Rep. Richard Raymond cordially invites you to a reception this evening.Download file(.pdf file)
Now we aren't sure but we thought you weren't supposed to be raising money during the legislative session. Regardless of what office it may or not be for. (Somebody was pissed off about it--see press release in extended entry) The Texas Ethics Commission tells us that "a fundraiser for a national office or exploratory committee does not violate the moratorium, but as to the question of whether or not it violates the 'spirit' of the moratorium is another matter. That's for you to decide."
Read the Extended Entry for the Press Release and our EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RAYMOND on his way to the event.
Terry Keel, your cocky pose here is cute and all. Ok, this is an old photo, 1993. In the online dating world, we'd call this a 'bait and switch photo' cause by now you're probably fat and bald!
Austin Chronicle should be ashamed for using such old photos.
It's the first time we've ever been nice. Don't make us regret it.
You House staffers are hilarious:
The Tavern has removed the "reserved status" for Rep Baxter, but the House Members lounge now has a reserved "booth" for Rep Baxter.
Photo after the jump.
Governor Perry is a flip-flopper (I know the Republicans love that phrase),
As we reported on March 22, gambling was gonna be tricky. We refer to the March 20 Chron editorial:
Yet he has taken large campaign contributions from among the $1.4 million that gambling interests have thrown at Texas politicians. He supported it in the past.And his former top aide, Mike Toomey, is a lobbyist for a VLT firm, just one high-paid soldier in a lobbying effort that the Dallas Morning News recently appraised at between $3.4 million and $6.2 million for this legislative session alone.
Perry's remarks three months ago were deft. He didn't promise to oppose gambling. He just resigned as the cheerleader in chief.
More...
Off our aquifer bend (for now), we read a Common Dreams newswire about upcoming Senate and House legislation that will make the permitting process much faster for industries. According to a Public Citizen (no, we didn't vote for Nader) report, Texas already has a very speedy process for air, water and hazardous waste permits.
â??Public Citizenâ??s report shows the process in Texas is working effectively, on average not taking longer than the states we compete with for economic development, and we provide similar public participation opportunities as other states,â?? Oâ??Brien said. â??The changes to the stateâ??s permitting process proposed in the State Legislature would alter the balance of this equation. They set Texas apart, primarily in ways that reduce effective citizen participation. They would not necessarily make a more efficient process.The bills proposing to help polluting industries (well, not in so many words) are HB2758 and SB1542. We here at PinkDome are so glad that Sen. Armbrister is doing his best to help those poor companies. If he doesn't look out for them, who will?â??There are likely ways to improve the permitting process in Texas, but the state should base any process to make changes to permitting procedures on a consensus reached among all stakeholders â?? including the public â?? and not on politically motivated legislation promoted by some industries. Any changes or â??improvementsâ?? should not include reducing the rights of Texans to participate effectively in the permitting process.â??
Just like the old Paul McCartney song, which if you're lucky you won't be singing all day, the Chair of the Texas Dems and the Chair of the Texas Repubs will stand shoulder-to-shoulder today and denounce the gambling bills.
WHA???
Oh yeah, see the Democrats realize that the gambling bills give the Republicans 'political cover' when they come up against the charge of raising our taxes. So, like 7th grade girls they tried to trick the Dems into supporting gambling and casinos! So they could then turn around and say, "Democrats are morally bankrupt..et cetera" (Source: FW Star-Telegram)*Tip: If you don't have a login for these newspapers I send you to, go to them anyway, copy the URL and then go to bugmenot.com and paste the URL. It gives you a login so you don't have to hassle with registering to read news.
The rally at the Capitol today was supposed be Tina Berkinwhatever of the GOP denouncing gambling but now she'll be standing next to the Chairman of the Democratic Party who'll be going yeah, you people suck.
Ah...politics. Great day to be alive! Anybody get any digital photos you can email me of Tina B. and Charles S. anywhwere near a passionate kiss or exchanging furtive glances or hell beating the crap out of each other I'll send a Toblerone bar in the mail!!
