Thank You Charles and Greg

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to sit down with Charles Kuffner - who has a great post up right now on the governor's most recent slip up, Watch that mike, Governor , Pink Dome has the T-shirt - and Greg Wythe - who has this great analysis of what's at stake in the "special session", Lest I Forget: We're Under Special Session Alert . We discussed politics and blogging, we mostly discussed politics. It was great to meet you guys and I appreciate you making me feel welcome, like one of the community.

A couple of other things while I'm here. I found a Houston Chronicle article, Disclosure reports tell tales about lawmakers, it's part of their Delegation Watch section. It had this tidbit:

Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, still has to pay off between $100,000 and $250,000 in student loans.

Did you know that? I didn't. Also yesterday I forgot to mention anything about our state Senator. Well from what this says he agrees with Speaker Craddick:

Perry will unveil a proposal today that "will define the middle ground" between the House and Senate, spokesman Robert Black said. He refused to confirm or deny details.

Craddick and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Perry would push for an increase of seven-tenths of a cent in the state sales tax, from 6.25 cents per dollar to 6.95, and extend it to car repair bills and cosmetic surgery. The House had pushed for a 1-cent increase in the sales tax; the Senate approved a half-cent boost.

Craddick said House members want to see at least a 35-cent cut in the property tax rate, which would put the maximum rate for school maintenance operations at $1.15 per $100 of assessed property value, with more cuts in future years.

"I don't think the members of the House will vote for a small bite," he said.

Steve Ogden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, voiced a similar concern but added that senators realize they might have to phase in property tax cuts over several years to pass a credible plan.

That makes Sen. Ogden part of the big bite coalition?