Category Archives: Show Business for Ugly People

Fourteen and counting

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

That’s fourteen lawsuits related to redistricting. At least 14 lawsuits have been filed against the state’s recent redistricting efforts, with more likely on the way. Every decade, Texas lawmakers are responsible for redrawing political boundaries in light of population changes. … Continue reading →

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Sometimes, a little spite goes only a little way

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve decided I’m more amused by this story than anything else. Last year, six tea party members in the Houston area promised to make Austin City Council members pay for rebuking Arizona’s new immigration enforcement law, and they used extensive … Continue reading →

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Perry appoints Forensic, SBOE Chairs

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The new SBOE Chair is not who I expected. State Board of Education member Barbara Cargill, R-The Woodlands, will take the helm as the board’s new chairwoman, Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday. She will follow Gail Lowe, who was appointed … Continue reading →

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Where the votes were and weren’t in 2006 and 2010

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

When I was doing the electoral analysis for the new Congressional districts, I also had data about how many votes were cast in each district. And in looking through that data, I saw some interesting things. What I was looking … Continue reading →

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Hey, remember Perry’s Emerging Technology Fund?

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s still a mess, and a cookie jar for his cronies. The founders of Convergen LifeSciences Inc. had invested only $1,000 of their own money when they asked the State of Texas in 2009 to give them $4.5 million to … Continue reading →

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Two other views of Texas redistricting

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a fascinating paper from the Harvard Election Data Archive that attempts to project how many Congressional seats each party will win based on statewide performance. Based on the 2008 presidential election results, twenty-two of the twenty-three current Republican members … Continue reading →

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On tithing and faith

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve seen this Chron article about Rick Perry’s ungenerous giving to his church shared all over Facebook since it was published, usually accompanied by a healthy dose a schadenfreude. I’m not particularly interested in jumping on that bandwagon, as I … Continue reading →

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Plans from an alternate universe: The Alonzo plan

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s my third entry in the the Redistricting Plans From An Alternate Universe series. So far, we’ve seen the Veasey-West proposal and the Gallegos plan and Uresti amendment. Today I have what I consider to be the most interesting map … Continue reading →

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Plans from an alternate universe: Uresti and Gallegos

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing with the Redistricting Plans From An Alternate Universe series, we’ve seen the Veasey-West proposal, now here are two more from the Senate debate. First, we have Sen. Carlos Uresti, who presented an amendment to Plan C136 that was aimed … Continue reading →

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Plans from an alternate universe: The Veasey-West plan

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Congressional redistricting, which took so long that it couldn’t be done during the regular session, has zipped through the special session, thanks in no small part to the virtual elimination of public testimony. At this point, the full House needs … Continue reading →

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More pushback on Perry’s choice of prayer partner

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to see it. Gov. Rick Perry’s Aug. 6 day of prayer and fasting at Reliant Stadium is generating significant heat nationwide, with critics protesting the exclusively Christian focus of the event and Perry’s partnership with the controversial American Family … Continue reading →

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Same schism, next verse

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not surprised that there exist other GOP activists besides the usual Bob Perry/Bill Hammond/business interests types that aren’t happy with their party’s recent anti-immigrant/anti-Hispanic fixation. Nor am I surprised that like their business-oriented counterparts they haven’t figured out what … Continue reading →

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Be careful who you pray with

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the “Lie down with dogs” department: Gov. Rick Perry, who has made economic populism the cornerstone of his political ambition in Texas, has jumped headfirst into America’s culture war as he ponders whether to run for president of the … Continue reading →

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WaPo on Texas redistricting

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Fix makes a few curious statements about the proposed Congressional redistricting map for Texas. Despite the Lonestar State voting 55 percent for Republicans in the 2008 presidential race, the GOP-controlled legislature’s proposed map features 26 districts that went for … Continue reading →

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Updated Seliger-Solomons numbers

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I had previously run the numbers for the new Congressional districts in the Seliger-Solomons plan. Now that we’ve gone from Plan C125 to Plan C130, let’s see what they look like now. Here’s a side-by-side comparison, with the districts grouped … Continue reading →

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More on the Seliger-Solomons plan

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Dunham has a nice analysis of the proposed Congressional map that’s worth your time to read. I disagree with him on two related points. Republicans successfully shored up three districts they captured from Democrats in the past two election … Continue reading →

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Veasey’s Congressional plan

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We didn’t get a Congressional map from the Senate Redistricting Committee, though we may now get one in a special session but that didn’t stop State Rep. Marc Veasey from drawing his own before sine die. In Veasey’s map, thirteen … Continue reading →

