In The News

In The News Today:

Leisure Tax?
Governor Rick Perry has announced his idea of how to resolve the school finance problem that brought Texas legislators back for a special session. His idea: raise sales tax from 6.25% to nearly 7%, tax cigarettes ($1 extra a pack), cosmetic surgery (huh?), car maintenance and repairs (who told him that was fun??), and porn (just kidding). The plan would also lower property tax. Dems are skeptical and question Perry’s motives. Especially since, as one Dem points out, the numbers don’t quite work out.[Source] The president of the Texas Federation of Teachers, John Cole, responded to the special session called by Perry like this:

"How is it a state filled with such good people elects a mean-spirited fraud like Rick Perry?" ...[ he dismissed] the finance ideas Perry presented this week as a press stunt and [he said] Perry rents his ear to campaign donors, freezing out teachers. "We can't pay the freight to get across his threshold. You can take all the sincerity in Rick Perry's soul and put it in a gnat's navel."

What can you really expect from the former lieutenant governor of George W. Bush? Adios, Mofo.

Barton Springs Pollution Source Confirmed
Some Austinites may remember that our beloved Barton Springs was once closed down for 3 months after a contaminant was discovered. Acting with lightning speed, scientists have confirmed the nature of the pollution 2 years later: the sealant used on parking lots. All kidding aside, the research being done on Barton Springs is a small victory for the environment. The sealant in question is used everywhere, but this is the first study to call it out.[Source]