Be honest. You aren't really going to miss another liveblog of another presidential debate. But I have been trying to keep up with them and I apologize for falling short.
The excuse is I'm preparing for a trip and Fun Fact Checker (who co-liveblogs) is battling an epic cold-allergy thing.
I'm about to shut down the constant blogging for about ten days (starting Friday) and am preparing for the (near) blackout. I know it's a big risk to take -- slowing down the pace on a new blog. But it's winter. Humans can hibernate too, right?
This just in. The University Interscholastic League has created the protocol it will follow to perform mandatory steroid testing of high school student athletes. The new mandatory testing comes as a result of Senate Bill 8, passed this spring.
The protocol is basically a set of rules and guidelines, including definitions of steroid-testing related terms, and an explanation of how athletes become ineligible. It also lists all the banned substances.*
UIL has not selected a date this program will begin, but it is allowing the public 14 days to provide any feedback about the above protocol.
*Why do pharmaceutical names all have to be so complicated? My dad is a pharmacist and a Chinese immigrant, and I can't imagine him trying to pronounce these drug names WHILE he was just getting comfortable with English.
Two "Purge" entries in one day, because I had the opportunity to take the question about Governor Perry's email retention policy to U.S. Senator John Cornyn.
Cornyn is pretty well-known for his strong support of open government laws. During his time as Texas Attorney General, his office was charged with interpreting the Texas Public Information Act, and reporters who were around during his tenure say he made fair calls. Since he's been in the Senate, Cornyn has authored numerous pieces of legislation to expand government transparency. In a recent column, Cornyn wrote this:
...As we move to protect our society, we must make certain that government operates in full view of the people who fund it, and give their consent. Our democracy is based on the right to know. This is one of our most treasured civil liberties in America, one that should never be lost or forgotten.
So, given his stance on the issue, what does he make of the governor's office policy of deleting emails after seven days, and allowing these emails to fall into the cyber-abyss unless they are requested before the weekly purge? Cornyn says he'll do more research:
Read more of "The Purge" by clicking the Open Government label to your right. It's also important to note that my colleagues Cody at the Texas Observer and Jay at the Star-Telegram continue their coverage of all of this. Here's some recent stuff:
Just for clarification, that is Kim on the left and myself on the right.
SCENE: Schlotzky's, Riverside and Lamar
TIME: 12:44pm
Here I am standing around waiting for my Turkey Original and bowl of Potato Bacon soup. Suddenly, a middle-aged man wearing glasses walks past me, turns around, and walks towards me once again.
HIM: Is your name Jennifer?
ME: No, I am not Jennifer Kim.
Kim took some lumps over what some saw as sense-of-entitlement, after demanding special security access at the Austin airport in early January. Then, we learned of an instance when she was pulled over and said those-six-words-nary-a-politician-should-utter, "Don't you know who I am?"
But these recent run-in's I've had with strangers make me wonder. Did Councilmember Kim ever need to ask that question? People already seem to know who she is very well. They recognize her, er, me, all the time.
Some rapid response just landed in my inbox. Diana Maldonado, the Round Rock ISD trustee running for Krusee's seat as a Democrat, is weighing in on his retirement. Here's the bulk of her statement, which popped in my inbox about 24 seconds ago:
Despite widespread rumors of political payback for his steadfast support of toll road privatization plans, Mike Krusee failed to state why he is stepping down, how he will be rewarded, or what backroom meetings took place in the planning of this announcement, just days before official candidate filing opens.
It’s this type of political arrogance that has led people to be justifiably suspicious of the Governor’s toll road plans. Krusee, the lead proponent for the Trans Texas Corridor, has ignored the voters’ demand for information before. He was the only Representative out of 150 members to oppose a moratorium on toll road privatization which would have provided voters time to gain a better understanding of how billions of dollars would be spent, how development rights would be handed over, and how the face of our communities would be changed forever.
The goals he couldn’t reach legislatively, we are left to assume, he will pursue administratively. After all, the same disrespect he showed for voters in the past has been reinforced with his failure to answer questions today.
BTW, I snubbed him earlier b/c I didn't know, but my favorite iPhone addict, Ross Ramsey at Texas Weekly deserves the credit for breaking the retirement news.
In Part Five of this series, you saw the responses from the governor's office to public information crusader, John Washburn, about his twice-weekly requests for emails that end in "governor.state.tx.us".
