The mid-term election is drawing near – one week to go – and the field of candidates has changed since I wrote about them in February. There is a new web site done by the Texas Secretary of State, votexas.org, that gives “simplified” information on the who, what, when, where, and how for this election. In particular it gives a list of candidates.
Aside from the facts, there sure is a lot of mud-slinging ads on TV for this election. I’ll be glad when November 2 is past.
Well, it looks like Texas Game Break is a bust. Their Facebook was last updated on March 1 and today is supposed to be the second day of the Break – and nothing.
By contrast, ZFW Summer Sizzle has been going strong every other year since 2005. I made a video of the 2005 players.
So what’s the difference? We established a tight nit community before planning an event, then we planned an event with that community’s help.
A word to the wise: don’t start something you won’t finish and don’t ask people to help unless you follow through – no matter what. The first ZFW Summer Sizzle was a success because we all pitched in and helped. All of us were involved. Yes, it took money. But, those involved pitched in and did what was needed to make it happen. That is the moral of the story when it comes to events: everyone has to do something and something has to be done (by more than one person).
Oh well, maybe we will see something come of Texas Game Break next year.
Since today, February 15, is the start of early voting in the Texas Primary, I thought I would list the candidates so I know who is running and who to vote for. The following is the most current information I could find as of January 30, 2010.
Texas Secretary of State website lists Important Dates for 2010 Elections in Texas:
The Secretary’s website also lists What is on the ballot.
First, look at the congressional district map for Texas. I live in the 17th congressional district for the U. S. House of Representatives; south central Texas including Waco and Bryan.
I live in the Senate’s 5th district and House’s 14th district.
Rick Perry (R) Next Election: 2010
Here is some interesting news. Texas Senator Steve Ogden (R-District 5) is Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. This position has an automatic seat on the Legislative Budget Board (LBB). The LBB decides, among other things, the State’s support to public universities. So, one of the people that lowered property taxes (temporarily) and raised cigarette taxes (permanently) in the name of education* will help decide how that money is spent. It’s good to be in Finance.
* From Steve Ogden’s website, I’m Proud of What We Accomplished in the Special Session: ”Other tax changes included revising the calculation of sales tax on used cars and raising the cigarette tax by $1 per pack effective January 1, 2007.At the end of the day,this means state tax revenues will now fund about half of public education, up from approximately 38 percent today.”
In 2009 I said the recession isn’t over. I guess it needs to be said again – for future reference: history repeats itself! This is the third time I’ve gone through a recession or slow-down or bubble-burst in the 15 years that I’ve lived in Texas. In the public sector, especially higher education, I think the recession doesn’t really hit until 2 years after the worst of it hits the rest of the world. If we say the recession started in 2008, it was at its worst in 2009, then higher education can expect the worst (at least in Texas) in 2010-11. It’s no coincidence that the Texas legislature is deciding the biennial budget for 2010-11, and universities are facing huge budget cuts – some as much as $14 Million each year. The worst is still to come.
Texas A&M may have to cut $28 million out of its budget over two years. Source: Texas A&M looking for funds to cut after state mandate | The Eagle.
What does it mean to be the worst for an institute of higher education? It means the legislature cuts state monies going to the university systems. In Texas there are at least 6 major university systems: University of Houston System, University of North Texas System, University of Texas System, Texas A&M University System, Texas State University System, Texas Tech University System.
Texas A&M-College Station is in the early stages of identifying potential cuts. Officials have asked departments to prioritize projects in case the state doesn’t provide all the requested funding. Source: Texas universities to cut back after endowments hit | Dallas Morning News.
Back before Thanksgiving I said Texas gubernatorial race is like musical chairs. Well, here’s the second (or third or fourth) verse. It’s the same as the first. On November 23, Houston Mayor, Bill White held a press conference to announce he will announce his decision to run for governor by December 4. As promised he announced yesterday that he will run for governor. After he made that announcement, Hank Gilbert dropped out of the race and endorsed Farouk Shami.
Meanwhile, Governor Rick Perry, the longest serving governor, made his announcement for an unprecedented third term.
Like Paul Burka says, “Perry is now fighting a two-front war.” One with Democrats in the general election and one with the Republicans in the primary. While most people think the primary will be a joke, Perry still has to be careful. The issues Perry raises in the primary wont be the same as the issues in the general election.
If you’re keeping a score card:
Republicans: Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Larry Kilgore, Debra Medina
Democrats: Bill White, Kinky Friedman, Farouk Shami, Felix Alvarado
This isn’t the Texas two-step, more like musical chairs. Continuing what I wrote about having a web site to be a candidate, those web sites will come and go and they may switch focus before we vote in November 2010.
Just as soon as Tom Schieffer announced that he will not run for governor, Houston Mayor, Bill White, had a press conference to announce that he will decide by (Dec 4) if he will run for governor or stick with his original plan and run for a US Senate seat – the one presumably vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison – but White wants to hear from the people of Texas as to what he should do. You can tell him what to do at his web site.
Seeing as how KBH said she will not vacate the Senate while health care is up in the air. I don’t see White filling that seat. The others on the Republican dance card are Larry Kilgore and Debra Medina.
The Dem-dance so far includes Farouk Shami, Felix Alvarado, Kinky Friedman, Hank Gilbert.
Looking at their web sites, I want to scream, “Neeeext?!”
It seems like a truism these days: “You aren’t in a political race until you have a web site.” Looks like another gubernatorial candidate joined the World Wide Web. In addition to Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, these guys hope to make their mark as governor of Texas.
Farouk Shami fires up his campaign Web page
Hair care millionaire Farouk Shami fired up his Farouk for Governor Web page today in anticipation of his official launch Thursday into the campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Others in the race include Felix Alvarado, Kinky Friedman, Hank Gilbert and Tom Schieffer.
Source Farouk Shami fires up his campaign Web page | Texas Politics | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.
I love the state legislature. What a bunch of talking heads. What a cushy job. A bunch of junk flew through on the last day of regular session (June 1, 2009) and they all feel good about themselves for doing what’s right. They closed sine die and now everyone gets to sit back and watch Texas go up in smoke; perfect metaphor of the heat this summer.
How bad is it? With triple-digit temperatures for the past 45+ days and only a trace of rain in the same time period, it feels like we are baking in the Texas heat. But, when we step back and look at historical drought percentages, it doesn’t appear all that bad. It’s not as bad as 2006-2007.
“LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) – Ovenlike heat continues to bake Texas, and the map that charts drought in the United States shows the worst-stricken areas of Texas have wilted further. The U.S. Drought Monitor map released last week shows areas of Central and South Texas in extreme and exceptional drought expanded since last week. The two worst stages of drought now cover 14.1 percent of the state, up from 11.1 last week. Texas is the only spot in the nation with extreme and exceptional drought.” Source: KBTX.com.
I guess time will tell. I don’t think it will be the driest summer ever, but it sure is hot.
