June 29, 2009
Dowd On
Generally not a fan of MoDo, but she nails this one.
Posted by houtopia at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
Myth-busting Health Care
Free market, huh? Yeah right.
Posted by houtopia at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2009
Sanford Skating?
We have been absent for a few months now. Not to fear, blogging has not been abandoned, merely postponed to attend to professional obligations.
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's shortcomings are now a matter of public record. (Think anyone is happier than he about the deaths of Jacko and Farrah? They that push-esh thee off the front page...)
We understand Gov. Sanford recently announced he would repay the taxpayer money spent on trips to visit his Argentinian paramour. What an upstanding guy. Does anyone think for a moment that had he not been caught, the money would have been repayed? Sorry Guv, that doesn't count.
Time for Sanford to exit the political stage.
Posted by houtopia at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2009
Bloody Tuesday (and Wednesday)
The past two days have been rough ones at Houston's paper of record, the Chronicle. It is no secret that the news business as a whole is downsizing in a big way, as it struggles to find its niche in an increasingly wired world. The local rag, alas, is not immune from its industry's troubles, particularly since its fortunes are tied to those of its parent company -- Hearst -- which owns a number of papers across the country. While the Chron has largely remained profitable (no small feat in the business these days), its sister publications have lost money hand over fist. Hence, corporate decided the Chron, too, must atone for the family's sins.
So, yesterday the ax began to fall. By some reports 90 newsroom employees and contractors were eliminated, a deep and grievous wound to the paper's nerve center. Today, apparently, the advertising section was hit as well. The total casualty count is as yet unclear, but it is undoubtedly massive. Richard Connelly at the Houston Press has done yeoman work reporting on the situation on his Hair Balls blog, and has compiled and updated a list of the fallen.
First of all, it is tragic to see so many dedicated professionals lose their jobs, particularly in the inhospitable economic situation we currently face. We are very sorry and wish them the very best for the future.
But after witnessing such a journalistic slaughter at a newspaper that had already steadily been sacrificing quality people and content to save money, we are left to ask, who is left to report the news in the nation's 4th largest city? Of course, this question can, and is rightly being asked about the news business as a whole. Are pictures of people's dogs and video from the weekend bar scene really what we can come to expect from our supposed news sources? Will opinion blogs like this one supplant real reporting?
Such a future is very grim to contemplate, but a very real possibility. Or, will a new but sound (ethically, intellectually and financially) journalistic model emerge? We certainly hope so.
Posted by houtopia at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)
March 17, 2009
Texas Won't Be Spared
A new report just issued from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas confirms what a lot of Texans already know: the economic recession was late getting to our state, but it is definitely here.
The Dallas Fed report suggests that the economic downturn in Texas lagged the nation as a whole by about six months, and that 2009 is likely to be a rough year in the state. Employment, exports, new home construction, and other indicators are all down. Jobs in Texas are expected to decline by about 3% in 2009 -- partially due to layoffs, but also because of a growing labor market. That means while we do have current members of the workforce losing their jobs, we also have other folks moving here from elsewhere, as well as young Texans reaching working age.
If there is any silver lining for the Houston area, it is that our city is not expected to be hit quite as hard as Austin or Dallas, unless energy prices really tank. Small consolation to the thousands of people here who are struggling, but let's hope it's true.
So, newsflash: it's gonna be a tough year.
Posted by houtopia at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2009
A Tale Of Two Republicans
It is no secret that the Republican Party is in trouble. After two disastrous election cycles, which lost them both houses of Congress and the White House, the circular firing squad is now forming around the national party's new chair, Michael Steele. To boot, the last two elections have seen the GOP perform disastrously with young voters, who are forming political views and behavior that will likely last a lifetime. Not exactly a formula for future success.
Congressional Republicans have opposed President Obama's agenda to date, virtually in lock step, and watched their polling numbers head even further south as the country cries out for action from its government. And while Rush Limbaugh rallies the party faithful, to stick to dogma and with leadership that has demonstrably failed, to the rest of America the vaunted GOP "base" seems to be living in an alternate universe.
Here in Texas, which is still Republican-run but not quite as GOP-friendly as it once was, and which is assuredly feeling the economic pain gripping the entire country, our Governor appears to be in a universe, or perhaps a vacuum, all his own.
Yes, the policy genius who brought you zero-dollar budgets submitted to the Legislature, the HPV vaccine and the Trans Texas Corridor today decided, in his infinite wisdom, to reject federal stimulus funds to aid the unemployed. Never mind that Texans are hurting and pay federal taxes like everyone else, and that those funds will simply go to another state, Rick Perry is a true believer. He is also headed for a tough Republican primary for reelection, so throwing red meat to that aforementioned base is priority one.
