There has been little change in Democrats’ views about whether Obama should face a nomination challenge since last fall. In November, shortly after the midterm election, 38% of Democrats and Democratic leaners favored a primary challenge to Obama while 59% were opposed.
(TX KERA Bill Zeeble 1 day ago) - 
Agriculture Commissioner Staples says the state's worst single-year drought and hottest July ever, combined with one of the state's worst wildfire seasons in history, has been catastrophic to farmers and ranchers.
Staples: We've had enough acreage burn that it is equivalent to Delaware, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C. and one-third of Connecticut combined. Make no mistake, this drought has driven farming and ranching families out of business. It has decimated some of their livelihoods. With each passing day without rain, it's having a greater toll on Texas farming and ranching communities.
Full Article at KERA
Texas is in its worst-ever one-year drought, according to John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.
Central Texas has been in a drought since 1995-1996, with only brief respites in 2007 and 2010 from catastrophic, flooding rains. The 2011 record breaking heat wave and lack of rainfall is baking Texas desert dry, but 2011 is just a taste of Texas’ future.
In a speech last week, Vice President Al Gore passionately excoriated climate skeptic propaganda of the conservative messaging machine, which is willingly forwarded by the American main stream media as, "bull shit!"
A study published in Nature [and ScienceDaily] says a gradual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) over the last half-century has accelerated the release of methane and nitrous oxide in the soil. These gases are respectively 25 and 300 times more effective at trapping radiation than CO2, the principal greenhouse gas by volume.
"This feedback to our changing atmosphere means that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought," said Kees Jan van Groenigen, a professor at Trinity College Dublin and the paper's lead author.The soil and the ocean are being weakened as buffers against global warming, in a vicious circle with long-term implications for the climate system, say two new investigations.
But a few professional climate skeptics affiliated with conservative think tanks, partially to largely funded by fossil energy corporation executives such as Charles and David Koch, publish pseudo-science articles and papers refuting the work of the many thousands of worldwide climate scientists like Kees Jan van Groenigen.
Even though those professional climate skeptics are lawyers, political strategists, or people from professional disciplines unrelated to climate science, the mainstream media reports on their pseudo-science articles and papers as legitimate science.
This reporting of junk science has caused Americans to doubt the research findings of legitimate climate scientists. (see Conservative Think Tank Trys Climate Skeptic Damage Control)
Appearing at the Aspen Institute’s Forum on Communications and Society, Gore described the story told in Merchants of Doubt, how corporate interests have manipulated scientific institutions and the news media to defend everything from cigarettes and acid rain to global warming pollution.
Texas is the second-largest agricultural state in the United States, accounting for about 7 percent of the total U.S. agricultural income, with an economic impact of about $100 billion on the Texas economy.
Agriculture is the second-largest resource-based industry in Texas employing one out of every seven working Texans and producing about 9 percent of the state's gross product.
But in 2011 the record breaking heat wave and lack of rainfall is baking Texas dry, leaving the nation’s second largest agricultural producer with catastrophically reduced crop and livestock yields.
This will further impact the state's already struggling economy, likely increasing unemployment in the coming months and further reducing revenue the state needs to fund government and public education. The drought is also damaging Texas' infrastructure, which could cost billions of dollars the state does not have to repair.
Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a favorite among tea party Republicans, insisted Monday during an appearance on the conservative Fox News Channel that a refusal to increase government revenues through taxes had "nothing" to do with Standard & Poor's dropping America's credit rating last week. Many other conservatives are making the same claim running from responsibility to for S&P's downgrade and the world wide market turmoil it wrought on Monday.
Those claims are patently false, according to S&P's own press release announcing the ratings drop. A line in S&P's full report, wherein it downgraded the sovereign debt of the US from AAA to AA+, states:
"Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."
First, it's correct that that the GOP is rigidly anti-revenue, and would resist any measure that would raise revenue. Second, S&P notes, the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts cuts are due to expire, meaning no measure is needed to get rid of them. They'll just go away unless congress votes to renew the cuts. They clearly conclude that Republicans will once again roll Democrats into accepting a continuation of the Bush tax cuts - like the did last December.
This chart comes from Barrie McKenna’s great article on US tax rates, and pretty much speaks for itself. While the rest of the developed world has seen its tax rate rise as it got richer, the US stands out as the one country where tax rates have been going down. In the OECD, only Chile and Mexico have lower tax burdens, and neither of them have been decreasing: both have relied very much on state-owned commodity wealth to stand in for tax revenue.
Texas Trib: In an effort to make it easier for military and overseas voters to take part in elections, lawmakers may have killed turnout in primary election runoffs in Texas and increased the electoral power of organized groups like the Tea Party.
Next year’s primary elections will be held nine weeks after the first of the year, which is to say that campaigning will start in earnest immediately after the holidays and Texas voters will head to the ballot box two months later.
Nothing new there — it has been that way for years. The change comes in the runoffs. Federal lawmakers stretched the timelines for elections to allow voters overseas and in the military more time to request ballots, to vote and to mail in their selections. Earlier this year, Texas legislators extended the election calendar to meet federal law.
One change is that candidates have to file for office earlier, by Dec. 12 instead of the first week of the new year. Another is that primary election runoffs, which historically come about five weeks after primary elections, will now fall much later. Instead of returning to the polls in April to finish off the remaining candidates, voters will wait until late May. The 2012 primaries will be held on March 6. The runoffs will be held 11 weeks later, on May 22.
Full Story
Last updated March 29, 2012 - Important 2012 Election Dates and Voter ID Information. Verify all dates at the Texas Secretary of State Website
On March 1, the San Antonio U.S. District Court three-judge panel, which controls the state's interim redistricting maps and 2012 primary election schedule, issued an order that allows the Texas Democratic Party and Republican Party of Texas to hold their respective County/Senatorial District (SD) Conventions in April - before the Texas Primary Election that is now scheduled to occur on May 29.May 29, 2012 - Primary Election
| Federal Court Order of December 16, 2011 (PDF) | |
| Authority conducting elections | Political Party County Chairs |
| First Day to File for Place on Ballot | First Day of “second time period”: March 2, 2012 (Mar. 1, 2012 court order) |
| Last Day to File for Place on Ballot | Last Day of “second time period”: March 9, 2012, 6:00 p.m. (Mar. 1, 2012 court order, offices other than precinct chair) |
| First Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (does not apply to FPCA) | March 30, 2012 (Mar. 1, 2012 court order preserves certain previous filings) |
| Last Day to Register to Vote | April 30, 2012 (Monday, which is next business day after statutory deadline) |
| First Day of Early Voting | May 14, 2012 |
| Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (Received, not Postmarked) | May 22, 2012 |
| Last Day of Early Voting | May 25, 2012 |
| Primary Election Date | May 29, 2012 |
July 31, 2012 - Primary Runoff Election
| Federal Court Order of December 16, 2011 (PDF) | |
| Authority conducting elections | Political Party County Chairs |
| First Day to File for Place on Ballot For Precinct Chair | First Day of “second time period”: March 2, 2012 (Mar. 1, 2012 court order, offices other than precinct chair) |
| Last Day to File for Place on Ballot For Precinct Chair Pursuant to US District Court Order Number: case 5:11-cv-00788-OLG-JES-XR filed March 19, 2012, filing will reopen for Precinct Chairs only to file, amend or withdraw for a place on the 2012 Democratic Primary Run-Off Election Ballot to be held on July 31, 2012 and will close at 6 pm on June 1st, 2012. | Last Day of “second time period” for precinct chairs: June 1, 2012, 6:00 p.m. (Mar. 19, 2012 court order) |
| First Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (does not apply to FPCA) | June 1, 2012 (if did not request runoff ballot on application for primary ballot) |
| Deadline for county chairs to forward to elections administrators a list of candidates in each precinct seeking the office of precinct chair, in order of filing. | June 4, 2012 |
| Last Day to Register to Vote | July 2, 2012 (Monday, which is next business day after statutory deadline) |
| First Day of Early Voting | July 23, 2012 |
| Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (Received, not Postmarked) | July 24, 2012 (Received, not Postmarked) |
| Last Day of Early Voting | July 27, 2012 |
