Politics

Tips for Rick Perry's Next Campaign: Stop Being Such a Lefty

Good read by Jay Root in The Texas Tribune today about whether Governor Oops will run for re-election as governor of Texas or run for something else, who knows what, president of France, whatever. Root suggests it will be the governorship again for Oops, and he talks some about other Republican gube ... More >>

So Long, Suhm

As the city manager rides off into the sunset, let's get a strong mayor in the saddle.

Do Mexicans Love Guns as Much as We Do?

Thanks a Bunch, IRS. Now We Gotta Respect the Tea Party -- a Little Bit.

Wow. I take it all back, Tea Party. You cool. In fact, I'm jealous. Targeted by the IRS. There was a time when that would have been my dream come true. I remember back in the day when my hippie friends started getting their FBI files under the Freedom of Information Act. I was always afraid to as ... More >>

Rick Perry and Texas Politicians Pressuring Mexico to Pay its Water Debt

Mexico owes Texas water. And as the current drought presses onward, Texas politicians are trying to turn up the heat to get Mexico to pay. Last Friday, the Texas House voted unanimously on a resolution that the federal government should pressure Mexico deliver water to the United States. The same w ... More >>

Obama, Bloomberg Groups Are Teaming Up for Dallas Gun Control Rally This Weekend

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the advocacy group funded and founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is struggling to stoke the kind of grass-roots passion for gun regulation that has made its arch-nemesis, the NRA, such a political force. Organizing For America, the post-electoral version o ... More >>

Congressman Steve Stockman to Gunmakers: Come Check Out Texas

U.S. Representative Steve Stockman is not a subtle man. We could go so far as to say he has a flair for the dramatic. He is, after all, the man who brought Ted Nugent as his plus-one to the State of the Union address, and compared the Earth to a sort of fuel-filled water balloon. And even further ba ... More >>

In Wake of Medrano Family Voter Fraud Case, Herschel Weisfeld Wants Federal Oversight of May City Council Election

It didn't take long for the District 2 City Council race to turn into a mud-slinging match, even if the mud has come from only one side. The first volley came last month from Herschel Weisfeld, who seized on Adam Medrano's refusal to discuss his sexual orientation to question his opponent's openness ... More >>

Metroplex Atheists Square Off Against Rowlett's Mayor. The Mayor Says He'll Pray for Them.

This week in godlessness brings us to Rowlett, where Mayor Todd Gottel is feeling pretty good. He'll be running unopposed soon for his second term as mayor and third term on the City Council. The rest of the time, he owns a "sales and marketing" company, per the city of Rowlett's website, is a preci ... More >>

There's a Push for Term Limits in Austin, and It's Being Led by a Longtime Perry Ally

Right now, there's a push underway in the Texas legislature to impose term limits on the state's elected officials. A bill, filed by Representative Lyle Larson, a San Antonio Republican, is currently being mulled by a House committee. A similar proposal by Tyler Republican Kevin Eltife is being cons ... More >>

Morning News Praises Angela Hunt on Drilling! While God's Passing Out Miracles, Maybe We Can Get a Strong Mayor.

In the very wee hours as my eye first opened to the light of this day, I thought I heard a rushing of wings aloft. I caught my breath. Was this ...? And then distinctly as if from the next room, I heard the oinking of pigs. Only later with coffee in hand and the daily newspaper on my knees did I co ... More >>

Dallas' Helen Giddings and Other Black Lawmakers Object to Security Measures at Rick Perry's Mansion

State Representative Helen Giddings was one of several Democratic lawmakers invited to the Governor's Mansion Monday afternoon for a reception hosted by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. But she never showed up. Giddings declined the invitation to protest the requirement that she undergo a backgr ... More >>

Russian Government Accuses a Texas Mother of Drugging and Murdering Her Adopted Son

In December Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a measure banning the adoption of Russian children to American families. The move was widely considered, and tacitly acknowledged as, a retaliation against a new U.S. law targeting accused Russian human rights abusers. Russian officials portrayed ... More >>

Rockwall Mulls Declaring Federal Gun Laws Unconstitutional

Longtime Collin County Sheriff Terry Box made it clear in January that he would not be party to President Obama's attempt to disarm the Real America and, presumably, pave the way for a permanent Marxist dictatorship through a handful of modest gun control proposals. Never mind that or that a county ... More >>

More Texas Republicans Are Urging the Boy Scouts to Dig In Their Heels on Gay Ban

Texas Values, an organization whose goal is to "preserve and advance a culture of family values," has issued an open letter to the Boy Scouts of America with their thoughts on lifting the ban on gay scouts. They're against it. "While adopting this ill-considered and wrongly devised policy might ear ... More >>

A North Texas Lawmaker Wants to Exempt "Made in Texas" Guns From Federal Law

According to statistics kept by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, there are several dozen licensed gun manufacturers in the state of Texas. Most of those are small-scale operations, individuals or mom-and-pop-style shops that produce one or two pistols or rifles in a year. A ... More >>