Now Washburn is responding. With a formal complaint to the Texas Attorney General's office.
Dear Mr. Simpson:
I would like to file a formal complaint with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the excessive charges to copy electronic records to electronic media. The charges amount to $568.00 for one CD-ROM worth of data.
As I articulated below, I believe Texas statues and administrative rules only allow for the charge of two dollars ($2.00) not $568.00 as asserted by the Office of the Governor. Attached are the relevant correspondences. I am also mailing the attached to the Austin address of the Attorney General.
As an aside I must say the “itemization” leaves something to be desired. What services exactly am I getting for $567.00?
Washburn also wrote back to the governor's deputy counsel, disputing some of the charges as well as the governor's office contention that Washburn has not paid for his total of seven TPIA requests. Washburn says this is untrue, because he only got an itemization of costs for one of his seven requests.
In Part Five of this series, you saw the responses from the governor's office to public information crusader, John Washburn, about his twice-weekly requests for emails that end in "governor.state.tx.us".
Now Washburn is responding. With a formal complaint to the Texas Attorney General's office.
Dear Mr. Simpson:
I would like to file a formal complaint with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the excessive charges to copy electronic records to electronic media. The charges amount to $568.00 for one CD-ROM worth of data.
As I articulated below, I believe Texas statues and administrative rules only allow for the charge of two dollars ($2.00) not $568.00 as asserted by the Office of the Governor. Attached are the relevant correspondences. I am also mailing the attached to the Austin address of the Attorney General.
As an aside I must say the “itemization” leaves something to be desired. What services exactly am I getting for $567.00?
Washburn also wrote back to the governor's deputy counsel, disputing some of the charges as well as the governor's office contention that Washburn has not paid for his total of seven TPIA requests. Washburn says this is untrue, because he only got an itemization of costs for one of his seven requests.
Okay, he didn't really say peace out. But The Statesman is reporting that longtime State Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, is expected to announce his retirement from the Texas House. Krusee's also the House Transportation Committee chair.
Most folks around the Capitol expected this, largely because Krusee almost lost his re-election bid in 2006 to a woman whose biggest fundraiser was a spaghetti dinner. And because this spring, Krusee took a decidedly firm stance against House Speaker Tom Craddick, to whom he had long been loyal.
Krusee made a long, emotional speech on the Saturday before Sine Die, railing against the Speaker's handling of the moves to vacate the chair. Some said back then that it sounded like a goodbye speech -- now, it becomes the de facto goodbye.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who leaped into the first tier of candidates after recent polling showed his strength in Iowa, stopped in Austin last night to tap the Texas ATM. I was looking forward to meeting him but ended up getting sidelined by illness - so the photographer, Todd, did an excellent job of chopping up my preview to include actual sound from last night.
Anyone have $2,300 to spare? That's how much the office of Governor Rick Perry estimates it's going to cost to fulfill John Washburn's public information requests for about two weeks worth of the Governor's office emails.
If you are new to the blog, a quick summary:
In state offices, emails are considered public records. Perry's office policy (dating back to Governor Bush in 1999) is to delete internal emails after seven days. Individual staffers decide which emails need to be kept longer for the public record. This weekend, the Star-Telegram's editorial board weighed in...
But who's to know whether crucial missives are being tossed with the trivial? What if a staffer's e-mails setting up lunch are relevant to, say, improper contacts with lobbyists? What if a staffer's non-job-related e-mails reveal conduct unbecoming a state employee?
Twice a week for the last three weeks, open government crusader John Washburn has sent out a TPIA request for the governor's office emails, excluding constituent mail. He received an itemized response from the Governor's Deputy General Counsel this week, with charges for FOUR DAYS worth of emails:
31.5 hours of staff time at $15/hour = $472.50 (to compile and redact emails)
Overhead at 20% of staff charge = $94.50
CD for compiled material = $1
TOTAL for four days worth of emails = $568
The letter from the Governor's office once again encourages Washburn to narrow his request to save money.
Ryan Rusak found some presidential candidate goodies like the foam "Mitt Mitt" that might make for a winning holiday present. I found some others - for both the live-free Republicans and the die-hard Democrats in your life.
