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Originally designed to promote the columns of anonymous Republican and Democratic writers, this page is now the home of a variety of columnists which currently include former Republican Party political director Royal Masset, environmental reporter Duggan Flanakin, former San Antonio Light Capitol reporter Ed Sills, and general all-around curmudgeon Edd O'Donnell. Each columnist brings decades of experience to the table.

August 25, 2010      8:19 AM

JIM DUNNAM AND LARRY TAYLOR: TEXAS LAW PERMITS MEMBERS TO PAY FOR THEIR AUSTIN HOUSING EXPENSES FROM CAMPAIGN FUNDS

The leaders of their respective House caucuses take issue with an SAEN piece questioning the use of campaign funds for Austin apartments

The San Antonio Express-News has recently published an article that questions the practice by many Members of paying for Austin apartments using campaign funds while also receiving per diem while in Austin. The story specifically notes that neither complaint “cite[s] any alleged violations of specific criminal statutes.” This is not surprising, as according to Caucus legal counsel, Texas law currently specifically permits Members to pay for their Austin housing expenses from campaign funds.

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By Jim Dunnam and Larry Taylor

Copyright August 25, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

August 6, 2010      4:09 PM

SHAPLEIGH: GOVERNOR PERRY SHOULD QUIT THE RHETORIC AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BORDER

Retiring state Senator examines Texas' failures on the border and offers six suggestions on dealing with problem

Right wing extremists like Rick Perry use fear to drive people to the polls. Remember when George Bush and Dick Cheney used ‘weapons of mass destruction’ to whip people up about Iraq? We now know it never happened. Same thing here—car bombs never went off in El Paso. In fact, El Paso is the second safest city in America—and so far this year, we have had one murder. Beheadings never happened in Arizona The only bombs we have to deal with in El Paso are the political bombs Rick Perry uses on Fox News.

What Rick Perry is doing is the same thing that Bush and Cheney did—tell a lie, then tell it again; and sooner or later, people believe the lie. And be sure to tell it a few weeks before an election.

Here’s our message to Rick— Quit lying about El Paso; quit conflating drug dealers with Hispanics to whip up fear; quit the Tea Step tour and come home—get to work and fix DPS—that’s one responsible thing you can do on your watch.

Let’s look at Rick Perry’s real record on Border security:

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Copyright August 06, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

August 2, 2010      3:36 PM

WAYNE CHRISTIAN: WHY 2010 WILL BE A REPUBLICAN YEAR

Its about conservative governance, not just Obama and Pelosi says Christian

2010 is Republicans' year in Texas, and it’s easy to understand why: the mounting discontent with the Obama Administration reinforces the natural conservative instincts of most Texans.  As a consequence, this election will be more issue-driven than before, favoring Republicans.

 On June 21, Gallup reported: 

Republicans have shown a decided relative advantage in enthusiasm throughout 2010, averaging a net score of +28, compared with Democrats' net score of 0. The 28 percentage-point party difference in net scores on the "more enthusiastic than usual" question in 2010 is the highest Gallup has measured in a midterm election year, with 1994's 17-point Republican advantage the only other midterm election-year gap coming close.

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Rep. Wayne Christian

Copyright August 02, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

July 27, 2010      2:50 PM

PHILLIP MARTIN: RICK PERRY WILL BE A DRAG ON THE REPUBLICAN TICKET

The ever provocative Phillip Martin makes an interesting and controversial argument about the November election.

Rick Perry’s hopes to win this November rest on his ability to convince enough voters that protesting Washington is more important than solving problems he’s created here at home. Perry’s anti-Washington propaganda is an obvious attempt by a twenty-five year career politician to distract voters from the fact that – under Perry’s watch – state debt has doubled, state spending has nearly doubled, and the state of Texas is facing a potential $18 billion budget deficit.

Perry’s rhetoric-over-reality performance played well against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary, but Perry has hit a brick wall running against Democrat Bill White. As University of Texas professor Jim Henson told the Austin American-Statesman recently, “I haven’t seen Perry lose this many news cycles since he’s been Governor.” Last week’s fundraising numbers were no help to Perry, either, with White showing a $3 million cash-on-hand advantage over Perry.

Bill White is giving Rick Perry the race of his political life and that gives down-ballot Republicans reason to be afraid for theirs. There are three key reasons why Rick Perry will be a drag on the Republican ticket: Democrats have built straight-ticket advantages over Republicans that a competitive race atop the ticket can exploit; Perry’s anti-Washington message is useless in down-ballot races; there’s no precedent, even in 1994, of any national political wave affecting Texas.

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Copyright July 27, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

July 1, 2010      3:44 PM

BILL BURCH: GRIT PLAYED MAJOR ROLL IN REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN ELECTION

Burch says GRIT trained and delivered hundreds of delegates to convention and helped Munisteri

By Bill Burch, President and Chairman of the Grass Roots Institute of Texas.

"The Board of Directors of the Grass Roots Institute of Texas (GRIT) greatly appreciate the acknowledgment and gratitude of Steve Munisteri, the newly elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, for the role we played in his historic election. I would like to commend our Board and our members, of which Steve is also a member, as well as that of the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) and the many individuals who played important roles throughout Texas who made this victory possible.

"We had seven members on the Rules Committee, where the Supplementary Rules were changed to have the members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) elected before the Chair and Vice-Chair. This allowed the SREC to nominate and openly support Steve. GRIT Board members were directly responsible for six of the Senate District Caucuses voting for Steve and influencing at least three more. These Board members include Denise McNamara, Jane Burch, Tom Washington, Myron Goins, Craig Ownby, Bill Burch, Jean McIver, James Barnes, Dr. Johnny Lovejoy, II, Sandra Cararas, Bobby Eberle, Jane Cansino, Borah Van Dormolen, Jim Cardle, Royal Masset, and Jim Lyde.

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Copyright July 01, 2010, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved