Rick Perry vs World
08 August 2007
Short version of Suzanne Gamboa's AP article: trial lawyer Mikal Watts is a really rich dude.
A friend recently asked me why trial lawyers make so much money. My friend reasoned that the law of supply and demand should lead more people to be trial lawyers.
My answer: I think that it isn't an efficient market, because most lawyers are unwilling to be trial lawyers. Trial lawyers are largely viewed within the profession as sleazy, at best. And the perception among the general perception is probably even worse. If you're a good enough lawyer, you'll make plenty of money and the easy millions of mass torts aren't enough to compensate for the loss of social stature (plus possibly the law of diminishing returns with regards to wealth).
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 11:41 PM | Comments (1)
If this were 2000, the MSM would be all over it!
I'll link to almost any article that quotes Frank Guerra.
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
That fake plastic optimism**
Vince writes, in a post on recruiting Tommy Merritt challengers:
You might wonder why Republicans are doing this. After all, it's pretty evident they are going to lose control of the House in 2008, if not then by 2010.
I don't suppose he'd like to put a sizeable sum on which party controls more seats in the Texas House in 2009? No, I don't think he would.
But his post is hilarious to me. It's entitled "Republicans Plan to Eat More of Their Own in 2008." Seems to me that the lesson of the last 2 election cycles is that Democrats have eaten plenty of their own...and seemed to enjoy it very much. So if there's a "statewide schism" in the GOP as Leibowitz suggests, then there must be a permanent cleave in the Dems.
Meanwhile, Leibowits is drawing this grand conclusion from one example: Tommy Merritt. But folks like Guv Perry and Speaker Craddick are longtime non-fans of Merritt. And that's why he's still in the House and not the Senate.*
*See the SD1 special election a few years back.
** I'm listening to Radiohead's Fake Plastic Trees.
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 11:30 PM | Comments (0)
The benefits of seniority
The Federal Highway Administration will absolutely not penalize Texas for its handling of the Highway 121 bidding process.
That's the message from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who said in an interview this afternoon that she called U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters this morning after reading a story in Wednesday's edition of The Dallas Morning News about lingering uncertainty on the issue.
"I am convinced there will be no demand for a return of federal funds," Sen. Hutchison said. "I had talked to her before, during the (state) legislative session when all of this was being dealt with at the time. I told her today that we were told then that there would be no federal penalty at all for what the Legislature was doing. She said she'd call me back and she did within two hours. She said, 'You are absolutely right.'"
Many Texans were outraged when the multi-billion-dollar toll-road deal went to the Spanish company Cintra. When the North Texas Tollway Authority responded by suggesting they could have offered a better deal, many lawmakers seized on their statements and pressured the Texas Transportation Commission to clear the way for a late bid by the NTTA.
The Federal Highway Administration responded by sending Texas officials a series of letters saying the late bid could violate the federal bidding rules and that the state could lose more than $200 million in federal funds if the contract was awarded to NTTA.
Here's a nightmare scenario: Cornyn is defeated and Hutchison becomes governor in 2010. Texas is left with a Senate contingent consisting of a Democrat of 2 years seniority and a Republican of zero seniority.
The Texas establishment isn't too fond of Cornyn, but they're going to have to think twice before backing any Democratic challenger, given the very real possibility that Hutchison will be governor in 2010. Hutchison also will probably be focusing on her gubernatorial campaign in 2009, meaning that a Cornyn defeat would also leave Texas poorly represented in 2008 and 2009.
While the Texas establishment may not be fond of Cornyn, they'll have to respect the 8 years of seniority he'll have by 2010. Further, while many of them don't see him as their type of legislator, they're completely missing the fact that he's very well regarded among the Senate Republican Caucus. That will put him in position to deliver.
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
Glenn Reynolds links approvingly to a Daily Kos commenter:
Biden has single-handedly f****d more Americans than Wilt Chamberlain with his 2005 Bankruptcy bill. He can talk a good game from time to time, but don't kid yourself - he's playing for the other team.
Egads! Biden has home state constituents! He represents his state! Ohmygosh!
[I should note that I don't have a position on the bankruptcy bill.]
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 09:09 PM | Comments (2)
It's always hard to start posting again...
...so let's start off with the story of the LATimes religion reporter who became an atheist after almost a decade on the religion beat.
And I'm listening to Pedro the Lion as I read the article in LA. Interesting juxtaposition.
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
Anyone want to be a member of congress? Anyone? Bueller?
Riddle me this. The setting: a very vulnerable incumbent who had previously drawn a plethora of challengers. Due to some unusual legal rulings, the very vulnerable incumbent had managed to squeak through a victory against a weak write-in candidate despite vastly outspending the weak write-in candidate.
You would think that this very vulnerable incumbent would draw lots of challengers, wouldn't you? I would. And yet, as of today, we still only have Sekula-Gibbs running against Nick Lampson.
What a bizarre world we live in. I'm almost ready to declare my candidacy. Heh.
Posted by Evan @ 08/08/07 08:42 AM | Comments (3)
19 July 2007
Fred does Texas
Fred is coming to Texas for fundraisers in Houston (lunch) and Dallas (Dinner) on July 25th.
How come Dallas got dinner?
Posted by Evan @ 07/19/07 10:25 PM | Comments (1)
18 July 2007
Dear Matt Bai:
Don't get fooled by randomness. Let's hope you were just desperate for a column topic, rather than attempting to write true narrative.
Best,
Evan
Posted by Evan @ 07/18/07 12:47 AM | Comments (1)
10 July 2007
James Surowiecki has a worthwhile review of Indur Goklany's The Improving State of the World.
Read the whole thing, as they say."Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better." That mantra, invented by the self-taught psychologist Émile Coué in the nineteenth century, kept running through my head as I read Indur Goklany's new book on the relationship between economic growth and human and environmental progress, The Improving State of the World. Just as Coué told his patients that incessant repetition of his mantra would make it come true, Goklany seems to believe that saying often enough -- and in enough different ways -- that life today is better than ever will make it so.
Posted by Evan @ 07/10/07 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
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