Posts Tagged ‘Joe Straus’
Monday, June 2nd, 2014
The witchhunt against UT regent Wallace Hall for uncovering cronyism and favoritism in UT admissions may be coming to an an end, thanks to Dan Patrick’s decisive win the Lt. Governor runoff. Patrick has constantly supported Hall in his investigative efforts and condemned the attempt to impeach him.
The effect of Patrick’s statement was immediate. The next day, a legislative committee that had met to draft articles of impeachment against Hall failed to do so. Several members of the committee were quoted saying that it would take a while. Others expressed hope that the Travis County District Attorney would, basically, take the case off their hands.
The piece goes on to note that it is unlikely for Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (who is up to his eyeballs in the scandal) to call a special session just to consider the impeachment of a regent who earns no salary. That would put off a House vote to send the formal charges of impeachment to the senate until next year, when then Lt. Governor Patrick, who controls the Senate agenda, would have numerous tools to delay or kill consideration of the impeachment charges.
In other Wallace Hall/UT Scandal news, the Dallas Morning News published an editorial by Joe Straus ally Charles Matthews in which he tut-tuts the scandal, saying “nothing to see here.”
Says Matthews: “A review has already been conducted by the UT system. After a nine-month inquiry, the report released to the public ‘did not uncover any evidence of a systematic, structured or centralized process of reviewing and admitting applicants recommended by influential individuals.'”
Translation: We’ve investigated ourselves and found ourselves innocent! At least in “the report released to the public,” which seems and awfully specific formulation. (And how about non-“systematic, structured or centralized” abuse?)
The biographical blurb on Matthews states that “Charles Matthews, a Dallas resident, is former vice president and general counsel of the Exxon Mobil Corp.” But the editorial fails to note that Matthews was the University system chancellor from 2005-2010 (i.e., at least some of the scandal presumably occurred on his watch), which would seem to be fairly important information for readers to judge his impartiality.
Also, Hall has threatened to sue one of his legislative critics for making false statements about him…
Tags:Charles Matthews, college, Crime, Dallas Morning News, Dan Patrick, education, Joe Straus, University of Texas, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Crime, Texas | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
For an example of how the cronyism scandal Wallace Hall uncovered is harming the University of Texas, take a look at UT’s law school.
According to Erik Telford: “Only 59 percent of its graduates passed the most recent Texas Bar Examination, placing UT dead last among Texas’ nine law schools despite it being by far the most highly regarded school of the nine.”
Speaker Joe Straus and two of his top lieutenants in the Texas House, Reps. Dan Branch and Jim Pitts, sent more letters to the president of the University of Texas on behalf of applicants than anyone else whose correspondence was included in a recent inquiry into admissions favoritism.
Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s office recently reviewed 86 “recommendation” letters, almost all of them from lawmakers, sent to UT President Bill Powers instead of through the proper channels.
In addition to Straus, the Fox piece fingers Democratic State Senator Judith Zaffrini (who is on the higher education committee) as one of the biggest cronyism abusers, and one who was not shy about sending letters for well-connected applicants. Telford:
Of the 90 UT Law School graduates who have failed the bar exam twice in recent years, 12 — or 13 percent — came from Zaffrini’s hometown of Laredo, which comprises less than 1 percent of the state’s population. It’s a suspicious correlation, as previous investigations of Zaffrini found that the senator has attempted to use her political clout to skirt the admissions process at least three times in the past. Six more double-flunkers have connections to Straus’ political machine.
While Zaffrini and Straus may possibly have muscled several of their unqualified hometown cronies into their state’s flagship public law school, many other state lawmakers appear to have snuck their children and employees through UT Law’s back door. The sons of Zaffrini, State Sen. John Carona and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts each graduated from UT Law and promptly failed the bar exam three times, as did the chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego [Democrat], and State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez [Democrat], who attended UT Law while serving in office.
Carona was defeated by Don Huffines in March, and Dan Branch is about to be retired by Ken Paxton. It is the likes of Straus and Zaffrini who should be removed from public office for participating in the scandal, not Wallace Hall for exposing it.
