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Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

Xarthor posted:

Between the recent Perry news and a recent Reuters poll showing Wendy 8 points behind Abbott any of you starting to think her win is completely out of the realm of possibility?

Yes.

Is Perry's case going to turn on whether he vetoed the funding because he was trying to achieve some political goal as opposed to vetoing to try and preserve the integrity of the DA's office?

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PostNouveau
Sep 3, 2011

VY till I die
Grimey Drawer

Xarthor posted:

Between the recent Perry news and a recent Reuters poll showing Wendy 8 points behind Abbott any of you starting to think her win is completely out of the realm of possibility?

I don't see anything about when the trial is scheduled, but if Abbott pardons Perry, it'll hurt him.

Hell, I gotta imagine just having the most powerful Republican in the state on trial helps Davis a lot. Not only will there be a lot of focus on corruption in the current administration, but it'll keep Perry from doing as much campaigning for Abbott.

Number_6
Jul 23, 2006

BAN ALL GAS GUZZLERS

(except for mine)
Pillbug
Any chance Perry resigns before the end of his term, which I believe would move Dewhurst into the governor's mansion? I guess it would be too late for Dewhurst to challenge Abbott for the office since Abbott already has the nomination. But it could muddy the waters a bit.

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

I am pretty sure that even if convicted, Perry will win on appeal. No way the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals finds against Perry.

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


Xarthor posted:

Between the recent Perry news and a recent Reuters poll showing Wendy 8 points behind Abbott any of you starting to think her win is completely out of the realm of possibility?

EDIT -- I mean NOT out of the realm of possibility.

You can bet that her people are searching furiously for a way to tie Abbott to it, but otherwise, a lot of things are going to have to happen very quickly for it to hurt the republicans in November.

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


Aliquid posted:

His threatening the elected official is also a felony, and it was pretty obvious that this was the case (I don't think he even tried to hide it?) so I'm optimistic about the second felony. The first one, actually withholding the funds, is legal according to Perry's counsel, so that one could go either way.

Yeah he didn't try to hide it at all. It was explicitly because of the DA refusing to step down and he even said so in is veto statement:

quote:

Despite the otherwise good work the Public Integrity Unit's employees, I cannot in good conscience support continued State funding for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public's confidence. This unit is in no other way held accountable to state taxpayers, except through the State budgetary process. I therefore object to and disapprove of this appropriation.

Setset
Apr 14, 2012
Grimey Drawer
Isn't there some strategy of releasing news of a scandal on friday so people care less about it? I think it's working.

Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

The video of the DA is on youtube and its pretty bad. This won't even register an asterisk on Perry's career. Why be President, who needs it when you're head honcho, and Democrats help carry water for you by calling your office powerless? Good insurance to make that video public last year and then just blow it all everywhere now.

Nonsense fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Aug 17, 2014

Doom Rooster
Sep 3, 2008

Pillbug
I hate Perry as much as the next guy, but I feel that "I'm going to defund the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit, if the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit is still lead by THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHO JUST GOT OUT OF A 20 DAY JAIL SENTENCE FOR DUI.", is a pretty defensible position.

hobbesmaster
Jan 28, 2008

Doom Rooster posted:

I hate Perry as much as the next guy, but I feel that "I'm going to defund the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit, if the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit is still lead by THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHO JUST GOT OUT OF A 20 DAY JAIL SENTENCE FOR DUI.", is a pretty defensible position.

"I'm going to defund the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit, if the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit currently investigating me is still lead by THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF TRAVIS COUNTY and appoint one myself"

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Doom Rooster posted:

I hate Perry as much as the next guy, but I feel that "I'm going to defund the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit, if the PUBLIC INTEGRITY Unit is still lead by THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHO JUST GOT OUT OF A 20 DAY JAIL SENTENCE FOR DUI.", is a pretty defensible position.

The case isn't going to be "did I do it" because he clearly did. His lawyers are going to have to argue that what he did was within the Constitutional bounds of his office. Whether or not he was justified in a moral sense has nothing to do with if he was justified in a legal sense. Also he wanted her to step down because then he would've been able to personally appoint a replacement to serve out her term until '16

The PIU/Travis Co. DA has always had an extremely adversarial relationship with the state legislature, as it tends to be miles more liberal than the state government. Ronnie Earle, when he was DA, basically made a hobby of trying to sue and convict state Republicans all day long. There is a long-standing grudge between the Travis Co. DA and the Governor's office and this whole PIU foofaraw is about political payback.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Oh boy once again the school finance system has been ruled unconsitutional.

