As U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, goes, so go the Democrats? In a hyper-partisan year, with control of the U.S. House up for grabs, all eyes are on Congressional District 17, the most Republican district in America held by a Democrat. Pundits think Edwards may finally get beat: Were he to survive, a D.C. analyst says, it would be “one of the greatest Houdini acts ever seen in Texas politics.” But the 10-term incumbent has seen awful political environments before. “The Washington Generals have a better record against Harlem Globetrotters than the [National Republican Congressional Committee] does in predicting my defeat,” he says.
Congress
Read the latest Texas Tribune coverage of Congress, from the state’s lawmakers in Washington to key legislation and political debates shaping Texas and the nation.
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Congress
2010: Express-News vs. Canseco, Round 2
Bob Richter, public editor of the San Antonio paper, responds to the GOP House candidate’s charges of biased coverage.
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Politics
The Sting of the Killer Bees
The rules of the Texas Senate are designed to create an orderly process that respects the rights of individual members. They have lasted this long because they do the job well and consider the need for compromise in the legislative operation. Trampling the rights of the minority is never a good idea — and yet it has happened over and over again. An excerpt from the forthcoming How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics.
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Congress
Audio: Dick Armey Interview
An interview with the former Texas congressman and U.S. House Majority Leader.
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Congress
Dick Armey: The TT Interview
The former University of North Texas economics professor, U.S. House majority leader and hired-gun Washington lobbyist, now the head of the conservative activist group Freedom Works and the co-author of the new book Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto, on what the Tea Party is and isn’t, why a GOP majority in Congress isn’t enough, where George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush went wrong, what Rick Perry did right and why Barack Obama won’t be re-elected in 2012.
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Congress
2010: Canseco Snubs Express-News [Updated]
Echoing Gov. Rick Perry’s refusal to interview with editorial boards across the state, Republican congressional candidate Francisco “Quico” Canseco says he won’t meet with his hometown paper.
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Congress
Tom DeLay’s Negative Numbers
During a break in Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and his lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, discuss a poll that shows a significant portion of potential jurors in Travis County already believe he’s guilty. They’re using the numbers to argue for a change of venue in the state’s money laundering case against DeLay.
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State Government
TribBlog: DeLay and Co. Back in Court
At today’s pretrial hearing, Judge Pat Priest said the former U.S. House majority leader, not his associates, will be tried first.
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Health care
Food Fight
Last week, Republicans loudly complained about a just-approved bill that would send $830 million in federal education funds to Texas with strings attached. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, Democrats have their own reason to balk.
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Congress
HuTube: Texas Lawmakers and Terror Babies, Cont.
In today’s must-watch video, the Texas congressman who first brought up the “terror baby” claims on the U.S. House floor isn’t taking too kindly to being challenged about it.