Houston Janitors were present at a conference call today organized by the SEIU to lead a rally/press conference announcing a huge and successful union drive in Houston. Julius Getman, a noted labor law professor at University of Texas, has called the janitors' effort "the largest unionization campaign in the South in years."

We listened in on the conference call and the thing that impressed us the most was to see workers enthusiastic and hopeful. Something we haven't seen from any workforce in a long time.

So very Norma Rae! Union! How unexpected. Read the release after the jump.

Attorney General forbids marriage between Kerr County Tax Assessor-Collector Paula Rector and one of the district's tax appraisers. It's finally happened...the sanctity of marriage has finally been destroyed by the State of Texas. [AAS]

We spoke to Barbara Radnofsky, candidate for U.S. Senate, today. Her campaign has sent out a press release announcing their momentum in meeting their fundraising goals. When we spoke to her today she was enthusiastic about the support she's seen from all across Texas as she meets with county chairmen and the electorate-at-large. Radnofsky hears a growing discontentment with the current incumbent and her consistent disregard for her veteran constituents. Remarkably, the incumbent claims to be a champion of veterans but consistently votes against support and programs to improve existing programs.

Barbara Radnofsky is "inspired and encouraged" by the people of Texas that are ready for "good, balanced change" in Texas.

We look forward to hearing more about the campaign and seeing a real challenger in this race.

(Notice how we play the ol' Austin American-Statesman trick of not naming the other candidate? We're so good.)

There's a hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Education and the Committee on General Investigating & Ethics that's trying to go after school administators that worked on behalf of their school communities during the sessions. Seems someone thinks it's unethical. I'd just like to point out that Todd Baxter is now officially registered as a lobbyist and will be making between $10,000-$25,000 for the last six weeks of the year. Pretty swank gig, you face a tough reelection so you flip your vote for the cable industry and bankroll once it's all said & done. Why are you going after school people and not that crooked dipshit? Maybe do a law that former legislators can't go straight into lobbying. I hear Andy Brown is saying something about that revolving door, maybe Bentzin will also cry bullshit at Baxter. I can dream, can't I?

A Federal Judge dismissed some charges against John Colyandro. The lawsuit filed by two losing candidates alleging that Colyandro and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America violated the Texas Election Code by using corporate funds to influence contests for Texas attorney general and an East Texas legislative race.

Pre-cursor to the remaining charges against the TRMPAC folk?

We had heard about Bill O'Reilly's "hate list", and part of it is finally up [Thanks ThinkProgress!]. The main targets on his list (those that "are the worst offenders"): MSNBC (quel shock!), The St. Petersburg Times, and the New York Daily News.

Umm, okay. MSNBC - rival network to FOX. Keith Olbermann, the only cable anchor I ever watch, pokes fun at O'Reilly on a regular basis (as it should be!). As for the NYDN and the St. Petersburg Times . . . the only thing I read from the NYDN is their gossip. We're surprised that the Smoking Gun isn't on there. Well, there's still time.

Someone sent me this link and I thought I'd pass it along. It's the story of an active alumni of Baylor that worked to create endowed scholarships, served on advisory boards and donated time and money to advance the school. Then, he was kicked to the curb, in spite of all his work for the university, because he is gay. Read his story. Glen Maxey, can you give Baylor a call for us?

We love us some Freudian slips. For example, when Orrin Hatch refers to Iraq as Vietnam.

"The Democratic Party seems to be taken over by the Michael Moore contingent in their attitude toward Vietnam, and they continually call for a withdrawal of troops at a time when we haven't finished the job," Hatch said on the network's morning show. Hatch's spokesman acknowledged the error, which was first reported on the American Prospect Web log.

See Tom clapping there in the background? He's having a gay ol' time! Congressman DeLay is assuring his supporters that the money they give him to fight this battle will result in the a victory of justice and all that is good...meaning he's going to jail and would really like their money to hire a few hookers before he gets sent to the big house.

Give freely. A politician without money for hookers is like a clown without a smile.

