Texas Blue Mailbag: Week of 6/24/07

This week's Mailbag brings us some readers pointing out interesting news items for the week (we love that!), as well as a strategy question on state straw polls.

KC writes:

Here’s a great story about the Texas Legislature that might interest you... state lawmakers honored a registered sex offender as their “Doctor of the Day” last January.

You can read the print version and watch the television story at http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_172205435.html.

George answers:

That is one fantastic example of buck-passing, too. Rep. Berman, trying to avoid the egg on his face, tried to blame the Texas Medical Board for citing the doctor. The Texas Medical Board noted that the doctor in question had not reported any criminal history to the board for the past three years, and that they don't have the resources to catch all the gaps in their information because the Lege “has historically starved down the Medical Board by diverting physician licensure fees to state general revenue. The TAFP supports using physician licensure for the purpose for which they are collected, to fully fund the Texas Medical Board so that it can carry out its mandate to protect the public safety.” Zing! And Texas Watch apparently caught on to a sign that the problem would only get worse:

Texas Watch is monitoring a flood of new applications from doctors seeking to practice here in the wake the Texas Legislature imposing limits on medical malpractice lawsuits. Winslow warns, “We are running the risk that Texas is becoming a safe haven for bad doctors. If the Medical Board needs the resources to protect patients and make sure the doctors are free of criminal convictions of all things, then they need to go to the Legislature and ask for that money.”

Looks like after we reclaim the state legislature, the first order of business is to extend the length of the sessions. I'm not sure we can fix all the screwups we're seeing with just 140 days every two years.

RL writes:

For your review.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/06/military_mental_health_070615w/

Josh says:

This is actually a very interesting article. The Defense Department Task Force on Mental Health engaged in a study which showed that mental health and too few mental health practitioners is a huge issue for combat veterans, as we knew, but also more notably that the stigma associated with mental health care is a "significant barrier." Congressman Filner mentioned this during our interview, and now here is more support for rethinking our approach to mental care.

SC writes:

Who will win the Fort Worth strawpoll if the top candidates aren't there? Can't one of them win if they don't go?

George replies:

They can still win — they just won't be there to campaign for the victory. Not showing up is a realistic option for the national frontrunners, who would rather not risk a disappointing finish and instead choose to have the excuse that, "well, I didn't campaign there." The underdogs, on the other hand, want to attend for a similar if opposite purpose -- if they by chance get a surprisingly high finish against the "big players," that lends their campaign some more credibility, even if said "big players" weren't there.

Dallas County Young Democrats wrote:

DALLAS COUNTY YOUNG DEMOCRATS TO HOST YOUNG DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA CONVENTION

Dallas, TX: The Dallas County Young Democrats (DCYD) are pleased to announce they will host the Young Democrats of America (YDA) National Convention in Dallas, Texas. The convention will be held July 18-21 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.

Josh says:

This sort of event is a pretty big deal, and it is nice that it will be in our neck of the woods this year. They already have a great lineup of speakers, including John Edwards, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, and Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org and a friend of the show.

We've all got connections or pals in the Dallas County Young Democrats, so we're happy to see them getting to show off their organization a bit.