Governor's Race

Chris Bell had this to say about what should be done with gas prices in the state in the wake of Katrina, "We simply can’t afford to be paying over $3.00 a gallon":

What I have recommended is that we follow the lead of other states and suspend the gasoline tax in the state of Texas for a while. We just discovered over a billion dollar surplus, we can afford it. What we can’t afford is for people to be paying $3.00 a gallon for gasoline.
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This is about the livelihood of the people here in our state and they need to put politics on the back burner for a while and look at where we are heading. We simply can’t afford to be paying over $3.00 a gallon for gasoline. It’s that simple.

He also had this to say about the work he started while he was still in Congress and that it should be finished, DeLay's state PAC indicted:

"If the actions of Tom DeLay's political machine are deserving of a criminal indictment, then he is certainly deserving of a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee," said former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, who filed the original complaint.

Gov. Mofo is mugging for the cameras, Perry appears at high school games via video:

Gov. Rick Perry will be larger-than-life on scoreboard screens at high school and college football stadiums across the state this weekend.

The governor has recorded a video appeal for Texans to continue giving for hurricane relief. Red Cross volunteers will be collecting donations as the video is aired.

It's been a pretty good week for Perry as far as Perry vs. Strayhorn is concerned.

Time will only tell how bad this, Audit determines Strayhorn donors had tax bills cut, will hurt Strayhorn. I thought this was an interesting tidbit:

Contributions from tax consultant Ryan & Co., where Sharp now works, soared from $48,000 during Sharp's last year in office to more than $398,900 in 2004.
Sharp and Ryan & Co. Managing Principal Brint Ryan were not available for comment Thursday, but the audit recommends creating a registry that links such consultants with each taxpayer they represent and in which settlements.

Texas is doing an excellent job in the relief effort and Chet Edwards, who used to represent part of Williamson County, is doing his part, Waco congressman opens home:

As most evacuees in Texas are sleeping in shelters, hotels and living rooms, one family left homeless by the storm has settled comfortably into a congressional bedroom.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, has opened his usually vacant three-bedroom in Waco home to Johnnie Marchand and her family.

Marchand left her home in Algiers, across from the Mississippi River from New Orleans, and has a son, daughter and two grandchildren. They ended up at a Baptist church in Waco, and she accepted Edward's offer to stay in his home when she met him last Saturday.

She said she had no idea at the time Edwards was a congressman.