Brazos Valley Pundit

Eagle Ford Shale production surpasses forecasts

2012-03-03T09:00:00.002-06:00

The Corpus Christi Caller quotes a UTSA researcher who predicts that Eagle Ford Shale production, which continues to outdo analysts' projections, should continue "a very exponential rise":

Drilling has begun in earnest atop the formation, which lies several thousand feet underground and stretches for 400 miles beneath 24 counties in South and Central Texas.

Producers drilled 21.8 million barrels of oil in 2011, more than twice the admittedly conservative predicted amount of about 8.6 million, said Thomas Tunstall, director of the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Tunstall announced the figures Friday at the final day of the Eagle Ford Consortium's inaugural conference in San Antonio, which is looking at sustainability options for communities impacted by the oil and gas boom.

Production of condensate, or gaseous products that liquefy once brought to the surface, hit about 18.7 million barrels in 2011 compared to the center's admittedly conservative projection of 5.6 million barrels.

About 221 billion cubic feet of natural gas was drilled in 2011, compared with predictions of 122 billion cubic feet.

The center's tentative forecast calls for activity to possibly peak at about 2,500 new wells drilled per year between 2014 and 2016.

The new well activity could gradually tail off after that point, with a total of 25,000 wells drilled by several years after that date — thousands more if rigs are spaced closer together, Tunstall said.

Economic benefits include a rise in bank deposits across the Eagle Ford region to $16 billion in 2011, up from $14 billion in 2008, the study shows.

[Read More]

The center will release its full updated report in April, including details about the 14 most active Eagle Ford counties and the impact on six counties which lie outside the drilling area.

- JP

Cain and Gingrich to debate in The Woodlands

2011-10-25T07:45:00.001-05:00

A Texas TEA Party organization will host a different kind of presidential debate in November. Bill O’Sullivan of Texas Tea Party Patriots tells National Review Online that Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain have confirmed that they will engage in a “modified Lincoln–Douglas debate” focused on fiscal issues next month:

O’Sullivan says the event, which will be held on November 5 at the Woodlands Resort near Houston, will also feature Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) as an emcee.

In background conversations, both campaigns say they look forward to the discussion. A source close to Gingrich tells NRO that the former speaker will speak at length about his policy proposals and will, “in a friendly way,” illustrate his differences with Cain.

“We initially wanted a forum with all of the candidates,” O’Sullivan says. “But when we heard Gingrich say he wanted a more serious debate, like the Lincoln–Douglas debates, we wanted to do that, especially since watching the recent superficial debates has been frustrating.”

[...]

“This debate is going to be dominated by the candidates going back and forth, in a respectful way,” O’Sullivan says. “It will be divided into parts, one for each major entitlement — Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid — with each candidate detailing their arguments.”

Mo broadcast or cable news network has yet agreed to air the forum, but there has been some talk of live streaming the debate on the Web.

The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates for Senate in Illinois between Republican Abraham Lincoln and the incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, a Democrat. The format for each debate was that one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then the other candidate spoke for 90 minutes, followed by the first candidate speaking again for 30 minutes. The candidates alternated speaking first from debate to debate.

- JP

Gingrich draws Tea Party crowd in North Dallas

2011-10-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

Newt Gingrich told a standing room only crowd at the Embassy Suites Hotel in North Dallas Thursday that he thinks Gov. Rick Perry is doing a good job of running the state. "Help me make sure we don't deprive Texas of a very good governor," the former House Speaker joked, as his audience applauded.

At the event, hosted by The Dallas Tea Party, Gingrich covered topics ranging from the economy, to immigration, to Iran and China, to American values. After a short speech, the GOP presidential candidate fielded questions from the audience. The former history professor's depth of knowledge in his field was on display during the town hall like event, as he frequently referenced events in American history and demonstrated his expertise on a variety of topics.

Days after what many called a strong debate performance, Gingrich spoke about his plans for the government if he wins the GOP nomination and is eventually elected president.

On Inauguration Day 2013, Gingrich said he will have as many as 200 executive orders ready to sign. He said he doesn't know what all the orders will be yet, but by the time the Obama family arrives at their destination, "we will have dismantled most of his government."

[...]

Among his goals if elected would be to shrink the Education Department and eliminate most federal regulations regarding education. While he said he can't sign an executive order protecting unborn children, he said he would "certainly recommend to Congress that they look at that, and look at the consequences of that."

Gingrich said he worries about the war on terrorism and believes that "we are much closer to the collapse of our civilization than we think." While he said he admires former President George W. Bush's "courage" in leading the country after the 2001 terrorist attacks, "I think he didn't ever have ... control of the State Department."

"We need to confront how serious this is and how real this is," he said.

Gingrich spoke at length about his “21st Century Contract with America,” a 10-point plan which calls for repeal of Obamacare, cutting the corporate-tax rate by more than 50 percent, offering individual taxpayers a flat-tax option, reducing federal regulations and pursuing an “all of the above” energy strategy that he claims could make the nation “the largest oil producer in the world by 2017.” The former Speaker said his plan is larger than legislative ideas alone and is based on the premise that if you have specific, positive ideas, you can “rally Americans on a scale” that rises above “bickering, partisan politics.”

- JP

Cornyn amendment defunds DOJ 'gun-walker' ops

2011-10-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

A U.S. Senator and former Texas Attorney General took the lead Tuesday in the Senate’s move to cut off funding for the DOJ's “gun-walker” operations such as the one which resulted in the now-notorious Fast and Furious scandal:

The amendment, written by Sen. John Cornyn III (R.-Tex.) reads: “No funds made available under this Act shall be used to allow the transfer of firearms to agents of drug cartels where law enforcement personnel of the United States do not continuously monitor and control such firearms at all times.”

The amendment passed 99 to 0.

Cornyn, who serves on the Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services and Budget Committees, said, “When 2,000 firearms go missing, and at least one is found at the crime scene of a murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent, we must do everything possible to ensure that such a reckless and ill-advised operation like Fast and Furious is not repeated.”

The former Texas attorney general said U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder has not be forthcoming in his explanations of the Fast and Furious and other similar operations.

“In addition to this amendment, Mr. Holder owes Americans a full accounting on all alleged gun-walking operations, including a response to allegations of another Texas-based scheme, and I encourage him to come up to Capitol Hill to do so as soon as possible,” he said.

In addition to previously serving as Texas Attorney General, Cornyn is also a former Texas Supreme Court justice and Bexar County district judge.

- JP

McAllen HS Students Forced to Recite Mexican Anthem, Pledge

2011-10-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

According to The Blaze, Students in a McAllen, Texas public high school were made to stand up and recite the Mexican national anthem and Mexican pledge of allegiance as part of a Spanish language class assignment, but the school district sees nothing wrong with it:

Wearing red, white and green, students had to memorize the Mexican anthem and pledge and stand up and recite them in individually in front of the class.

That didn’t go over well with sophomore Brenda Brinsdon. The 15-year-old sat down and refused to participate. She also caught it all on video:

“I just thought it was out of hand, I didn’t think it was right,” she told The Blaze. “Reciting pledges to Mexico and being loyal to it has nothing to do with learning Spanish.”

[More]

Brenda's father, William, who share his daughter's thinking on the assignment, called the school district superintendent to complain.

- JP

Pamela Geller to Address Sugar Land Tea Party (Updated)

2011-10-17T09:05:00.003-05:00

Activist, author and blogger Pamela Geller will speak to The Sugar Land Tea Party Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Hyatt Place:

Geller is the founder, editor and publisher of the blog Atlas Shrugs. She is the executive director of Stop the Islamization of America, as well as the Freedom Defense Initiative, and is a regular columnist for American Thinker, Human Events and other publications.

Geller is the author of The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America and the newly released Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. She has been a guest on numerous news programs, including “Sean Hannity.”

The event will start with a meet and greet at 6:30 p.m., with Geller’s presentation to follow from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. After the event, she will sign copies of Stop the Islamization of America.

The Hyatt Place is located at 16730 Creek Bend Drive in Sugar Land.

h/t: Martha

Update: Houston Hyatt Place Hotel caves to Islamic supremacist intimidation, forces last-minute venue change for Pamela Geller event: Details here. The new venue for Pamela's speech is Sugar Land Community Center (Across from old Sugar Land Post Office), 226 Matlage Way, Sugar Land, TX 77478 (Map).

- JP

Mission's Sprague: Austin's economic outlook positive

2011-08-09T19:45:00.001-05:00

Texans may be enduring the worst national economy in over 6 decades, but the Lone Star State fares much better than the rest of the country, and the Austin area has the distinction of being the best market in the nation. So says Mark Sprague, a mortgage maven who tracks the economy and housing markets both locally and nationally:

Sprague, director of business development for Mission Mortgage in Austin, gave an overview of the economy and housing picture and delivered his 2012 forecast for the nation, state and Austin area to a group of real estate and mortgage lending professionals Thursday.

Sprague said the housing market has bottomed out in Austin and Houston, but nationally "has a ways to go." He said mortgage defaults and residential foreclosures will remain high, but he noted that more than half of the nation's foreclosures are concentrated in a handful of metro areas, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Sprague said he "tends to be negative" and conservative in his outlook, but the data show the local economy is outperforming the nation as a whole on several fronts. Its unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, lower than the statewide 7.9 percent rate and the U.S. rate of 9.2 percent.

Housing prices have held relatively stable — Austin didn't have the appreciation bubble and thus no major price drops — and the foreclosure rate isn't nearly as high in the five-county area as some other places — 1 per 1,044 homes compared with 1 in 60 in Las Vegas.

The Austin area also has a low supply of newly built homes on the market, with about a three-month inventory. Six months is considered a healthy balance . That comes amid growing demand, with 56,000 people a year — 153 a day — moving to the area.

[More]

The economist pointed out that Austin has doubled its population every 20 years through every economic downturn for the past 100 years.

- JP

Rick Perry is no Sarah Palin

2011-08-08T11:25:00.006-05:00

Gov. Rick Perry appears poised to announce next week that he's going to make a run for the White House. Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post report that the Texas governor's supporters are already soliciting donations for the coming Perry campaign:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is expected to announce his presidential plans shortly after the Ames Straw Poll this coming weekend, and his supporters are already soliciting contributions for the campaign, according to an e-mail from a Perry supporter.

The e-mail from Gene Powell, a real-estate executive who Perry appointed to the University of Texas board of regents, states, “We expect that announcement in a week to ten days” and tells people to start writing checks today.

It is further evidence that Perry is truly ramping up for a 2012 presidential campaign, even though a top Perry adviser says the e-mail’s timeframe isn’t hard and fast.

Perry adviser David Carney told The Fix that the no one should read too much into the e-mail, which he says contains some factual inaccuracies.

“While we are encouraged by this enthusiasm, we have not made the final decision, as even this email indicates,” Carney wrote in an e-mail, “and there are some other items in that email that are incorrect, but it just goes to demonstrate how excited some of our folks are.”

Carney said the timeframe for the possible campaign continues to be “this summer with Labor Day as the outlier.”

If he announces as expected, we may give up on trying to read the tea leaves. Back on May 19, we didn't believe Perry was seriously considering a run for president because:

If Perry does allow himself to be persuaded to chase the bandwagons to the White House along with the other big dogs, it would be the biggest flip-flop since John Kerry voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it. After all, Perry stated in November of last year:
"I've made my decision. If I really believe in the 10th amendment, then being a governor of a state is where the action is."
Asked during a GOP gubernatorial debate on Jan. 29 whether he would serve his full four-year term if re-elected, Perry answered that he would "absolutely" as long as the Lord lets him live that long:
"If your intent here is to question where I would want to go any better than being the governor of the state of Texas, that place hasn't been made yet," Perry said.

Perry told the Daily Beast's Andrew Romano just nine months ago that he was "Not going to run for president." Silly us. At the time, we believed Perry to be cut from the same cloth as Sarah Palin, someone who means what they say. But intensive research over the months has informed us that any resemblance between Perry and Palin is purely superficial.

Unlike the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, what Perry says can't be taken to the bank, and there are other significant differences. She's a political reformer; he goes with the flow. She's a small-government Reagan conservative; he's much closer to the GOP establishment than his feud with the Republican Party's Bush wing would lead you to believe. She left Alaska with a $12 billion surplus; he's saddled Texas with twice the debt and doubled state spending on his watch. Rick Perry is a good ol' boy, but the last person we need in the White House is another good ol' boy. Unfortunately, Rick Perry is no Sarah Palin.

- JP

Debt reduction bill could mean half a loaf for military in Texas

2011-08-08T08:55:00.002-05:00

The deficit reduction deal approved by Congress could have a significant financial impact on Texas and other states which are home to military bases and personnel. Gary Martin of the San Antonio Express-News reports:

Weapons systems, ships and aircraft could provide a target for a new congressional commission formed to find budget savings, but benefits and personnel reductions also are on the table. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned the armed services must prepare for spending restraints not seen over the past two decades, and he called for a review that includes a reduction in personnel, military pay and retiree benefits.

That could affect Texas, the state with the largest number of active-duty military personnel — 131,548, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Texas has the third largest number of Defense Department civilian employees, with 48,057.

Senate Republicans balked at the defense cuts in the debt deal signed into law by President Barack Obama, although Texas' two GOP senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, voted to approve the bill.

[...]

At least $350 billion will come from cuts in defense spending, said Gene Sperling, director of the White House National Economic Council, the largest reduction in military spending “since the Eisenhower administration.”

Another $500 billion could come from additional cuts identified by a new bipartisan committee created to find savings in defense and domestic spending.

[More]

The deficit reduction deal, which does little to reduce the deficit, is an example of the fine art of compromise. As G. K. Chesterton once observed, "Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf; is better than a whole loaf."

- JP

The Democrat oppo machine gears up to take on Rick Perry

2011-08-07T10:45:00.001-05:00

As Rick Perry prepares to make a presidential run, Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News reports on how the Democrat Party's opposition researchers are ramping up their efforts to make the case against the Texas governor:

Texas Democrats will offer a one-stop shop to expose what they see as Perry’s warts, gaffes and failures. They’ve created a website (www.meetrickperry.com) devoted to that cause. It’s fundraising tool for now, but it will go live when and if Perry jumps into the race, perhaps this month.

"We’ll do everything we can to introduce him to the American public," Richie said. "We have been working diligently to put material together."

[...]

But other Democrats already are hacking at what they consider his vulnerabilities, many of which the Perry team views as selling points.

Job creation? The so-called Texas miracle is built largely on low-wage jobs, and growth that isn’t much different than under prior governors, they say.

Education? Texas has chronically high dropout rates, and recent budget cuts have sparked teacher layoffs.

Fiscal restraint? State spending doubled under Perry, and he funneled millions to allies through a fund meant to spur technology investment.

[More]

Attacking Perry on education, health care, religion and secession will amount to little more than preaching to the Democrat choir, as GOP primary voters tend to be small government social conservatives. But such avenues of attack could have some serious appeal to independents and Republican moderates in the general election should Perry prevail in the race for his party's presidential nomination.

Among the conservative base, however, jabbing Perry on his support of the Trans Texas Corridor could hit home with those concerned with property rights, and publicizing his push to require vaccinations for sixth grade girls against sexually transmitted disease may send up warning flags for Americans who are fed up with the nanny state. He is also vulnerable on spending issues, and publicizing the big donations made to his gubernatorial campaigns by the makers of Gardasil will only serve to demonstrate that Perry, in sharp contrast to Sarah Palin, does not have the record of a reformer who courageously stood up against special interests. These are the issues that resonate with the TEA Party movement, and without their support, the Texas governor will have a difficult time winning the Republican party's presidential nomination.

- JP

KGBT-TV: Pharr pastor starts 'Hispanic Tea Party'

2011-08-05T13:50:00.001-05:00

Action 4 News anchor Astrid Martinez reports that Rio Grande Valley pastor Armando Vera organized what is being billed as the nation's first-ever 'Hispanic Tea Party' in June:

The Iglesia Poder del Dios pastor said there is need for a Hispanic version of this political group given that 85% of the population of the Rio Grande Valley is of Mexican-American descent.

Vera said Hispanics are naturally conservative and he intends to reach out and inform them about the harm he said liberal policies have on our nation.

"The first goal of our group is to return to basics," Vera said. "And in this nation and God is the base. Another topic we want to focus on is family values.”

Vera, who was born in Mexico but became a naturalized citizen of the United States, feels that some Republicans are too politically-motivated when it comes to voting.

Those interested in joining this TEA Party group can contact Pastor Vera at (956) 971-0163, by email at hispanicteaparty@gmail.com or via website: www.hispanicteaparty.com.

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'She's Like Texas'

2011-08-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

Josh Abbott Band (2010)

- JP

Charges Dropped Against Bowie County Clerk

2011-08-05T10:10:00.000-05:00

Natalie Nichols, the Bowie County Clerk we wrote about last month and who was inspired to get into elective politics by Sarah Palin, is in the news again:

More from TheBlaze here.

h/t: Jelayne Sessler

- JP

Silver Lining: Texas Oil & Gas Jobs Rebound

2011-07-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

Texas' oil and gas industry is recording employment levels not seen for the better part of three years, while oil production is outpacing that of natural gas for the first time in more than a decade, according to an index of state energy activity:

The Lone Star State employed 224,200 workers in exploration and production in June, according to the Texas Petro Index -- more than the 223,200 at the height of the last energy boom in October 2008 and nearly 15 percent more than in June 2010, said Karr Ingham, the Midland economist who created and maintains the index.

