Politex

Police Chief updates council on Rainbow Lounge investigation (updated)

UPDATE: Seven protesters were removed from Tuesday night's City Council meeting after they refused to allow the meeting to continue until the Rainbow Lounge presentation was moved up to the top of the agenda. More details here.

A large turnout is expected at tonight’s Fort Worth City Council meeting as activists plan to attend in droves, intent on keeping the spotlight on last month’s Rainbow Lounge Raid.

Both Fairness Fort Worth and the ACLU are encouraging supporters to attend. Many are expected to speak their mind to the council. John Nelson, an attorney with Fairness Fort Worth, has arranged to make a citizen’s presentation about the incident and the investigation.

During the pre-council meeting this afternoon, Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead gave the council an update on his investigation of the June 28 raid, when state and local police conducted a bar inspection at a gay bar and made six arrests, severely injuring one patron. The incident has galvanized the gay community.

Some key points from Halstead’s presentation:

--Internal affairs investigators have conducted interviews with 33 attendees at the Rainbow Lounge and expected to complete the investigation in approximately 30 days.

--The Fort Worth police consider the investigation a priority, taking some internal affairs investigators off other cases to focus on the Rainbow Lounge incident, he said.

--Halstead expects to update the police department’s policy regarding bar raids, after taking input from the community.

“I don’t want a police officer to say, ‘I’ve never been in that bar. Let’s do an investigation,’” Halstead said.

--Soon after the incident, Halstead said he decided he needed a police officer to serve as a liaison to the city’s gay/lesbian/bisexual community, just as the department has people serving in a similar position for other minority communities. Officer Sara Straten, a neighborhood officer in north Fort Worth and 17-year veteran of the department, volunteered for the position.

“I plan to work hard to heal the community as a whole, both the police department and the GLBT community,” Straten told the council.

Mayor Mike Moncrief and council members praised Halstead but added they support the current plan to have the US Attorney’s office review the police investigation.

“While June 28 was a difficult day, I’m pleased to hear that we are moving forward and not backward,” Mayor Mike Moncrief told Halstead. “This city is an inclusive city. This is not an exclusive city”

Schieffer announces nearly $800,000 in fund-raising

AUSTIN - With the approach of a Wednesday deadline for candidate financial disclosure reports, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer announced Tuesday that his campaign has raised nearly $800,000 in contributions and loans for the six-month reporting period.

"I am especially heartened by the fact that this money was raised during some very difficult times in Texas," the Fort Worth attorney, who served as U.S. ambassador during the Bush Administration, said in a press release.

Schieffer's total pales in comparison to the millions raised by Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in their marquee face-off in the Republican gubernatorial race. Hutchison has $12.5 million in cash on hand and Perry has $9.3 million. 

-- Dave Montgomery

Cruz rounds up blue-ribbon conservative endorsements

AUSTIN - Republican attorney general candidate Ted Cruz announced endorsements from more than two dozen state and national conservative stalwarts on Monday in an attempt to solidify his hold on voters in next year's Republican primary. 

Cruz, who served as the state's solicitor general under current Attorney General Greg Abbott, is the only announced candidate in the race, although State Rep. Dan Branch, a Dallas Republican, has often been mentioned as a likely contender.  Both announced recently that they have raised more than $1 million.

Cruz' list of supporters includes three former U.S. Attorneys General - Bill Barr, Edwin Meese and Dick Thornburgh - and former U.S. Solicitors General Paul Clement and Ted Olson.  Texas endorsements include Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Victor Carrillo, Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams, Texas Alliance for Life executive director Joe Pojman and Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.

-- Dave Montgomery

Hutchison: "I'm running"--with $6.7M

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, right, introduces U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as the campaign announces raising $6.7 million and a total of $12 million for her run for governor.

Hutchison said her campaign is "open for business" and she will formally announce in August, she said: "I am running for governor of Texas."

She said she is running to "rejuvenate the enthusiasm of the Republican Party of Texas."

Gov. Rick Perry's campaign has $9 million toward his re-election bid.