Hillary Clinton Nutcracker
All right, so this looks a little lewd. However, it's not only a political gift -- it's a practical one. "The Hillary Nutcracker has stainless steel thighs," the sales pitch reads.Up until I saw this I thought the Kinky bobblehead doll was my favorite candidate toy. Now it's definitely the Clinton nutcracker. It sells for $24.88. To buy it, click here.
George Bush Toilet Paper
Not only can you use this toilet paper for um, sanitary purposes, you can also read memorable Bush quotes right off the roll. The toilet paper features Bush quotes such as "They misunderestimated me," and "Bring 'em on." It's a little pricey though. $9.99 for a roll. That's a lot more than your standard roll of Charmin Ultra. Buy it here.
This is a little 2005, but how about an "Adios Mofo" Rick Perry Tee? They're still available in many colors and sizes.
Just a shameless plug here for our sister station, WFAA-TV. On Sunday morning, I join Channel 8 reporter Brad Watson, the DMN's Todd Gillman and Gromer Jeffers Jr. to talk about the political "turkeys" of the year. We picked some obvious turkeys in state, local and national politics (i.e. Fred Thompson, The Texas Straw Poll) but others I didn't expect.
Inside Politics airs on WFAA weekend daybreak at around 8:45am every Sunday.
Must Have Been Out of My Head... Or Out of My Mind
We are going to digress from politics for a moment because clearly I have seriously offended a superfan of the Austin band, Fastball, which opened for Barack Obama on Saturday. Check out this anonymous comment:
Why are you picking on Fastball? They have accomplished much more than you ever will. You are a no-name reporter, but Fastball was nominated for two Grammy awards. So what if their peak came in '98 and '99? Does that mean they aren't allowed to play their music anymore? Get a grip!
Hrmmm. Well, first off, I'm sorry if any Fastball fans out there thought I was "picking on" the band -- I thought just the opposite, that I'd become strangely obsessed with Fastball since I hadn't heard from them in such a long time. Second, the event was for a political candidate and not the band, and because of the rain I wound up live blogging about the band. Consequentially, I think they got plenty of love from us. Many apologies, Anon.
Isn't there that saying about how if you do something 28 times in a row it will become habit? Well, if that's true, it's entirely possible watching presidential debates has now become habit for you. So mark your calendars -- more debates have been set. This time, they're for next year's general election.
First presidential debate: Friday, Sept. 26, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Vice presidential debate: Thursday, Oct. 2, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
Second presidential debate: Tuesday, Oct. 7, Belmont University, Nashville.
Third presidential debate: Wednesday, Oct. 15, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
All debates will be 90 minutes long and start at 9 p.m., Eastern time. There will be a single moderator for each, and no questions from YouTube that I know of.
The Star Telegram's Jay Root went "Jay-walking" (hehe) a la Jay Leno, and asked people on the streets of Fort Worth to identify the photos of our Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the Texas House.
"Is it Romney?? Oh! No! It's Rick Perry. They're both robotically handsome."
"That's...Cra... Crandall... Creighton... Speaker of the House."
"I think he's cute, actually. I find him VERY attractive. Craddick."
For anyone who was actually following the Obama live-blog in real time, my apologies for having to break down before Obama took the stage at The Backyard. I realize the effect of my action means you had to read a liveblog about Fastball. Sorry.
When he arrived, Obama really "fired up" his crowd. ("Fired-up and ready-to-go" is his big new campaign chant which I believe started in preparation for the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Iowa.) The crowd was pretty subdued until the candidate actually showed up, but when he did he was crisp, noticeably more concise that in his February visit, and a lot more passionate, too.
He took aim at frontrunner Hillary Clinton without mentioning her by name, saying that he doesn't want the country to "re-argue the fights of the nineties".
"Telling people what we think they want to hear instead of what they need to hear just won’t do. Not answering tough questions because we’re worried they might not be popular just won’t do," Obama said.
"Triangulating and poll testing positions because we’re worried about what Mitt or Rudy might say about us just won’t do. Not this time, not now. Not in this election. If we’re serious about winning this election, then we can’t be afraid of losing it."
Have any good pictures? If you're a PJ reader and want to submit some, please email them to ehu@kvue.com and I'll include them in an updated version of this post. Meanwhile, here's video of me sneaking in an update in between two Fastball songs. (What is this obsession with Fastball all of a sudden? I can't explain it.)
3:20pm We're on the outskirts of town awaiting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He already stopped in Houston for a private fundraiser and has another one tonight, but in between, he squeezed in a rally for the general public at the outdoor concert venue, The Backyard. It does feel like a concert -- except for all the secret service.
