities are not accepting toys or are throwing donations away.

Despite the Dallas Morning News article claiming the Texas Railroad Commission is stepping up Barnett Shale inspections, an injection well in N. TX remains seriously out of compliance. TXsharon has pictures, history and solutions at Bluedaze.

Who wont be President in 2009? John Coby at Bay Area Houston compiles an obvious list of Who wont be President in 2009 Any Republican candidate. The Republican party must have worked overtime to find this bunch of losers for President. White. Old. Dull.

McBlogger takes a brief look at the concerns of a Republican Bexar County Commissioner who doesn’t realize the Republican Party of Texas is already known as the Tolling Party of Texas.

North Texas Liberal reports on President Bush’s loss of an ally in staunch conservative PM John Howard of Australia, whose Liberal Party lost handily to the Labor opposition in Saturday’s elections.

The Texas Cloverleaf visited Capitol Annex for Thanksgiving with a guest blog about Turkey, Football, and JFK. Oh my!

Off the Kuff looks at mass transit versus highways for dealing with traffic congestion.

Vince at Capitol Annex reprises his holiday tradition begun last year by reprising his Laws of Thanksgiving–with a 2007 update.

In “Giving Thanks for the Corporations”, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has a few choice words from David Van Os, Jeff Cohen, and John Edwards.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson notices the conspicuous absence of Rep. Mike Krusee since a rumor surfaced that he may be retiring in Where’s Krusee?

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes Lyndon Johnson was right, but demographics are having the last laugh.

Popularity: 5% [?]