Oil production also beat out natural gas as the dominant Texas fossil fuel product by value during the first six months of 2011, reversing a trend that started in 1997 when natural gas began to dominate the state's energy production.

"In the past 12 months, the industry has added more than 28,600 jobs, which is nearly 13 percent of all jobs added to the Texas economy," Ingham said.

The oil and gas industry only accounts for about 2 percent of the state's entire workforce payroll, Ingham says, but it tends to have an oversized impact on the entire state economy because it is so capital-intensive. By some estimates, as much as two-thirds of Texas' job creation in the past year could be tied directly and indirectly to the oil and gas exploration business.

"That's really an accomplishment, considering the TPI in June indicates the industry still has not recovered to the level of economic health that created the last jobs milestone," Ingham said.

[More]

The Lone Star State continues to enjoy an unemployment rate lower than the national average. It was 8.2 percent in Texas in June, compared to a national unemployment rate of 9.2 percent.

- JP

Glenn Beck: Yes, I'm moving to Texas

2011-07-11T15:50:00.000-05:00

As we noted on July 2, Glenn Beck is moving to Texas. Beck consfirmed it today on his radio program:

“I’m moving to Dallas, Texas, and my family is there now, and I will be there shortly. We’re keeping our business, Mercury, in New York. Nobody is surprised by this, I’m sure. We have been planning for a long time,” Glenn said.

It's not just Beck and his family, who are coming to the Lone Star State, but "a small number of staff members will shortly be relocating" to the Dallas area. The talk show icon also has plans "to build a film and television center and radio center in Dallas," thus creating even more jobs in the state which leads the nation in job creation.

h/t: Michelle McCormick

- JP

More MSNBC Maddow Misinformation

2011-07-08T09:30:00.006-05:00

For someone touted by the media as brilliant, MSNBC's left wing prime time host Rachel Maddow is wrong much of the time. Her latest exercise in misinformation came on her Thursday program, much of which she devoted to the execution of convicted rapist-murderer Humbarto Leal in Texas. Maddow criticized Gov. Perry and the U.S. supreme Court for refusing to delay Leal's death by lethal injection so Congress could have more time to pass legislation dealing with how the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations should be applied to such cases:

Leal, who in 1994 raped a 16-year-old girl and then strangled her and crushed her skull with a 35-pound piece of asphalt, was sent to prison in 1998 but did not discover until two years later that he was supposed to be legally entitled to ask for help from the Mexican consulate in his defense.

Maddow never informed viewers that neither Leal nor his defense attorneys asked for such assistance before his trial, or that article 36 of the Vienna Convention which she refers to does not seem to require arresting authorities to contact a prisoner’s home country unless he requests it.

The MSNBC host instead went on to dismiss the "conservative" U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that allowed the execution to take place as scheduled, and incorrectly claimed that Texas was not following the law.

[More]

Like most liberals, Maddow never lets such pesky trivialities as facts get in the way of a good left wing rant.

- JP

Supreme Court denies stay, Texas executes illegal alien

2011-07-07T21:05:00.002-05:00

The State of Texas executed an illegal alien Thursday for the rape-slaying of a teenager after his attorneys and the Obama White House had pleaded in vain for a Supreme Court stay:

In his last minutes, Humberto Leal repeatedly said he was sorry and accepted responsibility.

"I have hurt a lot of people. ... I take full blame for everything. I am sorry for what I did," he said in the death chamber.

"One more thing," he said as the drugs began taking effect. Then he shouted twice, "Viva Mexico!"

[...]

Leal was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of 16-year-old Adria Sauceda, whose brutalized nude body was found hours after he left a San Antonio street party with her. She was bludgeoned with a piece of 30- to 40-pound chunk of asphalt.

Leal was just a toddler when he and his family moved to the U.S. from Monterrey, Mexico, but his citizenship became a key element of his attorneys' efforts to win a stay. They said police never told him following his arrest that he could seek legal assistance from the Mexican government under an international treaty.

Mexico, the Obama administration and others had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay Leal's execution so Congress could consider a law that would require court reviews in cases where condemned foreign nationals did not receive help from their consulates. They said the case could affect not only foreigners in the U.S. but Americans detained in other countries.

The court rejected the request 5-4.

[More]

Human Events staff writer John Hayward, noting that arguments against executing Leal cited the Vienna Convention -- which requires that a foreign citizen be told he has the right to contact his nation’s consulate after being arrested -- has a question:

Hasn’t the Obama Administration stated that it’s unthinkable to ask a captured criminal about his immigration status? In that case, how are we supposed to apply the Vienna Convention? Slip every non-Caucuasian detainee a card with the phone numbers of every embassy from every nation in the continent he might conceivably have originated from?

[...]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote a letter to Texas governor Rick Perry, demanding that Leal’s sentence be commuted to life in prison. “The lack of consular assistance raises concerns about whether or not Mr. Leal Garcia’s right to a fair trial was fully upheld,” said a spokesman for the commissioner.

CNN quotes U.N. Special Repporteur Christof Heyns expanding on this point: "If the scheduled execution of Mr. Leal Garcia goes ahead, the United States government will have implemented a death penalty after a trial that did not comply with due process rights. This will be tantamount to an arbitrary deprivation of life."

This would be same United Nations that puts North Korea in charge of arms-control conferences, Libya on the Human Rights Commission, and cannot bring itself to denounce Bashar Assad as a criminal despite the wanton murder of over 1,400 Syrians, including women and children. Tell you what, fellows: get back to us when you’re not a sickening global joke on the subject of human rights. The world is more threatened by murderous dictators than the execution of a brutal rapist who illegally invaded the country where he committed his crime.

[More]

- JP

14 Texas redistricting cases filed... so far

2011-07-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

At least 14 lawsuits have been filed against the legislature's recent redistricting efforts, and, according to the Star-Telegram's political blog, even more such challenges are likely:

Every decade, Texas lawmakers are responsible for redrawing political boundaries in light of population changes. The matter always ends up in court.

A wide range of groups and voters hope the courts throw out the maps approved by state lawmakers earlier this year and draw the districts themselves. Time is of the essence, as the new districts must be ready in time for candidates to file this year for the 2012 ballot.

Last week, the state of Texas filed a report in several of the cases outlining every redistricting case pending so far. As of June 29, there were 14 cases in total: seven in federal court and seven in state court.

Key issues in the cases include Latino representation, how prisoners should be counted and whether redistricting plans already drawn up are unconstitutional because they relied on U.S. Census data which counted illegal immigrants.

[More]

A summary of the 14 cases can be found here.

- JP

Inspired by Sarah Palin, Bowie County Clerk 'Fights Like a Girl'

2011-07-06T09:25:00.008-05:00

To say that Bowie County in northeast Texas is a Democratic Party bastion would be a gross understatement. The 923 square-mile jurisdiction, which has a population of almost 90,000, had never in its history elected a Republican to county office before 2010, when a determined 34-year old conservative defeated her Democrat opponent for the County Clerk's job. Now, six months after taking office, she finds herself engaged in cultural combat with those liberals who are still clinging to power on the Texas side of the border with Arkansas.

Pamela Geller has a chronicle of Natalie Nichols and her struggle with the entrenched Bowie County "progressives":

Natalie Nichols, a newly elected county clerk in Texas, is fighting back against a rogue court that actually voted to remove the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer from the court's official records. She refuses to do it, has made it her official stance and is now actually being threatened with legal action by a representative of the district attorney's office. But Nichols is standing firm: She has stated that she would rather be removed from office than acquiesce to this.

Of course, the district attorney is a Democrat. Nichols, who was inspired to go into politics by watching Sarah Palin in 2008, was the first-ever Republican woman elected to a county-wide office in the history of Bowie County, Texas. "Since our county's been in existence," she told me, "it was just understood that if you wanted to run for office, you ran as a Democrat or you had no chance." Nichols, however, was not interested in doing that: "I wasn't about to compromise my values to get into office, and I will not compromise them now that I am in office. I ran as a Christian conservative and I am a Christian conservative."

As county clerk, Nichols keeps the minutes of the proceedings of the Commissioners Court, which are held before an audience and begin with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. While Nichols was away attending a county clerk training conference on June 13, the Commissioners Court voted to remove the invocation from the minutes of a previous meeting. Why? Nichols said that County Judge Sterling Lacy told her that he "didn't want some group like the ACLU to come in and sue."

They removed the Pledge from the minutes also. Nichols commented: "Are we now afraid to be patriotic in America? Well, I am not. I will not sit down while people drag our country into a direction that makes me not even recognize it anymore." Nichols is fighting this decision, against heavy odds. Judge Lacy remarked ominously: "What she hasn't thought through are the unintended consequences" of her stand.

Nichols responded: "Contrary to what Judge Lacy seems to understand, I have thought through the unintended consequences of being a party to removing an official record of saying the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. I have thought through the impact it will have on my grandchildren to read the history of our county and errantly think that our customs were such that we didn't proudly proclaim a love of God and Country."

[More]

Examiner Devonia Smith, on how Natalie Nichols found inspiration in 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to "fight like a girl" for the principles she believes in:

A hint about why Nichols didn't hesitate to challenge the court can be found in Nichol's personal choice of heroines. A twelfth generation American, Nichols shares that, although she never voted before the last presidential election, she was "inspired by Sarah Palin and realized there were conservative, strong women out there, like myself, and that we actually could make a difference."

She went on to explain why she admired Palin, "mainly because she is a mother and doesn't apologize for that. She's holding strong in her convictions and she doesn't hide her Christianity, which is very important to me."

Smith has more on Natalie Nichols, including the transcript of her "scathing address to the Texas Bowie Commissioner Court" here.

Nichols is a district coordinator for Smart Girl Politics and is active in the Texarkana TEA Patriots and the faith-based Bowie County Patriots. She's the founder of Texans 4 Sarah, a Sarah Palin support group. A detailed profile of Natalie Nichols is here (PDF).

- JP

Obama Administration intervenes in Texas execution

2011-07-05T15:30:00.001-05:00

The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court Friday to prevent Texas from executing a Mexican national who was convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl:

The administration said the court should delay the planned July 7 execution of Humberto Leal for up to six months to give Congress time to consider legislation that would directly affect Leal’s case.

The 38-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, wasn’t told he could contact the Mexican consulate after his arrest for the murder of Adria Sauceda. His lawyers say police violated an international treaty by not telling Leal he could have consular assistance.

Legislation pending in the Senate would allow federal courts to review cases of condemned foreign nationals to determine if the lack of consular help made a significant difference in the outcome of their cases. Last week, a federal judge refused to delay the execution.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled that states can’t be forced to comply with the provisions of treaties without some intervening federal legislation.

The federal government rarely intervenes in state death penalty cases. The thrust of the administration’s legal argument deals with the government’s international treaty obligations, not Leal’s guilt or innocence, or even whether he should ultimately be executed.

[More]

Today we learned that there is no justice for Caylee Anthony. Will there be no justice for Adria Sauceda as well? God protect the innocent and vulnerable because our sick society refuses to do so.

h/t: Ed Morrissey

- JP

Witching for water in Llano, TX

2011-07-05T09:30:00.003-05:00

The town of Llano, 65 miles northwest of Austin, has avoided a drought-related crisis and found water under the ground, thanks to the 15th Century technique of "witching," also known as dowsing:

The Llano River was dangerously close to drying up as Texas faces a punishing and record-breaking drought. Residents of this Hill Country town west of Austin depend on the river for their entire water supply.

It neared zero flow this week, and the city was looking at trucking in water from 20 miles away, when city leaders employed the old-fashioned "witching" technique to strike water in the limestone bedrock near the city's water treatment plant.

"It was done by the use of two brass spindles ... and you walk with them in either hand," said City Manager Finley deGraffenried.

Witching is a centuries-old practice used mainly in rural areas to find underground water. Lacking professional advice from hydrologists, many farmers walked their property holding sticks or rods that they believed would move when water was found underground. They would decide where to drill a well based on the witching results.

The National Ground Water Association, which represents the water industry, said on its website that experimental tests show the technique is totally without scientific merit and performs no better than chance. But water-starved Llano residents believe it worked.

DeGraffenried says crews were able to punch a drill through the limestone bedrock and strike water, celebrated by the residents as much as any oil gusher.

"It turned out to do quite well," he said. "It's producing 92,000 gallons a minute. It is not by any means a silver bullet, but it will allow our stored water to last us much much longer in the event the river does go to a zero flow."

[More]

A USDA report issued Thursday reveals how widespread the drought, which now encompasses some 97 percent of Texas counties, has been in the Lone Star State. Between October and May, Texas suffered the driest eight-month period since such data have been recorded, beginning in 1895.

- JP

Rewind: Sarah Palin in Tyler, Texas - June 26, 2010

2011-07-04T12:35:00.003-05:00

"We have a scarcity of common sense in Washington, DC."
*
Gov. Palin was on a roll when she addressed energy matters a little over a year ago at the Oil Palace in Tyler:

No, she didn't need a TelePrompTer.

h/t: Mike

- JP

Thinking of going to Mexico for the 4th? Think again.

2011-07-03T17:30:00.001-05:00

According to CNN, the Clinton News Network, Lone State State lawmen are advising Texans not to cross over to the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo during the Fourth of July weekend. Their intel warns that a Mexican drug cartel plans to target U.S. citizens:

The violent Zetas drug cartel, which operates in Nuevo Laredo, will be targeting crimes at Americans who cross the border into the city this weekend, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Webb County Sheriff's Office said Saturday.

"According to the information we have received, the Zetas are planning a possible surge in criminal activity, such as robberies, extortions, car-jackings and vehicle theft, specifically against U.S. citizens," DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement. "We urge U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Nuevo Laredo this weekend if it can be avoided."

[...]

Nuevo Laredo, like most Mexican border cities, offers rows of bars, inexpensive dentists, restaurants and cultural events to draw tourists. But tourism has sharply declined in the past six years as drug cartel violence has spiraled in Mexico. Because of the various bridges into the United States and access to a major highway, Nuevo Laredo has been a turf contested by rival drug cartels.

[More]

The Zetas, apparently not satisfied with limiting their nefarious activities to drug trafficking, have earned a reputation for engaging in such violent endeavors as extortion, kidnapping and human smuggling. These are some bad hombres.

Related: Zetas try to enter Matamoros; priest killed in crossfire

- JP

Max Borders: A Texas-sized let down

2011-07-03T13:15:00.002-05:00

Max Borders, executive editor at the Free To Choose Network, has penned an opinion piece for The Daily Caller in which he expresses his disappointment in the governor so many in the GOP establishment and the corrupt media are hyping to run for president:

Would you let your mother, daughter, friends and neighbors continue to suffer unwarranted indignities at the hands of government agents if you had the power to stop them?

That’s exactly what Texas Governor Rick Perry just did.

Perry stood by and let Texas’s TSA anti-groping bill die in the state legislature. According to observers, instead of promoting the bill, Perry dithered. He never pressed the lieutenant governor to call the bill during the regular legislative session. Only after Perry was shamed by a legislator did he agree to put the bill on the agenda during the Texas Legislature’s recently concluded special session.

At one point, after enthusiasm for the anti-groping bill had grown, the presumptive presidential candidate saw an opportunity. Perry appeared on The Glenn Beck Show, where he seemed to claim credit for the measure... saying he was prepared to defend Texans from abuse by the federal government. But behind the scenes, Perry had been stonewalling the bill.

[More]

Borders' exit question: "Now, if Perry is prepared to let political expedience come before the rights of Americans, is he fit to be president?"

- JP

10 of top 20 cities for job growth are in Texas

2011-07-03T11:45:00.000-05:00

Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Bryan-College Station & Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos in top 6
*
Merv at Prairie Pundit found a study conducted by News Geography to be very interesting. It seems that ten of the top twenty U.S. cities for job growth are located in Texas.

The Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area tops the list, with Bryan-College Station in fourth, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos sixth, Odessa eleventh, Corpus Christi twelfth, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown fourteenth, San Antonio-New Braunfels seventeenth, and metro Dallas-Plano-Irving is eighteenth.

New Geography's rankings of all cities are here, where you can also view the lists broken down by the size of the cities. An explanation of the methodology used to compile the lists is here.

- JP

Texas set to become next state to defund Planned Parenthood

2011-07-02T23:45:00.002-05:00

The Texas state legislature this week approved the Senate Bill 7 Conference Committee Report that would revoke the taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood's abortion racket in the Lone Star State. All the measure needs now is the signature of Governor Rick Perry to become law:

“This will defund Planned Parenthood, stop taxpayer funding of elective abortions, and regulate adult stem cell research in Texas,” says Texas Alliance for Life. “The final step is for pro-life Gov. Rick Perry to sign this bill into law, which will defund Planned Parenthood $34 million or more over the biennium.”

[...]

Senate Bill 7, authored by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) and Rep. John Zerwas (R-Simonton), has three significant pro-life provisions strongly supported by Texas Alliance for Life and leading pro-life organizations and individuals.

