Ben Sherman Posts

Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Lorillard Tobacco Company, three of America's largest tobacco companies, are pushing the Texas Legislature to raise taxes on small tobacco companies. Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Lorillard Tobacco Company, three of America's largest tobacco companies, are pushing the Texas Legislature to raise taxes on small tobacco companies. The big companies complain that because they pay the state extra fees under a 1998 lawsuit settlement, their market share has been unduly reduced.

If the Legislature does pass the tax hike in the next session, the move would benefit the big tobacco companies and hurt Texas. The small companies would be put out of business and soon not pay any state taxes, resulting in a loss of revenue for the state as well as a loss of jobs.

Starting Wednesday, the offices of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, or USCIS, will begin receiving applications from young undocumented immigrants. In June, President Obama announced that undocumented immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16, currently under 30, who have been living in the United States continuously for five years and have never committed a crime, can apply for the program.

The Washington D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center estimates 1.3 million immediate and future potential beneficiaries in the country. In IPC's estimate, 226,700 live in Texas. That makes Texas the state with the second most beneficiaries, behind California.

Fifteen thousand of the qualified applicants living in the El Paso area will be able to apply for the deferred deportation program this week.

In June, President Obama said this of his decision:

Now, these are young people who study in our schools, they play in our neighborhoods, they're friends with our kids, they pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their heart, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper. They were brought to this country by their parents, sometimes even as infants, and often have no idea that they're undocumented until they apply for a job or a driver's license or a college scholarship.

Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine you've done everything right your entire life, studied hard, worked hard, maybe even graduated at the top of your class, only to suddenly face the threat of deportation to a country that you know nothing about, with a language that you may not even speak.

Iliana Holguin, executive director of the Catholic Church's El Paso Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, said the program was an important step but also an incomplete one.

I think it's definitely a step in the right direction and will provide tremendous benefits for young people who can't pursue a job right now, but unfortunately it's not a solution to the root of the problem. We need to have a way for these people to have lawful permanent resident status.

In February, University of Texas professor of geologic sciences and associate director of UT's Energy Institute Charles "Chip" Groat released a study called "Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Development," which found no evidence that hydrauling fracking harms the environment. When it was discovered that Groat has been on Houston-based oil company Plains Exploration & Production Co.'s board for several years, the study's validity was immediately thrown into question - and for good reason. Groat has received millions of dollars from Plains. In 2011 alone, Plains paid Groat $413,900 and Groat holds more than $1.6 million in the company's stock. Groat has refused to comment on the study to defend himself.

So, fact-finding professor or amoral industry hack? That's what a new UT panel announced Tuesday will try to find out. The Austin American Statesman profiled the three-member panel:

The panel will be chaired by Norman Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., and a member of a scientific and technology advisory council under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and a NASA committee under President Barack Obama. He has served as board member of the nonprofit Ethics Resource Center.

Joining him are James Duderstadt, president emeritus of the University of Michigan, who has served on the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy at the National Academies; and Rita Colwell, former director of the National Science Foundation and former president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. She chairs the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, which is distributing $500 million for research in the wake of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Augustine, Duderstadt, and Colwell will attempt to determine the scientific credibility of the report. They have a very important responsibility, and one that all those who care about UT should care about too. If the university cannot be trusted to produce factual studies because of corporate influence, the university fails to exist. It becomes a propaganda machine. No UT student spends or spent time on the Forty Acres to learn from a propaganda machine.

And, by the way, fracking totally does harm the environment - viciously. "Chip" Groat's study appeared to be a very rare non-industry studies to say otherwise...until it became clear that it was industry-sponsored.

Pete Gallego's momentum continues to increase. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has singled out his race as a great opportunity to replace a Republican with a Democrat. The DCCC's Red-to-Blue program lends "financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support" to campaigns like Gallego's.

A Democratic super PAC, House Majority PAC, has also reserved airtime in Congressional District 23 on Pete's behalf. This type of financial support is huge for the campaign.

To quote Jules Feiffer: meanwhile, Pete's opponent, Republican Francisco Canseco, has been named to the League of Conservation Voters' "Flat Earth Five." These are the top five anti-environment congressman whom the LCV will devote $1.5 million to defeating this election cycle. "If Rep. Canseco can't acknowledge basic scientific facts, he shouldn't be serving in Congress," said Navin Nayak, Senior Vice President of LCV Campaigns.

The Gallego campaign's release:

Pete Gallego Earns Spot in DCCC's Competitive Red-to-Blue Program

San Antonio, TX // Pete Gallego announced today that he has earned a spot on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) highly competitive Red-to-Blue program. Gallego has surpassed demanding fundraising, organizing, and infrastructure goals and skillfully demonstrated to voters that he is a problem-solver who will stand up to radical partisan extremists and protect the middle class when elected to Congress.

"I am honored that so many people from San Antonio to El Paso, and from Eagle Pass to Alpine, have joined our grassroots campaign to create jobs, fight for middle class families, and protect Medicare, Social Security and veterans' benefits," said Gallego. "After a long primary campaign, we have united Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike who want a congressman who will work for Southwest Texas, not Washington, DC. Being named to the Red-to-Blue program is proof that we have the support, confidence, and momentum it takes to win in November."