 --Bud Kennedy

Bruno + Ron Paul + hotel room = comedy gold

Forget Sacha Baron Cohen. For politicos, the star of the new flick "Bruno" is Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

The Libertarian-leaning doctor makes a surprise appearance in the movie and the cameo is almost sure to become a future Trivial Pursuit question. (Which former presidential candidate was propositioned in a Washington, D.C. hotel room in the movie "Bruno"?)

S-T Ed Diva Eva Marie-Ayala took in the movie today as part of research for a story (no, really). Here's her take on Paul's cameo:

Sacha Baron Cohen plays a television host wanting to become “the biggest Austrian star since Hitler.” At one point, he determines the only way to do so is to star in a sex video with a famous person. Enter Paul.

Cohen's character tricks the former presidential candidate into a hotel bedroom during a mock interview.

"Has anyone ever told you you look like Enrique Iglesias," he asks Paul. "Of course not. You're much cuter."

Paul tries to ignore Cohen's advances but finally storms out when Cohen drops his pants.

"This guy is queerer than blazes," the angry Paul yells as he leaves.

Paul told a radio show host that he found Cohen "dishonest" and a "sad reflection of our culture."

"I was expecting an interview on Austrian economics," Paul said. "When this all gets out, I'm probably going to have to apologize to my supporters because I think most of them are going to [ask], 'Why in the world didn't I sock this guy in the nose?'"

This trailer for the film has a few shots from Paul's interaction with Cohen.

-Aman Batheja and Eva Marie-Ayala

Granger speaks about 36-hour hospital stay

Doctors at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., released U.S. Rep. Kay Granger on Friday afternoon, about 36 hours after she was admitted for dehydration.

Granger, R-Fort Worth, promptly packed a bag and got on an airplane for Wisconsin to fulfill her role as the sponsor of the USS Fort Worth, a littoral combat ship under construction at the Marinette Marine shipyards.

“I was very ready to get out,” Granger said.

She said, by phone on her way to the airport Friday afternoon, that several doses of intravenous fluids had her feeling much restored.

“It renews you fast,” she said.

Granger, overseeing debate on the funding bill for State Department and foreign operations in 2010, went to the House physician Wednesday because she felt “terrible,” was exhausted and nauseous.

“I thought I had a bug,” she said. “He gave me an IV right there and did a blood test. That’s when he said I needed to go to the hospital.”

Properly chastened to drink more water, Granger was excited about the opportunity to participate in Saturday’s keel-laying ceremony, where she will use a welder’s torch to autograph a piece of steel on the USS Fort Worth.

“All the people taking care of me were Navy, so when I told them I was the ship’s sponsor, they said, ‘We’ve got to get you ready then.’ It made a difference to them.”

-Chris Vaughn

Granger Out of Hospital

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, has been released from a Washington-area hospital after being admitted Wednesday evening for dehydration.

Granger Being Released from Hospital Today

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, is being released from the hospital today, said spokesman Steve Dutton. She was admitted to a Washington-area hospital Wednesday night due to dehydration.

"The congresswoman is doing fine," said Dutton. "She will be released today and the plan is for her to attend the keel laying ceremony for the USS Fort Worth this weekend." The ceremony is Saturday in Marinette, Wisconsin, where the USS Fort Worth is being built by Lockheed Martin.

Granger was the prime mover behind getting the Navy to name its newest LIttoral Combat Ship, which can navigate in shallow coastal waters, after Fort Worth.Then-Navy Secretary Donald Winters announced the honor in March.

-- Maria Recio

Granger Hospitalized - Update

Rep. Kay Granger remains in a Washington-area hospital after being admitted last night with dehydration. Her spokesman Steve Dutton said, "she is fine and should be released tomorrow."

-- Maria Recio

Granger hospitalized

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, has been hospitalized because of dehydration, her office said today. Granger, the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on state and foreign operations, was not on the House floor this afternoon to manage the funding bill for fiscal year 2010. Asked about her absence from the high-profile job as a floor manager for the bill, Granger spokesman Steve Dutton said: "Congresswoman Granger is in the hospital. She was admitted last night due to dehydration. She is fine, and expects to be released within the next day or so.

