#susan combs

[dendroica]

In May, we published a deep-dive into the Texas comptroller’s office and its funding of endangered species research. We found that the comptroller’s office, in 2011, wrested away control of the endangered species program from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and since then has been dogged by a series of controversial decisions that appear to favor special interests over rare Texas species. Then-comptroller Susan Combs was the chief architect of the program in 2011. She’s now being tapped by the Trump administration as the assistant secretary for policy, management and budget in the Department of Interior. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency within the Department of Interior that makes decisions about which species need additional protection and whether they should be classified as threatened or endangered. As we pointed out in “Endangered Science,” Combs has been an outspoken critic of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Endangered Species Act.

Susan Combs, Fierce Critic of Endangered Species Act, Tapped for Agency in Charge of its Implementation

[irontrianglepress-blog]

Another Fox Guarding the Hen House

Vocal opponent of the Endangered Species Act Susan Combs has been appointed by Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke to oversee federal wildlife policy.

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[dendroica]

Susan Combs, a former Texas state official who compared proposed endangered species listings to “incoming Scud missiles” and continued to fight the Endangered Species Act after she left government, now has a role in overseeing federal wildlife policy. Combs was selected by Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke as acting secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. Zinke made the move after his bid to make her an assistant secretary for policy, management and budget stalled in the Senate. The nomination has been on hold since July because of opposition from Republicans and Democrats for various reasons. At first, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was preoccupied with a pileup of Environmental Protection Agency nominees who required confirmation. Later, the committee’s chairman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), held up hearings for Combs because of a dispute during President Trump’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. When that ended, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) held up the nomination over concerns about the administration’s bid to redraw national monument boundaries. Seemingly in retaliation, Zinke made the new appointment, first reported by the Austin American-Statesman last week.... Combs is a rancher and former Texas comptroller with strong ties to the oil industry whose politics align with efforts to weaken the law. As comptroller, she fought the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service repeatedly over its attempts to enforce the Endangered Species Act in the state. In a 2015 report, the Austin American-Statesman showed how Combs worked to remove endangered protections for a native state songbird, the golden-cheeked warbler, claiming that its listing hurt military readiness.

A fierce opponent of the Endangered Species Act is picked to oversee Interior’s wildlife policy - The Washington Post

[sabrinawhill]

Combs a Surprise Potential Ag Secretary Nominee

Combs a Surprise Potential Ag Secretary Nominee

Combs The search for an Agriculture Secretary has turned its attention to Susan Combs. She’s a former Commissioner of Agriculture and state comptroller of Texas. Combs met with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday, which may have been due to the endorsement of House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas. (more…)

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[oryanwadoo]

WADOO!!NEWS: Fiorina needs next debate to reignite her campaign

WADOO!!NEWS: Fiorina needs next debate to reignite her campaign

Carly Fiorina needs a strong performance in Wednesday night’s debate to give her campaign a jump-start after a recent slide at the polls.

Fiorina has twice benefitted from well-received debate showings—her Sept. 16 performance vaulted her from an afterthought in a crowded field to second and third place finishes both nationally and in Iowa polls. And her success in August’s first GOP debate…

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[jkanelis]

I'll miss Patterson most of all

I’ll miss Patterson most of all

I’ve given some thought to the Texas statewide officeholders who are leaving public life at the end of the year.

Who will I miss the most?

It’s a close call. Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs can be an interesting and delightful interview subject. She’s full of one-liners and has put me in stitches on more than one occasion in the years I’ve known her, first when she was elected…

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[burntorangereport-blog]

Susan Combs Claims Credit For Saving Entire Oil And Gas Industry From A Tiny Lizard

Yesterday, Susan “Puffy” Combs, the Texas Comptroller For Public Accounts, released a statement which congratulated herself for saving the oil and gas industry from the ravages of the tiny Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, which was not listed as an endangered species by the US Fish And Wildlife Service last week after years of consideration.  Instead, a compromise was reached between FWS scientists and landowners in West Texas and New Mexico which will set aside about 650,000 acres of the lizard’s habitat on privately held lands, while allowing landowners to continue ranching cattle, or drilling for oil and gas on their property.

Now, Combs wants to go one step further and rewrite the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in Texas’s image: eliminate regulatory oversight, expedite any and all land development.  

While 73% of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard’s habitat is in New Mexico, Texas politicians like Combs and our soon-to-be senior Senator, John Cornyn, have been the most vocal in claiming credit for protect our fragile energy industry from the lizard’s vile grasp.  Read More

[southsteps-blog]

Endorsement Games

**If the banal title of this post made you think of "Hunger Games," please leave. I do not want your traffic here. Go watch cat videos or something.

Rick Perry is doling out endorsements like wartime care packages. He can still dominate news coverage like a boss.

For the past few weeks, Abbott and Combs have been blessing candidates as well. Combs' picks are particularly interesting, exhibiting either a conservative street cred gambit for 2014 or a new chief of staff who is still beholden to the kids at YCT. I think those explanations are mutually exclusive.

Three things stuck out and slapped me in my daydrinking face:

Perry endorsed Wayne Christian, who is, on paper, finished after May 29th

No endorsements for the Williams-on-Williams crime Congressional race from anyone

Rick Perry unequivocally endorsed Dewhurst, but Greg Abbott has not endorsed Cruz

At some point, somebody has to ask the question: why won't Ted Cruz's former boss endorse him?

I don't think the Cruz campaign is saving anything. Time is running out.

Abbott either doesn't like Cruz enough to endorse or doesn't think he can win. I've heard whispers, and a recent Statesman article full of anonymous quotes leads one to believe the former...

Honestly, I was hoping to see Abbott endorse Cruz, because I think a Perry/Abbott primary would be the most entertaining political match-up in Texas history. I've heard multiple times that it won't happen--even if Perry runs for reelection--but my wild imagination can roam on whiskey if it wants to. Perry and Abbott on opposite sides of the Senate race would have been a captivating Chapter One.