Tags:Austin, cronyism, Dan Branch, Eddie Rodriguez, Erik Telford, Jim Pitts, Joe Straus, John Carona, Judith Zaffrini, Pete Gallego, Texas, University of Texas, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Texas | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 12th, 2014
The Texas House Transparency Committee voted to impeach University of Texas regent Wallace Hall.
Hall’s case will go to the full Texas House of Representatives. If a majority of the members of the House approve of the case’s merits, it will go to the Senate, where members will convene as a court to make a final decision. If the Senate concurs with the committee’s recommendation, Hall will be the first non-elected official to be impeached in Texas history.
His crime? “Hall’s unreasonable and burdensome requests from records and information from UT Austin violated, and continue to violate, the Texas Education Code, the Texas Penal Code, the Board of Regents Rules and Regulations, and the best interests of the [UT System].”
Translation: Hall found evidence of our sacred system of kickbacks and cronyism, and we’ll never forgive him for that.
The Wall Street Journal: Hall “asked uncomfortable questions about lawmakers getting special favors at the state-funded school and has become a political target…Hall’s real offense has been to expose a cozy and possibly corrupt relationship between politicians and the university.”
Michael Quinn Sullivan:
That targeting, of course, has been handled by Speaker Joe Straus’ falsely named “transparency” committee co-chaired by Dan Flynn and Carol Alvarado. The committee has operated like a witch hunt, denying UT Regent Wallace Hall the ability to defend himself while impeaching his character.
Recent revelations that the committee’s “report” (created by an outside counsel chummy with the corrupt university administration) contained out-right lies should be enough to cause lawmakers to impeach not Wallace Hall but the members of the committee!
As Tony McDonald wrote several days agoo, Dan Flynn is trying to weasel out of his responsibility for the cover-up only after his committee’s work product was shown to be a fraud.
Sullivan also fingers the politicians most responsible for the with hunt as David Dewhurst, Dan Branch and Joe Straus.
TPPF’s Tom Lindsay:
For exercising his right and duty to request information of one of the universities he is entrusted with overseeing, Wallace Hall now faces impeachment and possibly jail. The biggest losers in all this are Texas college students, their parents, and taxpayers. This vote is a powerful deterrent to future efforts to ensure transparency in government, and therefore directly contrary to the best interest of our public higher-education system.”
The cockroaches and worms hate it when you pick up the rock they’re hiding under…
Tags:Austin, Dan Branch, David Dewhurst, Joe Straus, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, University of Texas, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Texas, Waste and Fraud | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 11th, 2014
There have been a lot of wishful thinking thumbsucker pieces from liberal media outlets proclaiming that the Tea Party is done, finished, a spent force. (Here’s an example.)
And indeed, those looking only at some top-line races in Texas (like Katrina Pierson’s failed attempt to take down Pete Sessions) might find tend to agree.
However, a look at all the races (including many down-ballot) shows that the Tea Party is alive and well.
Start at Lt. Governor. Dan Patrick says he followed the Ted Cruz blueprint and leaned heavily on the Tea Party. “If you have a candidate who will work and at least enough resources to fund a statewide race then and you have the credentials, the tea party will bring you to victory.”
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility’s Michael Quinn Sullivan sees conservative victories up and down the ballot:
The most liberal Republican in the Texas Senate lost.
Conservative ranks in the Senate are swelling.
Every House conservative won re-election (with re-enforcements coming from the open-seat races).
House incumbents affiliated with Speaker Joe Straus lost big.
Statewide races saw the TFR-backed candidates earning commanding leads going into run-offs.
Sullivan goes on to cite Don Huffines defeating John Carona, Brooks Landgraf defeating Austin Keith, and the defeats of Straus allies Bennett Ratliff, Ralph Sheffield, Linda Harper-Brown, Diane Patrick and Lance Gooden.
This AP piece touts Tea Party success in Texas, but is lamentably short on details.
