Daily Kos

TX-Gov : Molly Ivins - Kinky? Hell no!

Tue Oct 03, 2006 at 07:21:28 AM PDT

Last year, Kinky asked Molly if he should run for Texas Gov. Her answer, seen on many bumper stickers etc etc, was, "Why the Hell not?"

He didn't ask her, "Will you vote for me?" That is a very different question.

Molly endorses Chris Bell

Fighting Dems rally in TX for Mary Beth Harrell

Fri Aug 04, 2006 at 11:17:12 AM PDT

Scumbag John Carter sent out a fundraising letter labeling TX-31 candidate Mary Beth Harrell with the 'cut and run' smear. She's not in the military, but her husband and her two sons are. One son just returned to Iraq. John Carter is one of the Yellow Elephants who have never served.

The Texas Fighting Dems were not amused.

More - with podcast linky goodness - in the extended.

Texas Observer: Ralph Reed = Illegal lobbyist

Sun Jan 22, 2006 at 11:50:26 AM PDT

Fascinating story in the Texas Observer today with evidence that Ralph Reed lobbied without registering. Travis County DA's office is looking into filing charges so maybe Ronnie Earle will have to squeeze a little time for Ralphie into his busy schedule.

While the article is basically about Reed and his lobby troubles, the narrative manages to bring in connections to Rep Michael McCaul, staff members in Lt Gov Dewhurst's office, Channel One, eLottery, Norquist, Laura Bush etc etc. Lots of threads to follow and stuff to chew on. And this nice graphic...

Say good-bye to Henry Bonilla

Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 07:46:16 AM PDT

Say hello to Rick Bolanos (Second from left)

Band of Brothers sound familiar? Rick and his three brothers all served in VietNam at the same time, the only four brothers to do so. LBJ recognized them for their service as did the Texas Lege in the recent session. Active in both Democratic and veterans affairs, Rick is a strong candidate to take on former news talking head and DeLay rubberstamp Henry Bonilla.

Announcement @ 1 today in San Antonio, Omni Hotel, 9821 Colonnade. Be there.

Ten Proposals and Positions: Radnofsky v. Hutchison

Sat Dec 03, 2005 at 01:53:43 PM PDT

Shy, retiring Barbara Radnofsky gets specific on where she finds differences between Kay Bailey Hutchison and herself. Here's a few of the titles:

Energy

Radnofsky: Promote a national policy of energy independence
Hutchison: Who Loves Ya, Baby: Liberal tax incentives for Big Oil campaign donors, foreign energy dependence

Ethics, Honesty, and Corruption

Radnofsky: Work for transparency, honesty, and integrity in government
Hutchison: Birds of a feather: Scandal and corruption

Veterans

Radnofsky: Honor our promises, stand by those who stood by us
Hutchison: Hawk Abroad, Chicken at Home: Deserting our veterans

Immigration

Radnofsky: Fairness and effectiveness
Hutchison: Barney Fife at the Border: Wacky, expensive, unworkable

The full gory detail after the flip...

Tough Name, Smart Dame

Radnofsky Announcement Tour Hits Dallas and Fort Worth

Tue Nov 15, 2005 at 05:46:59 AM PDT

Radnofsky Announces U.S. Senate Candidacy in Fort Worth and Dallas

Dallas--November 15: SMU Young Democrats host Barbara Ann Radnofsky, mediator, educator, lawyer, and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006 from Texas as she officially announces her candidacy on Tuesday, November 15, 3140 Dyer Street, SMU Student Center, Hughes-Trigg Theatre, Dallas, from Noon - 1:00 p.m.

Fort Worth--November 16: Radnofsky will officially announce her candidacy on Wednesday, November 16, at the Fort Worth Club, 11th Floor Library, 306 W. 7th Street at 11:30 a.m.

Radnofsky will be available for media interviews in both English and Spanish.

Campaign and Media Contact: Robert Andrews, 512-567-6518, randrews6@austin.rr.com

A press kit is available on-line at www.radnofsky.com, on the right-hand side of the page. Campaign travel/blog are at "rad-note-skys" http://radnofsky.com/...

Kelso: If you can't get into the country club, you shouldn't get on DeLay's jury

Fri Nov 11, 2005 at 05:06:47 AM PDT

John Kelso is a longtime humor columnist in Austin. His column today takes on the bugman's trial preferences. An extended sample:

But the way things are going, shouldn't we perhaps let DeLay pick his own jury? He'd go for that. I mean, why should he have to put up with the mercurial nature of the general public?

Here are some criteria that I think DeLay would like to use to choose who will sit in judgment of him:

Each juror should own his own riding lawn mower.

Each juror should have a Botoxed wife who has a membership at the golf course and turns up the air conditioner high so she can wear furs in the summer.

More below

Moderate Republicans balk at refuge drilling

Wed Nov 09, 2005 at 07:39:11 AM PDT

Article in the Houston Chronicle indicates the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may be safe, because enough House Republicans are against drilling in it.

The gist:

In a letter delivered to the House leadership on Tuesday, 25 GOP lawmakers requested that the refuge drilling approval be removed from the budget bill that is designed to help defray the costs of hurricane relief.

...