The DCCC's Red-to-Blue program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support. The program will introduce Democratic supporters to new, competitive candidates in order to help expand the fundraising base for these campaigns.

Good news in the first days of the general election: Cruz will debate Sadler. On the night of the runoff, Sadler challenged Cruz to a debate - and Cruz accepted.

After learning that Cruz accepted the invitation, Sadler said, "Good. The people deserve a debate.  Ted Cruz doesn't belong in the United States Senate and I'm glad I will get the opportunity to show why. I'm prepared and excited to discuss the important issues that are affecting Texans' everyday lives.  Now we have to set a date."

Coming out swinging is always a good look, and Sadler's doing just that. In a statement, Sadler explained, "Ted Cruz sees a future controlled by giant corporations and the super wealthy.  If Ted Cruz gets his way, the wealthy will control jobs, the capital, and health care.  The rest of us will be left to fend for ourselves."

This is a smart attack on Cruz, pointing out that he's a fraud who claims to represent Texans but is really vying to be the lapdog of his corporate donors. It is Sadler's responsibility in the coming months to show Texans that Ted Cruz can't be trusted because he doesn't have their best interests at heart. There are other ways that Sadler can go after Cruz - like pointing out that he's crazy and his conspiracy theories indicate that he could be mentally unstable.

Getting Cruz to agree to debate is a very good start. Rick Perry successfully avoided debating Bill White for the entire 2010 gubernatorial campaign. Maybe Cruz doesn't think Sadler poses the strong challenge that Bill White did, but he might be wrong. It's up to Sadler to prove it, and he's off on the right foot with statements like these that combine smart politics with smart policy:

"Unlike Cruz, I'm a seasoned legislator. I also support the Dream Act, Medicare, and a fair tax system designed to make sure that huge corporations and the super wealthy pay their fair share. Cruz, on the other hand, doesn't support the Dream Act, wants to destroy Medicare, and has been bought out by the super rich."

It's over. Ted Cruz defeated David Dewhurst tonight..

Let's pretend for a moment that both of these candidates are running to represent Texans, not the corporations that paid for their campaigns and that will make them rich after leaving office. Let's pretend David Dewhurst is actually sad because he believed Texas needed his views in Congress.

Well, Dew, you've got nothing at all to worry about. Ted Cruz winning is like having your ideological identical twin brother run against you for the Republican senate nomination. You guys have the same views. Cruz won because he was able to capture conservative grassroots titillation because he's "Tea Party"...and you've already served several terms in elected office. That makes you the "establishment" and him the "real conservative" prepared to "shake things up"...by doing exactly what you would do. So rest assured, your crazy ideas will be executed - but it'll be Cruz lapping up the special interest money for years to come.

Well, there is one difference, Dew. Cruz is going to be a rockstar senator. People are going to talk about him as a future presidential candidate, they're going to compare him to Marco Rubio, and he's going to be on television constantly. In spite of the fact that Cruz is not charming, he is a good speaker and clearly can fire up already-angry conservatives.

But his hot streak won't last forever. The problem with Tea Party candidates is that they run on extreme platforms they can't possibly live up to once in office. Their extremes are in constant conflict; if they vote yes to a defense bill, they may also be voting for an earmark in another state. Next election, the new "Tea Party" candidate can accuse him or her of "selling out" to the "GOP establishment" and screech about the need for a "real conservative." That's the problem with being really conservative...it's an ideology, not a governing mechanism.

And Cruz is going to fall into that bind real quick. The only positions he lists on his website are

Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment

Repeal Obamacare

Reduce the Size and Spending of Government

Defend the Constitution

Jobs and Growth Plan

At some point, one of the bills he votes for will increase the size of government in some way conservatives don't like. Boom: Tea Party challenge. There is no nuance left in the Republican Party. Most of Cruz's supporters truly believe he's the genuine conservative in the race against a fake conservative. Just like many of them will believe he sold out in some way.

So, enjoy it while it lasts, Cruz. Tonight is the purest you'll seem for the rest of your career. If only you were in a party that cared more about what you can do for your country.

The day has finally arrived after a long, drawn out, really lowbrow campaign. Tonight, Texas Republican primary voters are probably going to put us on Cruz Control for the next six years. A third poll came out on Sunday showing Cruz ahead...this time by ten points.

From Public Policy Polling:

Cruz's victory is driven by 4 things: the Tea Party, the enthusiasm of his supporters, a generational divide within the Texas Republican ranks, and the lack of regard the party base currently holds for Rick Perry.

Cruz is ahead by a whooping 75-22 margin with Tea Party voters, more than making up for a 56-39 deficit to Dewhurst with voters who don't consider themselves members of that movement. There has been too much of a tendency to ascribe any Republican primary upset over the last few years to Tea Party voters, but this is one case where it's well justified.