UPDATE: Press Releases from Texas Democratic Party and Rep. Gallegos, Rep. Dunnam & Rep. Coleman after the jump.
When did reporters become the subject of masturbatory masters of self-love? We don't give a shit who you are or who your momma is, just write the damn story. Now, when it comes to sexy bloggers and their glamorous drinking exploits and late-night 'after-parties' with hookers...that we want to hear about.
â??Iâ??ve already yielded more than a cheerleader at a drive-in.â?? Senator Keliger
What you do in your personal time is none of our business, Senator.
DriveDemocracy.org alerted us to what they refer to as the definitive article on the Texas 2002 election scandal. Written by Jake Bernstein over at the Texas Observer.
Featuring screen shots of multiple emails, brochures, checks, and memos written by staffers and consultants for the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, the article makes a damning case that TRMPAC violated Texas election law in 2002. The evidence presented in the article also closely ties House GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay to the scandal.
A staffer begged us to post a photo of Sen. Kim Brimer and cast aspersions on his mental capacity. But after we heard why, "He wanders in and out of committee hearings with a cigar and yells at people testifying." and "He thinks he covers up for his lack of knowledge with bluster." We thought, eh...that could be anybody in the Lege...really.
But, due to popular demand here he is singing our favorite Frank Sinatra song, "I did it Myyyyy Wayyyyy."
Dang, two "national" category posts in one day. Our self-esteem is low. We couldn't pass up sharing the commercials that are about to start running demanding DeLay's resignation, though. In case you didn't get the action alert. Our favorite are the unflattering photos used in the ads.
PinkDome has added to our links (see 'em on the right, right there). We thought we'd share the link love that has been shown to us so after you finish reading here click your way through some of those to see what else you aren't reading about in the newspapers today.
If you've got a great political blog we aren't reading, leave a comment and we'll check you out!
Dianne (smooches, darling) Delisi's efforts on health care is effectively eliminating the STAR+PLUS Program. What is STAR+PLUS?
STAR+PLUS is currently a pilot program in Houston that integrates acute and long-term care services for aged and disabled Medicaid recipients using a managed care model. The state agency in charge of Medicaid, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), had planned to expand STAR+PLUS to the other urban areas of the state. STAR+PLUS has demonstrated positive outcomes of care, has generated savings for the state, and is a leading model nationally for integrating care for this particularly vulnerable and expensive population.
Go to this blog, read up on this really well written piece and then get your fingers working to call our favorite "Marrying" Legislator!
People For the American Way sent us the link to their new ad campaign being released today. Just as an FYI we thought we'd link to the commercial here. (warning: video/audio)
Attorney General Abbott filed suit last week against Vonage, a Voice Over Internet Protocol phone provider claiming that their service does not provide 911 emergency service to its customers. We ditched SBC and our land line a while ago and have been super pleased with our unlimited calls, no long distance IP Phone.
We did have to register for the 911 service, but it wasn't that hard to do. (I mean, we're drunk all the time...if we can do it so could you). Vonage gives a great new technology service and the attacks on VOIP technology all seem to come from the same source: SBC.
When we had to call customer care one time, we were told by Vonage that they 'buy' blocks of phone numbers from carriers like SBC. Since their technology has become popular, SBC has made it much more difficult for them to buy blocks of numbers for their customers.
Attaway to go, SBC. If you didn't suck so hard maybe people wouldn't be leaving your service in droves.
And to the AG, filing suit? Couldn't you have just called them up and said, "Yo, I think you make it kinda hard to dial 911..you guys need to fix that."
We really do try to follow your tips, so if you know of anything going down that the mainstream media ain't covering, drop us a line - to either Pinky or Bluebonnet.
We have learned (from yet another tipster linked to an aquifer) about the organizing of people in the Kinney County angry about the way their state Senators (Madla and Armbrister, as posted yesterday) are letting their big contributors rule over their constituents. We're just amazed that such a thing would happen in Texas! (/sarcasm)
After the jump.
KVUE is reporting that someone mailed Rep. King a note with a white powdery substance threatening him and his family if his telecom bill passed.
