Goodhair back in the clown car

... and Texas women better keep their powder dry. The first bill on Guv. Goodhair's list of "emergencies," with full support from the teabagger section, is another attempt to foist their personal religious beliefs onto the taxpayers. Never let it be said that a teabagger let a little thing like our U.S. Constitution (or ethics) stand in the way of dogma.

"While legislators begin to file legislation during this pre-filing period that began today, they, too, look forward to supporting the flagship Pro-Life bill for the next session: Texas Right to Life’s Pre-born Pain Bill."

I've got a feeling this state is boing to be turning blue a lot quicker even than we'd hoped.

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Well, there's the problem right there...

The Atlantic - Jordan Weissmann

Hey Rick Perry, It'd Be Dirt Cheap to Give More Poor Texans Health Care

"Right now, Republican governors are turning down an offer that no policy maker in their right mind would refuse."

The problem in a nutshell... too few Republican policy makers with any kind of sense... including, maybe especially ol Guv. Goodhair.

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We can't fund public education or womens health, but...

Guv. Goodhair's cronies always seem to get their own palms greased.

From the Dallas Morning News...

"The state’s $3 billion program to fight cancer has come under increased scrutiny after its chief scientist and dozens of advisers stepped down this year, alleging that methods for awarding grants have been compromised.

In our new investigation of The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, we report that millions from the agency flowed to two firms founded by political contributor and Dallas businessman David Shanahan.

A month after Texas voters in 2007 approved the state’s 10-year, $3 billion program Shanahan and several of his associates began to pour tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign funds of Gov. Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst."

Goodhair and the rest of the Texas Republican big chunks steered upwards of $12.8 Million to their own political backers, and did so for chump change contributions. Yes, $50K in exchange is a classic example of buy low, sell high. You can't get much lower than a Republican in Texas these days.

This story has legs, and I hope those legs will help boot the ethically challenged "leaders" out of office.

The November 17th Dallas Morning News investigative report is HERE, and the November 19th follow-up HERE. There is an earlier report on October 23rd by the Fort Worth Star Telegram HERE, followed by Goodhair's response the next day. Since the DMN piece appeared none of our  erstwhile dirty tricksters have been available for comment.

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Voter fraud

Well, I'm not too proud to admit it when I'm wrong. Since the beginning of the Republican efforts to stamp out voter fraud I've argued that these bills were addressed at a crime that was all but nonexistent. I'm ashamed to say that the Republicans have proved me wrong. 

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This woman wants your kids

Barbara Cargill is running for State Board of Education place 8 seat. The Texas SBoE writes the curriculum that will be used for future textbook. She is Guv. Goodhair's hand picked successor to that whacky dentist, Don McLeroy.

Doesn't get out much, does she? Bless her pointed little head...

Dear Barbara and her cohorts are the product of decades of slow inflitration into the SBoE by dominionist xian zealots. For more information on the ongoing battle for the minds of Texas school children, read the TFN Timeline of textbook censorship.

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The other side of his mouth

Perry tours tornado damage

LANCASTER, Texas -- Gov. Rick Perry toured tornado-damaged areas in North Texas Thursday and met with emergency management officials. During a press conference, Perry suggested Texas would ask for federal disaster relief for areas hit by the storm.

...but how can this be? I thought we were about to secede! And didn't Goodhair just turn down federal money for women's health care?

Hey Rick! You still have about $3.7 million in your failed campaign's bank accounts, and your personal little slush fund is sitting on another $200 million, but I understand that you need that money to butter your own bread, so why don't you just do what you've been doing all along... thumb your nose at the feds and cut some more from the schools.

After all, you've got to help out your buddies in the construction and insurance industries if you want them  to continue feathering your nest.

In 1984 when he won his first election to statewide office, Goodhair reported a net personal worth of just $13,000. In 2009, after 25 years feeding at the public trough, Rick's financials reveal a net worth of $1.09 million. Who knew that being a public servant could be so lucrative?

Clowns to the left of us, jokers to the right... Indeed.

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The gift that keeps on giving

From Mother Jones:

Another Reason To Be Glad Rick Perry Won't Be President

"Since 2005, consumers have lost nearly 80 percent of Texas Supreme Court cases in which a consumer was pitted against a big corporation or the government. Most of the time, the consumer plaintiffs had already prevailed before a jury—the high court overturned jury verdicts in 74 percent of consumer cases, with very little dissent."

