Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

Battlegound Texas officially launches

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You have probably heard by now that Battleground Texas has officially launched. Spearheaded by organizers of Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012 — when Republican nominee Mitt Romney handily carried the Lone Star State — a new push, called “Battleground Texas,” … Continue reading →

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The mouth that roared

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I have two things to say about Ted Cruz. Cruz’s fans, and there are many, compare him to Ronald Reagan, who happens to be the 42-year-old senator’s boyhood hero. Cruz’s detractors, and there are many, compare him to Joe McCarthy, … Continue reading →

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The birth control poll

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Freedom Network would like you to know that Texans support having access to birth control. A new statewide poll from the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund shows Texans believe that access to family planning and birth control is … Continue reading →

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TMA sort of endorses Medicaid expansion

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Hard to say what this means. Trustees of the Texas Medical Association passed a resolution urging state leaders to snare all federal Medicaid matching dollars that are on the table. The group hinged its support, though, on simultaneous actions by … Continue reading →

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Medicaid expansion still a big underdog in Texas

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ed Kilgore sees good things in a poll about expanding Medicaid. But even in Texas, a new survey sponsored by the American Cancer Society Action Network has found, there’s strong majority support for the Medicaid expansion. The survey extended to … Continue reading →

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Smaller WHP provider list back up

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe they got it right this time. A revised list of Texas Women’s Health Program providers — with 965 fewer doctors and clinics — has returned to the state’s website. […] The HHSC had previously stated that the Texas WHP … Continue reading →

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Optimism abounds at inauguration time

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Inauguration time is always a good time to be optimistic. Texas Democrats haven’t had a lot to cheer about in recent years. As San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is quick to remind you, the political score in Texas is 29-0. … Continue reading →

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The state begins preparing its excuses for its WHP screwup

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The fail is strong in this one. State health officials continue to insist that they have signed up more than enough providers to replace Planned Parenthood across most of Texas. Areas of limited coverage — including San Angelo, Corsicana and … Continue reading →

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Where are the doctors?

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Morning News tries to verify that the Dallas-area providers listed for the new Texas Women’s Health Program are in fact providing health care services to the women in this program as advertised. It goes about as well as you’d … Continue reading →

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Substitute WHP has problems: Film at 11

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

No one could have seen this coming. State Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, has been worried about the Women’s Health Program since the state said it would create its own version of the program. That came after the state moved to … Continue reading →

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A personal view of judicial elections

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve mentioned in this space before that my father Charles A. Kuffner, Jr. was a Supreme Court justice in New York. (Note: The Supreme Court in New York is basically the equivalent of a District Court in Texas. The top … Continue reading →

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You can have a say on how the Railroad Commission conducts its business

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Sharon: STEPS TO CHANGE THE RRC. The Sunset Advisory Commission is the agency that regulates all Texas agencies.ONCE EVERY 12 YEARS, they examine the agencies and decide what needs to be changed and if the agencies should continue. This year … Continue reading →

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Once more to the judicial elections well

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I swear, I thought I was done talking about judicial elections, at least for now until one or more of the bills that would affect them comes up in the Lege, but then there was this op-ed in the Chron, … Continue reading →

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What’s $2 billion among friends?

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Easy come, easy go, am I right? If Texas leaders turn down the federal health law’s Medicaid expansion, they will reject a $2 billion annual revenue stream for the state’s hospitals, according to Dan Mendelson, CEO and founder of Avalere … Continue reading →

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It’s the vote spread that matters

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I had an email conversation with Judge Mark Davidson regarding my post about straight-ticket voting and its effect on judicial races. He said I misunderstood the point he was trying to make in that Chron story. From his email, quoted … Continue reading →

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Straight ticket voting and judicial races elsewhere

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You may be wondering, after reading my post about straight ticket voting and judicial races if the same thing is true in counties other than Harris. I got to wondering that myself, so I checked out the results from a … Continue reading →

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Pity the poor judges

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s hard out here on a judge. For longer than anyone remembers, you had to be a Democrat to be a district judge in Texas – or just about any other political office. When the Democratic Party split apart in … Continue reading →

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Time for the biennial attempt to de-fang the Travis County DA

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Same story, next chapter. The Texas Ethics Commission, long criticized for its lax enforcement of public officials, is considering a plan to take over all ethics enforcement from the Travis County district attorney’s office, which has a long history of … Continue reading →

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How’s that GOP Latino outreach going?

