July 26th, 2013
A little bird has been telling me a few tidbits about the Attorney General’s race, namely:
Ken Paxton is indeed going to run for AG, and will announce his run next week. You might think this is deep insider knowledge, but given this Facebook posting by Paxton…eh, not so much.
By contrast, the manifest lack of enthusiasm for Dan Branch’s Attorney General run among Texas conservatives is palpable. And when the Dallas Morning News labels you “a close confidant of House Speaker Joe Straus,” you’re already starting off on the wrong foot to win over conservative activists.
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Dan Branch, Elections, Joe Straus, Ken Paxton, Republicans, Texas
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July 25th, 2013
Liberal fossil Paul Burka is peeved that Kinky Friedman might run for office again. “When Friedman ran for governor in 2006, he helped make it impossible for Rick Perry to lose in a four-way race. By helping to divide the vote among four candidates, he enabled Perry to win with a pitiful plurality of 39%. I have no doubt that Friedman’s intention was to help Perry.”
Burka calls another possible Friedman run “sick comedy.”
A few points:
- When Friedman jumped into the 2006 Governor’s race as an independent in early 2005, it wasn’t a four-way race. It only turned into one when Comptroller Carole Stewart Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn realized that Perry was going to slaughter her in the GOP primary and dropped out to run as an independent.
- Watching the race unfold, I didn’t get the impression Friedman was running to ensure Perry’s re-election, but A.) Because he thought it would be fun to run for governor (and maybe even fun to be elected governor), B.) He was dissatisfied with the status quo, and C.) Given Jesse Ventura’s fairly recently election as Minnesota Governor, Friedman thought he could win as an independent. He was wrong, but it didn’t look like an inherently risible proposition when he ran.
- If Perry’s 39% was pitiful, what do we call Democrat Chris Bell’s 29%?
- By competitiveness standards, have Democrats run any “non-joke” candidates statewide in Texas lately?
Now, I happen to agree with Burka’s assessment of Friedman’s political chances. But more interesting is the reason he feels the need to opine on them.
Underlying Burka’s lament, and his obvious bitterness over Kinky’s candidacy, is the idea popular among his fellow liberal journalists that someone could have beaten Perry in 2006 if Kinky hadn’t split the vote. In some ways it’s a defensible position, as that was a “Bush Fatigue” wave year for Democrats and Perry was suffering from a number of self-inflicted wounds (toll roads, the Trans-Texas Corridor proposal, etc.). And maybe a popular, polished, well-funded Democratic candidate just might have had a chance to defeat Perry in 2006. Unfortunately for the Democrats (though fortunately for us), none was apparent on the scene in 2006. Or any time, really, since Bob Bullock and Ann Richards retired. Democrats didn’t come close to sending Perry home in 2006, and they haven’t any time since, letting him retire undefeated in gubernatorial contests.
And so Burka’s great white whale escaped yet again…
Tags: 2006 Gubernatorial Election, Carole Stewart Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn, Chris Bell, Kinky Friedman, Paul Burka, Rick Perry, Texas
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July 25th, 2013
Today’s super-genius liberal tweet comes to you from a Kate White-Hancock, AKA @lsalander13, who asks:
“@TPM Question: Where Was FOX News When Clarence Thomas Said FILTHY Perverse PORNOGRAPHIC Unwanted Things To Anita Hill AT WORK??”
Ignoring the red herring nature of trying to change the subject from Anthony Weiner, and the fact that none of Anita Hill’s allegations were ever proven, I think one reason Fox News may not have covered that was that Thomas’ confirmation hearings occurred 1991, and Fox News Channel wasn’t founded until 1996…
Tags: Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, Democrats, Fox News, Media Watch, morons, Twitter
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July 24th, 2013
Smart denizens of California must be eying Detroit’s bankruptcy warily. After all, 60 years ago Detroit was the wealthiest city in America. And California seems hellbent on following Detroit’s Blue State path to bankruptcy sooner rather than later…
Problem: California public employees union members getting outrageous retirement benefits on the taxpayer’s dime. Solution: Hide their pension figures from the public.