House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., conceded Tuesday that the budget measure would fail if all the GOP lawmakers who opposed drilling vote against it.

Don't know how much more insight I can add to that, whether speculation on Bush's power swirling the drain, ANWR becoming a third rail in politics, etc, so I'll just say this is a welcome development.

Saturday Morning Pumpkin Blogging

Sat Oct 29, 2005 at 09:58:04 AM PDT

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Scary!!!!!!

Radnofsky Followup - Libby Indictment: Hutchison Must Renounce Perjury

Fri Oct 28, 2005 at 04:48:23 PM PDT

Kay Bailey Hutchison called perjury a technicality on "Meet the Press."
...
Her spokesman followed that pronouncement with a letter to the Houston Chronicle on October 26, claiming that prosecutions based on "finding any shred of inconsistency" do not constitute perjury.

Radnofsky insists, "Lying to a grand jury is a crime."

Whole press release below

Radnofsky to Hutchison: Resign if you tolerate perjury

Mon Oct 24, 2005 at 10:27:51 AM PDT

Radnofsky press release:

Texas Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Barbara Ann Radnofsky called on her Republican opponent to resign if she tolerates perjury. "No elected official should tolerate or excuse perjury. I call on Kay Bailey Hutchison to renounce perjury. She should resign if she tolerates it," Radnofsky said.

On October 23, Kay Bailey Hutchison said in televised comments concerning the Plame investigation that, "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime..."

SUSA Right/Wrong Direction poll

Thu Oct 20, 2005 at 08:13:14 PM PDT

I see the 50 state Bush approval ratings have been discussed, but tag searches don't turn up today's Survey USA poll on 'is the country headed in the right direction/wrong direction?' 50 state poll. They have previous numbers from July.

Brutal

Not a single state has a higher 'right direction' rating.

Overall, 29% say 'right' and 66% say 'wrong'

56% of regular church going Texans say 'wrong direction' compared to 43% in the summer.

Texas Democrats have dropped from 21% saying 'right direction' to only 10%.

Texas liberals buck the trend, going from 12% 'right direction' to 15% 'right direction.' I was confused, but then I agreed. Muricans are waking up, and that is a step in the right direction.

Campaign for a National Majority

Mon Jul 18, 2005 at 07:50:55 AM PDT

I went to an interesting presentation last night In Austin for the Campaign for a National Majority. They're in San Antonio tonight and Houston tomorrow, so check them out if you have a chance.

They have a long term strategy that meshes with the 'build the farm team' concept Dean has pushed. It is well documented that governors are the most likely candidates to become president, so CNM wants to work towards having as many strong Democratic governors as possible, so that we have lots of good presidential candidates and not just blowhards like Joe Biden.

2005 North American Solar Challenge

Sun Jul 17, 2005 at 08:24:48 AM PDT

2500 miles from Austin to Calgary in pure solar powered 'cars' that go up to 70 mph. The 2005 North American Solar Challenge is underway!
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us
Many pix after the jump - dialup beware!!

Electric Avenue

Thu Jul 14, 2005 at 05:50:13 AM PDT

Transportation is powered by oil. Most alternative energy sources make electricity, but the hurdle for electric transport is range. Load a vehicle with enough batteries to drive long distances and it becomes heavy and inefficient. Fuel cells can be powered by hydrogen produced using electricity, but the energy value in the hydrogen is only a quarter of the electric energy used to produce it. Hydrogen from natural gas is much more efficient, but still not as efficient as using the gas to make electricity.

Hybrids increase efficiency by capturing energy wasted when a vehicle brakes. That's great in the city, but not very useful on the highway. Plug-in hybrids can further reduce oil usage by 'tanking up' on electricity when not in use, but have long range capabilities through their gas powered engine.

That's great for commuters, but not feasible for transport of goods. Trucks would need massive batteries for pure electric and do their miles on the highway so hybrid technology is no benefit.

The Aggies have a solution.

Cleveland ACT tidbits

Sun Oct 31, 2004 at 09:27:50 PM PDT

In the last three days, 5000 volunteers have knocked on 500,000 doors, whether canvassing or dropping lit. The fired up youth at the Hilton Independence (S. Cleveland) were setting up doorhanger packs at the rate of 1000/minute. The guy with the tree branch with dangling apples taped to his head won the costume contest.

GOTV kids.

Paul Newman gets out the vote

Sat Oct 30, 2004 at 07:16:10 PM PDT

Good chance this was posted this morning, but I was also getting out the vote all day and searching didn't turn it up, so I'm posting it again, tough.

Newman grew up in Shaker Heights, a eastern suburb of Cleveland, so this morning he came to speak to the ACT volunteers in Cleveland Heights and then went door to door in Shaker Heights to canvas with other ACT volunteers.

My wife is really really jealous.

Electoral-vote Cleveland Absentee ballot

Sun Oct 24, 2004 at 04:11:14 PM PDT

From http://www.electoral-vote.com  "Take a look at the absentee ballot for Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located. Suppose you wanted to vote for George Bush. Which square would you fill in? If you picked the one I colored in green, congratulations, you just threw your vote away. The one in red is the correct choice to vote for George Bush. Blue is for Kerry."

[Ed] - Pic below the fold.


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