Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

All about Pasadena

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Meet Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell, the man behind the redistricting scheme there that we’ve been talking about lately. For more than four decades, Pasadena Mayor Johnny Isbell has had his feet sunk deep into the city’s political landscape of smokestacks … Continue reading →

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Texas Military Forces asks for Abbott’s opinion on same-sex benefits

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Like we don’t know what he’s going to say. Here’s the dilemma: The Department of Defense, based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, has ordered certain benefits be extended to same-sex, legally married couples in the military. But the … Continue reading →

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More ways in which refusing to expand Medicaid will cost Texas money

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Fiscal conservatism, baby. Gov. Rick Perry’s rejection of Medicaid expansion will force private health insurance premiums to rise by an average of 9.3 percent for Texans buying coverage on their own, a new study finds. GOP lawmakers, strongly encouraged by … Continue reading →

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No federal benefits for you, soldier!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We sure do love the troops here in Texas, don’t we? The Texas National Guard refused to process requests from same-sex couples for benefits on Tuesday despite a Pentagon directive to do so, while Mississippi won’t issue applications from state-owned … Continue reading →

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Ratliff and Patrick spar over CSCOPE

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Sounds like fun. The state curriculum system known as CSCOPE — little known until recently — can now add two hours of lively and at times testy debate to a long list of public appearances that includes State Board of … Continue reading →

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“Poopgate” is a big load of…

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Well, you know. Documents released Monday by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s provided no new evidence that officers found one jar of urine and 18 containers of feces at the Capitol before a July 12 debate on a controversial … Continue reading →

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None dare call it Obamacare

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen the Politico story by now. Gov. Rick Perry wants to kill Obamacare dead, but Texas health officials are in talks with the Obama administration about accepting an estimated $100 million available through the health law to care … Continue reading →

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Mind your own business, Dan

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

AG candidate Dan Branch to San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro: Drop the equality ordinance. State Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican campaigning for attorney general, sent a letter to Mayor Julián Castro on Monday asking that he withdraw the proposed … Continue reading →

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Feds provide money to help sign people up for the exchanges

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Every little bit helps. With the rollout of many Affordable Care Act provisions fast approaching, the federal government announced Thursday that eight Texas organizations will receive a combined $10.8 million to hire and train “navigators” to help uninsured Texans find … Continue reading →

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When is it OK for the feds to intervene in Texas?

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

When the Affordable Care Act is involved. Though Texas will join 26 other states in defaulting to a federal marketplace for purchasing health insurance — a major component of the Affordable Care Act — it is one of only six … Continue reading →

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Why, Chron, why?

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has some plaintive questions for Texas’ junior Senator. Ted Cruz is a smart man. Texas’ junior U.S. senator is an expert on the U.S. Constitution and a brilliant, Harvard-educated trial lawyer who has appeared before the U.S. Supreme … Continue reading →

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Two ways to deal with a problem you don’t want to solve

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

First, deny there is a problem. Attorney General Greg Abbott said Thursday he would never give up the fight against Obamacare, but the front-running candidate for Texas governor declined to embrace a temporary shut-down of the federal government — one … Continue reading →

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The exchanges are coming

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas can resist all it wants, the health insurance exchanges will be here in 2014, with signups beginning in October, whether Rick Perry and Greg Abbott like it or not. The federal Health Insurance Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov is scheduled to … Continue reading →

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A reduction in funding for women’s health leads to fewer women getting health care

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Shocking, I know. The number of claims filed for medical and family planning services in the new state-run Texas Women’s Health Program has dropped since the state ousted Planned Parenthood from it and set up its own program without federal … Continue reading →

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More on FreedomWorks as anti-BGTX

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly takes a look. Texas Democrats have, as we all know, been flailing over the past few decades. They are the minority party in both houses of the Lege and haven’t won a statewide race since 1994. Underdogs, we … Continue reading →

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The buried lede on sexism in the Legislature

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

PDiddie thinks that the real shocker in that Observer story on sexism in the Texas Legislature wasn’t given the prominence it deserved. Even the most powerful women in the Legislature experience it. When I started interviewing women lawmakers, they all—Republican … Continue reading →

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Texas really needs Obamacare