That this would be the ruling is obvious because it is impossible to devise a school finance system that meets the requirements of the Texas constitution. What now? Next session the Legislature will tweak the finance system somewhat but will not make the ultimate fix of creating a statewide property tax so they will be back in 2019 to try again, as it takes about four years for this stuff to work its way through the courts.

PostNouveau
Sep 3, 2011

VY till I die
Grimey Drawer

zoux posted:

That this would be the ruling is obvious because it is impossible to devise a school finance system that meets the requirements of the Texas constitution.

Why's that?

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

PostNouveau posted:

Why's that?

Because of the prohibition of a statewide property tax. The state constitution requires that education be "equitable and adequate" which means that basically you have to give all the districts the exact same amount of money per student, but because funding comes from the district level and not the state level you cannot have equitable distribution of money statewide due to the wide variation in property tax revenue district to district. When the state tips too close to the "statewide property tax" side of the equation, the conservatives come out and sue on the statewide property tax violation, and when it gets too far away the liberals sue on the "equitable and adequate" side of the equation. It's the latter side we're on now.

As long as there exists in the constitution a prohibition on a statewide property tax, there will never be equitable distribution of school money.

e: also important is the statewide imposed cap of $1.50 per $100 valuation on property tax. This causes two problems; the first is that because almost every ISD in the state is at that cap, the state courts have ruled it constitutes a de factor statewide property tax. The second is that obviously districts with more property wealth are going to reap so, so much more money than ones that don't, and the poor districts have no remedy because they can only raise taxes so high.

zoux fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Aug 28, 2014

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


It'd be simpler if we just went with a state income tax, of course, but that's a non-starter for obvious reasons.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

ReidRansom posted:

It'd be simpler if we just went with a state income tax, of course, but that's a non-starter for obvious reasons.

That would literally in one fell swoop solve the entire problem they have been fighting in court since Edgewood.

Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010



Maybe we could go full socialism and set up a PUF-alike for public K-12 and fund it through taxing energy revenues or leasing public mineral rights.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Shear Modulus posted:

Maybe we could go full socialism and set up a PUF-alike for public K-12 and fund it through taxing energy revenues or leasing public mineral rights.

Actually...

PostNouveau
Sep 3, 2011

VY till I die
Grimey Drawer
Yeah, they'll never implement an income tax. Can the state sales tax be diverted to education?

Dante Logos
Dec 31, 2010

I hear stories about how higher education was free or practically free because of oil reserves. I have meant to start digging on the subject.

Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010




drat, did not know that existed. Too bad it's still too small. Also it seems that information on how its income is actually spent on education is obfuscated.

Also I love how they just throw Big Tex in that picture because why the gently caress not?

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

PostNouveau posted:

Yeah, they'll never implement an income tax. Can the state sales tax be diverted to education?

The "Bullock Amendment" in the Texas Constitution would require a 2/3's public referendum vote before a statewide income tax is implemented and let's all think about how likely that is.


As to your second question, I'm not sure.


Also we take a huge part of our oil and gas severance tax revenue and cram it into a giant pot of money we aren't ever allowed to touch.

Trabisnikof
Dec 24, 2005

zoux posted:

Also we take a huge part of our oil and gas severance tax revenue and cram it into a giant pot of money we aren't ever allowed to touch.

Just be glad Texas was smart enough to have a severance tax!


The difference between what we could do legally and what's political feasible is pretty stark in the education debate.

Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010



zoux posted:


Also we take a huge part of our oil and gas severance tax revenue and cram it into a giant pot of money we aren't ever allowed to touch.

Is this distinct from the rainy day fund that Perry and the legislature have refused to tap for any of the plethora of rainy day situations including Katrina, Rita and the financial crisis?

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Shear Modulus posted:

Is this distinct from the rainy day fund that Perry and the legislature have refused to tap for any of the plethora of rainy day situations including Katrina, Rita and the financial crisis?

