The Texas Progressive Alliance sure hopes that Harris County has a disaster recovery plan for the loss of its voting machines as it brings you this week’s blog roundup.

Off the Kuff had three more interviews this week, with State Reps. Armando Walle, Ellen Cohen, and Kristi Thibaut.

Meet Jeff “The Trucker” Evans, an unemployed 49-year-old whose unemployment benefits were restored by Congressional Democrats after a Republican filibuster caused the payments to temporarily cease. Eye On Williamson explains how misdirected Tea Party anger causes Jeff the Trucker to vote against his economic best interest.

John Cornyn, known as a rapist enabler, decides to waffle on 14th amendment to the constitution. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is certain that Cornyn doesn’t care about civil rights – just his fat a**.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker summaries the latest scandals at TYC. The more things change over there, the more they remain the same, sadly…. Check it out : Texas Youth Commission Abuses Make the News Again.

Neil at Texas Liberal attended press conferences held by both Houston Votes and by a local so-called Tea Party group, as a possible pattern of harassment and intimidation against likely Democratic voters in Harris County may be at work. Also, Neil announced that he will now also be blogging at The Daily Hurricane as well as at Texas Liberal. Neil is also a featured politics reader-blogger at the Houston Chronicle.

WhosPlayin reports that the local school district sent a letter to the Attorney General’s office requesting exemption from release on the grounds that some personal expenses on district credit cards were too embarrassing to release.

The warehouse where election machines are stored erupted in flames last Friday morning, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had the early line on what it means for Houston and the surrounding area, which represent 15% of the statewide vote tally. Coupled with the histrionics of Leo Vasquez vis-a-vis Houston Votes, it’s going to be a real lively election season (and that’s before a single race gets mentioned).

Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek won the Senate primary in Florida last night. While he is clearly the better Democratic candidate, the downside is that means that he and Gov. Crist – who is running as an Independent – will now be fighting for the same votes, possibly giving Republican Marco Rubio a path to victory. Whomever wins this seat may decide who has control of the Senate next year. On the gubernatorial side, Republicans wisely chose Medicare fraudster Rick Scott who will face Democrat Alex Sink, the state’s chief financial officer.

Over in Arizona, incumbents Sen. John McCain and Gov. Jan Brewer won their primaries. McCain faced former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is even crazier than McCain these days, but strangely, lost. Republicans also nominated former Vice President Dan Quayle’s son, Ben Quayle, to an open congressional seat in Arizona. Probably because he said President Obama is the worst president ever, or something.

Lastly, in Alaska, the Tea Party looks to have claimed another victim in their ideological purity war. While we are still awaiting some absentee ballot results, Sen. Lisa Murkowski was likely defeated by some guy named Joe Miller (no really, he’s basically just some guy with no experience or accomplishments to his name). So some incumbents won and one lost. How will the media make an overly simplistic narrative out of this?

Oh.

The Texas Progressive Alliance welcomes everyone back to school as it brings you the best of the blogs for the week.

This week, Off the Kuff did three interviews with State House candidates – Joe Montemayor, Rick Molina, and Silvia Mintz.

Bay Area Houston wonders why the Texas Federation of Pecker Heads have have endorsed Rick Perry.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme calls out all republicans clamoring for ‘small government’. Why do republicans want more tainted food and another BP disaster?

Libby Shaw is fed up with the Party O’ No. She gives us chapter and verse as to why in Bereft of Solutions and Ideas, The GOP Gins Up Controversy. Check it out at TexasKaos.

WhosPlayin posted documents obtained by the Hank Gilbert campaign, showing alarming gaps in Texas food safety, and a Department of Agriculture that seems more concerned about appearances than anything else. On the lighter side, local governments are struggling for cash and seeking corporate sponsorships on public facilities. Hopefully someone will pull the plug on this deal.

PDiddie posts about the hysteria and hyperbole surrounding the Manhattan Islamic center in Mosquerade, at Brains and Eggs.

Neil at Texas Liberal offered up a picture of the excellent new wheelchair ramp on the beach in Galveston. This ramp was paid for with our taxpayer dollars and was built by government, for the good of all people of Galveston and for the good of all people who visit Galveston. Without government, we would live like barbarians to an even far greater extent than we do at current.