The Texas Bloggers that participated are reviewing all of your nominations for Texan of the Year: Blogger Style and we'll all post the first Texan of the Year this week. Your nominations were widely varied, some thoughtful and some retarded....just like our readers. We love you guys.

Representative Pete Gallego has sent a letter to Bill Ceverha requesting that he immediately resign his position on the Board of the Employees Retirement System. Representative Gallego makes his request after it was discovered that Mr. Ceverha has declared bankruptcy and was treasurer for a group now under indictment. You may have heard of it, TRMPAC.

The body of the letter is after the jump. It is so brutal!

What will do? Where will we turn? We've relied on Representative Denny every time we've been desperate for a punch line and now she'll be no more. We're crushed. Let's take a look back at some of our favorite Mary Denny moments...

A source tells The Associated Press that Congressman Randy Cunningham will plead guilty to tax violations. The California Republican has been under investigation regarding a real estate transaction in his home state. We've read about this story before. It sounds almost as unbelievably stupid as taking corporate money for statewide campaigns and funneling it through a national party..D'OH!

An Austin blogger was interviewed for a UT Journalism class about blogging and blogging in Austin. Here's a couple of clips that made me laugh:

I think that the Austin blogosphere has magnified the inadequacy of our local newspaper, the Austin American Statesman. With the breadth and depth of coverage provided by Austin Blogs, it’s glaring how much the Statesman misses, under reports, reports incorrectly, or reports with so much Left-leaning bias as to be laughable.

I think another aspect of uniqueness regarding the Austin blogosphere is the relative levels of civility between Bloggers on the Left and Right. You see much more intelligent and civil debate and disagreement between Austin blogs than you do in other cities. Austin bloggers, for the most part, conduct themselves as if they might actually run into each other at the local coffee shop or diner. And that’s probably because there’s a good chance that they will.

Bruce Todd, former mayor of our fair city, was seriously hurt in a fall from his bicycle yesterday. He is in critical condition; the E. R. doctor says that his bike helmet saved his life. Our thoughts are with him and his family.

AAS: Former mayor Todd remains in critical condition after cycling accident

According to CNN: BREAKING NEWS---AP: Part of marble facade on front of U.S. Supreme Court building collapses; no injuries reported.

Create your own headline using the collapse of the marble facade as a metaphor for (here are your choices): a.) the judiciary; b.) the war on terror, or; C.) the secularization of America

Go!

Dick Cheney is not only the administration's attack dog, behind-the-scenes puppetmaster and overall evil empire maker he's apparently a hypnotist as well. Finally after we heard grumblings in Congress last week, Cheney came out swinging with an insistence that any criticism of the administration hurts our troops and hurts the war. Apparently, some people agree with him.

Cheney: The new Medusa

Ok, the trytophan hangover has to be gone by now. We decided to see what was in the country's newspapers to see what we've been missing out on or if there was anything other than news about Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey breaking up. First of all, there is always some news out there and if that is the only news you've heard over the holiday you really have to put down the tabloids!

For the next election cycle we'll have the Republicans, the Democrats and the School Finance Party. The looming March primaries mean that nearly 20 current or former educators or school board members are running for seats in the Lege. What a pickle! A June deadline, March primaries and in some districts fierce competition for the seat. We know we sure as hell wouldn't want to be in the position of screwing up school funding in the middle of an election cycle!

We'll be back on Friday, or hell...we may even drunk post on Thursday. If you're lucky you'll get to hear political discussions from a WASPy family holiday where instead of any real conversations we talk about the weather and the garden and drink lots of champagne. Ah...the holiday season is finally upon us.

Everybody be safe, give thanks and all that shit, yo.

News moves fast these days. It seems like ages ago that we watched in disbelief as one of America's most treasured cities drowned before our eyes. We listened to a panic stricken poor population abandonded by our own government cry for help. We opened our hearts and our homes to people left homeless. Then we got mad. We got mad out of shame. We were supposed to believe our government could take care of us when we couldn't take care of ourselves. The shock and scale that showed even our government was overwhelmed even frightened us a little.

