Rumors of Mice

Suppose you are a Republican and you're on the ballot and the party's presidential candidate wasn't your first choice and the guy on the Democratic side of the presidential ticket has exhibited a knack for turning out voters and getting people on the Internet to send money.

You're nervous as an elephant with a mouse in the room.

Most of the Republicans at the state convention in Houston talked some about presidential politics and a lot about gubernatorial politics. The speakers talked about the presidential race, but their audiences were watching like the judges in round one of American Idol, measuring everyone for 2010 running shoes.

The scorecard?

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison seemed to get stouter applause than Gov. Rick Perry, and she did it in part with a swipe at the Trans Texas Corridor, Perry's signature program.

Perry signed his Boy Scout book for long lines of people at a mega booth at the convention, and gave a speech that included breaks for musical cues and ended with a small marching band on stage. (That was the second-best stage gimmick, behind an opening day National Anthem with a filmed backdrop that amounted to an indoor Air Force flyover, complete with the noise, right about the time the singer got to the Rockets' Red Glare.)

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn gave a perfectly acceptable speech, for this crowd, after an introductory video that missed its comic target by a furlong.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst brought out the boo-birds with a line about Real ID and Texas Driver Licenses with fingerprints on them (and got a standing O with a line blasting the aforementioned TTC).

Almost everybody had a line about the Democrats' calls for change being a code for sucking the change out of your pocket. Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples even dropped a handful of change on the dais while he was talking, for effect. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams and Attorney General Greg Abbott were both mentioned in the 2010 talk by delegates.

That left House Speaker Tom Craddick to talk about winning races in Texas this year. The GOP has a 79-71 lead in the House and Craddick called on delegates to win new seats and defend the ones they've got.

He reflected on the 2003 legislative session — the first since Reconstruction with a GOP majority — and on $10 billion in budget cuts made that year. And he boasted about the property tax/business tax swap, without mentioning the business tax: "We're not Washington. We don't have a deficit. We don't overspend. We gave you the largest property tax cut in the history of the United States."

Craddick told the delegates that homeowners insurance got moved to the top of the list of issues before the House when his wife told him their policy had been canceled: "It just takes a little incentive sometimes."

And like other speakers at the convention, he promised another look at voter ID legislation: "It is crazy to me to think you have to show an ID to buy Sudafed, but you don't have to show it to vote in the U.S."

Present (Not Future) Tense

Kay Bailey Hutchison didn't mention 2010 in her speech to Republican delegates gathered in Houston, or in shorter talks earlier in the day at smaller functions.

With delegates whispering about the possibility she'll run for governor two years from now, Hutchison kept her talk on 2008.

She served political red meat, talking to the Republicans about guns, war, defeatist Democrats, gas prices, immigration, toll roads and the unpopular — with this crowd, certainly — Trans-Texas Corridor. Not included this time: Her criticism of the new business margins tax that's due for the first time next week.

Most of those are issues you'd hear about in a gubernatorial campaign, and the road issues in particular have more to do with state than with federal policy.

Hutchison praised President George W. Bush in her speech — mentions of Bush have been noticeably scarce compared to years past.

And she went on offense, touting John McCain's experience and military record and saying Barack Obama sounded like he was running for a second term for Jimmy Carter. That morphed into an attack on congressional Democrats for their proposals to end Bush's tax cuts and for "bills that would lead to defeat in Iraq."

She encouraged them to help U.S. Sen. John Cornyn win a second term.

She blamed high gasoline prices for dragging down the economy, the job market, and the stock market and said congressional Republicans have set a goal of energy independence in ten years. They'd get there by allowing drilling in ANWR, in the Outer Continental Shelf and in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah — plans she says have been blocked by Democrats in Congress.

Hutchison, like Perry the day before, stressed the crime and security line on immigration, saying the U.S. needs to stop criminals and drugs from crossing, and needs to welcome immigrants while stopping illegal immigration.

She touted an amicus brief against Washington, D.C.'s gun laws that was signed by her and more than 300 other members of Congress; they seek to end the ban on guns there.

The biggest reaction from the conservative audience came when Hutchison said she's against adding tolls on existing highways and that she "strongly oppose[s] the Trans-Texas Corridor."

She said she continues to support the war in Iraq and said Democrats "often keep calling for surrender."

She closed with a counter to Texas Democrats who have said they hope to extend their advantage in Dallas County and to take Harris County from the Republicans who dominate there. "I'm going to tell you what my goal is. It is to take back Dallas County, to keep Harris County, to make sure that we lead our charge for the United States of America."

Gas Man

Newt Gingrich concentrated on gasoline prices — a major theme at the convention — and asked the delegates to go to his website and sign a petition urging Congress to unfetter domestic oil exploration. He's going for a million signatures through that website, AmericanSolutions.com, using the slogan (he got his audience to repeat it several times) "Drill here, drill now, pay less."

And he brought them to their feet with this one, though it looks milder on paper than it seemed in the hall: "We should release a significant part of Strategic Oil Reserve to lower prices and punish the speculators who have been betting against the United States.... if we can bankrupt the speculators, I'm personally relatively happy."

Notes from the Republican Convention

Ron Paul officially quit the race for president to start up a new thing called the "Campaign for Liberty." He also unveiled a website where followers can sign up and read his letter leaving the presidential race and starting the new gig. The new group's mission? "The mission of the Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a noninterventionist foreign policy, by means of educational and political activity."

• You heard wrong. Joan Huffman says she is running for state Senate in the seat abandoned by Kyle Janek earlier this month. And former state Rep. Brad Wright, who was standing next to Huffman when she told us that, says he will not be a candidate. Huffman says she's hired Jason Johnson of Austin to run her campaign and promised a fat campaign account when she files a finance report in two weeks. She's a former state district judge and before that, an assistant Harris County district attorney.

• Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has appropriated the slogan of the late Bob Bullock, who served as Lite Guv and comptroller. Dewhurst's campaign passed out "God Bless Texas" t-shirts at the convention.

• U.S. Sen. John Cornyn looked to Jimmy Dean for his introduction, but added a caveat at the beginning of his speech to delegates. He said he hoped the delegate thought it was funny, and if not, that they blamed his staff. You can see it on his website.