The Texas Progressive Alliance is enjoying its last week before school starts as it brings you this week’s blog roundup.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is amazed at how much republicans like John Cornyn hate our constitution and the freedoms it accords us.

Off the Kuff continued the 2010 interview series with conversations with State Reps. Scott Hochberg, Sylvester Turner, and Jessica Farrar.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted that you can register to vote in three languages in Harris County. No matter what the Republicans and the Tea Party folks hope for, we live in a diverse city, county, state, nation and world.

Bad news for Barnett Shale residents: methane + sunlight + oxygen = formaldehyde. Considering the constant, massive fugitive emissions, it’s no wonder we have “astounding” high levels of formaldehyde. Brought to you by TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

The latest broadside from the Back to Basics PAC, “Hands OFF our land!” is a wedge issue for Bill White. It’s effectively separating Rick Perry from rural (mostly Caucasian) Texans. Read it — and watch it — at PDiddie’s Brains and Eggs.

Over at TexasKaos, libby shaw chronicles the latest embarrassment from Louie Gohmert in TX GOP Louie Gohmert Has Melt Down on CNN With no evidence to support him, Louie did what he does best – spews and sputters… Check it out….

This week at McBlogger, we start our long awaited transfer to WordPress and a new design. Come by, check it out and see what Sleazy Todd Staples is up to now.

Less than three months to go…

House – Charlie Cook still thinks the House is very much in play:

The Cook Political Report last week upped its projection from a 30-40-seat net gain for Republicans to a 32-42-seat net gain, with our model showing +34 seats for the GOP. This count is more heavily weighted toward individual race dynamics, but my gut feeling — which, in years like this one, factors in national mood, relative intensity and enthusiasm between the parties and how independents seem to be breaking — is suggesting somewhat bigger numbers.

The wave is still the wave, and it still looks pretty strong and unabated.

The polls aren’t looking good for Dems, though few believe conditions it will be like 1994 (maybe like 2006). Still, I agree with Cook that this will turn only one of two ways: either it will be an average midterm with average net losses for the president’s party or it’ll be a wave with people voting based on their anger and discontent with the state of the economy.

Senate – Tea party crazy Ken Buck won the GOP’s Senate primary in Colorado last night, meaning that Sen. Michael Bennet probably has a better chance of winning now, just like Sharron Angle’s disastrous candidacy in Nevada has brought Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid back from the dead. As for the rest of the most competetive races, Republicans continue to look really good to takeover 4 seats – North Dakota, Delaware, Arkansas and Indiana. Pennsylvania and Illinois remain 50-50, Gov. Crist continues to lead in his independent bid in Florida, and Lee Fisher is making Ohio the Democrats biggest takeover oppurtunity. See First Read’s ratings for a full list. Basically, the remaining months will determine whether the Democrats fend off a lot of the challenges or the Republicans put chamber control in play.

Gubernatorial – Republicans nominated a weak candidate for Colorado governor yesterday and former Rep. Tom Tancredo has announced an independent run, giving Democrats a good shot at retention. Connecticut looked like a lock for Democratic takeover with either Lamont or Malloy (who won). And over in Georgia, former Gov. Roy Barnes is putting the state in play as Republicans are in disarray over their candidates. The Line has the most recent roundup of the remaining races. There hasn’t been any recent polling here in Texas, but Bill White continues to run a solid campaign. Will it be enough to topple Perry? Only time can tell.

Tonight had the biggest primary news in awhile. In the most major news, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado survived a primary challenge from the left by former state Rep. Andrew Romanoff (I guess that anti-incumbent stuff from the media was a bit premature?). Also, Linda McMahon won the Republican Senate primary in Connecticut, which is good news for Democrats since she is looking pretty weak against Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Meanwhile in the state’s gubernatorial primary, Ned Lamont (who ran unsuccessfully against Joe Lieberman for Senate in 2006) lost to Dan Malloy. All in all, it was a good night for Democrats.

The House of Representatives returned from district work break to pass a bill to save cash-strapped states from having to layoff teachers, police, and other state workers. President Obama immediately signed it into law. The House also passed a bill to increase border security funds, which the Senate already passed.

Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed James Clapper to be chief of U.S. intelligence before going into recess.

UPDATE: Texas Republicans are considering legal action over a provision of the jobs bill that applies to Texas education funds.

The Texas Progressive Alliance is pretty sure its invitation to President Obama’s events in Texas were lost in the mail, and we will keep saying that to ourselves as we bring you this week’s blog highlights.

Off the Kuff continued his interview series with Congressional candidate Ted Ankrum and State Representatives Senfronia Thompson and Garnet Coleman.

Staggering levels of formaldehyde in Barnett Shale air and the attempted cover up, breaking news by TXsharon on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

This week on Left of College Station, Teddy reports that the Republican electoral strategy is to conceal their policy agenda, and notes that Congress should do nothing because the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire. Left of College Station also covers SMUT and the says Texas Dominates the Recession at a price.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why republicans like John Cornyn want to take us back to pre-Civil War days when blacks were not full citizens of the United States.

What part time governor is also a real estate genius or maybe instead a sleazy grafter? Read Libby Shaw’s take over at TexasKaos in Gov Rick Perry Stuffed His Pockets with $500K from Murky Land Deal.

NatWu at Three Wise Men says that however bad that economic news seems these days, things are actually much worse.

WhosPlayin stepped in it this week by pointing out how the local school district is giving an across-the-board raise to all administrative personnel, many of whom are already highly paid, while some highly-experienced teachers could go without raises this year.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been skewing the child support statistics to his favor, reports PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.

On a day trip to Galveston, Neil at Texas Liberal took a picture of a portion of the Seawall mural that showed workers in hazmat suits cleaning up muck from the sea. While Galveston is a great place to spend a day and spend a few dollars, the folks there are long-acquainted with toxic spills.

As this article makes clear, America is still full of racist, ignorant, intolerant people:

[H]eated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.

In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting.

In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby.

In Sheboygan, Wis., a few Christian ministers led a noisy fight against a Muslim group that sought permission to open a mosque in a former health food store bought by a Muslim doctor.

This is no big surprise. If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that there will always be some ignorant, paranoid, xenophobic jackasses out there to make us all look bad. Fortunately there are more people on the side of religious freedom (and tolerance) than there are against it. This is still America, after all.

Sigh in disgust at this one:

“As a mother and a grandmother, I worry,” Ms. Serafin said. “I learned that in 20 years with the rate of the birth population, we will be overtaken by Islam, and their goal is to get people in Congress and the Supreme Court to see that Shariah is implemented. My children and grandchildren will have to live under that.”

“I do believe everybody has a right to freedom of religion,” she said. “But Islam is not about a religion. It’s a political government, and it’s 100 percent against our Constitution.”

Now, what do you want to bet that she isn’t against Islam influencing the government because she’s a strong secularist but because she’s a Christian? Besides which, such fears are pretty much ridiculous when we all know that this country is going to the Mexicans. She ought to fear the growing Catholic menace!

If you read the news (God help you if your main source is TV “news”), you’ll be thoroughly confused by the conflicting economic reports. For one thing, you’ve got Tim Geithner telling you that everything A-OK and we’re on the way to complete economic recovery, albeit very slowly. Sorry guys, I voted for Obama and will again, but that just isn’t true. I can only guess CNN doesn’t have anybody who knows what to think since their coverage is about the possibility that the Fedwill mention the possibility of deflation. Their article is so pathetic I hesitate to even link to it. Krugman doesn’t yet say that it will occur, only that indicators are heading in that direction. The Fed is divided with some arguing for preemptive acts against deflation and others saying such fears are unfounded.

Of 10 current members on the committee, two are openly concerned about inflationary risks; three, now including Mr. Bullard, are somewhat worried about deflation; and five centrists, including Mr. Bernanke, have not expressed a firm leaning either way.

Now even private sector economists are getting in on it.

Mr. Hatzius is arguably Wall Street’s most prominent pessimist. He warns that the American economy is poised for a sharp slowdown in the second half of the year. That would send unemployment higher again and raise the risk of deflation. A rare occurrence, deflation can have a devastating effect on a struggling economy as prices and wages fall. He says he may be compelled to downgrade his already anemic growth predictions for the economy.