So there you have it, folks. Ted Cruz is going to win (apparently) because of the Tea Party. Cruz likes to frame the race as the answer to the question of whether the Tea Party still matters. While it may matter in terms of who wins the race - as it also did when Richard Mourdock beat Dick Lugar in the Indiana primary - it matters only for the purposes of political posturing. Truth is, if Cruz had been Lt. Gov. for ten years and Dewhurst were a never-elected former solicitor general, Dewhurst would be the surging and likely victorious Tea Party candidate. It's a formula: if you're in office, you're suspicious. If you're out of office with no real record, you're "Tea Party" - that is, until you run for re-election.

Just check out the #txsen hashtag on Twitter. Texas Republicans are going buckwild over a guy who was basically a lawyer-robot, arguing whatever Texas's Attorney General told him to argue. The fervor of these Repubilcans cannot be understated, and there's no question that Cruz has run a very impressive campaign.

A reminder about our likely next senator: Ted Cruz believes Medicaid is unconstitutional, believes Social Security is a "Ponzi Scheme," has proposed unconstitutionally nullifying Obamacare, and believes liberals are attacking golf courses.

I had a dream last night about Cruz winning tonight. Be warned: it feels terrible to know he's our next senator.

This is a cross post from Think Progress.

On her Facebook page last week, Texas State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) explained her view that schools would be acting wisely and constitutionally if they start forcing students to read Christian Proverbs:

Formal prayer has been taken out of our schools. How about this idea? Read from the book of Proverbs from the Bible. Proverbs is a book of wisdom. Proverbs is in the Holy Scriptures for Christians and Jews. As for other religions - the wisdom won't do them any harm...I say have a reading out of Proverbs each day in our classrooms.

Riddle's suggestion that forcing students to listen to Christian proverbs is constitutional is wrong. The Supreme Court held that both school-led prayer and scripture readings are unconstitutional over forty years ago because the First Amendment prohibits public schools from promoting one religion over another or over no religion at all. Though Riddle claims the Book of Proverbs is a neutral "book of Wisdom," she later admits that the reading of the proverbs is a Christian text which "won't harm" people of "other religions."

This is not the first time that Riddle's ideas have been riddled with flaws. In 2010, Riddle claimed that pregnant women were coming to the United States to have babies "with the nefarious purpose of turning them into little terrorists, who will then come back to the U.S. and do us harm." With no facts to back her up "terrorist babies" claim, Riddle became a symbol of completely unfounded right-wing conspiracy theories.

Palin At Bat for Cruz in Houston

Today, crazy less-than-one-term former governor Sarah Palin will be in Texas to support her chosen runoff candidate Ted Cruz. The two will appear together at an event in The Woodlands, where they will be joined by Republican Senator Jim DeMint.

Is Dewhurst Gay-Bashing Cruz?

Seems that way from Dew's web ad "Timeline." The (honestly brilliant) ad takes us through Cruz's Facebook Timeline, starting with his birth in Calgary, Canada. It highlights his years at Princeton and Harvard - and later years in Washington D.C. During the Harvard segment, the ad shows a picture of Dewhurst in the "Harvard Hijinks" - with "YMCA" playing the background. Though reading about it makes it seem like an insignificant moment, watching the video proves that the "gay" association is inevitable.

Austinist gets it exactly right:

The commercial then moves to his college timeline where we learn that he went to Harvard and Yale, a twofer of effete Ivy League insiderdom that smacks of questionable acts of book learnin' and clearly explains the commercial's next image, highlighted by the double take of record scratch. We cut to an image of a young Cruz photographed with a few shirtless men. "YMCA" plays in the background in place of the villany string section, presumably to help the viewer who hadn't yet done the math of Canadian + Ivy League = homosexual.

Dewhurst has also been slamming Cruz for his biggest donor: Peter Thiel. You know, the GAY man who's the GAY founder of PayPal who, by the way, is GAY.  

On Monday night, Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst met in Houston for their second final debate. This one is actually the last one; there's simply no more time. That's right: we're less than a week away from the runoff election. On Tuesday, we'll which one of these cretins is our next senator.

The debate was feisty and covered the classic issue of this campaign: conservative credentials. Both candidates had strong performances, but because Cruz's was considered somewhat weaker last week, Monday's debate can be seen as a bigger success for Cruz.

Texas Tribune's liveblog of the debate caught a symbolic exchange at the end:

The candidates each got 2:30 for closing arguments.

Echoing a Dewhurst line from earlier in the program, Cruz said, ""I very much agree with my opponent. We need doers."

He spoke about his work fighting for conservative causes before the Supreme Court.

We have seen conservatives all over the state of Texas to come together in this campaign," Cruz said. He listed several conservative leaders who have endorsed before running out of time.

Dewhurst said voters need to pick the candidate with the "character, values and judgment" to represent Texas.

"If Texas were as bad as my opponent keeps saying in these ads, Texas would look like California," Dewhurst said.

"Texas is a good state. I'm proud of Texas."

Republicans may agree that Texas is a good state, but don't necessarily associate Dewhurst with its success. Dewhurst, who seems uncomfortable in social situations and rarely goes on the campaign trail, has been behind the scenes for years. He has no perceptible personality or emotional element to his campaign. He is running entirely on the myth about Texas's economy. It's not inspiring. If you want visual evidence of this, search for the "#txsen" hashtag on Twitter. By my count, Cruz' screechers outscreech Dewhurst's screechers 9:1.

There haven't yet been any last-minute polls released, and the last two show Cruz ahead. The Dewhurst camp is probably praying (literally) for a good poll to be released before Tuesday.

But the election really isn't over. Dewhurst has been absolutely wailing on Cruz via television ads, a sign of two things. First, Dewhurst knows he's not a magnetic candidate and needs to successfully define his opponent as a result of that, and second, that Cruz has gained serious ground on him. Dewhurst's latest ad released this week, "Ted Cruz Should Be Ashamed," that was immediately named Nastiest Ad of the Campaign by BuzzFeed. In it, a mother talks about her son's suicide after leaving one of Robert Mericle's brutal private prisons. Cruz represented Mericle in an unrelated case.

It's ugly, Cruz has the momentum, but Dewhurst could be chipping away at it in unseen ways. It'll be exciting to watch on Tuesday even though both candidates completely suck.

Rick Perry wasn't happy about President Obama's visit to Texas last week. His office released this statement:

Gov. Rick Perry released the following statement on President Barack Obama's visit to Texas:

"Perhaps while the President is visiting Texas, he can take a break from big-dollar fundraisers to disavow his Attorney General's offensive and incendiary comments regarding our common-sense voter identification law.

"In labeling the Texas voter ID law as a "poll tax," Eric Holder purposefully used language designed to inflame passions and incite racial tension. It was not only inappropriate, but simply incorrect on its face.

"The president should apologize for Holder's imprudent remarks and for his insulting lawsuit against the people of Texas."

Attorney General General Eric Holder is, in fact, challenging Texas' Voter ID laws passed in May...because they do disenfranchise minority voters. Specifically, Hispanic voters who make up such a significant part of Texas's voting population.

ThinkProgress explains:

Texas passed an election law overhaul last May which included a requirement that voters present a certain form of government-issued photo ID or be turned away from the polls. Neither Student IDs nor Social Security or Medicaid cards, and no exceptions are allowed for the poor or elderly. Unlike some states which ask for photo ID but have recourse such as a provisional ballot for voters who lack an acceptable ID, the Texas law simply turned away these folks.

Because Texas is one of nine states with a history of discrimination that must have any change to their election laws approved by the Department of Justice, the state did not receive preclearance for the move. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas E. Perez explained that "Hispanic voters represent only 21.8 percent of the registered voters in the state, Hispanic voters represent fully 29.0 percent of the registered voters without such identification." Last week, a new poll showed that the people most supportive of Voter ID laws also harbor a lot of racial tension.

The Department of Justice is not inciting racial incitement, it's working to stop racial suppression carried out by Rick Perry and his Republican brood.

In recent years, Americans have seen right-wing politicians and groups complaining about how alleged voter fraud is destroying the integrity of our elections. This recent trend started with the witch-hunt against low-income advocacy group ACORN, which insane conservatives accused of stealing votes for President Obama. An unfounded belief that American elections are being stolen by fraudulent voters is now an essential piece of right-wing orthodoxy, providing the foundation for recent efforts to remove voters from the rolls in states like Florida and Wisconsin. Cases of actual voter fraud are actually extremely rare.

Tonight in Houston, Republican runoff candidates Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst will attend a final debate hosted by the King Street Patriots. The King Street Patriots is a group dedicated to suppressing the minority vote through voter intimidation tactics. The name of their advocacy arm/project is "True The Vote". The group's purported aim is to protect election integrity.

In reality, the King Street Patriots are a right-wing voter suppression group dedicated to disenfranchising Democratic voters.

Houston Beginnings

KSP started in Houston during the 2010 election, and immediately began working to suppress the minority vote. KSP trained "poll watchers" on how to monitor voter sites. On election day and during early voting, reports flooded in from across the city of King Street Patriots volunteers leering over the shoulders of voters, arguing with election judges and spreading false information to voters in line. It also became clear that True The Vote volunteers were working in tandem with Harris County Republican Party operatives, a clear violation of their designation as a 501c(3) advocacy organization, a designation which KSP was quick to point out to BOR last week.

The unending charges of voter suppression, a majority of which had to do with the intimidation minority voters, led the Department of Justice to send federal inspectors to monitor the election. The charges also led to the Texas Democratic Party filing a lawsuit against KSP. Texans for Public justice, a non-profit, non-partisan government watchdog also filed an ethics complaint against KSP alleging that KSP/TTV have "made repeated in-kind contributions to the Harris County GOP and multiple Republican candidates, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Wisconsin Recall Election

True The Vote is back with force in 2012. Before the Wisconsin recall election, True The Vote launched an effort called "Verify The Recall" to challenge recall petition signatures in an attempt to protect Republican Governor Scott Walker. True The Vote, working with local Tea Party groups, alleged hundreds of thousands of the signatures were invalid - allegations which, as the Center for Media and Democracy reported, did not stand up to even limited scrutiny.

