Free Republic

How best to keep Texas' border secure will always cause political fights, but you've got to wonder when a Democratic candidate for governor touts readier access to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security than the GOP incumbent asking for help... ...SMU political scientist Cal Jillson... “I think he (White) was trying to demonstrate that he would have far superior access than Perry does to Washington. But . . . the idea of (White) trying to take over the relationship with Washington at this point is bound to cause him more grief than otherwise.” As for Perry, Jillson said, “He simply...

Rasmussen Reports has a new feature tracking media reports on Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic nominee former Houston Mayor Bill White... For the week ending Sunday, March 28, 2010, 79.5% of the media mentions for White were positive, and only 20.5% were negative. For Perry, during the same time frame, the coverage was far more mixed: 45.6% of the media mentions were positive, and 54.4% were negative. The details are not yet available, but Rasmussen plans next month to start breaking it down by reporting done by traditional media and by social networking. Since the left still dominates the...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White entered the State Board of Education controversy Tuesday, saying experts should review some 100 changes made by the GOP majority. History professors and social science teachers proposed new curriculum standards for Texas public schools. The board changes, many of them controversial, came from on overly political process, White says. "Individual school board members are no doubt sincere in their beliefs, and some of the changes can be debated by reasonable people. But, under the leadership of another extreme Rick Perry appointee, the amendment process injected politics into our school books and classrooms," said Bill White....

A huge crime wave blamed on thousands of Katrina evacuees in Houston and other Southwest cities never happened, say criminologists who warned public officials and the media to be careful in attributing crime to the former New Orleans residents. Five criminologists who reviewed crime statistics published a study in the current issue of the Journal of Criminal Justice, and found only a “modest” increase in the murder rates of Houston and Phoenix, and none in San Antonio, three cities that took in thousands of evacuees from storm-ravaged New Orleans. The researchers did not find an accompanying rise in auto theft...

Fresh from completing three successful terms as Houston's mayor, Bill White is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The Chronicle believes this accomplished attorney, businessman and public administrator is far and away the most qualified candidate to represent the party in seeking to crack the Republican lock on statewide offices. In his six years running City Hall, White presided over a financial reorganization that reduced unfunded employee pension liabilities, aggressively promoted toxic air pollution enforcement, crafted innovative public safety programs, and ably directed the city's response to an influx of Hurricane Katrina refugees from New Orleans and the subsequent threats...

...White criticized Perry by name or inference six times... ...(Shami) stumbled on the issue of voter identification, inaccurately saying the state requires a driver's license now to vote and he would not support changing the law. The issue that nearly shut down the Legislature last year was a battle over whether to require a photo identification to vote. White seized on the issue to make another attack on Perry, describing voter identification as a political wedge issue. “That is a classic illustration of where Governor Perry has brought the partisan politics of Washington to the statehouse,” White said. “Under both...

Are you intentionally lying? Straight from your source: "The surprise, as in the new Rasmussen Reports survey of the GOP gubernatorial primary, is the growing strength of Debra Medina, a businesswoman active in the state’s Tea Party movement. Medina now edges White 41% to 38%."

If you were born in San Antonio, you might not want to say so out loud. That might be 'racist.' In one of the more bizarre attacks yet in the 2010 race for governor, 1200 WOAI news reports Democrat Farouk Shami, a Houston hair care products millionaire is blasting claims in an ad being run by fellow Democrat Bill White. In his latest ads, designed to build statewide name recognition for the three term Houston mayor, White says he was 'born in San Antonio, the son of schoolteachers.' Shami, during a campaign event in McAllen Thursday night, said that comment...

Habla Ingles? Bill White, former Mayor of Houston and current front-runner for the Democratic Party heading into the Texas Governor's primary. was in Amarillo today. Education was the main topic. In doing some research I think I actually discovered what is wrong with the Texas education system, and I discovered, too that Bill White is already part of the problem, not part of the solution.

AUSTIN — One once ran for office on a promise to challenge Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to hand-to-hand combat while swimming in the Gulf of Sidra. Another is a flamboyant private investigator with an international reputation as the “real James Bond,” who participated in the exhumation of Lee Harvey Oswald. A third is a San Antonio doctor who paints and wants to teach Hispanics they need to learn to govern themselves. The fourth is a Prairie View A&M associate professor who says blacks need to stop thinking of themselves as victims and believe they can accomplish anything. The fifth...

