Lone Star Report Recent Blog Posts

Among Austin-area conservatives (yes, there are some), no agency of local government (other than maybe the Austin City Council) is a bigger target than Capital Metro. The Austin-area transit provider is bad even by the standards under which transit agencies are judged. Now the non-partisan Sunset Advisory Commission has produced staff recommendations which basically confirms everything Austin conservatives said about the agency: that it wastes money, that it suffers from misplaced priorities, that it needs major reform. Frankly, there's not much to add to this excellent report, so I highly recommended clicking here to read it in its entirety.

Now that the staff recommendations have been published, the Sunset Commission will have hearings in May, and will make decisions in July. www.sunset.state.tx.us has more details on the process.

LSR Managing Editor William Lutz gave a commentary on WFAA's Inside Texas Politics Sunday. Lutz discussed the Tea Party movement and how the press thinks the movement is wimpy. Lutz suggests making an impact in the May school board races is one way the Tea Party Movement can get the respect it deserves. Inside Texas Politics airs every Sunday at 9 am, WFAA, Channel 8 in North Texas. We post a copy of the program below: (Lutz's commentary starts about half-way into the program).

Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Bill White is making the GOP spin machine's job too easy. In 2002, Democrat Tony Sanchez made a campaign issue out of alleging that Gov. Rick Perry hasn't held a private sector job. Perry turned that into an instant campaign issue noting that he worked on his family ranch and served in the military. That attack boomeranged on Sanchez, and now it appears White may be repeating that mistake. Today's Wichita Falls Record-News reports that White criticized Perry for not holding a private sector job in a speech in Wichita Falls.

It didn't take long for the GOP to fire away at White.

LSR Managing Editor William Lutz will appear on WFAA Television's Inside Texas Politics this Sunday at 9 am. The program airs on Channel 8 in North Texas. Lutz will be discussing the upcoming school board elections and how a few organized TEA Party activists could make a big difference in those elections.

The front page of today's Austin American-Statesman has yet another story about a bunch of academics whining because the State Board of Education thinks our children should be taught patriotism. Click here to read.

Here's the deal, it is next to impossible to get tenure in subjects like history if one thinks America is the greatest country on earth. The only "research" that gets published in scholarly academic journals (a requirement for tenure) is research on how the U.S.A. is racist, sexist, classist, etc. I regularly talk with college students, and what goes on in academia today (with some exceptions) is largely indoctrination, not education. Students will spend four years learning about "institutional racism." What the members of the elected State Board of Education are trying to do is balance that out.

LSR Managing Editor William Lutz was quoted in a front page story in yesterday's Austin American-Statesman examining the impact of yesterday's primary runoffs. Click here to read Jason Embry and Tim Eaton's story from yesterday's Statesman.  In the story, Lutz notes that Tea Party activists didn't rewrite the rules of politics, but on the margin, they were helpful in defeating Reps. Tommy Merritt (RINO-Longview) and Delwin Jones (RINO or perhaps D-Lubbock) and also played a role in Van Taylor's victory over Mabrie Jackson. Lutz also discussed the impact of gun owners on Jones's defeat by Charles Perry.

In last week’s issue, LSR printed that Supreme Court candidate Rick Green was endorsed by Americans for Prosperity. The organization does not endorse. Instead, Americans for Prosperity – Texas executive director Peggy Venable endorsed Green in her personal, rather than organizational, capacity. LSR regrets the error.

When all was said and done on election night, two incumbents, Reps. Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock) and Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) went down. Incumbent Rep. Fred Brown (R-College Station) won re-election easily. The end result of this evening's runoff is the House will likely take a right turn headed into 2011.

The 2010 primary could be one of the best in recent memory for conservatives. Voters have already retired one of the most liberal Republicans in the House, Rep. Tommy Merritt (RINO-Longview) and could be well on their way to retiring another, Delwin Jones of Lubbock. In HD 83, challenger Charles Perry won all four counties in the district for early vote and has a 2,000 vote lead heading into election day.