Burnt Orange Report

John Courage Austin Fundraiser

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Reception / Fundraiser

Thursday * December 1
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Resistencia Bookstore
1801 South First St. at W. Annie
( 4 blocks west of 1800 South Congress)(map)

Meet John Courage
Democratic Candidate for
U.S. House of Representatives District 21

Light snacks & drinks * $25 suggested donation

http://www.courageforcongress.org/events/?action=dec01

Money? No, but I'll give you a piece of my mind.

By Jim Dallas

Can I vent - just for a second? I'm tired of getting three-page-long fundraising pleas from national Democrats which devote two pages to whining about how awful the Republicans are and one page to meaningless platitudes. Lots of bloggers have made similar posts before, I'm sure (no, really, I'm sure, I'd link to them if I had the time to dig them up). But the message just doesn't seem to be getting through: yes, we know the Republicans are bastards. Fundraising letters are supposed to, you know, inspire people. Preferably in the 15 seconds or so between the time I open the letter and the time I toss it in the trash. I got a fundraising letter today, for example, from the United Farm Workers (they are asking for gifts). It was clear, concise (one page, front and back) and motivational. It explained in a few words what the UFW has done for farm workers this last year and what it wants to do.

As for the UFW - I don't have any money to gift out, but here's a "high-five" for giving me a warm fuzzy feeling about the labor movement.

WMDs Found

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Really, you think it would have been sooner. Bush obviously wasn't looking too hard.

Corte on Vouchers

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I havn't has as much fun reading new blogs in some time as I have the Larry for the Lege blog, which is the main arm of the Larry Stallings campaign for HD-122 until the campaign website gets up at larrystallings.com. An interesting piece in a post yesterday was why Rep. Frank Corte introduced a bill for vouchers at $6,000 a year.

Speaking of whom, our daughter asked me why he introduced a bill to give, specifically, $6,000.00 a year in school vouchers. She wondered where that specific amount came from, since it is generally more than our local districts spend per child anyway. I didn't know why, so she set out to find out where that specific amount came from. Why $6,000.00? Why not $7.000.00? Why not $4,368.00? Well, she called last night at about 10 PM with an answer. Evidently, Mr. Corte used an amount fairly familiar to him - the tuition, plus $100.00 (for uniforms?) at his own kids' school matches that proposed amount.

I, myself, was privately educated in parochial schools back in the '50's and '60's. Believe it or not, even back then, special tax breaks were beeing proposed in California where I was raised, to help parents whose kids went to private schools. My dad, although a staunch Irish Catholic, was against that. He said to me when I asked him why, "It is our choice, we pay for that choice. If we took money from the state, it would be taking money away from kids whose parents don't have a choice." My mother disagreed with him, but he was firm in his view. He was a product of public schools himself, and supported them, even though his own kids went to parochial schools. Why don't we think about the common good anymore, like my dad did?

I went to a private catholic school for 10 years and a public high school for 4. I appreciate my private education and the religious component to it. But is my experience in both of those areas that makes me strongly opposed to vouchers. I'll explore that more in depth as that debate comes back into discussion.

Pittsburg Says 'No' To MLK Street

By Vince Leibowitz

I ran across this last night. And it doesn't seem that any other media outlets have picked it up, but I do think it's worth mentioning.

Monday night in Pittsburg (Camp County), the city council declined a request from the Camp County NAACP to rename a city street after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The NAACP sought to have renamed one of several streets, but, on a tied vote with the mayor casting the tie, the city decided against the proposal.

KLTV.com offered this quote from Pittsburg's mayor:

"I told them I didn't want to change any street in the city," says Pittsburg Mayor D.H. Abernathy. "Because I have the history of all of them when they first started and people giving 20 feet on each side to widen the streets and all that. You change it and call it Martin Luther King, Jr. you lose all the history behind that."

KLTV also noted:

Mayor Abernathy says some local businesses that operate on the proposed streets also expressed opposition to a name change, saying there would be significant costs such as changing company letterheads, business cards and licenses. "There are costs in every change. Something that is worthwhile costs," says Camp County NAACP member Thomas Hall.

However, as a consolation, the mayor has said the town would be willing to erect a King memorial, "in a location that is prominent and a lot of people pass."

The NAACP President in Camp County had this to say about the memorial proposal, which I found quite interesting:

"It's not that we're not interested in [a memorial]. It just seems like every time we get together and come up with something it seems like the powers that be are against it," says Camp County NAACP President Patrick Lloyd. "We have a lot of local people here that happen to be descendents of Anglo-Saxons that have streets named for them and even the mayor has a street named for him and we don't think he's important to the history of the world a fraction of what Martin Luther King did," says [local NAACP member Darnell] Thomas.

Stacey Tallitsch for LA-1

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

What happens when you get displaced because of a hurricane? What happens if you were running for Congress?

Listen in to the tale of Stacey Tallitsch running in LA-1.

Texas Tuesday: David Harris TX-06

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

It's a Texas Tuesday!

So we've looked at some of our statewide candidates in previous weeks ... how about we take a look at some of the challenging candidates for Congress in 2006, this time?

David Harris is an Army veteran who served 12 years of active duty for his nation. His latest battle is taking on Joe Barton in Texas' 6th Congressional District.

As Texas bloggers (or anyone with a fair memory) will recall, Joe Barton is the Texas Congressman who voted against Emergency Relief for Hurricane Katrina and whose staff was outted for their partisan motives in the (eventually) illegal re-redistricting of 2003 and who's been designated as "Smokey Joe" due to his anti-environmental record.

If you want to learn more about David Harris, however, today is a rather fortuitous day. For starters, check his campaign blog and the District Six campaign blog. Tonight, you can also check out David on Air America's Majority Report at 8:34 Texas time (CST), as he'll be the featured guest with hosts Sam Seder and Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos.com. (online streaming audio also available)

2006 presents Texas Democrats with an opportunity for gains across the board. But without candidates, that opportunity goes wanting. David joins a growing number of military veterans coming home to run for Democratic nominations in tough races here at home. A small donation would go a long way to helping this "Fighting Dem" launch his campaign in North Texas. If you're a fellow blogger, by all means give David Harris a plug on your site. If you're not, then you've still got the power of email to help send this message to a few of your closest friends. Many of Texas finest bloggers have taken an active interest in David's campaign this season and we hope that with some help from around the state, that a Democratic tide can lift as many boats as possible ... even boats with Army men.