The first defunds Planned Parenthood of $34 million or more. Another provision, by Rep. Wayne Christian (R-Nacogdoches), prevents local tax funding for elective abortions by hospital districts, including Travis County’s Central Health. The third, by Rep. Rick Hardcastle (R-Vernon), allows the state to regulate autologous adult stem cell banks and encourage more live-saving treatments using adult, not embryonic, stem cells.

Jonathan Saenz, legislative director for Liberty Institute, which supported SB 7 at the Texas Capitol, too, also applauded the vote and says the bill “effectively ends taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood in Texas.

“The passing of this legislation is a defining moment in Texas history for the pro-life and taxpayer protection movement,” he said. “Texas leaders have sent a clear message: Planned Parenthood and similar abortion groups can no longer use taxpayer funds to support their agenda.”

[...]

The state budget allocated $166,030,952 to family planning. Estimates are that Planned Parenthood currently receives approximately $30 million a year in taxpayer funds in Texas, and its own annual report confirms $363 million received nationwide. More than 300 non-abortion agencies across the state qualify to provide family planning services and they do not do abortions or refer for them.

[More]

Earlier this year, Planned Parenthood of Central Texas closed two of its centers but did not give any reasons for shutting down the facilities.

- JP

Welcome to Texas, Glenn Beck

2011-07-02T21:15:00.004-05:00

Houston-based Yahoo! contributor Mark Whittington reports that Glenn Beck, late of Fox News, may be packing it all up and moving to Texas:

Beck seemed to suggest Texas was in his future in an interview with Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Beck's Mercury Radio Arts company, which controls a small media empire that includes his radio show, an online newspaper called "The Blaze" and a fledgling subscription TV talk show on GBTV has 150 employees.

Texas has a number of advantages for a business over New York, currently Beck's base of operations. Texas has no personal state income tax and a regulatory environment that encourages the formation of small businesses. New York, on the other hand, has a confiscatory tax system and a regulatory regime that would put the Byzantine Empire to shame.

Beck may also have a personal motive for contemplating a move to Texas. Recently he and his family were attacked by a group of ruffians while in New York's Bryant Park. There is nothing like a good old-fashioned New York City street altercation to motivate a man into pulling up roots and moving to a more friendly environment.

[More]

According to multiple sources quoted by name in an item in the New York Daily News, Beck and his family have leased a seven-bedroom spread set on 2 acres of land in the upscale Vaquero Ranch area of Westlake, between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Beck has some history in Texas. While still in his teens, he was a Top 40 morning deejay at Corpus Christi's KZFM, and in 1989, he worked for a while in Houston at KRBE, then known as "Power 104." After a troubled career in music radio, in which Beck was fired from a number of stations for stunts which -- to put it mildly -- overreached, he embraced the talk format in 2000 and struck gold in Florida, taking an 18th-ranked AM station in Tampa to the top in the ratings.

Just two years later, Premiere Radio Networks syndicated his show on 47 stations across the nation. Today Beck's program is third in the national ratings behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and is heard on hundreds of stations as well as satellite radio. He would not be the first conservative radio talker to vacate New York for more taxpayer-friendly locales. Rush Limbaugh moved to Palm Beach, Florida in March, 1996, where he now broadcasts his top-rated show.

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'What I Like About Texas'

2011-07-02T16:56:00.010-05:00

Gary P. Nunn (1996)

h/t: Into The Morning

- JP

J. E. Dyer: The EPA assault on Texas

2011-07-02T16:20:00.001-05:00

Former Naval intelligence officer J. E. Dyer warns that the economic well being of Texas – a rare ray of light a dark recession – is severely threatened by the Obama Administration's EPA. The envionmentaal agency has challenged the engine of the Lone Star State's economic health: energy.

This would be one thing if Texas were an outlier among the 50 states in terms of dirty air or an otherwise demonstrably imperiled environment. But the truth is closer to the opposite: the air in Texas has been getting cleaner; in the urban areas, much cleaner. And in spite of being by far the largest electric power producer of the 50 states, and heavily reliant on coal, Texas has been steadily reducing its emissions of the EPA’s least-favored compounds from coal combustion (e.g., sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide). Its emissions of NOx and SO2 are substantially lower than the national average; Texas is ranked the 11th lowest in NOx emissions (.098 lb/mmBtu in 2009, versus a national average of .159 lb/mmBtu), and 24th in SO2 (.309 lb/mmBtu in 2009, versus a national average of .458 lb/mmBtu).

But the EPA isn’t really making the argument that Texas is an environmental pigsty. It’s not putting any data or findings behind that premise, at any rate. Instead, it is simply acting high-handedly, assuming an authority that nothing in written law confers on it, to pronounce Texas’s procedures in violation of EPA rules – even when there is no basis for making that claim. To put it bluntly, the EPA is making a power grab.

There are three principal facets to the power grab. One began with an EPA decision in January 2010 that the Texas air-permit program was invalid, and that every facility operating under such a permit in the state would have to be re-permitted. The argument was not that Texas plants were emitting too much. Rather, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, the Texas “air-permit program … caps emissions of air pollutants from an entire facility, but the EPA wants to scrutinize and restrict emissions from every polluting unit of a plant.” Texas, along with a number of other states, is concerned that regulating on the EPA’s basis will cost considerably more, without improving air quality.

[...]

The permit invalidation was just the beginning, however. The second facet of the power grab, the Obama EPA’s war on coal, will have at least as damaging an effect on Texas as on other states, and in some ways perhaps more. The war on coal is part of a larger regulatory assault on emissions and industrial byproducts of all kinds, which will, if implemented as intended, ensure life as we know it cannot continue in the United States. The impact on Texas is discussed in the testimony submitted to Congress by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) in March.

The findings include the likelihood that the new regulations adopted by the Obama EPA will shut down more than 5700 MW of electrical generating capacity in Texas, or about one-twelfth of the peak demand levied by state users in the last couple of years. Meanwhile, based on economic trends, Texas expects to need as much as 25% more capacity by 2020.

[...]

But what about natural gas? The EPA is way ahead of us, with the third facet of its power grab. Ben Voth wrote a piece for American Thinker in January calling out the new EPA assault on the production of natural gas in Texas. And if you think the EPA’s particular beef is with fracking (hydraulic fracturing) chemicals, think again. The basis for the EPA’s abrupt move against a Texas natural gas driller in December 2010 was methane and benzene found in local water.

It all fit nicely with the emotional appeal of the “documentary” Gasland, which did for the natural gas industry what Michael Moore did for 9/11. The problem is that not only was Gasland full of errors and misrepresentations, the EPA case against Range Resources in Texas was full of holes as well. Based on analysis of their nitrogen content, the methane and benzene in the afflicted water came not from the natural-gas drilling by Range Resources, but through natural seepage from a shallower nearby gas formation – one that is not being drilled. In other words, there’s nothing humans could have done to prevent the seepage.

We highly recommend reading the full article, where you will find all the links and Dyer's full argument here.

- JP

Texas shines an incandescent light for common sense & freedom

2011-07-02T15:35:00.003-05:00

Texas has told the nanny state federal government what it can do with its expensive and potentially hazardous compact fluorescent light bulbs. The state legislature has passed, and Gov. Perry has signed into law, a measure which nullifies the Federal ban on incandescent light bulbs. The new law began as a bill proposed by State Rep. George Lavender (R-Texarkana), who recently appeared on "Fox & Friends" to discuss the genesis of his legislation:

To no one's surprise, watermelons ("environmentalists" who are green on the outside and pinko on the inside) are not amused. They want to dictate how we live our lives and what products we may or may not purchase, all for "the common good."

- JP

New gun law law allows Texans to reclaim some of our freedom

2011-07-02T14:45:00.002-05:00

Employers can no longer prevent their workers from safely and legally storing personal firearms in their locked vehicle while it sits in the company parking lot, thanks to Senate Bill 321, bill championed by State Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Fort Bend) and recently signed into law by the governor:

Hegar said he filed the bill in response to a number of instances where employees had been denied the right to protect themselves while traveling to and from work because their employers had adopted what he called “overly restrictive policies.”

“I want to thank my legislative colleagues both in the Senate and the Texas House for supporting this important legislation,” Hegar said. “I especially want to thank State Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt (R-Lexington), who sponsored the bill in the Texas House of Representatives and who worked tirelessly to help ensure that it received the strong support of House members.”

Alice Tripp, legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, said passage of the bill showed why Hegar was “the Texas State Rifle Association’s Doc Brown Legislator of the Year award winner.”

“After seven long years, the bill has finally crossed the finished line; Senate Bill 321 is clear and finally passed. Thanks to Sen. Hegar, Texas commuters will be protected on their way to and from the workplace,” Tripp said.

[More]

Hegar poined out that many Texans with concealed handgun licenses carry their firearms with them during what are sometimes long commutes to and from work for personal protection. Also, many sportsmen hunt before or after work, and many competitive and recreational shooters like to stop at the local shooting range before heading home for the day. The new law saves them an extra round trip to an from their homes to pick up their guns.

The legislation, which is similar to laws already on the books in Oklahoma, Louisiana and 11 other states, goes into effect September 1.

- JP

No Sharia or other foreign law in Texas, thank you

2011-06-27T07:50:00.000-05:00

Texas State Representatives Leo Berman (R-Tyler) and Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) have sponsored amendments which would prohibit Texas courts from applying foreign laws – such as Islamic Sharia law – when those measures conflict with the rights guaranteed by the U.S. and Texas constitutions:

The House approved a Berman amendment Tuesday to an omnibus courts bill (HB 79) that prohibits Texas courts from applying foreign laws in family cases, when they conflict with constitutional rights. Berman’s amendment was filed during the regular session as HB 911. It passed the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee unanimously, but died in the House Calendars Committee.

“We have a constitution of the United States and laws of the United States. We have a constitution and laws of Texas,” said Berman, noting that legislators take an oath to the U.S. and Texas constitutions upon taking office, not foreign jurisdictions. “I thought that doing this – prohibiting Texas courts from using any international law, culture, rules, or regulations – would be one way to protect Texas residents from Sharia law.”

Islamic Sharia law governs both societal matters such as marriage, divorce, and business relations and matters that US law considers personal such as hygiene and diet.

[More]

The Berman court only nullifies a foreign law when it violates a law or the Texas constitution.

- JP

New Poll: Texans Like Perry... as Governor

2011-06-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

Most Texans approve of Gov. Rick Perry's performance as governor of the Lone Star State, but when it comes to consideration of him as a potential pony in the race for the White House... well, that's a horse of a different color. The results of a new independent poll released Thursday show that just 9 percent of likely GOP voters in the state said they would favor Perry in a presidential race. That's well below the level of support for Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin, the win and place finishers this time around the Texas track:

Romney, favored by 16 percent in the annual Texas Lyceum poll, is the presumptive national front-runner for the Republican nomination, while Palin (14 percent) and Perry have not announced their intention to run.

Several caveats, however, are in order. The presidential preference results have a large margin of error — 8 percentage points — and the Texas primaries are still nine months away.

If Perry were to formally launch a campaign, his support would rise in Texas, though how far is an interesting question, said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas government professor.

"In Texas, what's causing me to hesitate is a sense that people have supported Perry strongly for governor, but they have to think about him as president," Buchanan said. "If he did jump into the race, would his polls jump up? Most probably. But I don't know if they would jump up enough to catapult him into front-runner status, not until he showed his chops, so to speak."

[...]

The new poll was conducted two weeks after another state survey showed Perry trailing most Republican hopefuls in Texas, with only 4 percent of GOP voters favoring their governor as a candidate.

But the latest poll, conducted May 24-31, came after increasing speculation about a Perry candidacy and amid Perry's May 27 announcement that he would consider running for president, ramping up state and national media coverage of the governor.

The telephone poll of 707 adults was conducted for the Texas Lyceum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of community and professional leaders under age 46.

A UT/Texas Tribune poll in late May indicated only 4 percent of Texas Republicans said they'd give Perry their votes for president. Sarah Palin led that field at 12 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich at 11 percent, and Mike Huckabee with 10 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota were in a tie for fourth place at 7 percent each. Since then, Huckabee has declined a presidential run, and Gingrich has stumbled badly. Many of his campaign staffers, formerly with Perry's 2010 gubernatorial campaign, walked out en mass.

Texas poll numbers notwithstanding, Perry's people are surveying the political landscape in Iowa.

- JP

Twilight Zone: Is Rick Perry having presidential dreams?

2011-06-09T17:30:00.013-05:00

Picture of a man looking at a picture. He sees himself painted on the canvass as the 45th President of the United States. James Richard "Rick" Perry, whose world is centered in the close orbit around Austin Texas, a man whose dreams are tucked away in the safety deposit box of his mind. James Richard "Rick" Perry, who is tempted to open that box and try to parlay his dreams into a seat at a poker table where the players are willing to wager all the the political capital they have accumulated in hopes of winning their nation's top job. For the winner, it means the coveted titles of "commander in chief" and "leader of the free world." But the losers may find themselves reduced to panhandling on the political pavement, trying desperately to fill their pencil cups with the coins of fleeting fame. But those are the risks one takes when the cards are shuffled and dealt... in the Twilight Zone.

Brian Preston advises from Austin that despite a number of former Perry campaign people bailing on Newt Gingrich's stumbling campaign, more than one of his sources inside the Texas governor's circles say “nothing has changed”:

If Gov. Rick Perry gets into the presidential race it’s obviously a game-changer. Perry is the nation’s most experienced serving governor and he has built up an economic record that’s pretty tough to match. That should count for quite a bit as we deal with the worst national economy of most of our lifetimes. And if Dave Carney and Rob Johnson really have left, at least in part, because they’re moving back to the Perry team to power his run, that puts some of the top talent on the GOP side on the Perry team. They know how to run a campaign. They are very disciplined and very very good at what they do. Gingrich wasn’t able to get any traction in spite of the talent he had assembled around him, mostly because of his own record and gaffes coming out of the starting gate; I doubt Perry will suffer from that same problem. If their 2010 run in Texas is anything to go by, Perry’s team will bedevil President Obama at every turn.

You can tell that Preston is decidedly pro-Perry, but he maintains that the governor's decision not to run for president still stands. That contradicts the reading of the smoke signals going up from other quarters however. Jonathon Seidl at The Blaze has a source "close to the Gingrich campaign" who says Perry has offered Rob Johnson his old job back. Johnson was Gingrich's campaign manager until today's walkout, and he help the same position with Perry's campaign:

According to the source, “Rob and Perry spoke last week and Perry told him his old job is waiting for him.”

“I know that for a fact,” the source said.*

The final piece of evidence submitted for your consideration, as Rod Serling used to say on "The Twilight Zone," is furnished by National Review editor Rich Lowry:

“he’s in”: that’s what a TX source who’s always discounted idea that gov perry would run just told me

All of the sources cannot be correct, obviously. But which ones are dispensing reliable information, and which ones are just blowing smoke? Ah, that's the billion-dollar question. With apologies to the late Mr. Serling:

To the wishes that may come true, to the strange, mystic strength of the political animal, who can take a wishful dream and give it a dimension of its own. For James Richard "Rick" Perry, who claimed he had "the best job in the world" as governor of Texas, will he risk all he has to try to win the best job in an alien world, one which orbits around that blazing sun known as The Beltway of Washington DC? It can happen in the Twilight Zone.

- JP

Mr. Obama, stop tearing down this state

2011-06-09T08:25:00.003-05:00

Bill Hammond, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, has had enough of Barack Obama's vindictive assault on the Lone Star State, as he makes perfectly clear in this Chronicle op-ed:

Texas versus Washington talk is popular political chatter, but if you move beyond the rhetoric there's substantial evidence that President Barack Obama's administration is waging a strategic and sustained campaign against lives and livelihoods in the Lone Star state .

With all due respect, the president and his administration's hell-bent determination to tear down Texas could be better focused on more pressing matters like reining in debt and reforming entitlements.

The moves against Texas are well documented, some are more bold and brazen than others, and they amount to a war by regulation and executive order that's aimed at knocking Texas off its leadership position.

And lead Texas does. Chief Executive's seventh annual ranking on the best and worst states in which to do business put Texas on top for the 7th year in a row.

Less business-friendly states like the president's home state of Illinois (No. 48) and others sympathetic to his politics and anti-business policies (New York No. 49 and California No. 50) languish in the bottom three spots of the annual survey of the country's CEOs.

I suppose being an economic powerhouse makes Texas an easy target. It's easier to tear down others than to focus on rebuilding America's greatness.

[More]

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Bob Wills Is Still The King'

2011-06-08T21:30:00.001-05:00

Waylon Jennings
Austin, TX (1989)

- JP

Pickens makes his case for the Natural Gas Act

2011-06-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

Billionaire Dallas oil man T. Boone Pickens has returned fire at fiscal conservatives who say that industry-specific tax credits, such as those laid out in his proposal to to greatly increase the natural-gas-powered vehicles on American roads, are bad economic policy:

In an opinion piece, Pickens makes a constitutional argument for the Natural Gas Act, which would create billions of dollars in tax credits to encourage motorists and businesses to buy the vehicles.