3:22pm Fastball, famous for that one song that goes "Am I out of my head or am I out of my mind..." is opening for Obama. The lead singer says "We're not a political band, but I do support the candidate..."
3:25pm Okay, apparently "Out of My Head" is not Fastball's most famous song. It's just the one I remember the most. Their number one song was 1998's "The Way".
3:27pm Crowd steadily pouring in. I went up and down the line outside talking to supporters, many of them who have driven in from Dallas and Houston. The refrain I hear the most from these folks is "Obama is change, Obama represents a new kind of politics..." They say the mainstream media is unfairly anointing Hillary Clinton. One couple told me the only numbers that really matter are the ones on caucus and primary days.
3:29pm Crowd is a lot smaller than the 20K plus that showed up on a rainy February afternoon for an Austin rally on Auditorium Shores. This venue is obviously a lot smaller, and it's still filling in.
3:35pm Fastball asks whether "they ever fixed the Diebold machines" (referring to controversy after the electronic voting machines screwed up some vote counts). They also joked that the electoral college should be done away with and replaced with a national election day on the night America votes for the American Idol.
3:39pm Okay Fastball finally plays a song I recognize, and it's "The Way". Frankly, they look a little sick of playing this song. "Anyone can see that the road that they walk on is paved in gold..." Was this featured on Dawson's Creek? I think so.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is betting that Texas' Major League Soccer team, the Houston Dynamo, will beat out the New England Revolution in the MLS cup this weekend. He's so sure that he bet Texas barbeque on it.
“There is no chance the New England Revolution can keep up with the Lone Star State’s reining soccer champs,” Perry said. “The Dynamo play to win and I expect a huge victory come this Sunday.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick bet his state's lobster.
“I am confident that the Revolution will continue this season of champions in New England. I hope the Texas ribs are as good as the Colorado steaks the Red Sox won for us,” Patrick said.
If Perry wins, the winning lobsters will go to a local charity. Same goes for the bbq, if Patrick wins. Is there any way the teams can tie? Charities could get a Surf and Turf meal deal out of this thing.
Team Bell responds to Team Perry, after Team Perry called Bell's lawsuit "sour grapes":
“What a load of hokum, hooey and balderdash. Is this the same Robert Black who said in February that Rick Perry ‘has always thought that Chris Bell was a very, very decent man’?" former Bell campaign manager Jason Stanford said.
"Obviously, they can’t explain this obvious violation of state elections law and have to resort to the same ‘shoot the messenger’ tactics that didn’t work for Tom DeLay and won’t work now. This is simple. You can’t play Hide & Seek with $1 million in Texas elections. All the king’s horses and all the king’s henchmen can’t defend it, so they have to attack.”
(This is almost getting to be as fun as Team Lauren versus Team Heidi on MTV's The Hills. But I have to say, if Robert Black and Jason Stanford "accidentally" bump into each other at a swank nightclub and start screaming at each other like that one episode, this will officially be better than reality TV.)
Bell's suit alleges that a total of $1 million in campaign money that the RGA gave Perry in the waning days of last year's election was in violation of Texas campaign regulations and financial reporting laws. It alleges RGA wasn't legally qualified to contribute to a Texas political campaign and has filed no reports with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Bell says the effect of what Perry's spokesman calls "a simple paperwork filing error" is that the real source of the $1 million was concealed. Bell says the nation's largest political donor, Houston homebuilder Bob Perry gave the money and it was simply funneled through RGA's 527.
"It appears that it takes suits like this one to disclose what is really going on to fund these Republican campaigns," Bell said in a statement. Perry's spokesman is firing back.
“This stunt is nothing but sour grapes because Chris Bell asked Gov. Perry for preferential treatment by giving him a state contract, and Gov. Perry refused to respond," said Perry spokesman Robert Black. "Chris Bell and his trial lawyer buddies must have been waiting for any opportunity to file a frivolous lawsuit in retaliation for not getting a state contract and they found it in a simple paperwork filing error."