So here we are. We've moved on. We're getting ready for the holidays. We're focused on so much news about a failed presidency and a growing national discontent with the war in Iraq that we don't think about New Orleans or Biloxi or the dozens of other towns that have been wiped off the map. There is an editorial in the New Orleans Times-Picayune that says they feel like they are being treated as if they wore their skirt too short and invited trouble. As reasonable people, we know that rarely, if ever, do we really invite trouble.

Without a doubt, New Orleans and Louisiana are rife with corruption and incompetency. At the same time, we also know that it is an entire region of the poor, the barely employed and a culture that is so rich with heritage many have never ventured further than a few miles from where they were born. Now, those people are spread across the country. The Statesman mentioned briefly the culture shock of moving from a vibrant urban life to exile in the suburbs of Austin. (A fate I wouldn't wish on any of you) While we don't know if people will ever be able to return to their homes, we know as a nation we must try our best to help rebuild their lives. This is not a partisan issue, but it will be a political issue. After all, someone will have to speak up and tell us we're going to have to pay for this. It isn't fair, but it is what is right. Morally, we have an obligation to help our fellow citizens in times of great distress. Through charity, through compassion, through faith and yes...through the government.

As we approach a season of giving thanks, I'm thinking a lot about the people of the Gulf. A place we know well. Our backyard, our playground and for some of us, our home. Let's work together to make sure our government doesn't ignore their promises to rebuild. Let's let our leaders know we expect nothing less. There's a saying in Texas, "Cowboy up," and it's what we expect. After all, but for the Grace of God go I. We hope that each of us will remember to remind our elected officials that we want the Gulf back and we want them to make it happen. In the chaos of the season, put your Congressmen on your Christmas Card lists and put the people of the Gulf scattered across the country in your thoughts and prayers.

The Dallas Morning News editorial on the recent brouhaha in the House of Representatives has a signficant problem. Representative Murtha's resolution called for (here's the exact language in the resolution)

The deployment of United States forces in Iraq, by direction of Congress, is hereby terminated and the forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest practicable date.[emphasis added]

Why does this piss me off so much? Because it is an important distinction. It was the Republicans that took that language out of the resolution and called for the vote, just to be assholes.

So, yes, DMN...we agree it is important to have an open and honest debate about the war and an exit strategy and a policy to guide us. You, however, are not contributing to that open and honest debate.

We spoke to Senator Van de Putte's office today regarding the Supreme Court decision on School Finance. In a statement today, Senator Van de Putte said, "The Court's decision today gives us at least some guidance on what is
currently constitutional and what is not. That's helpful, but it's just a starting point."

Her office also told us that Senator Van de Putte has confidence in the task force headed up by John Sharp and she looks forward to a one-on-one with him as soon as both their schedules permit to lend her support in a broad and bipartisan solution to school finance in Texas.

Other legislative staffers tell us they don't expect a Special Session to be called prior to the Spring of 2006.

Haven't read it yet, but it's out. Deadline is June 1 to fix this shit.

From the Decision:
"We agree that the constitutional standard is plainly result-oriented. It creates no duty to fund public education at any level other than what is required to achieve a general diffusion of knowledge. While the end-product of public education is related to the resources available for its use, the relationship is neither simple nor direct; public education can and often does improve with greater resources, just as it struggles when resources are withheld, but more money does not guarantee better schools or more educated students." [empahsis added]

So, basically...the current funding system is unconstitutional but...we aren't saying y'all in the Lege need to pump more money in we're just saying the way you're doing it now ain't right?

And we also love that the goal of education is to achieve a 'general diffusion of knowledge'. Wow, I've never been more proud to be a Texan. We strive for....well, just under the bar.

We've been getting your emails and nominations for Texan of the Year and as we get ready to close nominations from the readers, the Texas Bloggers will begin creating their posts for the announcement on December 1. If you have not already emailed us through your favorite blog, do it now! What Texan has made an impact on Texas politics the most this year, for better or worse. The field is ripe for the pickin'!

Along the way, we've found some great blogs that weren't on our link list. So we'll be adding those shortly. In the meantime, here are the blogs participating. (If your blog is participating and I've left you off, please email me to include your link in this post. I don't have a Texas Blogger email list so it's all from my poor pickled brain's memory!)

