Texas Democrats have no hopes of regaining control of the state House, but some are optimistic of winning enough seats in the upcoming election to trigger a Republican challenge of House Speaker Tom Craddick. Democrats need only to pick off three or four Republican House members to leave Craddick, a Republican from Midland, vulnerable to a challenge from his own party, they say.

It is now clear that the radical Left is indeed targeting values voters in the fallout of the Foley scandal. Ads are being run on Christian radio stations, and a group identifying itself as American Family Voices is reportedly calling conservative households in Republican congressional districts with recorded messages asking voters to demand Speaker Hastert's resignation. What do we know about this group? It is led by former Clinton-Gore political operatives, including a former chairman of the Democrat National Committee.

The media's misreporting of key facts in the Foley scandal led Dr. James Dobson to cancel his scheduled programming October 6 so he could devote some time to explaining the details and the important issues involved. I strongly encourage all of our friends to make time to listen to Dr. Dobson's show.

North Korea followed through on its threat to detonate a nuclear bomb this weekend, which according to various intelligence agencies was equivalent in destructive power to the weapon the United States unleashed on Hiroshima in 1945.

The investigation into who knew what and when about e-mails and instant messages former Congressman Mark Foley was sending to underage House pages resulted in an interesting story in today's Washington Post. Evidently, one Republican congressman confronted Foley in 2000 about inappropriate messages to House pages. That congressman was Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona, who went to Foley after a former page showed Kolbe messages he received from Foley.

If Texans were looking for the most viable alternative to jump out of the pack against incumbent Rick Perry in Friday night's debate, they were sorely disappointed. It turned out to be three other guys against the Republican, who's been in office long enough to have arguably good answers to every question he was asked. The biggest losers, however, had to be the independents -- Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, neither of whom made a case for their election over either of the traditional party candidates. Democrat Chris Bell held his own, showing himselves to be a smart guy who understands government and has substance. He and Perry appeared to have the best grip on state government and the issues.

The Dallas Morning News has a front page story Friday claiming that 47% of Texans "say decisions on limiting property-appraisal increases should be left to local governments" while "40% say the state should limit increases." The issue has become a major one in many parts of the state as local governmental entities spend most, if not all, of the higher appraisal values rather than cut the tax rate and return a significant portion of those appraisal increases to the property owners. Here in Dallas, almost all of the 8.4% increase in appraised values is going for increased city spending this year.

The Senate Committee on Education will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 13, 2006, at the University of Houston Hilton in the Conrad Room, Suite S202, 4800 Calhoun Street, Houston, Texas 77204.

The Committee will hear invited and public testimony on Charge #6, to evaluate the impact of successful school choice programs on students, parents, and teachers.

COMMITTEE: Senate Education Committee

TIME & DATE: 10:00 AM, Friday, October 13, 2006

PLACE: Houston, Texas University of Houston Hilton

CHAIR: Senator Florence Shapiro

A member of the Association of Texas Professional Educators forwarded to us a mailer sent to its members in House District 149:

“ATPE does not endorse candidates, but provides information to our members regarding candidates' positions...”

“Talmadge Heflin – Additional Information: Endorsed by the Texas Home School Coalition (PAC)”

“Hubert Vo – Additional Information: Recipient of the 2006 ATPE Freedom to Teach award in recognition for outstanding legislative accomplishments promoting public educators and Texas students.”

More good reasons to work for the election of Talmadge Heflin to HD 149!