Checking In With The SBOE

Let's check in with the SBOE - the Texas State Board of Education - you know, that government body that The Dallas Morning News's Jacquielynn Floyd once called a "whacked-out troop of underqualified ideologues ... [who] make us look like a bunch o' goobers in the eyes of the whole nation." That was thanks in large measure to SBOE chairman Don McLeroy, the Bryan dentist who once argued that the good fit between humans' upper teeth and lower teeth is evidence of Creationism (apparently, he never saw my children's orthodontist bills). Texan voters and their schoolchildren scored a rare victory at the ballot box in 2010 when McLeroy was defeated by Thomas Ratliff in the Republican primary, who went to win the general election.

After the jump, catching up with Thomas Ratliff.

Beth Van Duyne Elected Mayor of Irving

In Richardson, the city election may be a fading memory, but in Irving, it is still headline news. Saturday, Beth Van Duyne was elected mayor in a campaign described by KERA as nasty and expensive. The two candidates in the June 18 runoff spent more than $850,000 to win the mayor's office. It makes our little dust-up in Richardson, viewed as expensive here, now sound like a bargain.

After the jump, a look into the parallel universe of Irving.

Does Richardson Need An Independent Auditor?

Does the City of Richardson need an independent auditor? I'm sure some readers are already saying, "D'oh, yes." But bear with me as I think out loud. The answer is not self-evident to me.

After the jump, some pros and cons.

Father's Day in the Steger Garden (2011)

From Flowers

More photos after the jump.

Tort Reform and Cost Control

Given that rising health care costs is a big component of our federal budget, and given that Governor Rick Perry is dropping hints that he'll run for President, it isn't difficult to predict that Perry will cite tort reform as an example of how Perry knows how to keep rising health care costs from bankrupting the country.

After the jump, a single graph that Perry will have a hard time explaining.