Welcome to the business friendly state of Texas. Come on down with your minimum wage jobs and we'll make sure we keep the great unwashed toiling at the wheel and away from your door. Thank you Goodhair for our wonderful Texas Miracle.

Not.

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Pay to Play in Republican Texas

In Tuesday’s Austin American Statesman, Jason Embry tells us a sordid tale of Guv Goodhair’s crony capitalism at its worst.

Just last year a company now in deep doo doo over bilking the Federal Medicare insurance program received $2.1 million of our money from Goodhair’s personal political slush fund. He couldn’t find the money required by our state Constitution to keep school doors open… but he could funnel cash to the crooks.

So who was the worthy recipient of Goodhair’s magnanimity?

“The owner of AseraCare is a Plano-based company named Golden Living. Last March, Perry awarded Golden Living $2.1 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, a taxpayer-funded pot of money that the state uses to recruit businesses. Golden Living received the money after agreeing to move its corporate headquarters to Plano and create 100 jobs.

Another arm of the parent company has also given more than $600,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which Gov. Rick Perry has chaired twice in the last four years. The association has been one of the biggest donors to Perry’s gubernatorial campaigns.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, an arm of Golden Living has given the Republican Governors Association $628,000 since 2006. Goodhair served twice served as that group’s chairman and was the chief fundraiser. The RGA is one of Perry’s chief supporters in his failing bid to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

Since 2003, 43 companies receiving somewhere around $330 million in Perry slush fund money have paid him back by contributing somewhere around $7 million to Goodhair’s various campaigns, and the Governors Association… which turned around and gave it back to Perry.

Pay to play is alive and well in Texas. Y’all come!

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On a roll!

If you haven't been over today to visit Juanita at the "World's Most Dangerous Beauty Shop" ...go do it now. Trust me on this one...

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Molly would have gone postal by now

In a way I guess it’s a good thing that Molly Ivins died before Guv. Goodhair got into the full swing of his teabagger wingnuttyness. She would have a fit over Perry’s campaigning machinations.

Today’s edition of the Texas Tribune offers up the following….

“As former President George W. Bush prepares for his first post-White House journey to Africa to promote efforts to combat cervical and breast cancer among women there, his home state is struggling to provide the same services to low-income women.”

Ivins, speaking of the Shrub’s Presidency, reminded us that electing such folks to national office invariably leads to bizarre results. “Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention.”

Molly believed Bush 43 to be one of the poorest candidates possible and actively spoke against his candidacy, although though she also believed him to be thoroughly entertaining and took great joy in roasting the sitting Governor. When Bush won the 2000 election and was succeeded by Goodhair, Molly then had two targets of derision.

Now, continuing the Trib article, we find that…

“At the same time, though, Perry proudly points out that he signed a budget that defunds Planned Parenthood. That decision slashed the state’s family planning budget by two-thirds.”

As whacky as GWB was, he makes far better sense than his successor. Never would I have thought that I would ever consider George W. Bush as better than anything or anyone, but then I never would have believed that my beloved state could be so crazy as to elect someone as batty as Goodhair.

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Rick Perry's Texas Miracle

"Texas trails most other states and many developed countries in the percentage of young adults with a college degree, and demographic changes suggest the underperformance will worsen as time goes on."

But we have one hell of an economy... for now. And the whole country has the same opportunity. Don't forget to vote on next year on November 6th.

Or is that November 12th. I can never remember.

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Guv. Goodhair's latest endorsement

Wing Nut Daily is reporting on Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio's latest hissy fit.

"I'm a controversial guy and usually the media is all over me," he continued, "but when I decided to investigate Obama, the media has suddenly gone missing in action."

Poor Joe. Looks like even the ever-dumber media has lost interest in his escapades. And poor Rick as well. With this kind of support and a chronic case of foot in mouth disease, it almost makes a body feel sorry for him.

Almost.

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Foot in mouth disease

Pols flubbing live on television is nothing new, but doesn't it seem that this current crop of wingnuts is having more trouble with most.

Some of this isn't simple flubs. There is a difference between being clueless and making a mistake. Of course the Dems have had their share of loosers and some classic bloopers, and I'm certain someone will want to point out that Obama has not always been the sharpest tool, but come on folks. Can't we do better than this?