| Primary Runoff Election Date | July 31, 2012 |
May 12, 2012 – Limited Local Election Uniform Election Date
| NEW LAW: Some Jurisdictions Have Revised Their Local Election Schedule To Hold Elections Only On Odd Numbered Years And No Longer Hold A Local Election On Even Numbered Primary Years Because Primary Runoff Elections Were Moved From Early April To The Fourth Tuesday in May. See Election Notes Below. | |
| Authority conducting elections | *Local political subdivisions other than counties |
| (NEW LAW: County-ordered elections may not be held on this date. County Election Officials may but is not required to contract to provide election services to political subdivisions.) | |
| First Day to File for Place on General Election Ballot (for cities and schools ONLY) (filing deadline for other political subdivisions may vary)** | February 4, 2012 (Even though the first day to file falls on a Saturday, this does not require the filing authority to hold weekend office hours to receive candidate applications.) |
| Last Day to File for Place on Ballot, if regular filing deadline** | March 5, 2012 (NEW LAW: 71st day before election day; falls on state holiday March 2, 2012; moves to Monday, next business day) ***March 16, 2012 (see note below relating to four-year terms) |
| Last Day to Order General Election (or Special Election on a Measure)** | March 5, 2012 (NEW LAW: 71st day before election day; falls on state holiday March 2, 2012; moves to Monday, next business day) |
| First Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail | March 13, 2012 |
| Last Day to Register to Vote | April 12, 2012 |
| First Day of Early Voting | April 30, 2012 |
| Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (Received, not Postmarked) | May 4, 2012 (Friday, preceding business day) |
| Last Day of Early Voting | May 8, 2012 |
| Election Date | May 12, 2012 |
County & Precinct Chairs New Term of Office Begins
|
| |
| Authority | *Political Party County Chairs |
| County & Precinct Chair New Term of Office Begins (2012-2014) | In 2012, due to redistricting, the normal process has been altered. Some counties have chosen to elect their precinct chairs at the county convention on April 21. Others will elect their precinct chairs on the ballot at the July 31 runoff election. The term of office for a precinct chair is two years, beginning on the 20th day following the July 31, 2012 Primary runoff election. The County Executive Committee fills vacancies for unexpired terms. |
June 8-9, 2012 - TDP State Convention
| Authority | *State Political Party |
| Texas Democratic Party State Convention (Houston-George R. Brown Convention Center) | June 8-9, 2012 |
| How to be a delegate at the 2012 Texas Democratic Party State Convention - click here Texas Democratic Party Delegate Selection Plan - click here |
September 3-6, 2012 - DNC National Convention
| Authority | *National Political Party |
| DNC National Convention (Charlotte, NC) | September 3-6, 2012 |
November 6, 2012 - Uniform Election Date
| Authority conducting elections | County Clerk/Elections Administrator/ *Local political subdivisions |
| County Party Chairs submit list of presiding election and alternate judges to election authority for appointment (Nov. General Election - early voting and election day) | June 29, 2012 County chair may supplement the list of names until the 20th day before a general election - (Secs. 32.002(a)(1), (c); 127.005(e) - Sec. 87.002(c), (d)) |
| First Day to File for Place on General Election Ballot (for cities and schools ONLY) (filing deadline for other political subdivisions may vary)** | July 21, 2012 (Even though the first day to file falls on a Saturday, this does not require the filing authority to hold weekend office hours to receive candidate applications.) |
| Last Day to Order General Election (or Special Election)** | August 20, 2012 |
| Last Day to File for Place on General Election Ballot (for local political subdivisions ONLY)** | August 20, 2012 |
| First Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (does not apply to FPCA) | September 7, 2012 |
| Last Day to Register to Vote | October 9, 2012 (Tuesday, next business day after Columbus Day) |
| First Day of Early Voting | October 22, 2012 (Monday, next business day) |
| Last Day to Apply for Ballot by Mail (Received, not Postmarked) | October 30, 2012 |
| Last Day of Early Voting | November 2, 2012 |
**Filing deadlines:
** If no candidate for a four-year term has filed an application for a place on the ballot for a city office, the filing deadline for that office is extended to 5 p.m. of the 57th day before the election. See Section 143.008 of the Texas Election Code.
| Information Sources and Forms | |
| Texas Secretary of State (SOS) | sos.state.tx.us/elections |
| SOS Candidate Information | sos.state.tx.us/elections/candidates/index.shtml |
| SOS Form: Petition in Lieu of a Filing Fee and/or Petition for Judicial Office (for use in a primary election) | sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/pol-sub/2-3f.pdf |
| All SOS Election Forms | sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/index.shtml |
| Texas Ethics Commission Campaign-Related Forms and Filing Requirements | ethics.state.tx.us/main/forms.htm |
| Texas Democratic Party Candidates Resources | txdemocrats.org/resources/candidate-resources/ |
| List of key Texas election dates | txredistricting.org/post/18567224737/list-of-key-texas-election-dates |
Election notes on the 2011 Texas Legislative Session
The 2011 Texas Legislative Session revised the Texas Election Calendar, to comply with the federal Move Act, with the passage of SB100. SB100 requires ballots to be mailed or emailed to military and overseas voters no later than the 45th day before the election. To satisfy this requirement all Primary Election candidate filing dates were move back to start in early November and end in early December. Previously the filing period had been during the calendar month of December to the first business day of January. The "45 day" requirement also shifts the Primary Runoff Election date from early April to the Fourth Tuesday in May -- May 22 for the 2012 election cycle. The "45 day" requirement applies to:
The new primary Run off Election date impacts Cities and School Districts, which historically held their elections in May of even numbered years. SB 100 gives cities and school districts the option of moving their non-partisan elections to November of odd or even years, or to May of odd years.
Cities and School districts who chose to continue to hold their elections in May of even numbered years, likely will be forced to find alternate vendors to conduct their election. Many local jurisdictions rely on their County's Election Office to supply voting equipment and staff to run their election. County Election Administrators may no longer able to turn around election equipment quickly enough, if a Primary Runoff Election is scheduled. Cities and school boards are assessing the feasibility of conducting their own elections without contracting with the county election office to supply election equipment and staff verses moving their elections to the November uniform general election date. Counties in Texas already conduct Elections each and every November. Conducting a Joint Election in November could save the taxpayers some money.
| To: | All County, City, School District, and Other Political Subdivision Election Officials |
| From: | Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections |
| Date: | June 24, 2011 |
| RE: | Legislative Implementation of the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act and the Impact on the Texas Election Calendar |
To comply with the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE), the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 100 (SB 100) in the 82nd Regular Session. This Advisory is intended to provide a basic summary and notice of the impact on the 2012 election calendar. SB 100 does not apply to the November 8, 2011 election. Our office will soon provide more detailed information concerning all the new requirements.
As required by MOVE, SB 100 enhances the voting process for military and overseas voters who may encounter obstacles and time delays with the standard vote by mail process. SB 100 requires ballots to be mailed or emailed to military and overseas voters no later than the 45th day before the election. This requirement applies to:
In addition, SB 100 provides that a Federal Postcard Application is effective for a single calendar year instead of the previous effective period of two federal general elections.
The mandate to mail ballots 45 days before an election has a significant impact on the entire election calendar. For example, although primary elections will continue to be the first Tuesday in March, runoff primary elections are moved from the second Tuesday in April to the fourth Tuesday in May.
SB 100 also affects the May uniform election date which now falls between the March primary and the May primary runoff. Early voting for the primary runoff begins two days after the May uniform election date. SB 100 limits the May uniform election date in even-numbered years to only non-county elections. The May uniform election date in odd-numbered years is unaffected.