• Presidential candidate John McCain threw Midland oilman Clayton Williams in the grease, deciding at the last minute not to hold a fundraiser at the home of the former Republican gubernatorial candidate. Why? Because of an 18-year-old line that's the only thing a lot of people remember about Williams' race against Democrat Ann Richards. It was Williams' comparison of bad weather to rape: "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it." Under fire from national Democrats, McCain's campaign decided to cut and run. We did a quick search on the Federal Election Commission and Texas Ethics Commission websites: Williams has given $413,070 to state candidates since 2000, and $110,900 to federal candidates, all without a peep about his 1990 gaffe.

• A Houston appeals court tossed out the lawsuit challenging the way the state's GOP convention is run, and ordered the filers "to pay all costs incurred by reason of this appeal." The court didn't get to the merits of the lawsuit, but agreed with a lower court that said, "the trial court had no jurisdiction to issue the requested injunctive relief."

They can still sue, but they'll have to go to a different court. The misfire unhinges this year's challenge, as far as the convention is concerned: The suit was filed last week and went through three courts on the way to this result. If any changes ultimately come out of any of the legal wrangle, they'll affect the 2010 convention and not the one that's going on right now in Houston.

Gary Polland, the lawyer for the challengers, said the fight isn't over. "My clients want me to pursue this and that is what we're going to do," he said.

• Here's a link to the 2008 Texas GOP platform.

Sitting on Tax

Not that many normal people give a flip about the state's new business tax. It's too hot, and only business owners have to pay. But the people who do care — those taxpayers, officeholders, lobsters, budgeteers, etc. — have the fidgets.

The new tax was due on Monday. For a variety of reasons, the numbers — whether the tax will bring in what was budgeted and predicted — aren't available yet. Early returns, by some indications, are coming in more slowly than expected. Comptroller Susan Combs and her folks are processing returns and depositing checks and saying they won't have numbers until early next week.

It might be nothing, but officeholders bet a property tax cut on the income from the new tax, and they want to make sure it covers their bet. Until next week, they'll have to live with a bit of uncertainty and that's breeding all sorts of rumors. One: That the tax only produced $3 billion to $3.5 billion in the first three days of collection. If the numbers are right, they're lower than expected for a tax that's supposed to bring in $6 billion this year.

We'll leave that until the real numbers are in. In the meantime, some interesting little twists have surfaced:

• Some companies were able to dodge half their first year's tax bill when converting from one business form to another. Partnerships, including the so-called "Delaware Subs" — companies set up as partnerships with out of state papers to avoid the old franchise tax — could get the break by conversion to regular, Texas-owned companies. The return? They get to duck six months of the first year's taxes. Some of the state's biggest companies were organized that way.

• Taxpayers have until November, in some cases, to settle up with the state on their taxes. Some could pay an estimate (calculated according to the new tax law) now, and then pay the balance they owe later in the year. Others could pay what they owed last year under the old tax — often much less than they owe under this new one — and wait until November to pay the balance.

• Companies that are paying the tax for the first time don't have to pay the new tax electronically and can pay instead by mail. As long as it was postmarked on time, they can enjoy the interest earned while that tax payment is in the mail. Get a big enough company with a big enough tax bill and the float is worth real money. And the definition of a new company can be read to include an old company that did pay taxes that's been combined with subsidiaries that didn't.

Return of The Appraisal Creep

The state should get out of the business of appraising property and instead begin double-checking the work of local appraisers.

That was state Rep. John Otto's suggestion after hearing from experts that the convoluted appraisal method in Texas tends to push appraisal values upward. The Dayton Republican is chairman of the Select House Committee on Property Tax Relief and Appraisal Reform, which is trying to pull together recommendations for next year's legislative session.

Otto and other lawmakers who want to change the appraisal system aren't ready to say they'll support outright appraisal or revenue caps. Cities and counties kicked and screamed in past sessions at the idea of lowering the caps, which would further limit their revenue without excusing them from paying for unfunded state mandates like indigent health care and indigent legal defense.

City and county representatives said they're still wary that caps may be on the agenda come January. But they saw a ray of hope in the discussions when House and Senate committees heard testimony on appraisals this week. Lawmakers looked at potential flaws in the appraisal system instead of continuing their battles with leaders back home.

"There was finally discussion about what the real situation is," said Frank Sturzl, executive director of the Texas Municipal League. "In the past, members of the Legislature have blamed local officials."

Here's the problem. The Legislature expanded the franchise tax and cut property taxes two years ago, responding to orders from the Texas Supreme Court to rework the way schools are funded. But many Texans didn't get the relief — or got very little of it — because their appraised property values continued to rise, nullifying the tax reductions. To compound the trouble, some businesses are now paying new or higher taxes than before (the property tax cuts were reflected in January tax bills; the new business margins tax came due for the first time on Monday).

"I think the members of the Legislature are very frustrated that we provided $14 billion for tax relief that has largely been gobbled up by the appraisal tax increase," said Sen. Tommy Williams, a Republican from The Woodlands who chairs the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Property Appraisal and Revenue Caps.

Some lawmakers have pointed fingers at what they call greedy local governments who influence appraisal boards and want the tax dollars that come along with higher appraisals. Appraisers say they're just following rules of their trade, doing the best they can to attach a real market value to a property.

Every year, the comptroller's office collects information about local appraisals and does some appraising of its own to test the locally generated numbers. The law says the local appraisal has to be within 5 percent of whatever the state thinks the property is worth.

Back to Otto's idea. He said the system pressures local appraisers to keep their appraisals close to those from the state, regardless of whether the state is correct. So he suggests the state stop appraising and instead start auditing the locals to be sure they are using acceptable methods. That way, the local districts are held accountable without succumbing to alleged inflationary pressures from the state.

"I'm trying to take away forces that I feel might be causing it to go up that have nothing to do with market value," Otto said.

Otto filed a bill in 2007 that would have increased the allowable margin of error to ten percent from five percent. It passed the House, but never escaped a Senate committee. One possible reason: It came with a huge fiscal note; by 2012, it would have cost the state more than $800 million annually.

Loosening the margin to 10 percent would help keep appraisals in check, said Elna Christopher, director of media relations for the Texas Association of Counties. So would requiring sales price disclosure and doing away with unfunded mandates that require higher taxes, she said.

But the real issue is bigger, Christopher said. The state is in a tug-of-war with local governments over who will pay for schools. The state wants appraisals as high as possible because the more tax collected locally, the less the state must raise for education, she said. Counties and cities are caught in the middle and barraged with plans like appraisal caps, she said.

"We don't want to be a drive-by shooting victim of legislative knee-jerk reaction," Christopher said. "It's not the schools fault that this happens; it's the way the Legislature set up the school-finance system."