Even liberal fossil Paul Burka says that “If there was a clear winner in last night’s election, it was the tea party,” noting the defeats of Joe Straus allies Harper-Brown and Ratliff.
So too at the national level. The enthusiastic response to Sarah Palin’s speech and other Tea Party favorites shows that the movement is far from dead.
Which is not to say huge obstacles don’t remain. The Tea Party still hasn’t built up their financial networks enough to reliably take on big-money incumbents, and even in Texas, previous Tea Party gains were insufficient to wrest the Speakership from Straus (who just spent $2,578,942.72 to retain a job that pays $7,200 a year). But the Tea Party movement is still very much alive and kicking, much to the chagrin of RINOS, democrats and the media…
Tags:Bennett Ratliff, Dan Patrick, Don Huffines, Joe Straus, Linda Harper-Brown, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Republicans, Tea Party, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, March 6th, 2014
The Texas Tribune has a fascinating chart up showing the cost per vote for Texas races.
A few highlight:
Wendy Davis spent $4,172,161.26 to garner 432,056 votes, or $9.66 a vote.
Greg Abbott spent $8,109,379.17 to garner 1,219,831 votes, or $6.65 a vote.
David Dewhurst spent $4,093,809.73 for 376,164 votes, or $10.88 a vote.
Dan Patrick spent $4,891,374.86 for 550,742 votes, or $8.88 a vote.
The highest amount per vote was spent by Republican Chart Westcott for state House District 108, spending an eye-popping $1,197,762.24 for a measly 3,709 votes, or $322.9 per vote (which did get him into the runoff). Second biggest amount spent for vote? House Speaker (and Tea Party foe) Joe Straus House District 121 (R) spent $2,578,942.72 to get 9,224 votes, or $279.59 a vote. I guess Straus’ special interest backers consider it money well-spent.
Most effective use of money? The two sitting Supreme Court incumbents who didn’t spend anything:
Jeff Brown received 820,558 votes for zero spent.
Phil Johnson received 731,247 votes for zero spent.
Incumbency + Ted Cruz Endorsement = millions, evidently (at least in judicial races).
Now I’m going to post this just to get myself to stop playing with those figures…
Tags:Chart Westcott, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, fundraising, Greg Abbott, Joe Straus, Ted Cruz, Wendy Davis
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2014
With primary voting upon us tomorrow, it looks like I’ve run out of campaign to cover. Here then is a quick, scatter-shot batch of snippets on various races:
Wendy Davis is super popular…just not in Texas. “27 percent of the money Davis raised in the last filing quarter came from donors outside Texas, compared to just 2 percent of Abbott’s total.”
In the Comptroller race, Glenn Hegar seems to have have racked up the lion’s share of conservative endorsements, and is also winning the money race over Harvey Hilderbran (who has mostly racked up the endorsements of business groups, newspapers, and “shill” groups like Steve Holtz’s “Conservative Republicans of Texas“). 2010 Gubernatorial hopeful Debra Medina is also polling strongly despite having raised relatively little money, I didn’t think she was ready for primetime in 2010, but Comptroller is probably a great spot for a Libertarian. I’d vote Hegar over Medina, but I’d vote both over Hilderbran.
The Agricultural Commissioner’s race is easier to narrow down with who not to vote for, namely J. Allen Carnes, who voted Democratic until 2012, and “donated to Texas Democrats Pete Gallego, Henry Cuellar, and Ciro Rodriguez.” Also who to vote against: Eric Opiela, AKA Joe Straus’ lawyer. By contrast, Sid Miller seems to have racked up an impressive list of endorsements.
In the Land Commissioner race, George P. Bush does have a primary opponent in David Watts, who has actually racked up a fair number of endorsements. Plus Paul Burka isn’t impressed with George P. Bush’s campaign (and Burka may even be right for a change).
Lt. Governor race roundup. if the Chronicle paywall won’t let you in, search for the first sentence on Google news. Here’s some damning-with-faint-praise for Todd Staples: “‘Staples becomes a plausible alternative if you don’t have Dewhurst in the race,’ Henson said. ‘My impression is that he is well-liked in the Capitol special-interest community.'” Ouch!