The deadlines to order elections and the deadlines to file an application for place on the ballot are also adjusted. Below is a summary of the new 2012 election dates and deadlines:
| Deadline to file an application for place on the primary ballot | December 12, 2011 |
| Deadline to conduct primary ballot drawing | December 20, 2011 |
| Deadline to mail ballots to MOVE voters for primary | January 21, 2012 |
| Primary Early Voting Period | February 21-March 2, 2012 |
| Deadline to file an application for place on the May ballot | March 5, 2012 |
| PRIMARY ELECTION DAY | March 6, 2012 |
| Deadline to mail ballots to MOVE voters for runoff | April 7, 2012 |
| May uniform election day early voting period | April 30 – May 8, 2012 |
| MAY UNIFORM ELECTION DAY (Limited) | May 12, 2012 |
| Primary Runoff Early Voting Period | May 14 – 18, 2012 |
| PRIMARY Runoff Election Day | May 22, 2012 |
Cities, schools or other political subdivisions that hold a general election in May of even-numbered years are urged to contact their county election officials soon to determine if county election officials will be able to contract to either conduct the election or lease voting equipment in May of even-numbered years. County election officials are not required to contract to conduct elections in May of even-numbered years. Similarly, counties are not required to lease voting equipment if doing so jeopardizes the equipment’s availability for county elections.
SB 100 does not require a political subdivision to change its general election date but it does allow a political subdivision to change to the November uniform election date or to May of an odd-numbered year. Consistent with legislative intent, the Office of the Secretary of State will likely adopt an administrative rule clarifying that a political subdivision may move its general election date from May of an even-numbered year to May of an odd-numbered year.
In addition, SB 100 contains the following provisions to facilitate a change in election date and/or a change to the term of office:
While more detailed information is forthcoming, we wanted to alert you to the election calendar changes so that you can begin to assess the impact on your election calendar. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Elections Division at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683).
| To: | All County, City, School District, and Other Political Subdivision Election Officials |
| From: | Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections |
| Date: | June 24, 2011 |
| RE: | New photo voter identification requirements – SB 14 |
The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 14, creating a new photo voter identification requirement for voter qualification in all elections in Texas beginning January 1, 2012. This advisory is intended as an overview of the new requirement. Additional information and forms are forthcoming. The new law requires all voters to present one of the following forms of photo identification in order to be eligible to vote:
With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the identification must be current or have expired no more than 60 days before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place.
There are several exemptions to the photo voter identification requirement. Voters with a disability may apply with the county voter registrar for an exemption. Pursuant to Senate Bill 14, the exemption application, which our office will prescribe, must contain written documentation from either the U.S. Social Security Administration evidencing the applicant’s disability, or from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs evidencing a disability rating of at least 50 percent. In addition, the applicant must state that he or she has no valid form of photo identification. Those who obtain a disability exemption will be allowed to vote by presenting a voter registration certificate reflecting the exemption.
Other exemptions include voters who have a consistent religious objection to being photographed and voters who do not have any photo identification as a result of certain natural disasters as declared by the President of the United States or the Texas Governor. These voters may cast a provisional ballot at the polls and must sign an affidavit attesting to those facts in the presence of the county voter registrar within six days of the election date.
Finally, the new law creates a “cure period” for voters who cast a provisional ballot without presenting a valid form of photo identification. These voters have up to six days after the election to present to the county voter registrar appropriate photo identification. Once this and all other requirements are met, then the provisional ballot must be accepted.
The photo voter identification requirement of Senate Bill 14 goes into effect January 1, 2012. Beginning September 1, 2011, election officials are required to begin work to implement the new law by enacting the following:
The Office of the Secretary of State is also required to conduct a statewide effort to educate voters on the new voter identification requirements.
Lastly, Senate Bill 14 creates a new form of photo identification called an election identification certificate, which the Texas Department of Public Safety issues. Effective January 1, 2012, registered voters or those eligible to register who do not have a required form of photo identification may apply for the election identification certificate. There is no fee for the certificate.
Our office will send you additional information in the near future. We hope this overview is helpful and we look forward to partnering with Texas election officials to ensure voters understand the new requirement. If you have any questions, please contact the Elections Division at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683).
Election Advisory No. 2011-11 - 2011 Legislative Summary
History of Court Orders Changing Election Related Dates
( January 28, 2012)
On January 28, 2012, the United States District Court For The Western District Of Texas San Antonio Division issued and order vacating all primary election deadlines noted in its December 16, 2011 order for a April 3, 2012 primary election and April 21, 2012 Democratic county/senate-district convention.