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Verbatim

NOVEMBER 11, 2011
Two new polls show Perry in single digits

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry, struggling to put his epic debate gaffe behind him, has fallen into single-digits and runs fifth place in a new McClatchy-Marist poll released Friday. 

The former Republican frontrunner, who became a punch-line on late night talk shows after his stumble in a Wednesday debate, has eight percent support and is now closer to the back of the eight-candidate pack than the front.

The poll, which was concluded Thursday, also showed a realignment among upper-tier candidates, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reclaiming the lead with 23 percent and former U. S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich surging into second place with 19 percent. Atlanta businessman Herman Cain, who has been dogged by sexual harassment allegations that he strongly denies, has fallen into third place with 17 percent.

Texas congressman Ron Paul is in fourth place with 10 percent.

Perry’s free-fall comes after a series of sub-par debate performances topped by the latest stumble on Wednesday, when he was unable to remember one of three federal agencies he wants to abolish as president. Analysts and political bloggers uniformly depicted the gaffe as one of the worst in debate history, with some saying that it effectively kills Perry’s candidacy.

Perry, who has been Texas’ governor for nearly 11 years, bounded into the lead immediately after entering the race in mid-August but he has been unable to reverse his steady slide in the polls.

A CBS poll released Friday also showed Perry with eight percent and in fourth place ahead of Paul, who had 5 percent. The CBS poll showed Cain in front with 18 percent and Romney and Gingrich tied for second at 15 percent.

Both polls depict Gingrich as the latest candidate on the rise in the race for the Republican nomination. In the CBS survey, 61 percent of primary voters say they sexual harassment allegations against Cain won’t make any difference in their vote, but 30 percent say the accusations make them less likely to support him. Cain’s support among women has dropped from 28 percent to 15 percent since October, according to the CBS survey . 

--Dave Montgomery

So now our erstwhile governor has exposed for the world exactly that which an overwhelming majority of low-information voters are willing to elect to office. Thankfully the national stage is a bit more demanding. 

One less clown in the car. Hasta la vista... baby.

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Wrong again

Texas majority Republican legislature in 2003 passed tort reforms severely restricting medical malpractice judgements. The argument was that doctors were leaving the state in droves due to the enormous settlements and resulting high medical malpractice insurance premiums.

Now, just a few years later, those same proponents are lauding the fact that doctors are returning to the state and with lower insurance premiums, medical costs are coming down.

Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry says, "In Texas, comprehensive medical liability reform has improved access to medical care, particularly in underserved areas, restored balance to the Texas judicial system, keeping doctors in the exam room instead of the courtroom, and has removed a large threat to job creation and economic growth that had been created by excessive litigation."

Trouble is that isn't completely true. In fact, the conservative-libertarian Cato Institute finds the opposite to be true. Cato says that tort reform has potentially resulted in patient harm, done nothing to improve access to medical care nor anything to reduce costs.

In a white paper released this week, Cato researchers conclude that caps on medical malpractice damages are actually bad for patients because they remove incentives for medical liability insurers and physicians to reduce risk associated with the practice of medicine. 

Unsurprisingly, the AMA and the right wingers in the Texas Legislature are having a cow over this report, but considering the number of times that wing has gloated over some report or another issued by Cato, their whining now rings rather disingenuous. 

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Goading Goodhair

In a markedly republican, bible thumping state with a documented racist history, the incumbent governor and current presidential candidate is being edged in the polls by a philandering black man.

That will leave a mark.

And then today in a Wall Street Journal piece by Jonathan Weisman, we learn that…

Satire may not be Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s thing.

Last Friday, at the swanky Barley House tavern in Concord, N.H., Mr. Perry took a little jab at the Occupy Wall Street crowd, referencing an amusing quote his son had sent him from a protester occupying Toronto.

“I don’t know if it can be proved up or not,” Mr. Perry conceded, “the young man’s name was Jeremy and he was 38 years old. But he said, ‘We got here at 9 o’clock, and those people, this was in Toronto, I think Bay Street is their comparable [Wall Street], he said those bankers that we came to insult, they’d already been at work for two hours when we got here at 9 o’clock, and when we get ready to leave, you know, they’re still in there working. I guess greed just makes you work hard.”