When that effort failed, True The Vote coordinated with numerous Wisconsin Tea Party groups to train poll watchers, even holding a day of election observer trainings across the state on May 19. "Teachers" flew in from Houston, and a second, online training day was held on May 29. On their website, True The Vote lists Wisconsin as a "victory." Remember, KSP/TTV are supposed to be nonpartisan. Clearly, they are not.

The King Street Patriots Are Un-American

KSP is against the American idea itself: every citizen should have the right to vote and to do so without obstacle. If you aren't yet convinced that King Street Patriots are a bunch of dangerous harassclowns whose sole purpose is to disenfranchise Democratic voters, consider this: in November, KSP held a fundraiser with Matthew Vadum. Vadum is a right-winger famous for arguing that registering the poor to vote is un-American.

In all likelihood, Ted Cruz or David Dewhurst will be Texas's next senator. What does it mean that they're both kow-towing to this anti-American group dedicated to violating our elections? It reveals that Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst aren't really interested in Texans' support; they're for winning, American law be damned.

King Street Patriots are a right-wing tool to override the opinions of the American people so that right-wing, corporatist policies become the law of the land. Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst care only that their agendas get passed, not whether Americans have free and fair elections. For supporting King Street Patriots alone, neither of these men deserve to represent Texas in the Senate.

This is a cross post from ThinkProgress.

Texas has the worst health care in the nation, with more 25 percent of Texans - 6.2 million people - uninsured. And last month, Texas became the largest state whose governor has committed to turning down the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid funds or establish a health insurance exchange. According to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress, Republican Gov. Rick Perry's decision is especially harmful to Latinos, who make up 18.7 percent of Texas's population.

A full 38 percent of the nonelderly Latino population in Texas is uninsured, compared to 17 percent of white Texans and 26 percent of Texans of color. Austin's Center for Public Policy Priorities found that expanding Medicaid would immediately insure 2 million Texans, and this would provide health care to hundreds of thousands of Latinos and address health problems particularly harmful to Latinos.  

Latinos are significantly less likely to receive preventative care than other groups. Latinos are also more likely to have chronic diseases such as diabetes. Latino women contract cervical cancer at twice the rate of white women, further highlighting the need for better preventative care in the Latino community.

With billions in newly available Medicaid funds making health insurance affordable for people who couldn't previously afford it, Latinos would be much more likely to receive the preventative care they need to have healthy lives. The Department of Health and Human Services predicts that, if adopted, the Affordable Care Act will "significantly improve health outcomes for Latinos."

Unless Perry changes his mind drastically, Texas Latinos are unlikely to have the opportunity to take full advantage of the Affordable Care Act. Perry joins Republican governors across the country in taking a political stance against Obamacare, turning down $258 billion in federal health dollars and leaving 9.2 million Americans uninsured in the process.

Today, the campaigns announced the candidates have agreed to debate again before the July 31st runoff. On Monday at 6 p.m., Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst will meet in Houston for a televised debate hosted by the King Street Patriots, a extreme right-wing group dedicated to suppressing the minority vote.

It makes an abundance of sense that both candidates want to duke it out again. Dewhurst had a very solid debate this week and has more work to do to change the perception that Cruz has all the mo'. A second strong debate showing helps that cause much more than ads alone do. Cruz needs to keep moving forward, and a final, strong performance on stage with Dewhurst could help finalize the campaign for him.

Yesterday, Dewhurst announced the "Veterans for Dewhurst" coalition to highlight his military background along with a video featuring military brass praising Dewhurst. It's a solid video that does the seemingly impossible: humanize Dewhurst. Cruz is bragging today about well-known clown Glenn Beck saying the race is "the biggest sign of the Tea Party's power" in the 2012 election. "If Texas can't do it, nobody can do it," Beck said. Beck has been promoting Cruz on his program for months.

The Texas Tribune reports:

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz have both agreed to a third televised debate on the first day of early voting in their hotly contested GOP runoff for an open U.S. Senate seat.

The King Street Patriots, a Houston-area Tea Party group, and Fox 26, a Houston-based affiliate, are scheduled to host a televised debate in front of a live audience Monday at 6 p.m. Details on airings statewide weren't immediately clear.

Both campaigns confirmed they would participate in Monday's event.

The two Republicans have already participated in two televised debates, both in Dallas. The first one, in June, was hosted by KERA, the Dallas public television affiliate. The Texas Tribune was a partner in that event. The second debate was on Tuesday and hosted by Belo.

Rhetorical slams, elbows, and jabs: it was a regular senatorial wannabe slugfest last night in Houston, where Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst met for their final debate before the July 31st runoff. Payroll taxes, Chinese firms, border walls, disclosure, and trustworthiness were primary (actually, runoff) topics. There was no clear winner of the debate.