Both Williams and Otto said they didn't yet know if they will support caps on appraisals or revenue in 2009, but said they want to hear more public testimony in the coming months.

Williams said he wants a simpler way to figure the taxes. It now takes dozens of steps in a complex formula to figure a city or county's effective tax rate, which is used in turn to measure the change in taxes from one year to the next. That's not what the Legislature intended when it developed the current system in 1979, he said.

"The process has become so convoluted that it's crazy," he said.

— by Elizabeth Pierson Hernandez

Political Notes

Democrat Rick Noriega, trying to close the gap with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the fundraising game, got a line of other pols to raise money for him while he was on National Guard duty. That roster included U.S. Sens. Jim Webb of Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana and a mess of Texans: Ben Barnes, John Sharp, Garry Mauro, and Pete Laney, to name a few. Finance reports are due next month.

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — the national folks — sent out a fundraising pitch asking for help in their top 11 races against Republican incumbents. The Cornyn-Noriega race in Texas isn't on their list, though they mention it among five states "where strong Democratic candidates are mounting serious challenges."

• The LBJ Library in Austin and the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, teamed up to invite John McCain and Barack Obama to a couple of town hall meetings in July. No details yet — just the invitations.

• You'll be seeing more of this as the year goes on: Sandra Phuong VuLe wants Angie Chen Button to agree to public debates in their competition for HD-112. VuLe is the Democrat. Button is the Republican. Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, didn't seek reelection in that district.

• More details about the revival of the House's Office of Bill Analysis we wrote about last week: It'll be a part of the Texas Legislative Council, will have 30 session-only employees and will be part of TLC's research division.

Political People and Their Moves

Texas Republicans reelected Tina Benkiser to a third term as chair of their party. Benkiser fended off a challenge from Paul Perry of Ellis County. Perry was a Ron Paul supporter who said before the convention that he'd support John McCain, the party's presumptive nominee, in November. He said the party had drifted away from the GOP that elected Ronald Reagan and that the people at the top had taken control of an organization he thinks should be more answerable to its members. But the delegates didn't buy it. Unofficially, Benkiser got 68.5 percent of the vote to Perry's 31.5 percent. Like her Democratic counterpart a week before, she held onto her job. Robin Armstrong was reelected vice chairman right after that, by acclimation.

The state GOP delegates elected Bill Crocker and Cathie Adams to the Republican National Committee. Crocker, an Austin lawyer, was reelected; Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, replaces Denise McNamara at the RNC.

President George W. Bush named state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, which runs the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Texas Banking Commissioner Randall James will retire after almost 17 years at that agency — half of them as commissioner.

Quotes of the Week

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, asked about being John McCain's vice presidential nominee by MSNBC: "He has a wonderful group of people from whom to choose and I do not want to be on that list."

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, asked about running for U.S. Senate when Hutchison leaves office: "If this [the GOP convention] were the entire state of Texas, I'd be fine. But it's not. It's a microcosm, and I have a lot of work to do, I have a lot of places to go and people to see."

Gov. Rick Perry, after the Governor's Mansion was torched: "We'll restore this house. We'll renew this property. We'll rebuild this magnificent structure."

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, on the state's new source of revenue, at the Texas GOP convention: "As you know, I have never, ever liked the business margins tax."

House Speaker Tom Craddick, talking at the convention about resistance he encountered when he first became speaker: "Change is funny. Nobody likes change."

Bastrop ISD Trustee Glenn Peterson, quoted in the Austin American-Statesman after the school board voted to keep a student mural that some found offensive, saying there are more important things to do: "What offends me is our dropout rate."

State Board of Education member Bob Craig, quoted by Texas Monthly's Burkablog: "I bring greetings from the State Board of Education, which is kind of like bringing greetings from the IRS. We have a dysfunctional board. We couldn't agree to go to dinner together."

SBOE member David Bradley, to the delegates at the convention: "There are others who think their ancestors were apes. That's okay. But I'm going to vote the right way."

Charlie Cloud, a losing candidate for sheriff, telling the Hood County News that, unlike the sheriff who got knocked out of office in the primaries, he won't be suing the winner to contest the results: "I've got my big boy pants on."


Texas Weekly: Volume 25, Issue 25, 23 June 2008. Ross Ramsey, Editor. Copyright 2008 by Printing Production Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. One-year online subscription: $250. For information about your subscription, call (512) 302-5703 or email biz@texasweekly.com. For news, email ramsey@texasweekly.com, or call (512) 288-6598.

 

The Week in the Rearview Mirror

We'll keep this one short, in case you're reading it on a Blackberry in traffic.

Although 44 percent admitted in the new Texas Lyceum Poll that they use their cell phones while driving, a substantial majority of Texans — 60 percent — would "strongly" or "somewhat" support a ban on cell phone use while driving. More than two in five would "strongly" support that ban. Just 23 percent strongly oppose such a ban, joined by 14 percent who would somewhat oppose such a prohibition.

Texans want relief from traffic congestion, but reject the two most common proposals to pay for it.

Higher gasoline taxes are out of the question. Asked in a new Texas Lyceum Poll how they feel about increasing gas taxes, 72 percent said they oppose the idea — including 60 percent who said they "strongly" oppose it. They made it clear they don't like toll roads, either: 66 percent oppose tolls on new roads, and 69 percent oppose adding tolls on existing roads.

But an overwhelming majority — 84 percent — said traffic congestion is either "very important" or "somewhat important" compared to other issues facing the state.

Some highlights from the poll:

• They're plainly thinking about the costs of driving and about the environment. Most (66 percent) said they would strongly consider buying a hybrid or fuel-efficient automobile. More than half (63 percent) said they would consider carpooling and a majority (53 percent) said they would consider taking public transportation to work or to school.

• Just over half (51 percent) said they would strongly consider not taking a vacation this year; almost as many said they wouldn't consider that option. Some are thinking about living closer to work or school: 37 percent said they'd consider an eventual move to shorten their commute, while 62 percent said they wouldn't.

• Texans are supportive of spending more money to fix and upgrade roads, to build new roads and highways, to build up rail and energy efficient mass transit.

• Most don't drive on toll roads, with 8 percent saying they ride regularly and another 29 percent saying they right occasionally.

• Texans are open to rail development, with 76 percent saying they'd support regional rail systems connecting adjacent cities like Dallas and Fort Worth or San Antonio and Austin.

