Politex

Obama going head-to-head against Republicans next week

It's a dilemma for government, politics and economics junkies -- President Barack Obama has scheduled a prime-time address to the nation in a joint session of Congress next Wednesday night. The big speech, in which Obama plans to lay out his latest jobs plan, is set to start 7 p.m. CDT, the same time Gov. Rick Perry is set to make his debut in a nationally televised Republican.

-- John Gravois

Conservatives pushing to keep Democrats from picking replacements for Perry and Dewhurst

Though the 2012 general election is more than a year away, Texas Republicans are already preparing for the possibility that both Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov David Dewhurst may move on to higher office next year.

Some conservative activists and at least one state Senator are preparing to make this hypothetical scenario an issue in next year's Republican primaries.

First, some background: If Perry is elected the next president and Dewhurst wins his bid for US Senate, the Texas Senate may end up picking both of their replacements. Back in 2000, after George W. Bush was elected president, the Texas Senate went through six rounds of voting via secret ballots to pick a new lieutenant governor to replace Rick Perry, who had just replaced Bush as governor.

The Texas Senate is currently split 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats. The emerging fear from some conservatives is that the Democrats in the Senate will partner with a handful of Republican Senators to pick the state's new leadership.

As we reported today, state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, has recently started speaking with Republican senators about pledging to participate in a Republican-only caucus that would hold vote after vote until consensus candidates emerge.

"No one's talking about this...but it’s really important," Patrick said last week while addressing Republicans in Arlington. 

Patrick said he's spoken with several senators and most have been receptive to his pledge.

Some Tea Party activists are also starting to look at this issue, going so far as to call on their members to urge current Republican state senators to vow to block Democrats from having any say in picking either Perry's or Dewhurst's replacement.

-Aman Batheja

Perry responds to "dumb" label on Hannity program

Between fundraisers in Fort Worth and Dallas Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry called in to conservative pundit Sean Hannity’s radio show. Hannity mentioned a controversial story published by Politico this week with the headline “Is Rick Perry Dumb?”

"What's dumb is to oversee an economy that has lost that many millions of jobs ... to downgrade the credit of this country ... to put fiscal policies in place that were a disaster back in the '30s and try them again in 2000s," Perry said.

Hannity quickly warned that the news listeners will take away from the interview will be "Perry calls President Obama's policies ‘dumb.'"

"Are you ready for that headline?" Hannity asked.

"America is ready for leadership," Perry said.

Perry continued on the intellect theme, explaining why he thinks it's a problem that many of Obama's advisers come from academia.

"They have gone to some great schools and they are intellectually smart but he does not have wise people around him. ... He has listened to smart people but nobody who has real wisdom," Perry said.

-Aman Batheja

Perry stops in Fort Worth for midday fundraiser

Local Republicans gathered at the City Club at the D.R. Horton Tower in downtown Fort Worth today for a $2,500-per-person fundraiser for Gov. Rick Perry.

Attendees at the event included US Reps. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, and Bill Flores, R-College Station, U.S. Congressional candidate Roger Williams (who was appointed Secretary of State by Perry), state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth and Fort Worth Attorney Dee Kelly.

Several attendees said Perry gave a rousing speech about why he's running for president.

"It was similar to his declaration speech about getting the federal government back inside its bounds and the things that come with getting out of the way of our economy," Birdwell said. "It was very good."

Perry entered into the building from a parking garage surrounded by an entourage and wearing earbuds. The presidential candidate wouldn't take questions from Star-Telegram reporter Anna Tinsley but took a moment to sign autographs from two men.

Mike Mentgen of Rowlett and Shawn Carr of Dallas got Perry to sign a copy of his book, "Fed Up," the February 2010 issue of Texas Monthly with Perry on the cover and the headline "Perry for President?!?" and a Texas license plate.

"How many chances do you get to meet a potential president?" Mentgen said.

Perry is scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Dallas later today.

-Aman Batheja

Fort Worth Council signals opposition to transporation fee

A proposed transportation utility fee to close the city's gap in long-term transportation funding doesn't have the support of the City Council. Though council members said there is clearly a need, they said at Tuesday's morning budget workshop that they can't consider a new fee until the city delivers on road projects that have been expected for years. Mayor Betsy Price the fee is tool that can be put on the shelf for now and reconsidered again if the city gets its expenses under control and delivers the delayed road projects that have been promised for years.