Black even provided a January letter from Bell to Perry, offering his lobbying services, which apparently Perry didn't take him up on: Download file
Rumors are swirling that House Transportation Chair, State Rep Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, will opt out of running for another term. If he doesn't come back, he will join a wave of other members who have already decided not to attend the 81st session festivities:
State Rep. Robby Cook, D-Eagle Lake
State Rep. Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, Public Health Chair
State Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson, Local Ways and Means Chair
State Rep. Robert Puente, D-San Antonio, Natural Resources Chair
State Rep. Mike O'Day, R-Pearland
State Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, (likely running for US Representative)
State Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston, (left to run for US Senate)
State Rep. Anna Mowery, R-Fort Worth, Land and Resource Mgmt Chair, already out
I feel like I'm forgetting someone. Am I?
People who are running again even though we they thought they weren't:
State Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa
State Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso
We visited a college and an elementary school in one morning, and the elementary school was marginally more fun because there were seven live meat goats there.*
I spoke at a freshman-level political science class St. Edwards University, the private hamlet of higher learning down on South Congress. The professor gave me fifty minutes (which is 48 and a half minutes longer than one of my typical television stories). EGAD!
I brought a few stories from the whirlwind final weekend of the 80th legislative session to show. The student reactions to Craddick's failure to recognize members were interesting -- there was always audible reaction when they saw/heard Craddick say "You are not recognized for that motion", and even more so when they saw parliamentarian Terry Keel feed Craddick lines to repeat. I'm just excited that 18 year olds found the Texas House somewhat engaging.
*About the goats. Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples had a dog-and-pony goat-and-chicken show at an East Austin Elementary school that's the beneficiary of an Ag Dept grant. The kids were awesome -- the chicks and goats were even better! Who knew? Seven meat goats in the middle of far East Austin.
The Purge project aims to take a look at the email retention policies of state agencies and offices beyond the Governor's, but the Governor's office policy of deleting every seven days continues to drive additional questions.
Just asking for government records triggers a requirement that they be preserved, so Perry has temporarily halted the automatic erasures to give staffers time to comply with the request, officials said. Once that happens, and after installing more sophisticated computer software, [Perry spokesman Robert] Black said Perry will resume enforcement of a seven-day retention schedule for e-mail.
The Governor's office has argued that it creates too much electronic clutter to save everything, and that redacting emails when they're requested is laborious, since they can only redact hard copies.
"There might be other exceptions to the PIA that we must assert, thus making redacting necessary. Our office can only redact hard copies of the documents," Perry Asst. General Counsel Chelsea Thornton wrote.
But the Texas Department of Transportation, TXDOT -- is doing what the Governor's office says cannot be done. The open-records-crusader, John Washburn, pointed me to TXDOT's testimonial on the website of its consultant, Messaging Architects. Not only does TXDOT keep its emails, it can electronically search and sort them from its archives.
As a state agency, TxDOT needs to be compliant to the Texas Public Information Act, which was designed to provide access to public information, including email messages and other electronically delivered documents. To fulfill this requirement in the most cost-effective way, TxDOT needed an enterprise-class solution capable of processing over 11,000 GroupWise mailboxes while also providing quick and easy access to the contents of archived mailboxes. In addition, given the scope of the project, access to expert-level GroupWise technical support in the deployment phase was seen as a priority.
It seems even TXDOT -- an agency roundly criticized for its secrecy -- has found a permanent home for its emails in order to comply with the TPIA.
I'm staying out of upcoming races for the Austin City Council; I know very little about the happenings at Austin City Hall (except that I don't like having to pay to park there.)
But for the city politi-nerds out there, I bring you my colleague Kevin Peters' Kim-Shade showdown piece from the 10pm newscast. Nothing too new here, but some of Shade's kickoff event is included.
Randi Shade is running for Austin City Council Place 3 against incumbent Jennifer Kim, and it looks like she already has a few fans on social-networking site, Facebook. The Facebook group, "Randi Shade for Austin City Council!" counts almost fifty members after only a few days in existence.
Now, to be fair, the group "1,000,000 Strong for Stephen Colbert" has about 1.5 million members. And the group "Rick Noriega" has 620. But you gotta start somewhere.
Note: I don't think you can view the group page unless you have a facebook membership. But I absolutely recommend joining. All the cool kids are doing it.
UPDATE 3:36pm: Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams has a group with about 70 fans after being up about one week. You rock on with that Facebook, Commish.
The Purge: Another Texas Governor Gets In Email Trouble
If you've stopped by this here blog within the last few months, you know we've been examining Texas Governor Rick Perry's office policy of deleting state emails after one week*.
"Our emails get automatically deleted every 7 days," said Governor Perry's spokesman Robert Black. "We kept the same policy and schedule as Governor Bush."
But does Bush set a good example for open government? This just came across the wire:
WASHINGTON - A federal judge Monday ordered the White House to preserve copies of all its e-mails, a move that Bush administration lawyers had argued strongly against.
U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy directed the Executive Office of the President to safeguard the material in response to two lawsuits that seek to determine whether the White House has destroyed e-mails in violation of federal law.
The White House is seeking dismissal of the lawsuits brought by two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government and the National Security Archive.
The organizations allege the disappearance of 5 million White House e-mails. The court order issued by Kennedy, an appointee of President Clinton, is directed at maintaining backup tapes which contain copies of White House e-mails.
The Federal Records Act details strict standards prohibiting the destruction of government documents including electronic messages, unless first approved by the archivist of the United States.
It sounds like we must have touched a nerve with the Purge project, which examines our state officials/agencies and what they're doing to your public records. The open-government crusader, John Washburn, has now been interviewed by the Star-Telegram and an Austin radio station wants to talk to him, too.
Meanwhile, we shall soldier on in our learning.
As I mentioned in earlier Purge entries, each state agency/governmental office establishes its own retention schedule for all of its records, and creates a time frame to archive or delete depending on subject of the record. This is the retention schedule of the Texas Governor's Office, which I've uploaded to a divshare account because it was too big for google docs.
It's lengthy, but take a look at schedules are 1.1.007 and 1.1.008. (Pages 14 and 15 on the pdf):
1.1.007 Correspondence - Administrative
Incoming/outgoing and internal correspondence, in any format, pertaining to the formulation, planning, implementation, interpretation, modification, or redefinition of the programs, services, or projects of an agency and the administrative regulations, policies, and procedures that govern them.
1.1.008 Correspondence - General
Non-administrative incoming/outgoing and internal correspondence, in any media, pertaining to or arising from the routine operations of the policies, programs, services, or projects of an agency.
The Governor's established retention period for correspondence (in any media and format) is for the term of his office plus one day -- not seven days. The term ends in early 2011. So, is the Governor's office violating its own retention policy by deleting its emails every week? It says no. Here's spokeswoman Krista Moody:
Official correspondence, such as constituent inquiries and contracts, are saved in some format until the end-of-term. Transitory correspondence, according to the Texas State Library, is communication that is only useful for a limited amount of time and then is no longer needed. This correspondence is exempt from the end-of-term retention policy.
An example of this would be back and forth emails between multiple people trying to set up a meeting time. Once the meeting is set, the emails are no longer needed or useful.
This seems to open up some new questions. The office is creating a distinction within their own public records, between "Official Correspondence" and "Transitory Correspondence". Who deems whether something is "official" versus "transitory"? Each individual employee.
So Perry's office says that it is letting individuals within a public office decide whether something "is needed" for the public record or not. The example about setting a meeting could very well be important public information -- what if the emails "setting up a meeting time" actually discussed having lunch with a powerful lobbyist with interests related to a measure the Governor was pushing?
What is "transitory" and therefore "not needed" to one person, may be something "official" in the eyes of another. What's the danger in saving it all, for a longer period of time?
Anyone want to weigh in on this? The journey continues...
What did you do with your Saturday night? We ate too much Mexican food and subsequently watched the complete, four-hour long Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on C-SPAN. If you missed it, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi played emcee, and halfway through the speeches from the Democratic candidates for president, Iowa US Rep Leonard Boswell displayed his startling skills as an auctioneer and auctioned off "Nancy Pelosi's scarf". The high bid was $6,000. For the Speaker's scarf.
Then, a few minutes later, Pelosi admits on stage that it was "a scarf I've never seen before". NOT COOL, Nancy.
We were fully awake for LONG speeches by Pelosi, Iowa Lt Gov Patti Judge, Edwards, Dodd, Iowa Governor Chet Culver, Richardson, the surreal scarf auction, and the loquacious US Sen. Tom Harkin, but Harkin pretty much did me in and we were only semi-awake for the speeches by Obama and Clinton.
P.S. How could I forget!?!? Before the fake-Speaker scarf went for six grand, Boswell also successfully auctioned off a stuffed donkey with all the presidential candidates' signatures on it. That went for around two grand. And I'm not sure if Mike Gravel was allowed to sign it.
