Thank You, Linda Koop

I could post one item a day on the distortions and lies coming from the Stefani Carter campaign. That's because a new mailer hits my mailbox about that often with another load of you know what. Carter has reached high desperation mode in trying to hang on to her seat from Texas House District 102, in a GOP runoff campaign against Linda Koop... Integrity is something we look for in our elected officials, and we see not an ounce of it in Stefani Carter.

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

That's what Rodger Jones of The Dallas Morning News had to say about Stefani Carter, who represents parts of Richardson in the Texas House.

Here's a quote from a different source altogether. See if you can guess who said it and when.

It is these kinds of campaign shenanigans, personal attacks and dirty politics of which people are sick and tired.

Source: The Wheel.

If you guessed Stefani Carter back in 2010, give yourself 100 ironic points. Carter was prescient, but it took voters three elections to realize that the dirty politics were emanating from Carter's own campaigns. When they did, it was she who was voted out of office. Linda Koop defeated Stefani Carter in the GOP primary on Tuesday, winning 60% of the vote.

Who is Stefani Carter Carrying Water For Now?

What do exotic animal ranches, North Texas' need for water, money, and politics all have in common? Give yourself 100 points if you guessed Richardson's state representative Stefani Carter was at the center of that unlikely Venn diagram.

After the jump, connecting the dots.

Stefani Carter's Terrible Accident

First a confession. When I reported on the District 112 candidate forum, I buried the lede. No, that's not it. I missed the story altogether. Yeah, I showed why I am not getting paid for this.

I never mentioned Stefani Carter's opening remarks where she informed the forum audience that she had recently suffered a "terrible accident" that triggered a "moment of truth when you feel like your life could end." Turning to retired Captain Sam Brown, who actually did suffer exactly that, Carter said "I know that our colleague here, Sam Brown, understands that." In 2008, in Afghanistan, an IED blew up near Brown, burning much of his body. To this day Brown bears disfiguring scars on his face and head (and elsewhere, less visibly). Then Carter moved on, sounding extremely conservative and ambitious, pretty much like she has always sounded, pre-life-altering event.

I may have missed the story, but professional journalists Tim Rogers of D Magazine and then Tom Benning of The Dallas Morning News didn't. After the jump, catching you all up on what I should have caught.

District 102 and 112 Candidates: Your Pick

The six candidates for the GOP nomination for Texas House Districts 102 and 112 debated January 22 at a forum at the Canyon Creek Country Club. Vying to represent HD 102 were Stefani Carter (incumbent), Linda Koop, Adryana Boyne and Sam Brown. Vying to represent HD 112 were Angie Chen Button (incumbent) and Jared Patterson.

If you are a conservative Republican (is there any other kind?) you can safely take the rest of this primary season off. All six candidates were eager to make their case as the most conservative man or woman out there. All professed to be anti-tax, pro-life, anti-gay, and pro-gun. There are far more similarities than differences between these candidates.

But let's try to draw distinctions, anyway, shall we? After the jump, some highlights.

Jared Patterson Sides with Terrorists

Jared Patterson sides with terrorists against the President.

What? Too much? Is that headline over the top? Inflammatory? Divisive? Juvenile? Yes, to all of the above. You'd hope that political discourse would be more respectful, searching for areas to work together to solve problems. You'd certainly hope that our would-be elected officials would set a good example. You'd be wrong.

Jared Patterson is running for Texas House District 112. He's a former Sachse city council member and is now seeking to replace Angie Chen Button in the Texas House. But he seems to be running more against President Obama than against Button. He's got a bit of a case of Obama Derangement Syndrome. He takes more cheap shots against the President than tell us how he'd solve problems with education, health care, water and transportation here in Texas.

After the jump, the Jared Patterson Facebook post that inspired the headline.

Stefani Carter's Friends are Few, But Rich

When last we looked, Stefani Carter appeared to be short of friends and money. Enough so that she decided to drop her bid for Railroad Commissioner and come back to Richardson to try to keep her District 102 House seat.

After the jump, a new look look at Carter's friend list.

Voting Is Just So Messy

The City of Richardson has a policy regarding electioneering at the Civic Center during early voting: "During early voting, political signs may not be erected on public property." The State of Texas has other ideas.

