I got an email a few days ago from the John Edwards campaign. Tied into Edwards' poverty awareness tour, the Subject line said: "George W. Bush doesn't care about poor people." If this New York Times story on the lives of Katrina evacuees still trying to rebuild is any indication, that statement may be more true than anyone would like to admit.

What does Rick Perry's fundraising blitz in the post-veto period signify?

There was no small amount of work by Texas Democrats dedicated to making CHIP available to more children this last legislative session. There's a federal version of CHIP, and legislators from both parties have sought to increase the reach and accessibility of that program. Unfortunately (but not unexpectedly), the Bush administration is planning to veto the measure.

Farmers Branch has a PR problem, and they know it.

We have a lot to get into this morning, but we'll open with this: Lady Bird Johnson was laid to rest next to President Lyndon Johnson at their family's ranch on Sunday. Statesman has a nice series on retrospectives, the four days of ceremony, and some stories and remembrances of the former First Lady.

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Danny Noyola, Jr., Committeeman for Senate District 20 from Corpus Christi.

Late last week, I found the results of a new project from the folks at The Washington Post and some wicked smart guys at Harvard on independents in the American electorate. What they found may surprise you.

We received a lot of great issues questions for this week's Mailbag, ranging from the recent student loan bill to the war in Iraq to calls for impeachment and the response of congressional Democrats.

Cornyn's fundraising totals in the second quarter are in, and he's going to have plenty of money — the report shows $2.2 million raised and $5.34 million in the bank. But will he have the voter support he needs to keep his seat? Via Harvey comes the fundraising news in the form of the ever-official campaign statement, after the jump.

Yesterday, House Democrats put together another volley towards the Bush administration by voting to withdraw most troops from Iraq by April 2008.