Friday Roundup: Dennis Quaid?

Dennis Quaid and Rick Perry were hanging out together yesterday as Perry signed legislation enticing the film industry to shoot in Texas. From an overhead standpoint, it is obviously cheaper to shoot here than in New York or Los Angeles, but whether we'll be able to compete with Canada, the current reigning favo(u)rite place to go shoot, remains to be seen. Their incentive package involves a scheme where one of our dollars is worth more than one of theirs. We'll see if DFW can match that.

Speaking of Texas and California (and other border states), the immigration bill took a beating yesterday by failing a test vote in the Senate. It isn't often that a media source reports something as a political setback for McCain, Ted Kennedy, and Bush all at once, but this vote represents just that. I think a political body's ability to hash out the big problems and come to some sort of agreement is what signals whether the body is working or not. Has the partisan divide become too large, the rhetoric too strident? Is it impossible now for the Legislative Branch to answer the really important questions?

Probably not. At least they weren't fistfighting like they were on the floor of the Alabama senate. Yes, a Republican punched a Democrat, and this would have been a perfect opportunity for state Senator Lowell Barron to prove that Democrats are strong on defense.

If you want a little Friday morning entertainment, you can feast your eyes on this Politico story about politics and email, and the problems we all encounter or experience therein from time to time. Most of the lessons you learn on the internet are hard ones. They may also lead to stories about you being carved into political legend, living on long after your office at the State House has been reoccupied by someone else who will invariably send "FW: Re: fwd: omg!!! cute pictures" of their new dog to the State Senators fundraiser list.

The Politico also talks about Texas more than usual (read: at all) with this story about Congressman Nick Lampson. The headline is "GOP may not win DeLay's old seat"; the word seems to be that since David Wallace and Paul Bettencourt decided not to run, and Sekula-Gibbs is... well, because she is who she is, the candidate field will need to get much stronger for the GOP to feel really confident. In the piece, Talton says that he's going to announce something in the next week and a half or so.

Also, as our veterans series continues, I'd like to point you to a few organizations we'll be speaking to in the coming weeks. They are worth checking out.

• VoteVets.org: Support The Troops, says VoteVets, by sending them to Congress. VoteVets is a PAC that raises money and kicks in help for veterans who come home and run for office.
• Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: With legislative agenda in hand, IAVA is all over the Hill, advocating for policies that support the troops and keep the military strong. They also have an action fund dedicated to media campaigns and legislator ratings.
• WesPAC: You guys may be familiar with a general by the name of Wes Clark. His organization, WesPAC, is on top of all things Democratic and defense.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and we'll be discussing and sending you to more of these organizations in the coming weeks. These are communities with dedicated activists working on some very important issues, and I send you to them this morning in hopes you'll read them (and us!) and stay informed.