Where are these little beauties that only cost a measly $128 thousand of our tax dollars? After all, solid oak and brass fingerprinting machines that adhere to Preservation Board’s rules of blending into the Capitol’s architecture should be on display for all to admire. Well… let’s just call them a “splurge” on behalf of former Rep. Tony Goolsby in order to stop members from voting for each other (aka “ghost voting”). Hey, you gotta spend a few bucks to win re-election, right? Too bad the fingerprint voting machines not only cost tax payers thousands of dollars and did NOT win Goolsby (former Chair of the House Administration Commitee) re-election, but they are also now virtually useless since the House voted today to allow ghost voting. I’m told the machines, built explicitly FOR the House floor, are now sitting in a storage room awaiting their fate.
Democrats are trying to decide right now whether to bring forth an ammendment in the House rules that would prevent any bill passed through the Senate without the 2/3rds rules (voter ID) not be allowed on the House floor until the budget has been passed. Since the budget usually gets passed in the last days of session, this would essentially kill voter ID once again from being passed. Apparently, the big hold up is the Dems don’t want the media to portray this as a “House rebellion” and portray Speaker Straus as already losing control of the House.
Rep. Dunnam explained the fear on behalf of members by alluding to the former Speaker’s control of the House. “It’s like we just got out of Abu Ghraib,” he said. “After six years, we’re finally seeing the light and we’re still confused and scared of what to do next.”
That’s right.. a bit of a shocker here. I’m interviewing Rep. Berman (the one who files all the immigration bills) and out of the blue, he tells me he might make a shot for Governor himself. I’m so sorry for the bad video, but I’m a journalist-not a videographer. I took this off of our player so you can see it for yourself.
The scheduled 11 a.m. State of the State address is still not underway. However, I’ve already received the Governor’s speech, so I can tell you some of the highlights:
-Agencies will need to go cheap this year to keep Texas out of the red
-More money should go to the TEF and ETF, the Film Incentive Program, teacher incentives, disaster relief fund and border security.
Wait, it’s 11:28 and he’s now arriving so stay tuned.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was in Austin today for her exploratory committee kickoff. She announced that she has 300 high ranking Republicans in her camp for the gubernatorial campaign and she scoffed at Gov. Rick Perry’s assumption that she wouldn’t actually run for Governor. As to how long she plans to stay in her Senate seat before devoting all of her time to the campaign, Hutchison was vague and said she would most definitely finish out the year and possibly stay in the seat until the election. She did say she would announce her run for Governor this summer. Meanwhile, Perry thought today would be an opportune time to march with the pro-lifers here in Austin. Politics at its finest.
“We just got back to the newsroom from the “A Dream Realized” inaugural celebration at the Monarch Event Center in North Austin. It was just getting started, but there was a lot of excitement from the people there who had watched the inauguration there on a big screen earlier in the day. They’re expecting about 150 people tonight.
We’re headed to another celebration at Antone’s, where the Travis County Democratic Party will be hosting what they’re calling the “Bush Retirement Party & President Barack Obama Inauguration Celebration.”
“Hundreds of people have started to arrive for the inaugural ball at the Four Seasons. The ball is sold out at $80/ticket. We’ve spoken with former Austin mayor Bruce Todd, Travis County Commissioner Ron Davis, and Austin activist Willie Mae Kirk, mother of President Obama’s nominee for Trade Secretary, Ron Kirk.
Commissioner Davis has an amazing story. His ancestors were slaves on a plantation in Travis County. He told us he never thought he would see an African-American elected president in his lifetime. His description of today- “awesome.”
At 8:30pm, a live feed from one of Washington’s DC’s inaugural balls will play on two large screens in the Four Seasons ballroom. The guests are eagerly anticipating that!”
Austin’s version of the Inaugural Ball gets started here in about 20 minutes at the Four Seasons Hotel. There are two big flat screen t.v.’s that will be live streaming a certified inaugural ball in D.C., where the President and his family are expected to show up at some point in the night. Del Castillo will play here later tonight and Rep. Mark Strama will be headlining the event. When I asked him what big donors would be here, he suggested they may all be in D.C. for the real deal. “Why do you think they have me headlining the event?” he said with a little laugh. It should be a fun night for the attendees…a nice dinner, live music and a classy atmosphere for $80.
I’m sitting in the live truck now, just waiting for my 5:00 and 6:30 live shot tonight on KXAN Austin News.
It’s like any other day in the TV news business in that regard, but it is so different in every other.
I spent the day at Huston-Tillotson University, a historically black college in East Austin. It was absolutely fascinating to watch the inauguration with the crowd, looking into their eyes, and seeing history through them. Without bias, I can say when Barack Obama raised his right hand, he burned an image into people’s hearts today that we will never forget. As a reporter, it is so compelling to see the looks on people’s faces, to sense and see the emotion in a room of nearly 200 faculty, students and staff that have struggled for many years to gain respect. I have the job of telling their story, and I take that job seriously. Thank you Austin for letting me tell your story.
Personally, here’s the memory I will keep in my head for a long time to come. After the inauguration coverage died down, I was sitting back in the live truck logging tape. I looked up to the NBC coverage and Barack Obama went to shake the hand of a military guardsman. The guardsman hesitated, as if not knowing what to do. But then saluted Obama. Obama saluted back. It was a simple, off the cuff, understated, yet vital moment of how far this country has come.
