Texas Attorney General goes after Nebraska's health care deal

Attorney General Greg Abbott said Tuesday that he and top prosecutors in a half-dozen other states plan to challenge the constitutionality of a healthcare compromise that exempts Nebraska from paying billions in Medicaid expansion costs, forcing other states to shoulder a bigger burden for the low-income insurance program.

Go for it. Parts of bills have been ruled unconstitutional before. Some headlines make it seem like over turning a piece of a bill will over turn all of it. Nope. Without a public option and/or Medicare expansion, this bill is a dog. At least take out the mandate.

Dewhurst may add Texas prop 8 to interim charges

Or, he may not. Who cares if veterans get a VA hospital in the Valley. Who cares if voters overwhelmingly approved prop 8. Lt. Governor David Dewhurst has to figure out what's important to him. You don't count.

“The voters of Texas spoke loudly and clearly with Proposition 8 that they want the state to partner with the federal government to bring more veterans’ hospitals to Texas. Yet, despite this vote, there is no mention of the Senate panel looking at this issue ahead of the next legislative session. That is very disappointing, especially for Rio Grande Valley veterans who worked tirelessly to get the constitutional amendment passed,” Salazar told the Guardian at the time.

Dewhurst read the Guardian story, which was headlined "Valley veterans disappointed with interim charges given to Senate panel," and immediately contacted state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen. As a result of those discussions, two new developments seem to have emerged. One is that Dewhurst could visit the Valley early in the New Year to meet with veterans. The other is that Dewhurst may add Proposition 8 to the interim charges of the Committee on Veterans Affairs and Military Instillations.

Parents have ultimate rights over new borns' blood samples

The state will destroy an estimated 5.3 million blood samples legally collected from newborns but kept without parental consent under a federal lawsuit settlement announced Tuesday.

League City, Galveston council members fined by Texas Ethics Commission

I know what you're thinking. Texas has an ethics commission? Where have they been and what are they doing? They're run by Republicans. Enough said.

The Texas Ethics Commission fined League City Councilwoman Phyllis Sanborn $200 for failing to disclose political contributions and filing reports late.

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Galveston City Councilwoman Elizabeth Beeton said she agreed to pay a $500 fine to failing to disclose five political expenditures, mistakenly claiming herself as a political committee and filing a pre-election campaign finance report late.

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Galveston City Councilman Tarris Woods also said he agreed to pay a $200 fine for failing to disclose required information and for failing to file semiannual and pre-election campaign finance reports.

It's important to be counted for the 2010 census

Some areas, like El Paso, will be difficult. Such areas need more representation, not less.

Taking a census in El Paso is more difficult than in most counties because of language barriers, the fluid border and poverty in colonias and city neighborhoods.

El Paso is one of 50 counties in America with populations that are the hardest to count, according to the Census Bureau.

Eagle Pass Mayor in Mexican restaurant when gunmen attack

Gunmen sprayed bullets at a restaurant Tuesday where the mayor of a Texas border town was eating with a Mexican state attorney general and other officials, police said. A woman leaving the building was killed.

Coahuila state Attorney General Jesus Torres and Chad Foster, mayor of Eagle Pass across the border from Piedras Negras, were unharmed, according to police officers at the scene.

It is time to legalize drugs and take the profit motive away. Do you want to live your live expecting to be gunned down? Do you want your politicians either afraid or on the take? Legalizing drugs has the added benefit of providing safer drugs to users and offering a better chance for rehab.

Fight with Nueces County appraisal district may escalate

More precious tax dollars at work.

One of the county’s smallest taxing entities has urged cities and school districts to take a stand together against the Nueces County Appraisal District’s accounting practices.

Driscoll City Administrator Sandra Martinez sent the letter Friday, a day after the appraisal district’s board voted against refunding each entity’s share of a $2.8 million building fund.

The largest entity, Corpus Christi Independent School District, sent a letter to the other entities letting them know that CCISD has adopted a policy to be more vigilant in monitoring the appraisal district.

Cameron County DA is fighting the Cameron County Commissioners Court

See your precious tax dollars at work.

A temporary restraining order requested by Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos against the Cameron County Commissioners’ Court and its legal division has left the Commissioners’ Court without legal representation.

The court-approved restraining order is part of a lawsuit which requests that the legal division of the Commissioners’ Court be transferred back to the district attorney’s office, where it had been housed for numerous years.

Villalobos said the reason the lawsuit was filed is because the issue of separate civil counsel needs to be addressed. The district attorney’s office also has its own civil division.

