Tag Archives: Dan Patrick

Texas Politics

TLCQ 2014: Endorsement for Lieutenant Governor

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This week, citizens all across the great state of Texas are at a critical crossroads, with an important decision to make:  do we stay in the past, or move forward with the future?

In some races for this year’s election, a reasonable case can be made for either side.  For example, the race for Railroad Commissioner features Democrat Steve Brown and Republican Ryan Sitton– two intelligent young candidates that have run solid, solutions-based campaigns.  Even with clear party distinctions, informed voters have a tough choice on their hands for the RRC in 2014.

Sadly, the campaigns for Lieutenant Governor have not yielded the same result.  State Senator Dan Patrick, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, could learn a lot from his younger colleague Ryan Sitton on how to run a statewide campaign.  This blog will not being going into the litany of issues with Patrick, but would rather refer readers to previous endorsements in the Lt. Gov. Race.

Check out The Daily Texan, El Paso Times, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Wichita Falls Times Record News, Beaumont Enterprise, Austin Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, and Houston Chronicle to find out just how bad Dan Patrick would be for Texas.

But with or without her opponent, Democrat Leticia Van de Putte is worthy of endorsement all on her own.  A long record of proven leadership and public service, Van de Putte stands out as someone that is not afraid to tackle some of the state’s most pressing challenges.  One look at the issues page on her website will let you know just how far her commitment to policy solutions extends.  She is a legislator that is uniquely gifted in both policy knowledge and political charisma.  She is a deal-maker that knows how to find the best in people even when she doesn’t agree with them at all.  (Seriously y’all… Leticia Van de Putte is the ‘Ezra Klein’ of Texas)

And those are just Leticia’s gifts on the political side.  As a mother of six children, pharmacist and small business owner, she understands what it takes to raise a family and have a career in Texas.  And most important… she carries those experiences forward in her legislative ideas.  Though Van de Putte has clearly reached the highest levels of success, she also knows the struggles of working Texans as well.  As a sixth-generation Tejana, she doesn’t just read about situations on the Texas border, she lives them as part of her own family story.  Again, an invaluable experience that she carries with her on to the Senate chamber… one that her opponent doesn’t seem to “get” at all.

Texas Leftist is proud to endorse State Senator Leticia Van de Putte for Lieutenant Governor of Texas.  But beyond that simple endorsement, I must urge readers… if no other reason, please go and vote to support Senator Van de Putte.  For countless reason, she really does represent the future of Texas, and if elected, we will be a much better state for it.

If you’d like to learn more about State Senator Leticia Van de Putte, check out her recent appearance on Houston Public Media’s Red, White and Blue, where she puts forth common-sense solutions on everything from border security to healthcare and education…

 

(feature photo is celebrity Eva Longoria, Van de Putte and Henry Munoz at a recent campaign rally)

Texas Politics

Corpus Christi Caller Times Endorses Leticia Van de Putte

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The Coastal Bend region’s lead newspaper has announced its endorsement for the Lieutenant Governor’s race, calling Democratic candidate Leticia Van de Putte a “Democrat that GOP voters should trust.”  Here’s an excerpt from the full-throated endorsement by the Corpus Christi Caller Times…

The Democratic Party’s effort has been all about Van de Putte’s Senate colleague, gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, because of the national attention Davis gained from her filibuster against an abortion bill. But if there’s one race the Democrats need to win, it’s the lieutenant governor’s race. And not for the sake of the Democratic Party. She [Van de Putte] deserves the job irrespective of her party affiliation just like U.S. Sen. John Tower was deserving all those years he was Texas’ only Republican elected statewide.

Van de Putte is the most deserving Democrat in any race we’ve examined this cycle. Her colleagues in the majority-Republican Senate respect her and would welcome her leadership. And they’d be unlikely to do to her what has been rumored they would do to Patrick — change Senate rules to make the lieutenant governor less powerful. Lieutenant governor, despite its name which suggests a junior executive-branch role, is really a powerful legislative-branch position. And, as Van de Putte explained to our board, senators like it that way because of the leverage that their lieutenant governor can give them in their dealings with the House.

Van de Putte displays a strong grasp of issues even for someone who has been in the Legislature since 1991. She represents a landlocked district but is as informed about coastal windstorm insurance as acclaimed near-expert Hunter, one of many Republicans of whom she speaks highly.

She correctly identifies education and transportation and water infrastructure as priority issues. We wish we were hearing more from the gubernatorial candidates about those and less about what’s wrong with each other. Van de Putte doesn’t waste time tarring Patrick — enough Republicans are tending to it for her.

Van de Putte is a working pharmacist, which means that she’s informed about health care on more levels than most of her colleagues — and that she completed a tough, choosy STEM program in college. The world — and lawyer-heavy Texas government — needs more STEM professionals. Republicans who are true to their party’s philosophy would agree.

For all of the praise given to Van de Putte, the Caller Times editorial board had no such praise for her Republican TEApublican opponent Dan Patrick. They even admitted that even the prospect of sending Patrick to lead the State Senate could have disastrous results for the Texas legislature.

As if the Senator’s long record of bipartisan leadership wasn’t enough to land the endorsement, it’s clear that the editorial board was equally impressed with her unparalleled understanding of the many contemporary issues facing Texas.  If you’ve taken the time to read any one of Leticia Van de Putte’s Texas First plans on her website, what you encountered was nothing short of astounding.  The amount detail with which Van de Putte conveys her positions on a wide range of issues– veteran’s services, healthcare, human trafficking, immigration, the economy, infrastructure and so much more– would fascinate even the best policy analyst.  Basically, Leticia Van de Putte is the Ezra Klein of the Texas legislature.

Given the complete lack of information on Dan Patrick’s website, expect to see more major endorsements for Leticia Van de Putte.

 

(photo credit:  Austin MD magazine)

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of September 1st

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The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone had a good Labor Day as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Like many people, Off the Kuff was cheered by the ruling in the school finance lawsuit.

The TXGOP had a really lousy week, and it only got worse for Greg Abbott as the Labor Day holiday weekend began. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs doesn’t wonder why the attorney general is running away from debating Wendy Davis, because he can’t say ‘no comment’ when asked about his many scandals in a debate.

Libby Shaw now posting at Daily Kos notes that this week has not been particularly good for Republican lawmakers. The bad includes Texas Attorney General and 2014 Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott. Not a good week for Republicans, including Greg Abbott.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. The economy in Texas has never been miraculous. Bleeding the people dry while stockpiling cash is no miracle, Neglect and Greed.

Make no mistake, Republicans are waging a war against public education. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is glad that the Texas constitution is standing in their way.

Texas Leftist applauds the Leticia Van de Putte campaign for catching Dan Patrick in a bold-faced lie. He cannot hide from the 2011 education cuts. Plus, we reveal the true reasoning behind Greg Abbott’s ‘Debate and Switch’.

Neil at Blog About Our Failing Money-Owned American Political System asked why Texas Democratic Lt. Governor Leticia Van de Putte would look the other way at vocal supporters of her campaign who voted for the state-mandated rape of the forced sonogram law.

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

Beyond Bones has everything you need to know about sharks but were afraid to ask.

Nancy Sims examines the feminism of Beyonce.

Newsdesk introduces us to the widely discredited “expert” who coached the state’s witnesses in the HB2 lawsuit.

Ben Sargent solves the GOP’s Latino outreach problem.

The Lunch Tray asks if using junk food tactics to sell vegetables to kids is a good idea or not.

TransGriot has good wishes for the new school year.

Better Texas Blog analyzes the school finance decision.

Nonsequiteuse reacts to the story of Greg Abbott’s partisan witch hunt against Houston Votes.

And finally, the TPA congratulates The Great God Pan Is Dead for its fifth blog anniversary.

 

 

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Texas Politics

Debate Grate: Is Dan Patrick Afraid of Leticia Van de Putte??

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In this year’s race for Texas Lieutenant Governor, one candidate is ready to rumble, while the other is scared to even get in the ring.  Do you know which is which?  If not, Here’s the story from the Houston Chronicle…

Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Leticia Van de Putte said Thursday that her Republican opponent, Dan Patrick, has yet to respond to a series of debates she has proposed ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

Van de Putte and Patrick spoke separately at the Texas Association of Broadcasters annual convention, in what amounted to a rare opportunity to see the two candidates address the same audience back to back.

A state senator from San Antonio, Van de Putte used the speaking opportunity in front of TV and radio industry folk to reiterate her call for a robust schedule of debates.

She has challenged Patrick to five in all — part of an aggressive plan to pit the candidates head-to-head in the state’s four largest markets and in the Rio Grande Valley — and has left the door open to three more.

But since she laid out the proposal more than a week ago, Van de Putte said Patrick, a senator from Houston who is a tea party favorite, and his team have yet to get back with a solid answer — or any answer, for that matter.

“He’s not responded to our request for debates,” Van de Putte said, adding that she’s not sure if Patrick is dodging the debate issue or just can’t make up his mind. “This is a race where there’s a big difference in candidates … and the people of the state need to hear the candidates.”

Actually, the reason for Dan Patrick’s reluctance seems simple enough… he’s scared.  As the presumed front-runner in the Lieutenant Governor’s race, Patrick knows very well that to share the stage with Leticia Van de Putte puts him at risk to get OWNED by Leticia Van de Putte.  Time after time in public forum, the Democrat has proven herself an incredibly effective communicator for her ideas.  He also knows that giving voters the chance to hear their views side-by-side puts him at risk of sounding like a far-right extremist.  Of course he sounds like an extremist because he IS an extremist, but that is beside the point.

On debates, Patrick is playing from an old playbook.  Texas Governor Rick Perry won re-election without a single debate against then-Democratic challenger Bill White in 2010, choosing instead to demand White’s tax returns in exchange for meeting him mano a mano.  The “no debates” strategy is now a time-tested method for the Texas GOP… keep Texans in the dark about Government by not allowing them to hear opposing viewpoints.

But 2013, and its massive jump in national exposure for Texas Democrats, brought new hope that more Republicans will have to cave in to pressure to face their electoral adversaries.  GOP Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has already promised to face Wendy Davis in at least two meetings, and Democratic Comptroller candidate Mike Collier seems intent to not give up on a head-to-head with his GOP rival Glenn Hegar.

As Senator Van de Putte made clear last week, Dan Patrick can run but he can’t hide.  Texas has learned from the past, and will demand a campaign for Lieutenant Governor worthy of the great state that eventual office-holder hopes to represent.

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)

Houston Politics, Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of June 2nd

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The Texas Progressive Alliance celebrates the passage of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff tries to figure out what the runoff results might mean for November.

Libby Shaw at Texas Kaos is disgusted by the low blow campaign tactics employed during this election cycle. Where are the issues? Texas GOP: No Blow is too Low. Bring on the Boats, Hoes and Abortion Barbie.

Letters from Texas contemplates the existential dilemma of Log Cabin Republicans.

Horwitz at Texpatriate laments the state of Texas after Dan Patrick moves one step closer to the Lieutenant Governor’s office.

How much does it cost for Greg Abbott to change his mind? PDiddie at Brains and Eggs is glad you asked! That’s on sale right now for $350,000, and if you buy before the end of the month, he might be flexible on the price.

After a landmark week in local politics, Texas Leftist shares the true importance of passing the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. It’s not just about preventing discrimination. HERO actually makes Houston a safer city as well.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson points out that Congressman John Carter (R-Round Rock) didn’t care about the problems at the VA until he thought he could score political points with them, Carter Knew About VA Problems Back In 2012.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders if your local paper was pushing the propaganda for the energy oligarchs. The Dallas Morning News, as well as others, did.

Neil at All People Have Value offered support to folks protesting against the huge wasteful amount of money being spent on World Cup soccer in Brazil while basic needs go unmet. Neil says the real money needs to go to everyday people and not only the well-connected few. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

Nonsequiteuse relates a sadly too common tale of street harassment.

Grits worries about the high number of child abuse rulings that are subsequently overturned on appeal.

Todo Texas wonders who the next batch of rising Latino political stars in Texas will be once the Castro brothers go national.

Texas Vox notes the correlation between smart subsidies for solar energy and job growth.

The Lunch Tray pens a letter to Michelle Obama.

Texas Watch gives five things you need to do to get ready for hurricane season.

PTA Mom asserts that everything she needed to know about politics she learned from school board elections.

Juanita tells the best story ever about Pat Robertson and Saran Wrap.

And finally, BeyondBones commemorates the Normandy invasion on its 70th anniversary.

Houston Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of March 3rd

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The Texas Progressive Alliance is delighted to see marriage equality take another big step forward as we bring you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff examines the past performance of UT/Texas Trib polls in statewide Demorcatic primaries and finds it wanting.

As the Uber rideshare program (and all its politics) come to Houston, George and Horwitz at Texpatriate take different sides on the issue, one in favor, one against.

After a recent visit to the Natural State, Texas Leftist has discovered that Arkansas’ ‘Private Option’ alternative to Medicaid expansion is a rousing success. So successful in fact, it seems only natural that dysfunctional GOP politicians would try to kill it. Are they really willing to kick one hundred thousand people (and counting) off of their health plans?

WCNews at Eye on Williamson reminds us that the Texas GOP holds all the power in Texas and therefore Everything That’s Wrong With Texas Is The Texas GOP’s Fault.

It’s a good thing that Greg Abbott doesn’t comprehend the damage he’s doing to his chances to get elected, observes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. And as long as Abbott continues not getting it, Ted Nugent is going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why Greg Abbott’s campaign publicly endorses Ted Nugent’s views.

Neil at All People Have Value posted about the brave and hopeful man who interrupted arguments at the Supreme Court to speak up in opposition to Citizens United. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

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

John Coby has Greg Abbott’s next apology all ready for him.

The Texas Green Report updates us on the Sierra Club’s litigation against industrial polluters.

Offcite looks at your cancer risk in Houston.

The Lunch Tray reports that a growing number of Congressional Republicans are seeking to gut the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The Inanity of Sanity mocks the latest video smear attempt by James O’Keefe, this time against Battleground Texas.

TFN Insider awaits an apology to teachers from Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst now that their accusations about CSCOPE have proven to be utterly groundless.

Grits explains again why more security cameras do not equal more security.

Happy Electtion Day!! Make sure to go VOTE!!!