Burnt Orange Report: - 2010 Elections

Speaker Straus Unwilling to Forget Voter ID and Focus On Real Problems

Michael Hurta — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:54:31 GMT

Yesterday, Teas House Speaker Joe Straus released Interim Charges to his committees. You can look at them here (.pdf). In a letter to members, Speaker Straus stated, "these charges and the recommendations you develop will form the basis for major legislation we will consider next session."

The following is the third charge given to the House Committee on Elections:

Examine the prevalence of fraud in Texas elections. Study new laws in other states regarding voter identification and recommend statutory changes necessary to ensure that only eligible voters can vote in Texas elections.

Wasn't it already concluded that voter impersonation happens infrequently? Changes, clearly, aren't necessary no matter which way you slice it.

I am upset mainly, though, because Speaker Straus saw how a push for voter suppression derailed plenty of good laws last session. It was his one colossal failure as a first-term speaker, and he wants another go.

Wow. What happened to learning from one's mistakes? The only way I can see this as something other than a repeat of an error is if he feels his position is in danger from the Craddick-Right. Even still, Voter Suppression should be a non-starter with any leader, especially one that fell flat in its wake once already.

Using Fear To Distract and Divide

Lainey Melnick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:31:48 GMT

Today we are faced with another fear-based debate about whether or not the Guananomo Bay Detainees should be housed in US prisons and be given their days in court. If you were to believe the rhetoric from the Republican partisans, America has never faced such danger from any other past enemy or based decisions during wartime on human rights, the Constitution and international law. The reality is, of course, that we have been faced with all these things before and our values cannot be compromised especially in challenging times. The Supreme Court decisions upholding habeas corpus rights for these detainees is evidence that we, as a people, have a firm belief in the Constitution and our role as model for international law and human rights.
US Cities are not afraid of housing these detainees. They are now fighting for the priveledge of being home to state of the art new prison facilities, economic growth, and job stability that could re-invigorate these American communities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal facilities on American soil currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Some have been imprisoned here since the 1990s, and none of them have escaped.

The partisans, with Rep. Lamar Smith as their leader, are building fear about our judges just releasing these prisoners out into the United States. If there is not evidence to convict these detainees of a crime or once their sentence has been carried out, I support releasing them back into the custody of the Secretary of Homeland Security for transfer to the individual's country of citizenship. Being imprisoned in the United States doesn't grant citizenship or other rights of citizenship to the prisoners. The argument that we are rewarding these detainees with more rights and possible release into our communities is nothing more than a distraction meant to divide our country.

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Lainey Melnick
Candidate for US Congress
Texas 21st District
http://www.LaineyForCongress.com
lmelnick@laineyforcongress.com
On Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/...
On Twitter http://www.twitter.com/lmelnick
Paid for and authorized by the Lainey Melnick for Congress Committee

A Candidate for the Court of Criminal Appeals

Michael Hurta — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:44:16 GMT

The renewal of news about the Cameron Todd Willingham case should not only shed light on the reasons Rick Perry is a bad governor, but it should also illuminate our way-too-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals, which denied writs of Habeus Corpus to Willingham continuously, even a month before execution.

The court is fully occupied by Republicans, and three judges are on the ballot in 2010. Two of those three, according to Grits, belong to the "more or less totalitarian wing" of the court and fully deserve strong challengers.

Grits was able to inform us yesterday that one such challenger has emerged:

Keith Hampton, a veteran appellate lawyer and chair of the legislative committee for the Texas Criminal Defense Laywers Association, has announced his candidacy for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, lining up to run against Michael Keasler. Here's Hampton's campaign website.
I've had my differences with Keith but he'd be an overwhelming improvement over Judge Keasler, if only to add some balance to the range of opinions on the court.

If the larger Democratic ticket can pull even a slightly successful year, good candidates have a strong chance to defeat Republicans for this court. The Willingham case is only the most recent spurt of anger that can be directed to the CCA.

Now, if only we can get another CCA candidate or two...and a ticket to lead the Democratic charge.

Affordable Health Care for America Act Passes House

Lainey Melnick — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:33:05 GMT

Tonight we witnessed a landmark vote for our generation, 220-215. Never again will people be turned down from health insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Never again will Americans go bankrupt due to health care crisis. Never again will our health care be based on our continued employment. Never again will we stand by and watch our neighbors die from lack of access to affordable health care.