"She is disappointed she will miss floor consideration of the State-Foreign Operations bill as she has put hard work into crafting a bipartisan bill with Chairwoman Nita Lowey that achieves balanced solutions to the many complex policy problems we face as a country. She looks forward to the successful passage of the FY 2010 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill."

 

 

-- Maria Recio

Perry, Friedman lead in new UT poll

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry has a 12-point lead over probable Republican challenger,  U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Austin humorist-entertainer Kinky Friedman leads former U.S. ambassador Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth among the small number of Democrats who have made up their minds in the race, according to new poll by the University of Texas.

One of the more striking findings is the fact that the governor's race is still off the radar for many voters.  Nearly one-third of Republicans are still undecided or who would prefer somebody besides Perry or Hutchison, according to the poll. 

More than 70 percent of Democrats remain undecided; 12 percent of those with a preference back Friedman, 3 percent support Mark Thompson, who ran for the Texas Railroad Commission in 2008,  and two percent support Schieffer. State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, had 7 percent support among Democrats even though she has backed away from running for governor.

Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics project, which conducted the poll, described Friedman's lead as "simple name-recognition over a much lesser-known candidate at a time when very few people are paying attention." 

 "The undecideds are definitely winning this thing right now because people have more important things to pay attention to," he said.

The likely match-up between Perry and Hutchison has churned more interest, said Henson, because it pits two prominent Republican statewide officials against each other in the party's March primary.  Perry drew support from 38 percent of potential Republican primary voters, while Hutchison had 26 percent.  Perry also led by Hutchison by 11 percent among all registered voters.

The poll surveyed 924 Texans online from June 11-12.  The overall poll had a margin of error of 3.22 percent but the margin was larger for the Republican primary - more than 5 percent - because that category included a smaller sampling of respondents, said Henson.

The survey also showed a wide open race to replace Hutchison in the Senate, with 62 percent of the voters undecided.  Among eight potential candidates, former Democratic comptroller John Sharp had 10 percent and Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst had 9 percent. Former Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat, had 7 percent, and Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott, a Republican, had 6 percent.

Three North Texas Republicans were near the bottom of the pack. State Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano had 3 percent.  Former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams of Weatherford and Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams of Arlington each had 1 percent.  Another Republican Railroad Commissioner, Elizabeth Ames Jones of San Antonio, also had 1 percent.  

-- Dave Montgomery

Is Obama pushing for a second stimulus?

The rumors of a possible second stimulus package from the Obama administration are growing as some White House aides have said it may be necessary. Now Warren Buffett backs the idea, comparing the first stimulus to "half a tablet of Viagra."

Stimulus spending in Texas is gearing up this month but various state officials are expecting the massive cash injection will save more jobs in the state than it creates.

At the center of this debate is whether the $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Obama in February was too small, just right, or a complete waste of the cash. Many Democrats say it's too early to tell whether the stimulus will work. Republicans counter that the rising unemployment rate has already settled the debate.

Both parties are out with new web ads on the issue.

Perry responds to veto complaint

Gov. Rick Perry has shot back at criticism from Euless Rep. Todd Smith in a Letter to the Editor published in today's Star-Telegram.

Smith wrote an editorial for the Star-Telegram last month blasting Perry for vetoing Smith's bill, which would have allowed certain low-level sex offenders to petition a judge to be removed from the state's sex offender registry.

Smith argued that Perry goofed because, in his veto statement, Perry wrote that the bill would have given sex offenders the chance to get off the sex registry regardless of the age of the victim. Smith noted that his bill only applied to cases where an offender was convicted of having consensual sex with someone who was at least 14 and not more than four years younger than the defendant.

But in his response, Perry says Smith is the one who is confusing the details of the bill.

"It is true that some provisions of the bill, concerning certain sexual offenses, required that the victim must be at least 14 years old and the offender less than four years older. These provisions were appropriate in my mind," Perry wrote. He explained that another provision in the bill did not have a minimum age requirement for some offenses.

"If misapplied by a court, this stipulation would have provided room within the law for offenders to be exempt from sex offender registration if they committed indecency with a child of any age, no matter how young," Perry wrote.