• Texans drive a lot, and alone: Most — 68 percent — said they drive themselves to work. Another 8 percent ride with someone else; 3 percent walk or ride a bike to work or school; 2 percent use mass transit. Most — 74 percent — said they're in the car for less than an hour. Another 12 percent spent 90 minutes or more commuting every day; almost half of that group spends more than two hours on the commute. And one in twenty said they work at home, avoiding the commute altogether.

• By a wide margin, Texans prefer to have design of new roads and highways in state rather than in local control. Those planners will have to walk carefully, though: 51 percent of our respondents said they oppose the state using its power of eminent domain to secure right of way for new transportation projects.

The Texas Lyceum, which sponsored the poll, is a non-partisan leadership group that started a three-year polling effort last summer, keying some questions to conferences put on by the group (church and state last year, transportation this year) and including some to track changes in public opinion over time.

The group polled 1,000 Texans, by telephone, from June 12-20. The margin of error on the poll is +/- 3.1 percent. They're releasing the poll over three days, and this is the transportation bit. The details are available on the Texas Lyceum's website, as are the results of their 2007 poll.

Disclosure Being Good for the Soul, we'll say here that our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the Lyceum's poll summaries to explain all of those numbers. Now you know.

It's time for the Texas Legislature to think seriously outside its usual box on health insurance, and this year's Sunset review of the Texas Department of Insurance is the perfect opportunity to shift the collective paradigm.

For two decades now, Texas has been the butt of national criticism because of the sorry state of our health coverage. Since at least 1990, Texas has led the nation in the percentage of its citizens who do not have health insurance. That's bad news for uninsured Texans, and it's bad news for insured Texans, too. In 21st century Texas, insurance supports the health care infrastructure we all depend on. When so many Texans are left out of the market, it's not just scary for them — it distorts and destabilizes the entire system.

Legislative efforts to remedy Texas' insurance situation have focused mainly on the state's public programs, Medicaid and CHIP. While there have been sporadic, generally unsuccessful attempts to encourage small employers to cover employees, policymakers and the public have for the most part taken a pass on strengthening the private insurance market. That's ironic, since we claim to want families to support themselves and get what they need in the private sector.

On the regulatory side, Texas has maintained a very relaxed position on key market components like rate setting and exclusions. On the development side, there has been no sustained attempt to engage all the stakeholders (insurers, consumers and providers) in collaborative efforts to bring more Texans into the market.

But Texas can't afford a private health insurance market that serves fewer than half its residents. Consider the following numbers:

• Five and a half million Texans have no health coverage

• 80 percent of them live in households where at least one person is working

• 48 percent of Texans are covered by private health insurance compared to the national average of 54 percent

• If the private health insurance market provided coverage at the national average, over one million more Texans would have health insurance–and without a huge investment of taxpayer dollars

Currently, the private health insurance market in Texas is part of the uninsured problem. Lawmakers should be bringing insurers, consumers and regulators together to make that market a bigger part of the solution.

The Texas Department of Insurance is supposed to maintain a healthy insurance market that meets the needs of consumers and is reasonably profitable for insurers. But TDI has only minimal involvement in the health insurance market, despite the fact that it has a capable and knowledgeable staff with vast expertise and commitment.

Health insurance should be front and center on TDI's agenda—not just advocating for individual consumers on the back end like they do now, but actively working on the front end to ensure that quality products and programs are in place to meet the needs of real Texans. TDI's staff has recommended that lawmakers establish a new center in the agency specifically to encourage market solutions in health insurance, and that seems like a really good first step.

Texas Impact has prepared a new resource to help frame the policy discussion we hope will happen around TDI and private health insurance reform. "A New Diagnosis: Reforming the Private Market to Improve Health Coverage for Texans" analyzes the private health insurance market here and how it under-serves the people of Texas. It examines common policies that other states have used to make private health insurance more accessible and affordable. And it recommends changes to Texas law that would allow more Texans to get the coverage they need.

Among our recommendations are: allow sole proprietors and self-employed people to participate in small-employer group health plans, which are more affordable than individual policies; encourage more pooling arrangements, like health purchasing cooperatives, by giving insurers a discount on the premium tax they pay for coverage provided through the pools; narrow Texas' overly-broad "rate band" pricing system which produces wide disparities in health insurance costs; strengthen TDI's authority to review and approve health insurance rates; and encourage insurers to offer customized, affordable plans to small businesses, but monitor those plans to make sure they don't adversely affect other parts of the market.

Texas' private insurance market is clearly profitable for insurers, but it is failing to serve one out of every four potential customers. That's unacceptable, and it's not necessary — taxpayers permit the market to exist, so we should insist on a market that meets our state's needs.

Bee Moorhead is executive director of Texas Impact, which can be found online at texasimpact.org.


Texas Weekly's Soapbox is a venue for opinions, spins, alternate takes, and other interesting stuff sent in by readers and others. We moderate submissions to keep crazy people out, and anonymous commentary is ineligible. Readers can respond (through the moderator) to things posted here. Got something to submit? We're interested in everything from full-blown opinion pieces to short bits to observations or tidbits that have escaped us and the mass media. One rule: Your name goes on your words. Call or send an email: Ross Ramsey, Editor, Texas Weekly, 512/288-6598, ramsey@texasweekly.com.

We've refreshed our list of hot races on the ballot, adding a couple that weren't apparent (to us, anyhow) right after the primaries. And we'll likely revise this again at the end of the summer, when it's more apparent who can raise money, whose running a serious race, and who's just a gas bubble.

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects individuals' rights to guns, and not just for militia use, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today.In a 5-4 ruling, the court struck down a Washington, D.C., ban on firearms. The justices also said that other restrictions already in the law — who can't have guns, where guns can't be carried, and so on — aren't jeopardized by this ruling. Here's a copy of the opinion.

Our first take on the hot state races in November.

States cannot execute child rapists in cases where the child was not killed and where murder wasn't attempted, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today.Ruling in a Louisiana case that also affects Texas and seven other states that allow the death penalty in child rape cases, the court ruled 5-4 that capital punishment violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who championed that legislation, immediately criticized the court's ruling. "I believe, and the vast majority of Texans agree, that the death penalty is an appropriate form of punishment for repeat child molesters." A spokesman for the attorney general's office called it a "setback for Texas' efforts to punish repeat child rapists." Dewhurst said the Texas law had a fail-safe provision — put there in case the death penalty wasn't legal — that allows prosecutors seek life in prison without parole. The Texas law applies to child rapists with previous convictions on sex charges. And there's a copy of the opinion available on the Supreme Court's website.

This week, bloggers are discussing events at the Texas GOP Convention. They're also talking about the Oval Office contest, Rick Noriega's U.S. Senate bid and poll numbers on state races. And then there are some more posts worth perusing while school's out.

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How 'Bout Them Republicans?

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's "Big John" video made big talk in the blogosphere. Burnt Orange Report rounds up snide remarks from a gaggle of blogs for your amusement, while Panhandle Truth Squad posts a photo of Big John giving an award to disgraced former Tulia lawman Tom Coleman.

BurkaBlog says he's heard some Republicans — including state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston — bashing Perry's new business tax. "Stop," he says, listing six reasons why the tax was the right thing to do. (For the Ds, state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, says he's "received a number of complaints" about the tax.)

Capitol Annex reviews the state GOP platform, finding it against atheists, gays, methamphetamines, the U.S. Census, reparations, the United Nations, etc. etc. And McBlogger didn't make it to the state party's party, but has an opinion on what happened anyway. Here's that racist political button sold at the GOP convention, via Burnt Orange.

Vaqueros & Wonkeros, the El Paso Times's blog, passes on a press release from El Paso's Carlos "Charlie" Garza, who joined the State Republican Executive Committee. Garza is challenging incumbent state Rep. Chente Quintanilla, D-El Paso.

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Prez Corps

Houston Chronicle bloggers discuss the 2008 presidential election on XM Radio, via the D.C. bureau's Texas on the Potomac blog. Potomac's sources say to expect a bevy of small fundraisers in Texas from Barack Obama's campaign.

Brains and Eggs says Obama and Texas Democratic party chair Boyd Richie are substituting the parachute parties for actual efforts to assist downballot Democrats. Thoughts of the U.S. Senate race spurs the lament, "the circle of defeat is almost complete." He predicts victory for Obama but defeat for Texas Democrats. Brains makes up a mock electoral college map, and links to a site enabling you to do it, too.

Half-Empty reflects on the post-buzzer Obama endorsement from superdelegate and U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford, who's facing a stout GOP challenge from former Capitol Hill staffer Pete Olson.

John McCain spurned the San Antonio media and everyone else who couldn't afford to attend his fundraiser in the Alamo City, and ended up getting a "crappy" story about him in the newspaper, speculates Rhetoric & Rhythm.

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The Noriega Express

Burnt Orange posts a campaign video to begin an open thread about Noriega and veterans. Noriega's in the running to receive PAC help from U.S. Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., says Burnt Orange, a deal that might work for him but also gives the Cornynauts a West Coast Liberal to shoot at. You can vote for (or against) Noriega here.

Texas Monthly ran a piece on Noriega's campaign. During a lengthy commentary, Greg's Opinion says, "I think Noriega can do roughly 5-points better than Obama" in Texas. Houtopia adds her own thoughts, and Off the Kuff says his outlook's still rosy.

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Watch this

Burnt Orange posts a survey by new firm TX Poll Watch that shows incumbent state Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, way behind Republican Todd Hunter. Later, Burnt Orange questions the pollster's methodology and says the numbers are "wrong." (Here's an analysis by Texas Blue of possible sampling error.)

Elsewhere on the Internets, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's blog PoliTex cites TX Poll Watch numbers showing incumbent state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, leading Democrat Wendy Davis by nine points. (Another poll has Brimer only up by four.) Garcia's not happy with the pollsters, and Davis is questioning the background of one of the firm's creators, Mark Littlefield, says PoliTex.

Kuff comments, "All I'll say at this point is that TXPollWatch hasn't established a sufficient level of credibility just yet." And Kuff relays polling numbers from Democrat Larry Joe Doherty that say the former Texas Justice star is trailing incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, 43 to 34 percent.

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Summer Reading

Be careful if you go to Houston

, which is hosting two big lawyer conventions this summer, according to Tex Parte Blog.

Information on the Netroots Nation conference in Austin July 17 to 20, by Annex.

Eye on Williamson takes on U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, on oil.

Texas' district attorneys are biting the dust, says Grits for Breakfast, who's now a consultant for the Innocence Project of Texas.

Kuff interviews a couple of Democratic House candidates, first, Ernie Casbeer, who's opposing state Rep. Sid Miller, R-Stephenville, and then there's El Paso's Joe Moody, who faces Republican Dee Margo in November. Meanwhile, Texas Blue sits down with Democrat Donnie Dippel, who's fighting with Republican Tim Kleinschmidt over Robby Cook's old seat.

Texas Observer Blog has statistical evidence indicting the placement of the border fence. Meanwhile, Republican Isaac Castro "has been accused of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence in a complex lawsuit in Stonewall County," says the Observer. Castro is challenging incumbent state Rep. Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton.

This edition of Out There was compiled and written by Patrick Brendel. We cherry-pick the state's political blogs each week, looking for news, info, gossip, and new jokes. The opinions here belong (mostly) to the bloggers, and we're including their links so you can hunt them down if you wish. Our blogroll — the list of Texas blogs we watch — is on our links page, and if you know of a Texas political blog that ought to be on it, just shoot us a note. Please send comments, suggestions, gripes or retorts to Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey.

The state's new business tax has brought in $4.2 billion so far; that's less than the $5.9 billion it's supposed to bring in this year, but state tax collectors are hoping later payments will bring the total for the year closer to their estimates.The new margins tax was due ten days ago and Comptroller Susan Combs says 133,000 payments have been received so far, from about 500,000 taxpayers who've filed returns. That number includes 46,000 extension filers — businesses that paid estimated taxes but haven't finalized their returns or their payment amounts. Those taxpayers have to settle up, variously, on August 15 and November 15. "It is still too early to tell what the final franchise tax revenue number will be for this fiscal year, as the first year of a revised tax can be somewhat unpredictable without a previous roadmap," the comptroller's office said in a press release (a release that didn't quote either the comptroller or any staff member by name). "We expect more revenue to be collected in August and November as extension filers settle up their reports." Right now, the comptroller has deposited about 71 percent of what she predicted the new tax would produce. The old tax generally produced 85 percent of its revenue in two weeks, but that was a different tax and the first year of this new tax was expected to bring the money in more slowly. Money that arrives in November will count toward next fiscal year — not this one. Companies have to pay the new tax on the margins of their choice, either 1) gross receipts minus payroll, 2) gross receipts minus cost of goods sold, or 3) 70% of gross receipts. Retailers and wholesalers are taxed one-half percent on their margins; everybody else pays a full percent. And there are deductions (on a sliding scale) for businesses that have sales of less than $1 million annually. But there are a number of reasons they'd be paying less now than they might owe later, or in years to come. We detailed those previously in this story. The old franchise tax — replaced by this new levy in a special legislative session two years ago — brought in $5.7 billion over two years in the 2006-07 budget cycle. This one is supposed to bring in $11.9 billion — that's the comptroller's official prediction — and lawmakers set aside more than half that amount ($6.1 billion) to cover revenues lost to school property tax reductions, which were also ordered in that special session. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a critic of the tax (but also the guy in charge of the Senate when it passed), said the Legislature's decision to put aside some money looks smart in light of the numbers from Combs. "The preliminary numbers released by the Comptroller's office today further support the decision in 2007 to set aside more than $7 billion to continue the record property tax cuts in case the state's economy slows or the business tax doesn't perform as well as some estimated," he said. And he said it's too early to talk about changes to the tax, since the numbers are still coming in. The new tax is the state's second-largest source of tax revenue (behind the sales tax), accounting for 14.7 percent of tax income in the current budget.

A new Texas Lyceum Poll has the difference between the presidential candidates in single digits, and the race for U.S. Senate in a dead heat.Republican John McCain led Democrat Barack Obama by 5 points in the poll, with 43 percent to Obama's 38 percent.Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr barely registered, getting one percent each. The poll has Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn just two points ahead of Democrat Rick Noriega. That's the closest the two have been in a poll this year (an earlier survey by Rasmussen Reports had a four-point margin). Undecided voters were numerous in both groups: 17 percent haven't made up their minds in the presidential race, and 24 percent didn't name a favorite in the Senate race. Some of this might be due to the proportions of Republicans and Democrats among those surveyed. They were about equal, and the conventional wisdom — based on recent elections — is that Republicans have a seven- or eight-point advantage in Texas Elections. Even if you spot McCain and Cornyn that difference, the numbers here are tighter than in some other recent surveys. "About an equal percentage of Republicans and Democrats qualified as 'likely voters.' This outcome suggests unusually high enthusiasm among Democrats, as Republicans typically have a party identification edge over the Democrats on Election Day," said Daron Shaw, the pollster and a University of Texas prof. "The Democrats need to maintain this greater intensity to be competitive in 2008." "As we've seen throughout the 2008 campaign cycle, political polls are taking snapshots of a rapidly shifting electorate in an unstable economic and political environment," said Jim Henson, Director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, who assisted in the survey.

Residents of the Lone Star State aren't happy about the way things are going, with 70 percent saying the country's on the wrong track and 78 percent saying the country is worse off economically than it was a year ago.

A new Texas Lyceum Poll finds them in a little better humor about their personal economic situations, and more optimistic about their kids' economic chances.

And their concerns have changed. In a Lyceum poll a year ago, Iraq and The War were at the top of their list. Now it's the economy.

The economy is the most important issue facing the country, with 33 percent putting that at the top of the list. Next came gas and oil, 20 percent; Iraq and The War, 14 percent; then leadership, politics and gridlock, 6 percent; security, 4 percent; and immigration, 4 percent.

A year ago, Iraq and The War led, at 39 percent, followed by immigration, 10 percent; the economy and employment, 6 percent; politics, leadership and government, 6 percent; and lack of values and morals, 4 percent.

The economy is the most important issue facing the country, with 33 percent putting that at the top of the list. Next came gas and oil, 20 percent; Iraq and The War, 14 percent; then leadership, politics and gridlock, 6 percent; security, 4 percent; and immigration, 4 percent.

A year ago, Iraq and The War led, at 39 percent, followed by immigration, 10 percent; the economy and employment, 6 percent; politics, leadership and government, 6 percent; and lack of values and morals, 4 percent.

The Texas Lyceum, which sponsored the poll, is a non-partisan leadership group that started a three-year polling effort last summer, keying some questions to conferences put on by the group (church and state last year, transportation this year) and including some to track changes in public opinion over time.

The group polled 1,000 Texans, by telephone, from June 12-20. The margin of error on the poll is +/- 3.1 percent. They're releasing the poll over three days, and this bit covers federal politics. They earlier released a survey on transportation, and plan to release another, on Friday, on state politics. The details are available on the Texas Lyceum's website, as are the results of their 2007 poll.

Disclosure Being Good for the Soul, we'll say here that our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the Lyceum's poll summaries to explain all of those numbers. Now you know.

On the eve of a major fundraising deadline, a new poll says incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Democrat Rick Noriega are tied, statistically, among likely Texas voters.

That's got the Noriega camp beating the drum to attract donations, and the Republican's better-funded campaign pooh-poohing the survey, which they say isn't balanced to match partisan political reality in Texas.

Democrats hope a nationwide mood for "change" will enable Noriega to take down a vulnerable incumbent, although they're ceding the spending contest to Cornyn. Republicans are comfortable relying on superior firepower to achieve victory for Cornyn, who they say has proved himself to be in lockstep with the majority of Texans.

The challenger's task is two-fold: 1) Show voters that reelecting Cornyn isn't a good idea; then, 2) Prove he's a viable alternative, says Democratic strategist Kelly Fero, who worked for Mikal Watts, a San Antonio Democrat who dropped out of the race before the primaries, and for Ron Kirk, who opposed Cornyn in 2002.

Cornyn has already accomplished Step One for Noriega, says Fero. Surveys indicate "unstable terrain" beneath the incumbent's feet, he says (talking before the latest poll was unveiled).

A brand-new poll by the non-profit, non-partisan Texas Lyceum shows Cornyn just two points ahead of Noriega, 38 to 36 percent, well within the margin of error for the poll. A large portion of voters are undecided, 24 percent. (Disclosure: The boss here at Texas Weekly helped formulate the poll questions and wrote the summaries to explain the numbers.)

But Step Two requires money, and Noriega is far behind the incumbent.

In the Cornyn camp, consultant Todd Olsen says his guy's going to have plenty of resources to launch a devastating air campaign. At the rate he's going, Cornyn might eclipse the $9.8 million he raised during his 12-point victory over Kirk.

Last time he reported, in April, Cornyn had $8.7 million in the bank, enough to pay for five or six weeks of television. For now, Olsen says, they're working the ground game: Cornyn and campaign staffers have already knocked on more than 50,000 doors.