Those tax credits would mean “someone gets to keep more of the money he’s earned, rather than giving it to the government to spend on who knows what,” Pickens says. “It is not a government grant. And this tax credit, unlike many others, (would have) a sunset provision of five years.”

Pickens makes the case that the tax credit plan would help promote a domestic manufacturing capability for natural gas-powered vehicles and could help lessen U.S. dependence on foreign imports of oil. The increased energy security, he says, dovetails with the Constitution’s charge to Congress to “provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.”

“Absent a plan of their own, critics of my plan are for the status quo, which is to continue sending billions of dollars to OPEC nations, many of whom, in return, are helping to fund terrorism,” Pickens says.

The legislation, known as the Natural Gas Act, would dramatically expand the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel among heavy- duty fleets. The bill has 188 sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. House and Senate versions of the bill provide tax breaks for natural gas-powered vehicles and fueling stations.

Pickens' opinion piece is here (scroll down).

- JP

Club for Growth endorses Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate

2011-06-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz is gathering endorsements as he tries to become the leader of the pack in the rather crowded GOP primary for retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's seat. The Republican received the stemp of approval last week ofThe Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative 527 national organization:

"Ted Cruz will fight for economic liberty and will be a stalwart defender of the U.S. Constitution," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said in a Thursday statement. "He will be an ally for other pro-growth Senators and Texans will be proud to have him representing them in Congress. Club Members will do everything they can to see that Ted Cruz is elected as Texas's next Senator."

Cruz already scored an endorsement from FreedomWorks PAC, former Majority Leader Dick Armey's organization, earlier this week. He also is backed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a conservative with tea party backing who defeated Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) in the 2010 primary.

The Republicans vying to be the last man or woman standing for the general election include Cruz, Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams have announced campaigns. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is also expected to jumps into the race. On the Democrat side, Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has announced he will seek his party's nomination.

- JP

It's getting very dangerous down on the border

2011-06-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

During her recent trip to Texas, Greta Van Susteren, host of Fox News' "On the Record," spent some time with Dr. Michael Vickers, who owns a ranch 69 miles from the border. Dr. Vickers showed Greta a number of photos he’s taken on or around his land which illustrate the danger on the border. According to Dr. Vickers, there’s been a recent influx of people from India, China, Pakistan, and numerous South American countries trying to cross the border:

Our border patrol agents are doing a great job, but there just aren't nearly enough of them. While Congress continues to throw millions of dollars away on ridiculous research projects such as observing shrimp on treadmills in sparkling clean laboratories, murder and mayhem have become daily facts of life down on the border.

Related: KGRV-TV has more on the "Battle in Brooks County" here.

- JP

Romney: States like Texas make nat'l health ins. reform impossible

2011-06-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

The day after Mitt Romney formally launched his second campaign for president, the former Massachusetts governor appeared on "Fox & Friends," where he was asked about RomneyCare, the mandated state health care reform measure he enacted as governor:

He said that it was, “right for the people of Massachusetts” and re-iterated his opposition to a national model based on the same plan.

“It’s not the model for the nation… in Massachusetts, 93 percent of people were insured,” Romney said, mentioning that fixing health insurance cannot be done nationally because of states like Texas, where Romney said 25 percent of the population is uninsured.

But former White House senior adviser David Axlerod would beg to differ with Mitt Romney. Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in March, Axlerod said that the RomneyCare health plan “inspired” President Obama and was a “template” for the White House’s own national program.

- JP

Federal appeals court lifts ban on graduation prayer

2011-06-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

It looks like prayers will be allowed at a Texas high school graduation after all. Stewart Ball reports from Dallas that a federal appeals court Friday reversed a ban which resulted from the lawsuit filed by an agnostic family that claiming that invocation ceremonies at public events are unconstitutional:

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the emergency appeal filed by the Medina Valley Independent School District. The San Antonio-area school was ordered by a federal judge earlier this week to forbid students from asking audience members to join in prayer or bow their heads at Saturday's graduation.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Christa and Danny Schultz, whose son is graduating. The family's suit was being backed by the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

[...]

Biery's original ruling prohibited students from praying at the graduation. Biery instead suggested that students modify their remarks to be "statements of their own beliefs," allow them to make the sign of the cross, wear a yarmulke or hijab, or kneel to face Mecca.

[More]

Amen.

- JP

Michael Williams may run for U.S. House instead of the Senate

2011-06-02T16:55:00.004-05:00

According to a Texas Tribune source, Michael Williams may withdraw from the crowded field of GOP candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat of Kay Bailey Hutchison and instead run to represent a newly created congressional district (TX-12) which includes his hometown of Arlington. The former Texas Railroad Commissioner had announced in January his candidacy for the Senate.

The decision hinges on whether the House and Senate pass the current congressional redistricting maps early next week. Sources say that Williams could exit the Senate race before next Wednesday's Tribune forum featuring the leading intended candidates in the race...

[...]

Williams' campaign consultant Corbin Casteel, confirmed the switch was impending. "Commissioner Williams has lived in Arlington since the early 90s when he returned to Texas after working for Presidents Reagan and Bush," Casteel said in a statement to the Tribune. "His home has been drawn into a newly created Congressional district. He has received a great deal of encouragement to transition from the Senate race to run for Congress. Provided the new district does not change significantly, he will pursue the new congressional seat."

Other announced or likely candidates for Hutchison's Senate seat include former solicitor general Ted Cruz, Railroad Commission Chair Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Houston) are considering entering the Senate race.

FEC filings show that Williams' Senate campaign raised a disappointing $418,000 in the first quarter of 2011. Running a campaign for the U.S. Senate, even at the primary level, is something of a high stakes poker game, and the players need to ante up at least $1 million if they want a seat at the table. Congressional contests are much less costly, and the amount Williams has raised should be sufficient, at least for now, to run in a primary where he is sure to have fewer GOP rivals.

- JP

Houston Chronicle: Gov. Rick Perry signs tort reform bill into law

2011-05-30T19:35:00.001-05:00

Would-be plaintiffs will have to think twice before filing frivolous lawsuits in Texas, now that a measure which levies fees on plaintiffs and allows meritless suits to be dismissed early in the process has been signed into law by the governor:

Perry designated the "loser pays" bill a top priority of the legislative session, saying Texas needs to crack down on junk lawsuits.

Some plaintiffs who sue and lose will be required to pay the court costs and attorney fees of those they are suing. The law also creates expedited civil actions for cases less than $100,000. It goes into effect Sept. 1.

Perry said the legislation "provides defendants and judges with a variety of tools to expedite justice for those deserving."

"Employers will spend less time in court and more time creating jobs," he said.

The law will encourage timely settlements by penalizing parties who turn down reasonable settlement offers to try to get more than they should.

Perry said the changes reduce the cost of litigation while still allowing legitimate cases to proceed. Supporters say the state's business climate will improve because the reforms will make Texas more attractive to employers looking to expand or relocate.

[More]

- JP

TX School District sued for allowing student-led graduation prayer

2011-05-29T10:45:00.004-05:00

A secularist group which apparently doesn't understand the meaning of Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment has filed a lawsuit against a Texas school district because it allowed students to lead a prayer at their graduation ceremony:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit against the Medina Valley Independent School District (near San Antonio) on Friday on behalf of a local family. The group is upset that the June 4 ceremony will include a student-led invocation and benediction. But according to the district, the two planned statements by students do not constitute official school positions and those students have a right to free speech.

“A disclaimer is printed in each graduation program that notes the content of each student speaker’s message is the private expression of the individual student and does not reflect the endorsement of the district,” school board president Roland Ruiz told the San Antonio Express.

Christa and Danny Schultz, the family behind the suit, and the Americans United group allege, however, that the school is breaking the law...

[...]

But the district isn’t backing down, according to Ruiz.

“It is sad that someone would choose the commencement exercises of the 50th anniversary of our school district as a forum for stirring political debate that threatens to needlessly cast a shadow of controversy over the pinnacle event of the class of 2011,” he said.

[More]

It is significant that the newly-formed Congress of our founders made it one of the first orders of business to appoint chaplains for the House and Senate. Nearly every session of the two chambers from day one have begun with a prayer.

Just sayin'...

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Is anybody Going to San Antone'

2011-05-28T21:20:00.001-05:00

Texas Tornados (2007)

- JP

Big fracking Texas shale boom could increase U.S. oil output

2011-05-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

Houston-based New York Times correspondent Clifford Krauss writes of the shale oil boom in West Texas, where the fields have attracted an influx of oil field workers. Production has ramped up so rapidly that the roughnecks have taken up quarters in RV parks due to a housing and hotels in the area:

CATARINA, Tex. — Until last year, the 17-mile stretch of road between this forsaken South Texas village and the county seat of Carrizo Springs was a patchwork of derelict gasoline stations and rusting warehouses.

Now the region is in the hottest new oil play in the country, with giant oil terminals and sprawling RV parks replacing fields of mesquite. More than a dozen companies plan to drill up to 3,000 wells around here in the next 12 months.

The Texas field, known as the Eagle Ford, is just one of about 20 new onshore oil fields that advocates say could collectively increase the nation’s oil output by 25 percent within a decade — without the dangers of drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the delicate coastal areas off Alaska.

Krauss then goes on about the concerns of the environmental lobby because of the technique used to coax the oil out of the tightly packed layers of shale. Hydraulic fracturing -- aka "fracking" -- involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals into the rock to force the crude out of it. And it's the chemicals, mostly, that the greens object to, claiming that the compounds leach into the water table.

But at Just One Minute, Tom Maguire points out that groundwater contamination due to fracking is not settled science:

The risk to groundwater from fracking may be hypothetical rather than realized - Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, made news with her disputed claim that she is "not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water".

FWIW, the risk from nuclear reactors is real yet unrealized, in this country at least.

Perhaps new technologies will settle the issue. Cavitation hydrovibration, a greener alternative to fracking, uses only water and none of the 200 chemicals employed in the fracking process has shown much promise when used to get natural gas out of shale rock. Crude oil, of course, is much heavier and stickier than methane gas and therefore easier to extract. But if some variation of this newer technology employing nontoxic chemicals can be adapted for shale oil extraction it would change the focus of the debate. But the greens would complain even if pure water were used. They won't be happy until we're paying over $10 a gallon for our gasoline.

As Tom says, Frack, Baby, Frack!

- JP

GOP lawmakers cheer as governor signs Voter ID bill

2011-05-27T19:55:00.000-05:00

Gov. Rick Perry signed the voter identification bill into law Friday, saying, "This is what democracy is all about. "It's our duty to ensure that elections are fair, beyond reproach." Republicans have been pushing the measure for the past several legislative sessions:

Republicans say the law is necessary to prevent voter fraud and make elections fair. Democrats say it will do the exact opposite, by keeping minorities and the poor away from the ballots and boosting conservative voter margins.

[...]

The law would require voters to present a valid state or federal photo ID. A driver's license, personal ID card, military ID, passport or concealed handgun permit is acceptable.

Those expected to require new IDs are mostly people who have religious objections to having their picture taken or have lost their IDs in a natural disaster

Voters without IDs could cast provisional ballots but would have to show identification within six days for their votes to count. The state can issue free IDs to be used specifically for voting if someone doesn't have one of the accepted forms of identification.

"We just wanted to make sure that when someone steps into the voting booth, they are who they say they are," said Republican Sen. Troy Fraser, the Senate sponsor of the legislation.

The law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, makes illegal voting a second-degree felony and attempted illegal voting a state jail felony.

[More]

- JP

Extortion: Feds threaten to ground Texas flights

2011-05-27T10:40:00.002-05:00

The federal government has threatened to ground all commercial flights in and out of Texas over a state bill prohibiting unreasonable searched of at airports. Now the measure appears to be dead in the Texas Senate:

State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, blamed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for caving in to federal officials by turning senators away from his bill. It’s very rare for a Republican to criticize such a powerful politician from his own party, but Patrick said he had never seen a bill derailed quite like this at the last minute.

[...]

The measure would have made it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch private parts under or through clothing.

The House recently approved the bill. The Senate was about to pass it until the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice told lawmakers to back off late Tuesday night.

In a letter to lawmakers, federal officials said they would have to cancel flights in and out of Texas airports, if the measure passed, because of security concerns.

We are reminded of the quotation attributed to Benjamin Franklin:

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

-JP

Don't mess with Israel

2011-05-26T10:20:00.001-05:00

Ron Reale, a staff writer at Kevin Collins' Coach is Right blog, pulls no punches as he uses Texas as a metaphor for Israel:

If Barack Obama received a demand to return the State of Texas to Mexico he would immediately go to Mexico City bow deeply and apologetically and begin to make arrangements to meet this demand.

Imagine if a racist terrorist group, let’s call it “La Raza” just for fun, decided to complain to the UN saying Texas is occupying Mexican lands Texans won in a war, and demanded Texans be erased from he map and America be forced to revert to he pre 1846 border with Mexico and stop building homes in Texas. Imagine the racist terrorist group, “La Raza”, decided San Antonio is Mexico’s capital, and the Alamo is Mexican property.

Now imagine the UN agrees with Mexico, and demands Americans stop building homes in Texas. To fill out the picture, imagine Vladimir Putin echoes Mexico’s demands and acts in a threatening manner to make his point.

Would there be one American that would not go to Texas and start building homes, to say to the world, “^$%*# yourselves, this is our land, won in a war, and we will never give it up, or let anyone else control our movements here.

The message is clear: Don't mess with Israel!

Texas: Unparalleled Job Growth Over Past Decade

2011-05-25T08:55:00.003-05:00

The Lone Star State leads the other 49 in job growth, adding 732,800 new private-sector jobs over the past decade. If that doesn't sound like a lot of jobs for a ten-year period, consider that it's over eight times more jobs than second place Arizona's 90,200 added jobs. The job growth reflects an economic boom unparalleled in any other part of the country, according to the Austin Business Journal:

The inventory of private-sector jobs in Texas increased by 732,800 between April 2001 and the same month this year, according to an On Numbers analysis of new federal employment data. The analysis is by G. Scott Thomas for The Business Journals, the national online news affiliate of the Austin Business Journal.

No other state registered an increase of more than 100,000 private-sector jobs during the decade. Only 19 states and the District of Columbia posted any gains at all.

[...]

Texas avoided the real estate bust that decimated the economies of several large Sunbelt states, including California and Florida, during the 2008-2010 recession. It consequently was positioned for a faster takeoff once the national economy began improving, allowing it to create 251,700 new jobs in the past year alone.

The runners-up to Texas in private-sector growth were Arizona and Utah, which added 90,200 and 90,000 jobs respectively, during the decade from 2001 to 2011.

[More]

California's loss was Texas' gain, and then some. The Golden State suffered the biggest decline of the past decade, with 623,700 fewer private sector jobs last month than it had a decade ago. Michigan fared almost as poorly, with a 10-year loss of 619,200 positions.

- JP

UT/Trib Poll: Palin 12%, Gingrich 11%, Huckabee 10%

2011-05-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

According to a new statewide poll, Sarah Palin leads all of her potential rivals as the top choice for the GOP presidential nomination in the Lone Star State. The survey, which was conducted by The University of Texas and the Texas Tribune the week of May the 11th, was taken just before former governors Mike Huckabee and Mitch Daniels, along with real estate Mogul Donald Trump, removed themselves from contention. The poll also preceded missteps by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and businessman Herman Cain, as both stumbled coming out of the starting gate.

Results of the survey show that Gov. Palin led the field at 12 percent, followed closely by Gingrich at 11 percent, and Huckabee with 10 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota were in a tie for fourth place at 7 percent each, followed Donald Trump at 6 percent; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty with 4 percent; former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania at 3 percent. Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah were at the back of the pack, tied at 1 percent apiece.

The poll also found that Texas is still a "red" state, with only 30 percent of all registered voters saying that they would cast ballots to re-elect President Obama, while 48 percent would vote for the Republican candidate in the presidential race. Obama remains unpopular in Texas, as his job approval rating is only 35 percent, while a majority -- 55 percent -- disapprove of the job he's doing. Of the latter group, 46 percent strongly disapprove of his job performance. Gov. Rick Perry's job approval rating is balanced, with 41 percent giving him positive marks and 42 percent are negative about his performance. The Texas Legislature fares somewhat worse than the governor, with 35 percent approval and 38 disapproval.

According to the survey, true independents are not a very large demographic in Texas, as most registered voters associate themselves with one of the two major political parties. But when it come to the contest for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Kay Bailey Hutchison, many voters, including half of Texas' Republicans and a solid majority of Democrats, are still undecided.

Most Texas voters see both the state and the nation as being on the wrong track. A significant percentage of Texans say they are economically worse off than they were a year ago. Lone Star State voters are evenly divided about the state of the economy, with 48 percent saying Texas' economy has worsened and 49 percent saying the same about the national economy.

This latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll is an internet survey of 800 registered voters, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.46 percent. The Republican primary questions have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.98 percent.

h/t: M. Joseph Sheppard

- JP

It's not a bug; it's a feature...

2011-05-23T21:25:00.002-05:00

Meet the San Antonio Zoo's newest attraction -- a really BIG bug. The strange critter is an elephant beetle, just the right size for Texas. The bodacious bug is just the second of its kind to find a home in a U.S. zoo:

Horticulture curator Martin Feather and a colleague from the St. Louis zoo captured two male specimens of the Megasoma elephas in their native rainforest habitat of Costa Rica. No, they don't bite the hand that feeds them. Elephant beetles prefer a diet of fruit and tree sap.