Dates given in this article below for a April 3, 2012 primary election and April 21, 2012 Democratic county/senate-district convention are no longer valid.
The San Antonio court is expected order a new primary election timeline during the first or second week of February 2012.
( December 21, 2011)
On Friday December 9, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) delayed the Texas' Democratic and Republican Primary Election and County Convention schedule by at least one month when it granted Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's request to stay the use of redistricting maps drawn by a three judge panel of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio:
It is ordered that the orders issued by the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on November 23, 2011, in case Nos. 5:11-CV-360, and 5:11-CV-788, and the order of November 26, 2011, in case No. 5:11-CV-360, are hereby stayed pending further order of the Court.
The stay blocks the court-drawn maps for legislative and congressional districts in Texas and tells the lawyers involved to be ready for oral arguments on Monday, January 9, 2012.
Candidates were already filing for office, working against a Thursday, December 15 deadline. Since the SCOTUS stay left no defined districts for which to file, that deadline became meaningless, at least for the congressional and state legislative candidates. The San Antonio court's district maps could be replaced with the original maps drawn during the 2011 Texas legislative session or different maps after the Supreme Court hears oral arguments and issues its ruling. Candidates, whether they filed during the first filing period, or not, will have to their final filing decisions after the Supreme Court issues its ruling after hearing oral arguments on January 9, 2012.
Don't bet that the April 3, 2012 election date and April 21, 2012 Democratic county/senate-district convention date won't change again - and if you do bet, don't give odds.
On December 21, 2011 organizations representing Texas counties told the San Antonio court in a pleading that they have “serious reservations and concerns” about their ability to comply with the April 3rd election schedule negotiated by the Democratic and Republican pa
rties and adopted last Friday by court order.
The organizations said that compliance would be “extremely difficult and expensive” if even physically possible and could “lead to voter confusion and disenfranchisement.”
The court based the April 3rd date on having a map in place by Feb. 1st. But the counties say that wouldn't leave them enough time. The court would give them only two weeks to prepare voter registration certificates that take six to seven weeks to prepare, the groups said.
It's not clear that April 3rd will ultimately work out for the courts, either.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments on a court-drawn map on Jan. 9, and a separate three-judge federal panel in Washington, D.C. will start hearings on the Legislature's versions of the maps on Jan. 17. The panel in San Antonio has Jan. 14 marked as the day to hear from lawyers about the election schedule. If the courts don't finish their work on maps by the end of January, the April 3 date will have to slide again — and all of those questions were in the air before the counties weighed in with their concerns.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio on December 16, 2011 issued an entirely new April 3, 2012 primary election and county/senate-district convention calendar.
Reuters reports: S & P Downgrades U.S. Credit For First Time In History, Repeatedly Cites GOP Intransigence On Taxes. In explaining their decision Standard & Poor’s cites both the decision by Republicans in Congress to turn the debt ceiling into a political football and the Republicans intransigence on tax increases. Some excerpts from the release:
The SocialVibe study (PDF) finds people are more likely to share interesting news articles, videos or online petitions with one-another via Facebook or email than they are to watch the nightly news.
But this has changed thanks to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), its Prison Industries Act, and a little-known federal program known as PIE (the Prison Industries Enhancement Certification Program). While much has been written about prison labor in the past several years, these forces, which have driven its expansion, remain largely unknown.
Somewhat more familiar is ALEC’s instrumental role in the explosion of the US prison population in the past few decades.
Read the entire story @ The Nation
And, read the companion story, "EXPOSED: The Corporations Funding The Right-Wing Front Group ALEC," @ The Nation
The reforms Perry is seeking to implement are favored by one of his top campaign donors and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), an affiliate of the American Legislative Exchange Council.ALEC is a conservative public policy organization that often drafts model legislation for use in state legislatures across the country, and Republicans in several states have used its model legislation directly.
On Saturday, Gov. Perry, who is widely expected to enter the race for the White House, is hosting a religious revival in Houston to pray for what he calls "a nation in crisis."