However, Dewhurst was undoubtedly prepared to fight for his life after two polls last week showed Cruz ahead. Dewhurst had solid answers on his conservative credentials, slamming Cruz for essentially being a lackey lawyer for the state rather than leading his own fights. Cruz, at times, was surprisingly muted. It is unclear how many people watched the debate, but it is often more important whether the candidates can use debate clips in TV ads. Cruz did this to great effect with clips of Dewhurst talking about his negotiating skills.

I think Dewhurst had a good night. Even if he wasn't the unequivocal winner, the debate didn't fit the narrative told by those polls. Dewhurst was clear, strong, and ready to win. It's possible the polls actually lit the fire under Dewhurst that he needed to be something other than the most obvious candidate in the world. On Monday, the candidates released their fundraising numbers. Between May 10 and June 30, Cruz brought in $1.7 million and Dewhurst brought in $1.5 million. Clearly, if Dewhurst didn't start to make a stop this week, Cruz had a very good chance of keeping his poll and fundraising momentum going until voters go to the polls. But if Dewhurst can turn around the narrative now, he might prove Cruz to have peaked too soon. Two weeks is a lot of time in politics.

After the debate, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert endorsed Dewhurst. Leppert said he had spoken with both runoff candidates after the primary and made his choice based on Dewhurst's budgetary experience: "We must elect leaders who have the experience of creating jobs and dealing with the fiscal issues facing our nation - leaders with a practical understanding of what makes our country work," he said. "David Dewhurst has that experience and it is for that reason that I endorse David Dewhurst for the U.S. Senate. David has created jobs and understands the private sector. He has proven his leadership skills in the private and public sectors and will be an asset to Texas in Washington."

The Dallas Morning News has a rundown of the exact exchanges in last night's debate. Let us know who you think came out ahead in the comments.

CONSERVATIVE RECORDS

Ted Cruz: Let me be clear, my campaign from Day One has been based on a proven record.

David Dewhurst: There's a difference between being a staff attorney and arguing those cases that your boss tells you to argue and saying those things that your boss tells you to argue. ... I'm not sure what you've done in the past is a record.

Cruz: If you want to know my record, you can look at what I've spent a lifetime doing, starting from literally as a teenager, when with the Free Enterprise Institute in Houston, I memorized the U.S. Constitution.

PAYROLL TAX

Cruz: The lieutenant governor's office issued a press release praising the Senate for passing a payroll tax. Whenever anyone points to his record, his response is to call them a liar, and I'm curious to know if he thinks his own website is lying.

Dewhurst: Ted, you know state government better than that. That's disingenuous. I have never praised a payroll tax.

CHINESE TIRE CASE

Cruz: Our country is in crisis. We're going broke, we have a $16 trillion national debt, and what the lieutenant governor wants to talk about is Chinese mining tires.

Dewhurst: There are lots of clients out there. He chose to represent a company that already had a $26 million judgment against them.

SPEECH ARCHIVING

Cruz: It's a curious definition of transparency to say that Texans have to drive to Austin and request a physical copy of the speech instead of being able to Google it and find what he said.

Dewhurst: To imply that there was anything improper done, my friend, I'm not the one who was just fined by the Senate Ethics Committee. You're not even a U.S. senator, and you've been fined the maximum for not turning in your financial form on time.

This is a cross post from ThinkProgress.

In South Texas, gas companies are building hundreds of miles of uncharted private backroads that inadvertently provide a "pipeline to America for drug traffickers." The Houston Chronicle reports that previously inaccessible ranchlands are now traversable, allowing drug-stocked vehicles to pass Border Patrol checkpoints that "have long been the last line of defense for stopping all traffic headed farther into the United States."

Traffickers are taking advantage the gigantic Eagle Ford shale formation, which runs from Mexico to East Texas. In the southwest portion of Eagle Ford, traffickers are sending millions of dollars worth of drugs into the United States along these private energy roads by bribing truck drivers, gate personnel, and seemingly make clone copies of gas trucks to avoid suspicion among fleets of energy trucks using the roads. Authorities have also found stolen energy trucks used by smugglers.

In March, Border Patrol intercepted 18,665 pounds of marijuana on two bogus oil trucks travelling on private gas industry roads. One of the trucks was driven by an apparently bribed energy employee, and the other appeared to be a fake truck driven by a drug trafficker. Law enforcement fears there are many more such trucks carrying illegal materials across the border on these private roads. Tony Garcia, director of the South Texas High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, a law-enforcement coalition, is very concerned about the problem. He told the Houston Chronicle:

"Our biggest concern is how law enforcement is going to attack the threat. We cannot move Border Patrol checkpoints into those positions. It is pretty much up to your imagination what they could be moving through there. ... It is a bit of a dicey situation for us to deal with."

Border patrol agents are working to educate energy companies about potential encounters with drug traffickers. But there is a limited amount drug enforcement officials, who can't set up new checkpoints and are already strapped for resources, can do to stop the problem. Javier Pena, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Houston division, warned, "Once they get past the checkpoints, they are pretty much free."