Read the bill for yourself here.

-Aman Batheja

Perry reports $4.2 million in fund-raising

AUSTIN - The battle for bucks in the Republican gubernatorial race began heating up on Wednesday as Gov. Rick Perry 's campaign announced that it has raised $4.2 million in nine days, nearly doubling contributions for the same time period in 2005 during Perry's last campaign.

Perry, facing a likely challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, received the donations from 1,076 donors from June 22-June 30, according to a statement from Texans for Rick Perry.  Perry was restricted from raising money during the recent 140-day legislative session but the latest donations will be pooled with contributions raised before the session, giving him a total of $9.3 million in cash-on-hand.

-- Dave Montgomery

Not as much security for former President Bush?

Apparently fewer Dallas police officers will be protecting former President George W. Bush's Preston Hollow home.

The Dallas Morning News reports that until last week, the city had posted one officer pretty much round the clock near the former president's home in Dallas, on top of normal Secret Service protection

But with the city's fiscal situation, that shift apparently was cut, according to the DMN.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Houston congresswoman speaks at Jackson memorial

US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston just addressed the huge crowd watching the public memorial service for Michael Jackson in Los Angeles.

Lee, a Democrat, praised Jackson's talent and made a veiled swipe at recent comments about allegations that Jackson was a child molester. According to Oliver Burkeman at the Guardian, Lee said:

"We understand laws, and we know that people are innocent until proven otherwise. That is what the Constitution stands for."

Lee also touted a resolution she has filed in the US House honoring Jackson.

(Left: a 2004 photo of Jackson visiting Lee's office on Capitol Hill. Jackson was visiting African-American lawmakers to offer his support on the fight against AIDS and help for African children,)

-Aman Batheja

Cruz reports more than $1 million in fund-raising

Former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz said Monday that he has raised more than $1 million in his bid to run for attorney general, an early indication that spending in next year's statewide political races could break previous records, even with an economic dowturn.

Cruz, who served as the state's chief appellate lawyer under Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, remains close to Abbott and is running on the likelihood that the incumbent attorney general will seek higher office, possibly the U.S. Senate or lieutenant governor.

Campaign finance reports for state candidates are due on July 15 at the Texas Ethics Commission.    Cruz said that he has received donations from more than 500 contributors in 57 cities and 18 states.

His biggest Fort Worth contributor was attorney Stephen L. Tatum, who was listed among a group of donors who gave $5,000, according to Cruz' campaign.  Fort Worth philanthropists Elliot and Heather Goldman gave $2,000.  Fort Worth Zoo benefactor Ramona Bass, oilman Richard W. Moncrief and attorney Jay Rutherford and his wife Kay were listed among contributors who gave at least $1,000.

-- Dave Montgomery

Special Session: That's a wrap

AUSTIN -- With plenty of time to spare before the July 4 festivities kick off, state lawmakers wrapped up work on the transportation issues Gov. Rick Perry called them to the Capitol to resolve.

They passed two of the three measures on the agenda before ending the special session and heading home.

Now, five state agencies that had been in danger of having to shut down found their existence extended and the state was given the go-ahead to issue $2 billion in road bonds that voters had already approved.

Left undone was a controversial proposal to extend transportation officials' authority to enter contracts for privately run toll roads.

"We did the work we needed to do," said state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

Perry said he was pleased lawmakers passed two of the bills.

"With more than 1,000 people moving to Texas each day and a growing economy, improving transportation in our state continues to be a top priority of mine," Perry said in a written statement.

Final tally for the special session. Two bills in two days.

Approximate cost to taxpayers: About $66,000.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

 

 

Perry and Joe the Plumber to hit Texas Tea Parties this weekend

First they took over Tax Day. Now conservative activists are hoping this Fourth of July weekend will be known for the dozens of Tea Party rallies planned around the country.

Gov. Rick Perry is planning to rack up the miles and attend four Tea Party rallies, according to campaign spokesman Mark Miner. He'll start on Friday with a Tea Party in Sulpher Springs and then hit three more on Saturday: Rockwall, Austin and San Antonio.

The San Antonio rally will also include Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber.

The largest event in Texas, and possibly the country, is expected to be one planned for the famed-Southfork Ranch in Parker. Dubbed “America’s Tea Party,” the event is scheduled to feature writer and blogger Michelle Malkin and Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees and end with fireworks. Organizers are predicting tens of thousands will attend.

By our count, this will be the third round of Tea Party rallies nationwide, after the first group in February, and a larger batch on April 15.

Here's the best list we can find of all the rallies planned for this weekend.

-Aman Batheja

Special Session -- waiting game

AUSTIN -- Texas senators are about to receive House Bill 1 (letting the state issue $2 billion in road bonds) in a committee and expect it to hit the full floor shortly.

If senators don't change it, both chambers could soon close out the special session, sending the bill to Gov. Rick Perry, and head home early for the 4th of July weekend.

Both chambers have already approved Senate Bill 2, continuing five state agencies that otherwise would have had to start closing.

And officials already have declared the third item -- extending the state transportation department's ability to enter contracts for public or toll roads -- dead.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Perry signing bills

AUSTIN -- As state lawmakers work to finish up their business and head home early for the July 4 holiday, Gov. Rick Perry held a ceremonial bill signing Thursday.

Around noon, he had a special ceremony for House Bill 978, by Fort Worth Democrat state Rep. Lon Burnam, which gives more protections against discrimination in teh workplace to disabled Texans.

"If you live with or have survived cancer, if you struggle with diabetes, if you have a back injury, but you can still do the job, this law makes it illegal for you to be fired because of your condition," Burnam said.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

 

Special session in two days?

AUSTIN -- Legislators are talking like they want to go home today.

When Gov. Rick Perry called them back to town to wrap up business left unfinished from the 81st Legislative session, he said he thought it might take them a few days -- "badda bing, bada boom."

Word around the Capitol is that lawmakers may pass the first two of the issues before them -- continuing five state agencies and letting the state issue $2 billion in road bonds. But they are trying to put protections on the money to ensure that taxpayer dollars don't end up ultimately funding private toll roads that they would have to pay twice to use.

And they may leave undone a controversial proposal to extend the state transportation department's ability to enter contracts for public or toll roads -- known as Comprehensive Development Agreements.

Details to come.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

 

Obama and Burgess debate health care reform at town hall

Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, asked President Barack Obama a question via a YouTube video during Obama's town hall forum on health care yesterday.

Burgess asked Obama why he opposed caps on malpractice suits, since that's proven to bring down medical costs for doctors in Texas.

"In my homestate of Texas, we know what works," Burgess said.

Obama said he opposes "artifical caps" but added, "I want to see, are there ways we can reduce the constant threat of lawsuits that doctors and hospitals experience, because I do think that creates defensive medicine."

Obama then countered Burgess' claim that Texas handles costs better, pointing to a New Yorker article that argues McAllen is a model of wasteful spending.

Burgess responded, in a statement, "The issues raised by the New Yorker article in regards to higher utilization rates in McAllen, Texas, are complex, and are not likely to be directly caused by, or solved by, medical liability reform. This may just as likely point to one of the weaknesses of a government-run payment system – Medicare – as it does any other matter."

-Aman Batheja

Special Session: Day Two

AUSTIN -- Day two of the special legislative session begins at 10 a.m. today for the House of Representatives and at 11 a.m. today for the Senate.

Lawmakers will pick up where they dropped off Wednesday, trying to pass the unfinished transportation-related bills that Gov. Rick Perry called them back to finish.

One question on many minds: Will they be finished in time to spend the 4th of July at home?

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Pleading for pardon for Tim Cole

AUSTIN -- The Fort Worth family of Tim Cole asked Gov. Rick Perry to sign a pardon for Cole -- or add the issue to the special session while lawmakers are in town this week.

Cory Session, Cole's brother, said he's even prepared a pardon for Perry to sign and planned to slide it under the governor's door.

"Governor, I ask you," Session said. "Pardon Tim Cole today. ... It is the right thing to do."

Perry's office maintains that a previous attorney general's opinion shows that the governor does not have the authority to issue posthumous pardons.That's why lawmakers must pass a constiutional amendment -- to go before voters -- to give him that authority.

The governor's office maintains that Perry does not intend to expand the call for this session. Perry has said he hopes lawmakers are in and out of the Capitol in a matter of days.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Hutchison makes surprise trip to Iraq

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison made a surprise visit to Iraq today, her office disclosed.

Speaking on a conference call with reporters from Kuwait, the Texas Republican said she wanted to make the trip to see the situation in Baghdad the day after US troops withdrew from the country’s cities. She expressed confidence in the gradual withdrawal plan in place but warned that violence could escalate in the short-term.

"I think everyone knows that this is going to really be a time-tested operation and we cannot say one day into it that it’s a success," Hutchison said.

Congressional trips to Iraq are often not announced in advance for security reasons.

Hutchison first visited with troops in Kuwait and then spent most of the day in Baghdad, she said. This was her third trip to Iraq.

Hutchison said she wanted to visit with troops in advance of the Fourth of July "to tell them we appreciate what they are doing."

In Kuwait, Hutchison said she was able to learn how military equipment used in Iraq is being refurbished and sent to help US forces in Afghanistan. She said seeing the process firsthand gave her information "you could never get with a PowerPoint in Washington."

(Photo courtesy of Sen. Hutchison's office.)

-Aman Batheja

Special session moving along

AUSTIN -- The first special session of the 81st Legislature is moving along.

The House adjourned and recessed until 10 a.m. Thursday, after referring three bills to committee. Already, the House State Affairs Committee has approved HB 2, the measure geared to keep five state agencies operating.

The Senate adjourned and recessed until 3 p.m. today; all three bills have been sent to committee.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he hopes SB 2, which is the same as HB 2, will be approved by committee and the Senate as a whole today. He said the Senate will let the House take the lead on HB 1, which lets the Texas Department of Transportation issue $2 billion in bonds for building roads. (Unless they move slowly, then the Senate will step up, he said).

And Dewhurst said SB 3, same as HB 3, is something leaders are still discussing, as a new version of the bill -- HB 4 -- was filed this morning. This issue, lawmakers say, is the one item that could cause this special session to not be as quick as Gov. Rick Perry hoped when he called lawmakers back to Austin. This measure is about extending the transportation department's authority to go into public-private contracts to create some roads and/or tollroads.

"Right now, it's wait and see," state Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Senate convenes too

AUSTIN -- The Texas Senate has begun work, more than half an hour after the House kicked of the session.
Senate members apparently had to wrap up a closed-door caucus first.
-- Anna M. Tinsley

And the session begins

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Joe Straus called the House to order just seven minutes late, as members are greeting each other with hugs, smiles and handshakes after a one-month absence from the Legislature.

Members are joking with each other about how long they think they'll be here for the session, asking each other if they packed big bags or not.

Apparently the state Senate remains in a closed-door caucus, for the moment.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Special Session kicks off

AUSTIN -- It's 10 a.m. July 1.

Do you know where your state lawmaker is?

Right here at the Texas Capitol, ready for the 81st Legislature's first -- and some hopefully say only -- special session.

Although it's after 10 a.m., lawmakers are still making their way to the House chamber and House Speaker Joe Straus has yet to gavel the session to order.

Gov. Rick Perry has called lawmakers back to Austin just one month after they left to finish business he said they left undone. He believes they can finish the three transportation related issues in a matter of days.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Pre-session rally

AUSTIN -- Before the special session even began, about a dozen Texans were on the south steps of the Capitol calling on lawmakers to reject a measure to extend the Texas Department of Transportation's ability to enter into public-private contracts for the building of roads.

They say between this and the release of $2 billion in bonds for roadwork -- $1 billion of which may be used to create an outside fund -- public money could be used for private projects.

Gov. Rick Perry's "continued insistence to force privatized toll roads down the throats of working Texans is fiscally irresponsible and morally wrong," said Hank Gilbert, a member of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom. "The elected members of the Texas House and Senate need to do what the public elected them to do -- Just say no.

"If they don't, then it may very well be the last bad decision that they are allowed to make for the citizens of the great state of Texas."