Our state attorney general has filed suit against Sony for the hidden spyware they included on several recent CDs. For instance, if you bought the most recent Ricky Martin or Celine Dion CDs, you got it (Please tell us you have neither of these CDs...).

BoingBoing has more info on Sony's tricky software.

Well with the Supreme Court and the Executive Branch taking school matters into their own hands, it was only a matter of time until the House attempted to renew its efforts. So here you have it, a meeting of the Public Education Committee next Wednesday, November 30th. They'll be discussing their interim charges, then after the party comes the afterparty...

Upon conclusion of the Pub Ed meeting, we would like to have a joint meeting with the General Investigating Committee to discuss charge #8 - Research, review and investigate the expenditures of taxpayer money by local government and school boards to lobby the Legislature. Also research, review and investigate attempts by school district officials to skirt competitive bidding requirements with respect to facility renovation and construction contracts, and other relevant contracts, through the use of improper procurement contracts with associations or other school districts. We will begin the Public Education meeting at 9am and begin the joint meeting between 10:30 and 11:00am.

That Barbara Radnofsky got a little media attention from someone other than a blogger. The Statesman has a small piece on her today. Of course, she's characterized as a 'unkown challenger with no hope.' At least here at PD we tell you right up front we're biased. We think everybody's an idiot. That's true fair and balanced if you ask us.

In case you were wondering why all those lobbyists suddenly appeared again today in the Capitol Extension, it was because the Texas Tax Reform Commission met to start taking testimony. Perry opened the panel up, pointing out how each member brings a different perspective and viewpoint to the discussions. I think he meant that while they all come from different areas of the state, they all have deep pockets and they all want to look out for themselves. Then again, folks that we elected that are beholden to us ended up looking out for the business interests, maybe this go 'round folks with business interests will look out for us. Just some wishful thinking.

Moving on from Perry's friends in business that will decide our school taxes, we get to Perry's friends in evangelicalism that will decide our school finance system. At 2:30 today in the House Chamber, Don Willet will officially be sworn in as a Texas Supreme Court Justice. You'll remember him as the unqualified, faith based initiative guy that's really good at sucking up to the right people. That makes 5 of 9 justices that Perry has appointed to the Supreme Court.

As a sideshow for that rightwing circus, Justice Nathan Hecht will be doing a special salute to the lovely Priscilla Owen. I was so happy to get her out of the state, why are they bringing her back?

So that's today in the Capitol. Just as a thought, maybe John Sharp can walk upstairs and ask one of those guys when we'll get a ruling, seems like that might work better than the sister of a staffer's boyfriend, or whatever that was.

[photo: Yahoo! via freakgirl]

We don't go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, mainly because we're not crazy about crowds of dedicated shoppers. Who knew we were taking part in a movement by not shopping? Actually, we probably fit more into a "don't shop day". Invariably we will end up buying something the day after Thanksgiving, be it gas, a movie ticket or food at a restaurant. But we stay out of stores on Black Friday!

Click on the banner for more info, or go here for more on the history of BND.

Bob Woodward. Tonight on Larry King Live. Y'all Bob has a different source! And it's not...and it's not....

What a tool. Two years into this thing and you just now speak out? Does anyone know if this guy has a book about to be published or something? Do I sound cynical? Do I sound like I don't even believe Bob Woodward has anything? Yep. Woodward, instead of being a media whore because your fame because Deep Throat came out, why don't you try writing a story about something.

The entire way he's announced his 'great reveal' is pathetic. It take focus off of what is an important investigation and puts it on him.

Rep. Joe Nixon received a settlement from his insurance company, Farmer's, that seemed extraordinarily high. So much so the Travis County D.A., Ronnie Earle, took a look at the issue. What Travis County let go, a Los Angeles jury did not.

Here's an alleged report from the Houston Chronicle.

Daues responded: "John Hageman, Mark Toohey and Kevin Kelso all called me about this claim and wanted Mr. Nixon to be a friend of Farmers in the legislative session. Each one strongly suggested that an additional payment would be very helpful to the cause."