For months, Mr. Berner has been sticking to a more optimistic forecast, despite growing evidence in favor of Mr. Hatzius’s view.

In short, it’s probably the case that it’s too soon to tell. Either we have severe prolonged period of growth so slow it’s negligible or we actually have deflation. For an explanation of why that’s a bad thing, read this.

On the other hand, we do have a clear picture of what’s going on with employment. In short, it sucks.

Many economists are forecasting a further slowdown in the second half of the year, perhaps to an annual rate as low as 1.5 percent. That is largely because businesses have refilled the stockroom shelves that were whittled down during the financial crisis, and there will not be much need for additional orders.

Additionally, the fiscal stimulus measures that have propped up growth are expiring. Proposals for individual programs like another expansion of unemployment benefits have been beaten back each time they have come up in Congress.

“We need 2.5 percent growth just to keep the unemployment rate where it is,” said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. “If you want to get it down quickly, you need substantially stronger growth than that. That’s what I’ve been saying for the last several quarters, and that’s why I’ve been hoping that we’ll please pass the jobs measures just sitting on the floor of Congress.”

Yeah, no joke! If you keep in mind that the “recovery” was no more than an aberration brought about by the anemic stimulus package (and census hiring), we may actually be sitting on a plateau of unemployment right now. If GDP growth continues to shrink and falls significantly under that 2.5%, we’re going to see unemployment rising and rising. That’s going to be hard on people. As a matter of fact, there’s a measurement for this:

Using this measure, Hacker and his colleagues determined that the proportion of Americans economically insecure in 2009 and 2010 was higher than at any time in the last 25 years. This reflects the impact of the recession, obviously, but it’s also indicative of a long-term trend towards greater vulnerability. The percentage of insecure Americans was 13.7 percent during the recession of the early 1990s and 17 percent during the recession at the beginning of the last decade. For this recession, it’s 20.4 percent. (Note: That’s a projection, since not all the relevant data is available yet.)

Vulnerability is the key word here. There are a lot of people struggling because there simply are no jobs to be had, not even at minimum-wage fast-food joints. There’s no government work program. Not everybody can join the military (because they’re not eligible, not because of moral objection). If you lose your job in this recession, not only are there no immediate prospects; there’s no likelihood of there being any prospects at any point in the near future (and by near we may be talking in excess of five years). Nobody thinks the economy is going to turn around in the near future. Even if it did pick up, there are just a lot of jobs that have disappeared for good. The landscape of the American economy is changing and it’s going to leave a lot of people behind. I’ve discussed that before in other economic posts.

And last but not least, the suffering continues as people get dropped off of unemployment.

In June, with long-term unemployment at record levels, about 1.4 million people were out of work for 99 weeks or more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not all of them received unemployment benefits, but for many of those who did, the modest payments were a lifeline that enabled them to maintain at least a veneer of normalcy, keeping a roof over their heads, putting gas in their cars, paying electric and phone bills.

As a small aside, I reject the idea that “normalcy” is the proper word. It sounded wrong when Warren G. Harding dragged it out and it sounds wrong now. ”Normality” is what I normally use. Anyway, while you have conservatives (although what makes them conservative anymore I have no idea) and perhaps some libertarians arguing vehemently against unemployment benefits, these people are actually becoming homeless. Do you know how hard it is to get a job with no address, no phone, and no transportation? It’s pretty damn hard.

I know that we have to keep going on and plugging away regardless of whether the economy turns around any time soon or not, but it’s hard to believe we’re going to return to better times. As we finally learned to our great disappointment, the good times we were living in (well, many of us were living in) were fueled by credit. That day will not return. The low-education, high-wage jobs people had 40 years ago are gone, never to return. Education isn’t cheap (and for the best jobs it isn’t easy) which is why many people skip it on the assumption they can go out and get a job pays well. That’s not going to be possible for many people in the future. And who can be saddled with 30, 60, or even 100 thousand dollars of debt for an education when they can only get a job that pays $35,000 a year?

It’s time to face reality that the way we live is broken. It’s time to change things and yet our politicians lack the courage, conviction, or willpower to quit politicking and actually do something about it. To my liberal brethren, I say we must kick our own party members in the pants until they act for our benefit, not to further their own chances of reelection.