So Donate to Harris if you can.

The Craziest HD-48 Scenario

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

There will be a lot going on behind the scenes in the next few days. There is some talk about consolidating the field and having one person run. This is the process that will happen this spring that you all should be aware of, as I understand it.

The January Election is an open free for all election. All Republicans and Democrats run against each other. The top 2 go to run off in February. The winner of all that then is the State Rep for the Spring Special session that will likely be called for March-June because of the school finance ruling that set the June 1 deadline or else schools shut down.

BUT

There is still the regular primary in March which will decide the nominees for the November general election.

SO

Say it is Bentzin (R) Howard (D) Brown (D) & Rider (D)

They duke it out in the open special, winner wins. They all could potentially run again (and have new challengers) in their party primaries in March. So given that, the following is actually a possible scenario.

January Open Special Election: Bentzin & Brown go to run-off
February Run-off: Brown wins, serves as elected Rep for any Spring Special Session
March Primary: Bentzin wins the Republican nomination, Brown goes to run-off with Howard for an April Run-off, forcing him to campaign during the middle of the special session
April Run-off: Howard wins Democratic nomination and campaigns against Bentzin for November election, while Brown serves out the rest of the term as the elected lame-duck rep, while the session is still going on!

I'm not saying this is in the cards, but Rick Perry's election date enables this to be a possibility. And remember, Travis County officials estimate the election will cost as much as $250,000, plus another $125,000 or more if there is a runoff.

Rip Avery has some thoughts as well.

As I have mentioned before, Bentzin not only lacks Baxter's baggage (voting record and TRMPAC connections) but is in a position to finance a campaign before any single Democrat is ripe for candidacy in the general election. Also, as noted, there are at least three players on the Dem side, and in a special election all candidates run at once, with the winner being he/she who obtains the majority of votes. If there is no majority, then there is a runoff between the top two candidates. The three way split may not be as bad as one thinks, since the goal of the Democratic Party should be to make sure that Bentzin stays below 50%. Votewise, even if Howard and Rider took some votes from the left, Brown should be ok if he can suck enough votes from the center to prevent a Bentzin victory in the first round. The problem, of course, will be the expense (consolidating elections analogous to a primary and possibly general in such a short time frame).

While Bentzin lacks Baxter's "baggage," he did take money from Texans for Lawsuit Reform (and Bob "Swift Boat" Perry) in 2002. TFLR is bankrolled by Dr. James Leininger, and it contributed heavily to Baxter as well as Craddick and others in the Texas GOP leadership. Leininger was he mojor influence behind issues like school vouchers, and reportedly pulled GOP reps off the floor to lecture the Legislators on the importance of voting for them and his other pet issues. Oh yeah, Leininger contributed heavily to TRMPAC and Stars Over Texas PAC (TRMPAC's successor and a Baxter contributor). So, Bentzin (despite his reputed $37m "fortune") is still connected to the same policy "puppet masters" as Baxter. If you like Tom DeLay and Tom Craddick (and their buddy, Rick Perry, another beneficiary of Leininger largesse), then you should vote for Bentzin. If you, like me, don't care for the Right Wing's influence in Texas, then you should support Andy Brown.

HD 48 Special Election Date Set

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Election Day: January 17th (Tuesday)
Early Voting: January 2-13
Filing Deadline: December 19th

via QR

Developing...

It's hard to expect Rick Perry to get on the stick with much of anything these days, and certainly not elections, considering the residents of District 143 in Houston had to go for entire special sessions with no representation.

But faced with having to deal with his failure last year to fix school finance, and now having to do it by June 1st lest the Republicans would rather see the schools shut down (probably an absolute dream for a couple of them), we get an early election called, with all candidates running in a free for all.

As a student friend of mine said when I told them this, Perry is a bastard, because the entire election takes place over the holidays, and election day is the first day of classes. That means all those Democratic student voters out in Far West, which are hard enough to turn out anyways, will be next to impossible to get. University Democrats, which has been active in block walking for Andy Brown's campaign, might have enough time to get an endorsement out next week (while still open, would likely go to Brown at this point) and if that couples with Central Austin Democrats could provide for some of those infamous yellow doorhangers to go up out in the district. But as far as volunteers go, the student impact has been minimized.

Such an early election means money and existing on the ground infrastructure means a lot. Brown has been blockwalking since the summer, hitting thousands of houses out there. Donna Howard will have to depend upon the Kelly White network of donors and volunteers. Kathy Rider (if she's still planning on running) will have to rely on name ID because there hasn't been sign of any organized activity I can pin down. Of course, that reveals our other problem, that there will be more Democrats than Republicans running, either 2-1 or 3-1, since Ben Bentzin will be the Republican nominee.

If the Dems all run, they have to keep Bentzin below 50% on the first round and then join together in the run-off to have a chance. It would be better if we could consolidate behind one candidate, and then focus our collective efforts on turnout, instead of worrying about turnout and fighting over voters at the same time. But with from what the candidates on our side have signaled, that doesn't seem likely to happen. But this early election could change that.

Until then, we wait. You can look at the HD-48 map (pdf) in the meantime.

Austin City Charter Propositions

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Save Our Springs Alliance is collecting signatures on petitions for calling an election on two propositions. Pay is 75 cents per valid signature of a City of Austin registered voter. (Voter signs both petitions and you make $1.50). Work any hours, any place. Door to door or tabling.

For information call Glen Maxey 443-2004 (o) 656-6337 (cell) OR Nate Walker (680-8438). Petitions can be picked up and information at: Glen Maxey Consulting, 512 E Riverside Ste 203, Austin TX 78704 Call 443-2004 to make sure someone is at the office. Usually here 1 pm to 6 pm / Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Information email: Glen at RepGMaxey-AT-aol.com

The ballot propositions are listed in the extended entry. One is a Save Our Spring Charter Amendment to close loopholes being used to get around the landmark SOS ordinance when it was first passed. The other is an Open Government Online measure.

Grits has some thoughts on the Online measure, which would force open some APD police records.

UPDATE: The official charter campaign website is here.