Hageman was Farmers' Texas chief, Toohey an Austin lobbyist for the company and Kelso, division president.

Actually, Nixon was a friend to all insurance companies. He was a leader in "tort reform" legislation designed to lower jury awards.

That's how we do politics in Texas. You pay me $13,000 and I'll get you Tort Reform.

Holy shit y'all. We had real live political theatre up in the House of Representatives on Friday. MSNBC called it "All Hell Breaks Loose." Click here for the links to the video in the event you did not see it. Obviously, tempers are flaring all over the country on the war in Iraq and the administration's lack of planning. Friday, we saw those tempers flare in the House. When I first saw this clip I thought I was watching the House of Commons on BBC TV where murmurs and boos are often the norm. I've never seen this type of behavior from our Congress.

I have to admit, I liked it. Whatever the stunt, whatever the destruction to an agenda. It's about time the Congress realize people are pissed and tired of being lied to and demand someone stand up and call bullshit.

I'm out for the weekend, but, knowing that politicians love to dump their headlines in the garbage on Friday cuz no one will read on the weekend, I'll leave you with some choice tidbits from DC so you can stick it to the man.

The US House spent hours trying to corral votes for a budget cut bill that would (what else?) take money from programs desperately in need of it. The best part? Speaker Hastert updated his blog with details on the vote. From Denny: "I had all these great prepared remarks for the debate but then I heard the Democratic Leader get up there and completely misrepresent the situation. Let me tell you, it was frustrating." HAHAHAHA. It was frustrating. Oh boy, those Dems totally ruined my day by talking.

Yesterday a group of D's & R's said they could stop the Patriot Act from being renewed today. The Senate wants to go home for Thanksgiving, and it needs to be renewed by New Year's. All they have to do today is stall it. Keep an eye on it, see if it gets out of the Senate today.

Drudge doesn't like pro-choicers Sen. Arlen Specter and Tom Harkin, so he did his smear thing, showing that they tried to name buildings after themselves. They sit on the committee that appropriates funds for stuff like that, and they rolled in language that would have renamed certain buildings. The bill died though, so there will not be a Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center. For a non-Drudge read of it.

Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, when running for president in 1996, suppposedly paid for an endorsement from an Illinois Governor. Testifying in the trial, Gramm refuted the allegations: "It's sort of like the difference between love and prostitution," Gramm said, drawing gasps and laughter from spectators at a hearing with the jury out of the room. "You don't pay people to like you." Oh, Senator Gramm, you goofy guy.

Finally, this is back in Texas. Pat Haggerty, one of those moderate R's that is being targeted by Perry's deep pockets, drew a primary challenger who'll be funded by businessmen allegiant to the Governor. Rep. Paul Moreno's quote on the situation: "These people that remained in the bunch trying to knock off Pat are a bunch of dummies politically," Moreno said. "They have no conception of what the realities in El Paso are." I'd say that most of the assholes funding Perry's campaign that are targeting rebellious R's have no conception of what the realities in Texas are. Also, I'd call them things much worse than dummies.

We wait, we wait, we wait, then we hear rumors, then newspapers report rumors, then...nothing. Supreme Court Opinions/Orders are out for this week, and I don't see any school finance rulings in there. To be fair, I don't really understand most of the stuff in there, but no school finance, at least in this week's orders. I hope whoever that guy was didn't waste his trip to Hawaii or whatever it turned out being that was happening.

Travis County Attorney David Escamilla today announced a deferred prosecution agreement with the Republican Party of Texas over its use of corporate money in the Texas 2002 elections.

Texas reform groups will comment on the agreement at an Austin press event at 2PM CDT. Click here for more, and thanks to our tipsters!

Seems Talmadge Heflin is finally starting to recover from his Hubert Vo invoked hangover, because he's crawling out from under his rock to pull in headlines. He took a gig at James Leininger's Texas Public Policy Foundation, and is now applying to be the executive director of the Texas Lotto Commission. Personally, I don't know how much money you could pay me to take that gig, that's like the number 1 cursed job in state government. But to each his own, have fun Tallie baby,

SCHOOL FINANCE RULING TOMMORROW!!!