It was a reasonable paraphrase of the quote from “Jeremy” in Toronto, who appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail saying, “It’s weird protesting on

Bay Street

. You get there at 9 a.m. and the rich bankers who you want to hurl insults at and change their worldview have been at work for two hours already. And then when it’s time to go, they’re still there. I guess that’s why they call them the one per cent. I mean, who wants to work those kinds of hours? That’s the power of greed.”

Problem is, there is no “Jeremy.” The quote was from a satirical piece by columnist Mark Schatzker, entitled “Occupy Toronto: The one-week anniversary party.” Above that headline was the word, “Satire.”

 

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What happens when you let creationists write the textbooks

Without further comment...

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Irony

The Lege is at it again, and again they've got egg on their face.

Soon now, you will not be able to vote in Texas unless you have one of 5 forms of identification: A valid Texas drivers license, a DPS-issued election identification certificate, a United States passport, a US military ID card, and… and … a license to carry a concealed handgun issued by the Department of Public Safety.

Now, of the five forms of identification there is only one that does not require you to produce proof of US citizenship. Guess which one?

And yes, you guessed right. The License to carry a concealed handgun issued by the Department of Public Safety does not include a provision that ensures that the license holder is a citizen of the United States.

Don’t believe me? It’s here.

But I will post the required information to get a conceal/carry license below for those who are averse to clicking.

• Social security number,
• Valid driver license or identification card,
• Current demographic, address, contact, and employment information,
• Residential and employment information for the last five years (new users only),
• Information regarding any psychiatric, drug, alcohol, or criminal history (new users only),
• Valid email address, and
• Valid credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express)

Can foreign nationals not have any of the above? The answer is a definite no. So if someone wants to live in my country and not be a citizen, the only way that they would be allowed to vote under the new voter ID law is to have applied for and received a valid license to carry a concealed weapon.

HT to Hal, via Juanita


When you're as moonbat crazy as that nest of snakes down there in Austin, the little things sometimes escape you.

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Finally some rain

Eight tenths at the barn, but some got a couple of inches. Texans are always grateful for rain, but this time around it is sorely needed. For many though, it is too little... to late.

The wildfires this season likely have been more destructive than anything the state has seen in many years. As far as property loss the hurricanes cost more, but in measurable and long-term damage to our economy, this fire season takes all honors.

The Insurance Institute, in a September 6th report citing the catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide,  that "fire crews in Texas have fought nearly 19,000 wildfires since the beginning of this year. Approximately 3.6 million acres-an area the size of Connecticut-have been consumed in the state, accounting for nearly half of all the acreage burned by wildfires in the entire United States this year."

The Bastrop County fire remains active, but is said to be about 80% contained. This was the most recent of the major fires, killing at least two, destroying over 1,600 homes, damaged hundreds of others and displacing the residents, and scorched over 34,000 acres. To put that into perspective, the population of the county is under 75,000 and there were roughly 26,000 residences at the end or 2010.  

You'd have to be here to understand the sheer scope of  misery and damage, but the following photos will shed some light.



The greatest majority of firefighting in these efforts is done by small, rural volunteer fire departments. One of those volunteers died while trying to help control the first Possum Kingdom wildfire earlier this year. Another was fighting that same fire trying to save the homes of folks he didn't even know... as a few miles away his own home burned to the ground. This kind of dedication to community is well appreciated by every Texan...

...except of course our dear Guv. goodhair and them good old girls and boys in the Texas Lege. In their unceasing dedication to shrinking government, funding for volunteer firefighters was slashed by 75%.

Texas is on fire

Republican (of course) Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst released a statement today:

"I've been working very closely with Governor Perry and our emergency personnel, and we're doing everything we can – using all of the state resources at our disposal to contain these wildfires, ensure public safety and protect Texans' lives and property. Because so many fires are burning across the state, our resources are spread pretty thin.  That's why we need the federal government to step up to the plate immediately. We need to cut through the red tape and get Texas the help we need today.  There are federal resources – including aircraft, bulldozers and other heavy equipment – that can and should be made available right away."

All of this is very interesting. Especially considering that both Dewhurst and Goodhair successfully pushed to cut funds to the firefighters in order to balance the state budget, and that both have formerly eschewed federal funding of such efforts.

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