This is an interesting political ploy.
If we had the cash reserves we might send an eight ball to a few of our favorite legislators.
(link courtesy of Quorum Report)
Isn't that right, Sen. Kenneth Armbrister (D-Victoria)? Armbrister has proposed two bills that "effectively would gut the aquifer protection measures approved by the San Antonio City Council in early 1995 and by Austin voters in 1992, said Brad Rockwell, deputy director of the Save Our Springs Alliance in Austin."
Observers say passage of the bills would undo years of efforts by those in San Antonio to pass ordinances striking a balance between development and preservation, to limit the density and types of construction over the area where rainfall and streamflows refill the aquifer.
You may contact Senator Armbrister's office at (512) 463-0118.
(12:30pm update after the jump)
The Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby is looking to you to help prevent the hate legislation that is scheduled for the State Affairs Committee next week. HJR 6 is tentatively scheduled on the calendar for next week. Call the LGRL to find out how you can testify before the committee. HJR 6 sets out to ban same-sex marriage and ban simple legal arrangements between partners, including power of attorney.
Contact the Members of State Affairs today and voice your opposition to the State Legislature legislating hate. While you're at it, ask them if they wouldn't mind taking care of the issues that are killing us over here...School Finance Reform, Teacher Pay Raises, Prison Overcrowding...
Here's the numbers to call:
Chair: Rep. David Swinford, Amarillo 1-512-463-0814
Vice-Chair: Rep. Sid Miller, Stephenville 1-512-463-0628
B&O Chair: Rep. Dan Gattis, Georgetown 1-512-463-0309
Rep. Byron Cook, Corsicana 1-512-463-0730
Rep. Jessica Farrar, Houston 1-512-463-0620
Rep. Jim Keffer, Eastland 1-512-463-0656
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, San Antonio 1-512-463-0616
Rep. Mike Villarreal, San Antonio 1-512-463-0532
Rep. Martha Wong, Houston 1-512-463-0389
From Lasso, we learn about the national movement for prison reform that is leaving our great state in its dust. While other states are working on changing their prison systems for the better, it seems we are determined to make our situation worse.
The Legislature here is considering bills that would put even more Texans behind bars, and for longer sentences. The American-Statesman reports the Legislature is considering more than 100 bills that would extend sentences. If only a few of those bills pass, the paper reports, â??Texas in two years will probably have full prisons and jails, and no place to house a steadily increasing stream of convicted felonsâ?¦".Grrrrrreat.
PinkDome adds: If you really want to see good coverage and thoughtful commentary on prison reform, you should check out Scott Henson's blog. (attention staffers looking for talking points and good background for your position paper)
We've just found out about Amnesty International (USA)'s Annual General Meeting to be held in Austin in early April. We look forward to seeing all the peace-loving people from Amnesty mixing with our conservative politicians. Won't it be fun?!
We should note that in our early days, we were members of our high school's Amnesty chapter. Those were the good ol' days (before e-mail was so prevalent) when you actually had to write letters to foreign politicians and dictators. We've come a long way, baby!
We've talked about the two proposals in the House regarding underage drinking. There's one to make it illegal to sell alcohol to a 21 year old until 7 a.m. the day of their birthday. (Theory is they won't be able to get drunk at midnight) and the other is to require registration of kegs when purchased. This is to make it easier to prosecute you and sue you should an underage kid get a bit of your beer.
Both of these proposals are ridiculous. Where are the rugged individualists calling this an outrage. One more way the Legislature attempts to regulate something that doesn't need regulating. What if they were trying to get this nosy about guns?
You cannot legislate away stupidity. Twenty-one year olds that get so drunk they die on their birthday...a shame yes, but a reason to legislate...no.
While our attention was on such scary things as HB 2 & 3 and trying to figure out how many ways Phil King could screw us on the telecommunications bill, we didn't pay close attention to HB 3305 by good ol' Carl Isett filed on the last possible day.
