Last week, the Williamson County Republicans demanded that Diana Maldonado, candidate for the Texas House, give back the money she recieved from Annie's List, a PAC that gets contributions from Fred Baron. Baron is the former John Edwards finance chair who admitted to paying hush money to keep the Edwards affair from going public.

The spectre of Fred Baron's now being brought into the US Senate race between Senator John Cornyn and challenger Rick Noriega. The Cornyn campaign wants Noriega to give the Baron money back, too. Here's the explanation:

Noriega unveiled his healthcare plan yesterday. The healthcare plan did not include anything about medical malpractice reform, and Cornyn's campaign says it knows why. Fred Baron. And other trial lawyers who opposed tort reform.

Baron, a Dallas based asbestos lawyer, and his wife Lisa Blue have given thousands to Noriega's cash-strapped campaign. They also held a fundraiser on June 16th at their Dallas mansion for Noriega so fellow trial lawyers could put additional dollars into Rick's campaign coffers.

Baron, trial lawyers and left-wing national bloggers are among the few who have shown any interest in Noriega's fledgling campaign. In exchange, Noriega apparently has agreed to turn a blind eye to medical malpractice liability reform.

"Baron and his trial lawyer buddies have bought and paid for" the Texas Democratic Party, according to Cornyn's spokesman, Kevin McLaughlin.

TDP Spokesman Hector Nieto responded to the charges, here's what he said, in part:

"Instead of resurrecting a non-issue like Fred Baron, why doesn't John Cornyn explain to the people of Texas why he voted six times against bipartisan legislation to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program? Every time a child goes to the emergency room because a parent couldn't afford quality healthcare, that parent can thank John Cornyn."

Categories: 2008 U.S. Senate Race | Campaign Finance | Healthcare |
Posted by Elise Hu at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last session, Republican State Senator Bob Deuell pushed a progressive needle exchange program in the Senate, despite opposing the idea just two sessions prior. He said his education on the subject changed his mind. He now thinks needle exchange could go a long way in preventing the spread of disease. The statewide program did not make it into law. But a pilot program in San Antonio was okayed somewhere in the massive Medicaid bill.

The Attorney General was asked to weigh in on questions about the pilot program in Bexar County. His ruling today essentially says the program can't be rolled out.

The opinion okays the pilot program to proceed WITHOUT the needle-and-syringe exchange component, even though it was authorized in legislation. But, the opinion continued, if the county proceeds with the safe needle exchange program, participants in the program "would appear to be subject to prosecution."

The law was scheduled to take effect September 1, 2007, but public implementation was put on hold after District Attorney Susan Reed raised objections in August, saying that it would be illegal to conduct such a program because, in her opinion, the law was defective. That sparked State Senator Jeff Wentworth's request for an AG opinion.

San Antonio State Rep Ruth Jones McClendon says the first bill she files next session will be a needle exchange program. She'll likely have the support of Deuell, in the Senate.

Categories: Healthcare | Texas Senate |
Posted by Elise Hu at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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.

See it here.

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.

Categories: Education | Healthcare |
Posted by Elise Hu at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The campaign to garner enough congressional votes to override the President's veto of SCHIP is headed for the airwaves. A bunch of groups with a bunch of acronyms -- AFL-CIO, AFSCME, SEIU, Moveon, Americans United for Change, USAction and True Majority are paying for a national TV, online and grassroots campaign to "save children's healthcare". The TV ads begin running Monday.

Click to see the ad, "Abby"

You won't see in in Austin. The commercials will only air in ads in key Republican U.S. House districts, and one of those districts is that of Republican Representative Kay Granger (TX-12) up in Fort Worth.

It's an effort to put pressure on the 15 to 20 members of Congress needed to override the veto. More is planned for the week of the veto override vote (Oct 15th), including vigils across the country. The full list of members being targeted to override the veto are after the jump.

Continue reading "Target: Kay Granger" »

Categories: Healthcare | US Congress |
Posted by Elise Hu at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I usually don't take notes during my middle-of-the-night C-SPAN/C-SPAN 2 viewing. It's what I do for leisure, not for work. But late last night, C-SPAN was re-airing the press conferences of the bipartisan Senate supporters of S-CHIP and the House Republicans talking about frustration with "politicking" by the Democrats.

Enter Texas US Rep Joe Barton. He voted against the SCHIP expansion and urged the Democratic leadership to hurry up and vote to sustain the Bush veto (since the House doesn't have the votes to override it.) He says this would allow them to work on a bill that House Republicans weren't getting at the last minute, and a bill that the President would actually sign. Then, when talking about his opposition to the current SCHIP bill, he said it's plausible that his adult daughter could qualify and that's not what the program should be doing.

Barton, in his own words:

"The Democrats really want to play politics by waiting two weeks [to vote on the bill again] and browbeat Republicans into changing their minds on the override, which they won't.

Not one House Republican has been asked to participate in any meaningful negotiation on SCHIP. We WANT to insure every child in America that is below 200% poverty, period. We think you should be covered. But some states cover more adults than children. SCHIP should be about children, not adults.

My daughter Kristen is 25 years old and lives in New York City. I don't know how much she maker, she's never told me. But it's possible, depending on how much she makes, that under the Democrats version of this bill, she could qualify for SCHIP."

Categories: Healthcare | US Congress |
Posted by Elise Hu at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)