The TDP is coming out swinging - much like President Obama - again Romney for his awful record at Bain Capital and his shameful lying about it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texas GOP Asks Obama for His Papers, Romney Won't Show His

Austin- Timed with President Obama's visit to our state, the Republican Party of Texas uploaded an inflammatory video in which a donkey that portrays President Obama is asked for his papers. Meanwhile, Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney refuses to release his tax records.

"Republicans continue their race-baiting while Mitt Romney won't show the American people the papers that matter," said TDP spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña. "Romney probably doesn't want the American people to know whether he's taken advantage of foreign tax havens to avoid paying his fair share.

"Romney's based his entire presidency on his business record," added Acuña. "Frankly, that record is detestable. Romney's record is one of layoffs, bankruptcies, and outsourcing. He shipped jobs to Mexico and China and outsourced jobs to India. Romney needs to come clean so the American people can make their own judgments about his record, perspective and motivations."

Background:

·         Mitt Romney refuses to release tax returns before 2010.

·         Romney's had a $3 million Swiss bank account, a shell corporation in Bermuda and a stake in at least a dozen funds in the Cayman Islands.

·         Romney was in charge of Bain when its companies faced layoffs, bankruptcies and American jobs getting sent overseas.

This week, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services sent out a letter explaining their proposed new rules for women's health care. The letter shows that Texas is expanding its ban on state funding for women's health care providers who provide abortion to include "promoters" of abortion.

The section also requires a TWHP provider to ensure that (1) outside the scope of TWHP, the provider does not perform or promote elective abortions and does not affiliate with an entity that performs or promotes elective abortions; and (2) within the scope of TWHP, the provider does not promote elective abortions, is physically separated from any abortion-providing or abortion-promoting entity, and does not operate under an identification mark that is registered to an entity thatperforms or promotes elective abortions.

As ThinkProgress explains, "banning 'promotion' "effectively means banning any women's health care provider who mentions the word abortion or has informational material about how a woman might be able to seek out the procedure." The rule bans doctors from referring to abortion as "within the continuum of family planning services," which means that to receive state funds, doctors cannot acknowledge that abortion exists.

This is outrageous. It is literally Texas putting the government between Americans and their doctors. Texans in favor of women's rights have already made big news by protesting the end of Texas' Women's Health Program, and will need to keep up the fight. It harmful to every woman in the state; every American has a right to full information about their medical decisions, and Texas is determined to deny them that right.There is no question: Texas's government is insane and utterly anti-choice.  Last week, Rick Perry announced Texas won't accept the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion - further harming women, as Texans on Medicaid are overwhelmingly female. This is a status quo that must change as soon as possible.

As the NAACP told Mitt Romney this week, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ted Cruz is on a roll and there's only one man left who can stop him: Ted Cruz.

A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows Cruz leading Dewhurst 49-44 in the runoff election. A separate poll, conducted by the Citizens United Political Victory fund - yes, the schmucks who brought us Citizens United - shows Cruz ahead by ten points, 48-38. These are the first polls from outside groups showing Cruz ahead - the Cruz campaign released a shocking internal poll that showed their candidate 9 points ahead.

The numbers are themselves obviously a sign of Cruz's strength, but they don't tell the whole story. As BOR's Joe Deshotel explained yesterday, Cruz is also benefitting from more enthusiastic supporters than Dewhurst's. "Cruz's lead expands to a whooping 59-36 margin over Dewhurst among voters who describe themselves as 'very excited' about voting in the election," Public Policy Polling found. Additionally, in a year when some GOP candidates are inching away from the "Tea Party" label, Cruz seems to be benefitting from it. He leads 71-26 with Tea Party voters.

But there's trouble in the water for Cruz. On his latest ethics disclosures released Thursday, Cruz was forced to reveal that he provided legal services to developer Robert Mericle, who was in the middle of a scandal called "kids for cash." Mericle pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2009 of bribing judges to give delinquent children harsh sentences so they could fill up Mericle's detention facilities. That's right, throw up. The two judges who received the payments are spending years in federal prison, and Mericle has had to pay millions out in civil rights cases.

Suddenly, Cruz's control doesn't seem so steady. At a moment when those polls should giving Cruz a palpable glow, he's given his opponent a perfect opportunity to associate him with a uniquely horrifying form of child abuse. "Ted Cruz should be ashamed of the choice he made to represent Robert Mericle, an exploiter of children for profit," Dewhurst campaign spokesman Matt Hirsch said. "It brings into question the integrity and judgment of Ted Cruz, who's running to represent the interest of Texans in the U.S. Senate."

Both candidates have new ads out. In his dark and foreboding ad, Cruz slams Dewhurst for supporting a payroll tax and cuts debate clips to make him look like uneasy and untrustworthy. Dewhurst chooses to do a self-promotion spot highlighting his business background, but we can expect some new ads next week, especially with the Mericle news.  

Readers reacted strongly to BOR's story this week about the Texas Aggie Conservatives' racist ad. Many agreed that it is racist and abhorrent, while others disagreed that it has a racial component. The debate is understandable, since its racism is not explicit like some of the recent discharge from other Texas college conservatives (i.e., "My president is black, he smokes a lot of crack.")

