Former Texas Democratic congressman and Speaker of the House Jim Wright has died at age 92.
As Speaker, Wright was a hyper-partisan that ran roughshod over the Republican minority while committing sleazy ethical lapses. As Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) once noted, “Jim Wright was like an evil fog that floated over everyone’s head.”
Alas, Wright’s death means I’ll never get a chance to get him to sign my copy of Reflections of a Public Man.*
It’s a slender collection of personal reflections and pithy aphorisms that even at 117 pages is badly padded. It was also a blatant scam to bypass congressional limits on personal honorarium.
The real focus of the marketing effort for Reflections of a Public Man was on bulk sales to trade associations and other groups. Almost 98% of all sales of “Reflections of a Public Man” were bulk sales of 15 or more books. In some instances, Wright’s staff informed various groups Wright spoke to that because he had already reached the maximum limit on outside earned income for that year, he would not be able to keep an honorarium offered to him. The staff then recommended that instead of paying Wright an honorarium, the organization could purchase books for the same amount . . .
For example,) Wright spoke at a Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Assn. trade show in September, 1985, just several weeks after SBCA had purchased 1,680 copies of “Reflections of a Public Man” for $10,000. SBCA testified that although it historically has paid honoraria and expenses to congressmen for their appearances, in this case SBCA’s legal counsel, who arranged for Wright to speak at the trade show, suggested that SBCA purchase the books instead. Thus, Wright received a $5,500 “royalty” for his appearances before the SBCA.
So that works out to a 55% royalty rate. 10-15% royalties for hardbacks is industry standard. It’s possible that J. K. Rowling and Stephen King might (might) get as much as 25%. If J.K. Rowling demanded a 55% royalty rate, her publisher would have no choice but to turn her down, since they’d be losing money on every book sold.
Through Wright resigned, his strong-handed tactics helped lead to the rise of Newt Gingrich and his Contract With America, which helped pave the way for the 1994 Republican takeover of the House. (And don’t let the New York Times obituary fool yeah; Wright had squat to do with bringing peace to Nicaragua, which was achieved through the pressure of the Reagan Doctrine and the crumbling of the Eastern block, which finally realized it was too broke to prop out communist dictators in Central America.)
*Though I did get Newt Gingrich to sign it…
(Hat tip: Dwight.)
A new Quinnipiac poll of Iowa is out, and it shows Jeb Bush losing to, well, pretty much everyone:
Only 5% of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers told Quinnipiac University pollsters that they planned to vote for Bush, placing him No. 7 in the field of declared or potential 2016 candidates.
Even worse for Bush: He may not have as much room to grow over the next year as other candidates do. One-quarter of Republicans said they definitely could not support Bush, the lowest ceiling of support of any candidate in the Hawkeye State, and 45% said Bush was “not conservative enough.”
The top Republican in Iowa is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who garnered support from 21% of those surveyed. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are tightly packed for second place, each earned between 13% and 11% support. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who unveiled his campaign on Monday, tallied 7% of the vote.
Jeb Bush losing to Scott Walker, Ran Paul, and Ted Cruz isn’t a surprise; Bush losing to Ben Carson, a political neophyte who has no chance to win the nomination, is.
When you dig further, Bush’s basic unpopularity rating comes to the fore: “Negative 39 – 45 percent favorability rating for Bush, and 36 percent saying he’s about right on issues, while 45 percent say he’s not conservative enough.”
Polls this early are essentially meaningless (remember when Howard Dean was going to win Iowa?), but the fact Bush is polling so poorly this early suggests both that he’s deeply unpopular with the base, and that he has yet to build an effective political operation in Iowa. Remember, George W. Bush won the Iowa caucuses handily over Steve Forbes in 2000 (McCain didn’t even pull 5%).
So far, Jeb Bush is running considerably behind expectations.
The name of the second dead terrorist in the Garland attack has been released. “A federal law enforcement official is confirming the identity of the second gunman in the shooting outside a contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons as Nadir Soofi, according to AP reporter Eric Tucker in Washington.”
Oh, and the lawyer for Elton Simpson, the first terrorist identified, says that he’s “a devout Muslim.”
Try to contain your shock.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also gets it right the second time, calling the attack a “heinous crime” and stating “We live in a country where the First Amendment is one of the paramount promises of this nation,” Abbott said. “That provides people the ability to speak out to say what they want. Just as people draw cartoons mocking the governor, people may draw cartoons mocking others.”