Fired Brownsville ISD bus monitor files whistle blower suit

Immediately after [Maria] Cervera filed her first report, the lawsuit says [Hector Chirinos, BISD administrator for transportation] conducted an internal investigation "not against the bus driver who was alleged to have been smoking on a public school bus, but incredibly, against (Cervera,) specifically, rumors of personal issues regarding (her) personal life."

Grand jury no bills, but eviscerates Brownsville police dispatch

A state grand jury has issued a scathing report against the Brownsville Police Department, despite no-billing several Brownsville police officers involved in a November 2008 armed standoff that left a mentally unstable man dead.

In a Dec. 8, three-page report issued by the special grand jury to presiding Judge Leonel Alejandro of the 357th state District Court, the grand jury says the department’s dispatch center relayed "erroneous information based on assumption rather than fact. Dispatch then disseminated this mistaken information to the police officers on the scene."

Obama on track to set record for Hispanic appointments

President Barack Obama is on track to name more Hispanics to top posts than any of his predecessors, drawing appointees from a wide range of the nation’s Latino communities, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Colombians.

That won’t necessarily give the president a free pass on issues such as immigration, but it may ease Hispanics’ worries about whether Obama will continue reaching out to a group that was key to his winning the White House.

Judge Jackson gets 30 days in jail for official oppression

Harris County Criminal Court-at-law Judge Donald Jackson on Monday was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years' probation following his conviction on a charge of official oppression for allegedly trying to strike up a relationship with a drunken driving defendant in his court.

Jackson, who was found guilty of the misdemeanor by a jury last Friday, also was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, pay a $4,000 fine and take 25 hours of state-approved legal ethics courses for each of the next two years by state District Judge Mark Kent Ellis.

Ellis, who admonished Jackson, 60, for his actions, also ruled Jackson must leave the bench, pending appeal.

The Southern District of Texas leads spike in immigration prosecutions

Immigration prosecutions in southern Texas increased by more than 28 percent during the past fiscal year, helping to drive overall federal prosecutions to an all-time high, according to newly released data.

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reported Monday that overall federal prosecutions peaked at 169,612 during the past fiscal year, which ended in September, up nearly 9 percent from the previous year.

Judicial panel says no electronic voting for Dallas County

A three-judge panel has ruled that Dallas County election officials violated federal law when they did not inform the Department of Justice about changes in the way straight-party votes are counted on electronic voting machines.

The judges determined that the county did not get proper approval from the Department of Justice to use the county's current machines. They granted an injunction requested by the Texas Democratic Party to halt use of the machines in Dallas until they get Justice Department clearance.

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Chad Dunn, attorney for the Democratic Party, said that 150 to 200 counties use such electronic voting machines.

Eliot Shapleigh to sit out 2010

Two months after announcing that he would not run for re-election, state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh ended speculation over his possible bid for a statewide office.

On Monday, the state senator said he would not run for any office in 2010.

Shapleigh announced in October that he would not seek re-election to the Senate seat he has held for more than a decade.

He then suggested that he might seek a higher state office.

Shapleigh, 57, said he considered running for the governorship but changed his mind once Houston Mayor Bill White stepped into the race.

Two Hockley County Sheriff's Deputies involved with drug dealing

A former Hockley County sheriff's deputy, Gordon Clark Bohannon, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court for his involvement in drug-trafficking activities.

Bohannon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, among other allegations.

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Hockley County Sheriff's Deputy Jose Jesus Quintanilla was also arrested for his involvement with Froman and Bohannon.

The drug cartels have already begun infiltrating our law enforcement ranks. You can't think our politicians are immune. It is time to legalize drugs. Take the profit motive out. Let the users have consistent levels of drug and a chance for rehab. If we insist on punishing the users, we will reap the political nightmare.

It's Monday TPA blog roundup time.

The Texas Progressive Alliance brings you the highlights from the blogs.

As the deadline to file for a place on the 2010 March primary ballot drew near, there was lots of activity on the Democratic side: Kinky Friedman followed Hank Gilbert over to the race for agriculture commissioner, Linda Chavez-Thompson was rumored to be running for lt. governor, and, late on Friday, Ronnie Earle dropped his name in the hat for that same post. There's more on all this news from PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

BARNETT SHALE GAS THREATENS HUMAN HEALTH !!! TXsharon posted the Final Results of the DISH TX health survey at Bluedaze.

