THE OLIGARCHY CRACKS:

Why, oh why, is our local reactionary "newspaper" now endorsing yet a third local Democratic candidate against a Republican incumbent? Maybe it's just their usual policy of trying to establish credibility, or relevance, or suspense, so that people will pay attention to which candidate they support for President. [Actually, we should take note if they endorse Kerry, because that is listed in Revelation as one of the final signs of the apocalypse....] More likely, this just indicates a split between the snobby "country club Republicans", and what they see as the tail-wagging theocrats loosed on their party as a vital part of their hate-mongering coalition. Perhaps this is their way of saying "We may need your lousy votes, but don't ever think you Bible-thumping hicks are as good as your betters." I pose this theory because of their revealing comparison of the the educational backgrounds of the two candidates. But congratulations to Katy Hubener for snagging their begrudging acknowledgement that she would be a much better state representative.

[As always, thanks to Tom Blackwell for this, and "This contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law."]

Texas House District 106: Hubener would bring energy, focus
12:03 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Rep. Ray Allen has done good things during his 12 years in the Texas Legislature. He's championed sentencing reforms that funneled first-time, low-level drug offenders into treatment instead of prison, saving millions of dollars, for example. And he helped pass legislation to give the Board of Medical Examiners more teeth.

But we are troubled that since the last election, Mr. Allen has demonstrated several examples of poor judgment:

Mr. Allen blurs the line between personal and public interests. He lobbies in Washington and other states for an association that champions prison industries, both state- and privately run, and at the same time chairs his chamber's corrections committee. Mr. Allen insists this doesn't pose a conflict of interest. But we worry that his position of authority over legislation that affects the association he works for undermines the public's confidence in the integrity of the legislative process.

Mr. Allen was the target of criticism this summer in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for inappropriately running his personal businesses and his campaign out of his state office. Mr. Allen confirmed to us the story was "accurate, fair and painful."

Some of Mr. Allen's legislative colleagues have expressed concern about his lapses in judgment.

These issues, together with our concerns about Mr. Allen's positions on key issues, prompt us to recommend Democrat Katy Hubener in the Texas House District 106 race.

Ms. Hubener favors an expanded business tax as key to reforming the state's school finance system. That's a remedy we applaud as central to the state beefing up its support for quality education. Mr. Allen also favors a broadly based business tax, but wants to allow businesses to choose from a menu of tax options – an administrative nightmare for the state if there ever was one.

Ms. Hubener says she'd vote to restore funding cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program. Mr. Allen says he would, too, but voted last year in favor of those very cuts.

By way of background, Ms. Hubener, 34, has education degrees from Texas Tech and Claremont Graduate University in California. Mr. Allen, 53, is a graduate of American Christian College in Oklahoma.

Ms. Hubener served until recently as executive director of the Blue Skies Alliance, pressing to clean Dallas-Fort Worth's air so that asthmatic children can breathe and businesses can invest without fear that Washington would restrict economic development. She resigned the post to run for the Legislature, but not before she'd developed a reputation as somebody who could work across party lines. No less a Republican than Collin County Judge Ron Harris lauds Ms. Hubener as "wanting to find solutions" and "being reasonable to work with."

We're disappointed in Ms. Hubener's willingness to share criticisms of her opponent from unnamed sources and urge her to keep her campaign conduct in check. But in the final analysis, we figure Mr. Allen's had his turn in Austin.

It's time to give Ms. Hubener a chance.