I've got to thank Paul Burka for the title of this post. His blog late last night tipped me off to the next Craddick vs. The World faceoff in the Texas House.

State Representative Mark Strama and State Senator Rodney Ellis are teaming up on legislation that would require cars in Texas to meet more stringent emissions standards with legislation similar to California state law.

Rep. Warren Chisum is at it again. He seems obsessed with any and all legislation dealing with sex. He can't get enough of it. Rep. Chisum is well known for his infamous anti-sodomy bill that was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas.

Representative Lon Burnam's bill sets up a global warming task force to focus on the economic opportunities available for Texas businesses. The task force will perform three distinct tasks:

January is the slowest month of the session, so the fact that the Speaker's Race and how it played out is still holding sway over much of the machinations in the Capital doesn't seem unusual. The Democrats for Reform, also known as the Democrats who supported Craddick in the Speaker's Race, want to use their positions of (relative) power to push the Democratic agenda, to which they swear they are committed.

I didn't cover it when it first came out, mostly because I wanted an opportunity to call around a little and see if there was any truth to it at all, which there doesn't seem to be: Charles Kuffner had this about a rumor that Kinky Friedman might run for Senate as a major party candidate.

Today we are pleased to offer our latest feature article, an essay on the Iraq War and its implications by Barbara Ann Radnofsky, the 2006 Democratic nominee for US Senate. Also new today, an article from staff writer Angela Brewer on how civics and political education (or the lack thereof) is leading to generational voter apathy. Check them out and tell your friends.

The Association of Texas Professional Educators meets in Austin today for some lobbying action, which will include a review of teacher pay, cost of living increases for retired teachers, and discussion on the TAKS test. It is no secret that educators don't like the TAKS test, and one legislator or another saying that enemies of the TAKS test are enemies of accountability is an old saw that keeps getting older. Now that parents are also organizing against the test in increasing numbers, there might be some changes made.

Committee assignments are out, and Jim Pitts is gone from Appropriations, as was predicted. KT has a copy of Pitts' letter over at BOR, in which he makes a lot of noise over how retaliatory Craddick was in his doling out of committee assignments, and especially in that Craddick didn't give him the assignments he wanted. I checked at a couple of other sites to see if this was one big hilarious joke, but it turns out Pitts actually wrote a letter in which he was disappointed in Craddick for not letting him stay on Appropriations.

I just received this - Molly Ivins, every progressive's favorite syndicated columnist, has been hospitalized with complications from her ongoing battle with cancer. She may be able to go home Monday - AP has the whole story. She's an important part of our community, and all the best to her.