From Dwight comes this gem of a news story:
Bruce Malkenhorst took home more than $911,000 a year as city manager of the tiny city of Vernon. His reign ended shortly
before he was convicted of misappropriating public funds, and he walked away with an annual pension that eventually topped $500,000,
the largest in the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
But CalPERS last year decided to cut his pension to $115,000, concluding he’d derived some of his hefty salary improperly.
So now the 78-year-old Malkenhorst is suing Vernon to make up the difference.
And if you’re interested in California corruption, you should be following Dwight’s regular updates on Vernon and Bell.
Resignation Media, another California company, is moving to Austin. (Hat tip: Urban Grounds. )
Meanwhile, California e-discovery firm Daegis Inc. is also moving its headquarters to Texas.
Navarre Corporation relocates from Minnesota to Texas.
Houston edges out New York City as the nation’s largest goods exporter.
More on Dwight Howard and others fleeing California’s income tax burden.
Detroit won’t be the last city to declare bankruptcy.
California Latino supermarket chain Mi Pueblo declares bankruptcy. The article says that creditor Wells Fargo wanted to “change the terms” of loans, but something doesn’t add up. Turns out that profits dived when Mi Pueblo was forced to fire illegal aliens after an audit, and that put their profitability under the level dictated by the terms of the loan.
Parallels between Detroit and San Bernardino.
Tags: bankruptcy, California, fraud, San Bernardino, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
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July 23rd, 2013
State Rep Dan Branch has made his Attorney General bid official. With $4 million on hand he already has a formidable warchest. His primary opponent right now is Railroad Commissioner Barry Smitherman, who has just over $1 million on hand. I keep hearing murmurs of Ken Paxton possibly getting in, but so far he hasn’t made any definitive moves in that direction.
Both Branch and Smitherman are running as conservatives (duh; they’re running as Republicans in Texas).
Tags: 2014 Attorney General's Race, 2014 Election, Barry Smitherman, Dan Branch, Elections, Republicans, Texas
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July 22nd, 2013
It’s shaping up to be another busy week, so here’s a quick update on the European Debt Crisis front:
EU Debt burden hits an all-time high.
Greece shuts down its bloated, money losing ERT public television/radio network. “Problems with Greek democracy are not the reason that ERT was shut down. ERT was an extravagant public company. Many, though not all, employees were hired under suspicious conditions, due to favoritism and nepotism, and receiveddisproportionately large wages (8000 Euros per month through the financial crisis and 13000 Euros per month before).”
Taki (who is Greek) offers some pungent assessments of his home country’s continual crisis.
In Europe, the law is seen is “an obstacle rather than a foundation.”
Spain steals from tomorrow’s retirees to pay for today’s retirees.
Portugal refrains from blowing up for a little while longer.
Germany’s finance minister tours his vassal state.
Don’t expect the EuroZone to explode before German elections on September 22. Plus calls for an “EMU Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
First review of UK’s relationship with EU comes to the conclusion that everything is just hunky dory.
Tags: Budget, Economics, Euro, Germany, Greece, PIIGS, Portugal, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Economics, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
July 19th, 2013
Detroit went bankrupt. One stranger was acquitted for shooting another stranger. Which do you think the media spent more time covering?
“Progressive politicians, wonks, and activists can only blame big corporations and other liberal bogeymen for so long. The truth is that corrupt machine politics in a one-party system devoted to the blue social model wrecked an entire city and thousands of lives beyond repair. The sooner blues come to terms with this reality, the greater chance other cities will have of avoiding Detroit’s fate.”
The IRS scandal now leads to the chief counsel, one of only two Obama appointees at the agency.
“The Democratic Party is a machine for inciting grievances in order to consolidate its power.”
The Wall Street Journal makes the case for dismantling ObamaCare piece by piece.
Republican Insiders are very, very upset that Jim DeMint is exposing them for the RINOs they are.
My precious snowflake is extremely gifted. He’s also 29 and unemployed because so many jobs are unworthy of his Promethean talents. Matt Walsh: SMACKDOWN.
“The Democratic Party is a machine for inciting grievances in order to consolidate its power.”
Charles Barkley on the Zimmerman trial: “Just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.”
