CHAD WILL BE TWITTERING TONIGHT

Be sure to sign up and follow me on Twitter. Not only will I be Twittering tonight during Obama’s speech, but during the morning show and throughout the day as well. How do you find me on Twitter? It’s easy:

www.twitter.com/chadhastyradio

NO CHARGES IN LEONARD ASSAULT

MORE ON THIS ON TOMORROW’S LFN

From the AJ:

A Lubbock County grand jury did not indict three men accused of assaulting Lubbock city councilman John Leonard on Christmas Eve.

Leonard was treated for facial fractures at University Medical Center after the beating at the Dakota Arms Apartments in the 6700 block of 82nd Street.

Leonard told police he was accosted after Harris told the people in the apartment above them to turn down their loud music.

The men followed Harris downstairs, where an argument ensued and turned physical, according to Leonard.

The same grand jury declined to indict the men earlier this month. Leonard was allowed to testify on the case Tuesday after a typo in a letter notifying him that a grand jury would hear his case gave an incorrect date for the hearing.

MAYOR OF HOUSTON DROPS PLAN TO PAY OFF PEOPLE’S DEBT

Updates from Chron.com

Mayor Bill White this afternoon announced that a plan for the city to pay off some debts for first-time home buyers has been pulled from tomorrow’s City Council agenda.

Council members are now professing their “embarrassment” about the proposal, which has hit the national news circuit, including drudgereport.com., which picked up this morning’s Houston Chronicle story about the plan

“This issue has hit a nerve across this country,” said Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck. “Not just here in the city of Houston. Giving people the ability to increase their credit score artificially because we’re allowing them to pay off their credit cards is exactly what got us into this (national economic) crisis in the first place.”

Councilman Jarvis Johnson said the city should continue to help people move from renting to owning.

“But I do believe we can do it in a better way, a more thoughtful way,” he said. “But we don’t want to become enablers, where people count on the city to be the cure-all.”

Good, now if we can just stop the type of thinking that got Houston nationwide attention it would be even better. In fact, maybe those in Washington should wake up and see that people do not want to pay for those who were irresponsible.

HOUSTON TO REWARD PEOPLE WITH BAD HABITS

If you’ve been listening to the radio I’m sure you’ve heard about the City of Houston considering paying off some people’s credit card debt so they can buy a home. (link)

We didn’t have a chance to get into the story this morning on the show, but we will on Wednesday morning. Here is part of the story:

Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.

The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.

Are you kidding me? Why should taxpayers have to pay off someone else’s irresponsibility? As someone who just left Texas Tech my credit score isn’t perfect, but I don’t expect anyone but me to improve my credit score or pay off my debt. Obama wants to use taxpayer money to pay off mortgage’s that people couldn’t afford, now Houston wants to pay off debt of irresponsible people.

RIP days of Personal Responsibility.

New Poll: Hutchison Leads Perry

From the Quorum Report:

NEW POLL PUTS KBH AHEAD OF PERRY 56-31

Company uses controversial robo-dialing methodology but notes it was the most accurate in 2008 Texas GOP presidential primary

A North Carolina polling company called Public Policy Polling reports that a recent poll of 797 likely Republican primary voters puts Kay Bailey Hutchison decisively ahead of Rick Perry by a margin of 56-31.

PPP uses a controversial method of automated telephone polling that has both supporters and detractors. To pre-empt arguments about methodology, the company forwarded an analysis indicating that they had the most accurate Texas numbers in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.

KBH has 76% favorables to RP’s 60%. But the 27% Perry unfavorables lean to Hutchison by a factor of 85-8.

PPP President Dean Debman said, “Rick Perry is in grave danger of losing in the primary. It’s partly because he’s worn out his welcome with a certain segment of the Republican electorate, but he even bigger reason is that Kay Bailey Hutchison is just a lot more popular than him. It would be hard for anyone to heat her in an election.”

Most observers believe that a contested primary would draw well over a million voters rather than the six to seven hundred thousand that normally vote in a gubernatorial year.