The Democratic Party also voted to include two other referendums regarding education. These include policies that would free moneys from the Dream Act for in-state tuition and making college more affordable for middle-class Americans
Send your comments and news tips to roundup.editor@gmail.com, click on the story links or click on the "comments" below the story– BREAKING NEWS –The San Antonio federal court's proposed new map keeps most of Hays County inside the 25th District. Courtesy Tx Legislative Council. Click on map to enlargeAustin American-Statesman | By Tim Eaton Court ends Doggett-Castro fight – When a panel of three federal judges in San Antonio released its redrawn congressional map today, it put an end to the anticipated race between U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who have been battling each other in an acrimonious fight for a proposed congressional district that would have extended from Austin to San Antonio.
Houston Chronicle
By Clay Thorp
Published Nov. 21, 2011
Read the complete story
The Texas Democratic Party will include a ballot measure asking if Texans support casino gambling to fund public education.
The non-binding question will appear on the party’s March 6 primary election ballot.
“We want to see where Texans stand on this issue,” said Anthony Gutierrez, a party spokesperson.
Gutierrez said after the Republican-controlled legislature “decimated” education in Texas, the state will have to come up with new ways to fund our children’s future.
– Also In the News –
Politico | By Maggie Haberman The GOP Debate: 6 Takeaways (Nov. 23, 2011) – The GOP debate on national security Tuesday night raised far more questions — and exposed far more divisions — than it resolved. While the topic isn’t central to the 2012 nomination battle, it was nevertheless critical for candidates to meet a modest threshold to remain viable — at least a minimal level of fluency in international affairs.
LA Times | By Paul West, Washington Bureau | Reporting from Austin, Texas Perry's leadership is sometimes costly (Nov. 21, 2011) – Rick Perry launched his Texas gubernatorial campaign in 2002 with an idea that he hoped would become his legacy: a 4,000-mile-long, 21st century transit network on which motorists would drive 90 mph on toll roads 10 lanes wide, high-speed trains would hum alongside, and there would be room for electric power lines, broadband fiber and pipes to pump oil, natural gas and water to a rapidly growing state.
What happened to the most controversial initiative of his 11 years as governor provides a window into a style of management that doomed not only the transit corridor but has contributed to the severe turbulence that has wracked his presidential candidacy. It is the sometimes lethal combination of inattention to detail and an insularity that blunts opposing views until it's too late.
Tulsa World | By Janet Pearson, Associate Editor Texas ratchets up efforts to obtain Oklahoma water (Nov. 20, 2011) – The Fort Worth-area water district serves 1.7 million customers in 11 fast-growing counties, and wants to buy billions of gallons of water from the tributaries that feed into the Red River. Under an old compact agreement, Texas and three other states have an arrangement to draw water from the Red River - a pact that has proven to be a major obstacle to the Texas case. The Texans could access Red River water, but they don't want to because the river is very salty and would require expensive treatment to be usable. It's much easier, they figure, to just tap into water flowing throughout southeastern Oklahoma.
5 comments:
Why prop up gambling as the solution to education funding...again? "Education funding" was the rationalization for legalizing some forms of gambling 20+ years ago. Did it work? NO! The gambling industry is confident that Texans are suckers. You didn't hold them accountable the first time and you're not going to hold them accountable this time.
A couple points I want to make about two of the mini-stories posted herein:
First, Castro was getting too much Republican crony money for his campaign against Doggett. This shows that Castro is nothing more than a DINO who is at best an hypocrite - or at worst a traitor - to the Hispanics that he obviously should be respresenting.
Although the Republican Party continues to perpetuate a shameful record representing the interests of our nation's ethnic minorities, at least the very few sold out ethnic politicians who are outright claiming to be Republicans are honest about it. The Castros are not.
Second, any casino money generated for public schools MUST be protected from pilfering by the right wing crooks and sharlatans who run the Texas Legislature in the name of fiscal austerity and phony big government social conservatism.
If there is any way they can do it, these Republican hustlers will do anything they can to get their grubby hands on that money - and somehow give it to their corporate masters.
A better solution for Texas public education would be to vote NO on casino gambling for schools.
Then, first, identify all the Republican and Democrat sharlatans in the State Legislature who send their own kids to private school but then vote to slash public education budgets. Immediate vote them out next go around.
Second, vote out local school board members who support the administrators who passively allow sports coach salaries that are double the salaries of the average academic high school teacher.
The list goes on. but that would be a start.
Breaking News? Really?
This is an old story. Every few years some legislators try to push for casino gambling in Texas.
Then the religious right pushes it away.
And yeah, right, that gambling will be for financing education. Get real.
It's no longer an issue, but if Castro had been getting "too much Republican crony money for his campaign against Doggett", I don't think it says so much about Castro as it does about how Republicans would love to get Doggett out of Congress. whether or not you like his policy positions, Doggett is quite partisan in his demeanor and conduct, and one who flaunts that partisanship on too frequent a basis. He's had a target on his back for a long time.
Retrocon is correct in one sense. Doggett is "partisan in his demeanor and conduct, and one who flaunts that partisanship on too frequent a basis."
Given the right wing oil sector theocracy that is represented by the corrupted Republican politicians here in Texas, Doggett is a breath of fresh air and someone who doesn't just wuss out to the anti-employee "right to work" Republican minds.
Doggett keeps the right wing crooks a little more honest, just by being a thorn in their side.
We need him, regardless of his foibles.
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