3305 also picks on abused, pregnant girls and in a very amaturish way. Who wrote this thing? Some hillbilly high school student from West Virginia? The Texas Alliance for Life claims they support it because it is NOT parental consent bill. Oh, sure.....While it does not require a parent to consent to an abortion, it might as well. And talk about abused girls, Rep. Isett completely removes the existing law that allows kids whose parents beat them up to go through the legal system and terminate their pregnancy without notification to a parent. That's it, we want the kids whose parents teach how to hit REAL hard, to become 16 year old moms.
And just for good measure it removes the necessity of informing pregnant women about contraception and family planning from that ever so complete and inaccurate pile 'o shit list they told us last session must be forced on pregnant women. (Remember HB 15, 78TH Leg. Session)
It's Saturday so we can write about something that is not a Texas Legislative political issue, but we only post it to make a solid point to our Texas elected officials. When you cater to political extremists you are setting yourself up for a fall. First, you alienate mainstream voters. Second, there will come a time (don't doubt it) when they will ask you to slaughter a lamb on the steps of the Capitol and when you balk at such action you will receive their wrath in the next election. (See the ones in Floriday standing outside Jeb Bush's house begging him to not let an already dead woman die.)
Oh, and if you do cave in to these vocal extremists and slaughter that lamb and roll around in its blood on the steps of the Capitol? The eyes of Texas will surely be on you then. Going...idiot!
Be warned folks. Remember constituent is mostly always plural. 15 people standing outside your door with pictures of dead babies is not a majority...it's people that had they day off from greeting people at the Wal-Mart.
Rep. Edwards recently filed a bill to curtail the 'bumping and grinding' going on with cheerleaders. He thinks it is to sexually suggestive.
After reading this story today in the DMN, We plead for the mercy of poor high school football students and the hazing they endure. We know Texas is a football state, but turning a blind eye to hazing is truly not good for kids.
So if we can't get the government to stop filing ridiculous legislation on topics that baffle us, maybe we can get some sort of attention to the fact that high school football players are ass-fucking their teammates as part of hazing rituals.
We never wanted to be on the football team in the first place and certainly wouldn't be willing to be held down by our teammates for the chance to warm the bench. (Buy it on video, maybe....but that's a different story)
We have learned that members of the Travis County Legislative Delegation will be holding bi-weekly breakfasts to let their consituents speak out about what is bothering them/make presentations/discuss important issues. The breakfasts will be held Tuesday, March 29, April 12, April 26, and May 10, 2005. The breakfasts are offered from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the Texas Agriculture Museum, Room 1W.14 on the first floor of the State Capitol.
If you'd like to learn more, the contact is Sylvia Brittain (from Senator Barrientos' staff) at 463-0114.
We'd love to attend, but that's pretty damn early. We'll be too hungover to make any sense at that time of morning. So, if you see somebody at the breakfasts with dark eyeglasses sipping something out of brown paper bag please, for the love of God, give us some asprin.
Perhaps we have become de-sensitized to the term 'ass-fucking' after hearing Wonkette say it so often in her interview with Evan Smith. (Disclaimer: She wasn't insinuating anything...she uses the term much like some people use 'you know' as a filler word.)
It does beg the question, though, of what makes good political satire? Does inflammatory language help de-mystify political discourse or is it just appealling to the lowest common denominator?
This clip from "The Daily Show" (Quicktime video & audio link) is probably the best commentary We've seen on the Terri Schiavo subject...and it was hilarious. (Texas Futile Care Law gets a shout out!)
At least that is what the goal always seems to be. Greg Moses over at the Texas Civil Rights Review has a great piece on the frustration with the Secretary of State and the statewide database for voter registration.
We're updating our links list and adding this site.
Or that's what Dewhurst would have you believe.
"At the end of the day this is a compassionate budget," Dewhurst said. "The political realities are the people of Texas and this Legislature don't want to impose a big tax bill on the people of Texas."
Personally, we like our budgets a little rough and sweaty. Grrrr. Rowr!
(courtesy DMN/AP)
We didn't even need to read this opinion column from the Amarillo Globe News to know we liked it:
Editorial: Fussbudgets bad for Texas
We might add mindless sheep in the Lege to that "bad for Texas" statement, but otherwise, perfecto.