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There are issues. On Election Day, it became clearer than ever how important Hispanics, as the fastest growing portion of the U.S. population, are to national political success. Republican Mitt Romney earned only 27 percent of Latinos’ support in his … Continue reading →

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If eliminating straight ticket voting is the solution, then what’s the problem?

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

With the opening day of bill-filing season comes the recurrence of a not-so-old chestnut that like many other bills is a solution in search of a problem. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, said he wants to end straight-ticket voting for judges … Continue reading →

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Early voting is a good thing

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I do not understand the point of this article at all. Time was when early voting amounted to a handful of absentee ballots, sent in by the elderly, infirm and conscientious after attesting they would not be able to go … Continue reading →

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On voter confidence

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There was one more interesting aspect to that poll of Harris County from last week, and it had to do with how confident voters were that the vote they cast would be counted. This KUHF story goes into that result. … Continue reading →

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Perryman for expanding Medicaid

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Economist Ray Perryman makes the straightforward economic case for expanding Medicaid in Texas. According to our analysis, every $1 spent by the State of Texas to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act returns $1.29 in dynamic State government … Continue reading →

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No, they can’t

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You just need to ask yourself one simple question about this. Planned Parenthood will remain part of the Women’s Health Program for now, state officials said Wednesday, putting off the organization’s ouster as critics questioned whether enough health-care providers would … Continue reading →

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If no one owns the problem then no one will fix it

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Reading this Chron story about the problem of voter registrations done via the Department of Public Safety, it’s clear why this is an ongoing issue. Neither the DPS nor the secretary of state tracks motor voter complaints. Nor can state … Continue reading →

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The Women’s Health Program fight needs to be won at the ballot box

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This was a strange week in the courts for Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Health Program. On Thursday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rehear Planned Parenthood’s case against the state over the WHO, meaning that its awful … Continue reading →

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Carona comes out for equality

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. In a rare if not unprecedented move for a Republican state legislator in Texas, Dallas Sen. John Carona expressed support for three key pieces of pro-equality legislation on Monday. Carona told Instant … Continue reading →

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That Chron story on True The Vote

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For a variety of reasons, I never got around to reading that Sunday Chron story about True The Vote, that self-styled “watchdog” group that claims to be interested in ferreting out all those instances of “vote fraud” that nobody else … Continue reading →

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What kind of debt is it?

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Comptroller Susan Combs is real worried about city and county debt, y’all. Local governments are loading down Texas taxpayers with debt without providing them enough information about the amount already owed for roads, schools and other public projects, State Comptroller … Continue reading →

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A national view on redistricting

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Atlantic has an interesting view of the redistricting process. Every 10 years, after U.S. census workers have fanned out across the nation, a snowy-haired gentle­man by the name of Tom Hofeller takes up anew his quest to destroy Democrats. … Continue reading →

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Doesn’t he know that Valjean was French?

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Poor, pitiful Tom DeLay. DeLay, and his attorney, Brian Wice, are hoping to get his convictions overturned. On Oct. 10, they will finally get a chance to make their case to the 3rd Court of Appeals, arguing the once-powerful Republican … Continue reading →

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Why are we paying for a privatized psych hospital?

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Makes no sense to me. The Department of State Health Services has spent more than $2 million on bond interest for a psychiatric hospital that it doesn’t own and that was championed by Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams. But that’s … Continue reading →

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Texas’ public pension funds are solvent through 2075

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

There was a hearing in the Lege this week about the state’s pension plans, and the good news is that they’re in pretty good shape. The better news is that the members of the Lege’s pension committee recognize that fact. … Continue reading →

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SOS versus Sumners

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s not a steel cage death match, but it’ll do. In a strongly worded letter today, the Texas Secretary of State’s office told Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Don Sumners that his decision not to purge presumed-dead voters … Continue reading →

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