Texas Libertarians say the measures before lawmakers during this special session could create the largest tax increase in Texas history, by using taxpayer dollars -- which they fear might include state worker pension funds -- for private projects, on which Texans might ultimately be charged tolls.

"This is creating a financial scheme to fun droads without the appearance of raising taxes," said Robert Butler, executive director of the Libertarian Party of Texas. "We are opposed to the state of Texas using our taxpayer dollars for private companies."

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Cornyn: Franken in Senate may not be all bad for GOP

Speaking at a health care forum in Dallas today, Sen. John Cornyn said the news that Al Franken will become the junior senator from Minnesota and give Democrats a filibuster-proof majority makes it tougher to block the creation of a government-run public health care program.

"Sixty votes in the Senate means you can do whatever you want to do so that makes it much harder," Cornyn said. "On the other hand, that means whatever is done, the majority is going to own it and they're going to be held responsible for it in the next election so be careful what you ask for."

Cornyn also acknowledged that the confirmation hearings on Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court may now be a foregone conclusion if Democrats are united in favor of her.

"I think if they're determined to seat her and they have 60 votes, they can do so but that still doesn't mean we shouldn't do our job in good faith trying to, in good faith, do an appropriate confirmation hearing and process," Cornyn said.

Cornyn was appearing at his tenth forum in recent weeks on health care reform. Earlier in the day, he attended a forum in Houston joined by fellow Republican Sen. John McCain. According to staffers, the general sense he's getting at the forums is that Texans don't like the idea of a government-run health care program.

-Aman Batheja

Al Franken's one trip to Fort Worth

As news breaks that comedian Al Franken will be the next senator of Minnesota, ending a legal challenge against Republican Norm Coleman that seemed to go on forever, I was reminded of the time I interviewed Franken in 2005, way before anyone was seriously discussing him running for public office.

It was in Austin's State Theater on Congress Ave. Franken was there to promote the launch of his Air America Radio show in Austin and the Metroplex.

Franken was preparing to record a show before a packed audience, with his guests including Molly Ivins and Ana Marie Cox (then known as Wonkette. Ironically, she now works for Air America).

"I got my boots in Fort Worth," Franken told me regarding his one trip to Fort Worth in the 1990s. "They were custom-made boots."

Franken said he had recently started wearing the boots more often.

"I was going to wear them down here," he added, "But I didn't want anyone to think I'm making some sort of comment."

Franken said he was charmed by the scene in Austin, as his visit coincided with South By Southwest.

"I've been here less than 24 hours and I've already joined two bands," he joked.

-Aman Batheja

Smith blasts Perry for vetoing sex offender bill

State Rep. Todd Smith has an op-ed piece in today's Star-Telegram criticizing Gov. Perry for vetoing one of his bills. Smith, a Republican from Euless, also suggests that Perry didn't properly understand the bill before he vetoed it.

SB 3148 would have allowed certain low-level sex offenders to petition a judge to be removed from the state's sex offender registry. The bill passed through the Legislature relatively easy and faced little organized opposition.

"Gov. Rick Perry vetoed one of the most morally compelling bills I have ever filed in the Texas House," Smith wrote.

Perry said in his veto statement that he couldn't sign the bill because "sex offenders would be eligible to petition a court for an exemption from sex offender registration, regardless of the age of the victim." However, Smith's bill only applied to cases where an offender was convicted of having consensual sex with someone who was at least 14 and not more than four years younger than the defendant.

"Perry apparently believes that every teenager who has a consensual relationship with someone more than three years, but less than four years younger should be labeled for life as a sex offender," Smith wrote.

-Aman Batheja

It's early summer. Do you know where your governor is?

Not something one usually spends time wondering about for long. But after South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford was missing for a week to meet up with his mistress in Argentina, the Associated Press checked in with each of the nation's governors to find out what they were doing at the exact time the news outlet called. FYI: Gov. Rick Perry was at his campaign headquarters and then arrived at the AP's Austin bureau to prove that, yes, he was in town.

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Antonin Scalia's rules to live by

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had plenty of one-liners for the Texas Bar Association's annual meeting in Dallas this morning.