Here’s your biannual reminder that Texas mainstream media outlets almost always endorse the most liberal candidate.
Tags:2014 Election, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, David Watts, Debra Medina, Eric Opiela, George P. Bush, Glenn Hegar, Greg Abbott, Harvey Hilderbran, J. Allen Carnes, Joe Straus, Media Watch, MSM, Paul Burka, Republicans, Sid Miller, Steve Holtz, Texas, Todd Staples, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, October 31st, 2013
OK, I’m exaggerating a bit, since the least I could possibly write is nothing. But instead of trying to cover every bill, I’m going to point you at Blue Dot Blues, where the indefatigable MJ Samuelson is covering each amendment, so at least I don’t have to write much. Go over there and keep scrolling. Empower Texas also has a handy scorecard. I may disagree on an amendment or two, but not strongly.
I do want to go ahead and urge a No vote on Proposition 6, which authorizes taking money out of the rainy day fund for various ill-defined water projects. This one is getting a big direct mail push from realtor and business PACs and is favored by Rick Perry, Joe Straus, Gregg Abbott and Wendy Davis. Opposing it is an odd coalition of fiscal conservatives and green party types, including Save Our Springs Austin. Some of what is covered is probably needed, but the rest has the smell of a construction boondoggle/slush fund. And what is needed should be allocated from the general fund, not raiding the rainy day fund.
Arlene Wohlgemuth at TPPF has a bit more.
The election is Tuesday, November 5th.
Tags:Arlene Wohlgemuth, Blue Dot Blues, Budget, Elections, Greg Abbott, Joe Straus, Rick Perry, Texas, Wendy Davis
Posted in Budget, Elections, Texas | No Comments »
Thursday, October 17th, 2013
Following the unexpected retirement of State Senator Tommy Williams, Brandon Creighton announced he’s dropping out of the Ag Commissioner race to run for state Senate District 4.
Republicans still in the Agricultural Commissioner’s race include:
J. Allen Carnes (Note: Auto-running popover videos are not calculated to win over voters.)
Tommy Merritt (Just a splash screen; less annoying, but also less informative.)
Eric Opiela (Just an ordinary campaign website, though it fails to mention Opiela’s close ties to Joe Straus.)
And Kinky Friedman just announced he’s running again as a Democrat.
Tags:2014 Election, Brandon Creighton, Elections, Eric Opiela, J. Allen Carnes, Joe Straus, Kinky Friedman, Tommy Merritt
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
Time for another (no doubt incomplete) roundup of statewide race news:
Holly Hansen interviews Greg Abbott.
Wendy Davis expresses enthusiasm for gun control, because that will go over so well in Texas. Next up: Wendy David calls for banning BBQ, Tex-Mex, football and Christmas.
Davis is expected to announce for Governor tomorrow.
Politico previews the Abbott-Davis fight as “bruising.” Well, yeah. It’s going to bruise Democratic egos and wallets to accomplish very little. Also contains this gem: “Republicans control more than 60 percent of statewide offices.” Well, yes, 100% is indeed more than 60%…
Left-leaning Texas Monthly just goes ahead and says Abbott will be the next governor. And here’s an excerpt of their cover profile of Abbott.
Unless Debra Medina runs as an Independent. Is she trying to elect Wendy Davis? Also, “I couldn’t raise money for a Comptroller race, so I’m going to run for governor” doesn’t make a lot of sense.
A roundup of Abbott vs. Davis fundraising between June 17 and August 5.
There was a Lt. Governor candidates forum in Houston.
There’s another one in Houston tomorrow, October 3, from 5-8 PM at Grace Community Church, 14505 Gulf Freeway.
PJ TV Interviews Todd Staples:
Also Jerry Patterson:
And David Dewhurst (but I’m not seeing one for Dan Patrick):
Jerry Patterson slams his rivals as soft:
Three Attorney General candidates (Ken Paxton, Barry Smitherman, and Dan Branch) also had a debate.
