U.S. Congress

Texas Lawmakers Vote to Lift Restrictions on Craft Breweries

On Friday afternoon, at 4:07 p.m., a round of applause and cheers wafted down from the balcony seats in House of Representatives as a five-pack of craft beer bills were passed with five thick slams of the gavel. It was technically the second vote of three, and the third, as a matter of formality, sh ... More >>

Barry Smitherman Retweets Image of Noose, Accompanied by Names of Senators Who Voted To Consider Gun Safety Proposals

RT @psychscriv: Make sure none of these people have seats in 2014. twitter.com/PsychScriv/sta...We are in trouble when these Rs side w/ Sen Reid— Barry Smitherman (@SmithermanTX) April 11, 2013 The U.S. Senate voted only to consider gun safety legislation Thursday, which includes expanded ba ... More >>

Vouchers Suffered a Blow in the Texas House, but "Vouchers" Definitely Are Still in Play

Yesterday the State House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1, a new state budget of $193.8 billion, by a lop-sided vote of 135-12. One of the more surprising parts of the bill's passage is the approval of an anti-private school voucher amendment, passed by a vote of 103-43. The amendment, spo ... More >>

Here's Why Neither Texas Senator Voted for the Violence Against Women Act

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to renew the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). It now heads to the House for what will likely be an ugly battle over its renewal; President Obama used part of his State of the Union address last night to urge the House representatives to pass it. Th ... More >>

Here's Why Ticket Prices are So Outlandish, and a Modest Proposal to Change That

Ticket prices are getting a little silly, wouldn't you agree? The smaller venues are doing a great job of holding them down (it cost me less than a cheap meal for three hours' of the Melvins and Unsane last year), but at your larger scale venues they long ago passed the $50 mark and kept climbing. I ... More >>

Five Texas Takeaways from Election Night

Now that our election night hangovers have been slept off, we can now cut through the chatter and attempt to forecast what last night's election results mean to you, Dear Reader. Dallas County is really, really blue Republicans had a strong showing in local legislative races, easily fending off cha ... More >>

The Future of Texas' Public Schools. (Spoiler Alert: With Dan Patrick, That Future is Bleak.)

Houston Republican Dan Patrick -- a conservative radio shock jock and founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the Texas Senate -- is vowing to lead the charge in the next session of the Texas Legislature for a school voucher system that would give away tax money to private and religious schools. That's ... More >>

WFAA Probably Won't Let Libertarian John Jay Myers Into Senate Debate, So He's Protesting Its Downtown Headquarters

John Jay Myers owns the Free Man, a Cajun joint in Deep Ellum. He also runs a wholesale embroidery business, has a "deep, deep mistrust of the government," would like to legalize medical marijuana, and thinks we should bring all the U.S. troops home. And he believes Texans are being denied a chance ... More >>

Tom Leppert is Moving, We're Just Not Sure to Where

Tom Leppert, you might have notice, did not do terribly well in his quest for U.S. Senate. He lost. Got trounced, even. Not Craig James trounced, but defeated rather handily. So he's not going to Washington, but he is going somewhere. On the same day voters go to the polls to choose between one of L ... 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 >>

Liberal Leppert, Tea Party Taj Unmasked by Completely True, Fair-Minded Election Materials

The primary for the U.S. Senate, House and a slew of local races is coming up -- on Tuesday to be exact, with early voting ending today -- which is why you've been seeing a ramp-up in the ... Revelations. Seriously. These just blew my mind. For example: Did you know that Tom Leppert, the former Dal ... More >>

No, Domingo Garcia Does Not Live 33rd District. But Neither Do Many of His Rivals.

View You too can see if your candidate lives in the Texas 33rd Congressional District When the polls close on the Democratic primary for Texas' new 33rd Congressional District, surprisingly few of the nearly dozen candidates will have cast a vote for themselves. We received a note from a Friend of ... More >>

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Leads Republicans In Calling For An "Alternative" Violence Against Women Act

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate began debating the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which is largely backed by Senate Democrats, and discussing its Republican alternative, authored by Chuck Grassley of Iowa and our own Kay Bailey Hutchison. In preparation for that debate, Hutchison took to t ... More >>

Republican Senate Candidates Are Politically Identical

Still deciding who to favor among the Republican candidates vying for nomination to the U.S. Senate? Might as well play eenie, meenie, miney, mo, or choose based on favorite color or music preference, because politically, they're practically the same. Tom Leppert, Senate candidate and former Dallas ... More >>