Late last year, shortly after he won his third term, Gov. Perry began to envision an event that is now called "The Response."
"With the economy in trouble, communities in crisis, people adrift in a sea of moral relativism, we need God's help," said Perry. "And that's why I'm calling on Americans to pray and fast like Jesus did."
Listen to the Story from NPR Morning Edition (4:24) Correction - The audio and a previous Web version of this story incorrectly identified James Dobson as being "of Focus on the Family." Dobson was the founder of that group but is no longer associated with it and is a Family Talk radio broadcaster.An event spokesman, who is a former Perry speechwriter, says the daylong affair will be filled with prayer, inspirational messages, Scripture readings and praise music. The event is being held in the 71,000-seat Reliant Stadium, normally used for rodeos and NFL games, but so far only 8,000 people have reportedly registered for the prayer rally.
Perry invited all his fellow governors. The only one to accept was Sam Brownback of Kansas, but he is now backing away. His office says Brownback is "on vacation," and if he goes, "it's at his discretion and on his dime."
While the governor claims it's nothing more than a Christian prayer rally, the event has touched off a holy war among critics.
"I mean, when you talk about the religious right, this is the fringe of the fringe here," says Dan Quinn, communications director of the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based watchdog group that tracks the far right in Texas.
"This is clearly, when you look at it, religious extremism and naked partisan politics," Quinn says. "I think it's one of the most cynical displays of using faith as a political tool we've seen in a long time."
What we need to be able to do is to demonstrate that that is the better way for the people of this country.
"Get the fiscal house in order, come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that, frankly, are not going to be kept for many. [...] The math doesn’t lie," said Cantor
[In the 2010 midterm election campaign Republicans nationwide ran as protectors of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on false claims that the Democratic legislative agenda threatened those programs.
Republicans charged that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obama Care) passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010 endangered senior citizen's Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
Believing Republicans when they said they would protect seniors from the Democratic legislative agenda threatening the social programs seniors voted in large numbers in the November 2010 election to give Republicans majorities in the U.S. and many state legislatures.
But Cantor’s pronouncement is maybe the most explicit explanation that, under the GOP’s vision, Republicans will renege on their 2010 mid-term election campaign promise to "protect Social Security and Medicare" on false claims that American can not afford those government run social programs.]
Of course, the affordability math would look much better, particularly on Social Security, if the GOP were to back off its insistence that the government not collect a single dime in new revenue.
Jacob Hacker, political science professor at Yale University, has called the GOP’s scheme to raise the Medicare retirement age “the single worst idea for Medicare reform” since it “saves Medicare money only by shifting the cost burden onto older Americans caught between the old eligibility age and the new, as well as onto the employers and states that help fund their benefits.”
On July 15th this blog published an article about the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC's) connection to Texas law making. ALEC is a “corporate front-group” that represents the interests of big-name corporations by drafting legislation for state lawmakers. ALEC, which has the support of conservative heavy-hitters like Koch Industries, Walmart, and ExxonMobil, has written close to 800 model bills as templates for legislators on a wide range of issues.
Today, Think Progress published an article detailing the close correlation of Gov. Perry's legislative initiatives with the legislative bills written by the American Legislative Exchange Council and circulated to affiliated conservative lawmakers in all fifty states.
ThinkProgress analysis of documents recently released by the Center for Media and Democracy show that ten of Perry’s recent initiatives mirror either ALEC model legislation or policy recommendations from ALEC’s state affiliate, the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
HuffPost: It was 105 degrees outside late last week when Vanessa Surita, 24, planted herself on the sidewalk and stretched her legs. Her young daughter sat in a stroller within arms length, outside the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, or ARCH. Her needs were great: housing, a job, a high school diploma.
No state in the union was safe from July's blistering heat wave, according to data from the U.S. National Climatic Data Center.
The horrible July heat wave, lasting weeks in some cities, the entire month in others, affected nearly 200 million people in the United States at some point. Preliminary data show that 2,712 high-temperature records were either tied or broken in July, compared with 1,444 last year, according to the NCDC. At least one weather station in all 50 states set or tied a daily high temperature record at some point during July.