Sylvester, Sylvester...we know that our honorable legislators file bills all the time that they've never read, but you shouldn't just come out and say it out loud. The campaign finance bill you filed made our right eye pop out of the socket for a minute.
The sponsor, Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said the measure, which he didn't write, is more far-reaching than he intended and said he will scale it back to cover only minor violations of campaign-reporting requirements.
(via Off the Kuff)
Scott plugs female journalists who blog, and we get a mention:
And while nobody's mistaking anybody over at the Pink Dome for Sy Hersh, they just broke an important story (and welcome, Bluebonnet!).(Wherein we note that Bluebonnet has been posting since mid-February -- but thanks for the official welcome!) We prefer to keep our genders (as well as everything else) hidden on this blog, but we appreciate the plug.
And btw, we get confused on the male/female blogger thing, too. PinkDome is a transgendered blogger in a really bad wig.
"Maybe she is playing politics or maybe she and her staff are inept," said House Speaker Tom Craddick, who added he was taken aback by the news.
We called the Comptroller and asked? "Could you provide some sort of documentation on how inept your staff is?"
Their response? Uhm...can we, like, call you back? Never called.
Now, that, is inept. Who knew Craddick could be right on anything!
(link courtesy Off the Kuff)
PinkDome celebrated it's 100,000th visitor this week. Big wet smooches to all our readers. We love you, too. You may have noticed that cute little button down there on the right...see it? Adorable, huh? Well, if you click it you instantly become our john, we mean you help us pay off our gambling debt, buy kegs for underage kids, stay drunk enough to keep writing about the Texas Lege.
Sad, that the last one was most appropriate.
The Austin American Statesmen reports that the video everyone is abuzz about showing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Sen. Hillary Clinton lightly embracing after Mrs. Clinton said something nice about Ms. Hutchison was actually shot by Perry staffers.
Then somehow has made its way around the internet to conservative voters in Texas.
Shocking.
Statesmanship behavior: Showing a civility to a fellow Senator at a public event.
Unsportsman-like conduct: Videotaping it, editing it to make it look like soft-core lesbian porn and sending it to constituents.
We are liveblogging the fight/spat/fun that is going on during the discussion on Rep. King's telecom bill (HB789). Keep refreshing! Add your comments.
Bluebonnet and PinkDome are like Seacrest..OUT. HB 789 Liveblogged until 5:00p.m. so check it out
There's plenty of criticism to spread on both sides of the aisle this morning as the infamous HB 789 is scheduled for the Floor sometime today.
Inside the Texas Capitol has completed an excellent analysis of the bill and majorly burns the House with these bon mots:
I don't know if they analyzed one of the many committee substitutes that were presented to the committee, but the clerk's an idiot and royally screwed up on this one.The Republicans don't have enough guts to stand up to SBC, and the Democrats don't have a spine...
Yowzer.
When sending emails make sure the recipient(s) are clear before pressing send. We learned this lesson when we hit reply all and accidently let the whole company know we thought our boss must have an undescended testicle. (long story, don't ask)
But, we digress. We bring this up so you don't make the same mistake a certain someone did when they emailed the world saying they thought the Scott McCown editorial "kissed the senate's ass."
See, we aren't the only ones talking ass!
Until Rick Casey of the Chron pointed it out in his scathing editorial.
While the Republicans are busy eating their young, the Dems are being suckered into the promoting gambling legislation. The Republican leadership is setting you up to take the fall on gambling as a way to balance the budget and bail them out of the sicko situation the state has fallen into under their control, without any of them getting dirty in the process.
Come next election cycle, you'll be bragging about how it wasn't you who voted for the biggest backdoor tax bill in history (except you, Al Edwards...you we've already got a strategy for you next election cycle)
Looking for a nice easy-going non-liberal girl - 31
Reply to: anon-63473431@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-03-12, 1:45PM CST
(full post in 'continue reading...')
