Politics, Texas Politics

Perry Uses Border Surge As Political Pawn

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What began as a mostly fringe narrative from the Right has finally slithered into all corners of American politics.  Yesterday in a show of ultimate egotism, Texas Governor Rick Perry decided to take that flawed narrative to new heights by sending 1,000 National Guard troops to the border.  Here’s the story from the Los Angeles Times…

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced plans Monday to deploy as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the state’s border with Mexico, faulting federal officials for “empty promises” in dealing with an influx of Central American children and families.

“There can be no national security without border security, and Texans have paid too high a price for the federal government’s failure to secure our border,” the Republican governor said during an Austin briefing with other state leaders.

Perry said the Guard will provide support over the next month to Operation Strong Safety, the state-funded border surge he declared last month. The state operation, which includes sending state troopers to the border to assist local law enforcement, costs $1.3 million a week; the combined operation will cost more than $17 million a month. It’s unclear how it will be funded, Perry said.

So if the reasoning behind Operation Strong Safety and the National Guard troops is to “assist local law enforcement”, it’s reasonable to think that demand for the militarization is coming from local law enforcement.  But that reasoning is completely false.  Local sheriffs, municipal police chiefs and other officials are actually asking for the exact opposite.  Need proof?  From Marfa Public Radio, reporter Travis Bubenik recently spoke with Jeff Davis County Sheriff and Chairman of the Border Sheriff’s Coalition Rick McIvor…

Governor Rick Perry has announced his plan to send 1,000 Texas National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border in response to the recent influx of Central American migrants.

Perry says the troops are needed to protect against threats from Mexican cartels and other criminals, but the Chairman of the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition says it’s an unnecessary move.

Jeff Davis County Sheriff Rick McIvor spoke with us about Perry’s plan.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to infiltrate the area with a lot of troops,” McIvor says. “I think you put a lot of fear into the people that live in the area.”

McIvor says the $12 million-a-month price tag for the deployment isn’t a wise use of money for dealing with a humanitarian crisis. That’s a sentiment echoed by border county officials who have already questioned the effectiveness of a Department of Public Safety (DPS) surge launched also by Perry last month.

Since then, tensions have risen between the DPS and border sheriffs, with local law enforcement saying they want a seat at the planning table for border surges, and a say in how the money is spent.

“It’s a negative impact and negative direction they’re taking by not talking to the individual who represents the people,” McIvor says.

On Monday, Perry dismissed claims that the immigration surge has not impacted crime along the border.

Officials in McAllen recently testified that they haven’t seen a rise in crime alongside the influx of unaccompanied minors and families. When questioned about those accounts, Perry said they “may not fulfill the full vision of what’s going on the border.”

So despite mounting evidence that there is no connection between these families fleeing persecution and any type of dangerous criminal activity, the Texas Governor has chosen to waste taxpayer dollars just to scare people.

Rick Perry is sending these troops to the Border for one reason… Rick Perry.  He is using the nation’s recent focus on South Texas as a foothold to resurrect his aspirations of running for President.  For someone so concerned with increases in crime across his state, he sure felt secure enough to parade his strong-arm stances across Iowa this weekend.  If you’re counting, this is the Texas Governor’s fourth visit to the Hawkeye state in 8 months.  Up north, Perry was quick to stoke the fires of fear with fabrications about terrorists, murderers and rapists pouring into the country.  And again, he does this in direct contradiction to his state’s local officials.

For other Texas politicians, the worst thing one can do now is to get lured into Perry’s web of fear-mongering.  Such is the case for State Senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who committed a monumental flip-flop on the issue, now calling for additional law enforcement to help “secure” the situation on the Rio Grande.

Even if Governor Perry is far too gone for reasonable solutions, Democrats have to hope and expect more from Davis.  Just a while ago, she called for President Obama to make a trip to the border and speak with people living through these issues on the ground.  It’s time for Davis to take her own advice and speak with the hard-working local enforcement in South Texas.  If done, she may discover them singing a very different tune from Perry’s war song.

Be sure to consult more smart analysis from Dos Centavos, Brains and Eggs, Texpatriate and Off the Kuff.

 

 

 

 

Texas Politics

San Antonio Council Chooses Interim Mayor

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Appointed by Council, the great city of San Antonio has a new Mayor.  Here’s the breaking news story from KENS channel 5…

City Council has chosen Ivy Taylor as the new interim mayor….

Taylor is the city’s first black woman mayor. She started her career in Housing and Community Development Department and Neighborhood Action Department. Taylor joined District 2 as a councilwoman in 2009. Taylor also boasts a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning and has a Bachelor’s from Yale.

The vote came down to the 10 council members at Tuesday’s meeting. Mayor Julian Castro is headed to Washington D.C. to begin his job as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thursday.

Taylor’s tenure as Mayor commenced immediately following Secretary Designate Castro’s resignation, both of which occurred in today’s meeting of City Council.

Today’s appointment is likely to cause concern in the city’s LGBT community, as Ivy Taylor was one of three City Council members that voted against the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance in 2013.

District 2’s former Council member also announced that she has no plans to run for Mayor in 2015.  This being the case, it’s unlikely that Taylor would try to re-fight old battles, which should give the LGBT community some measure of comfort.  Sans an incumbent or a clear front-runner, the race promises to be exciting.  But for now, it’s time to hope for the best, and look forward to some great municipal politics in 2015.

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: week of July 21st

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The Texas Progressive Alliance mourns the tragedy of MH17 as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff looks at Travis County’s design for a new kind of voting machine, one that will add security, ease of use, and an honest to goodness paper receipt.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson, Democrats running for office in Texas should make every Republican answer about Abbott’s chemical issue, Abbott Hemmed In By The GOP’s Ideology.

As the federal trial over Texas redistricting began, a series of GOP e-mails outlining their anti-Latino mapping strategy was revealed. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes that the outcome won’t be known for months, and the decision won’t affect the 2014 midterm elections, but the case for the Republicans looks very grim.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants everyone to know that the Texas Tribune exposes Dan Patrick as a liar and Leticia Van de Putte as a truth teller.

Texas (more like Rick Perry, Greg Abbott and Republicans) did not accept the Medicaid expansion, leaving millions of Texas’ poorest families without healthcare options. But this week as Texas Leftist discovered, there are over 800,000 Texans that qualify for Medicaid and CHIP under current policy, and just don’t know to sign up. Even as we fight for expansion, helping these families is something that can be done right now.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Lone Star Ma is busy block-walking for Wendy.

The Texas Election Law Blog highlights a few issues with the Comptroller’s webpage on the relative level of debt financing of counties, cities, school districts, and special law districts.

The Lunch Tray reminds us that summer camp is another opportunity for kids to get loaded up with junk food.

Grits wants to know why DPS is doing a full set of fingerprints for every drivers license renewal, even though the Lege has not authorized that.

BOR reports on State Senate campaign finance reports, where Libby Willis leads her opponent in SD10 and Rita Lucido is holding her own in SD17.

And finally, the TPA congratulates Andrea Grimes on her new gig as “State of the Media” columnist for the Texas Observer.

 

(photo credit:  JSVideos on Shutterstock)

Texas Politics

Davis Campaign Posts Impressive Numbers

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In the constant back and forth of a heated election season, there’s a lot of focus placed on fundraising totals. Particularly in large races, it seems nearly impossible for a campaign to have true credibility without posting huge numbers.

Thankfully for Texas Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, that hurdle has been cleared. The Democrat has shown that she is not only competitive with Republican opponent Greg Abbott, but has actually been able to out-raise him in the latest reporting periods. Of course there are some that dispute the Davis campaign on their numbers, saying Davis was able to claim “in-kind donations” as a part of her funds formula.  As Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News reports, it’s mighty peculiar of the Abbott camp to attack Davis for her $250,000 in-kind donations when his campaign claimed even more than that.  Whether one agrees on the exact number or not, no one can deny that Davis has a competitive standing in the money race.

But Last weekend in front of a capacity Houston crowd, The Ft. Worth Senator reminded everyone that money isn’t the only indicator of a successful campaign.

“As of last Wednesday, we placed our 2 millionth phone call, with over 300,000 of those calls in Harris County alone” Davis proclaimed to the exultant crowd. “Thanks to your hard work, we’ve posted historic numbers in this campaign.”

The candidate was in attendance for the grand opening of her 3rd Houston-area campaign office. It’s becoming clear that enthusiasm among Texas Democrats is higher than it’s been in a very long time.  No one is doubting Davis’ standing as an underdog in this race. But if this impressive Get-Out-The-Vote effort continues, her campaign will end up triumphant at the finish line.

Texas Politics

Texas Medicaid, CHIP Enrollment Sees Uptick, But…

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There’s still a ways to go. 

Even without the help of a formal Medicaid expansion, it appears that more Texas residents are benefitting from the healthcare program.  Here’s the somewhat surprising news from the Texas Tribune…

More than 80,000 additional Texans have enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act last fall despite Republican state leaders’ decision not to expand eligibility to poor adults, according to federal figures.

The 80,435 new enrollees as of May — mostly Texans who already qualified for coverage but did not previously seek it — represent a 1.8 percent increase over pre-Obamacare figures. That places Texas, which has the nation’s highest uninsured rate, in the middle of the pack among states that chose not to expand access to those programs to everyone under 138 percent of the federal poverty line under the president’s signature health law. The expansion, a key tenet of Obamacare, was deemed optional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This “woodwork effect” or “welcome mat effect” — in which people hear about Medicaid expansions around the country and learn they qualify in Texas — has not been huge. Roughly 874,000 Texans eligible for Medicaid or CHIP have still not enrolled, according to Kaiser Family Foundation estimates. That includes more than 700,000 children, said Christine Sinatra, state communications director for Enroll America, a group seeking to get the uninsured covered under the federal health law.

Though the Tribune says that the “woodwork effect” is not significant yet, there’s still time to get information out there.  It’s quite surprising that these issues haven’t been discussed by Texas Democrats yet, especially major office seekers like Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte.  Not only should the campaigns be seeking broader healthcare expansion options, but one would hope they and the campaigns could spread the word, and help get these people signed up for Medicaid and CHIP.  700,000 Texas kids should not have to go without essential health services.  Win or lose in the 2014 election, this is work that needs to get done.

Here’s a video on how to apply for Texas CHIP…

If you are a Texas resident and would like to check your eligibility for Medicaid, click here or call 877-541-7905. 
If you would like to check a child’s eligibility for CHIP, click here or call 800-990-8247. 
Houston, Houston Politics

The Astrodome Park Proposal

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Since the initial news, Lisa Gray of the Houston Chronicle has updates on the Astrodome saga.  The full plan from the Texans and the Houston Livestock show and Rodeo have finally been revealed, and the county, is now considering it…

Yesterday Harris County said that it’s open to a plan to raze the Astrodome and create in its place a park that salutes the Astrodome’s history. Just for a moment, let’s pretend that’s not crazy.

In the site plan, the proposed park is described as “reminiscent of Discovery Green” — which is to say, like one of Houston’s favorite parks, an intensely used, much-loved urban space. But the description of the Astrodome park and the its site plan — see the slideshow — seem very different. There’d be a ring that imitates the old Astrodome’s “ribs,” each decked out with a historic plaque. There’d be multiple “event stages.” And at the center, in something that looks like a mini-Dome, is what the site plan seems to call a Hall of Fame.

It’s unfortunate that more Houston- area business leaders don’t see the potential of a repurposed Astrodome. The park proposal is certainly not a bad idea, but short-sighted compared to what could be done. Still, this plan is a marked improvement over the worst-case scenario of a surface parking lot, and the choice to honor the original structure is appreciated and absolutely necessary.   If done right and well-maintained, even the park proposal could be utilized to grow the city’s tourism business.

But the secret to creating a tourist draw that Houston hasn’t seemed to figure out yet… it doesn’t happen overnight.  Like any business venture, you have to make an upfront investment, promote it and then trust that you’ve done everything  you can to make it a good visitor experience.

In recent years, the Bayou City has made some good choices that provide good tourism potential. With all of the city’s major sports facilities located in close proximity, it’s easy to envision a scenario where people come to the city for a sporting event, but then add a visit to the Dome sight to learn about sports history. Having a museum on the site (perhaps this is what the Rodeo/ Texans plan is referencing with their Mini-dome “hall of fame”) should be essential. The Astrodome’s mark is forever written into the 20th century, and Houston would be foolish to not observe and honor it as such.

Regarding this and any other possible proposals, we’ll see what happens soon enough. See Brains and Eggs, Off the Kuff and Texpatriate for more thoughts.

Texas Politics

Van de Putte Bests Patrick in Latest Fundraising Haul

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It’s been a good month for the Senator from San Antonio, as Alex Ura of the Texas Tribune reports…

Democratic state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and Republican state Sen. Dan Patrick, who are facing off in a fiery race for lieutenant governor, have both raised about $1 million since the end of May — with Van de Putte slightly outraising Patrick, according to fundraising numbers released by both campaigns.

Since defeating incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a May 28 runoff, Patrick has raised $1 million. Van de Putte, who ran unopposed, raised about $1.2 million in the same time period. Four months ahead of the general election, the two candidates are working with similar balances in their respective war chests, with Van de Putte reporting $1.1 million cash on hand while Patrick has $946,982 in the bank.

The two campaigns released some fundraising totals ahead of the Texas Ethics Commission’s Tuesday deadline for reports covering fundraising activity and expenditures through June 30. The reports were not immediately available.

The post goes on to say that Dan Patrick is still far ahead in total campaign resources.  The Republican has $7.8 million in funds compared to a $2.3 million total for Leticia Van de Putte.

Good news here is that Van de Putte has again proven her ability to run a successful campaign for Lieutenant Governor.   Pundits no longer have to debate about whether or not she can raise money, because she is.  It’s not necessary for her to actually win the fundraising race, but she does need to have enough money to be competitive.  Texas Democrats should find much encouragement in these numbers.

A Voice for the Rest of Texas