Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Metro officially back on track with the FTA

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The “Buy America” nightmare is now history for Metro. In September 2010, the FTA announced that the process Metro had used to award a rail car contract to CAF USA, the U.S. subsidiary of a Spanish company, violated federal law … Continue reading →

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How long will we talk about Latino turnout before someone does something about it?

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Stop me if you’ve heard any of this before. On Saturday, the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project announced its 2012 goal of raising Latino voting in Texas to 2 million from the 1.7 million who voted in the last presidential … Continue reading →

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My one piece of advice to Barack Obama in re: Rick Perry

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

By now you’ve probably heard about Rick Perry’s long-anticipated announcement that yes indeedy, he is running for President. I plan to avoid this subject as much as possible, because there’s only so much blogging about Rick Perry one can do … 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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PPP poll shows Obama leading Perry in Texas

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Perhaps this will put a little dent in the Perry-for-President bandwagon. A potential Rick Perry Presidential bid has been getting oodles of attention in the last few weeks. There’s one place where voters aren’t real into the possibility though- Texas. … Continue reading →

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Congressional map gets final approval

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

On to the Governor. The Republican-controlled Texas Senate approved a new congressional district map for the state Monday and sent it to Gov. Rick Perry for his approval. […] The map was approved 19-12 along party lines and without debate. … Continue reading →

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2012 still looks like 2008 so far

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Texas Lyceum put out a series of polls this week – you can see links to them here – but it was the Thursday poll that interested me the most, as it was related to the 2012 elections. Here’s … 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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Maybe Perry for President would be good for us

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

When George W. Bush began being talked about as a Presidential candidate, the story line on him was that he was a well-liked, popular Governor who had bipartisan appeal and support in the state. Outgoing Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock … Continue reading →

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Obama and Texas 2012

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Jonathan Chait notes that recently the Obama re-election team has said it will put money into Texas, and observes that this is part of a bigger strategy. In the narrow analysis, Texas is a deeply Republican state. Obama lost it … Continue reading →

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Are there any seats Dems could lose?

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure you’ve heard someone express the view that if there’s a silver lining for the Democrats after the 2010 election, it’s that their decimated caucus offers no real targets for the Republicans to aim for. The Rs weren’t completely … Continue reading →

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New map, new opportunities: The Metroplex

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Dallas and Tarrant Counties will each have eight districts drawn to elect Republicans in them. For this entry, I’m going to look at each of these districts. First up is Tarrant County, which gains a district (HD101) for a total … Continue reading →

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Subsidies for jobs

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s be clear about what this is, shall we? When Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst crisscrossed the state last year touting his program to provide state subsidies to anyone who would hire unemployed workers, Texas employers lined up. To the state’s … Continue reading →

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New map, new opportunities: Outside the urban areas, part 2

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More districts to look at for Democratic opportunities outside of the traditional urban areas. District: 45 Incumbent: Jason Isaacs (first elected in 2010) Counties: Blanco, Hays Best 2008 Dem performance: Barack Obama, 46.78% Patrick Rose won this district in 2002, … Continue reading →

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New map, new opportunities: Outside the urban areas, part 1

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the first post in my series of analyses of the new districts. I’m using 2008 electoral data, since the next election is a Presidential year, and I feel confident that the districts were drawn with an eye strongly towards … Continue reading →

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Three things about Sanchez

Posted on April 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

If you judge the announcement of a possible candidacy by the amount of attention it receives, then the story of the recruitment of Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez has been a smash success. Here are a few things being written that … Continue reading →

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What was this past election about?

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve seen the following quote from House Appropriations Chair Jim Pitts, in this Statesman story about some queasiness among lower chamber Republicans about the severe budget cuts, several times this past week, and I feel it needs a bit of … Continue reading →

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No, he can’t

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This week, President Obama gave Republican critics of the Affordable Care Act a way out, if they met certain conditions. President Obama, who has stood by his landmark health care law through court attacks and legislative efforts to repeal it, … Continue reading →

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The Trib interviews Garnet Coleman

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib has a too-brief conversation with State Rep. Garnet Coleman on health care and Medicaid. This is the crucial bit: TT: What do you want out of this meeting with [the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services]? Coleman: Two … Continue reading →

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The opening bars of the redistricting overture

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Now that we have Census data, you know what comes next. Here’s an Express News story that discusses how redistricting will be different this time around. Democrats still are smarting from the redistricting plan engineered in 2003 by then-U.S. House … Continue reading →

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House repeals Doggett Amendment

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This may be a partial answer to my earlier question about the status of the $830 million in federal education funds that await Texas if Governor Perry will attest that they will be actually spent on education. In the latest … Continue reading →

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Just call it “DewhurstCare”

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not sure what to make of this yet. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Grapevine, introduced two bills Wednesday they believe could save the state a significant amount of money and produce “healthy patient outcomes.” The duo … Continue reading →

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The balanced budget fantasy

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There’s really only one thing to say about this. One of Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign staples last year was that America would be a far better place if it were more like the Lone Star State — limited government, fewer … Continue reading →

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Texas lags on rail: Film at 11

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this story before, but here it is again anyway. According to a study commissioned by the Texas Transportation Commission, during the next 20 years, more than $300 billion in 2009 dollars needs to be invested … Continue reading →

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Yet another threat to light rail expansion

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Great. The House could vote as soon as mid-February on a plan by the conservative House Republican Study Committee to end the 35-year-old Federal Transit Administration’s “New Starts” program,” which pours $2 billion-a-year into urban transit projects such as Houston … Continue reading →

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If it weren’t for Obama, we wouldn’t be having this conversation

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. John Zerwas writes an op-ed extolling the virtues of the health insurance exchange bill he’s filed. While it is no secret that I oppose the federal health care reform bill, if we don’t act now to create the Texas … Continue reading →

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The national folks notice Texas’ budget situation

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve probably seen this by now, but just in case you haven’t, here it is. Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus program to spur … Continue reading →

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Yeah, it is too early to be polling for 2012

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

But that won’t stop anyone from doing them. 2012 could be the year Democrats are finally competitive for President in Texas…but only if the Republicans nominate Sarah Palin. There are vast differences in how the various different potential GOP contenders … Continue reading →

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The Affordable Care Act will help millions of Texans

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So says the Texas Department of Insurance. Even as Texas leaders rail against the national health care law and call for its repeal, the state Department of Insurance has issued a report that says the law will make it easier … Continue reading →

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Bye-bye, border fence

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Long overdue. The Obama administration on Friday canceled the long-troubled, high-tech invisible fence project along the U.S.-Mexico border, ending a five-year, $1 billion pilot program that President George W. Bush envisioned as stretching along most of the 1,969-mile border. Homeland … Continue reading →

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Insurance exchanges

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This will be worth watching. One of the GOP’s leading healthcare experts in the House – Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton – introduced a bill Thursday to create a health insurance exchange in Texas. The exchanges, which are required in the … Continue reading →

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Don’t fall for it, Mr. President

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have two things to say about this. Congressional Republicans are pronouncing President Obama’s proposal that the next Congress overhaul the country’s immigration laws as dead before arrival. In his year-end news conference Wednesday, Obama said his biggest regret about … Continue reading →

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DREAM Act to be voted on in the Senate today

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Today’s the day. Clergy from San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas vowed Thursday to continue pushing for passage of the DREAM Act, despite getting what they characterized as unclear responses from the staff of U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and … Continue reading →

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You’re gonna miss it when it’s gone

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So long, stimulus dollars. You were nice while you lasted. Texas’ $16.4 billion share of federal stimulus money winds down next year, a fading boon that will affect Houston jobs and research from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to the … Continue reading →

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