Presidential Results look like a General Election

The results from the Democratic primary here in Bexar County look like a general election with the northside voting one way and the southside voting another.

Been on Hiatus

For all of two people who may read this you may have noticed the lack of posts. Needless to say we've been busy with other elections as well as job hunting. Hopefully we will start back up again.

If it wasn't obvious, I don't consider myself a full time blogger. If anything, I'm a political writer who uses a blog as an outlet. Or more simply, a part time blogger.

In addition, there's only one person who writes on this blog. It's not like I can rely on other people to write as well.

People of the Day

Former State Rep. Sarah Weddington
Linda Coffee
Justice Sarah T. Hughes
Justice Harry Blackmun

Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee were the attorneys who argued successfully argued Roe v. Wade.

Sarah T. Hughes was one of the three judges on a three judge panel to first hear the case of Roe v. Wade.

Harry Blackmun is the Supreme Court Justice who wrote the majority opinion. From NPR, Blackmun Papers Detail Road to Roe.

2 Republican Indictments

Former Congressman Mark Siljander (R-MI) was indicted for helping a group with ties to terrorism.

Current Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife were indicted for arson. Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, KHOU in Houston.

Survey ranks S.A. teacher pay as top in state

From the Express-News.

New Car for Sale. Price $2500

Talk about adding more pollution. From the Houston Chronicle:

There's another another significant factor that could drive demand. In two days, India's Tata Motors plans to unveil a car that will cost $2,500. That, as the New York Times points out, is the cost of a DVD player in a Lexus SUV.

By American standards, the Tata will not be safe, it won't be clean, and it probably won't be fun to drive. It's a strictly utilitarian vehicle, aimed at the hundreds of millions of potential drivers in developing countries who now ride bicycles or walk.

Other automakers, including Renault-Nissan are working on similar designs.

By most accounts, the Tata will have about 35 horsepower at best. It's not a car, it's a lawnmower with a windshield wiper (only one, apparently). Regardless of its fuel economy, though, the price of the new Tata means it could attract hundreds of thousands of new car buyers -- hundreds of thousands of people who suddenly need gasoline.

In an environment of tight supplies, that's the kind of demand increase that can push prices up substantially.

Given that oil prices almost doubled in the past year, it's not surprising that some traders are betting the same thing will happen this year.

The article was focused on the point that this car may increase oil to $200 a barrel.

Golden Globes Cancelled

At least the televised awards show. Not that I'm disappointed. My main problem with awards show is that they are too long. There are two award shows that I actually watch, the Tonys and the Independent Spirit Awards. The Tonys because they end on time and the ISA because they're fun.

A Better Way to Reapportion?

Currently we reapportion congressional districts based on population; but what if we reapportioned based on voter participation? From the Hartford Courant:

Three New England states, including Connecticut, would pick up an extra seat in the U.S. House of Representatives if representation were based on how many people vote instead of population, according to a University of Connecticut study.

The report from the university's Connecticut State Data Center indicates that the weight that one person's vote carries in Congress varies significantly from state to state.

"Vote-count methodology is based on those who vote - not on a questionable census population count," the report reads. "Consequently, vote-count apportionment will provide greater assurance of fairness, transparency and accuracy when allocating seats to individual states."

If representation in the 435-member House of Representatives depended on the number of people voting, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine would gain one seat.

How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative

That's the title of a new book on dirty tricks done by Republicans. From the Sacramento Bee:

GOP committees have paid Washington law firms more than $6 million to defend Tobin and to fight a Democratic civil suit against the party. Raymond, himself a former RNC official, said in the book and an interview that he believes that the scandal reaches higher.

"Any tactic that didn't pass the smell test would never see the light of day without, at the very least, the approval of an RNC attorney," he wrote.

Paul Twomey, a lawyer for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said that phone records obtained in the civil suit showed that Tobin made 22 calls to the White House political office in the 24 hours before and after the jamming.

Twomey said Tobin refused to testify about the calls, invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Asked about Raymond's book, RNC spokesman Danny Diaz said that "it would be hard to find two less credible individuals" than Raymond and his co-author, Ian Spiegelman, who lost his job as a New York Post gossip columnist for sending a threatening e-mail accusing a source of trying to plant a fake story.

The RNC also distributed material emphasizing that Raymond had a reputation for bare-knuckled politics and dirty tricks.

One of his tactics, Raymond said, was angering union households with calls in which people with Latin-sounding voices talked favorably about a rival candidate's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he used the voice of an angry black man, posing as a Democrat, to stir up "fear, racism, bigotry" in white neighborhoods.

Shortly before the November election, New Hampshire Republicans hired his Alexandria, Va.-based consulting firm, GOP Marketplace, for $15,600 to barrage Democrats' phone lines on Election Day with 800 hang-up calls per hour amid the tight Senate race between Sununu and Shaheen.

Bush administration: Back off CIA tape probe

The headline says it all.

Personally, I say when it comes to Bush, do the opposite. It's kind of like on the those tv shows when the guy tries to explain that when women say no they mean yes. When Bush says don't investigate, he means investigate.

"George Bush was never a fiscal conservative" - Gov. Rick Perry

Straight from the horse's mouth, with video.