A Majority of Texans Favor an Assault Weapons Ban, But Their Politicians Don't

Texas, the Second Amendment bastion of sport shooters, concealed carriers and Stand-Your-Grounders, also favors a ban on assault weapons by a surprising margin -- 49 percent to 41 percent, according to Public Policy Polling. Texans oppose arming school teachers (56 percent to 31 percent), but also ... More >>

State Rep. Eric Johnson Filed a Bill Yesterday to Overturn the State's Voter ID Law

Texas' voter ID law wasn't in effect for last November's election thanks to an order by a federal appeals court, but it remains on the books of the state's election code. (A refresher: Anyone who shows up to vote must present a photo ID. Handgun permits are okay; school IDs are not. Otherwise, they ... More >>

Louis Gohmert Really Wishes Sandy Hook's Principal Had a High-Powered Assault Rifle

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson was among the first to opine that the 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday were a testament to the need for more guns in schools, not fewer. That other pundits and politicians would deploy the same argument in the days that followed, casting even ... More >>

Texas Finally Realizes Where Babies Come From, May Restore Family Planning Money

Last legislative session, your lawmakers in the Texas Legislature cut $73.6 million from the state's family planning budget, a move which, impressively, has somehow resulted in far fewer patients being served, for more money per patient. Don't ask us how they managed that one. As Emily Ramshaw writ ... More >>

Rick Perry and State Senator Jane Nelson Want Texas to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

It's the most wonderful time of the year: There's still some very stale, deeply discounted Halloween candy kicking around the aisles at CVS, Christmas music has suddenly overtaken your dentist's office, and Texas legislators have begun pre-filing bills for the upcoming legislative session. The ses ... More >>

European Election Monitors Find U.S. Elections Are Expensive, "Unduly Politicized," Other Shockingly Obvious Conclusions

At the end of October, highly watchable Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott threatened to press charges against any "U.N. poll watchers" who might "interfere with Texas elections." Not to be outdone, state officials in Pennsylvania and Iowa also started threatening to arrest people. Those "poll wa ... More >>

City of Plano Pushes Back on Farmers' Market Fight

Kari Gates grows seasonal fruits and vegetables over several acres of land at Spring Creek Organic Farms in West Plano. She drives her produce to several markets around the region, including Greenling. But, more recently she's exploring her options closer to home, particularly Fairview Farms near U. ... More >>

Vote Fraud: A Little Bit is Good for Democracy, Even When the GOP Does It

Latest twist in the great imaginary vote fraud epidemic of 2012: Now Republicans are nabbed doing exactly the same stuff they have accused Democrats of doing. In a piece in this morning's New York Times we get a peek at voter hanky-panky, GOP-style. An operative named Nathan Sproul, who has receive ... More >>

How Mayor Rawlings Saved Face, Kept Some Black Friends and Screwed Some Hispanic Ones in the Process

Oh, wouldn't you know it? Leave it to me to get all gooh-gooh-eyed and sweety-feets about things. Then cruel reality comes crashing in. It's because I'm just too innocent of heart. Just yesterday, I had my zither out singing softly to you about how the mayor had done the right thing in the municipa ... More >>

As Minority Council Members Play the Race Card, the Mayor Goes All In on Court Reform

Maybe it is like watching them make sausage, but at least you have to give them a tip of the hat when they get the sausage right. The mayor and the Dallas City Council put themselves through a bruising debate yesterday on municipal court reform and in the end came up with the right answer, mostly. ... More >>

City Hall's Cuts of 911 Put Us All at Risk From Crime and Lawsuits

The 911 problem itself is bad enough, but the mayor and the police chief are about to drive me crazy. At our house we record the news and watch it right before going to bed. It's worse than chips and spicy salsa. Night after night we are subjected to these horror stories on TV about people perishin ... More >>

Judge Blocks Texas' New Voter Registration Laws, Calls Registration Drives "Vital"

A U.S. District Court judge in Galveston yesterday blocked five parts of Texas' new voter registration laws, all of which were aimed at curtailing large voter registration drives. Voting for America and Project Vote, two affiliated national projects that hire canvassers to register new voters, had ... More >>

Election Proves Ted Cruz is a Talented Politician, But a Harbinger of Tea Party Dominance? Not So Much.

We knew it already, but Ted Cruz is Texas' next U.S. Senator. Sure, he still has to face Democrat Paul Sadler in the November general election, but this is Texas, where so long as you promise to cut taxes and put a big 'R' somewhere near your name, you're good. The victory, unthinkable a few months ... More >>

Looks Like the Tea Party's Gonna Elect Cruz Fair and Square. So, Let's Change the Game.

Texas will elect it's next senator today. Odds are, you won't vote for him. In fact, a good number of you, even if you're registered to vote, can't vote in the truly decisive race going down Tuesday, because you were dumb enough to vote in the Democratic primary in May. Suckers. So, let's all clap ... More >>

Tomorrow's Gas Drilling Hearing is Getting Pissy Before it Even Starts

A friend of Unfair Park passed along an interesting email exchange between some members of the Gas Drillng Task Force in advance of tomorrow's throwdown public hearing. Seems that some are none too happy that Councliman Scott Griggs chose task force member Terry Welch to speak in favor of tighter dr ... More >>

Why Can't Mexico Cash in IOUs for its Stolen Culture?