Nope it is the RDF :)

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

Do they not spend out of the RDF simply because Spending Bad, or are they trying to do something else with it?

Reicere
Nov 5, 2009

Not sooo looouuud!!!

Badger of Basra posted:

Do they not spend out of the RDF simply because Spending Bad, or are they trying to do something else with it?

My understanding is that the ESF isn't just going unused, but is still having money dumped into it(on top of the interest it generates). So I'd bet the first.

Any financial problems are by design. Tax for minimal services, budget for even less, and then call it a surplus.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Badger of Basra posted:

Do they not spend out of the RDF simply because Spending Bad, or are they trying to do something else with it?

It's the former. There's a large contingent in the state legislature that say if we appropriate any RDF money, it should be in the form of (property) tax rebates only.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Abbott backed out of his only statewide televised debate with Davis. He said that it's because they couldn't agree on a format, despite a letter saying they agreed to the format.

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


zoux posted:

Abbott backed out of his only statewide televised debate with Davis. He said that it's because they couldn't agree on a format, despite a letter saying they agreed to the format.

Not surprising. I recall Perry wouldn't debate White either. There's no benefit to a republican agreeing to a debate in the current climate. He'd likely lose more support attending than skipping, so why bother.

Xarthor
Nov 11, 2003

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Lipstick Apathy
So great, we have one debate left, in McAllen. I bet Abbott finds a reason to pull out of that one too. Coward.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Xarthor posted:

So great, we have one debate left, in McAllen. I bet Abbott finds a reason to pull out of that one too. Coward.

Coward like a fox. He has absolutely nothing to gain from a debate.

Shear Modulus
Jun 9, 2010



zoux posted:

Coward like a fox. He has absolutely nothing to gain from a debate.

If there's a clear frontrunner in a race they always have nothing to gain from a debate. Pretty much the only reasons we should expect debates to happen are if the race is wide open or if the race's debates are a sacred cow like the Presidential ones. Or if the frontrunner is particularly civic minded, which is seldom.

Badger of Basra
Jul 26, 2007

Where is our Texan Gingrich to propose a series of Lincoln-Douglas debates with a moderator but no timer (or was it a timer but no moderator)?

I can't say I'm terribly broken up by there not being a debate, it would have been uninformative and Davis still wouldn't win unless Abbott started eating a baby on stage. Does anyone remember the Patrick/Castro debate about immigration? What a shitshow.

Jiro
Jan 13, 2004

Xarthor posted:

So great, we have one debate left, in McAllen. I bet Abbott finds a reason to pull out of that one too. Coward.

Yeah living here in McAllen it wouldn't surprise me if that debate were just filled with the elderly. There's been zero advertising for it.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Every once in a while, we win one.

ReidRansom
Oct 25, 2004


A lot of the damage has already been done though. Most of the clinics that were closed already likely won't reopen just to face another threat of some sort next session.

e: that seems to be the GOP strategy these days. Pass laws you know are likely to be struck down, but will achieve your goal at least partially short term. See also voter ID, registration, and redistricting.

ReidRansom fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Aug 29, 2014

Cercadelmar
Jan 4, 2014

Jiro posted:

Yeah living here in McAllen it wouldn't surprise me if that debate were just filled with the elderly. There's been zero advertising for it.

There's a debate in McAllen? :v:

radical meme
Apr 17, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
I have no delusions about the outcome of the Governor's race but I wish Abbott would just shut the gently caress up between now and the election instead of reminding me of what a slimy prick he is every time he opens his mouth. He has helped to gut the education system in Texas and now one of his new great ideas for higher education is to allow participants in what are termed Massive Open Online Courses to get college credit for them. This seems to me to be the ultimate in the attempt to dumb down a college degree and turn Texas flag ship universities into glorified community colleges. He's not going to debate Davis so just shut up already and take your win.

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Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

Because to break the Democratic machine you have to go after teachers, also there are a shitload of education majors and idiots in college who agree with guys like Abbot that public schools have failed and the future is private education where competition will drive the no good students out of universities and only good, young Republicans from Dallas suburbs can go to school.

Minorities can take online courses get a clown degree and stay out of sight of real Texans who work everyday to put pansy liberals at UT through school.

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