The original aim of my meandering reporting journey, The Purge, was to question whether it was good policy for our state's government offices to be routinely deleting its email communication within a short time, and not backing it up. Emails are part of the public record, only, they weren't staying around very long in the Texas Governor's office.
Background - Washburn read The Purge: Part One and decided to begin challenging the Texas Governor's office and its email deletion policy, by routinely asking for all of those public documents BEFORE they were deleted. The Governor's general counsel replied, asking him to narrow his request and saying the emails could only be available on paper -- not electronically. Washburn shot back, and that's where we're at right now.
So, I wander onto left-learning Burnt Orange Report to find the top post written by none other than "French-looking, aristocrat-looking"* US Senator John Kerry.
(*Can you remember who said that about Kerry, before the primaries in 2004? Answer's after the jump.)
Lest you think he's been a Burnt Orange blogger all along, he says he's never posted on Burnt Orange before. He's a little pissed about the President being in Houston today to raise money for U.S. Senator John Cornyn. And he's also pissed because he says GOP senators are blocking a veterans appropriations bill that they used to support.
He's plugging a new site called Roadblock Republicans. I think it's safe to say they consider U.S. Senator John Cornyn one of the R-R's they want to "kick to the curb".
A few weeks ago, we began the reporting journey I dubbed The Purge, which focused on public records -- specifically email retention policies -- of governmental bodies in Texas. The Governor's office was singled out, because the impetus for this examination was the Missouri Governor and his office's practices.
The Texas Governor's Office routinely deletes its emails (which are considered public records) every seven days. It backs up some of the emails with hard copies, but not all of them. A retention schedule which classifies the emails based on topic or state agency is in place that specifies how soon various emails go bye-bye.
Enter John Washburn. He's a man who believes in open government. He lives in Wisconsin. I don't know much about him besides that. He saw The Purge, Part One when it was promoted on an open records wiki, The Carnival of Open Records. After learning of the Texas situation, Washburn was inspired to request email communication from the Texas Governor's office weekly, before it was deleted. Below is Washburn's first request:
Dear Ms. Counts
I must first state my displeasure that the current policy of the Office of the Governor of Texas is to destroy public records after seven days. Public records such as e-mails should archived for at least one year. The retention period should be longer given the simplicity of archiving electronic data.
The following are requests for public records under the Texas Public Information Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 552)
1. I would like a copy of all governmental e-mail (electronic mail) received by the Office of the Governor of Texas which was received on or after 12:00 am (midnight) Friday, November 2, 2007 and received before 12:00 am (midnight) Tuesday, November 6, 2007.
2. I would like a copy of all governmental e-mail (electronic mail) sent by the Office of the Governor of Texas which was sent on or after 12:00 am (midnight) Friday, November 2, 2007 and sent before 12:00 am (midnight) Tuesday, November 6, 2007.
Since, by definition, e-mail is electronic, I would request that all the records produced as part of these PIA requests be provided in electronic form.
Today, Washburn received a reply from the Governor's office, to which he replied. See the she-said-he-said after the jump. It's interesting stuff.
Looks like the race for District Ninety-Sizzle has narrowed to two. The R in the runoff is Mark Shelton, the Tarrant County pediatrician who raised and spent a lot less cash than fellow R's Craig Goldman and Bob Leonard.
KVUE: Elise Hu
The hog says "Fat? In the budget...? If you only knew!
Shelton's big issues are immigration and cutting the "pork" out of the state budget. In fact, he's the man who sent out a mailer a few weeks ago with a gigantic happy hog on the front of it.
Once you open up the mailer, you can find Dr. Shelton's prescription for the "fat state budget":
"Cut State Spending
Shelton will introduce legislation to limit the growth of the state budget to more than population growth and inflation...
Cut Property Taxes
Shelton will introduce legislation to increase the homestead exemption by 50%.
Cap Real Estate Appraisals
Shelton will introduce legislation to cap home appraisals at 3% per year and encourage real appraisal reform including taxpayer-elected appraisal board members.
Return Surplus to Taxpayers
...As your state representative, Mark Shelton will fighting to return your money to you, not spend it on new government programs."
Other lawmakers will probably tell Shelton all of that is easier said than done, as there's nothing new in his proposals there. Using pigs to make a political point is also not new, but it gets attention. I will never forget South Carolina GOP Governor Mark Sanford bringing live pigs into the House chamber to protest pork in the budget.
