Tag: Perry

Second verse same as the first

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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

Watch Out Teacher Retirement System Might Fund Trans-Texas Corridor

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Cronyism and the Corridor
Monday, October 12, 2009
posted by paulburka at 3:07 PM
Source: Burkablog: Texas Monthly.

The Statesman reported yesterday that Governor Perry is removing Linus Wright, a former Dallas school superintendent, as chair of the board that oversees the $88 billion Teacher Retirement System and will replace him with a current board member who is also a member of Perry’s campaign finance team, Dallas real estate investor R. David Kelly. (Wright succeeded Jim Lee, who was one of three co-chairs of the Perry fundraising apparatus; Lee had resigned in the wake of news reports that he had run up six-figure gambling debts in Las Vegas.)

The removal of Wright occurred just a few days after Perry had announced the death of the Trans-Texas Corridor.

In my humble opinion this is something we need to watch and keep in check. If TRS is raped to fund the TTC we loose twice.

OPED: Governor’s race costs some regents posts

Posted on | by C. | Leave a Comment on OPED: Governor’s race costs some regents posts

Here is more mud from one of Kay’s sites: http://texans.forkay.com/news/9-10-09_ICYMI_Chron_Decries_Perry_Power_Grab

Perry is hardly unique among Texas governors in using appointments to further his ambitions. However, in the current campaign the incumbent is subordinating competent governance of public university systems to his own re-election efforts.

In doing so he only strengthens the argument of Hutchison that a decade-plus tenure as governor fosters cronyism and misuse of official powers.

Source: Primary casualties: Governor’s race costs some regents posts | Editorial | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Politics in twitter

Posted on | by C. | Leave a Comment on Politics in twitter

I was checking the followers list on twitter and look who’s following me now, @GovPerry2010. It seems Governor Rick Perry – or his campaign manager – started a new twitter account for the 2010 elections. I started following @GovernorPerry and @TeamKay a few weeks ago just to keep tabs on Rick and Kay. So, apparently, twitter is the new battle ground for politics. Can they get votes from twitterers? Will we ever use twitter polls to cast our votes? Probably not – not after the dangling chad incident and alleged Texas voting machine tampering*.

* Texas used Austin-based vendor Hart InterCivic model eSlate. A report commissioned by the State of Ohio in 2007 stated that Hart machines were vulnerable to attack (tampering).

Time for campaigns to report earnings

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AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry’s blind trust had capital losses of $567,529 in 2008 but still managed to provide the governor and his wife, Anita, with $28,043 in income, according to tax returns released Tuesday.

Perry has routinely released his tax returns to the news media when requested since 1998.

His Republican primary opponent, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, has not yet released her returns, but her campaign has said she will do so.

via Governor’s ’08 tax return released after extension | Top stories | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

…

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s campaign for governor has promised to release her income tax returns later this week. We will update when they do.

via Kay Bailey Hutchison financial statements | Texas Politics | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.