David Martin Davies

The new Texas State Highway 130 toll road extension is now open and charging motorists to enjoy it’s privatized asphalt while pushing their speedometers to 85 mph. It’s the fastest stretch of legal driving in the nation.

Also known as the Pickle Parkway, it’s the first public-private partnership highway in Texas, but according to opponents the partnership allows the private company to shoulder very little risk, and instead puts taxpayers on the line to pay for such risks as uncollected tolls.

Pro Toll Road:

Texas Republicans propose a bill to drug test welfare recipients - should we drug test politicians as well? Laws legalizing the possession and use of marijuana passed in Colorado and Washington, is this the beginning of a new era in American drug policy? Mexico has a new president and many are hoping this will mark the beginning of a real solution to the war against the drug cartels. Finally, we just can't let this week go without continuing the discussion on Texas secession.

DNA testing that death row inmate Hank Skinner said would prove he is not a triple murderer is doing just the opposite.  On Wednesday, the Texas Attorney General’s Office filed papers that say the DNA incriminates Skinner. 

Skinner was convicted of killing his live-in girlfriend and her two adult children on New Year’s Eve in 1993.

But Skinner has insisted he’s innocent and the DNA  would clear him of the crimes. The DNA was not tested during his murder trial and Skinner has been fighting in the courts to get access to the evidence for testing.

When word came last week that George P. Bush had filed paperwork with the Texas Ethics Commission to begin raising money for a political campaign, folks wondered if Bush – part of the Presidential Bush family – would go straight to the top and run for Governor in 2014.

A report in the Tampa Bay Times settled those speculation by confirming that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,sent out a fundraising appeal to donors this week asking them to support his son's potential run for Texas land commissioner.

After the Republican losses on Election Day it has been noticed that the GOP has a critical problem winning Latino votes. Some are wondering if George Bush might fix that problem – that’s George P. Bush.

George P. Bush is the nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. His mother is a Mexican immigrant and he is fluent in Spanish.

For the first time in 50 years there wasn’t a Gonzalez listed on the ballot for Congressional District 20 of Texas.

Gonzalez is done with politics, but he isn’t done with being a congressman – not until his replacement, Democrat Joaquín Castro, is sworn in as his replacement in district 20.

Gonzalez has a prediction about the looming  sequestration, or fiscal cliff, that could force automatic austere spending cuts to the federal budget: “Fiscal Cliff - It’s not going to happen.”

During the last two weeks of the 2012 campaign, candidates make their final sell to voters, but in close races like that between Francisco Canseco and Pete Gallego there is a different kind of urgency. The Quorum Report's Harvey Kronberg talks about some of the interesting storylines he is watching as we approach Nov. 6, and we take a look at some other election issues from across the American Southwest.

San Antonians are heading to the polls to vote for candidates in a number of races and the Pre-K 4 SA proposal – to raise the sales tax one eighth of a cent to pay for a full day pre-kindergarten program that proponents say will help turn around the city’s dropout problem.

Mayor Julián Castro is the biggest supporter for Pre-K for SA and says it’s not a silver bullet, but a big step in the right direction.

Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff opposes the proposal  because it raises taxes and he says there are too many unanswered questions.

Republican Francisco "Quico" Canseco is mounting his first defense of the seat he won two years ago from Ciro Rodriguez. The Democrats want to put this massive district back in the blue column, and State Representative Pete Gallego of Alpine is their nominee.

The 23rd Congressional District is seen as Republican-leaning and is massive – starting in San Antonio and reaching all the way west just shy of El Paso, stretching hundreds of miles along the Texas-Mexico border.