KVUE photog Jarrod Wise is among the people from the press awaiting Armstrong's arrival to his polling place
7:53pm Here we are at the Driskill, where we're fortunate to have free wireless access so I can post some pics from the day.
7:58pm All right, since this is the only Election Night party in town, every media outlet seems to be congregating on the press risers. We've run out of outlets and riser space, so I'm hoping to work something out with our broadcast brethren in order to make this 10pm shot happen.
KVUE: Elise Hu
Armstrong comes to vote via a bus with his face on the side of it
8:00pm The party officially begins, though only a handful of people have trickled in. There's a massive spread laid out though, including your typical election night fare, which means lots of cheese.
Tonight's live entertainment will be provided by The Spazmatics, the "new wave 80's show"
8:09pm I hope I get to hear some The Cure. I have to say "Letter to Elise" is one of the best breakup songs of all time.
8:11pm We're waiting on the arrival of State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Grapevine. She was a co-author of the legislation that became Prop 15 in the State Senate.
KVUE: Elise Hu
Part of the spread -- including the election night staple, cheese.
8:43pm Sorry for the absence. Getting things ready for the 10pm show. In the time since my last posting, we've visited with Nelson and John Sharp, who was the treasurer for the Prop 15 PAC. Upon learning the proposition is passing, Nelson said, "Oh that's so great. This feels like birthing a baby!"
8:47pm State Rep Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, and State Senator Kirk Watson, D-Austin, just got props from the mic, but neither was able to make it tonight. State Rep. Ed Kuempel, R-Seguin, is in the house though.
9:21pm This party is a-hoppin'. Armstrong is expected to take the stage in about half an hour to thank everyone for their support. The Spazmatics, however, have yet to play The Cure.
9:26pm The cheese plate is disappearing fast.
9:28pm With Prop 15 passing about 2-1, the politicos who have stopped by me and my computer tonight are all asking to see the TX House District 97 results, in which Democrat Dan Barrett is performing the strongest in the Republican-dominated district. He's doing well - but Barrett not going to break fifty-plus-one in order to avoid a runoff.
9:29pm How strange is this? Just after I complained about a lack of The Cure, the Spazmatics break out "Just Like Heaven"... Show me show me show me how you do that trick...
10:08pm Just got off the risers after our 10pm liveshot, which the Livestrong folks timed out perfectly with the top of the evening newscast. Just as the 10pm newscasts were about to begin, Lance Armstrong took the stage to claim victory in the battle for Proposition 15.
"I can appreciate a close race, I won the Tour de France once by one minute. But give me this kind of landslide victory everytime," Armstrong said, just minutes ago.
Armstrong was introduced by State Senator Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, who was introduced by State Rep Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs. John Sharp also got a big thank you before Lance took the stage.
Oh, and KBH sent a video message from Washington to congratulate everyone and thank all the Prop 15 supporters.
10:12pm Armstrong speech concludes to rousing applause. It's a fairly raucous crowd, I think it's safe to say a lot of folks took advantage of the cash bar.
10:58pm Leaving the Driskill I realize I forgot to mention State Rep Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, State Rep Geanie Morrison, R-Victoria, and Austin's Chronicle's Most Eligible Bachelor Mayor Will Wynn also showed up at the party. Apparently the Governor skipped the party to spend his anniversary with the First Lady.
11:38pm Over and out! The recap of the evening festivities is written and being edited for our Daybreak newscasts. Meanwhile, the Leander ISD bond proposal results are being hand-counted because the results were too-close-to-call.
NONDESRCIPT NW AUSTIN POLLING PLACE - Lance Armstrong arrived here with his entourage to cast his ballot in favor of Proposition 15 just after 2pm this afternoon. When asked whether he votes regularly, he said, "I do now."
He said the last time he voted was "the last election," which could mean a lot of things... general election? Primary?
"Fun Fact checker" and I won't be blogging the MSNBC Republican Presidential Debate tonight, because it's election night, oh, and because organizers canceled the debate due to "candidate scheduling conflicts". The next GOP presidential debate is the CNN/YouTube sparring, which is set for late November.
Since we generally like live-blogging, I'll try to get FFC to help with live-blogging the Prop 15 party at the Driskill. Check in often!
