State Government

A Travis County grand jury indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and two aides — John Colyandro and Jim Ellis — on charges of conspiring to illegally exchange $190,000 in corporate political contributions for that amount of non-corporate money.

Former state Comptroller John Sharp, who’d been informally exploring a run for governor, won’t run next year. Instead, he’ll head a blue ribbon committee for Gov. Rick Perry, looking for a better tax system for the state. 

A Travis County grand jury indicted the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC and the Texas Association of Business on charges relating to the use of corporate money in the 2002 legislative election. The five indictments include 130 counts alleging third-degree felony violations of campaign finance laws. Fines reach up to $20,000 per count, a potential total of $2.6 million.

A group that includes Dallas lawyer Fred Baron — the chief fundraiser for the John Kerry-John Edwards ticket last year — and Marc Stanley — the incoming president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association — wants to reboot the Texas Democratic Party, infusing money and people to try to get that moribund organization running again. 

Rick Perry won his first attempt at statewide office in 1990, in part because Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower didn’t answer commercials being run by the Republican upstart. 

If you’ve been watching closely as the Legislature ran aground, you’ve been spun enough. We’ll make our autopsy report brief. The highlights:

House Speaker Tom Craddick is running radio ads in “selected markets across the state” — Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are on the list — defending the House’s actions on school finance, attacking the Senate, and suggesting the Texas Supreme Court will have the final say on what lawmakers should do.  

The 1962 New York Mets ended their season —  their first — with 40 wins and 120 losses. They were at the bottom of the National League, 60.5 games out of first place. They were historically inept, inspiring Jimmy Breslin to write a book titled with a quote from the manager, Casey Stengel: “Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?” 

Having a governor directly involved has made some difference in school finance, but the two halves of the Legislature are still locked up over some of the issues that doomed earlier compromises. They are closer than they were, particularly after the Senate fell on its sword on business taxes, but there’s plenty left to fight over. 

A handy July 4 tip: You shouldn’t leave chocolate cream pies or potato salad or tax bills sitting out. They have notoriously short shelf lives and what’s good at first sours quickly in open air.