Here are some of the Democratic incumbent members of the Texas House who are losing, so far, in incomplete and unofficial returns: Jim Dunnam, Stephen Frost, Mark Homer, Jim McReynolds, Solomon Ortiz III, Abel Herrero, Patrick Rose, Valinda Bolton, Diana Maldonado, Joe Heflin, Carol Kent, Allen Vaught, Kristi Thibaut and Ellen Cohen.
There may be more, all struggling against a very strong Republican tsunami.
Some of you already may have heard that Gov. Rick Perry has written (his name will be listed as author, anyway) a book entitled, “Fed Up.”
Although those two words succinctly sum up the reaction of many Texans to Perry’s 10 years in the governor’s office, his own record, of course, is not the subject. The book, instead, will be more of Perry’s Washingtonbashing, the broadsides against President Obama and congressional Democrats, which the governor has made the centerpiece of his reelection campaign while dodging his own responsibility for Texas’ budgetary crisis and questions about his political cronyism.
In his column in today’s Austin AmericanStatesman, Jason Embry reports that Perry on Wednesday (the day after the election) plans to announce a national book tour, what he apparently hopes to turn into a “victory lap” and, according to some speculation, a notsosubtle exploratory tour for a spot on the 2012 Republican ticket. The speculation was heightened when, in comments reported by the Houston Chronicle’s Peggy Fikac over the weekend, Perry declined to guarantee that he will serve another full, fouryear term if reelected.
Perry supposedly ruled out a presidential race but also declared, “I don’t ever take anything off the table.”
The yappers on Fox TV will drool over the tour, and Perry’s Texas constituents will have to fork over hundreds of thousands of additional tax dollars to pay for the governor’s traveling security detail.
No one is going to stop the book tour, but there still is time for Texas voters who are legitimately “fed up” with the government in Austin to spoil Perry’s party.
If you didn’t vote early, go to the polls tomorrow and vote for Bill White for governor and for proeducation candidates endorsed by TSTA for the Legislature and the State Board of Education. TSTA members can find a list of endorsements in the most recent issue of the Advocate or under the “Members Only” section of our website, www.tsta.org.
Much as I may want to, folks, I can’t blame Gov. Perry for the Texas Rangers’ 02 stumble in the early games of the World Series. But if you want to start a rumor about a Perry hex invading the visitors’ clubhouse in San Francisco, please feel free.
Some of you series watchers may have noticed, though, that Perry has been filling part of the air time between innings of Ranger futility with what seems to be his “closer” commercial – a TV spot designed to assure voters on the eve of Election Day that Texas is in good hands as long as Rick is governor.
Perry is friendly, folksy and confident as he promises to balance the budget without raising taxes, secure the border, create new jobs and strengthen the schools.
He also is deceitful.
Balancing a budget with a revenue shortfall as high as $25 billion without raising taxes cannot be accomplished without deep budget cuts, which Perry also has promised (although not in this commercial). And, deep budget cuts will weaken, not strengthen, the public schools and a host of other public services.
The Rangers can afford one more loss. I am not sure how many more Perryera losses the public schools can afford, but not many.
This is the last day for early voting.
TSTA hasn’t made an endorsement in the race for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, and the commission doesn’t have much to do with education – or railroads either, for that matter. But in case anyone is wondering which of the two, largely unknown major party candidates to choose, I recommend Democratic nominee Jeff Weems, a Houston energy lawyer who could bring some needed change to a commission that is mainly held captive by the oil and gas industry it is supposed to regulate.
If you dislike the idea of state government taking tax dollars from the public schools to pay for private school vouchers, you have another reason to vote for Weems.
So, what is the connection?
David Porter, the Republican nominee for the Railroad Commission seat, has in recent years been a major player in wealthy voucher advocate James Leininger’s efforts to purchase a provoucher majority in the Texas House. Those efforts so far have been unsuccessful, and Leininger, a San Antonio businessman, has mostly stayed out of this year’s political races.
But, according to the watchdog group, Texans for Public Justice, Porter has been treasurer of Leininger’s Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee since 2006. And, that committee, funded almost wholly by Leininger, was extremely active in the 2006 Republican primary, when it spent $2 million to try to unseat several Republican House members who had dared to vote against vouchers during the 2005 session. If I remember correctly, Leininger and Porter managed to unseat only one of their targets by providing more than 90 percent of the campaign funding for a successful challenger.
Porter, incidentally, wasn’t supposed to win the Republican nomination for the RRC seat last spring because he was challenging a much better funded incumbent, Victor Carrillo, who had initially been appointed to the post by Gov. Rick Perry. But most Republican voters didn’t know Carrillo any better than they knew Porter, and faced with the choice between a Hispanic and a nonHispanic, they chose the latter.
At least, that was Carrillo’s complaint, and I think he probably was right.
Click on this link if you want to read more about Porter’s and Leininger’s provoucher spending orgy:
