The Baines Report
Only an hour after a fairly friendly and bipartisan Texas legislative session ended, Governor Rick Perry called lawmakers back together to debate one of the most partisan and polarizing issues facing the legislature: redistricting. The redistricting process, through which legislators redraw the state’s political boundaries in order to ensure elected officials represent the same number […]
This evening, Former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice spoke to a full house at the LBJ Auditorium. Though Dr. Rice touched on a number of political issues, the tone of the speech was apolitical. Surprisingly, Rice’s speech was filled with humor and stories. Some main points that stood out included: The American education crisis […]
Host Gene Vela talks with the incoming Barbara Jordan Visiting Professor of Ethics and Political Values and former two-term Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. Mayor of Atlanta from 2002-2010 and the first African American woman elected to serve as mayor in a major southern city, Professor Franklin shares her insights about local politics and the balance […]
Those hoping for a debate on foreign policy during the final presidential face-off may have been disappointed last week. Both candidates continually circled back to domestic issues, defaulting to talking points on education and the auto bailout. Detroit and Ohio were topics of conversation alongside Beijing and Iran. Voters who watched the last debate […]
Can two party platforms effectively represent the opinion of 300 million Americans? If so, can you name the candidate who agrees with the majority of Americans on drug policy and defense spending? Better yet, why are President Obama and Governor Romney, clear front runners in the polls, afraid of letting a third-party candidate be heard […]
Host Andy Uhler talks with Austin City Council Member and LBJ School Professor Bill Spelman about Propositions 3 and 4, which aim to change how Austin chooses its City Council members. Austin currently elects seven city council members “at-large” to represent the entire City of Austin. This year, two propositions on the ballot attempt to […]
With every economic slowdown in recent history, calls for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution reach a fever pitch. Many times, this sort of “common-sense” governance is presented with hokey populist rhetoric equating the budget of an average American family with that of our federal government. This can—at least to a naïve observer—be […]
Imagine you have a monthly income of $4,000, your rent is $2,000 and the rest is spent on food, energy and education. Seven years later, your rent and student loans now cost $3,700 a month…and your credit cards are all maxed out. How do you make ends meet without getting evicted? It would be difficult […]
Host Gene Vela talks with the Director of the Center for Politics and Governance and LBJ School Professor Sherri Greenberg about several issues facing Texas’ 83rd Legislature. Texas legislators are debating a new budget that could include funding for water and transportation infrastructure, increasing Medicaid and public education funding, and other hot topics. Greenburg previews […]
After the Super Committee’s failure to reach a deal today on managing U.S. debt, I can’t help but wonder: Is this what passes for leadership from my parents’ generation? The Baby Boomers have lived some of the most privileged lives in the history of the world. They created a country unprecedented in its wealth, diversity, […]