How To Not Get Deported

So, you're an undocumented immigrant. Your great hope is to stick around, make a living and, some day, become naturalized. Unfortunately, our immigration laws are a tangled morass of inscrutability, insensible to the realities of a globalized world. You may have watched last week's Republican deba ... More >>

Just Remember, Tom Leppert Isn't a Politician

​Janet Mefferd hosts a radio show on The Word, which sits at 100.7 on your FM dial. Per her program's description, she "takes a Christ-centered look at the news and events of the day," and on this day that includes former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who, of course, is vying for Kay Bailey Hutchison' ... More >>

Staubach, Aikman and Other Cowboys Greats Throw Their Support Behind Tom Leppert

Photo by Patrick MichelsReally, any reason to rerun this photo was fine.​Former Mayor Tom Leppert may well need a Hail Mary come the March 6 GOP primary -- if, that is, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst can maintain his frontrunner status in the race for the U.S. Senate. So, then, who better to l ... 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 >>

Village Voice Media asks for your support of Senate Bill 596

Former Mayor Tom Leppert to Occupy Movement: Get a Job, You Damned Hippies

From Tom Leppert's new online petition​If Tom Leppert were still mayor, rather than a candidate for U.S. Senate, it's possible the city might not have been so accommodating with those presently occupying the parking lot behind Dallas City Hall. I knew we forgot to mention something Friday, when I ... More >>

From Dallas ISD Teacher to Don Hill Prosecutor to North Texas's New U.S. Attorney

​Friends of Unfair Park who followed the federal City Hall corruption trial in 2009 may recall the name Sarah Saldaña; she was among the more prominent prosecutors on that team. But till I glanced at her U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary questionnaire, I had no idea, for instance, that from ... More >>

Be Aware of Celiac Disease. Just Today Though.

Gluten-free brownies. ​The U.S. Senate has officially declared today National Celiac Disease Awareness Day. So, we all need to stop at some point and think about our annoying friends who can't eat anything because ... OK. OK. You're not annoying. Your disease is annoying. And, honestly, we hat ... More >>

Ex-Channel 5 Reporter Stinchfield Now Out to Expose the "Idiocracy" in D.C. ... As a Politician

This morning, MediaBistro directs our attention to Uncle Barky's item from yesterday about former KXAS'er Grant Stinchfield, who, after seven years on the job, left the NBC owned-and-operated in April so he could run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Stinchfield, whose wife Amy Vanderoef co-hos ... More >>

Pony Down: Craig James is Definitely Running for Senate, If This Video Is Any Indication

A screengrab from the must-see video that follows​Celina-based American Craig James wears many hats, every last one of them red white and blue. He's an SMU legend. He's a former New England Patriot. He's a father who will go to any lengths to make sure his son gets the playing time he deserve ... More >>

Tom Leppert In a "House Full of Patriots"

​Feels like it's been a long while since we've touched upon the U.S. Senate candidacy of former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, last seen gigging David Dewhurst and who's still insisting that the Trinity River Corridor Project is worthy of federal earmarks. Anyway. On Saturday he was down at the San Ant ... More >>

Tom Leppert May Forget His Past. We Don't.

​Did anybody else have a serious gag reflex reading our former mayor's what-a-good-boy-am-I essay on the op-ed page of The Dallas Morning News yesterday? Does Tom Leppert just assume people don't remember a single thing about him? Or does he not remember a single thing about himself? His op-e ... More >>

Tom Leppert Just Set Off the Band Name Alert®

Photo by Patrick MichelsLeppert, pastor Robert Jeffress and Mark Lovvorn collectively hit the button that triggered the implosion of First Baptist Dallas.​Speaking of Dallas mayors-turned-U.S. Senate candidates ...Tom Leppert just sent word that a new website launched today: Pastors for Leppert, w ... More >>

Leppert's Got $2.7 Mil to Run For Senate

​Below, in the comments, one Arthur Smythe -- who, as everybody knows, hates the Cowboys -- was quick to point out that Not Mayor Tom Leppert has raised $1.1 million in his bid for the United States Senate. Arthur's comment, which I imagine was made in an English accent by a man wearing a monocle ... More >>

Why'd Mayor Tom Really Quit Early?

