The Texas Blue: News

Why Health Care Policy Matters

Wed, 09/19/2007 - 10:22am

Many candidates on our side have plans for a national health care system. When they talk about them you hear about big picture stuff — how it will be paid for — as well as some microcosmic examples, like how this senior citizen or that working family can't pay even their routine medical bills, let alone pay for catastrophic care.

Wednesday Roundup: Retirements and Meteors

By Josh Berthume

Wed, 09/19/2007 - 8:00am

Republican Fred Hill, who emerged as an anti-Craddick Republican in the last session and had asserted he would be a candidate for Tom Craddick's job the next time around, has announced he won't run again for his state house seat in Richardson.

FW Weekly Explains It All: Johnson County Edition

By Josh Berthume

Tue, 09/18/2007 - 3:24pm

I spent most of my youth in Johnson County, and as I was growing up I would occasionally hear references to the "good ol' boy" system in place there that determined, in large part, what went on in the area. I didn't think much of it, assuming that all small Texas towns probably operated in this way.

Fort Worth Weekly, which continues to impress with its coverage of local area political issues, offers an inside look at one facet of that insular system in Johnson County which affects plenty of people: law enforcement.

Clinton's Public Service Cools a Hot Texas Day

By Robin Orlowski

Tue, 09/18/2007 - 2:00pm

I honestly fell in love with Bill Clinton first when I was in junior high. I was just then getting into party politics, returning to the reality that the effective administration of the very same special education programs I needed ultimately depended upon who was in office.

Dear God: You Have Been Sued

By Josh Berthume

Tue, 09/18/2007 - 9:44am

My sister-in-law sent me this story yesterday, and at first I thought there must be some misunderstanding. It isn't real political news, it isn't policy news, and it is more for hilarity than anything else, although I guess if you wanted to have a debate about due process concerning this case, you could: Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers has sued God.

Tuesday Roundup: An Underwhelming Proposal

By George Nassar

Tue, 09/18/2007 - 9:20am

Senator Hillary Clinton stole the headlines yesterday by unveiling her universal health insurance program — though to say that response was positive would be perhaps a bit of an overstatement.

Media Plays Fast, Loose with Truth

By Chris Bell

Mon, 09/17/2007 - 2:00pm

Does the truth not matter to the media anymore? I’m really beginning to wonder and have decided to ponder the subject in this column over the next two weeks.