On June 14, 2013, the Texas Legislature passed HB 259, thereby amending Section 61.003 and 85.036 of the Texas Election Code by requiring a public entity that controls or owns a building used as a polling place to allow electioneering on the premises, subject to reasonable regulations.

Source: City of Richardson.

So, let's amend Richardson's policy to allow electioneering at the Civic Center, so long as it occurs outside the 100 foot boundary state law specifies. Easy peasy. Next issue.

Not so fast, says Richardson's City Council. After the jump, their thoughts.

Election Day: Can You Prove You Are You?

Source: Superbad.

It's Election Day. Thank God, for the first time ever you have to show a photo ID to vote in Texas, the way the Founders intended. No more Democrats stealing elections. Finally, at long last, we'll be able to elect a few Republicans here.

It's a well known fact that photo IDs are difficult to forge. If not, kids would be using forged IDs to buy beer. It's also a well known fact that the desire to vote illegally is much stronger than teens' desire to consume beer, so much so that there have been ten cases of voter impersonation nationwide since 2000. But now, with the new photo ID laws, those ten cases in the last decade are about to be reduced to at most single digits in the next decade. What's not to like?

Stefani Carter, Short of Money and Friends

When I wrote about the Texas House District 102 race last week, the situation was relatively straightforward. Incumbent Stefani Carter wasn't running for re-election, having decided to run for the Texas Railroad Commission instead. Former Dallas City Council member Linda Koop had announced her own campaign to replace Carter. Koop was the favorite to win the GOP nomination and the general election.

Then a strange thing happened on the way to the voting booth. Stefani Carter announced that she was dropping her bid for Railroad Commission and would seek re-election to House District 102 after all.

After the jump, assessing how badly Stefani Carter misplayed her hand.

Texas House Candidates Jockey for Position

The 2014 primary elections are still months away, but the candidates are already jockeying for position. The races for Texas House Districts 102 and 112, both of which include parts of Richardson, are particularly active, especially given the early date.

After the jump, a look at who's who.

Tom Pauken Asks, "Where's the Beef?"

Quick, who is Clara Peller? If you can answer that 1980s' trivia question, Tom Pauken just might be your candidate for governor.

Tom Pauken is running for governor. He's an underdog. Greg Abbott is the favorite. So, naturally, Pauken takes potshots at Abbott, like this one uttered in a Texas Tribune TribLive conversation: "He is good at raising money, but in terms of substantive ideas, where's the beef?"

After the jump, where's the beef?

A Bad Reason for Voter Photo ID

Jared Patterson, candidate for Texas House District 112 (challenging incumbent Angie Chen Button) posted this on Facebook:

In an attempt to purchase a roll of stamps this afternoon, I was asked to show two forms of photo identification (because I hadn’t endorsed the back of the credit card I was using). How is it rational to determine that purchasing stamps must be more protected than our election process? #VoterID #CommonSense

Source: Facebook.

After the jump, why #VoterID is not #CommonSense.

District 112: Race to the Right

The race for the GOP nomination for Texas House District 112 is heating up. The primary is still more than a half year away, but incumbent Angie Chen Button is already sending campaign mailers to constituents. Of course, Button is staking her claim to being a strong fiscal conservative, "100% Pro-Life" and a "defender of the 2nd Amendment." Her mailer is silent on funding for public schools and health care.

That's not conservative enough for Jared Patterson. Button's challenger is doggedly trying to get to her right. He lined up the support of Cathie Adams, who was voted out as state party chair in part for failure "to reach out to independents, disenchanted Republicans, and minority groups". Most recently, Adams was heard saying that Grover Norquist was "showing signs of becoming a Muslim" because he was growing a beard. Grover Norquist not pure enough for Adams? The author of the pledge against tax increases signed by 95% of GOP members of Congress? So much for the Muslim vote. (Or the bearded vote. Or both.) Adams also opposes immigration reform (so much for the Hispanic vote) in part because one proposed bill calls for biometric scanning of non-citizens at airports, which Adams says, "of course, we know in biblical prophecy that that is the End Times." So much for the non-evangelical vote. Most recently, Adams called protesters against Texas's recent anti-abortion, anti-women's health law "stinky stalking feminists" and "feminazis". So much for the women's vote.

That's Cathie Adams. That's the woman that Jared Patterson is proudly standing next to in his bid to represent Richardson and Garland in the state legislature. After the jump, Jared Patterson shows why Cathie Adams is in his camp.