The Democrats didn't find much to celebrate in Noriega's last fundraising report, which showed the Houston state representative and Afghanistan veteran with only $329,293 at the end of March (Noriega's 2007 reports weren't so hot, either, as he was unable to capitalize on relaxed fundraising restrictions when facing the fabulously wealthy Watts).

Fero did an analysis for a potential candidate at the beginning of 2007, estimating a Democrat would need to spend $17 million to be competitive with Cornyn. However, because of the national mood, Noriega "can get it done with less money than that," he says. He tossed out the figure of between $10 and $12 million. He says there's a good chance Noriega will get monetary help from the national party if he's "within nine or 10 points" of Cornyn in September.

"He's not going to be the candidate with the most money, but he needs enough money to have a conversation with voters," Fero says.

Texas GOP spokesperson Hans Klingler says it will be "very tough" for an "underfunded" Democrat like Noriega to defeat Cornyn, though he says the presidential election presents "a lot of x-factors."

"The challenge exists for all Republicans in this very different, historical, dynamic setting," Klingler says.

Noriega's spokesperson, Tony Gray, says they're counting on Barack Obama's support in urban areas to help bring out the city folk in November. In the meantime, Noriega is stumping in less-populated and/or traditionally Republican areas like Far West and East Texas. For example, Noriega just concluded a tour through Odessa-Midland, Big Springs and Lubbock. Gray says Noriega will spend the Fourth of July in El Paso with Democratic legislators U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes and state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh.

While out west, Noriega also planned to track down the one person in Loving County who voted for him in the primary, Gray says. (Gene Kelly — not the dancer — won 15 of the 21 votes cast there.)

With limited funds, Noriega has been trying to get coverage from newspapers and broadcasters to attack Cornyn on things like veterans' benefits. "Rick's been pounding him left and right everyday. He's being aggressive in the press," Gray says.

The heightened enthusiasm among Democrats — the bloom of voting in the primaries is the evidence — will make up for the money gap that will exist between the candidates, Gray says.

Throw in rising energy prices and a worsening economy, and "the conditions are right for the perfect storm," says Gray. "Everybody's talking about kitchen table issues. Even the well-heeled are bitching about the price of gas."

Olsen disagrees, saying the current environment is ideal for a forward-looking incumbent like Cornyn.

"You can't go on the assumption that the climate is any less positive for Republicans who vote the way John Cornyn votes on issue after issue," he says.

And he ridiculed a suggestion by Noriega, as reported in Midland media outlets, that the U.S. obtain energy independence by obtaining more oil from Iraq. Gray says the comment was taken out of context, and Noriega was referring to promises made by the George W. Bush administration that money from Iraqi oil would pay for the invasion. (Judge for yourself in this YouTube video.)

Olsen says the campaign will use sophisticated micro-targeting to identify and turn out likely Cornyn voters, no matter where they live. They're using the Washington, D.C., firm Target Point, which worked along with Olsen's firm on Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid.

What it comes down to, says Olsen, is that Noriega is just plain wrong on the issues, and Cornyn is right.

"The most important thing is going to be who can address the rising cost of healthcare, because that is such a growing concern for people who vote," he says.

—by Patrick Brendel

Rick Noriega, who's challenging U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, was winning an online contest to get help from California Sen. Barbara Boxer's PAC for a Change as our deadlines passed. (Interestingly, Noriega is not mentioned on the PAC's list of close Senate contests.) The Cornyn political office sent out emails razzing Noriega for "throwing in with the most extreme liberal Democrats in the Senate." But a couple of days later, Cornyn's government office sent out an email talking up a new bill requiring financial disclosures of mortgages by members of Congress — co-sponsored by Cornyn and Guess Who?

• Texas Republicans say Democratic joshing of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has turned into "ethnic and racist assaults," because the Democrats (and the comedians on The Daily Show) are making fun of the senator for wearing a fringed leather jacket in a promotional video. It's a Tamaulipeca jacket, "designed in the Hispanic tradition" for the Charro Days festival in Brownsville. The state GOP is after the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee for an email from a staffer there who said Cornyn "appears to have raided the wardrobe closet for the Kilgore Rangerettes." Cornyn's speech at the state GOP convention was preceded by a "Big John" video. Judge for yourself (the jacket at issue is at the 2:12 mark).

Chris Turner picked up an endorsement from the TexBlog PAC, and the bloggers running that say the endorsement comes with a $5,000 contribution. Turner, a Democrat, is running against Rep. Bill Zedler, R-Arlington, in HD-96.

Carol Kent, the Democrat challenging Rep. Tony Goolsby, R-Dallas, picked up an endorsement from Annie's List. That same PAC backed Goolsby's previous challenger in a relatively close race two years ago.

Wendy Davis' campaign released a poll showing her four points behind state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, in the SD-10 race. The challenger says that puts her in striking range of the incumbent, and notes that only two in five voters know who Brimer is. Brimer's campaign said it shows he's ahead of the challenger.

• The Texas Department of Agriculture is getting into the retirement racket. They've put up a retirement website inviting snowbirds and others who've entered their leisure years to come to Texas. The agency has given 13 retirement communities a "Go Texan" certification.

The number one issue in Texas is oil and gas prices, followed closely by immigration, according to the Texas Lyceum Poll.

The prices at the pump were the top issue for 21 percent of the Texans in the survey. Immigration was number two, at 20 percent, followed by the economy, 17 percent; education, 12 percent; and leadership, politics and gridlock, 7 percent.

A year ago, in the same poll, the list looked like this: Immigration, 22 percent; education, 21 percent; prices, inflation, gas prices, and cost of living, 7 percent; health care, 4 percent; and crime, drugs, and violence 4 percent. Only 2 percent listed the economy as the top issue in Texas 12 months ago.

Details: The Texas Lyceum surveyed 1,000 Texans by phone during the June 12-20 period. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. The full poll is online at the Lyceum's website.

You already knew this, or suspected it, but U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is the most popular name, as of now, on the list of people who might be running for governor in 2010.

The Texas Lyceum Poll read 1,000 Texans a list of names and asked which one would get their vote if the next governor's election were held now.

The Republicans, in order: Hutchison, 35 percent; Gov. Rick Perry, 22 percent; Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, 4 percent; state Sen. Florence Shapiro and Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, 2 percent each. Undecided: 20 percent. Nobody on this list: 16 percent.