A few facts about Marissa Alexander that may not be apparent from a two panel picture comparison with George Zimmerman.
“Reason for termination: Disabled veteran.”
“Negative perceptions of young black men are rooted in hard data on who commits crimes.”
Near empty New York hospital losing $3 million a week. Naturally, unions are demanding it stay open. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Charles Murray on American exceptionalism.
Marco Rubio was riding high. Then he became a shill for amnesty, and now his life is all sad trombones. I haven’t seen a serious national political aspirant fall so far since Gary Hart went boating.
Today’s serial Democratic Party groper who felt-up at least six women and who the state party forced their members to cover up for comes to you from California.
Tags: Blue State, California, Detroit, Gary Hart, George Zimmerman Trial, Heritage Foundation, IRS, Jim DeMint, LinkSwarm, Marco Rubio, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, vets, Welfare State
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July 18th, 2013
Stockton, California can now breath a small sigh of relief. It’s no longer the largest American city to declare bankruptcy. Detroit has filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
Bonus: The city has more than 100,000 creditors.
This is the endpoint of the cradle-to-grave welfare state. Certainly Detroit got there faster than most will, thanks to endemic corruption, horrific mismanagement, and an overwhelmingly unionized (and thus expensive and inflexible) manufacturing base workforce. But the problem of overspending, bloated government, overregulation, declining population and cronyism are endemic to blue states and members of the European Union. Greece’s future is Detroit (with possibly fewer race riots), California’s future is Greece, and deficit spending continues, eventually the United States’ future is that of California.
Tags: Budget, Crime, Democrats, Detroit
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July 17th, 2013
Texas Attorney General and 2014 Gubernatorial frontrunner Greg Abbott will be taking questions tonight on Twitter starting at 8 PM. Just use the #askabbott hashtag to ask the AG anything you want.
And as long as we’re on the subject of Abbott, here’s a video interview (though the sound quality is a little wonky):
Tags: 2014 Election, 2014 Governor's Race, Elections, Greg Abbott, Texas, video
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July 16th, 2013
Time permitting, I’m hoping to do regular updates on the 2014 statewide races in Texas the same way I updated the senate race. But with so many more offices and players, it’s going to take me some time to get up to speed.
Greg Abbott’s gubernatorial warchest has swollen to a formidable $23 million.
He also visited Longview, Wichita Falls, and Duncanville.
Todd Staples leads the money race for Lt. Governor, according to this fragment of the story that isn’t behind the Statesman paywall.
Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, with $3 million in the bank, has the largest campaign treasury of the four Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, according to the latest fundraising statements, which were due Monday.
Thanks to a $650,000 personal loan to his campaign, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the latest entrant in the race, edged past Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in money in the bank — $2.1 million to $1.73 million — even though Dewhurst raised $1.2 million compared with about $100,000 for Patrick. The fourth candidate, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, raised $417,000, bringing his treasury to $1.3 million. Patterson said he hopes to raise $3 million in the next six months to remain competitive, and Dewhurst has a personal fortune that he can tap
The Texas Tribune has more fundraising roundup news. Tidbits:
- State Rep. Dan Branch hasn’t even declared his AG run, but already has $4 million on hand, including a $5,000 donation from George W. Bush.
- Barry Smitherman has over $1 million cash on hand for his AG run.
- State Sen. Ken Paxton (honestly, I was just guessing he would make an AG run) has more than $1.6 million cash on hand. He hasn’t declared yet.
- George P. Bush reported $2 million raised and $2.6 million on hand for his Comptroller run.
I’ll be digging into the financial reports for all the major candidates when I get a chance (don’t hold your breath this week).
Democratic abortion diva Wendy Davis raised just under a million dollars…for her state senate campaign. No word on a governor’s run.
Even in-the-tank liberal fossil Paul Burka says Davis has no chance to win the Texas Governor’s race.
A David L. Watts, Jr. is running for Land Commissioner. His platform so far seems to be that George P. Bush isn’t conservative enough.
Tags: 2014 Election, Barry Smitherman, Bush43, Dan Branch, Democrats, Elections, George P. Bush, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Ken Paxton, Paul Burka, Republicans, Texas, Todd Staples, Wendy Davis
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »