Sales taxes are down and the recession in Texas hasn’t bottomed, so financial concerns will almost certainly factor into the governor’s race. Ben Philpott, covering that contest for KUT News and the Tribune, takes a look.
It’s Still the Economy, Stupid
Posted inState Government
An Interview with Dan Patrick
The full twenty minutes with the Republican state senator from Houston, who talks power, politics and why he loves life in the Lege.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Mapmaker, Mapmaker
Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years.
Posted in
Economy
Economic Campaigning
Texas budget writers are hoping December will ring in stronger retail sales — after getting the news Friday that sales tax collections were down 14 percent from this November to last. The state’s economy is always a hot topic in the governor’s race. Ben Philpott is covering the Texas governor’s race for KUT News and the Texas Tribune. He takes a look at how the economy’s playing so far.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
USDA Approved: Jail Construction
Some Texas sheriffs are looking to an unlikely source to get them out of the hole as private prisons win away federal contracts for inmates and put the financial squeeze on county jails.
Posted in
State Government
Advice for Annise Parker
Congratulations, Mayor-Elect. Now you get to govern a great city — Houston — that’s much bigger than the electorate and much more complicated than the campaign. Perhaps you’d like some aspirin? Or a re-count?
Posted in
Public Education
Does Texas Pre-K work?
One education model — with unproven results — serves almost a third of pre-kindergarteners in Texas. Its grade? Incomplete.
Posted inState Government
The Map to the Maps
Think of the long game instead of the short one. This election is the one that picks the people who draw the maps that corral the voters into the political districts that will elect state and federal legislators for the next ten years.
Posted inState Government
Dan Patrick on the Two-thirds Rule
The Republican state senator from Houston explains why the longstanding parliamentary tradition is “arbitrary” — and why his party should better exercise its power.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
TribBlog: What Fredo Learned
Alberto Gonzales — remember him? — in Esquire.