Summary of “Save Our Springs” Charter Amendment

General Purpose: Upon approval by the voters of the City of Austin, the Amendment would make it the official policy of the City of Austin to protect the quality and quantity of water flows in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer and to take actions in support of this policy, as summarized below:

Key Elements:

Recognizes Scientific Consensus -- In 1997 more than 35 Central Texas scientists, environmental engineers, and urban planners wrote and endorsed a policy paper entitled “Protecting the Edwards Aquifer: A Scientific Consensus.” The Charter Amendment would require the City to follow the key recommendations of this scientific consensus.

Directs Development Downstream – Requires the city to direct development to the east and downstream of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer in its development of roads, water and sewer investments, economic development efforts, etc.

Limits Development Subsidies – Prohibits the City from offering tax abatements or other economic development subsidies to companies or their close affiliates that seek to build in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer, and requires those companies receiving economic development subsidies to refrain from future development in the watershed.

Minimizes Grandfathering -- The City’s overly lax reading of state law has allowed massive amounts of development in the Barton Springs watershed as “grandfathered” from the 1992, Austin voter-approved Save Our Springs ordinance. The charter amendment would require the City to narrowly define “grandfathered development” under state and federal law.

Summary of “Open Government Online” Charter Amendment

General Purpose: The Amendment would open Austin City Government to public scrutiny by requiring most of City business to be carried out online, in real time, and with full right of public access and public input. Current internet technology makes it possible for local governments to carry out most of their business online, including permitting, contracting, project and policy development and management, broadcast of council and board and commission meetings, disclosure of meetings and correspondence with lobbyists, etc. And just like with businesses, doing so reduces costs and increases competition in the market place of ideas, so that better decisions are made. By opening city government to public scrutiny and to the ideas, information and participation of everyone who cares about Austin, we can make a better future for Austin and establish Austin as a leader in open, online and participatory democracy.

Key Elements:

Require Open, Online Government for Efficiency –Using internet technology to manage permitting, contracting, and public information disclosure, the City can save time and money. Rather than spend staff time responding to public information requests, most City information would be automatically disclosed requiring no time at all. Most of this information is in electronic format already – its just not accessible to the public.

Require Open, Online Government for Accountability—It’s long been recognized that shining light on government is the best disinfectant against waste, abuse, and malfeasance. By forcing City Government to be accessible online and in real time, we can assure far greater accountability of both elected officials and city management.

Require Open, Online Government for Participatory Democracy – Austin is best when it invites, considers, and responds to the questions, information and opinions of everyone who cares about our city. The Open Government Online Amendment would allow interested citizens into the city decision making process by requiring that development permitting and project and policy development be done through webpages that automatically post comments of interested citizens within the same process of considering proposals and applications by developers, contract bidders, and other commercial interests. Also, by requiring full public disclosure of how and with whom elected officials and top management spend their time, the Amendment would create a powerful incentive for balancing lobbyist access with citizen access.

Require Open, Online Government for Equal Access and Fairness – Too much of city decision making is cloaked in shadows and springs forth whole, the decision already made well before interested citizens even know there’s an issue. The recent $30 million tax abatement giveaway for Samsung (a company that admitted to felony price-fixing charges and a $300 million fine) is a perfect example. By forcing disclosure of virtually all correspondence with commercial interests – and specifically requiring all corporate welfare packages be negotiated in public – the Open Government Online Amendment will make Austin city government much more fair to the average interested citizen.

Personal Space

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

When I became politically aware, I didn't realize for some time that my views as a Democrat about space exploration were out of sync with what many Democrats feel is a big waste of time and, well, space. That may be in part to the fact that my prior interests before politics were to work for NASA. (My thoughts- if Armstrong is the first man on the moon, then obviously a Musselman should be the first man on Mars)

I was glad to read and now pass on an article written by Jeff Brooks, who was policy director for the Kelly White campaign last year, about why Democrats should support space explorations. So explore it if you will.

Jim Stauber Announces Run Against Rep. Gattis

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Check out Eye on Williamson County's post on Democrat Jim Stauber's bid to unseat Republican Dan Gattis.

I will immediately work to:

+Prohibit local and state government from taking your homes and land for private development by others for their commercial profit.

Dan Gattis refused to support this prohibition.

+Restore 2900 Texas State jobs to Texas residents, which the legislature eliminated by outsourcing to a low paying private company and, possibly, non-Texas residents.

Dan Gattis voted to allow outsourcing Texas State jobs to non-residents.

+Restore funding to the CHIPS Program (Children’s Health Insurance Program) to provide adequate health care to Texas children and return Federal funds to Texas.

Dan Gattis voted for a lesser and lower level of care for our children and to turn back, to the Federal government, millions of our tax dollars.

+Move immediately to make the Toll Road Authority answerable to the public by making the members elected officials instead of appointed officials.

Dan Gattis opposed making the members directly answerable to the voters.

New Bloggers

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Larry Stallings, candidate for HD-122, has a blog! And if you've noticed dksbook around here in the BOR comments, you can now make the connection.

Although not a Deaniac, he respects Governor Dean tremendously for being a no-nonsense guy who can actually get stuff done, like governing a state, and now organizing Democrats nationally. When Howard said at the national Hispanic Summit a few months back that every race must be run, no seat should be left unchallenged, Larry heard, and took note.

Larry has a biblical mind-set. He knows that God is not a Republican or a Democrat, but he knows that right now, the Democratic Party is more representative of New Testament values than the Republican Party is. He told his family, when asked why he was willing to take this on, "Ecclesiastes 3:7. There's a time to be silent, and a time to speak. Now is the time to speak."

So this blog will be our living room, where anybody who wants can come sit down (our coffee table is big enough for a lot of feet) and be heard. Larry plans to do a lot of speaking the truth here, and invites y'all to do the same.

Matt in San Antonio has an update on how the campaign is filling out the campaign positions. I'm glad to see that his family is solidly behind him; I know from personal experience that it can be a rewarding experience. And I'm glad that we have another House seat covered in our Run.Everywhere strategy.

Also, Bell County Democrats have a new blog, the Bell County Watch. Thanks to Eye on Williamson County for that one. Now only if we had bloggers in Hays and Comal counties and we'd have a huge chunk of the I-35 corridor counties covered!

UDems Elections Wednesday

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

University Democrats elections are this Wednesday starting at 8pm in Garrison 1. Currently nominated for positions are the people listed in the extended entry.