WhosPlayin broke the story about a former Republican County Commissioner who got arrested this week for shoplifting a vacuum cleaner.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why some men in power (here, here, here, here and here) think that abusing women and children is their right? Why does Senator Cornyn choose to enable rapists?

Over at Bay Area Houston, John Coby is bored and thinks Kay Bailey Hutchison's commercial sounds like a Whataburger commercial.

Looking for ways to green up your life? Start by making some thoughtful changes to the way you spend your holiday, and check out Texas Vox' Green Up Your Life: Holiday Edition for tips and tricks!

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote about the fifth anniversary of the terrible Indian Ocean tunami. Five Years Since Terrible Indian Ocean Tsunami—People Are Recovering While many are still suffering from the impact of this killer wave, there are also many who are recovering and getting back their lives.

The folks over at McBlogger are desperate for your help! Find out how you can do them a solid when you help get a planet named for the blog!

Xanthippas at Three Wise Men covers the utter failure of tort "reform" in Texas (with a h/t to John Coby.)

The Texas Cloverleaf highlights the charge against the Denton County District Attorney's office of racial discrimination and harassment in the workplace

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the fact that elected Texas Republicans still have no sensible ideas about how to pay for roads, Dewhurst and transportation funding.

Off the Kuff took a look at precinct data in the Houston Mayor's runoff.

lightseeker has a question for you over at TexasKaos, Is Arnold's California a foretaste of our nations' future? Check out his analysis in Deadlock, facts ,Partisans -Is California a Fore taste of Our Collective Future?.

XicanoPwr reports that anti-immigration grinches are wanting to replace dreams of success with a lumps of coal by filing a lawsuit challenging Texas’ DREAM Act, the statute that allows undocumented students to pay in-state rates, provided, they meet certain criteria. Their grinch-like behavior would rather punish these extremely vulnerable students for the sins of their undocumented parents, instead of rewarding them for wanting to contribute to our society by making college tuition a bit more affordable, since they already are ineligible for financial aid.

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog is excited that Houston has one of the first hospital Asian care units in the nation

If you're a criminally psychotic youth in Texas, you're free to go

Cause mental health treatment is too much trouble and expense?

The cases highlight what some juvenile justice experts say is a loophole in the way Texas treats underage offenders with severe psychiatric issues. Data obtained by the Associated Press reveal that the commission has released more than 200 offenders because of mental health issues in the past five years and that more than one-fifth went on to commit new crimes, some of them violent.

“All these cases are failures where we should have done something different,” said Richard Lavallo, legal director of Advocacy Inc., an Austin organization that helps children with disabilities.

New candidate for Hidalgo DA charges rank cronyism

Cronyism and selective prosecution have turned the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office into a bastion for the rich and powerful, said the latest candidate to enter the race to lead the office.

Fidencio Guerra Jr. said top prosecutor Rene Guerra has used his position to protect friends and political allies during his nearly three decades in office and said he would continue to do so if elected to a seventh term.

Whoa. Tell us what you really think.

Of course, Rene Guerra isn't very fond of Fidencio Guerra Jr., either.

Gay tourism in Houston? Who knew.

The election of Annise Parker as Houston's first gay mayor has given a boost to the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau's push to attract gay visitors.

In her 12 years as an elected city official, Parker rarely centered her public policies on her sexual orientation, but the visitors bureau still hopes to capitalize on it.

Houston historically has not been a popular destination for gay and lesbian travelers, according to U.S. Travel Association data. Last month, independent of mayoral politics, the visitors bureau launched an online effort to reach out to them.

States with gay marriage rights are experiencing a tourist boom, too. Why not.

Cash for clunkers back - for your old appliances

We get a two fer. Old appliances are replaced with more energy efficient ones and the economy perks.

Consumers would receive between $45 and $1,600 in rebates on Energy Star appliances that include refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, clothes washers, room and central air conditioners, water heaters and heat pumps.

An additional $75 rebate will be tacked on if they recycle their old, functioning appliances.

Corpus Christi high $ estimates scare off FOIA requestors

Oh, that pesky Freedom of Information Act. Why should a city have to be accountable to its citizens?

Figures the Caller-Times received from its requests show many people don’t accept the charges from estimates. The city of Corpus Christi issued more than $50,000 worth of estimates in the past two fiscal years but collected only $9,500 from requesters.

Brownsville ISD controversy over athletic director continues

What did the 2 recently released reports say 'soon to be former' athletic director Joe Rodriguez did?

