Muddy Waters
Every so often, an experienced reporter from somewhere else will get hired into the Capitol press corps and will proceed to surprise and dominate competitors with stories that should have been obvious to the natives. Full Story
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Another September, More Storm Clouds
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. Full Story
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A Bailout Offer for Texas Democrats
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. Full Story
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No Reply
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. Full Story
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Shipwrecked
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: Full Story
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Craddick Goes Statewide
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. Full Story
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Wind Farm
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?" Full Story
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Is There a Closer in the Bullpen?
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. Full Story
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Just Enough
What do you call the student who finishes last in medical school? A doctor. And what do you call legislation that passes by just one vote? A law, or one step closer to it. Full Story
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Refrigerate After Opening
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. Full Story
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Castaway
Skip the bit where your plane crashes into the ocean in the middle of a rainy night and strands you on the desert island. Ignore the time you're out there living on sushi and coconuts. Think, instead, about coming home. Full Story
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Grandma Hits the Pool First
Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who bills herself as "One tough grandma," is expected to announce her candidacy for governor in Austin this Saturday (June 18). Full Story
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Brother Can You Spare A Dime? A Quarter?
Looking for a newspaper clip on the Internet the other day, we stumbled on what appeared to be the story we sought. It was about Gov. Rick Perry telling a Tyler audience about the prospects for a special session of the Legislature. But instead of what we expected — an account of Perry's efforts to negotiate a deal the House and Senate could swallow — it said Perry had given up trying to solve school finance until legislative leaders had a viable plan. Full Story
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Control-Alt-Delete
On the biggest issue of the legislative session, lawmakers and their leaders went home empty-handed. Full Story
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The Bell Lap
The formula here is just as it was at the beginning of the session: Failure to get results on school finance and property cuts would be horrible news for Rick Perry, less troubling for David Dewhurst and Tom Craddick, and of very little political consequence to the average member of the Texas Legislature. Full Story
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Don't Say 'Boom'
Until this is over, it'll be impossible to say whether legislative leaders sent their tax and education bills to conference committees or to bomb squads. Full Story
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Convergence, or Something Like It
The Texas Senate dropped its state property tax, overhauled its overhaul of business taxes, and approved a school finance bill more in line with what the Texas House approved earlier this year. Big differences remain to be worked out in that package, and also in companion legislation that includes some school finance and some new education law. But the Legislature is closer to a deal on school finance now than it was a day, a week, or a year ago. Upgrade the condition of the patient from impossible to merely improbable. That's an improvement, and previous legislatures have overcome bigger differences. Full Story
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Who's For It?
Officeholders who weren't in the Pink Building in 1997 are finding out now what George W. Bush found out then: Even when everything appears to be lined up just right, it's almost impossible to pass a tax bill. Full Story
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Hoist By Their Own Petard*
Act surprised if you hear much more from the House this session about limiting corporate and union money in elections. An attempt to dynamite that legislation out of a hostile committee backfired badly enough that 50 of the bill's 93 sponsors ducked, either voting against the effort or absenting themselves from the House floor during the vote. On the strength of a 95-36 vote, it remains in committee. Full Story
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High Noon
The legislative session is reaching a point that's as reliable as the lunch horn in a factory: That moment when it appears that everything is definitely-for-sure-absolutely-certainly going to fall to pieces. Or not. Full Story