February 3, 2012      4:54 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINES Berman released from hospital, Komen fallout, CPAC top ten and more SENATOR JOSE RODRIGUEZ:  SENDS COMMISSIONER SCOTT LETTER IN SUPPORT OF HIS COMMENTS REPRESENTATIVE SENFRONIA THOMPSON:  CHAIR OF WOMEN'S HEALTH CAUCUS COMMENTS ON FUNDING FOR BREAST CANCER SCREENINGS OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:  PERRY APPOINTS ELLIOTT TO NORTH TEXAS TOLLWAY AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION: CHAIRMAN HIGHLIGHTS SUCCESS OF PROGRAMS TO HELP RETURNING VETS REPRESENTATIVE BRANDON CREIGHTON:  APPOINTED TO INTERIM MEDICAID OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE BOB DEUELL CAMPAIGN:  SENATOR DEUELL AWARDED FIGHTER FOR FREE ENTERPRISE BY TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS TEXAS CHARTER SCHOOL ASSOCIATION:  TRACY YOUNG TO JOIN TCSA AS NEW VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC & GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE LEO BERMAN:  RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION:  MONDAY: MEDIA BRIEFING ON "EPA'S APPROACHING REGULATORY AVALANCHE" REPRESENTATIVE JESSICA FARRAR:  STATEMENT REGARDING SUSAN G. KOMEN'S REVERSE DECISION OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:  STATEMENT ON U.S. SENATE PASSING CONGRESSIONAL INSIDER TRADING BAN TDP:  TED CRUZ: BILINGUAL ED. CREATES LANGUAGE GHETTO REPRESENTATIVE CAROL ALVARADO:  STATEMENT ON KOMEN FOUNDATION'S COMMITMENT TO WOMEN'S HEALTH MATT KRAUSE CAMPAIGN:  MATT KRAUSE CHOSEN AS TEXAS CPAC TOP TEN CONSERVATIVE CHALLENGER CANDIDATE PAUL SADLER CAMPAIGN:  PAUL SADLER RESPONDS TO JASON GIBSON'S DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM U.S. SENATE CAMPAIGN Copyright February 03, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 3, 2012      10:51 AM JANUARY SURPRISE! U.S. ECONOMY ADDS 243K JOBS Turns out the weather isn't the only thing experiencing an unseasonably warm winter as the jobless rate drops to 8.3 percent From the Washington Post story, job gains were broad based. The biggest gains were concentrated in manufacturing (50,000), leisure and hospitality (43,000) and health care (30,000). Also, job gains in November were revised upward from 100,000 to 157,000, meaning the economy added significantly more jobs in November than originally thought. Texas figures are out in two weeks. All eyes will be on those numbers to see if the Texas economy continues growing new jobs alongside the national economy. Copyright February 03, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      4:48 PM PRESS RELEASE SECTION HEADLINES Perry appoints, Texas intervenors on Voter ID and more WEAVER AND TIDWELL:  TEA EXECUTIVE ADAM JONES SET TO JOIN WEAVER AND TIDWELL OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:  PERRY APPOINTS THREE TO FINANCE COMMISSION OF TEXAS JASON GIBSON CAMPAIGN:  STATEMENT ON WITHDRAWAL FROM U.S. SENATE RACE TDP:  TEXAS INTERVENORS ATTEMPT TO BLOCK ADOPTION OF THE TEXAS PHOTO VOTER ID LAW REPRESENTATIVE RUTH JONES MCCLENDON:  DSHS REVIEW OF STATE'S PUBLIC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEM BRINGS STAKEHOLDER FORUM TO SAN ANTONIO TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION:  STATEMENT BY TPPF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ARLENE WOHLGEMUTH JIM HERBLIN CAMPAIGN:  PALO PINTO COUNTY GOP VICE CHAIRMAN ENDORSES HERBLIN FOR TEXAS SENATE REPRESENTATIVE MYRA CROWNOVER:  TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS NAMES MYRA CROWNOVER A "CHAMPION OF FREE ENTERPRISE" HISPANIC REPUBLICANS OF TEXAS:  JASON VILLALBA ENDORSED BY HRT OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:  PERRY APPOINTS NELSON AS CHAIR OF MEDICAID REFORM LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE JOE DESHOTEL:  TEXAS MUST CONTINUE TO TAKE THE LEAD ON FRACKING REGULATION REPRESENTATIVE VICKI TRUITT:  NAMED "FIGHTER FOR FREE ENTERPRISE" BY TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS WILLIAMSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: GOVERNOR PERRY TO KEYNOTE 2012 REAGAN DINNER TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS:  FULL PAGE AD SUPPORTS TESTING LARRY TAYLOR CAMPAIGN:  REP. LARRY TAYLOR NAMED "CHAMPION OF FREE ENTERPRISE" BY THE TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE VICKI TRUITT:  LOCAL STUDENT TO BE NOMINATED FOR TEXAS ARMED SERVICES SCHOLARSHIP FROM TEXAS HOUSE DISTRICT REPRESENTED BY REP. VICKI TRUITT Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      4:12 PM SAN ANTONIO JUDGES CALL FOR BRIEFS TO HELP GUIDE NEXT VERSION OF INTERIM MAPS Also, state Rep. Marc Veasey files to intervene in Voter ID preclearance trial Another day, another order from the San Antonio court… The judges on the San Antonio panel – fully aware now that they will need to draw interim maps without input from their D.C. counterparts on Section 5 preclearance claims – today asked the parties to submit briefs to help them as they draw a new set of interim maps. The rest of the story, subscribers only Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      4:04 PM HK: TRUTH-TELLING TO THOSE WRESTLING WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LAST LEGE Two key Perry administrators speak frankly about the consequences of last year's budget cutting First, Education Commissioner Robert Scott brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation at the recent Texas Association of School Administrators annual midwinter event by apologizing for draconian budget cuts and refusing to certify the abolition of social promotion absent funding for academic intervention.  