The Texas Blue: News
Water Damage
Wed, 04/25/2007 - 3:44pm
Today, Massachusetts had a big setback in pollution prevention with the contamination of their water supply with corrosive lye. Yikes!
The MySpace Campaign
Wed, 04/25/2007 - 9:54am
For all of you who might not be as interested in actual campaign mechanics or how politics works, you can now be the MySpace candidate for President.
Wednesday Roundup: McCain Takes (Another) Beating
Wed, 04/25/2007 - 8:11am
Did you know John McCain is running for President? He made it official today, much to everyone's surprise. I'm glad to see it, though. I was starting to think he was kidding.
"Managed Lanes" for MoPac? Oh, you mean toll roads.
By Peter Stern
Tue, 04/24/2007 - 3:22pm
That's quite a disguise for toll roads, isn't it? "Managed Lanes" sounds quite similar to "managed care," only there's no "caring" in most of the Texas Department of Transportation's road plans. TxDOT may be a lot of things, but it's certainly not community-friendly.
Tuesday Roundup: Voter ID Shenanigans
Tue, 04/24/2007 - 8:43am
Well, it happened. The House passed HB 218 this morning, one of two voter ID bills proposed in the Lege. 218 is the one that requires a photo id to vote. Representative Betty Brown, the Republican author of the bill, claimed that the right to vote had been protected against voter fraud. Rep. Rafael Anchia argued that, well, no, it hadn't, pointing out that college students buy counterfeit versions of the documents required by the bill all the time in order to drink.
Anchia and Berman Spoiled My Surprise
Tue, 04/24/2007 - 8:11am
HB 218 passed to engrossment yesterday night, on a nearly party-line vote; Reps. Jones and Merritt were the two dissenters from the Republican majority.
HB 218 and 626 — Poll Tax Without A Cause
Mon, 04/23/2007 - 5:25pm
Why are such Herculean efforts being made to pass bills which remedy a problem that doesn't exist?
Things get worse for Cornyn
Mon, 04/23/2007 - 3:29pm
Some interesting news from the DSCC: Hamilton Beattie & Staff has a new poll, and it happens to be about John Cornyn. In news that can't be much of a surprise to anyone, John Cornyn can't get above 50% against a generic Democratic candidate among 800 likely voters. What may surprise you is that he has incredibly low name ID — 39% of respondents didn't know enough about him to rate his as favorable or unfavorable. Details and PDFs inside.
Monday Roundup: Debating the Poll Tax
Mon, 04/23/2007 - 8:41am
The Voter ID bills will undergo debate in Austin today, and I am not the only one who thinks there are severe problems with them. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ponders whether requiring a picture ID to vote and a certified copy of a birth certificate, passport, or proof of citizenship to register is a poll tax, and rightly so — getting those documents costs money that not everyone has.
NBC Memo: Donahue Fired Because Not Patriotic Enough
By Josh Matlock
Sun, 04/22/2007 - 3:51pm
The media continues to legitimately receive criticism for its poor performance during the run-up to the Iraq war.