We read the letter posted by the Quorum Report from Carole Keeton Strayhorn's office. Basically, the letter says what we all knew it would say. HB 3 sucks and so do you Craddick. (OK, we're sort of paraphrasing there.)
Anyway, what struck us most was Carole's big ol' loopy signature. We consulted our resident handwriting analysist and found some interesting things out about ol' Carole.
Yesterday, CNN had an absurd story about a pet store owner that believes he's seen the face of the devil on the shell of a turtle. (Yeah, the mainstream media deserves absolutely no criticism from bloggers.)
Wonkette posts this today. We only post this non-Texas Lege-centric post to show you all that we could be tons bitchier in our posts. We're restraining ourselves every day and we'd appreciate the notice!
According to Inside the Texas Capitol, Rep. King's atrocious Telecom bill is on the Calendar for Wednesday. Funny how those things sneak through at the last minute. While the most offending 'municipal wireless' section was stripped out in committee, we hear King plans to introduce it as an amendment on the Floor.
I am a powerful state business leader, in charge of the state's largest business organization. During the past election cycle our group raised significant campaign funds for elected officials like yourself.
And in no related manner at all I would like to say that my son is graduating college and looking for a job.
Thank you (checks are already in the mail!)
Best,
Bill Hammond
(AAS)
So, the Friends of Hillary is sponsoring a fundraiser here in Austin tonight. Anybody need a date? We don't care what your gender is or what your sexual orientation is we'd go.
We also think it's cute that the invitation says, "In support of her 2006 Senate re-election."
Um, okay, sorry to anybody who doesn't live in Austin, but we just found this on Sarah's roman candles about a film screening on Wednesday evening at the new city hall.
All the info after the jump.
Just a PinkDome shout out to 'A Little Pollyanna' from us. She posted about our Wentworth entry and says it will be her last entry for a while. We certainly hope not a long while, cause we love her. Not just because she gives us gems like this one:
PinkDome...all about ass.
How do you think that would look on a t-shirt? Someone change our tagline...stat.
Postcards from the Lege reports that Senator Ellis' (thanks Eileen, we're still hungover from the wknd) office was closed briefly when a staffer opened an envelope containing a 'powdery white substance.' To paraphrase Margaret Cho, "What's up with mailing anthrax? If I got an envelope with a powdery white substance my first inclination would be to break out the mirror and snort it, but now you have to call in the Feds. I miss the good ol' days." We do, too, Margaret.
During the quarantine, Warren said by telephone: â??Itâ??s the worry in the back of every government stafferâ??s mind that something like what happened (in Sen. Tom Daschleâ??s office in Washington) could happen. Weâ??re just going to try to get through the day as best we can.â??
Warren, don't be a drama queen. It was probably flour. And we are so sure the Texas Capitol is a terrorist target. (eye roll)
The president of the Young Conservatives of Texas sent a letter to Representative Flynn rejecting the idea that the YCT should apologize to Speaker Craddick for their comments. Not only did they not apologize, Griffin (YCT Pres.) further educated Flynn on the absurdity of the request.
We also know that Speaker Craddick has intimidated, threatened, and blackmailed members of the Texas House into supporting these abhorrent ideas against the interests of the members themselves, their constituents, and the people of Texas at large. This is clearly a pattern that the people of Texas cannot afford. This is why we encourage you and your colleagues to stand up for conservative values, even in the face of pressure from the Speaker. Remember, power flows from the people to the House to the Speaker â?? not vice versa.
courtesy of The Quorum Report
The Houston Chronicle editorial about Rep. Edwards brings up a point in which we think we stand wholeheartedly in agreement with here at PinkDome. The Chron says the trend to legislate morality is a slippery slope.
Used to be, we could rely on the Republicans for limited government. But, we see with their HB 2 that's no longer the case. And now, we have Dems jumping on this bandwagon of trying to create legislation to control every aspect of everything going on everywhere.
Meanwhile, could you fix a damn road? Could you do something about prison overcrowding? Could you ensure that public schools work? Huh? Could you?? It is too much to ask, we guess.