Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

The Texas bait and switch

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You almost have to admire the sheer brazenness of it all. Almost. In a fiscal switcheroo, Texas could free up state dollars to fund the embattled Women’s Health Program by seeking federal block grants for other programs, the state’s health … Continue reading →

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Again with judicial elections

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. Texas is one of seven states that holds partisan elections for judges, a practice that one watchdog group says can lead to conflicts of interest. “We have a judiciary at the highest level, the Texas Supreme … Continue reading →

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Rick Perry and pink slime

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Two great tastes that taste great together. Gov. Rick Perry is defending so-called “pink slime” in a statement issued in conjunction with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and South Dakota Lt. Gov. Matt … Continue reading →

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Examining the voter ID lie

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve complained quite a bit at how the media in Texas lazily reports the voter ID issue as a simple “he said/she said” dispute when a cursory examination of the facts shows how ridiculous the pro-voter ID case is, so … Continue reading →

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And then they went right back to not caring about women

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Such a delightfully cynical little stunt. Thirteen Republican members of the Texas congressional delegation wrote a letter to President Obama protesting the administration’s decision to phase out funding for the Texas Women’s Health Program. The administration took the action after … Continue reading →

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What radicals?

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I was reading this Patricia Kilday Hart column about how nobody outside Texas paid attention to the sonogram bill until the Virginia brouhaha and the Doonesbury series, which is a good albeit frustrating read, when I came across this bit … Continue reading →

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Outsourcing Texas border security

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

What could possibly go wrong? A little-known private defense contractor from Virginia has quietly received about $20 million under a series of no-bid contracts with the State of Texas to develop its border security strategies, an effort that included shaping … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye, WHP

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Thanks, Rick! Federal health officials announced Thursday what state leaders have predicted for weeks: that they are halting funding for Texas’ Women’s Health Program. Cindy Mann, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, said Texas left her … Continue reading →

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Trying to find a way with the WHP

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I admire and applaud the effort. I abhor the fact that it was needed. Leading Houston Democrats in favor of a seemingly doomed health care program for low-income women are pushing to bypass the state to keep federal money flowing … Continue reading →

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Perry’s empty promise on the Women’s Health Program

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Our Governor talks big, but his words have no meaning. The state will find the cash to continue a women’s health program whose federal funding is threatened because of a decision to keep Planned Parenthood from participating, Gov. Rick Perry … Continue reading →

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News flash: The voter ID law will do exactly what it was intended to do

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

And that is to make it harder to vote. Mostly for the poor, the elderly, college students, and minorities. This is a feature, not a bug. The state’s contested voter ID law could provoke widespread complications in the upcoming presidential … Continue reading →

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From the “How can we miss you if you won’t go away?” files

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry is doing his best to make us miss him. After almost six months away from the state to campaign for president, Rick Perry has barely returned to his Capitol office since arriving back in Austin, state records show. … Continue reading →

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Why do we make it so hard to vote?

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

News item: Many voter registrations around the country are outdated or incorrect. Some 24 million voter registrations in the United States contain significant errors, including about 1.8 million dead people still on the rolls and many more approved to vote … Continue reading →

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Environmental report card for Congressional Texas

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: The Texas League of Conservation Voters highlighted Texas’ leadership and failures on national environmental issues, based on today’s release of the League of Conservation Voters 2011 National Environmental Scorecard. The 2011 National Environmental Scorecard grades Congress’ work … Continue reading →

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Perry’s (lack of) popularity

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I have four things to say about this. Gov. Rick Perry’s ill-fated presidential campaign left a sour taste with many Texans and damaged his standing with Republican voters, according to a new poll commissioned by the American-Statesman and other state … Continue reading →

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Another day in the sun for Wentworth

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The longer that the redistricting litigation drags on, the more opportunities there will be for stories to be written about State Sen. Jeff Wentworth and his bipartisan redistricting commission proposal. State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, has been a longtime … Continue reading →

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SOS sends voter registration info to DOJ

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Took them long enough, not that I’m complaining. Two weeks after Texas’ voter ID law was scheduled to go into effect, the measure is back in the U.S. Department of Justice’s hands. The Texas secretary of state’s office on Thursday … Continue reading →

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On voting rights

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Attorney General Eric Holder was in Austin last week to give a speech on voting rights and the things the Justice Department is doing to protect them. No, the location was not an accident. Giving his most expansive speech on … Continue reading →

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This is not the cure for polarization you’re looking for

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This op-ed on how to “free Congress’ mind” seems to be unaware of the fact that one of its proposed solutions is not some theoretical construct. Because most voters say they want compromise, we could also try to change electoral … Continue reading →

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Will Rick Perry lose his superpowers?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman wonders what will happen to Rick Perry once his incredibly incompetent Presidential campaign finally implodes and he comes limping back home to Texas. Even as Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential campaign works to get back on track, some are … Continue reading →

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A little perspective about redistricting

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So now we wait for the full Supreme Court’s ruling on AG Abbott’s requests to stay the 2012 elections, which by the way would only apply to the elections affected by the disputed redistricting maps. Other primary elections for things … Continue reading →

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Why 18?

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The legal voting age has been 18 for forty years now, but some people would like it to be lower, at least for their local elections. Critics of the young people sleeping on cardboard at Occupy Wall Street argue the … Continue reading →

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Confederate flag license plate decision coming

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here it comes. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is scheduled to debate [this] week whether to create a state license plate with a rebel flag that commemorates Confederate soldiers. The new agenda posted for the Nov. … Continue reading →

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It’s not “he said, she said” if one of them is factually correct

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This Chron story from Monday about a mishap at the County Clerk’s office really annoys me for what it doesn’t say. A manual being using to train election judges for next week’s elections contains inaccurate information, reflecting a new voter … Continue reading →

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The Rick Perry bailout

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t think I’d ever heard about this before. Over his eight years as Texas’ [Agriculture Commissioner], [Rick] Perry oversaw a loan guarantee program with so many defaults that the state had to stop guaranteeing bank loans to startups in … Continue reading →

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From the “Sacrifice for thee but not for me” department

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry sure does like to travel. At a time when state budget reductions were used to help offset a multibillion-dollar revenue shortfall, taxpayers were billed in excess of $294,000 in security detail expenses for out-of-state trips by Gov. Rick … Continue reading →

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What I want from the next HCDP Chair

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So by now you know that HCDP Chair Gerry Birnberg will step down in December. The precinct chairs will select an interim Chair at that time, and a new Chair will be elected in the March primary. Lane Lewis has … Continue reading →

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Justice Department urged to block voter ID law

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m all in on this. A coalition of civil rights groups is urging the Obama administration’s Justice Department to reject Texas’ voter-ID law, charging that the measure advocated by Rick Perry intentionally discriminates against black and Hispanic voters. The Legislature … Continue reading →

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Perry’s email purging on hold

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Never underestimate a truly determined hacker. Gov. Rick Perry’s state office has temporarily stopped deleting emails every seven days — as its official document retention policy allows — thanks to the efforts of a Wisconsin-based political activist who thinks they … Continue reading →

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Responding to The Response

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I almost forgot that Rick Perry’s Prayerpalooza, also known as The Response, is this weekend. Fortunately, some other folks are more on the ball than I am about this. On Tuesday, more than 50 Houston-area religious and community leaders disseminated … Continue reading →

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From the “You don’t need to know” department

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I think I’ve finally figured out what the big secret is with Rick Perry’s travels. In a policy change criticized by open government advocates, the Texas Department of Public Safety will not reveal how much money is being spent to … Continue reading →

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In which I try to find common ground with Sen. Patrick

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From a news item about President Obama’s nomination to helm the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Congress created the bureau a year ago this week with the enactment of the Dodd-Frank law, which overhauled financial regulations after the credit crisis. The … Continue reading →

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Day One at the SBOE

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s your TFN Insider coverage of today’s SBOE science hearings. In Part I of the hearings, we find that the SBOE may not be such a major factor in school curriculum any more: 10:20  – Board members are quizzing the … Continue reading →

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Time to get it on again with the SBOE

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From an email from the National Center for Science Education: The Texas Board of Education is at it again, this time aiming to insert creationism into high school biology classes via textbook “supplements” (such as those from International Databases, LLC). … Continue reading →

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