- JP

Texas jobless rate drops to 8 percent

2011-05-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

The San Marcos Daily Herald reports that Texas' jobless rate has dipped to 8 percent:

The Texas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 8.0 percent for April, down from 8.1 percent in March, and from 8.2 percent a year ago.

April was the third consecutive month that the Texas unemployment rate decreased, as it remained below the U.S. unemployment rate for April of 9.0 percent.

Texas total nonfarm employment was up by 32,900 jobs in April for a total gain of 254,400 jobs from a year ago.

Employment in trade, transportation, and utilities increased by 17,900 jobs in April for a total of 48,700 positions added over the year; education and health services employment rose by 11,300 jobs in April for a total of 49,000 jobs added this year and an annual job growth rate of 3.6 percent.

Professional and business services employers added 8,000 jobs in April. April also was this industry’s third consecutive month of jobs added.

The lowest unemployment numbers in the state were reported by Midland (4.4 percent) and Amarillo (5.2 percent), where production in the West Texas oil fields is on the rise. Bryan and College Station are also enjoying a low jobless rate (5.7 percent) thanks to a construction boom in the area.

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'China Grove'

2011-05-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

Doobie Brothers (2009)

- JP

Trans Texas Corridor, we hardly knew ye (fortunately)

2011-05-22T22:40:00.001-05:00

The Trans Texas Corridor is, at long last, dead. We consider it a mercy killing:

The Senate unanimously passed a bill that strikes from state law any language, reference and authority once connected to the massive highway envisioned to slice a swath through Texas.

The same measure already has passed the House. There are some minor differences that still need to be reconciled, but the bill is expected to go to Gov. Rick Perry, who will have to decide whether to join in the final rites for his once-prized project.

[...]

The highway corridor to parallel Interstate 35 had been a signature issue for Perry, but it was doomed after angry citizens rebelled against the private contracts, the massive proposed taking of private land and what was seen as arrogance by state transportation officials.

All that remains of the doomed "highway from hell" is a provision that would allow 85 mph speed limits on certain highways that were designed and built to handle the higher speeds.

- JP

Leon Wolf: Budget-cutting, Texas style

2011-05-22T18:35:00.000-05:00

Leon Wolf notes that Texas has made actual cuts to its budget for the first time in 50 years:

Via the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Texas Legislature has reached a deal for the upcoming fiscal which actually cuts government spending. This is not a reduction in the rate of growth, it is not a cut based on a proposed budget, it is not a series of accounting gimmicks, the State of Texas will actually spend less money next fiscal year than it did last year.

[...]

Let us hope that John Boehner is paying attention - this is the kind of leadership the American people expect from Congress. Not budget gimmicks, not reductions in the rate of the Federal Government’s growth, but some evidence that the government is actually spending less from year to year. And while liberals and go-along-get-along Republicans claim that actual cuts to government spending will create economic disaster, the experience in Texas proves the exact opposite, as Texas remains the strongest state in the country in terms of economic growth.

[More]

Once again, The Great State of Texas demonstrates how to git 'er done.

- JP

No real evidence Rick Perry is considering a 2012 run

2011-05-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

There's a reason why it's called "silly season." Every four years, an epidemic of White House Fever breaks out inside the beltway and makes its way to the nation's media centers, the distribution points for infecting the rest of the country. For those of us in flyover country, it's like a UFO flap, where numerous sightings of a reality series called "Pundits Gone Wild" are being reported.

Case in point: the current "Rick Perry for President" buzz. All it took to lift this rocket off the pad were a few favorable mentions of the Texas governor in the conservative press (see here, here, and here), and the next thing you hear is "Draft Perry" chatter:

DALLAS — He’s not on the ballot for 2012, but Texas Gov. Rick Perry strongly impressed a gathering of top Republican officials here Tuesday, with many high-ranking GOP officials saying the governor would be their top choice if he entered the presidential race.

“I would love to see a movement to draft Rick for the nomination if that’s the only way we can get him to run,” said Republican National Committee general counsel Bill Crocker after Mr. Perry delivered a luncheon address that had several hundred party officials attentive throughout.

“The comments I got after his speech made it clear I am not alone,” Mr. Crocker said at the meeting of GOP state chairmen and other RNC members.

Interviews with more than two dozen people after Mr. Perry spoke produced a highly unusual degree of consensus about the third-term governor’s potential prospects as a candidate.

The Perry for President buzz is spreading like - ahem - wildfire, fueled in part by a Democrat/Media Complex narrative that the current field of GOP presidential contenders is a "weak" crop. Even PJ Tatler Brian Preston has bought in to it. Next, I suppose, we will hear that Gov. Perry is "considering" a White House run. Oh, wait, that balloon has already gone up:

A Texas pol who is close to Perry has been telling a few key strategists that the nation's longest-serving governor sees a vacuum and is waiting to be summoned into the race. This source believes that could happen by late summer. Without fellow Southerners Haley Barbour or Mike Huckabee in the race -- and with Newt Gingrich's early troubles raising further doubts about the current lineup -- there could be a glaring niche for Perry to fill.

According to another well-connected Republican, at least one Perry confidant has been very quietly making inquiries about the political terrain in the nation's first voting state of Iowa. A third Perry associate, RCP has learned, has been heralding a small contingent of Iowans with the time-tested line that is often used by would-be candidates who are leaving their options open: "Keep your powder dry."

Perry's aides have long made it clear that the tough-talking Texan, who succeeded George W. Bush in Austin in 2000, would not seriously entertain the idea of mounting a White House run before the state's legislative session finishes at the end of this month. That date is now less than two weeks away, and the 2012 presidential field remains fluid.

The Perry chatter has been so discreet that nearly a dozen early-state GOP operatives and consultants contacted by RCP hadn't heard a word about it. But they are unfazed that the buzz exists.

The problem with balloons, though, is they they inevitably get deflated and return to ground. Most of the Perry for President buzz seems to be coming out of Dallas. Cooler heads seem to prevail in Austin, according to NRO's Kevin Williamson:

There’s been a bit of buzz about the possibility of Texas governor Rick Perry getting into the 2012 presidential race, mostly because he’s been making some phone calls to Iowa. Perry says that the Iowa outreach is part of his work as head of the Republican Governors Association, and, as much as I’d like to see him in the race, I think that’s probably (almost) all there is to it (at the moment). If Perry starts showing up at truck stops in New Hampshire on a regular basis, I’ll reconsider.

The main piece of evidence against a nascent Perry candidacy is the presence of Dave Carney, his chief political adviser, in the Gingrich campaign. It’s unlikely that Carney would be working on somebody else’s campaign, with Perry’s blessings, if Perry were getting serious about a 2012 run. For what it is worth, I have not found one knowledgeable person in Austin who thinks that Perry is serious about running for president.

RedState.com's Erick Erickson is of the opinion that the only way to get Perry into the 2012 contest would be as a foil to Mitch Daniels' presidential ambitions:

Perry is not running, but if Daniels does get in as seems certain and conservative angst runs high, I also believe that Perry could be drafted.

Conservatives would have to mount a massive, rapid, and high volume effort to get him in. I think such an outpouring of support and requests would draw Perry in. But, to do so, it’d have to be after Daniels and with continued displeasure with the field by conservatives.

One of the sticking points has always been whether the country was ready for another guy from Texas so soon after Bush. With Texas’s economy flourishing and the national economy still imploding, I think the country could get ready for another guy from Texas really quick.

Daniels is running. How conservatives react once Daniels makes it official could have an impact on Perry if conservatives target him for a draft effort.

If Perry does allow himself to be persuaded to chase the bandwagons to the White House along with the other big dogs, it would be the biggest flip-flop since John Kerry voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it. After all, Perry stated in May:

"I've made my decision. If I really believe in the 10th amendment, then being a governor of a state is where the action is."

Asked during a GOP gubernatorial debate on Jan. 29 whether he would serve his full four-year term if re-elected, Perry answered that he would "absolutely" as long as the Lord lets him live that long:

"If your intent here is to question where I would want to go any better than being the governor of the state of Texas, that place hasn't been made yet," Perry said.

The Lone Star State is one of the remaining places where a man's word is his bond. Those who break that bond get branded as "all hat and no cattle," which in Texas is worse than calling a man a horse thief. Houston Chronicle Washington bureau chief Rick Dunham says there's no concrete evidence to confirm Perry is considering a run:

"Gov. Perry has repeatedly said he is not running for president, and that has not changed," said Mark Miner, the governor's spokesman.

[...]

But with Perry's political pluses come some potential minuses. While he is a household name in Texas, he is not as well-known nationally and has fared poorly in early GOP straw polls. He finished 11th, behind winner Ron Paul, in a Tea Party Patriots online straw poll this spring. And he placed fourth in a Rasmussen Reports poll of dark-horse possibilities with 7 percent.

[...]

Some Texans close to Perry say he is hoping to be a kingmaker in the 2012 presidential campaign and has been sought out by candidates eager for his support.

While he says he's not running for president, one Perry friend says, "he's going to be available for dating."

Our view is that until the GOP's field of candidates shakes out a little more and some of those sitting on the sidelines toss their hats into the ring, the Rick Perry for President babble will persist. The chatterati hate to let go of their own narratives.

- JP

Battle to de-fund Planned Parenthood rages on in Texas

2011-05-19T06:30:00.001-05:00

Life News Editor, founder and CEO Steven Ertelt has been following the continuing battle in Texas to de-fund Planned Parenthood's abortion business by diverting $61.7 million in family planning funds away from the agency and towards other more legitimate programs:

In April, the Texas House of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted eight different amendments to redirect the funding and it was careful not to move additional family planning funds, leaving $104 million untouched in family planning required for complete compliance with federal spending mandates. More than 300 non-abortion agencies across the state qualify to provide family planning services and they do not do abortions or refer for them.

The move makes it so House Bill 1 could be the most pro-life budget Texas legislators have ever passed, but Elizabeth Graham, the director of Texas Right to Life, says the effort could be in jeopardy.

“Some legislators on the budget conference committee want to restore a huge revenue stream to the abortion industry,” Graham told LifeNews in an email. “Our sources in the Legislature told Texas Right to Life that efforts were underway to restore the $61.7 million to family planning that was removed by overwhelming majorities in the State House. However, due to immediate pushback by our Pro-Life elected representatives, the conference committee last night left the final amount for family planning programs pending.”

She is urging pro-life advocates to contact members of the House Bill 1 Conference Committee and urge them to keep both the Williams Senate rider and the House family planning cuts in the state budget.

[More]

Texans who believe in the sanctity of life can contact state lawmakers online to urge de-funding of Planned Parenthood. Contact information is here.

- JP

Financial Times: Dallas and Destiny

2011-05-18T11:20:00.003-05:00

The recovery promised us by the Obama Administration and its cheerleaders, otherwise known as the media establishment, has been slow to materialize. But the "crane boom" in Dallas is a sign that Texas' economy is on the move again. The financial Times' Robin Harding has the story:

Crane counting is an economic indicator that works anywhere. At the height of the 2005-06 boom you could see 11 of them from the windows of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In the recession that followed, they all vanished.

Look out at downtown Dallas today and you will count six cranes. There is a recovery under way in this city at the heart of Texas, at the heart of America.

William Noakes is a partner in Ockleshaw, Noakes & Stares, a Dallas-based consultancy that helps big retailers to design their shops. After three years in the doldrums, he says, the mood of the US retail market has changed. “I think people are now willing to open the purse strings and retailers are saying, ‘We have to reinvest’,” says Mr Noakes.

Yet the sunnier mood in Dallas does not chime with recent economic data for the US as a whole. Almost two years after the end of the recession, it is as if Texas is in a normal recovery while the overall economy has a speed limit built in...

[...]

Across the US, the bruises left by the financial crisis are fading, but not fast, making it hard to expect the kind of growth acceleration that would let the whole country enjoy the recovery that is emerging in Texas.

Texans like to argue that there is another factor that sets them apart: a native sense of optimism and entrepreneurship, aided by low levels of state tax and regulation. Texas, they say, has been faster to regain confidence and start investing. “I’m optimistic – I’m a Texan, I’m an American,” says Philip Montgomery, a Dallas-based property developer who says that his sector is “trending back up modestly”. Both parts of Mr Montgomery’s identity are important, as they suggest the US as a whole can regain its vigour once it shakes off the speed limit that is holding it back.

[More]

We submit that "speed limit" holding back the economy beyond Texas' borders are the familiar failed liberal policies of the past which Beltway Democrats and Vichy Republicans refuse to shake off: tax, borrow and spend. A group of California governmentals recently made news when they visited Texas to get an up close look at how it should be done. We suggest that similar junkets be taken by politicians from the District of Columbia to the Lone Star State. They might just learn something about economic freedom despite themselves.

- JP

In-N-Out Burger comes to Texas; madness ensues

2011-05-16T21:00:00.001-05:00

In-N-Out Burger, a California chain, opened its first two fast food restaurants on Texas soil last week in the Dallas suburbs of Allen and Frisco. In what may be the understatement of the week, the Houston Chronicle said the openings "created quite the stir in North Texas":

-JP

Smile! Your kids are on Calorie Camera

2011-05-16T13:50:00.000-05:00

Big Brother is watching what your kids eat:

That's the idea behind a $2 million project being unveiled Wednesday in the lunchroom of a San Antonio elementary school. Health officials say high-tech cameras in the cafeteria will begin photographing what foods children pile onto their trays — and later capture what they don't finish eating.

Digital imaging analysis of the snapshots will then calculate how many calories each student scarfed down. Officials say the technology is so advanced it will correctly identify a half-eaten pear on a tray.

At a time when the national debt calculator is adding zeroes fast enough to give you vertigo, the Obama Administration's U.S. Department of Agriculture thinks it's a really good idea to spend a couple of million of your hard-earned dollars on this Orwellian brain flatulence. Because, ya' know, leftists just don't trust parents to raise their own children.

Had enough of that hope and change yet?

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Luckenbach, Texas'

2011-05-15T21:30:00.003-05:00

Waylon Jennings (1995)

- JP

Texas lawmakers tighten Internet tax laws (Updated)

2011-05-15T18:10:00.002-05:00

Texas legislators passed a bill Friday that toughens the rules for Internet retailers, requiring online retailers with a warehouse or distribution center in Texas to collect state sales taxes:

Senators voted 30-1... to pass House Bill 2403, a measure that originated with Rep. John Otto, R-Dayton. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.

The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Perry.

With its vote, the Senate joined the House in siding with state Comptroller Susan Combs in her push to force Amazon.com and other online retailers to collect taxes on sales made to Texans.

The company has consistently opposed collecting tax on its online sales, which has angered state governments and traditional retailers. Combs has said Texas loses $600 million a year in uncollected tax revenue on online sales.

The issue has been a political hot button in the state since Combs’ office last year sent Amazon a notice that it owes $269 million in uncollected sales taxes, citing the company’s distribution center in Irving.

The bill does not address the practice of using online retailers’ agreements with Texas-based affiliate marketers to establish physical presence in the Lone Star State.

Update: Commentary at Big Government here

- JP

Insult to injury: Feds burn Texas while Obama campaigns

2011-05-14T10:25:00.004-05:00

While Bungler-in-Chief Obama was in El Paso "getting in their faces" (i.e., of Republicans) at a stage-managed campaign event, the incompetents of his administration's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) were doing their best imitation of Jim Carrey's "Fire Marshall Bill" character in North Texas. As the Plainview Herald reported, a BATF training exercise went awry, and the resulting wildfire scorched another 150 acres of the drought-devastated Texas panhandle. The blazes have been extinguished, but the Herald's editor writes that the federal fiasco is far from over:

Motley County Attorney Tom Edwards said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms could face charges for violating the county's burn ban after their actions started a fire that scorched an estimated 150 acres in the northwest part of that county on Tuesday.

Edwards called the incident ironic and inexcusable.

"We have the federal government that has just refused aid to the state of Texas for all our fire damage throughout the state, and then here comes federal agents who start another fire," Edwards told KCBD-TV.

Jim Luera, resident agent in charge for the BATF in Lubbock, took full responsibility for the fire after his agency detonated explosives that touched off a grass fire that quickly got out of hand. It took close to six hours for firefighters from five area volunteer departments - Motley County, Floydada, Turkey, Roaring Springs and Flomot - plus heavy equipment from the Texas Department of Transportation to extinguish the fire.

BATF's resident agent in Lubbock say the Bureau will will reimburse landowners who were affected by the blazes for their losses. Don't expect any heads to roll over this SNAFU. Any charges that may or may not get filed would be for violation of the county's burn ban, which is just a Class C misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is a $500 fine.

At the American Thinker Blog, Phil Boehmke comments:

At a time when the ATF and Eric Holder’s DOJ are embroiled in controversy stemming from their “Gun Runner” and “Fast and Furious” campaigns which have increased the flow of firearms across the border into Mexico, it seems the height of incompetence to intentionally detonate explosives in a region which has already suffered from a series of devastating wildfires. What could the ATF possibly have been thinking?

