"There WILL be a special session," Gov Perry says. He says he's in the process of deciding when.
More law making, woo!! It should be noted that Governor Perry has not yet had a special session that has benefited him politically, so he is probably planning this one with extra scrutiny due to his upcoming primary challenge. For him, his personal goals are probably to minimize political damage while simply ensuring that we allow for the Texas Department of Insurance and the Texas Department of Transportation to stay alive.
Update:: While the speculation is that the special session is necessary because the necessary funds have not been appropriated to allow TDI and TxDOT to completely operate the next two years, @KXAN_News has specifically noted that the governor would not give the details on the session's agenda beyond "unfinished legislation."
by: Michael Hurta
Tue Jun 09, 2009 at 02:12 PM CDT
Reported first by Elise Hu on twitter:
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Perry Allows Fox Business News to be Wrong
Fox Business News really likes Republicans. We can tell why. Only as pompous a network as Fox would fall in love with politicians so immodest that they would take compliments that are anti-factual.
Jason Embry reported:
When Gov. Rick Perry went on the Fox Business Channel last week, he got these hardball questions and comments from the interviewers:
"You've said no to stimulus money, you've said no to any money for your state."
AND
"Governor, I'm glad you didn't take any stimulus money since you did balance your budget, you don't need it, save it for states that are having people that are losing their jobs and losing their homes.
Rick Perry took the compliments in stride. Of course, they were describing his governorship of Texas accurately, right? And even if it wasn't, compliments on Fox can't hurt with GOP primary voters. But it turns out those Fox people got something wrong, and Governor Perry couldn't have cared less.
It's not really Perry's job to correct erroneous questioners, and he didn't. But it is my job. So I will remind you, and them, that the Legislature would have had to dip into the Rainy Day Fund or make sizable cuts in state services were it not for $12 billion in stimulus dollars that went into the budget that lawmakers just finished. That money included $2.5 billion for Medicaid and $3.2 billion for public education.
While it is not the governor's job to correct reporters, I would hope my state's leaders can represent Texas genuinely. True, I want Texas' leaders to boast about how we have done in the economy, bringing green jobs to the state as we weather the economic storm.
But to imply that Texas did not accept or need stimulus money is just wrong. I love Texas, but we aren't that much better than the rest of the country no matter which way you look at it.
by: Michael Hurta
Tue Jun 09, 2009 at 03:00 PM CDT
A video of Perry's ridiculous visit to Fox is below the fold. (Look, the Fox people are at a bar! No wonder they aren't reporting accurate news!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yACEBsao-ss
Jason Embry reported:
When Gov. Rick Perry went on the Fox Business Channel last week, he got these hardball questions and comments from the interviewers:
"You've said no to stimulus money, you've said no to any money for your state."
AND
"Governor, I'm glad you didn't take any stimulus money since you did balance your budget, you don't need it, save it for states that are having people that are losing their jobs and losing their homes.
Rick Perry took the compliments in stride. Of course, they were describing his governorship of Texas accurately, right? And even if it wasn't, compliments on Fox can't hurt with GOP primary voters. But it turns out those Fox people got something wrong, and Governor Perry couldn't have cared less.
It's not really Perry's job to correct erroneous questioners, and he didn't. But it is my job. So I will remind you, and them, that the Legislature would have had to dip into the Rainy Day Fund or make sizable cuts in state services were it not for $12 billion in stimulus dollars that went into the budget that lawmakers just finished. That money included $2.5 billion for Medicaid and $3.2 billion for public education.
While it is not the governor's job to correct reporters, I would hope my state's leaders can represent Texas genuinely. True, I want Texas' leaders to boast about how we have done in the economy, bringing green jobs to the state as we weather the economic storm.
But to imply that Texas did not accept or need stimulus money is just wrong. I love Texas, but we aren't that much better than the rest of the country no matter which way you look at it.
by: Michael Hurta
Tue Jun 09, 2009 at 03:00 PM CDT
A video of Perry's ridiculous visit to Fox is below the fold. (Look, the Fox people are at a bar! No wonder they aren't reporting accurate news!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yACEBsao-ss
Thursday, May 14, 2009
John Cornyn Says Elections Don't Matter
by: Libby Shaw
Thu May 14, 2009 at 09:57:48 AM CDT
There they go again, those vote suppressing, vote hating Republicans. Watch 'em tell us they can buy the election outcomes they want even after recount after recount shows their candidate lost.
