John McCain's wobbily responses to questions about his solicitation of Rev. John (anti-Catholic, etc.) Hagee's endorsement will be bad enough for Republicans to defend.
McCain, however, isn't the only Republican who may have to defend getting close in any way to Hagee and his ilk.
In the first frames of the video below, notice who is standing at Hagee's right side. As you'll see below, that person is Sen. John Cornyn, and after seeing the frame in the clip, is it any wonder that he is having so much trouble overcoming the challenge from Democratic opponent Rick Noriega?
Last night Brett Shipp, again, exposed the "cozy relationship" Texas Railroad Commissioners have with the oil and gas industry. I call the commissioners Paid Protectors of Oil and Gas, but I'm a blogger so I can say that where Shipp can't be quite so blunt. Still, Shipp does an admirable job of telling it like it is.
Are Texas Railroad Commissioners too cozy with the oil and gas industry operators they are supposed to be regulating?
Rick Noriega's had an excellent week-including two separate polls showing him within 4 points of Junior John Cornyn.
That's got the national Netroots (at Dkos and elsewhere) very excited.
Rick's campaign blog is kicking into gear as well, and to cap off the week, Rick himself will be liveblogging over at the Great Orange Satan this afternoon. 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 Central.
See my shopping spree below (I got you universal health care, but I couldn't find a bow big enough to fit).
I made a movie, funded schools and teachers, and bought myself a secret island fortress, and still had almost half a billion left to burn to celebrate the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
On Tuesday May 6, Barack Obama won the North Carolina Primary 56% to 42%. The Indiana Primary was so close that no one would call it till almost 1 am eastern time and even after all that time, Hillary went from a 15 point lead in the polls to narrowly squeak by 3& over Obama. She only has a lead of 22,412 votes in Indiana. They are still counting absentee ballots in Indiana and that lead will narrow if not disappear.
UPDATE:CNN Former Sen. George McGovern urged Hillary Clinton Wednesday to drop out
of the Democratic Presidential race.
McGovern, who had endorsed Clinton, told CNN he was switching his support to endorse Barack Obama.
UPDATE: Hillary's lead in Indiana down to 14,413 votes with one county still at 99% of the votes counter
Help out the volunteers and staff for Obama in North Carolina and Indiana. Some of the great folks over at Daily Kos are working to feed all the campaign offices in both states. Please recommend and volunteer to feed an office if you can. We need to get the diary back up on the recommended list. Please pass this message on to anyone you know who is an Obama supporter.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION!
Sending food to campaign offices is an in-kind campaign contribution. Just keep in mind, anyone who contributes to this effort must be a US citizen eligiible to contribute, and the cost of the deliveries counts towards the $2,300 max.
In-Kind Contributions Form [PDF]
EXTRA IMPORTANT: Please fax the form and receipts for yor purchases to the attention of Obama HQ Finance Compliance staffer
Alexa at (312) 819-2088.
(Thousand dollar crappers and freeloading on your tax dollars-that's the Craddick way. - promoted by boadicea)
Embattled Speaker of the Texas House, Tom Craddick recently attacked three opponents for extending state health insurance for employees who only work part time.
It's Monday and time for the Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Blog Round-Up
CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme notes Republican-run government
favors crony money over Texans' health. Asarco, a proven polluter, is given a permit to start
polluting again and Abbott says lead poisoning landlords have a right to privacy.
I could find no analysis of this claim, outside of Craddick's proclamation, but let me be the first to deflate the claim that this demonstrates "good management" on the part of Czar Craddick or of the Texas Republican majority in the legislature. Sour grapes you say? No, I sadly know where the bodies are buried, so it is cynicism based on past performance.
Texas has so far escaped the worst of the economic national down turn , so the claim of surplus probably has some merit. Even a blind pig finds an acorn eventually. So, they can claim no credit for this part of their "surplus".
On April 24th & 25th, I attended the Texas Solar Forum at the capital. It would probably have been better to send someone with a science background to cover it but I did learn quite a few interesting facts about solar power.
A survey was done 25 years ago asking people where they thought they would be getting their energy in the 21st century. 48% of the people surveyed said they would be using solar power. Sad to say in Texas only .01% of power is supplied by solar power at this time.
It's not a surprise that of the top 10 challengers this cycle, 9 are Dems.
What is a little bit of a surprise, though a very pleasant one, is the fact that Michael Skelly in TX-07 makes the cut, per CQ Politics:
8. Michael Skelly, Democrat, Texas' 7th ($667,000)
Skelly, a wind energy executive, is challenging four-term Republican Rep. John Culberson in a district that takes in western Houston and some suburbs. He raised the vast majority of his funds from individual donors, with limited assistance from political action committees (PACs) or from his own deep pockets. Even after changes made in redistricting in 2003, the 7th still has a pronounced Republican lean: Bush carried it by 64 percent to 35 percent in the 2004 election. But Skelly's eye-opening early fundraising make Texas' 7th a district to watch for signs of increased competitiveness.
Sweet news indeed.
If you'd like to beat up on Cubby with your wallet, throw a little change in for Skelly right here.
I wrote last week about Safe Schools: National Day of Silence April 25th I would like to share a little more about the day and the rally I attended at the Texas State Capital to break the silence.
Young people across America went to school and did not speak on National Day of Silence to bring attention to the silence that is heard from teachers, parents, school administrations, elected officials, and students about the ongoing problem of bullying in our schools.
It's Wednesday, and once again time for another Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round-Up.
North Texas Liberal analyzed the arguments from Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound, and Newt Gingrich in favor of the flat tax. See our conclusions here.
The Commissioner of the General Land Office of Texas is a monumental ass. PDiddie of Brains and Eggs has the dirty details in "Discussted".
Thus, the profit margin you were so quick to criticize ends up being far less in the long run than the bloatedness that often is our government.
Several commenters had their say and made some good points. I occurs to me that I have never laid out my case against using the free market as a check on government. Simply stated the "free market can't be a check on government because not everything can be measured in dollars and cents, nor do we have the "free market" the writer seems to believe. Finally, as long as elections are financed by the corporations and individuals with the big bucks the smart marketeer will do what we expect marketeers to do: rig the game in his favor.