This was an historic day that we've worked towards for decades, and now we are one step closer to achieving total victory. We now wait for the Senate version and then the process to combine them into the final law.
Watching the debate all day on the house floor made me all the more committed to my fight against injustice. Watching heroes like Rep. Dingall who presided over the Medicare debates in 1965 and is still fighting today is my inspiration. I watched Rep. Doggett represent Austin with pride and passion. These are my role models. The leaders who are fighting for the people, not the special interests.

Then I saw my opponent, Rep. Lamar Smith. He claimed that he cares about providing health care to those in need, and yet he has voted twice against children's health insurance for low income children, and No to real health care reform tonight. The Republican alternative ignored the need to end discrimination against pre-existing conditions, and instead opened more loopholes for the private insurers to further abuse. It is clear that the Republicans in Congress, being led by ranking members such as Lamar Smith don't want solutions. They want failure for our President and our country.

It is time for a change.

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Lainey Melnick
Candidate for US Congress
Texas 21st District
http://www.LaineyForCongress.com
lmelnick@laineyforcongress.com
On Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/pages/...
On Twitter http://www.twitter.com/lmelnick
Paid for and authorized by the Lainey Melnick for Congress Committee

Make History With Me

hank g. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:25:01 GMT

A few hours ago in Houston, I did something that no statewide candidate in Texas history has ever done: I released a comprehensive policy statement on issues of importance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Texans.

In front of a packed house at a meeting of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, I outlined my plan to repeal the Texas Defense of Marriage Act and all statutory and constitutional barriers to equality for LGBT citizens, as well as ending discrimination in hiring and employment, public accommodations and real estate transactions, insurance, and more.

After The Advocate took note of this policy release, a Texas reader in their comment section said he though, with a policy like that, I don't stand "a snowball's chance in hell," of winning this election because of the reputation Texas has under Rick Perry.

But you and I know different.
You and I know that Texas has come a long way since 2005 when bigotry and hate were written into our state constitution. By and large, Texans recognize GLBT citizens deserve these rights and recognize that the discrimination our state shows to this group of individuals is inappropriate. America's most successful Fortune 500 companies provide domestic partner benefits to their employees yet Texas' universities do not. You see what is wrong with that picture and so do many others. They may not be as vocal as the rightwing Perry/Palin echo chamber, but they recognize this as an inequality.

You and I know that, when the time comes again (and it will when I am governor) to right the injustices done to LGBT citizens in Texas, that Texans will step up to the plate. So, I'm going to ask you to do two things for me: go to Facebook and join the group "I Stand with Hank on LGBT Issues." When you get done there, head over to my website and add your name to the rapidly growing list of Texans who support this policy.

While you are there, you can sign up for my mailing list to keep up to date with my campaign. And, if you have a few bucks to spare during the Rick Perry Recession, campaign contributions through Act Blue are always welcome.

I'm Starting to Feel that Campaign Fight Again...

Phillip Martin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:16:02 GMT

I'm starting to feel that campaign fight again....

...Maybe I'm just already in a 2010 war mode from the Texas Democratic Party's "Top 10 Rick Perry Failures" and their "Who is the Real KBH?" campaigns...

...Maybe it was seeing all the work and effort from the Gilbert campaign this week, including their highly successful transportation rollout...

...Maybe it was seeing Leo Vasquez, Ed Johnson, and Co. suffer another brutal blow to their voter suppression efforts in Harris County -- then getting to see Vasquez puff up his chest and act like he didn't just get smacked down, so that he can try and look macho in front of the extreme right-wing of the corrupt Harris County Republican Party...

...Maybe it is that we're actually about to have health care bills on the floors of Congress...

...Maybe it is reading about KT's enthusiasm for his work in Kalamazoo right now...

...Maybe it's just that I voted today...

...and maybe it's just that today is my fourth month back home in Texas; UT football is going into November undefeated, the NBA is back (!), and this time last year I was freezing in New England, as opposed to enjoying 70-degree weather here at home.

Whatever the reason, I'm feeling good...and I'm starting to feel that campaign fight again.

I know it's a year away, and there are a lot of unanswered questions -- both nationally and here in Texas -- and with so much uncertainty, it can become easy to kind of drift, and get frustrated, and lack a sense of purpose.

But one year out, I'm feeling that fight again. And reading the TDP smash the new Republican Party of Texas Chair Cathie Adams like this --

On issue after issue, Cathie Adams is either uninformed or intentionally spreading the same garbage one expects from Rush Limbaugh, another sign that failed one party Republican rule has nothing better to offer Texans.

-- after having read what RPT Chair Cathie Adams had to say --

On Former Governor Ann Richards:
"She's an anti-religious bigot. How can people think she is Texas-down-home Ma Richards? I feel very insulted that she is representing me as a Texas woman. Most Texas women are ladylike and God-fearing. Ann Richards has none of those qualities." (Houston Chronicle via Texas Freedom Network)
On President Obama’s Address, urging schoolchildren to work hard and stay in school:
"This is eerily like Hitler’s youth movement.” (Texas Eagle Forum)

-- yeah.

I'm ready for 2010.

Read the full TDP e-mail -- sent out by Texas Democratic Party Communications Director Kirsten Gray -- below the jump:


Dear fellow Democrat, Last Saturday, the Texas GOP elected Cathie Adams as their new Party Chair. By electing the leader of the radical Texas Eagle Forum group, they chose a leader who has espoused an out-of-touch political philosophy that marches in lockstep with the most extreme talk radio commentators and fringe groups. Even the Dallas County GOP Chair, Jonathan Neerman, remarked on Adams' election, "what's happened is we've set the party back five years." With the election of Cathie Adams, Texas Republicans completely abandoned mainstream Texans to embrace an extremist agenda that is out-of-touch with the concerns of most Texans. Consider new Texas GOP Chair Ms. Adams’ positions on just a few issues. On Children’s Health Care for working Texas citizens and their families: “We do not have a children’s health care crisis.” (Texas Eagle Forum Alert, 2/21/99 via Texas Freedom Network) On President Obama: "While many question Barack Hussein Obama's 'religion'...the more important question is whether he has a 'relationship' with Jesus Christ because that is the only HOPE that any of us have to obtain eternal life. I personally see NO evidence that Obama has that kind of 'saving faith'." (Texas Freedom Network, page 40) On Hispanic Texans: “If mom had a baby at age 15, are her morals going to be setting different standards than someone who has grown up in the American culture where that is not typical?” (Dallas Morning News) On Stem Cell Research to Cure Cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases: “Scientists are on the verge of cloning humans, injecting them with diseases and studying them, then killing them.” (Source: Texas Eagle Forum via Americans United) On Former Governor Ann Richards: "She's an anti-religious bigot. How can people think she is Texas-down-home Ma Richards? I feel very insulted that she is representing me as a Texas woman. Most Texas women are ladylike and God-fearing. Ann Richards has none of those qualities." (Houston Chronicle via Texas Freedom Network) On President Obama’s Address, urging schoolchildren to work hard and stay in school: "This is eerily like Hitler’s youth movement.” (Texas Eagle Forum) On issue after issue, Cathie Adams is either uninformed or intentionally spreading the same garbage one expects from Rush Limbaugh, another sign that failed one party Republican rule has nothing better to offer Texans. Sincerely, Kirsten Gray Communications Director Texas Democratic Party

Judge Elena Diaz' Missing $40,000 Loan

Phillip Martin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:45:54 GMT

Judge Elena Diaz -- who lost to Eric Shepperd in their race for Travis County Court-at-Law seat back in 2006 -- is preparing to run in an already crowded 353rd District Court race here in Austin. She's got a treasurer, but some of her paperwork doesn't (seem) to add up.

I got the following e-mail today pointing out Judge Diaz' loan disclosures seem to be missing $40,000:

In 2006, at the end of her race, she reported $70,000 in outstanding loans. (Source)

In 2009, when she filed her "final" report, she only had $30,000 listed in oustanding loans. (Source)
There was no filing report between those two -- no expenditures or contributions -- so what happened to the $40,000 balance of the loan that disappeared?

Now -- chances are -- she paid it and forgot to report it, or she mis-reported it the first/second time and just needs to correct the error. But any of those mistakes probably constitutes a fine of some sort, and ethical violations for a judicial candidate don't really play that well among an electorate (re: "Austin Political Machine") that loves to jump on every mistake and gotcha moment available.

Never mind the fact that you'd think someone that wanted to be a judge could report their expenditure reports correctly.

The Austin Chronicle points out that:

The winner of [the 353rd District Court race] will almost certainly be decided when Travis County Dems head to the polls in the March 2 primary.

I'd hope that, before Diaz throws herself full-fledge into the normal "Scholz battles" for local support for the race, she clears up the question of the missing $40,000 loan. If not, the "Austin Political Machine" are going to rip into her for this pretty hard.

Dear Senator Hutchison: Shut Up and Fight the Good Fight

Michael Hurta — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:10:00 GMT

Dear Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison,

You're at it again. You're talking about the possibility of resigning and coming to Texas. But you're not sure. This month...December...Never?

Quite frankly, as your constituent, I do not care when you resign to fight Rick Perry. All I know is that, after joking about job losses and covering up evidence that an innocent man was executed, the country is once again being presented with evidence that Texas has one of the worst governors in the country. I will never support you for governor, but someone who aspires to replace one of the worst governors in history should fight him tooth and nail.

Instead, you are talking about fighting him tooth and nail. If your worry is staying in the Senate to fight Health Care Reform, I guarantee you that as bad as Mr. Perry is, his temporary replacement will do that for you. Besides, you aren't actually fighting it - you are talking about how your presence is important to fight it. It isn't, especially with you sitting there idly.

Just set a date and stick to it. It doesn't matter when, but you have told us you were going to resign for this battle. Then, afterwards, shut up and fight the good fight. Texans, Republicans and Democrats both, are folks of big action. Right now, you're the opposite. Right now, you are sitting and twiddling your thumbs.

And you want to be Governor? And you think you are doing a good job as our senior Senator? Oh wait, that's right! The best Senators and Governors twiddle their thumbs all day long! I mean, Come ON!

Fight the Good Fight, please! Yah, so what if I disagree with your fight? Fight the fight or don't fight at all!

Thank you,
Your Constituent, Michael Hurta

US Senate Endorsements as we Wait for Fundraising Numbers

Michael Hurta — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:50:44 GMT

Before we got the first peak into Bill White's new fundraising numbers, John Sharp possibly gained his largest single endorsement yet. Senator Leticia Van de Putte endorsed John Sharp, saying, "it's time to make sure that Texas has at least one U.S. Senator in the room when the critical decisions that affect our working families and small businesses are made. John Sharp is uniquely qualified to get that job done."

Van de Putte is a legislator and politician that we all respect here at the Burnt Orange Report, and she is someone we all wanted to run for a statewide office. That said, I take her opinion on John Sharp seriously as a reason not to rule him out, despite KT's convincing Special Comment,

That said, the Van de Putte announcement elicited a few reactions for me:

I hope Senator Van de Putte is thinking purely about policy ability rather than campaign ability. I think in policy, one can easily flip a coin between Sharp and White as to which man is distinctively better. On campaign ability, though?
Is John Sharp trying to cover for another bad fundraising quarter? We will see in due time, but it's hard to imagine a getter reason for the announcement's timing.
The two thoughts above, though, assume John Sharp's fundraising successes will continue the negative trend that we saw the last quarter. Instead, John Sharp could be leading us to a surprise with a strong fundraising quarter. I doubt this, but if he reports high numbers, he could make a solid case for momentum.

Meanwhile, Bill White isn't leaving us waiting for his money reports as if that's all he has going for him. Besides the revelation that Warren Buffett is among his donors, he recently announced the endorsement of nine members from the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. The group includes Alma Allen, Garnet Coleman, Dawnna Dukes, Harold Dutton, Helen Giddings, Barbara Mallory Caraway, Ruth McClendon, Sylvester Turner, and Marc Veasey.

It was useful to group them together so White could use the Black Caucus' name in a press release, but observers should note that most of this is not new. His page of endorsements from Texas representatives listed most of these names before the announcement was made earlier today. In reality, it seems only Representatives [Turner,] Dutton and Giddings can be counted as "new" endorsements.

Either way, both Bill White and John Sharp have added names to their endorsement lists. As lackluster as Sharp's campaign has looked, he has faired alright in gaining names for that list. Unfortunately, endorsements are not all that matters.

We will learn more when we see fundraising numbers.