The Democrats, in order: former U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell, 13 percent; Houston Mayor Bill White, 10 percent; former Dallas Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Ron Kirk, 8 percent; former Comptroller and Lite Guv candidate John Sharp, 7 percent; and former comptroller candidate Paul Hobby, 2 percent. Undecided: 42 percent. Nobody on this list: 17 percent.

The pollsters asked about two head-to-head matchups, and the Republicans led both, with Perry beating White in a fantasy race by 32 percent to 29 percent, and Hutchison beating White in the same sort of contest 34 percent to 25 percent. Two in five voters were undecided about either contest.

The numbers might be even worse, at this point, for the Democrats. This part of the poll didn't include a partisan screen — the sample was designed to match the actual population, which is different from the voting population. The party split in that big group is 32 percent Republican and 44 percent Democrat, and it's probably safe to assume that Republicans would do even better in a poll that had a fairer party mix.

Details: The Texas Lyceum surveyed 1,000 Texans by phone during the June 12-20 period. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. The full poll is online at the Lyceum's website. And we'll repeat the disclosure on this made elsewhere: Our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the Lyceum's poll summaries to explain all of those numbers that resulted. Now you know.

Are Texans changing their political labels without changing their philosophies?

Check these numbers. In a Texas Lyceum Poll done earlier this month, 23 percent identified themselves as Republicans, 36 percent as Democrats (we're not including leaners, who'd have made those numbers 32 and 44, respectively). That's from a pool of voters chosen to match the general population of the state and not just the voting population.

In the same poll a year ago, 28 percent called themselves Republicans and 27 percent identified themselves as Democrats, about an even split.

But they haven't changed ideological labels.

This year: 42 percent conservative, 34 percent moderate, 19 percent liberal.

Last year: 41 percent conservative, 32 percent moderate, 19 percent liberal.

The group also did some political polling — that's the part where they said McCain is five points up on Obama and Cornyn is two points up on Noriega. That part of the poll is filtered to include only likely voters, and the Democrat-Republican split there is 50-50.

Details: The Texas Lyceum surveyed 1,000 Texans by phone during the June 12-20 period. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent. The full poll is online at the Lyceum's website. And we'll repeat the disclosure on this made elsewhere: Our editor helped kick around the questions that were asked in the poll and wrote the Lyceum's poll summaries to explain all of those numbers that resulted. Now you know.

Political People and their Moves

State Rep. George "Buddy" West, who has been battling kidney failure for some time, died this morning at Hospice House in Odessa. He was 71.The Republican lawmaker was elected to the Texas House in 1992. He told his colleagues a year ago that he probably wouldn't come back for another session, then changed his mind and ran for reelection. But he had attracted three opponents in the GOP primary, and one — Tryon Lewis — defeated him. The governor ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff. Services will be in Odessa, on Saturday, and he'll be buried on Sunday at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

Ted Delisi has officially split with Hillco Partners and is operating as Delisi Communications. Among other things, that gets him out of a firm that lobbies the Texas Department of Transportation, where his spousal unit, Deirdre Delisi, chairs the board. Also: Heather Vasek, who had been with the Texas Association for Home Care, left to join Delisi's firm. They'll do some politics, some PR and some lobbying.

Mary Miksa is retiring from the Texas Association of Business at the end of the year; she's been at TAB for 18 years and said in an email to friends that she's lived through more than 900 Monday morning staff meetings.

After nearly 20 years in the Texas House (with Reps. Jerry Yost, Gary Walker, and Mike Krusee), Laurie McAnally is moving to the Texas Department of Transportation. She'll be working for Bill Meadows, the Fort Worth insurance executive recently appointed to the Transportation Commission.

R.A. "Jake" Dyer of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is the latest victim of shrinkage in the news business in Texas and elsewhere in the U.S. Dyer is one of 150 people being laid off by that paper and the only one in what will now be a two-reporter Austin Bureau.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed:

George Deshotels of Matagorda and Robert Jones of Corpus Christi to the Texas Coastal Coordination Council. Deshotels is a Matagorda County Commissioner; Jones is pastor of the Messianic Fellowship Church and host of a morning radio show.

Alfred Chavira of Jacksonville, Julie Dowell of Bullard, Thomas Gann of Lufkin, and David King of Nacogdoches to the Angelina and Neches River Authority Board. Chavira is a contractor, Dowell is a retired police officer, and the two of them are being reappointed. Gann is president of Gann Medford Real Estate and King is director of human resources for Foretravel.

Nancy Porter of Sugar Land, John Steinmetz of Lubbock, and Mary Ward of Granbury to the Brazos River Authority Board. Porter is director of communications for Fort Bend ISD. Steinmetz is market president of Security Bank. And Ward is regional president of Southwest Securities FSB.

Jerry Daniel, a Truscott rancher and real estate investor; Clay County Commissioner Wilson Scaling II of Henrietta; Clyde Siebman of Pottsboro, an attorney; and veterinarian, farmer and rancher Cliff Skiles Jr. of Hereford to the Red River Authority Board. Skiles is being reappointed; everyone else is new.

• Dr. Kirk Aquilla Calhoun of Tyler to the State Health Services Council. He's the president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.

Sued: Former congressional candidate Gene Christensen, who lost to U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall in the GOP primary earlier this year. In the lawsuit, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott accuses Christensen of using money from his nonprofit charity to fund his political race and the Green Light racing team, a NASCAR outfit. They'll go to court next month.

Quotes of the Week

Polunsky, Rowe, Hildebrand, and Pelosi

Texas Public Safety Commissioner Allan Polunsky, on the fire that destroyed the Governor's Mansion: "This is likely not the finest hour for the department."

Frederick "Shad" Rowe, quoted in the Austin American-Statesman after Gov. Rick Perry had him removed from the Texas Pension Review Board: "I presumed I had built up enough credibility that I could 'tell it like it is' without worrying about politics. I believe underfunded public pensions and other expensive promises represent a fiscal time bomb. Those at risk — pensioners and taxpayers — deserve nothing less than total candor."

Steve Hildebrand, deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama, in Politico: "Texas is a great example where we might not be able to win the state, but we want to pay a lot of attention to it. It's one of the most important redistricting opportunities in the country."

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, asked by Newsweek who ought to be on Obama's list for potential vice presidents: "Chet Edwards [D-Waco] is a person that many of us think would be a good person to have in the mix. We want the House in the mix, as well."