Top Stories
- Time for Obama to end efforts to tear down Texas – Bill Hammond, Houston Chronicle
- Feds: Texas can't ban certain health care providers – Patricia Kilday Hart, San Antonio Express-News
Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, called the bulletin “another example of the federal government’s overreach into how the states deliver health care to their citizens.”
- For Texas' Big Three, Session Ends as it Started – Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune
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- Congressional redistricting plan moves forward despite opposition – Dave Montgomery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- What's so "special" about all this? – Blue Dot Blues
- Math won’t fix government spending – Curt Olson, Texas Budget Source
- Sources: Williams May Switch to U.S. House Race – Evan Smith, TexasTribune
- Ted Cruz Campaign: Best Week Ever – The Right Side of Austin
- Higher ed bosses relieved budget cuts were eased – Melissa Ludwig, San Antonio Express-News
Considering the severity of the initial bare-bones budget proffered by House Republicans, community college and university leaders say they are relieved that cuts to general revenue and financial aid are not as deep as originally proposed. Nonetheless, the budget will set the stage for a frugal era.
Anybody who has observed higher education for the last decade or two knows that “frugal” is a term that does not describe the enterprise, whatever university administrators tell friendly press.
- Higher Ed Money Addicts – Weston Hicks, AgendaWise Reports
- House panel approves plan to slash education funding – Gary Scharrer and Nolan Hicks, San Antonio Express-News
The plan cuts school districts’ funding $4 billion over the next two years from what they would get under current law.
As we have noted before, the spending total for education in the proposed budget exceeds the spending total for education in the previous budget. It’s approaching journalistic malpractice the way some Texas political journalists refuse to mention that fact (or raw numbers).
- Protesters: Voters will remember school cuts – Mike Ward, Postcards
- Public schools about to take a backseat – Patricia Kilday Hart, San Antonio Express-News
Former Gov. Bill Clements, who died last week, got elected on a promise of tax cuts. During his second term, Clements swallowed his considerable pride and signed a $5.8 billion tax bill to pay for education.
When the obituary writers sought to capture Clements’ risk-taking, ornery nature, nearly everyone mentioned the tax bill. It was the decision that sealed Clements’ legacy as a selfless leader who put principle ahead of political expediency.
Here we go again. An obituary is not an appropriate avenue to take shots at the deceased, but not all of us would agree that lying to voters is a matter of “principle” and think some veteran political journos are confused on this matter.
- Did the Davis filibuster do more harm than good? – R.G. Ratcliffe, BurkaBlog
- What happened to the Open Beaches case? – Paul Burka, BurkaBlog
- Can Lege try to override Perry’s veto? – Gary Scharrer, Chron Texas Politics