Today's news
Byron beat me to it, as he has the post I was just about to put up. I'm tempted to quote his post in full, but I suppose that'd be bad ettiquette.

Dem gubernatorial hopeful Chris Bell criticizes Perry:

STATEMENT BY CHRIS BELL ON HB 23 Offered as testimony before the Insurance Committee, 2/21/05

There is no logical basis to link insurance rates to credit ratings. If someone is late on his credit card bill, that does not mean that a tornado is going to hit his barn. Economic redlining only serves to protect the profits of insurance companies, and we have a moral mandate to stop this now and to lower the barriers to home ownership.

This is not a partisan issue. The sponsors of HB 23 are Republicans, and in 2002, Rick Perry promised to end credit scoring in Texas. He was right to take that election-year stand back then, and though his appointee at the Texas Department of Insurance is protecting economic redlining, the Governor would do well to keep his earlier promise."

Meanwhile, Texans for Rick Perry released his Harris County Steering and Finance Committee. It included:

State Representative Peggy Hamric, State Representative Beverly Woolley, County Attorney Michael Stafford, District Clerk Charles Bacarisse, County Treasurer Jack Cato, Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, Sheriff Tommy Thomas, County Commissioner Steve Radack, County Commissioner Jerry Eversole, Constable Ron Hickman, Constable Glen Cheek, Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill, Chair of the Black Republican Council of Texas Bill Calhoun and State Chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Texas Marissa Rummell.

Full press release here. From my count, that includes 7 current SD chairman or SREC members. It also includes George Strake (former RPT chair), Jim and Elizabeth Graham (TX Right to Life), and big donors Richard Weekley, Ned Holmes, John Nau, and Bill and Nancy McGinn.
- posted @ 6:43 PM permalink