Short-term, such a strategy may be viable in Texas, but our state has a large and growing underclass, not to mention a whole lot of folks in the middle who are being squeezed economically, so playing only to the Republican faithful is not likely a recipe for continuing to dominate politics statewide.
By contrast, the new Harris County District Attorney, a Republican who won office by less than 5,000 votes out of over 1.1 million cast, may have a strategy for success worthy of emulation by fellow Republicans. It's called doing one's job.
Pat Lykos, who took over for the previous Republican incumbent Chuck Rosenthal, a lying, philandering, drug-addled failure, seems to be making the restoration of public confidence in the DA's office her number one priority. Lykos just announced that DNA testing of evidence will become mandatory in every case where it is available and relevant. In addition to being the right thing to do, her action is a politically smart move in a county that has had several high-profile cases of wrongful convictions in recent years.
Republicans in Austin and Washington DC could learn a thing or two from our DA.
Posted by houtopia at 11:01 PM | Comments (3)
February 24, 2009
The Not State Of The Union Speech
Quick reaction -- Obama did quite well. He was clear, confident; optimistic without being pollyanish; honest without being overly grim. A very successful first outing before Congress.
Jindal? Bad. Tone deaf message; huge creepiness factor.
Posted by houtopia at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2009
The No-Stats All-Star
We are just home from the Rockets game -- a satisfying blowout over the New Jersey Nets. It was an especially good night for the Rockets' Shane Battier, who scored a season-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Perhaps he was basking in the glow of this flattering NY Times Magazine piece from last Sunday.
Posted by houtopia at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2009
Eye On The 18th
There has been considerable buzz among Houston political insiders in recent days about whether or not we will soon have a special election here to fill an open Congressional seat. Texas' 18th Congressional district has been represented since 1995 by Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, but rumors persist that she will soon vacate the seat to take a position in the U.S. State Department.
Readers will recall that Jackson Lee was an ardent supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, despite the fact that her constituents overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama. There is wide speculation that Secretary of State Clinton may return the favor and offer the Congresswoman an undersecretary position.
Jackson Lee issued a weak denial of the rumors a few days ago, but the chatter continues. We have no information either way, but her potential departure is interesting to contemplate as a political matter.
First off, count us among those who believe that if Jackson Lee leaves her seat, it will be on her own terms. There has been some talk of a revenge 2010 Democratic primary run against her as payback for supporting Clinton over Obama. We say, good luck with that.
To begin with, very few average district voters likely have any perception of her presidential primary preference, so a challenger would have to spend a lot of money informing them of it. Secondly, the issue, even if widely known, is likely to lose steam with Obama supporters over two years, especially since their guy won. Finally, while Jackson Lee may have a controversial public profile among the broad Houston-area public, she remains extremely popular among Democratic primary voters in the 18th District. Given that it is a very safe Democratic district (Jackson Lee was reelected with 77% of the vote against two opponents in November), if you can't beat her in a March primary you ain't gonna beat her. Again, if she leaves Congress, it will almost certainly be of her own accord.
So what happens if the Congresswoman does resign? Some of it would depend on timing, but were she to leave within the next six weeks or so, there would likely be a May special election to fill the vacancy. Open shots at Congressional seats don't come around very often, so a bunch of candidates would likely join the fray. Current officeholders would not have to resign to run in a special election, so a number of them might be tempted to enter the race.
A long list of potential candidates has already surfaced, including members of the Texas Legislature, Houston City Council (where Jackson Lee came from), local school boards and the business community. We could easily see 12 to 15 candidates in such a contest. Should he opt to make the race, however, our wager would be on one -- State Representative and former Houston mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner.
A low turnout May special election with a dozen or more candidates would virtually guarantee a runoff. Given that virtually all of Turner's House district is contained in the 18th Congressional district, that he retains significant name recognition from two credible mayoral campaigns, and that a short campaign window will make it hard for candidates to raise enough money to do substantial voter communication, Turner would have enormous advantages over the field and would be a near lock to make the runoff. His committed base of supporters (Turner is beloved in his House district) would likely be decisive in an even lower turnout runoff election.
Should there be an opening, we think the seat is probably Turner's if he wants it. The question is, does the opening materialize, and if so does Sly make the race? Stay tuned.
Posted by houtopia at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2009
No Words
Terri Langford has written a new story for the Houston Chronicle that is simply amazing (and not in a good way.) The kind of mistreatment of our most vulnerable citizens described in this story reads more like a Dickens novel than the sad truth. There simply are no words.
Posted by houtopia at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)