We all know that this is happening because Teddy Schleifer has it on Chron.com:
A judge in January will hear likely mayoral candidate Chris Bell’s request to block Sylvester Turner’s plan to transfer money from his officeholder account to his mayoral account when the fundraising period opens on Feb. 1.
Judge Elizabeth Ray of Harris County’s 165th Civil Court will hear Bell’s request for a temporary injunction on Jan. 12 at 1:30 p.m. A hearing on Bell’s request for a summary judgment likely will follow later.
Turner has been open about his plan to transfer money raised for his unopposed state legislative campaign to his mayoral bid in February. While all other mayoral candidates are not allowed to raise money until then, Turner has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars this fall and can transfer the first $5,000 from each individual donor in February, according to the interpretation of Houston City Attorney Dave Feldman.
Bell disputes that finding. Geoffrey Berg, Bell’s attorney, has argued in filings that Turner’s legislative account can only donate a total of $10,000 to his mayoral account, the limit that a candidate can accept from any political action committee or third-party group.
As of this past June 30, Rep. Turner had over $464,000 in the bank. It was reported earlier that he had raised $400,000 at an event a couple of months or so ago so he could very well have close to a million in the bank by the end of this weekend.
Now, Council Members Stephen Costello and Oliver Pennington are also running for H-Town Mayor. As of June 30, Costello had $308,000 in his City Council campaign account and Pennington had $241,000 in his campaign account. Should they also be subjected to the $10,000 limit or should they be given a pass because they raised the money running for a City office? Makes sense? Should everybody be on the same level playing field and start fresh with zero in the bank? Well, when they passed the ordinance on the $10,000 limitation, the then City Council included a CYA provision and only included “non-city” fundraising and that my friends is the goofiness of the City’s campaign fundraising ordinance? FYI: CMs Costello and Pennington were not around when Council passed this “non-city” provision.
Meanwhile, my friend Bill King has filed his campaign treasurer designation for Mayor. My dear friend Paula Arnold will handle treasurer duties. Paula is a former HISD Trustee and is one of H-Town’s most highly respected players.
CM Oliver Pennington has also filed a campaign treasurer designation – longtime local GOP power player Penny Butler.
HCC Trustee Carroll Robinson and William Frazer have filed treasurer designations. Both are running for City Controller. Frazer ran unsuccessfully for that office against Controller Ron Green last year.
Former HISD Trustee Diana Davila has filed a campaign treasurer designation. She didn’t say what she is running for on her statement but I ran into her a couple of weeks ago and she said she is running for the District H City Council position.
Sen. Wendy Davis just received the Texas Monthly Bum Steer Award. Oh well! Here is from Texas Monthly:
But nothing, and we mean nothing, could match the train wreck that was Wendy Davis, Battleground Texas, and the Democrats.
No one suggested that 2014 would be the year that the party roared back to life. No one argued that the Democrats would put the Republicans in a tough spot come Election Day. But did anyone think that Davis, after all the national exposure and all the money that flowed into her coffers, would be throttled so badly by Republican Greg Abbott in her race to become governor? In the end, she lost by more percentage points than Tony Sanchez did in 2002. And she won 270,499 fewer votes than Bill White did in 2010 in his doomed effort against Perry. It’s not that the Democrats underperformed. It’s that the party that hasn’t won a statewide race since 1994 actually dug itself an even deeper hole!
For Davis, her campaign started poorly—this magazine compared her rollout to the debut of the Bag o’ Glass from Mainway Toys—and things seemed to only go downhill from there. Infighting! Staff shake-ups! Tension with the press! Missteps over her own biography! And to add insult to injury, after the dust had settled, the state Senate seat she gave up to run against Abbott was claimed by a Republican. Davis may be out of politics for now, but she didn’t walk away empty-handed: she is our Bum Steer of the Year.
What can you say?
The Chron’s Patrick Svitek put out a piece yesterday about Sen.-Elect Lois Kolkhorst possibly leading the effort to “a ‘big revamp or repeal’ of the Texas law allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.” I know what repeal looks like. I would like to know what revamp look likes. Here is a part of Svitek’s piece:
State Sen.-elect Lois Kolkhorst, laying out her priorities since winning a promotion to the upper chamber, said Wednesday she anticipates a “big revamp or repeal” of the Texas law allowing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants — a move that has the blessing of Gov.-elect Greg Abbott.
“We are definitely looking to modify that bill, and Governor Abbott has told me he would sign it – whether that be a complete repeal or a toughening of the standards,” said Kolkhorst, a Republican state representative from Brenham who emerged victorious from a five-way race Saturday to replace incoming Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
Responding to a report that Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick had “personally pre-assigned” her to lead the charge against the measure — known as the Texas DREAM Act — Kolkhorst said she has been in talks with Abbott and Patrick about the issue but has not been tapped for any specific position, formal or informal.
“Whatever role the lieutenant governor wants me to play on the issue, I will play,” Kolkhorst said, predicting in-state tuition for illegal immigrants will be just one of several border-related issues that will factor prominently into the upcoming legislative session.
We know that this past season Jose Altuve led the MLB with 225 base hits. That is the most base hits in a single season since 2009 when a MLBer also had 225 base hits – name the player?
Remember in Season 1 of “The Newsroom” when Will McAvoy called out the Tea Party and all hell broke loose and his network, ACN, got censured by the GOP controlled Congress? Here is what Will said:
“They can call themselves the Tea Party. They can call themselves conservatives. And they can even call themselves Republicans, though Republicans certainly shouldn’t. But we should call them what they are – The American Taliban.”
Well apparently a South Texas college professor didn’t see the episode and took it a step or two further. Check this from the SA Express News:
A YouTube video of a Texas professor comparing the rise of the tea party in the United States to the rise of the Nazi Party in 1930s Germany has drawn criticism from conservatives online.
In the video, filmed during a Nov. 17 lecture, Blake Armstrong — psychology professor at South Texas College in McAllen — said, “In 1931, which was really interesting, the Nazis — people are kind of tired of them. They’ve been around since 1920, 11 years now, they’ve won seats — they’re like the tea party. Look, that’s such a good example. Don’t tell anybody I said that, though. ‘The tea party are like the Nazis.'”
Armstrong continued, “But, in the sense of how they politically came to power, there’s a good analogy there that eventually people realize, ‘Oh, these Nazis, they’re a bunch of nuts. These tea party people, they’re a bunch of nuts.’ I mean, the analogy really is a good analogy. And they started losing votes again in late ’31, 1932, they started losing seats.”
The professor’s comments drew ire from conservative websites such as RedState and The Blaze.
You are never going to win an argument in American politics when you play the Nazi card.
In 2009, Ichiro Suzuki led MLB with 225 base hits of course.
Commentary has been mentioning that no moves have been made at The Yard. Well guess what? They heard me. Here is from Tags:
The Astros reshaped their bullpen Wednesday by agreeing to contracts with right-handers Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek, pending physicals.
Gregerson has agreed to a three-year deal worth at least $18.5 million, while Neshek agreed to sign with the Astros for $12.5 million over two years, with an option for 2017. The club has yet to comment on or confirm the deals.
The signings significantly upgrade a bullpen that’s struggled in recent seasons, as Gregerson and Neshek would join veteran Chad Qualls, who served as closer last season.
Here is what Richard Justice had to say:
In Neshek and Gregerson, (GM Jeff) Luhnow has added two proven commodities. Between them, they appeared in 143 games, pitched 139 2/3 innings and compiled a 2.00 ERA last season. Both have shown they can handle a variety of roles.
And then I will end with these interesting tweets:
Brian McTaggart @brianmctaggart 1h1 hour ago
Taylor Swift has confirmed she will be adding a Houston date to the N. American leg of her tour. She will play Minute Maid on Oct. 13, 2015.
Brian McTaggart @brianmctaggart 1h1 hour ago
The date of the Houston Show at Minute Maid Park is subject to change if it conflicts with an Astros postseason home game.
Playoffs! Playoffs!
Camposcommunications' Blog 