I've made up my mind on a couple of races, and considering I'm not running for anything, I'll probably mention a few of those who I'm voting for tomorrow, but I'm curious as to anyone's thoughts on the elections right now.

I'm also in the process of writing up the final language for a UD Constitutional Amendment I'm planning on putting forward and seeing how it goes over. One thing that's always been frustrating in these officer elections is that there is never an official vote count released, no accountability to the person who comes back from vote counting and says "so and so" won. So the language of my amendment would have the intention of having the Secretary, not only count the votes but officially record them. I'm trying to think if it should be written so that the results are announced or just recorded and made publicly available upon request. Thoughts on that?

President:
Brandon Chicotsky
Nick Chu
Ali Puente

VP:
Katie Naranjo
David Black
Sheel Bedi

PR Director:
Sukanya Misra
Ramon Telles

Secretary:
Katie Cowhig
Emily Bivona
Ronald M

Treasurer:
Kurt Neumann
John Chen

Events:
Michael Fritz
Cindy Castillo
Ray Skidmore

Volunteer:
Sam Srour
Kelly Fine

Historian:
Jess Faerman
Ashley Boggs
Liz Romig

Webmaster:
Tim Allen
Elizabeth Anderson

Candidate Round-Up

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

• Republican Rep. Cunningham resigns over in California, opening up another special election in California. Francine Busby is our candidate, one who made the final round of the DFA All Star endorsement earlier this fall.

• Republican Rep. Mary Denny will seek retirement at the end of her term, rather than face re-election in her Denton House seat. She used the traditional "devote more time to the family" reason for leaving, though after this cycle, Texas Republican retirement is based more in wanting to spend more time with the family than with fellow Republican legislators which have got to be giving the body a collective headache. From her official press release.

  Denny’s tenure is marked with legislative accomplishments for work on election, campaign, and ethics reforms. The Judicial Campaign Fairness Act of 1995 and her work on the landmark state ethics reform in 2003 (HB 1606) won her praise from the group Common Cause and ethics reform groups statewide.

  This past session, Denny aided voters with "turnout burnout" by passing legislation that reduced the number of uniform election dates from four to two. She also worked to crack down on voter fraud by proposing that voters present a valid form of identification when attempting to vote.

  PinkDome has a nice roundup but I happen to like this photoshop of theirs best.

• David Harris was featured on Air America tonight in their series of Fighting Dems.

• U.S. Senate candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky will file for the primary election and hold a press conference 2:00 p.m. on December 5, 2005 at the Texas Democratic Party HQ here in Austin in another attempt to get the statewide media to mention her name in a story about the Senate race. Listening to them, you'd think there weren't any elections in Texas next year.

  At the press conference she will deliver her proposals for solving the critical issues Texans care about, including health care, education, and veterans’ affairs. She will also discuss the top ten cynical, anti- Texas positions her opponent has taken in 2005.

  DATE: December 5, 2005
  TIME: 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
  LOCATION: Democratic Party Offices, 707 Rio Grande, Austin

Student Prop 2 Results

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I realized that I never posted this information when I was running through Prop 2 results. Here are the results for the heavily student populated precints here in Austin. These add up to about 7,000 student voters when you account for a couple of variables, which is quite a boost from the maybe 1,000 student votes cast in the 2003 Constitutional Amendement election. You can see these (most all purple) on the precinct map of Travis County available to download in .pdf format here.

Student Precincts by region are as follows...

Precinct # // % Vote Against Prop 2 // % Turnout

On Campus
147 // 84% // 24%
148 // 80% // 23%

West Campus
261 // 89% // 18%
265 // 86% // 18%
266 // 91% // 21%
277 // 88% // 14%

North Campus / Hyde Park
145 // 91% // 30%
274 // 91% // 33%
275 // 90% // 36%
276 // 89% // 32%

Riverside
420 // 75% // 14%
429 // 83% // 14%
431 // 81% // 14%
435 // 87% // 13%

St. Edward's
433 // 80% // 22%

Far West
221 // 73% // 31%
247 // 59% // 34%

Editorials about Supreme Court Pub Ed Ruling

By Phillip Martin

Since the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the property tax structure we use to fund our public schools is unconstitutional, many papers have weigned in with editorials. Here are the highlights of eight editorials (four before the jump, four more below the jump) that have been sent to me. (I provided a link to the full editorial when possible, along with the article's title and where and when it was printed, for future referencing).

"Court has spoken: School system on verge of collapse," 11/26/05, Houston Chronicle.

"There is substantial evidence ... that the public education system has reached the point where continued improvement will not be possible absent significant change, whether that change take the form of increased funding, improved efficiencies or better methods of education," the court wrote.

Gov. Rick Perry chose not to emphasize that warning during his postmortem spin session.

He seized instead upon the opportunity to vow (once again) to deliver cuts in local school taxes, an elusive goal that the Supreme Court ruling should finally help him accomplish.

Texans, in return, can expect an assortment of increases in state taxes to pay for the cuts after the Legislature meets to address the court order, probably after the March 7 primaries.

But whether the governor is committed to actually improving the schools remains to be seen.

"Focusing on taxes, not schools," 11/27/05, Austin-American Statesman.

Court testimony in the original lawsuit brought by the school districts estimated it would take about $4.8 billion more per year in school spending to meet all state and federal standards for student education and testing.

But Perry said it "is possible for the Legislature to implement new reforms that will improve student success without necessarily spending additional dollars."

That's something else the court ruling couldn't change: political promises of something for nothing.

"Time's a-wastin'; cut the bickering," 11/26/05, Denton Record Chronicle.

Everybody had best get on this right away. If January is too soon, well, OK; if everyone lacks the courage to make a decision before the March primaries, that’s understandable — disgusting, but understandable.

But, please, governor; please legislators; please remember this: If fear of alienating big business interests paralyzes you into inaction one more time, hundreds of thousands of Texas schoolchildren will suffer. If petty turf battles between legislative houses results in flouting a court order, schools may not open on time next fall.

And that, ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature and the governor’s office, will be all your fault, and everyone in the state will know it.

"William McKenzie: School champions held ground in Austin," 11/23/05, Dallas Morning News.

The school groups also balanced out the many Republicans who were loath to raise taxes to help schools. Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist was pressing from Washington to not raise one cent, and without the coalition pressing for more aid, lawmakers likely would have passed a puny package and gone home.

Maybe that's why some in Austin, mostly House Republicans, came to refer to the coalition members as the "Whiny Ass School People." (I started not to include that vulgarity in a family newspaper, but it reveals the contempt some elected leaders have for those who run our schools.)

Fortunately, the WASPs didn't budge. Our state is better off for their uncommon leadership and independence, which is what this editorial board seeks in bestowing The Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year award.

It would be best if legislators and the education groups could work out a common solution when Austin takes up school finance again. But if Republican leaders keep offering higher standards and little funding, someone has to force the Legislature to give students the means they need to achieve higher ends.

"Lawmakers need to get it together -- and soon," (Registration Required), 11/25/05, Dallas Morning News.

The preferred way of reaching consensus – and making good law – is not a repeat of the deadline-testing battle of wills between the speaker and lieutenant governor.

Texas has seen four such legislative sessions in the past two years and can do without another...

Austin leaders will have scant time to pass a good bill if they have to deal with hastily crafted legislation of this complexity.

The importance of properly funding schools demands true cooperation and early consensus. Only then can the court-imposed reforms have the scrutiny and input from stakeholders that the issue deserves.

"Schools Need More Than Tinkering," 11/23/05, Austin-American Statesman:

Even while upholding the legality of the overall structure and funding of public schools, the court's majority warned that the system is drifting toward "constitutional inadequacy." It also cautioned that the gap in wealth among districts might become so great that it is unconstitutional...

That majority seems to understand that public education in Texas is inadequate and inefficient, even if not unconstitutionally so. This state faces an enormous challenge in devising a system to educate a growing, poor and often unprepared student population.

"To the drawing board editorial," 11/23/05, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

No one who sincerely cares about the future of this state and its children can be happy about any of this. More than a decade down the road, the Supreme Court is still saying that the state should be able to do better.

"Lawmakers get last chance on school finance," (Registration Required), 11/24/05, The Beaumont Enterprise.

Few lawmakers looked good in this process, but House Speaker Tom Craddick was believed to be particularly at fault for his stubborn refusal to compromise in any meaningful way. Maybe now Craddick and other roadblocks to reform will realize that they must act.

Order Falls Apart at Supreme Court

By Phillip Martin

Literally. A large chunck of marble fell off the front of the United States Supreme Court building this morning. According to TV reports, the chunk fell from the area where statues are carved at the top of the building. While "Liberty," the central statue, remained intact, it seems that some basic elements of "Order" broke down.

More puns are, of course, welcome.

Stallings Not Stalling Around

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

I'm back in Austin after an enjoyable break off in Fredericksburg where I had Thanksgiving Day dinner at the DoubleJade, which served a Chinese, German, Mexican, American, (and seafood) buffet.

Didn't catch this last week, but according to Matt Glazer down in San Antonio, Larry Stallings isn't wasting time in getting organized in HD 122. Matt's got some more biographical info as well, part of which I've clipped here.

Larry is a 58 year old father and grandfather. He was born and raised in Amarillo and graduated from Tascosa High School in 1966. Larry joined the Marine Corps immediately after graduation and served a total of 30 years in various military components, 20 of them as an Army Medical Service Corps officer. Stallings completed a Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) degree, and a Master of Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) degree while on military duty.

He was awarded more than two dozen medals and citations, served on two combat deployments and was awarded a Bronze Star and Legion of Merit.

Also not to forget, Republican Representative Ray Allen up in Dallas (HD-106) is going into retirement, creating an open seat for which Katy Hubener will be running again. Huebner garnered 47.5% against Allen back in 2004 in her first bid for political office, and should make this one of the top House races in Texas. Kuff has some info on that race from back before the break.

Once you go black you don't go back...

By Jim Dallas

Kevin Drum on the increasingly-common references to the Friday after Thanksgiving as "Black Friday."

I was beginning to wonder about this myself; it seemed to me that more people were calling Friday "black" this year than before. Based on Kevin's research, it might be the case. And if the trend continues we might as well just all start calling it that.

Incidentally, "Black Friday" is not the busiest shopping day of the year; the Saturday before Christmas is. I guess that would tend to mean that the day gets its name from stores becoming (supposedly) profitable on that day. Such a momentous event, of course, requires a name. And we hear that "Good Friday" was already taken.

BORed - Bombs Over Blogspot

By Matt Hardigree

Remember all the stink about President Bush making a remark about bombing Al Jazeera? I'm sure it was just a joke, but the people at Al Jazeera probably aren't excited about it. I don't blame them. Of course, now we have proof that they aren't big on the idea in the form of an Al Jazeera employee blog with the clever title "Don't Bomb Us."

The blog isn't that interesting. Robert Fisk is their favorite Middle East correspondant? Big shock. The best part is their flickr pool as it includes this photo:

Believe it or not, that's their second draft. Their first was "We truly insist that we have a full investigation of that thing Bush said about bombing our offices, the building, the satellites and the parking garage that we currently are owning at this moment. If not now, sometime in the immediate future. Thank you for the consideration"

Bring the pain

By Jim Dallas

I swear, if A&M goes into the second half ahead (which they could do) -- I'll just choke.

Update: Well, the Aggies blew a perfectly good drive. Still, after all the gloom-and-doom predictions by (and for) the A&M faithful, you'd expect the Longhorns to be up by more than 21-15.

Update 2: I fell asleep in the middle of the second half after it started to look like the game might be in hand. The H-Chron and CNN-SI have write-ups.

Altogether it was, as one commenter notes, a good game. Moreover, it was a game where - despite the rivalry - you really could root for both sides. The Aggies continued a wonderful tradition (by which I mean "playing their hearts out as underdogs," not "losing to Texas") and that's commendable.

Home Again

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

In a couple hours I'll be back in Fredericksburg, recovering from a cold, and seeing the family. Posting will likely be light over the holiday week here, though I'm sure we'll pop in with some updates now and again.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

And for anyone that cares, here are the University Democrats officer nominations so far. Elections will be held next Wednesday, Nov 30th, starting at 8 pm in GAR 1.

President:
Brandon Chicotsky
Nick Chu
Ali Puente

VP:
Katie Naranjo (pending acceptance)
David Black
Sheel Bedi

PR Director:
Sukanya Misra
Ramon Telles

Secretary:
Katie Cowhig
Emily Bivona
Ronald M

Treasurer:
Kurt Neumann
John Chen

Events:
Michael Fritz
Cindy Castillo
Ray Skidmore

Volunteer:
Sam Srour
Kelly Fine

Historian:
Jess Faerman
Ashley Boggs
Liz Rumming

Webmaster:
Tim Allen
Elizabeth Anderson

Greg Abbott gets a gold star

By Jim Dallas

Ditto what Kuff said. The Sony DRM RootKit kerfluffle (especially given that the EULA apparently was drafted by somewhat who must have flunked contract law -- that's the only logical explanation for drafting something so obviously unconscionable) should concern every American about the dangers of corporate Big Brother.

At the moment, I am currently approving of the job performance of our state Attorney General.

Bush's Exit Strategy

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Watch the video of Bush's Exit Strategy. (Might resize your window for some reason).

Also, watch the video of Rep. Mean Jean Schmidt dropping the C-Bomb on the house floor last week.

Courts Rule on School Finance

By Phillip Martin

Quorum Report has the full ruling. I'll try to put together a summary together for this afternoon. Basically they said that the ad valorem taxes, because of how they were capped, constituted a state property tax that is unconstitutional. The Legislature will have to pass a new law by June 1, 2006, to fix it.

Here's what they said about funding:

"We recognize that the standard of arbitrariness we have applied is very deferential to the Legislature, but as we have explained, we believe that standard is what the Constitution requires. Nevertheless, the standard can be violated. There is substantial evidence, which again the district court credited, that the public education system has reached the point where continued improvement will not be possible absent significant change, whether that change take the form of increased funding, improved efficiencies, or better methods of education. ... But an impending constitutional violation is not an existing one, and it remains to be seen whether the system’s predicted drift toward constitutional inadequacy will be avoided by legislative reaction to widespread calls for changes."

SO, the funding is legally fine for now, but it could easily "drift toward constitutional inadequacy" if the Legislature doesn't make some changes -- whatever changes they feel should be made.

Anyone with any better reading/understanding, leave a comment...

UPDATE: Statesman article is up.

Bill and Bell: More Than Just an "I"

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

While reading last Friday's Statesman article on Justice Gammage's interest in the Governors race, I was interested to see a couple things. One was a reference to BOR for helping to bring that story to light.

Gammage, 67, a mediation attorney whose consideration surfaced this week on blogs, including the Democrat-oriented Burnt Orange Report, said he's weighing whether he can raise enough money to run and whether his candidacy would draw grass-roots support.

The second was some of the lines of difference that Gammage was drawing with Bell.

Gammage called Bell a likable leader who deserves credit for filing U.S. House ethics complaints against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, last summer.

But Gammage said Bell "hasn't been able to focus public attention on much of anything else. And he can't run on that. He's not running against Tom DeLay; he's running for governor of Texas, and it's a big state. Anybody who hasn't run statewide really can't appreciate how big.

"The campaign conducted so far puts you to sleep," Gammage said. "The message is not being delivered so that anyone is listening. One thing I can do is deliver a message. I know how to wage a late-starting, under-funded campaign. Been doing that all my life."

On taxation, Gammage differs from Bell in saying that creation of a state personal income tax should be considered with other government finance options. "Everything is on the table," he said.

Gammage, a Houston native, is a former college instructor whose career includes stints in the Texas House and Senate and the U.S. House. He also served on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin and on the Texas Supreme Court.

Now, I wouldn't mind some sleep, goodness knows I havn't gotten enough of it this semester while steering the Campus Alliance to victory locally on Prop 2. While I'm supportive of Democrats running at all levels and hold out hope in even the most unlikely elections, I can only work and volunteer for so many campaigns and have little time at this point get excited about campaigns which, well, aren't very exciting. Or worse, leave me scratching my head.

Bell spokesman Jason Stanford said it was "ludicrous" that Bell is fixed on DeLay. Bell "was not afraid of Tom DeLay. He isn't afraid of Rick Perry. And he's certainly not afraid of Bob Gammage," Stanford said.

Stanford made a comparison to jockeying among Democratic presidential possibilities before the 1992 election season.

"How many Mario Cuomos have to pass on this race before we realize we've got a Bill Clinton already running?" Stanford asked.

Whoa, hold up there. Was that just a comparison of Chris Bell to Bill Clinton? Um, ok. I thought this was supposed to be the campaign that put me to sleep, not put me in tears.

In Other Gubernatorial News...

By Damon McCullar

$250,000 Life Insurance Benefit for National Guard

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell said that paying the life insurance premiums of members of the Texas National Guard serving in active federal duty in combat zones would be a top priority of his administration.

“A parade is not enough thanks for the Texans who risked their lives overseas,” said Bell. “We can never thank them enough for their sacrifice for our national security, but we can do something about the financial security of their families. Nothing would ever be enough, but this is a start.”

Governors in Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Rhode Island have either signed or called for legislation to have their states pay the life insurance premiums of National Guard members on active federal duty in combat zones. These soldiers are eligible for $250,000 in federal life insurance benefits. The premium is $16.25 a month. The other states that have done this typically reimburse the National Guardsmen and women.

The Austin-American Statesman also had this story on the same subject.

ALSO:

Bell: Tax Panel is "Cronyism Run Amok"

AUSTIN – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell today criticized Rick Perry’s Texas Tax Reform Commission as “cronyism run amok” because the members of the tax panel have given Rick Perry’s campaigns almost $1.4 million during the past five years, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

“This is cronyism run amok,” said Chris Bell. “Rick Perry says ‘this talented group of individuals’ offers ‘a broad, fresh perspective.’ What they offer is political cover for a politician facing re-election. That, and hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for the campaign, of course.” (Press Release, Office of the Governor, Nov. 4, 2005)

Much of Texas business and the population is unrepresented by the Perry Tax Commission. According to Texas Weekly, “car dealers, at odds with Perry, are out. Manufacturing, commercial real estate, the Internet end of the technology business, and utilities” also lack representation on the roster.

Where To See Your 2006 Democratic Hopefuls

By Damon McCullar

It's time for this week's installment of Where To See Your 2006 Democratic Hopefuls! This post has gotten long due to the number of candidates in the field. Use the extended entry to see what's going on this week and who is running for what! If anyone has any leads on candidates or knows of someone I'm leaving out, please email me or leave a comment.