In addition, he drew the wrath of some by decrying the new testing regime as a “perversion” of the intended system. Scott comes from a unique position having watched his agency defunded and hollowed out by massive layoffs.  While it may be fashionable in GOP primary circles to decry government as the problem, many of Texas educational gains in the Perry years were the result of programs that simply lost funding an manpower to execute.  No one can dispute Scott’s loyalty to the Rick Perry  but it must be heartbreaking to anyone loyal to the mission of the agency to watch promising reforms evaporate. Twenty four hours later, Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs told hospital administrators at their convention (at the other end of the Austin Convention Center) that the state was facing yet another substantial shortfall in Medicaid funding next session:  between $15-$17 billion and that is before any accommodations to the Affordable Care Bill.  Five billion of that came from the hot check (my language, not his) the Lege wrote last session to “fund” Medicaid to the last part of the biennium.  Since the Rainy Day Fund was untouchable last session, lawmakers passed a mythological budget that has to be paid for by the next Legislature.  The rest of the story, subscribers only Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      3:16 PM JASON GIBSON WITHDRAWS FROM U.S. SENATE RACE Leaves former state Rep. Paul Sadler with unobstructed path to Democratic nomination Gibson, the president of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, said in a statement today that the decision over the weekend by the Texas AFL-CIO to back Sadler weighed heavily in his decision to leave the race: "This was my first time seeking elected office, and I knew that as an outsider, I'd be up against others with institutional advantages. My heart and my upbringing are with the labor movement and I did not want to move forward without their endorsement." The rest of the story, subscribers only Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      2:53 PM GREENFIELD: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN -- THE UNITED STATES OF TEXAS Transposing Texas statistics on the US--how the "Texas Miracle" would have translated if applied to the rest of the country Before returning to Texas after his valiant, heroic effort to lead the nation, Gov. Rick Perry had traveled the national campaign circuit proposing that the United States should be more like Texas, with low taxes, a balanced budget, reduced regulation, and reduced government services. But what would it mean if the U.S. had become what Texas is? Cal Jillson, a professor of Political Science at SMU, was interviewed on an NPR broadcast, Rick Perry's America, Texas-Style. Professor Jillson mentioned a number of salient points from his recently released book, “Lone Star Tarnished.” He summarized, “We show that while Texas has done very well on population and job growth, its ranking among the states on income, education, social services, criminal justice, and the environment have been stagnant or falling for decades.” Let’s explore the implications of the U.S. not becoming more like Texas by engaging in a what-if experiment. What if Americans went to bed the first Tuesday of November 2012 knowing that Rick Perry had been elected president and Republicans had swept to super majorities in both the House and Senate. And what if President Perry and the Republican Congress that took office in January 2013, he was determined to make the U.S. look like Texas? President Perry’s Economic Policies (PEP) focused like a laser on reducing the size of government, cutting taxes, cutting social services such as public education, access to health care, and welfare, while renewing the emphasis on individualism and personal responsibility. What if the Republican super majorities in Congress quickly passed laws to implement the President’s PEP. And what if the U.S. economy responded to the new policies as quickly as Congress passed and President Perry signed these bills into law. By the end of 2013, these policies will have transformed the United States of America into the United States of Texas. How would the U.S. look then? Initially, the U.S. unemployment rate (8.9%, for 2011) would decline by .7 percentage point to the Texas rate of 8.2 percent.[1] The nation might celebrate that more than 1 million workers went from unemployed to employed. Unfortunately, 9.5 percent of Texas workers, compared to only 6.0 percent of U.S. hourly workers, earn minimum wages or less. So while the U.S. would see an increase of 2.6 million hourly workers--a 60 percent increase—they would be earning the minimum wage or less. The celebration would likely become somewhat subdued. The rest of Stuart Greenfield's column can be found in today's R&D Department. Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved February 2, 2012      2:40 PM SUSAN B. KOMEN CEO AND FOUNDER NANCY BRINKER RESPONDS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD FLAP Says current committed funds still flowing, somewhat oblique about "new standards" but says organization is not bowing to political pressure Copyright February 02, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved