Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will push to end in-state tuition for students who were brought here illegally by their parents.  The Houston Chronicle reports that:

“The tea party favorite, who will oversee the state Senate, pledged hefty property and business tax cuts, as well pushing to scrap a popular 2001 Texas law offering in-state university tuition to the children of people who came to the U.S. illegally. ‘It’s a question of fairness to American citizens,’ Patrick said at a news conference in the Texas Capitol.”

Please try to explain that one to me.  Last time I checked undocumented workers pay payroll taxes, sales tax, property tax and many other fees and taxes that support paying Patrick’s salary.  Exactly how keeping these kids from getting a higher education benefits anyone or is somehow fair to American citizens is a mystery.  What would be fair and beneficial would be giving these kids who likely had no part in a decision to come to the U.S. illegally a chance at a decent education at a non-exorbitant price.

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert’s quixotic bid for Speaker of the House ended in failure yesterday.  Gohmert received exactly 3 votes including his own and that of fellow Texas Rep. Randy Weber.  Apparently, the full-fledged support of Sean Hannity and former half-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was not enough to get Louie up to the 218 votes required to become Speaker.  Louie did not demand a recount.

For more on the beliefs of the former Chief Justice of the Tyler Court of Appeals turned Tea Party Poster Boy see http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/speaker-louie-gohmerts-14-best-moments

The New York Daily News releases dashcam video of Texas 13th Court of Appeals Justice Nora Longoria prior to her July DUI arrest which shows her having difficulty passing the field sobriety test.  The video was not part of the evidence that resulting in her case being dismissed.

“A month after a Texas court  threw out a DUI case against a judge because it lacked strong evidence, police released dashcam video of her arrest that showed her stumble through a sobriety test. The new video, recorded during a July traffic stop in McAllen, showed Nora Longoria struggling to walk a straight line, Action 4 News reported. She teetered and lost her balance several times during her failed sobriety test, the video showed. But Hidalgo County Court at Law No. 8 Judge Rolando Cantu threw out the case last month, marking “other” for the reasoning.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/texas-judge-stumbles-dui-sobriety-test-article-1.2035975

The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas inmate Norman Crittendon has filed an amicus curiae brief in Rick Perry’s criminal case urging the trial court to dismiss the charges against the Texas Governor.

“Crittendon, who is serving a 65-year sentence on theft and weapons charges, on Tuesday filed a friend-of-the-court brief and asked for a hearing. He stated that he would need to be escorted to and from such a hearing, since he’s incarcerated in the Polunsky Unit in Livingston. In his filing, Crittendon said the indictment against Perry is vague and the statute on which it’s based is unconstitutional.”

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Inmate-seeks-to-aid-Perry-5930861.php

Photo by Eric Gay/Associated Press

My public school education was lacking back in the day before the Tea Partisans took control of the textbook writing. I missed that part of Exodus where Moses wins election as leader of the Jews with 53% of the vote.  Moreover, I never realized that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery, or that everybody in the good ol’ US of A really ought to be a Christian.  But thanks to the Texas State Board of Education I now see the light.  The always good for a laugh or cry SBOE votes today on accepting new textbooks.  The proposed history books are always good fodder for citizens of all political stripes to complain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/12/proposed-texas-textbooks-are-inaccurate-biased-and-politicized-new-report-finds/

Is still dead.

County results for the Governor’s race.

Whatever your party affiliation – Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Green, Socialist Workers or Rastafarian, please exercise your right to vote today.   We are the world’s oldest continually operating democracy and I for one would like to keep it that way.  The system only works when the citizens participate.

Polling places across Texas opened for early voting this morning.  Some pundits estimate that almost half of the ballots cast this year will be from early voting.  Remember you don’t need an excuse, it is open season for voting for the next two weeks.  And remember to bring your photo ID.  Don’t let the bastards keep you from voting.