Barbara Radnofsky

Chris Bell
Nationally renowned political blogger Sean-Paul Kelley (of Agonist fame) will be special guest host on KTSA radio in San Antonio on November 23 and he has invited Chris to join him on the program to discuss the campaign.

The show runs from 7 PM to 10 PM on Wednesday the 23rd. Check back as the date approaches for an update on what time in the program Chris will be on

Chris will be visiting the Bryan campus of Blinn College on Monday, November 28 to take part in the Blinn Student Lecture Series. Chris's speech is sponsored by the Student Government Association.

The event is being held in the banquet room of the Student Center Building and begins at 7 PM.

Felix Alvarado
Felix Alvarado is seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor.

Maria Alvarado is running for Lt. Governor.

David Van Os
David Van Os is running for Attorney General.

Join us for the first official stop on the David Van Os for Attorney General Whistlestop Tour!

with

Jim Hightower
Presentation of the Spine Award
Music by Tres Lunas
Meet & Greet the Candidate
Dinner Buffet
& Good Ol'-Timey Fun!
Venue: Barr Mansion, 10463 Sprinkle Road, Austin Texas 78754
Date: December 03, 2005
Time: 5:00-9:00 PM
Email: rlmeade@yahoo.com
Celebrating David's filing for placement on the 2006 ballot and official candidancy.

Featured guest speaker Jim Hightower

Spine Award presented by the Progressive Populist Caucus and sponsored by The Backbone Campaign

Live music by Tres Lunas and progressive conversation into the evening.

$1000 sponsorship (includes preferred seating for eight; first two respondents seated with Jim and David)

$50 general seating

SEATING IS LIMITED. Please RSVP by November 26 to the email above.

More information available here, including online registration for the event.

Hank Gilbert
Hank Gilbert is running for Ag Commissioner

Dan Dodd
Dan Dodd is running for Congress in CD-03

Glen Melancon
Glen is running for Congress in CD-04

Glenn will address the Rockwall Democrats on Saturday November 19
at 9am. For more a map to the location visit their website:
www.RockwallDemocrats.com.

Charlie Thompson
Charlie is running for Congress in CD-05

November 22nd - Dallas Christian Democrats, 7:00 PM, La Madeleine, Preston at Forest

November 30th - Dallas County East Democrats 7:30 PM, location TBD

December 1st - Lake Highlands Area Dems Meet-up group, 7:30 PM, White Rock Coffee Shop, 10105 E. NW Hwy. Dallas

December 3rd - Athens Christmas Parade, 6:30 PM, Athens

December 6th - Stonewall Democrats Annual Holiday Party - 6:30 Havana Bar, 4006 Cedar Springs Dallas

December 7th - DFA National Meeting Day Meting 7:00 PM Turley Law Center, 6440 North Central Expwy., Dallas

December 8th - The Greater Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Luncheon - 11:30 AM - Vetoni's Italian Rest., Gun Barrel City

December 8th - Lake Highlands Area Democratic Meet-up group - 8:00 PM, White Rock Coffee Shop, 10105 E. NW Hwy. Dallas

December 10th - Lake Highlands Area Democratic Meeting - 10:00 AM, NW corner of intersection of NW Hwy. & Plano Rd., Dallas

December 14th - Athens Chamber of Commerce Luncheon - Athens Country Club, 11:30 AM

December 15th - Anderson County Democratic Party Executive Committee Mtg., 5:30 PM, Jerry Hanson's Law Office, Palestine

December 21st - Garland Democratic Women 11:30 AM, 10538 Forest Lane, (Golden Corral, Dallas)

December 22nd - Lake Highlands Area Dems Meet-up Group, 8:00 PM, White Rock Coffee Shop,

December 22nd - Cherokee County Dem Women - time and location TBA

David Harris
David Harris is running for Congress in CD-06.

The Follow Me To DC campaing embarks on another road trip across the Gulf States to enjoy Thanksgiving in Georgia with Michelle's maternal grandmother. We will be stopping along the route to visit with Hurricane survivors and offer messages of hope. It is our wish that each of you this Thanksgiving, find the courage to rise up, thankful for the great leaders that have gone before, and push toward victory next November. It will be remarkable next year to look back on the friends we have made, the things we have changed and the demand list we will deliver to DC. I look forward to joining you all on the fight along the way. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. - David Harris, Candidate, TX 06

Ted Ankrum
Ted is running for Congress in CD-10.

Shane Sklar
Shane Sklar is running for Congress in CD-14.

John Courage
John Courage is running for Congress in the CD-21.

Reception and Fundraiser
5:30-7:30 p.m.
at Resistencia Bookstore
1801-A South 1st St. Austin TX
More info

Nick Lampson
Nick Lampson is running against Tom DeLay for Congress in CD-22.

Nick will be at the Ft. Bend County candidates' forum:
Location: George Memorial Library, Richmond, TX
Time: 10 am

Henry Cuellar
Henry Cuellar is running for re-election to Congress in the CD-28.

Richard Raymond
Raymond Rodrigez is running for election to Congress in the CD-28.

Ciro Rodrigez
Ciro Rodrigez is running for Congress in the CD-28.

Friday, November 18th, 2005
Coffee with Ciro
Time: 9am-10am
Location: Brother Tacos on Pan Am (before) Theo & Malone

Contact:
Irma Castillo
210-928-2476
irma@cirodrodriguez.com
Saturday November 19, 2005
Breakfast Rally
Time: 8am - 10am
Location: /*Don Pedros Mexican Restaurant */
1526 S.W. Military Dr.
Get Directions

Irma Castillo
210-928-CIRO (2476)
irma@cirodrodriguez.com
December 11, 2005
Tardeada Con Ciro
BORN TO SERVE - CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ
59th Birthday Tardeada
Date: Sunday, December 11, 2005
Time: 3pm - 6pm - Special Celebration
Location: The Sunset Station Depot - The Saloon
1174 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Get Directions

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE
Padrinos - $2,100
Compares - $1,000
Amigos - $500
Parientes - $350
Vecinos - $250
Amistades - $100

Call for Details Alice Guerra,President, GTO Advertising
3707 N. St. Mary's Street
San Antonio, TX 78212
at 210-732-8111 or 210-379-4283
alice@gtoadv.com

Ciro D. Rodriguez for Congress
210-928-CIRO (2476)
info@cirodrodriguez.com

Mary-Beth Harrell
Mary-Beth Harrell is running for Congress in the CD-31.