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Bradley and Lowe fail to get confirmed

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Time for some new chairpersons. Gov. Rick Perry’s appointments of John Bradley as head of the Forensic Science Commission and Gaile Lowe as State Board of Education chair are officially toast, Senate Nominations Chairman Bob Deuell, R-Greenville said. “They’re sine … Continue reading →

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Lege officially punts on Congressional redistricting

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If you had told me at the beginning of the session that this would happen, I would not have believed you. The chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee, Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, just confirmed to LegeLand that it won’t happen this … Continue reading →

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Where we stand on redistricting

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

With final passage of SB31 and HB150, the Senate and House redistricting bills, the Lege has done three of its four redistricting-related tasks. There’s still a pretty big one not yet done, however, and it’s not looking like they’ll get … Continue reading →

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Still going after Doggett

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Scott Stroud suggests there’s a new ploy by Republicans in the works to get rid of Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Congressman Lamar Smith, the Republican charged with redrawing Texas’ congressional districts, has floated a map that would transform Doggett’s district into … Continue reading →

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More redistricting lawsuits filed

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And to think, we don’t even have a Congressional plan yet. A federal lawsuit filed Monday by some Texas House members blasts the use of “inaccurate” 2010 Census data in the remapping of state political jurisdictions. The lawsuit by the … Continue reading →

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Planned Parenthood roundup

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

As you know, it’s been a truly crappy year for women’s health, family planning, and Planned Parenthood. All over the country there has been a relentless assault on reproductive freedom, which has spilled over into health care and access to … Continue reading →

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Bexar Dems vote to oust Ramos

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Bexar County Democratic Party leaders voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to remove ailing and embattled Chairman Dan Ramos for misconduct and neglect of duty. The 104-5 vote by the party’s executive committee came despite a desperate attempt by Ramos to call … Continue reading →

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Auditor criticizes Emerging Technology Fund

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The State Auditor has issued a report saying that the Texas Emerging Technology Fund needs more transparency. I know, I’m as shocked as you are. The report recommended that the state’s 17-member advisory board — volunteers from the technology community … Continue reading →

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Calling for a Latino Congressional seat in Harris County

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: HOUSTON AREA HISPANIC LEADERS: CREATE A HISPANIC OPPORTUNITY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT IN HARRIS COUNTY HOUSTON – Recently, Houston area Hispanic community leaders successfully coalesced to unite behind State Senator Mario Gallegos’s efforts to create a second Hispanic opportunity … Continue reading →

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News flash: Rick Perry fails to tell the truth

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m as shocked as you are. Contrary to his public statements distancing himself from a brewing controversy in higher education, Gov. Rick Perry continually pressed his appointees to university boards of regents to promptly adopt “reforms” that critics say are … Continue reading →

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Messing with Doggett

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure the Republicans would love to draw Lloyd Doggett out of existence if they can. The question is whether they can do it without causing other problems elsewhere. Republicans have tried to oust Doggett before by drawing a district … Continue reading →

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So what is the point of the SBOE, anyway?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s another story about the difficulties of SBOE redistricting, and it’s got me wondering why we bother having an elected body called the State Board of Education. This legislative session, lawmakers are working on redrawing the 15 districts based on … Continue reading →

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Let’s not look for excuses

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Last week, MALDEF released a Congressional redistricting plan for Texas that was aimed at drawing two new Latino Congressional seats. Paul Burka has a complaint about one of the districts they drew. The other district in Plan 108C is the … Continue reading →

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Richie will not run for another term as TDP Chair

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Over the weekend, Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie announced that he would not seek another term when his current one expires next year. I’ve put his press release beneath the fold. I think Richie did some good work as … Continue reading →

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A matter of perspective

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib’s Thursday morning brief begins as follows: Competing rallies on Wednesday provided a stark backdrop to the House vs. Senate tug-of-war playing out in the Capitol. While one group of protesters called on the Legislature to roll back its … Continue reading →

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Smith v. Barton on redistricting

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From Politico: A bitter, behind-the-scenes fight has broken out among Texas Republicans over redistricting, pitting Rep. Lamar Smith against longtime colleague Rep. Joe Barton. The dispute is over the makeup of four new congressional districts for the Lone Star State, … Continue reading →

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It’s Bradleys all the way down

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Me, March 15, on the subject of SBOE Chair Gail Lowe’s confirmation issues in the Senate: I feel the same way about this as I did with Don McLeroy’s ultimately scuttled confirmation back in 2009. I have nothing good to … Continue reading →

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