Yesterday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announced Robert Bork will co-chair his presidential campaign’s “Justice Advisory Committee.”President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1987 to replace Justice Lewis Powell. President Reagan, a staunch conservative, had already appointed two justices -- moderate Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 and conservative Antonin Scalia in 1986, the latter at the same time that William Rehnquist, also a conservative, was named to replace the retiring chief justice, Warren Burger.
Right-wing backers of the Pres. Reagan had been disappointed in 1981 when Reagan chose the more moderate O'Connor over Bork, but accepted the fact that O'Connor's nomination was Reagan keeping of a campaign promise to put the first woman on the Court. But, for Powell's replacement ultra-conservatives pressured the Reagan White House to nominate Judge Robert Bork, a known conservative then serving on the District of Columbia Federal Court of Appeals.
Throughout the month of August, The Texas Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change come Sept. 1, the date most bills passed by the Legislature — including the dramatically reduced budget — take effect. Check out the Trib's story calendar here.
The Texas Tribune - DAY 1: Thousands of Texas teachers will not have jobs to return to in the fall:
Just a month before the end of the school year, Bryan McClintock, a special education teacher with the Little Elm Independent School District, was told that his contract would not be renewed in the fall. McClintock had anticipated he might be laid off because he has only taught for two years. He saw the writing on the wall during the special legislative session, when lawmakers passed a school finance plan that cut $4 billion from districts statewide.
Though legislators encouraged administrators to keep as much money as possible in classrooms, the majority of public education dollars are spent on personnel — meaning job cuts can't be avoided. During the legislative session, The Associated Press reported that up to 100,000 of the state's 330,000 teachers might lose their positions. Officials at the Texas State Teachers Association estimate that about 12,000 teachers have lost their jobs so far, and they warn more teachers could be laid off in the second year of budget cuts. The Austin Independent School District has already given pink slips to nearly 500 employees.
Read the full article @ The Texas Tribune .
A new Gallup poll finds, overall, that only 34 percent of Americans express a great deal of confidence in the nation's public schools, continuing a record low that began in 2005. In the 1970s and 80s, that number never dipped below 40 percent. Forty-three percent of Democrats said they were confident in the school system, compared with 19 percent of Independents and 33 percent of Republicans. People tended to rate their local schools better than the overall system. See the poll's full results here.
Why have the American people lost confidence in our public school system? Because so much of what the read about public schools is negative.
The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and all surrounding counties through Thursday.
The sweltering month of July has come to an end, but not before over 2,000 records were broken by high temperatures. The Huffington Post reports that some cities hadn't seen this kind of heat in 140 years.
Texas has experienced one of the worst droughts on record, the elderly and athletes alike continue to suffer from heat stroke, and large amounts of warmth and moisture were trapped under a "heat dome" that brought high temperatures and thick air to much of the U.S.
A huge and intense high aloft has plagued north Texas with triple digit heat for more than a month. Monday will be the 31st day in a row of 100+ heat at DFW. It's the second longest 100-or-better streak on record bettered only by 1980's 42 days. Dallas-Fort Worth temperatures are expected to hit 107 or 108 for the next three days, triggering an excessive heat warning that lasts at least through Thursday.
With just two days left before the United States would run short of cash, Obama and his Republican foes said after round-the-clock negotiations that they had reached a framework for more than $2.4 trillion in spending cuts.
"I want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default, a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy," Obama said.
"This process has been messy; it's taken far too long," Obama told a hastily convened evening press conference. "Nevertheless, ultimately, the leaders of both parties have found their way toward compromise."
But, the package still needs approval from Congress, which could vote as early as Monday. Leaders of the Democratic-held Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives were working to rally polarized lawmakers.
The plan faces opposition both from the conservative "Tea Party" movement, which favors sweeping spending cuts, and liberal Democrats who want taxes on the wealthy before any thought of cutting social welfare programs.
As described by Obama and congressional leaders, the deal would raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by at least $2.1 trillion. It would also make more than $2.4 trillion in spending cuts in two steps, including through a special new committee required to submit proposals by November 23.