...well, kinda, we think...

So the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel is reporting that there's going to be a ruling from the Supreme Court tommorrow regarding school finance. Great, right? But wait, how do they know? Seems John Sharp has a person on his staff who has a sister who is dating the media press representative for the Supreme Court. Did you get that?

Now this sister and this media rep were planning on taking a trip to Hawaii, but the guy told her they have to cancel because "he would have to be around" this weekend in order to answer questions. Seems school finance is the only big thing that would warrant cancellation of a trip to Hawaii. Now that's funny and all and the Nacogdoches paper is covering it, but I'd just like to point out that the story also ran in today's Statesman. So there ya go, hardcore journalism at your fingertips. Let's see what we get tommorrow, I wouldn't want that Hawaii trip to be wasted.

State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn nearly peed her pants with excitement as she predicts the NBA All-Star games in Houston will bring in over $79 million to the Texas economy. If only we knew of some thing that really needed funding here....hmmm, what could it be?

[photo: AP]
Wow. Dick Cheney has really gone off the deep end here folks. He has lied and threatened and held secret meetings and basically destroyed his credibility at every turn and he has the nerve to attack Dems for saying what the rest of America is saying, "Hey bitches, y'all lied to us and you better start a.) telling the truth and b.) figure out a way for us to get the fuck out of Iraq before it becomes the biggest quagmire in history."

A friend passed this letter (.pdf) on to us. Apparently CourtTV wants to televise the DeLay hearing. They state in their letter to the judge: "This hearing, involving as it does, one of the pre-eminent leaders of the United States Congress, is of unquestionable public interest." Is that even a real sentence? Ugh. Unless DeLay's lawyers ham it up for the cameras, we have no plans to watch. It will probably be more exciting than paint drying on a wall. . . but not much.

Radar: GOB or GOP? Wherein Radar compares the two sons of "great" men and their love for Segways.

*sigh* Farewell, Arrested Development!

From the Washington Post this morning:

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

I always relied on PD to cover the absurdities in Texas politics and the hilarity that would ensue. Now, it seems that all those Texans are up in Washington, D.C. and we've just got amateurs left here in Texas. I mean, how do you compare Todd Baxter sucking the tit of cable companies for the big telecom legislation and then taking a $250k a year job with them four months later to the shit going on in DC?

Did the Senate finally read the polls?

The Senate-approved Iraq policy proposal calls for -- but does not require -- the Bush administration to "explain to Congress and the American people its strategy for the successful completion of the mission in Iraq" and to provide reports on U.S. foreign policy and military operations in Iraq every three months until all U.S. combat brigades have been withdrawn.

State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin) and the chair of the Travis County Democratic Party, Chris Elliott, will hold a press conference today in the Speaker's Committee Room Lt. Governor's Press room at 3 p.m. to discuss something about the Republicans and Todd Baxter. You can tune in to the live stream here.

President Bush's approval rating sinks to an all-time low. Just 37% of Americans believe he's doing a good job. Richard Nixon's presidential approval rating was at about 27% just as was about to be impeached. Way to aim high, George. Way to aim high. By 12 points, those surveyed say the country would be better off if Democrats controlled Congress. Gee, I hope we've got some good candidates running.

"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," he said.

Politics went from being about America to being like the SEC Football Season. It's all rivalries and who's going to the bowl game. There's no room for compromises and no one is trying to bring America together.

That's what I asked other bloggers when I realized I'd had an email about this Bob Gammage trotting out an idea to run for governor as a Dem. I remember back when it was all "Will he or won't he?" about Chris Bell. But, folks that know him better than I do think he may be a good candidate.

I hate to say this, but with the latest polls showing Perry with such a strong lead I think whomever jumps into this race better have their ass on fire to win. Strayhorn has dropped off the face of the earth. (Maybe if she'd let me have ten minutes with her I could get some good shit for y'all to read about her but so far her campaign has not replied)

Let's see what the tea leaves have to say. And by 'tea leaves' I mean you the readers.