Rick Perry? Mr. Transparency? We Think Not

Aug 12th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

The Washington Times thinks Texas Governor Rick Perry is “Mr. Transparency.”

Yeah, right.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Feds Reject Perry’s Request To Trim Ethanol Mandate

Aug 7th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

In a decision that was no surprise to anyone, the federal government today rejected Texas Governor Rick Perry’s request for a waiver from federal ethanol mandates.

Via the Dallas Morning News:

Mr. Perry declared himself “greatly disappointed” with the federal government’s decision, which was consistent with previous statements about the limited negative consequences of its ethanol policy.

“For the EPA to assert that this federal mandate is not affecting food prices not only goes against common sense, but every American’s grocery bill,” Mr. Perry said.

Of course, Perry’s waiver had nothing to do with Texans’ grocery bills. It had to do with a wealthy contributor who wanted to pay less to feed his chickens.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Texas Has Lost More Than 200,000 Jobs To China Since 2001

Jul 30th, 2008 | Texas Governor, Texas Politics | No Comments

A report released this week by the Economic Policy Institute shows that Texas has lost more than 200,000 jobs to China since 2001 as a result of the United State’s growing trade deficit to that country.

According to the report, Texas has experienced a net job loss of 202,900 due to growing trade deficits with China since 2001–with more 34,100 of those jobs lost last year alone.

In terms of net job loss by state, Texas ranks second out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia only to California, and is actually far ahead of many “Rust Belt” states in terms of job loss directly attributable to the China trade deficit.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

On A Redistricting Commission

Jul 29th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

Although we’re no fan of the over-politicized nature of redistricting, we’ve also never been much of a fan of the idea of a redistricting commission, which is why we found this piece by Old Government Road interesting.

Of course, we’re also probably the only Progressive blog in the state that thinks the idea of publicly funded political campaigns won’t work, so take that for what it is worth.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Perry Reportedly Considering Hope Andrade For Secretary Of State

Jul 22nd, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s administration has played an astounding game of musical chairs with the office of Secretary of State. Now, as the current secretary of state, Phil Wilson, (who has barely been around long enough for people to remember his name) departs office, it appears that Perry will fill the slot with Hope Andrade, a former member of the Texas Transportation Commission.

That’s right: if you want elections in Texas done right, hand the process over to the same people who brought you the Trans-Texas Corridor.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Perry’s Ethanol Waver Request Prompted After $100,000 Contribution From Bo Pilgrim

Jul 2nd, 2008 | Texas Governor | 1 Comment

[Perhaps this is for the 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments Of The Perry Administration? Go here to submit your favorites.]

The administration of Texas Governor Rick Perry is once again caught up in its own pay-to-play culture. This time, it appears as though Governor Perry’s recent request for a waiver of federal corn-based ethanol production mandates was a “thank you” to right-wing poultry king Lonnie “Bo” Pilgrim.

Pilgrim met with Perry on March 25 and asked him to seek a waiver from the federal mandates. Six days later on March 31, Pilgrim donated $100,000 to the Republican Governor’s Association–a group which Perry chairs.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Turkey Federation Commends Rick Perry

May 7th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

It would literally be impossible to make this up:

 The National Turkey Federation commends Texas Governor Rick Perry for petitioning EPA to cut the Renewable Fuels Standard in half, citing the standard’s impact on food prices and the cost of poultry and livestock production.

The Turkey Federation commends a great, big, 39-percent turkey.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Perry Taps Texas Cash For Republican Governor’s Association

Apr 17th, 2008 | Texas Governor | Comments Off

Texas Governor Rick Perry is tapping some serious Texas cash for the Republican Governor’s Association. In fact, 25 percent of the $7.1 million the group has raised since January has come from Texas.

Bob Perry, of course, has given a quarter million bucks. Not surprisingly, Trans-Texas Corridor interests have also given big bucks:

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Perry’s Pick For Workforce Commission Draws Fire Of Labor Leaders

Mar 13th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s appointment of former state GOP chairman Tom Pauken to the “public” seat on the Texas Workforce Commission has drawn the fire of state labor leaders, as expected:

Texas AFL-CIO president Becky Moeller blasted the appointment, saying that Mr. Pauken is too much of a conservative “ideologue” to help workers needing fair treatment to get top-notch training or recover from layoffs.

“Tom Pauken has a long record of advocacy for right-wing views and even battled George W. Bush and John Cornyn because he thought they were too liberal. This does not bode well for working people who need a Workforce Commission that will seriously consider all sides of workplace issues,” Ms. Moeller said.

While there is a position for a Commissioner representing labor, I really can’t think of a more controversial appointment Perry could have made, simply because of Pauken’s role as head of the Republican Party of Texas. Here is what Pauken says about it:

Mr. Pauken said such concerns are “ludicrous” because he has a long history of working well with labor concerns, dating back to his White House days.

Sadly, it is hard to call Pauken’s claim that the concerns are “ludicrous” when he’s on the record making statements like this:

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Popularity: 50% [?]

Governor Perry’s New Alcoholic Beverage Commissioner Doesn’t Drink, Seems To Misunderstand TABC’s Function

Mar 13th, 2008 | Texas Governor | No Comments

Normally, we at Capitol Annex don’t pay too much attention to Governor Rick Perry’s appointments to the nine hundred thousand boards and commission that help run the state of Texas–unless someone is being appointed as Chair.

However, this story about a new appointee to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is just too interesting to pass up. Check this out:

Steven Weinberg said he was surprised when a member of Gov. Rick Perry’s staff called to say the governor was offering him a spot on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

“I told them that I, personally, don’t drink,” said Weinberg, 65, a semiretired surgeon and attorney who lives in Colleyville. “They said that was good, because I’d come to the issues with an open mind.”

What? This is almost unbelievable. It’s not a problem that Dr. Weinberg doesn’t drink, really. But, it is a problem that he seemed surprised the Governor was offering him a spot on the TABC. On the governor’s appointment application, there are spots to list what positions a person would be interested in. We would presume that, had Dr. Weinberg indicated an interest in the position, he wouldn’t have been surprised by his appointment to the post.

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Popularity: 50% [?]