...Mayor Bill White on Tuesday announced a 21-member commission to study Houston's term limits and make recommendations by July 1. Any changes to the current limit of three, two-year terms for Houston's mayor, controller and 14 City Council members would be subject to approval by the council and by voters... In November 1991, after Kathy Whitmire had completed 10 years as mayor and some council members had served continuously for decades, 56.9 percent of Houston voters approved term limits that took effect in 1993. The panel appointed by White represents the first serious effort to change this system. “Houston has...

...Friedman's departure left outgoing Houston Mayor Bill White and hair-care millionaire Farouk Shami as the two main contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and lessened the chances of the race going to a runoff. While it does not clear the field for White, it gives him the advantage over a less-known and less experienced opponent. White has a track record in office and proof he can win elections. Shami says he will spend $10 million of his own money to win the nomination with his rags-to-riches life story, but he still will have to answer the ultimate question: Is Texas...

Texas gubernatorial candidate and San Antonio native Mayor Bill White made his first campaign visit in the Countdown City this week. White blasted Perry on a handful of issues including education. White states he's eager to work towards improving the education system in Texas with specific programs geared towards helping "Hispanics and other minorities." Additionally, White has a brilliant scheme for decreasing the drop out rate: "...Letting people know that by leaving school early they will cut their earning ability in half." With ideas as revolutionary as this one, White should have world hunger and world peace solved BEFORE he...

Mayor Bill White will formally enter the race for governor today, instantly becoming the Democrats' best hope of winning a statewide office in seven years. White, a three-term mayor who is balding and known for something of a bland personality, is expected use self-deprecating humor to tell a Hilton Americas crowd of supporters that he knows he is not a “perfect candidate” but is someone who can get things done. White has said he wants to end “strident partisanship” in Austin. He will tell supporters he wants to improve high school graduation rates and slow the rising costs of...

Recent arrests in a mistaken killing point to the perilous presence of gangs The order was clear: Kill the guy in the Astros jersey. But in a case of mistaken identity, Jose Perez ended up dead. The intended target — the Houston-based head of a Mexican drug cartel cell pumping millions of dollars of cocaine into the city — walked away. Perez, 27, was just a working guy, out getting dinner late on a Friday with his wife and young children at Chilos, a seafood restaurant on the Gulf Freeway. His murder and the assassination gone awry point to the...

All of the other problems in the world, and they're complaining about this?

Somebody pass Mayor Bill the black-eyed peas... Between dubious pocket park dealings and roundabout red light camera study findings, the mayor has had a belly full of bad press lately. It was no way to end a year. Or begin a U.S. Senate campaign. Especially when you're facing a field of contenders vying to replace an officeholder — Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison — who hasn't even resigned yet. No doubt, Bill White is still the Golden Boy of Houston politics, fresh from an admirable performance in his familiar role standing between Houston and the ravages of natural disaster. His administration...

Study finds accidents doubled at Houston, Texas red light camera intersections undermining the conclusions of a statewide report. Accidents more than doubled at the Houston, Texas intersections where red light cameras are installed, according to a study released Monday by Rice University and the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). This result posed a dilemma for TTI and the city of Houston which had requested the study. Houston Mayor Bill White was furious when he saw the report's draft text in August. He banned the document from publication and ordered a re-writing of the text that would reflect a more positive result....

As president of Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Bill White has managed the restoration of a World War II aircraft carrier. Now, some Congressional and former military leaders think the Long Island native should manage the entire U.S. Navy. They are touting the 41-year-old Manhattan resident as secretary of the Navy in the Obama administration. The appointment would make the former Point Lookout resident the first openly gay chief of a branch of the military. And that could make his selection tricky because the government and the country have not resolved the issue of gays openly serving in...

Houston Mayor Bill White used a Web video to announce his plan to run for U.S. Senate today.... He cites turbulent economic times, a rising federal deficit and high unemployment rates in the video, saying "this may be an opportunity for our nation to do things it has only dreamed of before..." White previously worked as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy under President Clinton and as chief executive of the Wedge Group, a Houston-based holding company with interests in oil-field services, engineering and real estate. In comments today, he also highlighted signature domestic issues such as health...