On this week’s edition of WFAA-TV’s Inside Texas Politics with host Jason Whitely, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy and Tribune Executive Editor Ross Ramsey, talk turns to the Big Three: Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus. Neither Abbott nor Patrick are new to state government, but they’re new to their current jobs. Straus, starting his fourth term as speaker, seemed to stake out his position in an interview last week, saying the House would not be bullied, expressing his support for the Texas Dream Act and pointing out that Patrick’s call for continued National Guard presence on the border is the governor’s call to make.

Also: pricey chairs and fancy badges at the scandal-plagued Health and Human Services Commission; President Obama’s request for war powers to fight ISIS is argued from the right and left; and a movement to demolish a stretch of freeway in Dallas may be gaining traction.

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John Jordan is the deputy director of photography, part of the team that ensures our stories are graced with arresting visuals. Based in Austin, John grew up in South America and has managed to hang on...