The Whole World is Listening. If Only Someone Speaks.

State Senator Kirk Watson of Austin is bragging about a bipartisan bill passed by the Texas legislature that allows for the use of electronic message boards to facilitate communication between local government officials like city council members. Watson's bill enables something like a Facebook for local government, where council members can write messages to each other and they can respond to each other electronically, all of it in open threads the public can read. I don't really need to describe how Facebook works, do I?

Why is this a big deal? Previously, such electronic communication between council members was forbidden by the Texas Open Meetings Act, which insists that all group communications take place in public, in posted, open session. The effect of the law is to suppress deliberation, not foster it. Council members can't get together between meetings to discuss issues. They can't send emails copying the full council. They can't even email or talk to each other one-to-one because of the chance that the discussion eventually gets passed one by one to the full council. Such "walking quorums" are also forbidden.

After the jump, what this means for Richardson.

Honoring MLK by Restricting the Right to Vote

Jared Patterson is running in the 2014 GOP primary to replace Angie Chen Button as representative in Texas House District 112. He posted this on Facebook the morning of August 28, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech:

Fifty years ago, a Christian conservative stood before the nation to proclaim his Dream. May we honor the content AND context of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech.

Source: Jared Patterson, Facebook.

Just ten hours earlier, the same Jared Patterson posted this on Facebook:

Voter ID laws have to be among the most common sense pieces of legislation during my lifetime.

Source: Jared Patterson, Facebook.

Somehow, I don't see the sentiment expressed here as being compatible with honoring either the content or context of MLK's speech.

After the jump, how far have we come in 50 years?

When is a Tax Hike not a Tax Hike?

"Notice of Public Hearing on Tax Increase." That's what the City of Richardson called it, a tax increase, in a required public notice in the neighborsgo edition of The Dallas Morning News.

"Richardson’s proposed budget for 2013-14 maintains the tax rate while funding key maintenance projects and boosting staff salaries." That's what The Dallas Morning News itself said in its own story on Richardson's proposed budget.

Which is it? A tax increase or maintaining the current tax rate?

After the jump, how the State of Texas confuses residents in the name of clarity... and why.

Angie Chen Button Draws a Primary Challenge

My state representative, Angie Chen Button (HD 112) has drawn a challenger in the 2014 GOP primary. It's Jared Patterson, a former Sachse city council member.

When I say Button is my representative, I use the word loosely. I can't recall any position she's taken where she represents me, but I don't hold that against her. I have that problem with most politicians.

Maybe Jared Patterson will be different. After the jump, I give him a look-see.

Why I Oppose Stricter Voter ID Laws

I don't believe we as a nation should tolerate voter fraud. Neither should we tolerate voter suppression. But what if pursuing the former increases the latter? I'm convinced that is the case, intentionally or not. The balance is not even close. That's the sticking point for me, leading me to oppose the strict new voter ID laws many states are passing, including Texas.

Details after the jump.

Are You Smarter than a Texas Legislator?

Apparently, Texas House members are not smarter than a fifth grader. Nor are Capitol staffers. And they aren't even smart enough to be embarrassed, instead acting as if there is something wrong with the questions asked, not with their inability to give correct answers.

What am I talking about? It's a letter sent to all Texas House members by Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) containing thirteen sample questions from the middle school standardized STAAR tests. Wu admits he missed "two or three" of the questions. He said some Capitol staff "gave up."

Really? I took the test. I think I did better than Wu (I can't say for sure because Wu didn't provide answers). Before I say any more, pause here and take the test yourself. Don't hurry. It's not timed.

After the jump, I give my own impressions of the test. Spoiler alert: I also give my own answers.

Fatal Shooting Outside Ice Rink

A man was fatally shot Sunday night outside an ice rink in Richardson, Texas. Three people are being questioned.

"It looks all of them knew each other and had been together earlier in the night," [Richardson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Kevin] Perlich says. A fight broke out, he says, though "over what it's not totally clear yet. We have two, three different versions of what took place, but we're sorting through it. But there is no other threat out there for the public to be concerned about."

Source: The Dallas Morning News.

"there is no other threat out there for the public to be concerned about."

This was probably just a little careless wording on Sgt. Perlich's part. He probably meant to say something like, "this particular shooting does not pose an ongoing threat to the public."

After the jump, the other threats out there.