Plus: a discussion about a possible expansion of medical marijuana and Barbara Bush remembrances
Andrew White, the Democrat running a long-shot campaign to become Texas' next governor, thinks Texans should get the chance to roll the dice for improved schools. Literally.
Under his plan, casino gambling in the Lone Star State would be expanded to help pay for billions of dollars more in public education improvements, including a teacher pay raise, college scholarships for students with a B average and above and much more.
To get it done, though, White will have to win the jackpot: Win a May 22 runoff and then become thefirst Democrat elected to statewide office in Red State Texas in 24 years.
As remembrances continued pouring in for former First Lady Barbara Bush, who died at 92, her son, George W., gave this example of her famous wit, just days before she died.
As a doctor visited, she asked him -- with Dubya present -- if he'd ever wondered why her son turned out the way her did. Without missing a beat, she answered: "Because I drank and smoked while I was pregnant with him."
That she could still bring down the house, days after she passed, was a testament to why America loved her straight-spoken manner.
As new polls showed the political races are presently much closer than expected, as Gov. Greg Abbott was reportedly considering an expansion of medical marijuana laws to benefit autistic children, and as ahigh-stakes gerrymandering case prepared to hit the U.S. Supreme Court, politics in Texas were anything but dull this week.
Our sponsors this week: Lone Star Targeting and the Texas Association of Counties.
With Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, and Mike Ward, Austin Bureau chief for the Houston Chronicle, with special guest Ryan Poppe, Texas Public Radio's Capitol reporter.
Texas politics are entertaining but never boring, as this edition of the state's leading political podcast, produced in collaboration with partner Texas Public Radio, clearly shows.