Come on John Cornyn and Co. Why don't you just come clean and say only white folks with a lot of money should be allowed to vote. Your party obviously loathes the right to vote.
What quintessential anti-democratic sore losers. Stunts like this should guarantee the Republican's regional/minority status for decades to come. Of course everyone knows this is a gimmick to prevent Al Franken from serving in the U.S. Senate for months and months to come. It's all about obstruct baby obstruct.
So much for doing what's best for one's country.
Thu May 14, 2009 at 09:57:48 AM CDT
There they go again, those vote suppressing, vote hating Republicans. Watch 'em tell us they can buy the election outcomes they want even after recount after recount shows their candidate lost.
Come on John Cornyn and Co. Why don't you just come clean and say only white folks with a lot of money should be allowed to vote. Your party obviously loathes the right to vote.
What quintessential anti-democratic sore losers. Stunts like this should guarantee the Republican's regional/minority status for decades to come. Of course everyone knows this is a gimmick to prevent Al Franken from serving in the U.S. Senate for months and months to come. It's all about obstruct baby obstruct.
So much for doing what's best for one's country.
Dick Cheney and torturing to justify war with Iraq
by Jed Lewison
Thu May 14, 2009 at 02:02:03 PM PDT
While the Pelosi sideshow plays out, here's two genuine bombshells.
First, from Lawrence Wilkerson in The Washington Note (also diaried by bob fertik):
...what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002--well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion--its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida.
Second, from former NBC producer Robert Windrem in The Daily Beast:
*Two U.S. intelligence officers confirm that Vice President Cheney’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.
*The former chief of the Iraq Survey Group, Charles Duelfer, in charge of interrogations, tells The Daily Beast that he considered the request reprehensible.
Now it's true that there's no good reason for Nancy Pelosi to be at the center of the debate on torture, but if that's the way it's going to be, even if it's that way because of self-inflicted wounds, maybe it's time to start asking her if she was aware that the Bush administration -- led by Dick Cheney -- was using torture to gather information to justify a war with Iraq that ultimately cost thousands of American lives without turning up a single WMD or link to 9/11.
Or maybe somebody should just ask the question of Dick Cheney. After all, he seems to be fairly accessible these days.
Thu May 14, 2009 at 02:02:03 PM PDT
While the Pelosi sideshow plays out, here's two genuine bombshells.
First, from Lawrence Wilkerson in The Washington Note (also diaried by bob fertik):
...what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002--well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion--its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida.
Second, from former NBC producer Robert Windrem in The Daily Beast:
*Two U.S. intelligence officers confirm that Vice President Cheney’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.
*The former chief of the Iraq Survey Group, Charles Duelfer, in charge of interrogations, tells The Daily Beast that he considered the request reprehensible.
Now it's true that there's no good reason for Nancy Pelosi to be at the center of the debate on torture, but if that's the way it's going to be, even if it's that way because of self-inflicted wounds, maybe it's time to start asking her if she was aware that the Bush administration -- led by Dick Cheney -- was using torture to gather information to justify a war with Iraq that ultimately cost thousands of American lives without turning up a single WMD or link to 9/11.
Or maybe somebody should just ask the question of Dick Cheney. After all, he seems to be fairly accessible these days.
Mark Thompson Announces He Will Run for Governor
by: Matt Glazer
Wed May 13, 2009 at 03:05 PM CDT
According to KXAN Mark Thompson, former Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner, has announced he will run for Governor.
Mark Thompson, who made an unsuccessful bid last year to be TX Railroad Commissioner, says he will run for governor as a Democrat.
Thompson received 44.57% of the vote in 2008 when he ran against Republican incumbent Michael Williams. Thompson joins Tom Schieffer and humorist Kinky Friedman. Friedman only received 12.44% of the vote last time he ran for Governor and is still in the exploratory phase.
Wed May 13, 2009 at 03:05 PM CDT
According to KXAN Mark Thompson, former Democratic candidate for Railroad Commissioner, has announced he will run for Governor.
Mark Thompson, who made an unsuccessful bid last year to be TX Railroad Commissioner, says he will run for governor as a Democrat.
Thompson received 44.57% of the vote in 2008 when he ran against Republican incumbent Michael Williams. Thompson joins Tom Schieffer and humorist Kinky Friedman. Friedman only received 12.44% of the vote last time he ran for Governor and is still in the exploratory phase.
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