Politex

Rick Perry, Chuck Norris and Ashlee Simpson. Oh my.

And Perez Hilton, Fall Out Boy and Sandra Bullock too.

A Houston blog called FireDrank.com is trying an unusual campaign to lobby people to their cause -- the plight of children in Uganda and the Congo.

They've shot over 30 YouTube videos, each directed at convincing a different high-profile person to show up at their Austin rally on April 25. Among those targeted are politicians like Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn and President Barack Obama. The group has also posted videos appealing to celebrities like Perez Hilton, Chuck Norris, Lance Armstrong and Ashlee Simpson (and her son Bronx).

Here's their plea to Rick Perry. You can see the rest of them here.

-----

-Aman Batheja

Patrick Kennedy goes ga-ga for Granger

Who Knew? Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., spoke out emotionally on the House floor yesterday about the need for greater awareness and screening for colorectal cancer and in the process, practically screamed about how great co-sponor Kay Granger was.

"Why is it so important that we have screening and we pay for screening? Because there's no health insurance out there. And that's why we need health insurance reform. And that's why Kay Granger is such a champion - because she stepped up to the plate and signed on to legislation, saying 'it's good to talk about it but unless we pay for it, it's not going to do us a lot of good.' That's what we need. We need to pay for screening. And as she said, as she pointed out, the evidence backs us up, if we screen, we save Medicare money."

The two teamed up as sponsors of a resolution designating March, Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month -- that passed the House yesterday -- and a bill, HR 1189, Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act of 2009, that would pay for screening tests. Granger's father died from colorectal cancer and she has been heavily involved in the issue. Kennedy's father, "lion of the Senate" Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is being treated for brain cancer.

-- Maria Recio

Hutchison praises Clinton's persistence in Democratic primaries

Though she was criticized by many at the time for not accepting her loss to Barack Obama sooner, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison praised Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her persistence in last year’s primaries.
Hutchison and Clinton were speaking at an event at the Women’s Museum in Dallas.
“I think the most incredible thing I saw in you during this period was your ability to keep a happy face, a confident face when you were getting so many disappointments,” Hutchison said.
“It is the hardest thing for us to do, to just be completely devastated and never let it show on your face and that is what you did. It is a great example for everyone.”
Hutchison said Clinton’s persistence in the Democratic primary is why she now has her current gig.
“It was that incredible ability to lose, get over it, help the president of your party win and put your heart into it and win, which you did, and that character is why you’re Secretary of State today,” Hutchison said.

-Aman Batheja

Straus: Look at changing state school board elections--maybe more

The Texas Legislature should "take a thorough look" at changing the structure of the embattled Texas State Board of Education, maybe changing it to a nonpartisan or appointed board, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus told the Star-Telegram Editorial Board Friday.

As education board members ended two days of acrimonious debate over science standards -- rewriting them on the fly to have classrooms teach  "all sides" of evolution theory -- Straus said that if "the board is not getting their job done and they're not pleasing the Legislature or the citizens, then we ought to take a thorough look at what they are doing."

Straus said: "I think it's unfair that the State Board of Education makes so much news in the manner that they make it." Besides the board's handling of science standards, Straus said, "I have some other concerns about that elected body having so much management authority over significant dollars," referring to investments of the Permanent School Fund.

He said it would be "interesting" to look at nonpartisan board elections. Straus also brought up changing back to an appointed board.

"I've spoken to some people who were leaders in the effort to make it an elected board, and they're very sorry," he said.

(The photo shows an unidentified State Board of Education meeting attendee.)

--Bud Kennedy

The difference between Hillary the candidate and Hillary the Secretary of State

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be in Dallas later this afternoon at an event with Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The two are sitting for a moderated discussion about their careers at the Women's Museum.

Hours ahead of the event, the difference between security at Clinton's presidential campaign stops and today's event is striking. Security here is very tight. The area has been checked by bomb-sniffing dogs. Police are staked out at entrances. Reporters were required to arrive three hours early and are now under lockdown until the event is over.

Compare that to the primary events Clinton held in North Texas last year. At a rally in the Fort Worth Stockyards, police began by making attendees pass through metal detectors. When Clinton was minutes away from stepping on the stage and thousands of people were still waiting to get through security, TSA workers abruptly stopped the screenings and let everyone else pass through.

President Barack Obama had similar security issues at a rally he attended at Reunion Arena in Dallas.

Of course, today's sold-out fundraiser for the Women's Museum is expected to attract less than 500 people, a far easier event to secure than a campaign event where thousands show up.

-Aman Batheja

Texas House speaker talks to FW breakfast crowd

FORT WORTH -- Seventy-four days into Texas' legislative session, House Speaker Joe Straus said he is still working on his top priority – creating a place where lawmakers can work in a nonpartisan manner.

"I hope that we can put aside the partisan divide,” he told more than 100 officials and business leaders gathered at a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast Friday morning. “There are so many issues challenging the state, we need to put partisanship aside.”

Among those issues: voter ID, unemployment benefits, creating a balanced budget and improving education in Texas.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Schieffer and Sharp talk politics

Former Ambassador Tom Schieffer and former Comptroller John Sharp visited with the Mid-Cities Democrats in Hurst last night, touting why they would be the best candidates for Texas governor and U.S. Senate, respectively.

Read more here.

-- Anna M. Tinsley

Busted in Weatherford

    ON Friday, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and the Weatherford police department conducted a sting operation at 11 grocery and convenience stores selling beer and wine. According to reports,  employees from five convenience stores were arrested for selling alcohol to a 17-year-old girl, working under cover.

Lt. Chris Crawford, a spokesman for the Weatherford police department said he was surprised by the number of arrests.

"We were all a bit surprised. Weatherford went wet in December,and we figuredthere would be a learning curve, but when you sell alcohol to the public, it carries a tremendous amount of responsibility," Crawford said.

Sounds like the store managers need more training?

--elizabeth Campbell

The new Phil King, now environmentally friendly?

Well, sort of.

An unfamiliar scene played out in the House Energy Resource Committee hearing yesterday when Phil King introduced his Clean Coal bill.

Anyone who knows King, or his reputation, knows that he's often butted heads with environmentalists who charge he's too cozy with the energy industry. That's what made yesterday's hearing so strange.  Representatives with both the Environmental Defense Fund and Public Citizen testified in support of King's bill.

A member of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club opposed the bill, arguing that it isn't strong enough.

Watch Obama's online town hall at 10:30 am

President Obama will host an online town hall this morning, answering many questions from people posed by citizens and voted on online.

You can watch the town hall live here.

Of over 100,000 questions posted, some from Texans are currently getting a high number of votes including:

"Mr. President, you have said that everyone will have to make some sacrifices in order to get out of this recession--- how about congress leading the way and give up the 11% raise they voted for themselves?"
Lynn H, pflugerville, tx

With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"
Ryan Palmer, Dallas, TX

Why can't the gov. breakup large companies like AIG, into smaller companies like the phone company was back in the 80's"
Jerry D, Texas

"What are your plans to encourage corporations to keep middle class jobs, such as customer service call centers and transactional based support services like accounting and computer program jobs, in the U.S?"
PAG, Houston, TX

"We continue to force the use of ethanol in gasoline even though recent studies have shown that corn ethanol has many bad effects. Shouldn't we be rethinking this?"
Celia, Texas

UPDATE: A wrap-up of the event.

-Aman Batheja