Report: Voter ID Laws Have Caused Thousands of Legal Votes to Get Tossed

What timing. Just as the trial of Texas' voter ID law kicks off in D.C., a new analysis by the Associated Press has found that such laws in other states have led to hundreds of ballots being rejected, both in 2008's general election and in the primaries this year. The Associated Press looked a ... More >>

Dallas is All Like, 'Voting, Why Bother?'

Turns out, the people of Dallas don't care much for voting -- Dallas County ranked fourth in the state (out of 254 counties) for the fewest ballots cast among voting-age people. Even Harris County had a slightly better turnout, which unfortunately means the Asshole of the Universe, has us beat at so ... More >>

Farmers Branch Has Spent Five Years and Millions of Dollars Trying to Keep Out Mexicans. Is It Time for a Truce?

Texas Democrats Make Fun of Republicans with Weird Animated Video, Santorum Jokes

Someone has shown the Texas Democratic Party the video creator apps on YouTube, and the results are Lego George W. Bush, a joke about santorum (the frothy kind), a version of Rick Perry that looks like a rotund funeral home director and some jabs at sweater vests. Politicians, please start making ... More >>

Welcome Back, Jim Crow

New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall.

As Dallas Considers Fracking in Parkland and Floodplains, the Usual Suspects Speak Out

It was Dallas city council member Tennell Atkins who, during yesterday's discussion of the city's still-far-off gas-drilling regulations, posed the million-dollar question. "Do you think that it's safe to drill in the city of Dallas?" he asked task force chair Lois Finkelman. Finkelman was noncommi ... More >>

The Trinity River Toll Road is Now an (Almost) Unstoppable Force

With Mayor Mike Rawlings' support, only deep pockets can thwart the $2 billion river-ride.

Sure, You're Invited to a 2012 Bond Program Town Hall. Just Don't Expect to Get Much.

​Last month, you'll no doubt recall, City Manager Mary Suhm told the city council that 2012 bond program, which we'll vote on in the fall, will be a fraction of a shadow of a hint of its mammoth '06 predecessor, which appears to be the gift that keeps on giving. 'Round $450 to $550 million, she sa ... More >>

Before Mayor Mike's Meeting With LGBT Leaders, A Rally Outside City Hall Last Night

Mayor Mike Rawlings has a closed-door, no-press-allowed meeting this morning with 25 LGBT community leaders to discuss something that's become, say, a small issue for him in the last week: his refusal to sign the "Mayors For Freedom To Marry" Pledge. Earlier this week Rawlings also elected to back ... More >>

Beating Up Babes in Toyland

Perry and Tea Party make a blue Christmas for needy kids.

Ethics Reform: You've Got to Know What Needs Changing Before You Can Change It

Ethics: They're hidden somewhere in City Hall, and it's a tough case to crack.​Since becoming Mayor, Mike Rawlings has been consistently passionate about a few key things: South Dallas, DISD, pizza, economic development, Halloween, ethics reform -- not necessarily in that order. On Rawlings's ... More >>

State Maps Stayed, Texas AG Abbott Now Wants Supremes to Delay Candidate Filing Period

Carol Kent's hoping to run for House Disrict 107, if there is a House Distict 107.​As we were leaving the office Friday, word came down that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (and former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement) got what they wanted from the U.S. Supreme Court: a ruling that, for now, ... More >>

Is Mexico's Narco War a Revolution?

And why won't my gay boyfriend's Mexican family acknowledge our relationship?

Wiping the Sheen off Conservative Rich Guys' Morality

​Today, a commenter on a previous blog item of mine about GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested it was mighty mysterious that President Obama doesn't have any sexual peccadilloes in his closet when so many Republican presidential contenders seem to. "Joshua," the commenter, suggest ... More >>

Fear and Fracking in Southlake

In one of America's wealthiest suburbs, an unlikely band of drilling opponents helped drive away the world's biggest energy companies. Did they save the town or ruin it?

Mayor Mike Rawlings Last Night: "Everything I Look At, I Ask, 'Is It Right for Southern Dallas?'"

Last night, Mayor Mike Rawlings hosted a community forum at Cedar Crest Golf Course, billed in the invitation as an "update on the City of Dallas." Backed by council members Dwaine Caraway and Tennell Atkins and a large supporting cast of other city officials, he tried to reassure the crowd: City Ha ... More >>

An Offended Occupy Dallas Responds to City's Demands; Last Arrestee Due Out of Jail Today

Photo by Chris Howell​At the end of business yesterday City Hall sent that memo from City Manager Mary Suhm and that letter from First Assistant City Attorney Chris Bowers. Both said more or less the same thing: Occupy Dallas has till 5 p.m. Saturday to clean up its mess behind Dallas City Hall, o ... More >>

Firing City Manager Mary Suhm Won't Fix What's Broken at Dallas City Hall

​In my column in this week's paper, I talk about that "flow control" deal, which has to do with how much trash gets trucked into southern Dallas. As usual, some of the responses I'm getting are from people mad about the way it came out who think the answer is to fire City Manager Mary Suhm. E ... More >>