By Jennifer Bendery, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
This week has been a game of subpoena ping-pong between Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle and U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX). Just one week after DeLay was hit with indictments of money laundering and criminal conspiracy by two Texas grand juries, DeLay's attorneys on Tuesday were quick swing back at Earle with a subpoena alleging that he and two of his assistants acted improperly with grand jurors. By Thursday, Earle had issued subpoenas for DeLay's home and campaign phone records, and for similar records from his daughter. Earle also subpoenaed financial information about a minivan he alleges DeLay purchased.
House Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) this week announced House appointments to several new and existing panels. On Wednesday, Craddick named appointees to the Sunset Advisory Commission, which included Reps. Vicki Truitt (R-Keller) as vice chair, Glenn Hegar (R-Katy), Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) and Carl Isett (R-Lubbock). Emphasizing the need to balance economic development with "the fundamental property rights of all Texans," Craddick announced appointees to the Interim Committee to Study the Use of the Power of Eminent Domain. Rep. Beverly Woolley (R-Houston) will serve as co-chair; other appointees include Reps. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio), Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg), Marc Veasey (D-Fort Worth) and Phil King (R-Weatherford).
Craddick on Friday also announced House appointees to the Study Commission on Transportation Financing; these include Rep. Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock) as a joint presiding officer, Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. Appointees to the Bi-national Alcohol and Substance Abuse Task Force include Reps. Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) as chair, Veronica Gonzales (D-McAllen), Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg), Mando Martinez (D-Weslaco) and Tracy King (D-Batesville).
Border issues also were high on Gov. Rick Perry's agenda this week. On Wednesday, the governor unveiled his comprehensive security plan for the Texas-Mexico border region. The plan consists of six actions areas: full support for local law enforcement, reductions in violent crime, accelerated radio interoperability, a bi-lateral all-hazards response plan, a partnership with the National Guard for training in response exercises, and passage of legislative reforms to expand state wiretap authority. Perry said he is putting his plan forward not because it is the state's responsibility to control the federal border, but because Texas "cannot wait for the federal government to implement needed border security measures."
But Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who also is a 2006 gubernatorial candidate, was quick to dismiss Perry's plan as "a day late, a dollar short and hypocritical." Strayhorn said she had to "go to war to with Perry's Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board" to get veteran Carl Basham in-state tuition rates after he went to war. "Veterans deserve that break, illegal immigrants do not," she said. The Comptroller also attacked Perry for having his "priorities out of whack" since he allocated $50 million "to study mice" but only set aside $9.7 million to protect the border.
Another 2006 gubernatorial candidate took a shot at the governor's border plan. Until now, the policy coming out of Perry's office concerning the border has been, "Give us your tired, your poor, your criminals, your terrorists, your drugs, gangs and bombs. Welcome to Texas," said Kinky Friedman. For the past year, Friedman said he has agreed with the governors of New Mexico and Arizona in calling the problem of porous borders a "national emergency." But Perry has "virtually ignored the border" during his years in office, he said. Still, Friedman applauded Perry for "finally admitting that we actually have a problem - even if it takes an election to do so."
A week after Sens. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin) and Eliot Shapleigh (D-El Paso) called for a special committee to scrutinize contracts issued by the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the agency is taking another licking from the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU), which recently discovered that starting pay for HHSC call center operators makes many eligible for food stamps, Medicaid and CHIP. "This is just another hidden cost of the low-wage privatization," said TSEU's Mike Gross. Noting that the state auditor recently said HHSC exaggerated cost savings of another multi-million dollar contract, Gross said it seems "the same thing is going on here. It's not too late for HHSC to take a hard look at the numbers and call off its call center scheme."
New reports this week include the Texas Department of Transportation releasing its Texas Rail System Plan Summary. The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) also issued its report, An Examination of Texas' Economic State.
Afterthought: If you came across a barking Rottweiler on a cold, dark night, complete with steam rising from its mouth with every 'woof,' would that be enough to make you believe that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is out to stop the free market agenda? The Free Enterprise Fund hopes this is the case with its latest television advertisement entitled, "Bad Ronnie, Bad," which this week kicked off on Austin television stations as part of "a saturation buy" launched by the group.
The ad, which opens with an announcer saying, "A prosecutor with a political agenda can be vicious" over footage of the snarling Rottweiler, attacks Earle for allegedly allowing partisan considerations to interfere with his professional conduct. Mallory Factor, chairman of the Free Enterprise Fund, said the group is buying airtime on "everything from West Wing to NASCAR" to make sure viewers "have a chance to see the real Ronnie Earle."