Burnt Orange Report

"The toss up for freshman of the year is between the two capitol stars, Mark Strama and Patrick Rose, both friends to college and democratic issues."

Huh...?

The only problem with that is, well, Patrick Rose is not a freshman.

And another problem with it is that Patrick Rose is a sellout to the anti-consumer, corporate and insurance company front group, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, hardly a democratic group.

His interlocutory appeal bill was big-time water carrying for insurance companies and others who stand to benefit from one-sided delays by defendants in civil court actions. Even John Smithee, Republican Chair of the House Insurance Committee remarked how the bill would mainly benefit insurance companies that want to delay court proceedings. (Because the more they delay, the longer they can hold onto their money).

Rose may have endeared himself to college students with his student regent bill, but look who he's getting financing from for his campaigns. Note that one of his biggest contributors last year, giving $5000.00 in one instance, was Bob Perry of Perry Homes in Houston. I guess we all know how big of a Democrat Bob Perry is, having given huge amounts of money to the Swift Boat Veterans last year to smear John Kerry. Let's not forget that Bob Perry was, if I'm not mistaken, the largest individual contributor to Republicans in Texas in 2004.

In the words of Deep Throat, "follow the money."

Or, um Sylvester Turner the biggest Democratic ally to Tom Craddick. That's not what I call a Democrat.

I would also point out:
Senfronia Thompson's speech against HJR 6. "I should be up here demanding my 40 acres and a mule because that's another promise you broke."

Garnet Coleman standing up against Al Edwards and calling Edwards out as the Bigot that he is.

And! The death of the TEA Sunset! Fortunately there are safety nets so we can let Sunset bills die, and not pass some absolutely horrible legislation. And to give an R credit, Hats off to Geren for proposing (and passing) an amendment to the TEA sunset bill during the voucher debate to switch out Dallas and Fort Worth for Irving and Arlington, Rep. Harper-Brown’s Rep. Grusendorf’s districts (proponents of vouchers), because, sure these guys can stand up and fight for vouchers, they way it was set up, werent going to be used in their districts so there public schools wouldnt be losing any money.

sorry, replace the last three lines of the above with:

(proponents of vouchers), because, sure these guys can stand up and fight for vouchers because they way it was set up, vouchers were not going to be an option in their districts so their public schools wouldnt lose any money.

Patric was a sophmore, sorry about that. made the change. If there were moments I left out, it is because I did actually have to go to class at some point and did not get to see them. Thanks though for the info, good to know.

Patric Rose was not a Freshman this Session. He was elected in 2002.

He is a sophomore.

Good post, the Rose thing is understandable as this is your first session in Austin. He's young, looks like a freshman. Strama, interestingly enough, is like 14 years older than he is. Few realize that Strama is in his late 30s. While Strama was a good freshman, I really think you skip over some good first termers who ended up doing a helluva job.

Near the top of that list should be Veronica Gonzales, who had a phenomenal session, really served her district and made a lot of headlines. She is a rockstar and is going places.

Also, Rafael Anchia of Dallas impressed everyone I know with his professionalism. He didn't get the committees he wanted and Craddick will regret that. The guy was a Dallas ISD schoolboard member for several years, he offers a lot of experience on school finance. Still, he took what he was given and became a leader. He was the Democratic force behind defeating some of the worst Republican election "reforms" and made a name for himself this session. Look for him to run for Mayor of Dallas down the line, and look for me to support him.

Marc Veasey also stood up against the voucher forces and distinguished himself as a future leader in the legislature. He is incredibly impressive and hardworking, he'll be going places also.

I also think that it would be unfair to say that Jim Dunnam has a "stern and hostile exterior", as anyone who has hung around the guy will tell you. He is as friendly as anyone, tougher than dirt and incredibly funny. His exterior is that of an old country attorney, and he uses his legal brilliance and political savvy to make a great Democratic leader. I hope to call him Speaker Dunnam someday.

Good post, though.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

DO I NEED TO SAY ANYTHING!!! HAHA HAHA

No, I definitely agree with Katie on this one, describing Dunnam with a stern and hostile exterior. I wont doubt that he is a nice, friendly, funny guy, but it depends on when you are hanging around him. My guess would be, outside of his constituents and close friend he's fairly stern and hostile -- as Katie says, "on the exterior." Either way, I could support a speaker dunnam.
Good Work, Katie, on your post.

you edited your comment!! initially you argued with people about Rose's status and then went back and agreed-- let the comment record be an honest reflection of what you really thought-- which is that Rose was a sophomore

Dobbs, i do like Dunnam, i think he knows his shit, but when at the mike he comes off as well hostile.