Update: I messed up with some of the Bill White endorsements. Chris Turner had previously endorsed White, but Sylvester Turner had not. So add Sly Turner as a new endorsement. Bill White spokesperson Katy Bacon also pointed out to me that the new endorsements mean that Bill White has received endorsements from a majority of Democratic State Representatives. That in itself is an accomplishment.

TX-Gov: Rick Perry's Joke About Recession Isn't Funny, No Matter the Context

Phillip Martin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:44:16 GMT

Can someone explain to me when it became funny to joke about job loss?

Can someone explain to me why the fact that over 62,000 Texans losing their jobs in August 2009 is worth a laugh over?

Can someone please, please tell me why all the coverage about Rick Perry's gaffe is focusing on the politics of everything, instead of the policies of all of this?

Key Point: If we didn't have two career politicians who cared only about themselves -- Hutchison trying to run a Governor's race from Washington, and Rick Perry spending 100% of his time campaigning and 0% of his time governing, even when the Legislature is in session -- then maybe we wouldn't be where we are today.

This is Adios MoFo all over again; only this time unemployed workers are the punchline.

Last week, Rick Perry made an off-hand joke about how Texas economy, saying:

As a matter of fact, just today, I think, Michael, you said someone had put a report out that the first state that’s coming out of the recession is going to be the State of Texas. I told him, I said, ‘We’re in one?’”

There was a kerfuffle within the "gosh, we're bored" political community around Austin about whether or not the video was taken out of context. Here's what's happened since then:

KHOU in Houston was the first to report that Hutchison's team actually put up the video -- showing how incredibly stupid their campaign team really is.
Jason Embry had the full video up for context at his First Reading page this morning.
One of Rick Perry's prominent online supporters -- the Rick vs. Kay blog -- is laying down a thick, thick guilt trip to the press (and to me and Glazer) about the journalistic integrity of reporting on a snippet of a campaign story and not the full piece.
Paul Burka kind of blames both Hutchison and Perry on this one:

Perry made a mistake. Point to Team Hutchison. Team Hutchison cheated. Point taken away from Team Hutchison. I think that the memory of the joke will be longer lasting than the memory of the mendacious editing.

I think the memory of every reporter, blogger, and political insider in Austin, Texas needs to jerked back into a place where we remember that the Governor of Texas likes to crack jokes about the fact that people don't have jobs.

Here's the basic response you get from Rick Perry and his army of dittoheads (whom the press gives more than ample air time to):

"Oh, but it was out of context -- you are taking what he said out of context! It's a dirty trick -- they did it, not us! They're the bad ones. We're just out there telling jokes to the unemployment lines -- we're the good guys!"

Give me a break.

Rick Perry's actions speak far louder and are far more meaningful than his words. Perry can try and claim credit for the ingenuity of the Texas worker, but who out there really thinks Perry has the intellect to do much more than scrub product into his hair each morning? The guy is a smug, manipulative, power-hungry MoFo who was rejected by 60% of the voters the last time he was on the ballot.

More to the point -- he has a proven record of failure on Texas' economy. The enormous budget hole created by the Rick Perry tax plan in 2006 was filled this time around only by federal stimulus dollars -- something the Austin American-Statesman editorial board loudly pronounced:

Federal funds help save the state's hide
During the session, the all-GOP legislative leadership team would grudgingly admit that if it weren't for the federal government's stimulus money, Texas budget cuts would have been wide and deep.
But that didn't keep the governor and others from criticizing Washington for its wasteful ways. At one point, Perry mentioned secession in stoking up an anti-tax crowd.
It was tough talk but as is usually the case in politics, the gap between rhetoric and reality was as wide as the gap between the state's income and demands for services. Without the federal assistance, Texas would be in a tough financial fix.

Rick Perry has failed on numerous economic opportunities, but he still travels the state taking credit for the efforts of Texas small business owners and workers.

So boo-hoo for Rick Perry being taken out of context? Only if you are cravenly selfish about politics. My sympathy is not with Governor Perry, or the shocking fact that someone posted accurate words of him speaking on a website for political gain. The entire Republican primary race has been a small-minded spitting match -- this video is exactly in line with everything that's happened.

What we should be talking about is the state of our economy. We should talk about it in an honest way, that celebrates the innovation and determination of Texas business owners and workers, but that is rightfully critical of the disastrous direction Republicans have taken Texas over the past decade.