Truth often is a victim in the political process of lawmaking, and it has been assaulted so many times by the state “leadership” during this legislative session that it is on life support. The tone was set early when Gov. Perry and the top Republican legislators began perpetuating the “Big Lie,” which claims that lawmakers […]
Advocates for the public schools, health care and other important public services who may have tried to find encouragement from Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden’s pledge to hold firm in budget negotiations with the House better not get their hopes up too high. I don’t doubt that Ogden will try. He has tried, after all, […]
This week, I received my annual notice of appraised value on my house with the list of estimated taxes I will owe later this year to various local governmental entities in Travis County, including Austin ISD, which will account for a little more than half of the tab. The notice also includes the annual disclaimer: […]
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has this thing about steroids. He doesn’t use them, but he won’t give up on the idea of testing high school athletes for possible use. So, consequently, the budget bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee, which cuts $4 billion from public education programs, includes $1.8 million for continued, random steroid […]