That BISD equipment and vehicles were used during the 17th Annual Student Scholarship Services Benefit Golf Tournament on May 24, 2008; that BISD vehicles were used to transport alcoholic beverages and that employees consumed alcoholic beverages during the tournament in the presence of students.

What does Rodriguez say?

Rodriguez does not dispute BISD vehicles, tables, chairs, beverage coolers and other equipment being used during the tournament — or that alcohol was consumed in the presence of students. He said this has been the practice since the tournament’s beginning. The awards ceremony and barbecue at which students receive their scholarships takes place after the tournament at Champions, a property Rodriguez owns at the corner of Wildrose Lane and Central Boulevard.

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Previously, Rodriguez said the investigations were prompted by his opposition to using Sams Stadium as a venue for a concert, ostensibly where Mexican crooner Vicente Fernandez would perform.

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Rodriguez added that he was offered a $50,000 bribe "by a now-convicted drug dealer" to "make the deal happen." Rodriguez said the person who offered the bribe is now serving a seven-year prison sentence. He said he refused the bribe and has a witness to the events.

Texas Supreme Court shafts bereaved family, kisses corporate ass

An Hidalgo County jury erred in awarding $14 million to a Mercedes family who alleged a design defect in their clothes dryer started the fire that caused their son’s 2003 death, the Texas Supreme Court has found.

Juries aren't allowed to determine the facts in a case, if those facts don't help the crony.

Food stamps approved for 7. What about the rest?

A day after a legal aid group sued the state over delays in food stamp application processing, the Health and Human Services Commission on Friday finished approving the applications of all seven families named as plaintiffs.

But a lawyer from Texas RioGrande Legal Aid said that doesn't mean the fight is over because thousands of other applicants are still waiting.

Harris County Republicans question missing party money

[Ed] Hubbard raised alarm this summer when he discovered that several people or organizations identified as major sponsors of the party's annual fundraising dinner did not make it into the party's report.

Last week, Texas Watchdog compared donors' reports to the party's reported receipts and documented what it considers to be a nearly $10,000 difference — about 10 percent of all money raised for its party account.

[Don] Large pounced, issuing a news release calling for treasurer Josh Flynn's resignation.

“If we cannot keep our own party finances in order, how can the average voter trust our candidates to be good stewards of their money at any level of government?” he asked.

Hey, that's nothing compared to what the Bexar County Democratic Party is going through with $300k missing and no money to pay for primary bills.

Judge Jackson found guilty of official oppression

A Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law judge was convicted Friday of official oppression after a weeklong trial on accusations he offered to get a DWI defendant in his court help getting her case dismissed in exchange for a sexual relationship.

Jurors deliberated about 2½ hours before finding 17-year veteran Judge Donald Jackson guilty of the Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Only a year in jail? The graffiti teen got 8 years which just got reduced to 2.

La Marque ISD police chief indicted

The school district’s police chief was indicted Thursday on charges he faked records to get the title to a vehicle, Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said.

Russell Washington is accused of providing false information on an application for a certificate of title in order to obtain a mechanic’s lien, the district attorney said.

Jury tries to hold BP accountable with $100M fine

Is $100M enough to get their attention? How soon before a corporation loving judge overturns that number?

A federal jury Friday awarded 10 contract workers a total of $100.3 million for injuries they suffered from a leak at the BP Texas City refinery in April 2007. More than 100 workers were overcome by fumes from a leak that never was identified.

BP argued it could not find a source of a leak or even identify what had been released that made the workers sick. The company also argued the fumes must have come from a source outside the refinery.

Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality did not find a leak had come from the refinery.

No. Toxic fumes couldn't have come from a refinery where the 100 workers were. Nope. Up is down. Black is white.

What's the big deal about 90 days of unannounced inspections for Robstown prison?

Big whoop. Unannounced inspections for 10 years, that might get somebody's attention.

A private detention facility in Robstown faces frequent, unannounced state inspections for 90 days after its inadvertent release of a convicted sex offender.

The Coastal Bend Detention Center did not violate state standards when Mario Estrada Martinez, 31, an undocumented immigrant from Matamoros, Mexico, mistakenly was released, but it is at risk of falling out of state compliance after corrections officers did not follow release procedures, according to a letter from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards obtained by the Caller-Times through an open records request.

It isn't a violation of state standards to accidentally release a convicted sex offender?

It's tough being a worker in the Valley

Workers in the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan continue to earn significantly lower hourly wages compared to many other parts of the state, according to survey results from the National Compensation Survey recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To top off the hard times, unemployment at 10.5 percent is higher, too.

