Rick Perry's office no doubt keeps a great many files — on issues, on opposition research, on bills, on developing items of interest. One thing that you wouldn't normally expect out of an office built around a guy who apparently never communicates via email is a massive database on Texas citizens. The Texas Data Exchange database, or TDEx, referred to as a database of "criminals and potential terrorists" in the media, has raised questions ever since its existence was made public late last week.

For this installment of On The Record, I spoke with Lloyd Criss, Galveston County Democratic Party Chair and SDEC Committeeman from Senate District 11.

The Bush administration may have violated the 1978 Presidential Records Act requiring the White House keep records of discussions and policy deliberations. Since 2001 approximately 50 White House officials are reported to have had shadow off-book RNC e-mail accounts. The RNC claims they cannot recover e-mail records for 15 of these 50 officials.

It has been barely a year since I've been in Austin, and already there seem to be far more Starbucks than before. I fear that soon, Austinites will drive their Starbucks to the Starbucks in an effort to purchase more Starbucks.

During the 1980’s, conservatives pledged to abolish the United States Department of Education, arguing that education policy was a job best left to the states. Prior to 1979, there previously only had been a Commissioner of Education in the Health Education and Welfare Department.

Today's roundup will be a bit truncated — the entire Texas Blue crew (plus a bunch of other Denton County Young Democrats) are heading to Austin for the Texas Young Democrats convention. George and I will be updating you from the road as we are able, and maybe even sending a picture or two. If you'll be there and you have time on Saturday, I invite you to attend the workshop I'm running on Coalition Building at 2:45 pm.

HB 2683 made it out of committee and passed in the House. The unofficial record vote was 72 – 68. The bill has five authors and numerous coauthors.

For this week's installment of On The Record, I spoke with Ron Melugin, Cooke County Democratic Party Chair.

I usually spend roundups talking about Bad Things That Have Happened Recently. Today, however, I would like to talk about a few good things. For instance, did you know Texas led the nation in alternative fuel vehicles last year?

President Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), and other Republican allies are calling for patience despite four years of failed policy in Iraq. McCain erroneously and irresponsibly claims that Democrats are denying soldiers the means to prevent an American defeat. Yet it was not a Democratic president or Congress that sent our soldiers, ill-equipped to fight and ill-prepared to remain for four years, into the middle of a civil war. No, that was a Republican president and Congress that made perhaps one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in our nation’s history.