The questions concerning Governor Rick Perry's plan to privatize the Texas Lottery continue to creep up, and they seem to be centered on UBS, a financial firm consulting on the deal. Phil Gramm and Mike Toomey have popped up in the coverage, and now Griffin Perry has been hired by UBS. Griffin Perry is Rick Perry's son.

It has been reported by numerous outlets that Phil Gramm of UBS and Texas Senate fame is in on Perry's idea to sell the lottery, and was part of the team that conceived of the sale in the first place.

During the recent House Democratic retreat, President Bush wore the proverbial hairshirt and apologized for excising the suffix '-ic' from the phrase "Democratic Majority." The oft-reprinted joke from the public meeting:

"Now look, my diction isn't all that good," Bush said. "I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party."

State Representative Garnet Coleman joins us this week for a feature in which he outlines some of the finer points of solar power.

The long arm of what lives through a media cycle has continued to punish Governor Perry. He hasn't much acted like a man with a 39% mandate. His proposals have been bold, large, sweeping, and, as he is discovering, extremely unpopular.

This week I talked to Roberta Hicks from Amarillo, Texas, the State Democratic Executive Committeewoman from Senate District 31.

Looks like Barack Obama is done "exploring" the idea of being president, because he officially announced this morning in Illinois (in the city of Abraham Lincoln, might I point out) that he is in the race. He announced in early January that he had developed an exploratory committee, but we all knew that it was only a matter of time before he announced that he was running. After all, he along with John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have been the front-runners in the media as well as in fundraising for some time now.

No matter what you hear, no matter what they say, higher education is not a priority. They like to talk about how important it is, but when it comes down to doling out the money, higher education just never seems to reach the level of priority of, say, property tax cuts.

(Part 5 of 5 in a symposium on election law)

To end the week on election bills, I thought we might take a lighthearted historical look at a few stories on Texas' electoral past with regards to dead people voting.

I was fortunate enough to attend former President Clinton's speech last night, and needless to say, he's the most dynamic, inspiring, and powerful man with which I'll have the pleasure of being in the same room.

Okay, enough of my "googly eyes" — let's get down to business.