Professionals in El Paso, on the other hand, are doing great.

Average income for professionals grew in El Paso more than anywhere else in the country from 2005 to 2008, according to a study conducted by a salary information company.

The statistics gathered by PayScale indicate that El Paso's median income among people with at least bachelor's degrees jumped more than in any other metropolitan statistical area in the country, from $41,100 in 2005 to $49,100 in 2008 -- a 19.39 percent increase.

Grafitti teenager's 8 year sentence reduced

On Thursday the judge has had to reduce the punishment, not because she wanted to, but because of a new law that went into effect September 1 which prevents "stacking" the sentences in cases like this. It means Perez now only has to serve 2 years instead of the 8, plus 2 years of community service.

Finally. The teenager deserved to pay the consequences for his actions, but a life-destroying sentence is just inappropriate.

Would you want a former Bush staffer to be your US Rep?

Would you want any Bush bot to get near government again?

There has been much anticipation in Republican circles in the Rio Grande Valley about former White House staff member Daniel Garza running for Congressional District 15.

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Congressional District 15 is currently held by U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and is a Democratic stronghold. The district runs from Edinburg, Weslaco and Harlingen in the south all the way north past Beeville and around Victoria.

The Republican primary is expected to be competitive. High tech sales director Eddie Zamora of Edinburg, who has run against Hinojosa in the past, has already announced his candidacy.

Turns out Rick Perry isn't so proud of his 'accomplishments' after all

Dallas Morning News' Wayne Slater catches Perry's change.

Something's missing from the Texas governor's official state website. Gone from Rick Perry's biography is any mention of the Trans-Texas Corridor, the beleaguered toll-road project the governor once touted as a crowning jewel accomplishment of his tenure in office. Scrubbed is the paragraph about how Perry expanded the children's health insurance program -- a popular program with Democrats but not so much with Republicans whose votes the governor wants in next year's GOP primary. And vanished is the previous mention of Perry building "a stronger safety net for the poorist of the poor." That's been replaced by a paragraph about stopping illegal immigration.

Victims of domestic violence to receive asylum in US

The Obama administration now says it is crafting regulations to allow entry by other victims of domestic violence who feel they have no choice but to flee their homelands to protect themselves.

If adopted, the regulations would mark the first time the federal government formally recognized domestic abuse victims as qualifying for political asylum.

It's about time. Women are people, not property.

Another former Texas DA indicted

Retired District Attorney Ron Sutton of Junction is accused of felony misapplication of fiduciary property, i.e using seized assets for travel and bonuses instead of pure law enforcement.

Sutton was lead prosecutor in the 198th district, covering Kerr, Kimble, Mason, Menard and McCulloch counties, from 1976 until last year, when he retired.

Nueces County Judge's fight with appraisal district continues

Nueces County taxing entities missed their chance to request unspent appraisal district money in previous years and won’t see their share of a $2.8 million building fund refunded, the district’s board decided Thursday.

The decision occurred one day after County Judge Loyd Neal accused the appraisal district of deceiving the public and elected officials by obscuring its intent to funnel unspent money to the building fund, and by not clearly informing taxing entities that they were entitled to a refund. District employees said they didn’t intend to mislead anyone.

Did I hear 'Na na na na na'?

Use of information in political campaign is now a courtroom drama for former Cameron County DA

[Former Cameron County DA Yolanda] De Leon was indicted in October after information was allegedly released by DeLeon before the March 2008 primary election to district attorney candidate Peter Zavaletta relating to the DA's handling of formal complaints of sexual and other abuse of children.

On Thursday Morning, Chief Assistant DA Charles E. Mattingly Jr. and defense attorney Mervyn Mosbacker went before State District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez to make the necessary announcements in the case.

De Leon was facing two counts of tampering with government records and one count of perjury, however, Mattingly and Mosbacker asked that one of the tampering charges be dropped.

Carole 4 names, 3 parties thinking about another party switch

It is almost like she is trying to relive her glory days ... and failing miserably. Mayor of Austin? Nope. Comptroller? I doubt it.

Whoopers near refuge goal numbers

The estimated flock count of endangered whooping cranes jumped up to 244 on Tuesday.

Whooping Crane Coordinator Tom Stehn, of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, received reports of six more birds, including two chicks. The latest estimate accounts for 21 of the 22 chicks that fledged in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, where the cranes live in the summers.

