Weekend Roundup - Perry's Perils

The long arm of what lives through a media cycle has continued to punish Governor Perry. He hasn't much acted like a man with a 39% mandate. His proposals have been bold, large, sweeping, and, as he is discovering, extremely unpopular.

Besides the obvious problems conservatives have with the HPV vaccine plan, more and more people are casting a disapproving eye on Perry's plan to sell the lottery. Some of the skepticism has to do with the web of people that stand to benefit from the plan or are already inside the deal. The math Perry is using is also under scrutiny - to meet the advantages he's claimed the plan would bring, the state would have to get a 9% interest rate on what they make off the sale. You don't need a degree in economics to know that's probably not likely.

In related news, one of Perry's staffers swears that the governor has no interest in being anyone's Vice President, and may consider running for reelection. It also says he hates Washington. If, as the article states, his only goal in 2008 is helping the GOP nationwide, he's going about it in an odd way.

UT released the results of a recent study which concluded that the coal plants proposed for Texas would decrease air quality and cause some areas to violate federal air quality standards. Houston mayor Bill White and Dallas mayor Laura Miller took the results and ran with them as part of their current drive against the plants, and TXU's press people predictably questioned the motivation of the study, as the guy in charge of it is also a witness against the power plants in upcoming hearings. I'm not sure how much of an effective argument you can make against the idea that coal power plants will create pollution.

Apparently people are retiring to East Texas, and this article illustrates how part of that trend is due to marketing. As usual, message matters.

In news that will no doubt make super conservatives and James Leininger smile, Utah just passed a big ol' voucher program. No program restrictions on family income (although the amount you are eligible for is determined by income), no regulation on the performance of public schools left in favor of private, just an across the board voucher for up to $3,000 to anyone who wants to make the jump from public to private. Proponents of smaller government will no doubt wonder how giving tax payer dollars to private businesses fits into their world view.

Lastly, this article about how trial lawyers are breaking money-wise in the Democratic presidential field is of note. John Edwards, the son of a mill worker turned trial lawyer turned Democratic Presidential hopeful, was the usual recipient of trial lawyers' largess. Not surprisingly, Obama is mentioned as a possible benefactor of a fractured bloc, but the point I hadn't considered is the ascendancy of Joe Biden, whose time on the Senate Judiciary Committee has earned him some respect among trial lawyers. The group has a lot of money and influence, and they will bring force to bear on the primary.