Perhaps when the ATF conducts its next training exercise they should check with the White House to make sure that all necessary precautions are taken. I’m thinking if they were to build a moat around the site it could contain the damage and prevent the destruction of private property.

The Obama Administration continues to demonstrate that competent governance is way above the pay grade of everyone from the president on down to local BATF flunkies. You would think that especially after the recent wildfires did so much damage to the Lone Star State that someone would have checked with the county just to make sure that a burn ban wasn't in effect.

But this is the same administration, remember, that gave a safety award to Transocean, Inc., the company which was partially responsible for the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. While we're not by any stretch of the imagination Bush cheerleaders, it should be noted that the administration which preceded all that Hope and Change cited Deep Water Horizon six times for safety violations. Yet Team Obama bestowed an award for safety on it. We hesitate to ask what else can possibly go wrong before the voters send the community organizer back to The Windy City.

- JP

Brian Preston: Herman Cain storms Texas

2011-05-13T20:20:00.002-05:00

Brian Preston at the PJ Tatler reports on Herman Cain's stump stop in Texas' fourth-largest city:

GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain (GA) swung through Austin, Texas today fresh from his strong performance in the presidential debate in South Carolina a week ago. He spoke during breakfast to a capacity crowd from the Austin Economic Club. Cain’s speech ran about 25 minutes. He used no notes, and the closest teleprompter was a couple of blocks away at one of the local TV studios.

Mr. Cain speaks from memory and from his heart, so as he is quick to point out, he never delivers quite the same speech twice. The themes and issues will be consistent from speech to speech, but Cain’s is not a stump speech. The speech he delivered in Austin was equal parts CEO business lecture, motivational address, political stemwinder and Baptist sermon with jokes and personal anecdotes peppered throughout.

Cain hit all of the major issues, coming out strong for border security in this border state (“Instead of suing Arizona, they should have gotten a prize!”), hammering away at liberal politicians and policies (“The problem with liberals is, they can’t handle the facts!”), race (“I am black, but I happen to be an American first.”) and his conservatism (“I escaped the Democrat plantation and I’m not going back.”) Cain closed with a simple call to what makes him an optimist, and what makes him believe he can win, as well as what he tells his grandkids when they ask for his advice: “Believe in God, believe in yourself, and believe in the greatest country in the world, the United States of America.”

Preston says Cain's audience gave him "an enthusiastic standing ovation."

h/t: Enthusiastic standing Cain supporter Stacy McCain (but we passionate Palin proponents won't hold that against him because Stacy has stood up to defend her time and time again, even when he didn't have to).

- JP

Rush Limbaugh: Why Obama Denied Texas Aid

2011-05-13T18:20:00.001-05:00

The talk show host explains to a caller from Mineral Wells why the president did not give Texas the disaster declaration Gov. Perry requested to make the Lone State State eligible for emergency aid during or after the wildfires:

CALLER: Why did Obama deny emergency aid to Texas during the wildfires?

RUSH: It's a red state.

CALLER: Well, I know, but still the state's on fire.

RUSH: Why did Obama sue Arizona?

CALLER: Isn't that gonna hurt him politically?

RUSH: No! He figures Texas isn't gonna vote for him anyway. Texas didn't vote for him. This is punishment. This is how politicians like Obama work.

CALLER: But wouldn't other states look at that and say, "Hey, if he's not gonna help them, why should we support him?"

RUSH: No. It's the other way around: Next time you support him and he'll help you when you have a disaster.

CALLER: Okay, so he was just playing sides?

RUSH: Total!

CALLER: Okay.

RUSH: Total! It's not just... (snorts) Look, this is punishment. The state of Texas also happens to be where Bush lives. The state of Texas did not vote for Obama. There are plenty of other states that did, and they're gonna get the money first. It's no more complicated than that. Obama is president of Obama! I'm surprised anyone would have this question. Could somebody point to me one thing he's done for the country at large? Isn't everything Obama's done harmful to the country, one way or the other? He's got his crony capitalist buddies that he helps out, but the country? Is the country better off economically because of Obama? Is our foreign policy better off? By the way, new policy in Libya. Guess what? Remember when Obama said in his original announcement it'd last days? Nope! Now there's no end. We are there until somebody (not us) gets Khadafy. Just announced. The real question is: Why are you surprised that he's sticking it to Texas? He's sticking it to everybody else, every chance he gets -- and I mean that. I'm not trying to be extreme with it.

Background: Perry, Cornyn, Hutchison blast Obama for denying Texas wildfire aid request

- JP

TX House to TSA: Don't Mess with Traveling Texans

2011-05-13T14:55:00.000-05:00

The Texas House told the TSA to keep its hands to itself Thursday night, approving a bill that would make it a crime for public servants to inappropriately touch travelers during airport security pat-downs:

The measure makes it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch “the anus, sexual organ, buttocks, or breast of another person” including through clothing.

It also prohibits searches “that would be offensive to a reasonable person.”

The bill’s chief sponsor is Republican Rep. David Simpson, who said, “this has to do with dignity and travel, and prohibiting indecent, groping searches.”

He believes it will keep Transportation Security Administration officials from treating travelers like criminals, though the measure may be superseded by federal law.

Debate on the measure was passionate but brief, and the House passed the bill with little opposition.

- JP

Gov. Perry recruiting in Vernon, California

2011-05-12T13:44:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry is hunting in California, and his quarry is located in the community of businesses in the small industrial city of Vernon. The L.A. Times reports:

Perry has sent dozens of emails to some of Vernon's approximately 1,800 employers, telling them that a bill backed by California Assembly Speaker John Perez could eliminate many of the tax and operating-cost advantages they enjoy in the manufacturing enclave southeast of Los Angeles.

"As the state of California continues to support legislation that causes undue burden and taxation on companies doing business in the Los Angeles area, I invite you to consider your future in America's new land of opportunity: the state of Texas," Perry wrote.

"If California doesn't want your business, Texas does."

He noted that Texas "has no personal income tax, and there's no interest in getting one."

Perez's bill would strip Vernon of its city charter because of what he has called an "unprecedented pattern of corruption" in the city of fewer than 100 residents, which has been controlled for the last century by a small group of family members and their allies.

Business executives in Vernon, who have been waging a battle against the powerful Democratic speaker from Los Angeles, say they just might be interested in what Texas has to offer.

No doubt governmentals out there on the left coast are fed up with Texas wooing so many of its former corporate taxpayers to move to Texas. The Lone Star State's recruiter-in-chief better check the expiration date on his hunting license and make sure that California Business Season is open for hunting, lest they jail him out there for poaching.

- JP

A long drought is finally broken

2011-05-12T12:35:00.002-05:00

Residents in the Brian-College Station area of the Brazos River Valley woke up to the sweet music of thunder Thursday morning. With the thunder, a significant amount of rain is still falling.

If you think that the mere fact that it is raining is hardly anything worth writing about, consider that prior to the latest change in the weather:

-- Measurable rain has not fallen in Bryan / College Station since March 14th.

-- The last decent rain we saw in Brazos County, and most of the area for that matter, was back on January 16th with 0.70" of rain measured in the rain gauge.

Even before that meager amount of precipitation, the drought here was bad -- so bad that in many of the area's churches, prayers for rain have been offered every Sunday for more than a year now. While North Texas has received an abundance of rain, those of us just 170 miles to the south have wondered why successive storms have passed by just to the north of us only to dump countless buckets of rain on the Metroplex.

So Brazos County's farmers and ranchers finally have something to smile about. Those of us who suffer from allergies are just as happy, as the rain has knocked the ever-present pollen out of the air, and we can breathe freely again, thank the good Lord.

Sometimes even the simplest things which we usually take for granted can be great blessings when we have been deprived of them.

- JP

Texas House Passes Sanctuary Cities Bill

2011-05-11T11:57:00.000-05:00

Late Tuesday night the Texas House passed a controversial "sanctuary cities" bill, which would prohibit governmental entities or special districts from preventing law enforcement officers to ask persons lawfully detained or arrested if they are in the country legally. Non-compliant entities could face the loss of state funds:

The measure was passed on a 100 to 47 vote just before midnight.

Opponents of the legislation, proposed by state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, fear it will lead to racial profiling and harassment of legal residents and citizens. Proponents of HB 12, which was declared an "emergency" item by Gov. Rick Perry, say it is a necessary tool to free up law enforcement to better identify those in the country illegally, including criminals.

[...]

“When you cast this vote, I hope you realize that 9 million Hispanics will take it personally,” said state Rep. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, referring to the legal Hispanic population in Texas.

But supporters say it is not an Arizona-type law, which requires that police enforcers ask about immigration status. Instead, it is about discretion, they argue, and only grants police officers the right to inquire if they choose. They also point to the escalating violence in drug-war ravaged Mexico as a reason the bill needs to be implemented. Legal residents, citizens and non-criminals should have no reason to fear the law, Republicans say.

“My skin is brown. I am Hispanic, and I am not afraid of House Bill 12," said state Rep. Jose Aliseda, R-Beeville, a member of the inaugural class of the Hispanic Republic Conference.

Officers would have to witness a crime or have reason to believe someone was involved in a crime before they are allowed to inquire about the status.

The measure now moves to third reading in the House.

- JP

Obama in Texas: All Hat, No Cattle

2011-05-11T09:00:00.010-05:00

President John Kennedy inspired millions of Americans to public service when he urged them in 1960 to,"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Half a century later, President Obama, in full campaign mode , was all hat and no cattle when he visited El Paso and Austin Tuesday. But the president did not tell Texans what he could do for them. He seemed to be more interested in what Texas could do, not for the country, but for him. Sadly, Barack Obama has clearly demonstrated that he is no John Kennedy.

Obama has refused to issue a disaster declaration for the Lone Star State in the wake of the devastating wildfires that burned more than two million acres of our land, destroyed more than 400 of our homes and took the lives of two of our brave firefighters. While cold to the notion of helping wildfire-weary Texans, Obama in El Paso was all about helping the Democrat Party in a rousing pro-amnesty stump speech about immigration reform in which The Great Uniter mocked Republicans and pandered to illegal aliens. Later in Austin, it was all about wealthy Texas Democrats helping Obama, as the president's fundraiser took in $2 million for his 2012 campaign. Heck of a deal for Obama. He wouldn't cough up a dime to help scorched Texans, but he took his $2 million and ran.

Meanwhile, East Texans expressed their opinions about Obama's idea of immigration reform:

h/t: The Blaze

- JP

TX Senate Approves Guns on Campus for CC Permit Holders

2011-05-10T21:55:00.001-05:00

The Daily Texan via the Ay-Pee reports that the Texas Senate Monday approved allowing concealed handgun license holders to carry weapons into public college buildings and classrooms:

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, had been unable to muster the votes he needed under Senate rules to pass the issue as its own bill after the measure met stiff resistance from higher education officials, notably from within the University of Texas system.

The measure seemed all but assured easy passage when the legislative session began in January. The Senate had passed a similar bill in 2009 and about 90 lawmakers in the 150-member House had signed on in support this year. But the bill stalled on its first three votes in the Senate and took some maneuvering by Wentworth to get it through.

Supporters hope Monday’s vote will help shove the measure past a roadblock in the House, where a similar bill has been stuck without a vote in that chamber with just a few weeks left in the legislative session.

“Campus carry has more momentum than a runaway freight train,” said W. Scott Lewis of Students for Concealed Carry, a nationwide group backing the measure.

The Senate’s 12 Democrats had mostly worked as a block to stop the measure but were powerless to stop it on Monday when all it took was a simple majority in the 31-member chamber to get it added to the spending bill as an amendment.

It almost goes without saying that the campus firearms measure quickly became one of the most controversial issues of the legislative session.

Meanwhile, Gun Owners of America is tracking a bill to allow Texans who hold concealed carry permits to also carry openly which is moving slowly but surely through the Texas legislature. HB 2756 recently passed out of the Committee on Homeland Security & Public Safety in the Texas House and now heads to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber.

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Texas Flood'

2011-05-10T19:35:00.004-05:00

Stevie Ray Vaughan (1983)

- JP

Williams: Welcome to Texas, Mr. President

2011-05-10T08:30:00.004-05:00

Today President Obama will be visiting El Paso to push for amnesty for illegal immigrants and Austin to raise money from wealthy Texas Democrats for his reelection campaign. Via Jim Geraghty's Campaign Spot, Roger Williams, one of the Republicans in the contest for Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat, welcomes the president to the Lone Star State by pointing to the nation's decline under Obamanomics in this ad:

Related: Governor Perry Declines to Be Obama’s Prop for El Paso Stump Speech

- JP

State Senate Okays Voter ID Bill

2011-05-09T19:00:00.001-05:00

Mike Ward at The American Statesman reports that the Texas Senate has passed the Voter ID bill, which would authorize the state police to issue election identification cards to voters who have no other form of ID:

The final version of Senate Bill 14 was approved 19-12, along party lines, with Republicans voting in the majority.

Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said the bill is designed to thwart voter fraud. Several final tweaks were made in the legislation earlier passed by the Senate and House, but Fraser said none were substantive.

Fraser said the new election-only ID will look much the same as a state identification card “but it will say state election identification.”

Republicans have been calling for the new law, saying it was needed to stop a growing problem with voter fraud, while Democrats have claimed that the change would make it harder for many Texas voters who have no photo ID to cast their ballots.

- JP

Texas House passes ‘loser pays’ tort reform

2011-05-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

It was a wild weekend -- or at least a storming Saturday -- in the Texas House, according to Brian Preston at Pajamas Media:

The past couple of weeks, airwaves around the state capital in Austin have been saturated with TV ads decrying an “assault” on liberties. The “assault” was actually a strong tort reform bill that discourages frivolous lawsuits by making plaintiffs pay defendant’s expenses if they lose a lawsuit. The ads were paid for by the Mostyn law firm out of Houston. That name might be familiar to PJM readers and has certainly become familiar to everyone who watches Texas politics. Over the past couple of years, trial lawyer Steve Mostyn has reaped millions from lawsuits in the aftermath of hurricanes (and mold lawsuits prior to that), lawsuits that all but emptied the state’s windstorm insurance fund. Mostyn has used some of those millions to set himself up as a Texas version of George Soros, funding a “shadow party” on behalf of far left Democrats all over the state. His latest ad campaign defended the status quo, in which there is no early opt out for frivolous lawsuits in Texas, and which allows trial lawyers to sue on contingency knowing that the worst that can happen to them is they won’t collect; meanwhile, those they sue will be out expenses for defending themselves. That environment encourages frivolous lawsuits, and has made lawyers like Mostyn and fellow Democrat Jim Dunnam very wealthy men. And, it has made insurance more and more expensive for everyday Texans.

Well, the GOP controlled Texas House handed Mostyn and the trial lawyers a major defeat on Saturday. They moved forward on HB 274, which would create a “loser pays” tort system similar to the one already prevalent in Britain. The purpose is to choke off frivolous lawsuits by making contingency fee trial lawyers themselves subject to expense recovery if they lose a case, improving the legal and employment climate in the state according to Gov. Rick Perry. Given the importance of trial lawyers to the Texas Democratic Party, the House session was every bit as contentious as might be expected, but at least the Democrats didn’t run off to Oklahoma this time.

More details from the AP here.

- JP

Look Who's Hiring

2011-05-05T10:00:00.002-05:00

Reporters who cover financial issues probably now have a function key programmed for the word "unexpectedly" to save keystrokes because it's found in nearly every bad news report on the economy - and there has been no shortage of those in the past three years. Reuters reported today (emphasis mine):

New U.S. claims for unemployment aid unexpectedly rose last week to touch their highest level in eight months, pushed up by factors ranging from spring break layoffs to the introduction of an emergency benefits program, a government report showed on Thursday.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 43,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000, the highest since mid-August, the Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims dropping to 410,000. The prior weeks figure was revised up to 431,000 from the previously reported 429,000.

The four-week moving average of unemployment claims, a better measure of underlying trends, increased 22,250 to 431,250, the highest since November.

The data falls outside the survey period for the governments closely watched employment report for April, which will be released on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls will be reported up 186,000 for last month, according to a Reuters survey, after rising by 216,000 in March—which was the most in 10 months.

Economists are blaming high food and gasoline prices for putting the damper on Q1 economic growth. But not all HR managers are dozing at their desks like some air traffic controllers at their radar screens on the graveyard shift. According to Fuel Fix, there is one corner of the economy which is busy signing up workers, as the same high oil prices that are putting the hurt on other sectors have energy-related companies launching new projects from Texas to Iraq:

On the hunt for talent are major oil companies as well as lesser-known engineering firms, in a sweeping effort that recalls previous boom cycles and is likely to bring more jobs to Houston.

“We’re definitely back in heavy growth mode,” said Billy Stein, recruiting manager for Aker Solutions, a Norwegian engineering and construction company with offices in Houston.

Stein is one of many industry recruiters who converged on Houston this week for the 2011 Offshore Technology Conference, which concludes today at Reliant Park. Attracting more than 70,000 engineers and other technical professionals, the event is tailor-made for companies looking to fill vacant positions — and recruiters came ready.

BP had a lounge-like recruiting center set up in Reliant Stadium. Chevron Corp. hosted applicants at the Hotel Icon downtown. Others, including Saudi Aramco, had recruiting managers at booths on the show floor and were prepared to interview job candidates on the spot.