Scalia and Dallas lawyer Bryan Garner playfully argued about the proper ways to write legal briefs and argue before judges Friday morning before a packed ballroom.

Scalia’s tips were directed at the room full of lawyers but many would apply to a mass audience.

Scalia's rules for writing:

-"Vary your sentences. They shouldn’t be all the same length...I would say even throw in a passive now and then, just for the hell of it."

-“If you’re constantly italicizing words, it sort of reads like a high school girl’s diary."

-"Don’t ever underestimate the power of a short sentence."

-Avoid the phrase "Fatally flawed." Scalia hates it.

-Also avoid the word "nexus."  “Oh god,” the Supreme Court Justice groaned. “It’s a Latin word that means connection. Say ‘connection.’ You make it sound scientific.”

-Don't use contractions in writing. "Is any judge going to get mad because you don’t use contractions? I’m going to get mad if you do." (When Garner pointed out plenty of writers use contractions, including those at Newsweek, Scalia quipped, "I certainly want to be in that league.")

And here's a few other Scalia rules that apply if you were to say, run into him on the street:

-Avoid using words you don’t know how to pronounce. "I’ve listened to lawyers who have sent five kids to college on nuclear power and still can’t say the name right. It’s nuclear. Nuclear."

-Try to make yourself likable. “No judge likes to give a case to a mean spirited person. I’ll do it if the law requires it.”

-Aman Batheja

Former House Speaker Gib Lewis arrested

Former House Speaker Gib Lewis, 72, was arrested Thursday night in downtown Austin for driving while intoxicated, Austin police say.

Lewis was driving his 2000 black Porsche on 4th Street about 11:30 p.m. Thursday, but didn't turn in a left-turn-only lane, said Sgt. Richard Stresing, an Austin police spokesman.

A police officer pulled him over, noticed "slurred speech and blood shot eyes," and called in the DWI unit, Stresing said.

Lewis apparently failed the standard DWI test and the breathalyzer registered 0.16 -- twice the legal limit, Stresing said the affidavit said.

Lewis, a five-time House Speaker who didn't run for re-election after investigation scandals in the early 1990s, served as a Democrat from Fort Worth. He is now a lobbyist.

A call to Lewis' office was not immediately returned Friday morning. He was no longer in the Travis County Jail Friday morning.

 -- Anna M. Tinsley

Perry was planning bill signing in Fort Worth next week

Before today's announcement of a special session, Gov. Rick Perry's office had been working with the family of wrongfully convicted inmate Tim Cole to arrange a symbolic bill signing of the Tim Cole Act in Fort Worth next Wednesday, Cole’s birthday, Perry's office has confirmed.

Someone with the Governor’s office called Wednesday night to inform Cole's family that the event had to be postponed because Perry was going to launch his special session that day, according to Cory Session, Cole's brother.

Perry's office hopes to reschedule the event, spokesperson Katherine Cesinger said. 

The Tim Cole Act increases state compensation for wrongfully convicted Texans and was signed by Perry in May.

KBH on Texan Farrah Fawcett's death

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has known Corpus Christi native Farrah Fawcett for more than half her life.

She released a statement about the former Charlie's Angel Thursday.

“Long before Farrah was famous, she was a star, lighting up the lives of all who knew her. When we were in college together, I saw what a lovely, sweet person she was. She remained that way throughout her life, and she was always loyal to her home state of Texas. She battled cancer with courage and grace, and her death is a sad reminder of how relentless and indiscriminate cancer remains today. The deadly disease has taken one of Texas'  brightest. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and the many friends she made throughout her illustrious life.”

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Cornyn among Texans participating in White House immigration meeting this afternoon

Several Texans -- Sen. John Cornyn and Reps. Lamar Smith, Sheila Jackson Lee and Silvestre Reyes -- are among the members of Congress invited to meet with President Obama in a bipartisan session that was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Here's how the White House describes the goal:

"The meeting is intended to launch a policy conversation by having an honest discussion about the issues and identifying areas of agreement and areas where we still have work to do, with the hope of beginning the debate in earnest later this year."

-- John Gravois