Here is an updated account of the ad's offensiveness geared to answer the questions some have raised.

Depicting a black man as a boy in need of discipline raises automatic red flags. Though the word "boy" isn't used in the ad, the text, posture, physical proportions, and caption all imply it. Unfortunately and undeniably, there is a malignant American practice of degrading black males by calling them "boys." The term implies racial inferiority and the need for discipline. The term "boy" continues to be used against black males; last week, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that a local congressional candidate "offended many of his would-be constituents by referring to an African-American man as a 'boy,' a statement for which he has refused to apologize." While it's true, as a few people have noted, that presidents have been depicted as children before, the choice to depict an African-American adult male as a boy in need of discipline is at best utterly tasteless and at worst, outright racist. And that's before considering the clothing.

By depicting Obama in hip-hop clothing, the Texas Aggie Conservatives imply race is one of the reasons he needs to be disciplined. Naturally, the ad's question - "Think he NEEDS a time out?" leads viewers to consider what about the president has led to his bad behavior. Though it may make some squeamish to admit it, the TAC did not choose to depict the president in basic, well-fitting boy's clothing, instead offering racially specific clothing as available evidence for his bad behavior. In these three pictures, high-profile black rappers sport the same combination of an un-tucked plaid shirt and baggy pants. Right-wingers have repeatedly railed against the baggy clothing in which the TAC depicts the president: Rush Limbaugh described baggy pants-wearers as "rapper clowns" and several local governments have even banned baggy pants on grounds of "indecency." And, lest anyone forget, Geraldo Rivera of Fox News described murdered Florida teenager Trayvon Martin's clothing, also baggy and commonly worn by black rappers, as "thug wear".

If you're still not convinced this image is racist, consider its source. The Texas Aggie Conservatives sport official TAC "Beat The Hell Outta Obama" t-shirts. The club is in the midst of petitioning the university to defund A&M's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Center. They are also suing the university in federal court for declining to fund TAC's big spring event: vicious right-winger Star Parker talking about her book, "Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves Americans". In it, Parker, a black woman, endorses racial stereotypes the same way Herman Cain does. The Texas Aggie Conservatives are an undeniable source of social and racial hostility on campus - even prompting a Facebook group called, "Aggies Embarrassed by the Texas Aggie Conservatives". Even at UT, where two straight College Republicans presidents have made national news for hateful comments, no such Facebook group exists. The Texas Aggie Conservatives have proved repeatedly that they are unworthy of receiving the benefit of doubt.

If the source of the ad doesn't convince you it's racist, remember the A&M administration's reaction to it. When Vice President of Information Technology Pierce Cantrell saw the ad, he immediately pledged to take it down. When Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Sarah Bednarz was informed that the ad had not been taken down after three weeks, she wrote, "All summer thousands of current students, new students, and their parents have seen this PSA which is not consistent with Aggie values. Can it not come off ASAP? I had assumed that would be the case." The university's rejection of the ad indicates that the ad is much more than a snarky jab at the president and wholly out of step with public values. Indeed, the administration has deemed the ad so offensive and harmful that student organizations are no longer able to post ads on campus computers.

If the administration's passionate rejection of the ad doesn't convince you it's racist, you can agree that it is offensive. In Monday's story, BOR described the ad as "hateful, vile, and above all, racist." Aside from the racial component, the ad is indeed hateful and vile in its demeaning portrayal of the president. Some have pointed out that every president is demeaned. While this is true, flat degradation is always an unproductive way to criticize a president and does not merit toleration because it makes productive public discussion harder to achieve. This is especially true for a student club claiming its aim is to "further conservative values on campus" and engage in campus political discussion. In its gratuitous distortion of the president alone, this ad deserves your rejection.

Read the Texas Aggie Conservatives' response to our original post below the jump.
The Texas Aggie Conservatives are clearly concerned that BOR's story is doing further harm to their brand. On Monday, the Texas Aggie Conservatives' Technology and Visibility Director Eric Schroeder sent the following email to BOR.

SUBJECT: Burnt Orange Report Artice

Regarding your article:

http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/12465/texas-am-conservatives-promote-their-club-with-racist-flyer

I am the owner of the copyrighted image in your article, and the image in question is strictly for use and preproduction by the Texas Aggie Conservatives. I am interested to know who disclosed it to you (likely through an open records request) knowing that all material they receive is copyrighted by their respective owners and reproduction and redistribution is strictly prohibited.

I respectfully request that the image be removed immediately, else I will have to pursue legal assistance in this matter. The image is already marked for deletion on imgur due to copyright violation. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please refer any questions regarding this mater to

eric@aggieconservatives.org.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,

Eric Schroeder

Technology and Visibility Director

Texas Aggie Conservatives

Apparently the Texas Aggie Conservatives have as little understanding of the law as they do of politics. Any news source can publish this image under journalistic fair use laws. The Texas Aggie Conservatives have no grounds for a lawsuit, and Schroeder's email amounts to nothing more than failed intimidation.

The truth is this: the Texas Aggie Conservatives made the mud they're being dragged through and deserve every moment of the slide.