Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

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Tough Race to Replace Ron Paul in U.S. 14th Congressional District

Monday, October 29th, 2012

When I looked over the new redistricting numbers, the Texas U.S. Congressional seat that leapt out at me as the most competitive was Rep Francisco “Quico” Canseco’s CD23, a swing seat which got minimal Republican reinforcement during redistricting. But right now I’m feeling better about that one. (Hopefully more on that topic in the next day or two.)

Right now the seat that worries me most is CD 14, Ron Paul’s old seat, where the Democrats are making a hard run to snag an upset in what looks to be a very down year for them both statewide and nationally.

Going off of Obama’s 2008 vote, the district got 9% less Republican in redistricting. The old 14th went 66% for McCain, the new one only 57%. That’s still a considerable advantage, but not necessarily an insurmountable one.

Moreover, in Nicholas Valentino “Nick” Lampson of Beaumont, the Democratic party has actually found a reasonably popular local politician with qualifying experience in Congress (including one term in Tom DeLay’s old seat). National Democrats have had this seat painted as a takeover target all year. Lampson’s FEC report includes a number of Texas lawyers and some out-of-state juice, including ACTBLUE, the Professional Airways Specialists PAC, and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Campaign Assistance Fund. (And who knows how much soft money will be spent on behalf of Lampson by outside groups this cycle?) The Lampson campaign was also one of two TX CD campaigns that flew in Bill Clinton for a campaign appearance. An internal Lampson poll released in August showed a very close race (usual internal poll caveats apply).

The Republican nominee, Randy Weber, is a two-term State Rep. Unlike Lampson, Weber had a crowded primary and a runoff to contend with, which ate up significant funds.

That Roll Call piece says that Lampson has $422,000 in cash on hand, while Weber only had $55,000. However, looking at the actual FEC numbers, updated in October 17 filings, it doesn’t seem quite so bad, with Lampson having $151,218 cash on hand compared to Weber’s $83,617.

Weber has serious (if largely expected) Republican endorsements, including Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Greg Abbott and Nolan Ryan. Ted Cruz had a joint campaign appearance with Weber today.

If you’re looking for a Texas race where your last minute donation can have the most effect, the Randy Weber campaign is a good choice.

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Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »

Texas Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-umbass) Actually Forgets the Second Amendment

Thursday, October 25th, 2012

There’s this thing called the Constitution. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Fundamental law of the land, guiding document for the federal government, etc. Sorta important.

There’s this section of it called “The Second Amendment.” “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Gives citizens the right to bear arms. Kind of a big deal. Especially in Texas.

Perhaps someone needs to tell that to Texas Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-umbass), who actually managed to forget what the Second Amendment was during a debate:

“I’m drawing a blank on the Second Amendment, but I think it’s the weapons, isn’t it? The NRA?”

Note: This being the Internet and all, I think I should emphasize that the above actually happened. My snarky self didn’t invent it out of whole cloth. An incumbent Democratic congressman from Texas, who’s been in office since 1997, forgot the Second Amendment. “I’m drawing a blank on the First Amendment, but I think it’s the churches, isn’t it? The Pope? Any maybe newspapers?”

There shouldn’t be a high school senior who doesn’t know what the Second Amendment is, much less a United States Congressman. Either Rep. Hinojosa is woefully ignorant of the Constitution, or else he’s suffering from some sort of debilitating mental illness. In either case, he’s unfit for office.

Rep. Hinojosa has a Republican challenger in Dale Brueggemann. He has an uphill struggle against an entrenched incumbent in a district that went 57% for Obama, but I doubt he expected his opponent to make such a huge gaffe. I’m sure he would appreciate any help fans of the Second Amendment could throw his way.

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Posted in Democrats, Elections, Guns, Texas | 2 Comments »

Texas Vs. California: 13 Days Before the Election Roundup

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

With the election less than two weeks away, time for a roundup of how the champions of their respective political models (Texas for Red States and California for Blue States) are doing:

  • Why is gasoline so expensive in California? Because Californian politicians have made it that expensive. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • California is getting ready to shovel more benefits to public employee union members. Because retiring at age 50 with 90% of their salary just wasn’t enough.
  • Bankrupt San Bernadino stops paying into the CalPERS pension fund. (Previously.
  • Moody’s: “we expect…more bankruptcy filings and bond defaults among California cities, reflecting the increased risk to bondholders as investors are asked to contribute to plans for closing budget gaps.”
  • It’s all part of California’s Fifty Shades of Golden electoral masochism. “Not surprising, the most productive of California’s citizens are leaving in droves. For those who want to prosper, the safeword is “Texas.'”
  • The guy from California who under-reported unemployment to make the numbers look better? Obama donor. This is my shocked face.
  • California has actually carried out some pension reforms (like capping annual benefits at $132,000), but its pension plans are still underfunded by $165 billion.
  • California got $411 million in the National Mortgage Settlement. So how much of that actually went to help people with their mortgages? None of it. “Think of California’s persistent budget deficit as a great white shark devouring every source of cash in its path.”
  • Might California voters finally be reaching a tipping point against big government? Answer cloudy, ask again later.
  • Texas continues to add jobs.
  • Moreover, they’re not low wage jobs either:

    The total personal income (TPI) in Texas reached $1.07 trillion dollars in the second quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s an increase of 71 percent from the state’s corresponding total 10 years earlier, $626.7 billion.

    Here’s another way of looking at it: Texas accounted for 8.02 percent of the nation’s TPI this year, up 1.10 percentage points from 6.92 percent in 2002.

    That’s nearly five times larger than the runner-up, Florida, which increased its share of national TPI by 0.23 points in a decade. Just four other states registered gains better than a tenth of a point.

  • Texas has the best unemployment rate among the five biggest states, at 6.8%. California, at 10.2%, has the worst.
  • Texas’ tort reform has attracted medical specialists to the state at a rate outstripping population growth.
  • Texas added 262,700 private sector jobs over the last year.
  • And Dwight, as usual, has more on the goings-ons in Golden State locales like Oakland and Bell.

    • (Hat tips for many Texas items: WILLisms’ Twitter feed.)

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    Posted in Budget, Democrats, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »

    Early Voting in Texas Starts Today

    Monday, October 22nd, 2012

    Early voting in Texas starts today and runs through Friday, November 2.

    Here are early voting locations and sample ballots for Williamson County. And here are the Travis County early voting locations.

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    Posted in Austin, Texas | 1 Comment »

    BattleSwarm Blog Endorses Ted Cruz For United States Senator

    Sunday, October 21st, 2012

    Lawrence Person’s BattleSwarm Blog endorses Ted Cruz for United States Senator. I believe that Cruz is the best candidate, that he has a long, strong, and deep commitment to conservative principles, and that he will make a great Senator for Texas.

    I originally endorsed Cruz on April 30, a month before the Republican primary, and gave extended reasons why Cruz was the best candidate of all those running in the Republican primary, weighing the strengths and weaknesses of each. This post reiterates that endorsement, and explains why Ted Cruz is a vastly superior choice for Senator than Democrat Paul Sadler.

    Sadler had a reputation as a “moderate” Democrat in the Texas House, which meant he wanted government to get bigger and spend more at a slightly slower rate than his fellow Democrats, and was reportedly a skilled legislator on education issues. But I don’t want a “skilled legislator,” I want a conservative fighter. I want someone to fight for shrinking the size and scope of the federal government and reign in the insanely bloated federal spending that’s holding down the economy, not manage the bloat. There are quite enough Democrats in Congress who pretend to be moderate until the votes really count (see also: ObamaCare); we don’t need another one.

    Like his party, Sadler has moved steadily left over the years. After failing to win a U.S. House seat, Sadler worked first as an asbestos trial lawyer, and then as head of a Texas wind power coalition putting him in not one but two of the biggest recipient groups for liberal big government crony capitalism largess. This suggests that he would try to roll back tort reform and would make a very poor representative for Texas’ vital oil and gas industry.

    Further, given the positions Sadler has taken in interviews and debates, there seems to be very little of that old “moderate” patina left on him. He’s for higher taxes, bigger government, green pork, public employee unions, illegal alien amnesty, and ObamaCare. He’d fit right in among the big spenders in a Harry Reid-led Senate.

    By contrast, Ted Cruz is not only the unquestioned Tea Party representative for shrinking big government, he has a broad, deep and impressive conservative background. You don’t specialize in 9th and 10th Amendment studies because you want to be rich, and you don’t work at the Texas Public Policy Foundation if you want to be a squishy moderate. Cruz is not only exceptionally sharp, an excellent debater and a gifted public speaker, he’s also a classic fusionist candidate with both strong free market and social conservative credentials. He beat all his Republican opponents despite millions spent to smear him and came out of the runoff not only unscathed, but with a national reputation. He was a great Texas Solicitor General, and I think he will make a great Senator. I urge all my Texas readers to cast their votes for him as the next United States Senator from Texas.

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    Posted in Budget, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 3 Comments »

    Quick Texas Senate Race Q3 Fundraising Update

    Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

    Barring any catastrophic event, Ted Cruz is going to be the next Senator from Texas, but the campaign keeps on chugging along. The official fundraising forms from the FEC aren’t up yet, but the two campaigns have announced the totals raised.

    Ted Cruz raised $3.5 million in Q3, $2 million of it after the runoff.

    I can’t find any mention of Paul Sadler’s fundraising numbers on his press release page, but according to the Houston Chronicle, Sadler raised “about $358,734” in Q3. In truth, that’s a bit more than I expected him to raise, given that he has about as much hope of being elected Senator than the Cleveland Browns do of winning the 2013 Superbowl.

    Oh, and just for the record: Losing Democratic Senate runoff candidate Grady Yarbrough did finally file his FEC report.

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    Posted in Elections, Texas | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for October 15, 2012

    Monday, October 15th, 2012

    Doing a bunch of stuff, so here’s a more-or-less random linkSwarm:

  • A funny thing happened on the way to the death of conservatism.
  • Romney might pick up one electoral vote in Maine.
  • Michael Totten and Sohrab Ahmari take down Tariq Ramadan.
  • In the Texas House, it’s a band of conservative brothers vs. Texas Speaker Joe Straus.
  • Journalist shocked that all his fellow journalists are suddenly spewing vitriol at him and calling him a traitor because he’s decided to vote for Romney. Also confirms the overwhelming liberal bias in the newsroom.
  • Police arrest members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang across the state, including one police officer in Houston who was providing them guns.

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Media Watch | No Comments »

    Rick Perry Gets a C from the Cato Institute

    Thursday, October 11th, 2012

    Texas has benefited greatly from having a better economy than the nation as a whole, and Rick Perry made the low-tax, small government model Texas uses the centerpiece of his abortive run for President.

    However, the Libertarian Cato Institute seems considerably less impressed with Perry’s job as Governor, as they gave him a C on their Fiscal Policy Report Card. Indeed, his numerical score of 51 is only two points above California’s spendthrift Jerry Brown (!!!) with a D at 49, and lower than the Republican average of 57.

    Here’s their knock on Perry:

    Governor Perry has a conservative reputation, but he hasn’t cut state taxes substantially or reduced the size of Texas government. Indeed, Perry has presided over steady increases in spending. Between the 2000–2001 biennium when Perry assumed office and the 2012–2013 biennium, state general fund spending rose at an annual average rate of 3.2 percent, and total state spending rose at an annual average rate of 4.6 percent.

    His record on taxes is mixed. In 2003 he signed into law a package of tax and fee increases.In 2006 he approved a business tax overhaul that replaced the corporate franchise tax with a modified gross receipts tax called the “Texas Margin Tax.” The new tax hit 180,000 additional businesses and increased state-level taxes by more than $1 billion annually.

    The added state revenues were used to reduce local property taxes, but the overall effect of the package has been to centralize government power in the state and reduce beneficial tax competition between local jurisdictions. Nonetheless, Perry has supported increases in small business exemptions for the Margin Tax. And in 2011 he vetoed a bill to tax online purchases. In 2012 he proposed a five-point Texas Budget Compact, which includes transparency in budgeting, a constitutional limit on spending growth, opposition to new taxes, a strong rainy day fund, and the cutting unnecessary government programs.

    One reason Perry may not rank better is the report is based on data covering January 2010 to August 2012, so presumably Perry’s work as Governor in the preceding decade isn’t covered (despite it’s prominent mention in the section quoted above). Another is that several higher ranked governors scored well for things like cutting individual income tax rates, while Texas has no state income tax. I also wonder how well they factor in population growth.

    While I don’t want to reject Cato’s ranking out of hand, the opaqueness of their rating system (which must necessarily involve a substantial subjective component) makes me very wary of taking it at face value. You would think that Brown would rank much lower, especially with his state’s municipal bankruptcies, tax hikes and the train to nowhere. Though I do think Perry still has considerable room for improvement, I have to take Cato’s ranking of him with several grains of salt.

    And if you’re looking for a more readable version of the report, click here.

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    Posted in Budget, Texas | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for October 8, 2012

    Monday, October 8th, 2012

    Today was dedicated to exercise and fiction, so here’s a quick LinkSwarm:

  • Texas Public Policy Foundation offers a status breakdown of various lawsuits Texas has filed against the EPA to curb regulatory overreach. The state has won more than it’s lost.
  • Ted Cruz on Obama’s anti-growth agenda.
  • The hysterical reaction of Obama’s liberal allies to his debate loss has made things worse for him.
  • Iowahawk reports on a recent outbreak of scrutonium, “a deadly poll-eating supervirus that attacks the immuno-hope system, leaving victims vulnerable to material facts.”
  • A supporter of the Party of Tolerance sent Mia Love a package containing pictures of Klansmen and abortions.
  • True the Vote finds more of that voter fraud that doesn’t exist.
  • China launches it’s first aircraft carrier.
  • Perry vs. World thinks that Dewhurst is the favorite for reelection.
  • Texas Democrats can’t raise money.
  • Paul Salder, trial lawyer.
  • Williamson County Republican leaders endorse Pauline Law and Tere McCann for Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees. (Via Holly Hansen, who has lots more RRISD info. If you live in the district, go over there and keep scrolling.)

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    Posted in Democrats, Military, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Pictures from Tony Dale’s Fundraising Luncheon

    Friday, October 5th, 2012

    I attended Tony Dale‘s fundraising luncheon, and snapped a few pictures of the swells assembled there. Click to embiggen.

    First, the lovely and talented Holly Hansen of Williamson County Conservative, who I finally got to meet in person! We’ve only been trading blog links for two years. Next to her is Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell.

    Congressman John Carter and Williamson County Commissioner Lisa Birkman.

    Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

    Abbott next to Your Humble Blogger and his freakishly long torso.

    And naturally, since this was a luncheon for Tony Dale, none of the pictures I got of him came out. Go figure. But don’t let that stop you from voting for him…

    Edited to Add: Tony Dale was kind enough to send this picture along:

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    Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 4 Comments »

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