They also clashed over who had endorsed who.
Paxton unveils a list of 100 important Texas Tea Party supporters.
Smitherman picks up a Right-to-Life endorsement.
George P. Bush visits Seguin and San Angelo.
Jason Gibson, who briefly competed in the 2012 Senate race, is considering running against John Cornyn in 2014, presumably (as in 2012) as a Democrat.
Dem State Rep. Mike Villarreal prefers not to lose a statewide race for Comptroller.
Three Joe Straus allies (Bill Callegari, Rob Orr and Tryon Lewis) decide that now is a good time to retire.
Tags:2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, 2014 Lt. Governor's Race, 2014 Senate Race, Barry Smitherman, Dan Branch, Dan Patrick, David Dewhurst, Debra Medina, Elections, George P. Bush, Greg Abbott, Jason Gibson, Joe Straus, Ken Paxton, Mike Villarreal, Texas, Todd Staples, Wendy Davis
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »
Friday, August 23rd, 2013
Another Friday LinkSwarm on Friday, to make your Friday seem more like Friday:
Why work when welfare pays better?
Europe’s Jews fear that their days are numbered.
Ted Cruz: traitor to his class. From the number of MSM attacks on Cruz, they obviously see him as the biggest threat to derail Hillary’s coronation in 2016.
And since there was a little mini-boomlet of “Ha, conservatives must hate that Cruz’s given name is Rafael!” stupidity from the leftosphere, here’s a video that reminds you that Ted Cruz’s father Rafeal is all kinds of awesome as well:
Surprise, surprise, surprise! Greece will need another bailout.
Hospital called LICH just can’t seem to die. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Well, this is lovely: The Department of Homeland Security employees a black supremacist preparing for a race war against white people and gays.
Forced sterilization of “mental defectives” returns to the UK.
Dear Jeff Bezos: Maybe the Washington Post could make more money if they didn’t alienate half their potential audience by hyping anti-Republican witch hunts.
Fail to wear a veil when you leave the house? That’s a dismembering.
“Bradley Manning Is Not a Woman. Pronouns and delusions do not trump biology.”
Foreign aid is destructive.
To improve the socio-economic development of Africa, the continent desperately needs private innovations, empowered by rule of law and an ambience of free enterprise, free of restrictive government regulations.Economic growth and development is indeed a vital ingredient towards achieving prosperity and a free society. However, it takes a spontaneous market driven approach without state interventionist barriers to achieve the noble aim, not foreign aid.
Remember folks: Partisan redistricting is perfectly constitutional. And Texas Democrats of it were masters of it for decades.
Sears posts $194 million loss. In other news, Sears is still in business.
Basketball statistician kills himself, and leaves behind meticulous suicide website explaining why he did it. One reason (among many others): “Economic collapse is inevitable (see U.S Financial to the left). The United States’ annual debt and cumulative deficit is way beyond the “out of control” label usually associated with it. It’s spiraling into oblivion and it will take society with it. Today the deficit is $16.9 trillion dollars with another $125 trillion of unfunded liabilities such as social security, medicare, prescription drug and federal pensions. It’s hopeless.”
What happens when rats have all their food needs met and are allowed to breed without restrictions? Social death followed by physical death. Though usually interpreted as an indictment of overpopulation, it could just as easily be about the the pitfalls of a purposeless life…
State Rep. (and Appropriations Committee chair) Jim Pitts will not seek reelection. Pitts, one of Speaker Joe Straus’ allies, recently was accused of seeking preferential treatment of his son at UT law school. Pitts was also one of the legislators pushing for…
The Impeachment of UT regent Wallace Hall for the crime of actually investigating wrong-doing, such as the law school slush fund.
Tags:DHS, European Debt Crisis, foreign aid, Foreign Policy, Greece, Jews, Jim Pitts, Joe Straus, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, Rafael Cruz, Sears, slush fund, suicide, Ted Cruz, Texas, University of Texas, video, Wallace Hall
Posted in Austin, Elections, Foreign Policy, Media Watch, Texas, video | No Comments »