 

Bill Hanna

Fort Worth looks at debt, projects for the year ahead

City officials are holding a budget workshop this morning focusing on capital projects that include everything from road projects to the city's stormwater issues. So far, council members have once again expressed impatience with the city's slow progress in spending its bond money, especially for road projects.

Bill Hanna

Schnurman: Why Perry's slush funds work

For most companies that expand or relocate, taxpayer incentives are the icing on the cake, not the main dish. That’s especially true in Texas, where built-in advantages already swamp most other states.

Texas is a beacon to business for many reasons, from low taxes to a low cost of living. Most important, it’s arguably the country’s best growth market, considering jobs, population and business development.

So why bother with the Texas Enterprise Fund and Emerging Tech Fund, two pools of taxpayer money that shower companies with cash incentives? Because they help frame the narrative that Texas fights hard for business -- and puts money behind it.

That message starts at the top, with Gov. Rick Perry creating the funds, overseeing them and serving as their public champion. And that ethos trickles down to the local level, where cities climb over each other to bid for almost any economic development.

Last week, Fort Worth proposed a tax abatement for In-N-Out Burgers’ distribution center. And North Richland Hills is willing to raise $8 million in new taxes so Tarrant County College will build a performing arts center there.

In many parts of the country, such inducements would be an embarrassment, a crass pay-to-play tactic that might cost politicians their job. It works in Texas, because business comes first, and Perry is downright proud of it.

Mitchell Schnurman

Bush relives his 9/11 experience tonight in cable interview

Prepare to be inundated with television specials recounting the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001 and how the terrorist attacks that day and the wars they spawned have changed America and the world.

One of the biggest figures in 9/11 history -- former President George W. Bush -- hasn't had a lot to say publicly about the anniversary, and turned down interview requests with the Star-Telegram and countless other media organizations. His most extensive remarks come in an exclusive documentary interview that will air at 9 p.m. CDT tonight on the National Geographic Channel.

One memorable quote from the former Texas governor and current resident of Dallas: "It became apparent we were facing a new kind of enemy. This is what war was like in the 21st century."

Declares Bush: "Sept. 11 is a monumental day in our nation's history, a significant day, and it obviously changed my presidency. I went from being a president that was primarily focused on domestic issues to a wartime president. It's something I never anticipated nor something I ever wanted to be."

-- John Gravois

Patrick hoping to see Davis defeated

Along with discussing his political future during a speech in Arlington Thursday, state Sen. Dan Patrick also spoke at length about Sen. Wendy Davis.

Patrick, a Houston Republican, was the speaker at a meeting of the Arlington Republican Club. In his hour-long speech, he mentioned the importance of unseating Davis, a Fort Worth Democrat, several times.

"She's a nice lady but she needs to be doing something else in 2013," Patrick said.

Due to how Senate District 10 was reconfigured during redistricting this year, Davis is widely regarded as vulnerable in next year's elections. The state's new redistricting maps are the subject of more than a dozen lawsuits including some that specifically challenge how Senate District 10 was drawn. State Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, has already announced plans to run against her. Other Republicans, including Fort Worth lawyer Dee Kelly and state Reps. Mark Shelton of Fort Worth and Vicki Truitt of Keller, have said they may vie for the seat as well.

Patrick suggested Davis is representative of the type of lawmaker Republicans must work to keep from winning elections in any part of the state.

"If Tarrant falls, if Harris falls, if Denton falls and if Collin falls, then Wendy Davis and everyone else who thinks like her will be in charge of Texas and that's not a state I want my children and my grandchildren to live in," Patrick said.

In an emailed statement, Davis responded:

"With all due respect to Senator Patrick, an extreme partisan voice in the legislature who has said that public education is an entitlement program and needs to receive billions less in funding, he doesn't seem to know much about our community or their priorities. I think hardworking families in North Texas would be better off if he spent more time in Houston."

-Aman Batheja

Newt Gingrich: Few would "do a better job leading the country" than Texas Gov. Rick Perry

As Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich both campaign for the presidency, I'm reminded of a book signing in Fort Worth last year when both men spoke highly of each other.

So highly, in fact, that Gingrich then suggested Perry could be a good leader for the country.

"I have to say there are very few people who I think could do a better job leading the country than Gov. Perry," Gingrich said during a Nov. 11, 2010 book signing at the Barnes & Noble bookstore near Hulen Mall. "He has a remarkable knack of understanding the big principles, the big decisions and focusing on getting the big things done."

At the time, Perry said he still wasn't interested in running for president.

-- Anna M. Tinsley