Big City Columnist…(Updated)
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008This almost reads like a story from The Onion
Archive for April, 2008
This almost reads like a story from The Onion
Dewhurst Hails Court Ruling Upholding Indiana’s Partisan Poll Tax
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008David Dewhurst wasted little time before hailing the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a voter ID bill law in Inidiana that has been criticized as discriminatory and anti-democratic. “I look forward to passing a fair voter ID law in Texas next year,” Texas’s very own career-rookie lieutenant governor said in ...
Direct To Video
Monday, April 28th, 2008As early voting in the May 10 Austin city council races gets underway, the main candidates in Place 1 are crowding out the local airwaves. Uncle Lee Leffingwell, 67, goes after whispers that he’s too old or somehow lacking in the energy required to sit on the dais for ...
Big City Columnist Criticizes Cabela’s Small-Town Ways
Friday, April 25th, 2008The Houston Chronicle’s Rick Casey picks up on the Cabela’s controversy with a column criticizing the outdoor retail chain as a “poster child for that strain of American capitalism which disguises lobbying skills as entrepreneurial spirit.” Even worse, Casey writes, “this week's news is that the Buda store will also be ...
Re-Elect U.S. Senator David Dewhurst in 2010?
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Today is William Shakespeare’s birthday, which brings us to the topic du jour — Gov. Rick Perry and his announcement last week that he will seek another term in two years. His announcement may have failed to convince even as many Texans as voted for him last time (39 ...
Hunting For Taxpayer Refunds In Hays County (Updated)
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008Already more than a quarter million dollars in hock to local Hays County taxpayers, outdoor retailer Cabela’s may now be forced to cough up nearly half-a-million more to the Texas Enterprise Fund. The controversial state business incentive fund pushed through the Legislature by Rick Perry in 2003 with an initial $300 ...
Reversing The Process
Friday, April 18th, 2008In the wake of Rick Perry’s wink-and-nod announcement yesterday that he might seek another term in 2010, some political observers noted the irony of an AP story earlier in the week about a federal inmate in Beaumont who qualified for Idaho’s presidential primary ballot next month. Usually, politicians do time after ...
Is Perry Really Running?
Thursday, April 17th, 2008Don’t count on it, despite the coincidence of a Dallas Morning News story making the rounds on the same afternoon that Perry pal Pope Benedict is celebrating mass in the nation’s capital. “When asked whether the gubernatorial field would include Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and ...
Hard To Find Good Help These Days
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008State Rep. Nathan Macias lost his primary last month to former New Braunfels mayor Doug Miller by a mere 17 votes. After a recount and lots of public warnings about electoral fraud, Macias’ legal team — including his own committee clerk, a state employee — filed suit. Among ...
Discount Electorals
Monday, April 14th, 2008Austin City Council hopeful Jason Meeker says he wishes his former campaign treasurer wouldn’t try quite so hard to help him in his race against Lee Leffingwell, the once-and-future-mayoral-candidate who has to win re-election to his current council seat first. An ad in this week’s Austin Chronicle features Discount Electronics chief ...
Fools Rush In
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Austin’s newspaper of record last week published an excerpt from a phony press release that it falsely attributed to this blog — in a story about the "controversy" surrounding a factual post on this same blog. This morning, the newspaper published a begrudging correction. Here’s the bottom line: APR has never ...
The Travel Channel Was There, Were You?
Monday, April 7th, 2008If you couldn't find anything to do last weekend in Austin, then you must not have tried. Between the Custom Hot Rod Show on Soco, Texas Relays, Louisiana Swampfest, Urban music festival and any number of smaller events and shows, our city was on display. Apparently, the Travel Channel's Samantha ...
Glen Maxey for UT Chancellor?
Monday, April 7th, 2008After we broke the story that UT Chancellor Mark Yudof had agreed to take the top job at the University of California and would soon make his decision public, a reader commented that former state representative and longtime Democratic activist Glen Maxey should be considered as Yudof’s replacement. “Maxey is a ...
Lawyer In New Braunfels Election Contest A State Employee
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008Republican state lawmaker Nathan Macias of Bulverde lost his primary election last month to former New Braunfels mayor Doug Miller by the narrowest margin — a mere 17 votes after the recount. Macias, elected to his first term in 2006 in a campaign bankrolled by voucher advocate Dr. James ...
Don’t Tell Rick Perry About This
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008Voters in Wisconsin this week limited their Governor’s ability to freely edit state budget bills by deleting word or phrases “to create entirely new meanings never intended by the original authors.” Once known as the Vanna White veto, the practice was reduced (but not eliminated) by more than 70 ...