The renewed interest in hiring comes after some lean years for the industry, marked by recession, downsizing and cautious predictions of the future. When oil prices plummeted from the record highs of 2008 and energy demand stalled with the recession, Shell, BP and other oil majors cut thousands of jobs. Oil field services companies like Schlumberger and Halliburton and other support companies responded by making deep cuts of their own.

BP’s deadly Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico last year dealt the industry yet another blow by bringing most deep-water drilling activity to a halt in the U.S. offshore basin.

But in recent months, optimism began returning to the industry, as oil prices gave companies confidence to green-light new projects, such as massive offshore installations in the Gulf that can put thousands to work.

Those in the energy field are no strangers to the boom and bust cycle and are exercising due caution by being more cost conscious and applying a heavy dose of realism to the salary setting process. But with the unemployment rate just under 9 percent and a robustly competitive job market, they have no shortage of quality potential new hires to choose from.

Nearly 12,500 new vacancies were posted in March, a number which is 60 percent higher than at this time last year. More job seekers are letting their keyboards do their walking, as online applications have doubled. It's all good news for engineering and geology graduates. Texas A&M's Class of 2011 is finding a much more receptive employment environment -- one in which their resumes are far more likely to actually be reviewed rather than filed away and forgotten -- than last year's crop of graduates faced.

Now if only the Obama Administration would remove the bans on its no-drill zones and cut away some of the red tape... Yes, it's just a dream, but it's one in which the use of the word "unexpectedly" would be appreciated for a change. As in "Acme Production Company's request to drill a new well in the Gulf of Mexico was unexpectedly approved today..."

- JP

Texas Senate Approves Ultrasound Bill

2011-05-04T13:00:00.002-05:00

Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com notes the Texas State Senate's initial approval of a bill that would allow women considering an abortion to see an ultrasound of their unborn child beforehand. Pro-life legislators hope the measure will help reduce the number of abortions performed in the Lone Star State:

After nearly two hours of debate, the Senate passed the bill on second reading on a 21-10 vote and all hostile, pro-abortion amendments by Sens. Wendy Davis, Jose Rodriguez, and Leticia Van de Putte were defeated. The legislative chamber still needs to give the measure final approval on third reading, but that is expected to take place with a similar or identical vote.

Sen. Dan Patrick is the sponsor of HB 15, which gets its final vote Tuesday and will then head back to the House for a confirmation vote before going to pro-life Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to sign it into law.

During the debate, the biggest point of contention was whether women should be allowed to see the ultrasound 24 hours before the abortion so they have time to reflect on the information and images showing the development of their unborn child. Without the reflection time, legislators were concerned abortion businesses may rush women into abortions they may not otherwise want if given time for consideration.

Sen. Patrick says 80,000 abortions are performed in Texas every year.

- JP

FEMA to Texas: It's your problem, deal with it

2011-05-04T11:05:00.007-05:00

According to NBC DFW (KXAS-TV), The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is refusing to give Texas any more federal disaster assistance, saying the Lone Star State has already received enough help from the federal government in the wake of devastating wildfires that burned acreage in all but two Texas counties:

Late Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry criticized the White House after learning that his April 16 request for a federal major disaster declaration and additional help had been rejected. Wildfires since November have blackened at least 2.2 million acres and damaged or destroyed more than 400 homes across the state, the governor said.

The federal government has already provided Texas with grants for response activities, FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told The Associated Press in a statement.

"FEMA has been in close contact with the state since the fires occurred, and based on the information they provided, it was determined that there was not a need for additional support at this time," Racusen said. "Over the past few months, FEMA has awarded over 20 fire management grants to the state, which provide targeted funding to help with firefighting efforts, including 16 in April alone."

FEMA will continue to work closely with the state and local emergency management officials, Racusen said.

Perry said the state will consider all its options, including an appeal. FEMA says Texas has 30 days to appeal.

Texas Music Break: 'T for Texas'

2011-05-03T13:50:00.004-05:00

by Van Morrison (1977)

- JP

Oh no, he didn't!

2011-05-03T13:35:00.006-05:00

Some social media neophytes seem to have to learn the hard way that their tweets can come back to bite them. Such was the case with Lufkin’s city planner, who resigned last week "after being confronted by city officials about comments he had made on Twitter about the city and region," according to City Manager Paul Parker via the Lufkin Daily News:

Trent Cantrell last month posted the message “Lufkin is an armpit. I know (...) I have to live here temporarily” on the social networking website. Months earlier he posted, “Hello there. Just waiting for the heat to leave for good. Of course, Deep East Texas will still be a (expletive) hole.” Another comment he had posted: “It’s hard to plan for a city that doesn’t want any planning, conservation, or regulation of the built environment of any kind.”

Cantrell, a 39-year-old Dallas native, had been an employee with the city since April 2009. He apparently removed the posts Wednesday morning, after The Lufkin Daily News sought comment from city officials about the posts. Cantrell did not return a request for comment left in his office, and his Lufkin home phone number is unlisted.

Parker said Thursday that Cantrell’s behavior put the city in a bad light.

“We don’t want anyone to reflect negatively on the city of Lufkin. We don’t tolerate that,” he said.

While the city does have a general social media policy in its handbook, Parker said it is likely the policy will be revisited due to this situation.

Some big city slickers just can't seem to find happiness in a smaller venue, unlike your editor, who found Houston too big for its britches and rather enjoys the good life here in the Brazos Valley. But I digress...

The search is on in Lufkin for an assistant city planner who can keep some opinions to himself or herself, or at least have the good sense not to tweet them in front of God and everybody. The job app form is here.

- JP

Perry joins coastal governors’ energy coalition

2011-05-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry is joining governors from Alaska and Gulf Coast states Tuesday in an effort to get coastal state governors more involved in decisions about energy production offshore, according to a post at the Chron's Texas on the Potomac:

The push for a new Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition is led by four governors who know a little something about oil and gas production offshore: Perry, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Sean Parnell of Alaska and Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

In an invitation to other coastal state governors, the foursome said they hoped the coalition would “foster an appropriate dialogue between the coastal states and the administration” about offshore drilling. The group would give the governors a vehicle to lobby for expanded drilling offshore.

“All federal decisions regarding exploration and production must be made in consultation with affected states,” the four governors said. “In recent months, however, the federal government has taken sweeping actions regarding offshore oil and gas activities with little consultation with the states.”

And too often, they say, those decisions have conflicted with the states’ best interests.

- JP

Houston Republicans want the EPA to stop messing with Texas

2011-05-01T17:40:00.001-05:00

Texas on the Potomac reports that a quartet of U.S. Congressmen representing the Lone Star State -- Reps. Ted Poe, Pete Olson, Kevin Brady and Joe Barton -- all members of the congressional EPA Task Force, are on the same chapter and verse after visiting the Houston Ship Channel. They want the Environmental Protection Agency to understand that its regulations are killing jobs and hurting Texas’ economy. The state is already a leader in improved energy production, so the four want EPA to stop messing with Texas:

The congressmen visited the area to study local efforts to improve air quality and the environment.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave demonstrations of high tech, mobile air quality testing equipment that’s used to track and measure progress of improved air quality. Industry leaders also briefed the members on how “EPA regulations have destroyed jobs and business in Texas.”

“The EPA is punishing Texas for not giving in to their demands. Instead of making an example out of Texas, perhaps the EPA should use Texas as an example,” said Poe, R-Humble. “Texas has simultaneously improved its environment and economy. Our state is dedicated to finding cleaner energy alternatives, but we also know that we need to utilize our known sources of energy effectively and safely.”

For reactions from the other three Texas lawmakers, keep reading here.

- JP

Former State Rep. Jim Solis pleads guilty

2011-04-29T14:10:00.001-05:00

From Valley Central, we learn that former State Rep. Jim Solis (D-Harlingen) entered a guilty plea in federal court Friday for his role in an extortion and bribery scheme. Prosecutors say the 47-year-old Solis paid for favorable pretrial rulings from former state District Judge Abel C. Limas:

Solis stood quietly before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, who repeatedly asked Solis if he was pleading guilty because he is guilty.

"Yes," Solis said.

[...]

Solis faces up to 20 years in prison and a maxiumum of a $250,000 dollar fine.

According to court documents, Solis turned over $250,000 dollars to the federal government this morning.

Solis’ sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 1.

Limas pleaded guilty on March 31 to one federal count of racketeering. He will be sentenced in July.

Solis is out on bond.

- JP

TX Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson on Failed US Energy Policy

2011-04-29T07:35:00.001-05:00

Patterson spoke April 26 at a Permian Basin Petroleum Associated rally in Midland.

Related: Speakers question science behind lizard concerns

- JP

Texas House approves redistricting plan

2011-04-28T16:30:00.003-05:00

The Associated Press reports that the Texas House of Representatives has put its stamp of approval on a redistricting plan which would likely guarantee a continued Republican majority, but it would be smaller than the advantage the GOP enjoys now:

The map was approved on a 92-52 vote after a marathon debate that dragged into the wee morning hours Thursday. It would pit several Republicans against each other, the natural result of an unsustainably large supermajority.

Some Republican members and activists wanted to make the map a much bolder grab for conservative seats and limit the number of losses. But House leaders easily beat back those attempts. Either way, there is only so much they can do given the constraints of federal anti-discrimination laws and shifts in population away from conservative rural areas and toward the suburbs that have seen explosive and diverse population growth.

The emotional and heated debate ended up dragging on for some 16 hours, the longest single session in the House so far this year and testament to the importance lawmakers place on their own futures. The map faces a final procedural hurdle before it can move to the Senate.

“I recognize that some members are not going to be pleased with the results of the map,” said Rep. Burt Solomons, the north Texas Republican who is leading the redistricting effort. “It’s very personal ... to everyone here.”

Republicans rode a conservative wave in the 2010 elections and now have a lopsided 101-49 majority in the 150-member House, a supermajority so big that they can conduct business even if Democrats don’t show up for work. That didn’t stop Democratic lawmakers from trying to derail the map Wednesday on procedural grounds, to no avail.

[More]

- JP

NRO: Rick Perry’s Tenth Commandment

2011-04-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

National Review deputy managing editor Kevin D. Williamson has a rather lengthy profile piece on Gov. Perry at NRO. Here are some excerpts:

People constantly ask Governor Perry if he’s thinking about running for president. In fact, they ask him if he’s thinking about running for president so often that by now he almost certainly must be thinking about running for president, even if he wasn’t thinking about it before. He plays down that sort of thing (except when he doesn’t) and protests that he’s got plenty to keep him busy in Austin. And he is busy: He’s hip-deep in a ferocious fight to balance the state budget without instituting new taxes or liquidating the state’s rainy-day fund. He has a long list of parochial Texas action-items on his gubernatorial to-do list, like pushing down the cost of a bachelor’s degree from a state university to $10,000 and keeping his bespoke boot heel on the neck of the trial lawyers. But he’s also very busy in his campaign to renew — or reinvent — American federalism, taking an extraordinarily robust view of states’ sovereignty and an extraordinarily restrictive view of the “enumerated powers” listed in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. He’s written a book about the subject, Fed Up!, which is an order of magnitude more crotchety and idiosyncratic than your average raising-my-national-profile book. (He also published a very personal and occasionally hot-tempered defense of the Boy Scouts, On My Honor, lambasting the feminists and organized homosexuality in a way that suggests he’s not much interested in a Mitch Daniels–style truce on the social issues.)

Lots of conservatives have been in fights over public displays of the Ten Commandments, but Governor Perry is more interested in the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Reestablishing the sovereignty of the states — and rescuing the language of states’ rights from its segregationist connotations — is a pretty good job for a high-profile governor.

Or for a president.

Speaking of presidents: Rick Perry has a complicated relationship with the Bushes, which is to say that he’s hesitant to criticize them and they hate his guts. W. stayed well away from Perry’s gubernatorial-primary melee against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, whose oatmeal-mushy Republicanism has a distinctly Bushian savor to it. But the mark of W. was all over the campaign against Perry. Former president George H. W. Bush endorsed Senator Hutchison, an unusual step for the habitually reserved retiree, who usually stays well removed from the dirty business of vote-grubbing, surveying the groundlings from the heights of his eminence. Bush père was joined in his support by former vice president Dick Cheney, who offered an endorsement and called Hutchison “the real deal.” Hutchison was further fortified by the Bush clan’s in-house Machiavelli, former secretary of state James Baker, who led the Florida recount fight in 2000 and remains their go-to fixer. W. mouthpiece Karen Hughes came out of the political woodwork to support the insurgency, along with W.’s secretary of education Margaret Spellings. Karl Rove advised Team Hutchison. The gang was all there: All this in a primary challenge to unseat an incumbent Republican governor with one of the most conservative — and most successful — records to be found: Que paso, Bushes?

Part of that was payback. Perry, generally circumlocutious on the subject of W., gave himself a little time off the leash during the 2008 Republican presidential primaries. Often caricatured as yet another snake-handling southern social conservative, Governor Perry backed thrice-married dress-wearing pro-choice lapsed Catholic Rudy Giuliani, on the theory that Rudy would be a badass commander-in-chief abroad and a reliable constitutionalist at home. Politics being politics, the Texan and the New Yorker met up in Iowa, where more than a few Hawkeye conservatives were already getting restive about out-of-control federal spending on the Republicans’ watch. Governor Perry let loose the observation that “George” — and the Bushies hate it when Perry calls him “George” in public — “has never been a fiscal conservative.” Never? “Wasn’t when he was in Texas . . . ’95, ’97, ’99, George Bush was spending money.” He also criticized Bush as being limp on immigration.

The truth hurts, but there’s more to the Bush-Perry friction than that...

[More]

- JP

The Dunes Sagebrush Lizard vs. the West Texas Oil Industry

2011-04-24T13:15:00.001-05:00

A tiny desert lizard has the potential to shut down oil and gas operations in parts of West Texas and Southeast New Mexico, according to a report in the Midland Reporter-Telegram. Environmental activist groups are using the runt of a reptile in a campaign which could affect the Lone Star State's top two oil producing counties. The eco-left used a small fish called the Delta smelt in much the same manner to bring economic hardship to California's Central Valley. Coincidentally, both critters are a scant three inches long.

Called the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, it is being considered for inclusion on the federal Endangered Species listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A public rally to oppose this move is being sponsored by the Permian Basin Petroleum Association on Tuesday, April 26 at Midland Center beginning at 5 p.m. Congressman Mike Conaway will speak, as will Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson; other public officials have been invited.

"We are very concerned about the Fish and Wildlife Service listing," said Ben Shepperd, president of the PBPA, noting the service also has proposed listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken next year. "The wolf at the door is the lizard; we're concerned listing it would shut down drilling activity for a minimum of two years and as many as five years while the service determines what habitat is needed for the lizard. That means no drilling, no seismic surveys, no roads built, no electric lines."

The move would impact activity in Andrews, Crane, Gaines, Ward and Winkler counties in Texas and Chaves, Eddy, Lea and Roosevelt counties in New Mexico.

Not only would the move impact oil and gas operations but agriculture, Shepperd noted, shutting down agricultural activities like grazing and farming -- "anything that disturbs the habitat." While the industry is perfectly willing to undertake conservation measures to protect the lizard's habitat, he said, naming it an endangered species "would shut down activity and be devastating not only to Permian Basin economies but to the national economy. We are the one bright spot month after month; in our economic turnaround, the main driver is the oil and gas industry."

A public hearing by the Fish and Wildlife Service on the matter is scheduled for 6:30PM April 27 at the Midland Center. More information from the Federal Register here (pdf).

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Yellow Rose of Texas'

2011-04-24T13:10:00.011-05:00

by Hoyt Axton, John Hartford & friends (2007)

- JP

The Texas House Will Vote On Redistricting Tuesday

2011-04-23T16:05:00.002-05:00

Here's an email from the Grassroots Texas Network:

On Tuesday 26 April the Texas House will vote on redistricting. This needs your immediate attention.

The current committee plan does not represent the voice of the voters and will defeat the conservative agenda. For some background, here’s a 13-minute video discussion about the redistricting plans:

Please contact everyone in the Texas House immediately (email, fax, and phone calls) and tell them to stand firm for the Nixon plan. The identity numbers for the amendment keep changing, thus "no on the Solomon plan" and "yes on the Nixon plan" will send a clearer message.

I understand that by late Monday, the actual final bill numbers will be set. At that time, there will no doubt be wide email distribution of the actual final “Nixon plan” bill to support. Then you can contact Reps again by Tuesday morning with the exact number. But for now, tell them Support the Nixon Plan.

We cannot afford to lose this - a loss will mean a major defeat for the conservative agenda.

Texas Patriots need to stand tall and be heard. We have to stop the wheeling and dealing in Austin.

The California toTexas exodus continues

2011-04-22T12:45:00.001-05:00

From TexasBusiness.com, we learn that AccentCare, a home healthcare firm, is relocating its corporate headquarters from Irvine in tax-crazed California, to Dallas. According to the company, the move will create more than 100 new jobs in the 'Plex:

The company has signed a lease for nearly 33,000 square feet at Briargrove Place, property owned and managed by Crown Sterling Properties at 17855 N. Dallas Parkway, Dallas, 75287.