Photo by Sam Merten​U.S. Senate candidate Tom Leppert posted to his website today a piece titled "Serious Leadership," in which he says he's just the man to take Kay Bailey's place in D.C. because, look, "I'm not a career politician and I didn't expect to be in this position. I'm a businessman." O ... More >>

Edward Okpa Not Invited to Mayoral Forum at TJ, But Tom Leppert Nabs Speaking Role

Photo by Patrick MichelsTom Leppert​[Update at 5:50 p.m.: We just heard from Kunkle, who says our item was the first he'd heard of Okpa's exclusion from the debate. Kunkle subsequently called Villalba, and while he stopped short of threatening to pull out of the forum, he strongly urged him to ... More >>

Oh, and Happy 100th Birthday, Ebby Halliday

As I was heading out, a Friend of Unfair Park wondered if I was going to that Ebby Halliday wingding underway at the Meyerson. No, hadn't planned on it. Too fancy. Nevertheless, it reminded me: Pete Sessions stopped down the U.S. House of Representatives and C-SPAN today to wish the Dallas real-esta ... More >>

Carol Reed Dodges Tom Leppert's DOMA Tweet, Predicts Runoff Between Leppert and David Dewhurst and Defends John Wiley Price

Photos by Sam MertenCarol Reed​Political consultant Carol Reed answered questions about the battle for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison, the Dallas mayor's race, the 2012 Republican presidential primary and an assortment of local and state issues last night at a meet ... More >>

It's Official: Tom Leppert for U.S. Senate!

Here's the announcement posted moments ago on 'bout-to-be-former-Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert's website, which is titled, like the brand-new campaign adshort film (mmmm ... doughnuts) you see above, "Why I'm Running." For U.S. Senate, that is.I bring a unique conservative approach to government. I've c ... More >>

Leppert Defends Defense of Marriage Act

Patrick Michels​In the comments below, a Friend of Unfair Park notes that shortly before Mayor Tom Leppert said his farewells to the Dallas City Council, he hopped on his Twitter account to take issue with President Obama's announcement that he believes Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is ... More >>

Before Mayoral Candidates Make Issue Out of Political Affiliations, a Look at Who's What

During the 2007 mayoral campaign, former city council member Ed Oakley sent out mailers depicting himself and convicted felon Don Hill as Democrats and Tom Leppert and former Mayor Pro Tem Max Wells as Republicans. Oakley also accepted the endorsement of the Dallas County Democratic Party and printe ... More >>

News & Notes: Jenkins Surgery Update, Who Sent Sherbet's Stuff Home and Former Cowboys QB Poised to Swap Senate Teams

Photo by Sam MertenClay Jenkins​What a Week For the New County Judge Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has been pummeled in the media and political circles for playing Scottie Pippen to Commissioner John Wiley Price's Michael Jordan in the game to push out Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet ... More >>

Nate Silver Ponders Democrats' Chances of Taking Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate Seat

David Dewhurst​There's no shortage of names being tossed out there as would-be replacements for Kay Bailey Hutchison, who yesterday announced she won't run for re-election to the U.S. Senate. Top o' the list, of course, is Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, who made his intentions clear Thursday afterno ... More >>

Kay Bailey Hutchison: I'm Done Runnin'

​Here's the full statement just sent out by Courtney Sanders in the senator's D.C. office, which speaks -- at length -- for itself: Announcement by U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison To my fellow Texans: For the past 17 years, it has been my greatest honor to serve the people of Texas in the Unit ... More >>

Mass deportation, strict border enforcement, amnesty. What will comprehensive immigration reform look like if the feds take action--or if they don't?

Mexican Macro-economics

Take Pride In The Power

Council to Sneak Peek Pending State, Federal Legislation That Could Affect Dallas

​Doubtful Andrea's liveblogging today's meeting of the council's Ad Hoc Legislative Committee, fascinating though it may be. Because today's the day the council gets its Federal Legislative Update and the Development of the City's Legislative Program for the 82nd Session of the Texas Legislature, ... More >>

Only Facts, Stats And Truth Can Defeat The Know Nothings-Although Sending A Few Insults Their Way Is Loads Of Fun.

Yes, Indeed, Kay Bailey's Staying in the Senate After All. How ... Shocking?

State Sen. Florence Shapiro​Word is Kay Bailey Hutchison will announce this morning down in San Antonio that she's staying in the Senate -- so say NBC News and The Washington Post, anyhow. Which would explain Mayor Tom Leppert's acknowledgment yesterday that, sure 'nuff, he's mulling a second term ... More >>

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison Are Locked In A Pitched Battle Over The Soul Of The GOP. They Are Also Running For Governor.

Charlie Wilson Said

See him on the screen and in person

Hell is Very Close to Freezing Over

The Kindness of Strangers

Archival footage illuminates a remarkable Holocaust story

Surplus labor

The fashion for corporate downsizing cuts into the economy in many ways

Cyberdummies

New bill to outlaw "indecency" on the Internet makes no sense