Kirk Watson
Kirk Watson is running for Texas Senate District 14.

Sharon Davis
Jim is runing for State Representative in District 08.

Jason Earle
Jason is seeking the nomination for State Representative in District 47

Andy Brown
Andy Brown is seeking the nomination for State Representative in District 48.

Andy Brown will be blockwalking this weekend. Come meet Andy, talk to West Austin voters, and work on your tan! Contact Marc at 636-4345 or at marc@voteandy.com for more information.

Donna Howard
Donna Howard is seeking the nomination for State Representative in District 48.

Jim Stauber
Jim is runing for State Representative in District 50.

Karen Felthauser
Karen is runing for State Representative in District 52.

Paula Hightower-Pierson
Paula is running for State Representative in District 93..

Judge Jim Coronado (site under construction)
Judge Coronado is running for a spot on the Third Court of Appeals

Diane Henson
Diane is running for a spot on the Third Court of Appeals, Place 3

Diane Henson, Candidate for Justice, Third Court of Appeals, Place 3 is having a fund-raiser on Tuesday, November 29 from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Shoreline Grill in Austin. Tickets are $50.

Bree Buchanan
Bree is running for a spot on the Third Court of Appeals.

Mina Brees
Mina is running for a spot on the Third Court of Appeals.

Charles Baird
Charles is running for the 299th district court here in Austin. Let's get behind him and Keep Austin Blue.

Just plain wrong.

By Jim Dallas

Matt Stoller:

A party strategist tells me that a great fundraising idea would be to put press hound Sheila Jackson Lee in a room with Chuck Schumer and one TV camera and ask people to pay to watch them fight over it.

Person of the Year

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

Over at TIME you can send in nominations for Person of the Year.

Or you can ignore that and nominate a Texan of the Year. That deadline is Wednesday.

Sen. Eltife Speaks Out on School Reform

By Phillip Martin

State Senator Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) gave every elected official in Texas an "F" for failing to pass any sort of improvements for our public schools, and called on members of his own party to start using their clear majority to start leading.

From The Paris News:

“We should have cut property taxes, properly funded public education and should have given teachers a pay raise they desperately deserve,” Eltife said.

He noted the average beginning teacher earns $24,000 yearly.

“That’s an embarrassment,” he said.

Eltife said many leaders blame lobbyists for the legislature’s past failures but that the buck stops with elected officials.

“Some will go around blaming the business lobby and some the education lobby,” Eltife said. “If you want to blame somebody, blame every elected official in this state.”

Eltife targeted his own political party.

“I am a Repub-lican,” Eltife said. “Republicans control the House, Republicans control the Senate and Republicans control every statewide elected office. If we are going to control all these offices, we need to provide leadership and it is time we step up to the plate. We asked for these jobs and we need to deliver.”

No matter the political consequences, the District 1 senator says he will continue to vote his conscious and what he believes are the wishes of his district on matters facing the Texas Legislature.

“It doesn’t matter whether the governor is on the other side of the issue or the lieutenant governor, when I am on the Senate floor and I make a vote it is going to be for my district and what is right in my heart no matter who is on the other side of an issue,” Eltife said to a round of applause.

Put into context with the recent targeting the Republican Party of Texas has done to many "moderate" Republicans in the House, this article points to the prominent difference between the Republican leadership (Perry, Dewhurst, Craddick) and everyone else in the Texas Legislature (Republicans and Democrats, alike) on the issue of education.

Voting Rights Act Kabuki

By Jim Dallas

JURIST Paperchase has a blurb about the upcoming debate about renewing parts of the Voting Rights Act (or not):

A small minority of southern Republicans have announced their intention to challenge the renewal of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act [text; DOJ introduction], currently being evaluated by Congress for a 25-year renewal on the grounds that it is unfair to southern states and no longer necessary. Though the White House, Congressional leaders of both parties, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the teh US Justice Department support the reauthorization of the Act [JURIST report] in its entirety, several southern lawmakers are critical of section 5, which requires southern states with dicriminatory voting records to seek federal approval before changing voting locations within districts, a requirement not imposed on northern states. The original purpose of the provision was to prevent the racist practice of moving voting locations to intentionally inconvenience black voters. Leading the opposition, first-term US House member Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) [official website] argues that the areas protected by the provision are now "controlled by minorities" and no longer need protection. Representative Sanford Bishop (D-GA) [official website], one of many House members who support the renewal of the provision, has nonetheless noted that "in an ideal world we would not need the Voting Rights Act, and in an ideal world we could apply Section 5 across the board without watering it down and making it ineffective. But if history, both past and present, teaches us anything, it's that we do not live in an ideal world." AP has more.

Continued below the fold...

The AP writes it up this way:

A school closes that once housed a polling place. For the next election, city officials send voters to a new site across the street. In Boston, no problem. In Atlanta, no problem provided the federal government grants permission.

Such has been the law for 40 years under the Voting Rights Act, which sought to end racist poll taxes and literacy tests by putting Southern states - then, without question, the worst offenders - on a shorter leash than most other places.

Now President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and congressional leaders from both political parties are pushing to renew this requirement for 25 more years. Although it doesn't expire until 2007, continuation of Section 5 - the provision involving federal preclearance of voting laws - seems a foregone conclusion.

Still, a handful of Southern Republicans - particularly those from Georgia - are determined to mount a spirited dissent, though they realize it will probably be in vain.

"It's just a matter of feeling dissed when you know you've paid for your sins or the sins of your forefathers, and it wasn't even our party that did it," said Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga.

Congress is just a few weeks into its hearings on the act's renewal, but most have involved a parade of witnesses who support extending the requirement and a small handful who don't. So Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Georgia Republican in his first congressional term, decided it's time for the other side to mobilize.

Earlier this month, Westmoreland called a meeting of several Southern Republicans whose states are subject to Section 5 approval. He shared with them some facts involving his state.

First, blacks there now turn out to vote at a higher rate than whites, according to a study by two political scientists. Second, the state has little trouble electing minorities to office. Four of 13 members of the U.S. House are black, as is Thurbert Baker, who was easily re-elected as the state's attorney general.

"I'm not going to deny there weren't problems," Westmoreland said. "But right now, if you look at those same communities where there were problems, those communities are controlled by minoritie