AccentCare, which is moving approximately 10 people from California in addition to the more than 100 it will hire locally, will take occupancy of its new space on May 1.

[...]

“This move provides new opportunities for growth and will enable AccentCare to continue delivering the compassionate, quality care for which we have been known since our founding more than ten years ago," said AccentCare chief executive William (Biff) Comte in a prepared statement.

AccentCare has numerous locations in California, Arizona, New York, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, Washington... and now Texas.

- JP

Stupid Border Games

2011-04-22T12:25:00.001-05:00

Bill Kneer at The Patriot Statesman wonders, "When is enough, enough?"

Our southern border is wide open and very few elected officials have the courage to stand up and fight for America. Those in Texas like Debbie Riddle, Dan Flynn, and a few other try, but in the end they will just get paid back for standing up against Speaker Joe Straus. Debbie Riddle’s bills seem to be dying as pay back. Her Voter I.D. Bill will not come up, but Patricia Harless (Straus supporter) takes a nearly identical bill, files it under her name so she would get the credit, and gets the bill passed in House. Will Debbie Riddle not get her bills passed as payback for standing up against Strauss?

It also looks like Dan Flynn will have to work hard to keep his job for standing up against Speaker Joe Straus. They cut out his district entirely so now he will have to face a colleague in the next primary.

While our nation fights three “kinetic military operations” abroad, the great people of Mexico are being terrorized by useless scum bag drug runners. They are devastating the nation of Mexico and they are also having a direct impact of our nation. Our elected officials are sworn to serve and protect us, but they rarely do anything but play political games.

Good read. More here.

- JP

Obama has tried to mess with Texas before...

2011-04-21T13:20:00.001-05:00

From The Looking Spoon:

- JP

Dallas reporter's questions make Obama lose his cool

2011-04-19T15:40:00.001-05:00

Houston's own Melissa Clothier observes that not only did Obama lose some of his presidential cool under questioning from WFAA's Brad Watson, his view of Texas political history is woefully short-sighted. Kudos to Watson for asking The One the first tough question he's had to answer in recent memory.

“Why do you think you’re so unpopular in Texas?”

The President answered,”Texas has always been a Republican state.” (Aside: Uh, no it hasn’t it’s been overwhelmingly Democrat until 1950 and continued dominance for decades until it finally and fully flipped completely in the 2010 election.)

The President also implied that his election was close in Texas saying that he “lost by a few percentage points.”

Watson corrected the President and said, “You lost by about ten.”

Then Watson asked,”Was the Shuttle not awarded to Houston because of politics?” (Aside: Republicans and Democrats here in the Houston area are furious about not having a Shuttle in the city–it’s being sent to New York City to be left outside, of all things.)

President Obama answered,”I just said that was wrong.”

So Watson followed up,”So you weren’t involved in any part of the decision.”

And President Obama said,”I just said that wasn’t true.” (Aside: Note that he didn’t say, straight out, “No.”)

Another question, “Are you going to campaign in Texas or is the state written off?”

The President visibly winced when he said the words,”I never write off any state and, I love, I love Texas.”

As the interview finished and when the President thought the microphone was turned off, the President said to Watson,”Let me finish my answers, the next time we do an interview all right?”

We agree with Dr. Clouthier that there's not likely to be a "next time" for Brad Watson to sit down with Mr. Obama again.

She is also absolutely correct in her assessment that Watson's questions were more mundane than tough. Yet the president showed, as has been the case in the past, that he has relatively thin skin:

Because he’s never challenged. He’s allowed to filibuster. He understands and manipulates the reporters and they play along with the game because each one hopes he’ll be the next “exclusive”.

But you don't have to be a Texan or even a political junkie to know that Texas was a Democrat Party stronghold until Ronald Reagan came along. What kind of political environment does Obama think allowed Lyndon Baines Johnson to flourish under while preparing himself to rise from Congressman to Senator to Majority Leader and beyond? The old Lone Star State certainly wasn't a hotbed of Republicans back in the day. You can bet your bottom dollar that if Sarah Palin had said, "Texas has always been a Republican state,” the media left would be mercilessly mocking her as woefully ignorant for having said it. Obama, on the other hand, gets a lifetime free pass from his talking head lapdogs.

The full WFAA presidential interview is here.

- JP

Dems recruiting Abu Ghraib general to run for KBH Senate seat

2011-04-18T23:20:00.002-05:00

Our Democrat friends think they may have found a strong candidate to compete for the U.S.Senate seat to be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring at the end of her term next year. According to the Star-Telegram, He's retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez of Rio Grande City. A graduate of what was then Texas A&I (now Texas A&M University, Kingsville), Sanchez has been earning his living as business consultant and speaker since 33-year career in the U.S. Army ended in 2006. The man has impressive credentials, but he carries some heavy baggage. Maria Recio reports:

Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, confirmed that Democratic Senate campaign chief Patty Murray, D-Wash., was referring to Sanchez on Thursday when she said Democrats were close to announcing a candidate in Texas.

Sanchez, reached by phone at his San Antonio home, asked where the reports of a Senate run came from and then said, "I can neither confirm nor deny."

Sanchez, the former top military commander in Iraq who was left under a cloud from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, would not discuss the Senate race. But he did respond to questions about his career and political philosophy.

"I would describe myself as during my military career as supporting the president and the Constitution," Sanchez said. "After the military, I decided that socially, I'm a progressive, a fiscal conservative and a strong supporter, obviously, of national defense."

But the shadow of Abu Grahib hangs like a heavy cloud over Sanchez if the Democrats have made him a serious offer to be their candidate and he accepts. The general claims that he was unaware of the sordid things that were going on at the prison, and he says an Army investigation cleared him. Not so fast, argues RedState.com's Beltway Whispers:

A 2004 panel that investigated prisoner abuse found Sanchez, once the nation’s highest-ranking Hispanic officer, was derelict in overseeing Iraqi detention. According to a classified report by three Army generals, Sanchez approved the use of harsh military interrogation techniques that were once limited to prisoners held at facilities in Cuba and Afghanistan.

The irony that Democrats who once raked the lieutenant general over the coals now view Sanchez as their savior will no doubt be a hallmark of the campaign.

Senator Patty Murray, who steers the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm and vaguely teased reporters earlier this week of a top Texas recruit, said in 2004 that all those responsible for Abu Ghraib — no matter where they fell in the chain of command — must be held to account for their actions.

“These actions are a disservice to the thousands of American soldiers in the region who serve us honorably each and every day, and, sadly, are likely to make their efforts to calm a troubled region even harder,” Murray said of the controversy.

When former President George Bush tapped then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to fill the nation’s top law enforcement post, Murray joined Senator Maria Cantwell in opposing the nomination over his green-lighting of Sanchez’s interrogation techniques.

In a 2004 statement, Senator Patrick Leahy accused Sanchez of authorizing “the use of techniques that were contrary to both U.S. military manuals but also international law.” “Given this incredible overstepping of bounds, I find it incredible that the reports generated thus far have not recommended punishment of any kind for high-level officials,” he added.

The onslaught of Congressional criticism came as military brass looked to give Sanchez his fourth star. The promotion never materialized and months later he retired.

With the balance of power in the U.S. Senate hanging on the 2012 election, Democrats need to tread carefully when considering which candidate they put forth to run for Hutchison's seat. The last thing they need is for the same damning photos of naked prisoners being abused that the Dems and their media pals so successfully used against George W. Bush to be turned against them. And the Republicans are no doubt salivating at the prospect of doing just that. Payback is not just a dog, but a rabid one. No matter how the Democrats try to spin this, Abu Ghraib happened while Sanchez was on watch, and that should be reason enough for them to try to find a candidate who is clean as the proverbial whistle.

- JP

Texas Music Break: 'Amarillo by Morning'

2011-04-18T19:50:00.006-05:00

by George Strait (1996)

Oil companies' interest in the Permian Basin rekindled

2011-04-18T19:40:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the rise in the price of crude, some big oil companies are taking a second look at the oil fields in the Permian Basin of West Texas, with plans to ramp up production there, according to the Wall Street Journal's Isabel Ordonez:

Chevron Corp. has pumped oil from this well-plowed area of west Texas and New Mexico since 1925. But in recent decades, as production in the area declined, Chevron and other companies used it primarily as a lab for oil-extraction techniques that could be employed in larger projects elsewhere.

This year, Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company by market value after Exxon Mobil Corp., plans to boost investment to $600 million in the Permian Basin, 32% more than a year earlier, and drill twice as many wells as it did in 2010 in the area. Its goal is to squeeze more oil out of these aging fields at a time when commodity-oil prices have risen to over $100 a barrel—levels not seen since summer of 2008—and access to oil in the Gulf of Mexico and lucrative foreign fields has become more of a challenge. The company is also seeking to employ new technologies only recently available to unlock significant amounts of Permian crude that were hard to reach before.

Some "people in the industry said the Permian Basin was used up, tapped out, yesterday's news," Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland told company employees and retirees in a recent gathering here. But "we listened to veterans here who reminded us that the best place to find oil is where it has already been found."

Chevron and other major oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, began refocusing on this flat, arid region dotted by hundreds of rusty pump jacks last year, after the federal government temporarily banned new exploratory drilling in the deep water Gulf of Mexico following BP PLC's massive oil spill.

The revival of the Permian Basin is also driven by the widespread use of relatively new technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressures to release oil from hydrocarbon deposits. In recent years, this and other technologies have unlocked shale oil and gas that wasn't previously accessible, leading to a boom of new wells across the country. Now they are being adapted and used to boost production from mature oil fields like the ones in the Permian Basin. Chevron and others are also planning to apply the techniques in previously unexplored shale areas of the basin.

The Permian Basin is especially attractive because its oil reserves, the second largest in the U.S. after Alaska, are already proven and its geology is very well known, said Matthew Jurecky, an analyst at energy consultant Wood Mackenzie. This means companies can update old wells with new technologies and add new reserves at a significantly lower cost than in other areas, such as the Gulf or Canada's oil sands.

Production in the Permian has dropped to less than half what it was in the early 1970s. But in the past five years, production in the West Texas fields has reversed the long decline and is growing again, albeit slowly. Last year the Basin's output grew by 1.5 percent to about 891,600 barrels a day from 2009, Wood Mackenzie said. The oil now flowing from the Permian has helped to replace the shortfall in offshore production to the tune of 5.51 million barrels a day in 2010, the highest output from the area since 2004.

- JP

The Burnt Orange University Goes For The Gold

2011-04-18T13:15:00.001-05:00

From Bloomberg comes news that the UT's Investment Management Company has taken delivery of almost one billion dollars' worth of gold bullion. Board members say precious gold bars are being safely tucked away in a New York vault:

The fund, whose $19.9 billion in assets ranked it behind Harvard University’s endowment as of August, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers, added about $500 million in gold investments to an existing stake last year, said Bruce Zimmerman, the endowment’s chief executive officer. The holdings are worth about $987 million, based on yesterday’s closing price of $1,486 an ounce for Comex futures.

The decision to turn the fund’s investment into gold bars was influenced by Kyle Bass, a Dallas hedge fund manager and member of the endowment’s board, Zimmerman said at its annual meeting on April 14. Bass made $500 million on the U.S. subprime-mortgage collapse.

“Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”

Gold has continued on an upward trajectory of 28 percent in the past year on Comex, reaching an all-time high just shy of $1,500 an ounce.

When the second-largest U.S. academic endowment goes for the gold, it's no minor event in the eyes and minds of financial gurus. Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge calls it nothing short of "a golden tipping point":

Tipping points are funny: for years, decades, even centuries, the conditions for an event to occur may be ripe yet nothing happens. Then, in an instant, a shift occurs, whether its is due a change in conventional wisdom, due to an exogenous event or due to something completely inexplicable. That event, colloquially called a black swan in recent years, changes the prevalent perception of reality in a moment.

[...]

With an entity as large as the University of Texas calling the bluff of the Comex, the Chairman, and fiat in general in roughly that order, virtually every other asset manager is now sure to follow, considering there is not nearly enough physical gold to satisfy all paper gold in existence by a factor of about 100x. The proverbial Nash equilibrium has just been broken.

[...]

In summary - the fiat tide is now going out. And among those who will first be observed swimming naked are the very same people whose fate has been so very intrinsically linked to the perpetuation of a flawed regime (and who coined this very saying). In the meantime, hold on to your hats: should a scramble for delivery ensue, the recent parabolic move in various precious metals will seem like a dress rehearsal for what is about to transpire.

What remains to be revealed, says Durden, is what broker had enough of the precious metal to fill UT's order. He says he working on finding out. He's also hoping that the Burnt Orange gold "has likely already been leased out at least several times to various entities demanding paper allocations..." If so, then a "golden tipping point" has surely been reached.

- JP

California delegation comes to Austin for answers

2011-04-18T10:30:00.007-05:00

Rule #1 for medical first responders is "Stop the bleeding." A delegation of a dozen state officials from California visited Austin late last week hoping to learn how to stop the exodus of companies from The Golden State. Texas is one of the prime destinations for vacating Cali corporations. The American-Statesman's Kirk Ladendorf has the story:

"Over the past three years, California has lost 1.2 million jobs, while Texas has actually gained 164,000 jobs," said Assemblyman Dan Logue, a Republican from a district north of Sacramento who organized the trip. "Texas like everybody else was hit by the recession, but they are setting an example on how to grow their way out rather than tax their way out."

A key event for the delegation was a meeting at the Capitol with Gov. Rick Perry, who has made trips to California to lure companies and jobs to Texas.

His most recent coup: eBay Inc., which plans to add 1,000 jobs in Austin over the next 10 years, with the help of state and city incentives that were approved this week.

"I am a pro-business governor," Perry said at a media event before the private meeting. "The most important thing that a governor does is having the effect of keeping a positive business climate in the state. If you do not do that first, you can't do those other things very long," such as funding education, border security, public safety and other priorities.

[...]

The day's agenda included a lunch session with Andrew Puzder, CEO of the company that owns the Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurant chains.

Puzder, whose company is based near Santa Barbara, created a stir in California earlier this year when he announced a major expansion in Texas, strongly criticized California's business climate and suggested that he might move his headquarters to Texas.

Puzder said Thursday that California's permitting process makes it hard for his company to build new restaurants there and that it is difficult to employ restaurant managers without running afoul of the state's restrictive labor laws.

While the Californians' visit, along with their taxpayers' money that the delegation spread around Austin's hotels and restaurants is appreciated, they didn't need a junket to the Lone Star State to tell them that their state's toxic business climate is the problem, and easing the corporate tax burden and harsh regulations would go a long way toward solving it. This is not the stuff of rocket science, but rather Economics 101. Ladendorf illustrates this in his report:

When he returned to California from Texas, Puzder said he received a phone call at home from Gov. Jerry Brown, who wanted to talk with him about improving the business climate in the state.

He said representatives of his chain have met with state officials recently and came up with a way to reduce the permitting process from eight months to six.

In Texas, Puzder said, the same process takes six weeks, and there are no arbitrary work rules that affect restaurant managers.

"You can't build stores in California, you can't manage them in California, and, even if you can build them, you have to pay a big tax," he said. "In Texas, you can build them and run them, and you don't have to pay (income) tax."

It's a shame that there were few Democrats among the fact-finding team from California. Republicans already know how to solve the problem, but Golden State Democrats still want to tax and regulate their corporate constituents to the point where it becomes more profitable to incur the costs of moving the company away from California to more business-friendly states. Until California's elected officials learn that it takes more than tiny Band Aids to perform serious triage, they won't be able to stop the hemorrhaging.

- JP

What welfare reform?

2011-04-17T08:35:00.001-05:00

A report released last week by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals that 57 percent of the nation's immigrants with children — those in the country legally or not — use at least one government welfare program. This is a most interesting finding, coming as is does some 13 years after Congress overhauled the American welfare system. But that's nothing, compared to another statistic extracted from the study, according to The Chron's Texas on the Potomac blog: In Texas, 54 percent of legal immigrants and 70 percent of illegal immigrants receive welfare assistance, with illegal immigrants generally receiving benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children:

Overall, Texas tied with California and New York for the second highest immigrant welfare rates behind Arizona.

We should note that the study takes an expansive view of what constitutes a government welfare program, so programs such as reduced-price school lunches for low-income students are classified as welfare, according to CIS' methodology.

Texas showed 61 percent of households headed by an immigrant utilizing at least one program compared to the 42 percent of Texas natives on welfare.

"This is partly due to the large share of immigrants with low levels of education and their resulting low incomes — not their legal status or an unwillingness to work," Steve Camorata, Director of Research at CIS, said.

[...]

The welfare programs analyzed include Supplemental Security Income for low income elderly and disabled, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Women, Infants and Children food program, free/reduced school lunch, food stamps, Medicaid, public housing and rent subsidies. In fiscal year 2008, these programs totaled $517 billion. But these programs are also partially funded by individual state governments, especially Medicaid.

[...]

Camarota said changing the high immigrant usage would require changing immigration qualifications from residency of family members to an emphasis on education and skills, because the study noted higher education equates to less program assistance. The other solution would be in allowing less immigrants into the country, which correlates to less immigrant use of welfare.

- JP