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We’ve always known that Texas would be a huge beneficiary of the Affordable Care Act because of our huge volume of uninsured people, but this quantifies it in a way that really brings it home. Texas is home to more … Continue reading →

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Changing the culture

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Nonsequiteuse looks at the big picture. Let’s talk about changing the culture of the Texas legislature. What needs to happen, who needs to do it, what are the consequences, and how do we move forward. The first suggestion that always … Continue reading →

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Fighting for Obamacare

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bring it. Obamacare supporters are launching a new war room operation to stick up for the law, mobilizing liberal groups to talk up its benefits and pound Republicans for trying to cut off its funding. The new effort — to … Continue reading →

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Abbott and CPRIT

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Things Greg Abbott Should Have Been Doing Instead Of Filing All Those Lawsuits Against The Obama Administration, But Didn’t Do department. In the more than four years he served on the state cancer agency’s governing board, Texas Attorney … Continue reading →

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Obama pledges to keep fighting for the Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s hold him to that. President Barack Obama assured civil rights leaders Monday that he will aggressively protect minority voters in Texas and other states, a month after the Supreme Court ended decades of federal election scrutiny. “The Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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SJL for DHS?

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

That sound you heard Monday was a bunch of heads exploding. Conservative bloggers went wild Monday when they got wind of the Congressional Black Caucus’ suggestion that President Obama pick Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston for the post of … Continue reading →

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BGTX and Anglo women voters

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The San Antonio Current has a great story on what Battleground Texas is up to, and why more than just increasing turnout is needed to turn Texas blue. The Democrats can take Texas in 2016 if they can tap into … Continue reading →

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More leftover campaign cash

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron writes about a subject I’ve covered before. Former Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs of Houston used leftover campaign funds to buy a life membership in the National Rifle Association. Former Rep. Martin Frost of Dallas paid a $6,000 Federal Election … Continue reading →

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Remember how concern for women’s health was supposed to be a thing?

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the omnibus anti-abortion bill has been passed and signed, the Republicans can quit pretending to care about the state of health care access for women in Texas as before. Three Planned Parenthood family planning clinics in Southeast Texas … Continue reading →

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Remembering the bad old days

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

We’re headed back to them if the courts don’t intervene. Dr. Howard Novick winces as he recalls treating two and three women a week for infections and complications from botched abortions. It was the early 1970s, before the procedure was … Continue reading →

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The Mexican abortion option

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for it. At the Whole Woman’s Health center here, a young woman predicted what others would do if the state’s stringent new abortion bill approved late Friday forces clinics like this one to close: cross the border to … Continue reading →

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People who don’t know about Obamacare can’t benefit from Obamacare

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

One suspects that’s the point. Texans, and in particular the state’s Hispanic population, might remain in the dark on the benefits of the new federal health care law because outreach efforts are largely focusing on the 24 states participating in … Continue reading →

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Davis raises $1 million, BGTX raises $1.1 million

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Considering she had only two weeks to do it, that’s not too shabby. State Sen. Wendy Davis, the new star of the Texas Democratic Party, raised nearly $1 million in the final two weeks of June, much of it from … Continue reading →

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She who must not be named

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s nice to see that Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, has found meaningful work to do now that she is no longer CEO of that organization. It’s not the least bit surprising to see that … Continue reading →

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Rick Perry will be with us for a long time

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Though we finally have an official end date for the reign of Rick Perry, it will be years before we fully purge him from our system. The strong lieutenant governor legend gelled during Bill Hobby’s tenure from 1973 to 1991. … Continue reading →

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NPR’s odd claim about Latino voting in Texas

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

NPR takes its turn with the obligatory “can Texas turn blue” story, and in doing some provides a number I had not heard before. A new group called Battleground Texas is planning to spend tens of millions of dollars trying … Continue reading →

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PPP polling miscellany

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Public Policy Polling has some additional results from its latest venture into Texas. -By a 54/21 margin Texas voters say that they support the Voting Rights Act, including 45/23 even with Republicans. Only 29% of voters say that they favor … Continue reading →

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Interview with BGTX Summer Fellow Elizabeth Garcia

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I trust by now you are familiar with the mission on Battleground Texas. With the Wendy Davis filibuster and all that’s been going on in the Legislature lately, it feels like they arrived at just the right time. But Battleground … Continue reading →

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