And here’s the cartoon that won the Draw Mohammed contest:
More details are trickling out about the failed Islamist terror attack on a Mohammed art exhibit being held in Garland:
From a 10 AM conference by Garland police officer Joe Harn:
Officer Harn did a good job conveying just what he knew, and refusing to speculate on what he didn’t know.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued the following statement: “Texas officials are actively investigating to determine the cause and scope of the senseless attack in Garland, Texas. This is a crime that was quickly ended thanks to the swift action by Garland law enforcement. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected tonight.”
With all due respect for the governor, this was not a “senseless attack,” it was a premeditated act of Islamic terrorism.
Evidently the suspects had explosives on them.
Organizer Pamela Geller is live-tweeting:
Cop shot, 2 suspects shot – possible explosives at our free speech event #freespeech #afdi #jihad
— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) May 4, 2015
#garlandshooting cop shot – two suspects dead, awaiting bomb squad for possible explosives at our free speech event #sharia
— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) May 4, 2015
Details as the come out.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess they weren’t Unitarians…
Update 1: SWAT team is evidently evacuating the conference center and taking people over to a local high school. Ambulances on scene.
#BREAKING Update from SWAT Team Leader. @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/HoF5f4bF7U
— Jobin Panicker (@jobinpnews) May 4, 2015
ambulances lined up on Naaman Forest Blvd – @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/3NvsdmjKwH
— David Goins (@dgoins) May 4, 2015
Update 2: Two Twitter feeds to follow for the story are Pamela Geller and WFAA reporter Jobin Panicker.
Ppl evacuated singing patriotic songs. @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/8xOWS9isv1
— Jobin Panicker (@jobinpnews) May 4, 2015
Panicker conveys rumor the two dead suspects were carrying AK-47s. That rumor almost invariably pops up during these types of incidents, but 98% of the time its wrong. But they may have had other MSRs.
Update 3: A nearby Wal-Mart has been closed, and another suspect is reortedly inside with a hand grenade.
Update 4 Evidently SWAT team members were already on site for the exhibit before the shooting started, which shows considerable forward thinking on someone’s part.
Update 4: Reports of Garland ISD policeman also being treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound:
UPDATE: A Garland ISD officer was also shot and has non-life threatening injuries http://t.co/PaWaw5ESyL
— WFAA TV (@wfaachannel8) May 4, 2015
Unclear whether this is an additional policeman, or if this is the policeman who was initially shot.
Update 5:
Two shot outside Muhammad Art Exhibit in Garland. #Garlandshooting #rednationrising #freedomofspeech #dkpol pic.twitter.com/b2AjcT9Hiq
— Jonas Christensen (@JonasChr88) May 4, 2015
Update 6:
The would-be terrorists in Garland fell for one of the classic blunders: Never assume that you’ve outgunned an art show in Texas.
— Daniel Foster (@DanFosterType) May 4, 2015
Update 7:
Garland PD say nearby Walmart evacuated as a precaution in case of explosives while they search suspects' car
MORE: http://t.co/Cfk5H2VnLi
— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) May 4, 2015
Probably more likely than the “third suspect with a grenade” scenario.
Update 8: Not seeing reports of an additional cop shot besides the Garland ISD officer, so I believe that is the only law enforcement officer hit.
Update 9:
Short statement from the city of Garland https://t.co/esZHlLP9GF pic.twitter.com/9z8enqOt1H
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) May 4, 2015
Just a quick reminder that today is Victims of Communism Day, the day when we remember the 100 million plus victims of the 20th century’s most deadly totalitarian ideology.
From the blind-squirrel-finds-an-acorn department, here’s another rare interesting and useful piece from Vox that actually lists 181 major donors to the Clinton Foundation that also had business with Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
Tidbits:
This just scratches the surface on a Clinton Foundation scandal where new revelations seem to be dropping every day. But it’s a solid jumping-off point for additional research.
Also, it offers a opportunity to troll liberals: “Do you think that Ted Cruz receiving money from Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil and Monsanto makes him a tool of big business?” Then after they answer…
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup, albeit a somewhat smallish one:
Among the top ten most populous states in the nation, local debt in the Lone Star State was the second highest overall, at $219.7 billion. Only California’s local governments had amassed more, at $269.2 billion.
On a per capita basis, local debt in Texas ranked as the second highest ($8,431 owed per person), with only New York in tougher shape ($10,204 owed per person). The average local debt burden among all mega-states was $5,956 owed per person.