That means nearly all the chicks survived their 2,400-mile-long migration - during which the birds face risks of harsh weather conditions, utility wires and predators, among other things - bodes well for the future of the species, specialist Vicki Muller said.

Specialists at the refuge are hopeful the flock total will reach at least 247, the number of birds that left the Aransas facility in March.

Is missing Bexar County Democrats' money a case of the stupids?

How stupid do you have to be to not notice someone draining funds overtime? How stupid do you have to be to ignore a bounced check? How stupid to you have to be to allow one person the ability to drain all your funds?

Carla Vela — who resigned as chairwoman Tuesday night because she intends to run for Bexar County clerk — said Treasurer Dwayne E. Adams, 54, took funds over the past several months from a Compass Bank account that the party uses exclusively for primary elections.

She also said Adams dipped into the party's operating account, which now is overdrawn.

Vela said the party pressed charges Wednesday against Adams with the district attorney's office.

Carla Vela rises to George Bush levels of incompetence. I think she can forget being elected to the County Clerk's office.

State Rep. Mando Martinez is getting primaried

A Rio Grande Valley veteran is asking voters in the Mid Valley to elect him to the Texas Legislature so he can help secure a VA hospital for the region.

Joel De Los Santos, a 41-year-old educator from Weslaco, is running for Texas House District 39 in the Democratic Party primary. He said that with the overwhelming majority support shown by Texas voters for Proposition 8 in the constitutional election last month state lawmakers can start working with Congress to secure a much-needed VA hospital in the Valley.

The Texas Border Coalition likes the Gutierrez immigration reform bill

The Texas Border Coalition, which represents cities from Brownsville to El Paso, has praised the new comprehensive immigration reform legislation introduced in Congress on Tuesday.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) was filed by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois. It has been co-sponsored by border Congressmen such as Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso.

“The Texas Border Coalition commends U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez for his leadership in fashioning a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will enhance our national and economic security,” said Texas Border Coalition Chair Chad Foster.

Foster claims there are jobs Americans are not willing to do. That's just flat out wrong. There are jobs Americans won't do at very low wages. Raise the wage to where Americans will do the job. Why do workers have to provide consumers with cheap hamburgers? shirts? Or, whatever. Why can't the consumer pay a fair price for a product based on workers receiving a living wage? No guest worker program aimed at providing cheap labor.

Cornyn's choice to enable rape is not a winning position

Crony loving John Cornyn loves his KBR so much he doesn't mind if they cover up a rape here and there - or there or there or there.

Prompted by the alleged rape of former KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones, Congress is poised to pass a measure banning defense contractors from forcing employees to use arbitration to resolve claims of discrimination and sexual assault.

House and Senate negotiators agreed to include the no-arbitration provision in a $636 billion defense spending bill that passed the House 395-34 on Wednesday. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to pass it before Christmas.

Employers and other potential lawsuit targets generally prefer binding arbitration because it keeps disputes out of the court system, where juries can inflict damaging verdicts.

30 Republican men voted to force arbitration for victims of sexual assault. Is anyone surprised that Republican men are so blasé about rape?

El Paso internet cafes raided

Drug cartel activity? Terrorism? Nope. Gambling is suspected.

Cities assault open meetings rule

Why do these city officials want to operate their governments in the dark? What do they want to hide from the citizens?

Sugar Land denies participation in a federal lawsuit to decriminalize violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Alpine, Pflugerville, Rockport and Big Lake as well as several individuals are named as participants.

Why are they claiming first amendment rights? All they have to do to speak in pubic about a topic is just avoid a quorum. How hard is that?

Nueces County appraisal district accused of deception

Audits and budgets that the Nueces County Appraisal District sent to taxing entities had mislabeled accounts that didn’t clearly show its intent to hold money for a new building, County Judge Loyd Neal said.

That practice misled taxing entities and the public, Neal said.

The county, along with several other taxing jurisdictions, asked the appraisal district for its share of the $2.8 million fund after learning about it. The county also stopped payment on its most recent check to the district.

Is fight club still going on in Nueces County facilities?

You have got to be kidding me.

Two local residential facilities for mentally handicapped people are under investigation after allegations that a 21-year old man was encouraged by employees to fight a fellow resident.

Educare of Texas, which owns the two homes located in Southside neighborhoods, has suspended two employees until internal and state investigations are complete. But so far, the allegations, lodged by the 21-year-old man’s mother have proven to be unfounded, said Rosie Flores, Educare’s executive director for this region.

Lets hope this is not still going on.