September 06, 2008

THIS is our VP

I'll admit, I wasn't super enthusiastic about Sen. Biden. Until now.

Go get 'em, Joe!

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September 05, 2008

The Leo Berman Funny

I don't know if BurkaBuddy (that's our new name for him) was trying to be funny or was just reporting the funny...

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September 04, 2008

Roundin' up the TPA

It's time for another weekly roundup of the Texas Progressive Alliance. Click on for the week's highlights.

Is John McCain's vice presidential pick some kind of joke? McBlogger's Mayor McSleaze thinks it's more like a situation comedy.

CouldBeTrue is happy for Webb County! Finally, the long sheriff's primary is over and Martin Cuellar is the official sheriff-to-be. And, yeah, the AG is looking into the hinky first recount.

With Tom DeLay and the TRMPAC indictments back in the news, Off the Kuff conducts an interview with Cris Feldman, one of the attorneys who won a civil judgment against TRMPAC for its violations of campaign finance law in the 2002 elections.

Stace Medellin at DosCentavos is celebrating ten years of living in the Houston area. Read about what brought him to Houston and what has kept him in the big city.

Neil at Texas Liberal is glad to note that the Galveston County Democrats Club http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/galveston-county-democrats-club-is-working-hard-for-victory/ is, as always, working hard for all the people of Galveston County---Both on the mainland and on the island.

The Texas Cloverleaf reminds everyone that McCain is older than fiberglass. His new sidekick leads a state with a population smaller than Collin County. Sitcom indeed.

jobsanger wonders why the Democratic Convention didn't show a little respect for Lyndon Johnson's 100th birthday, and prepares to enjoy the prospect of dueling Republican conventions.

What is the linkage between radioactive waste dumps, smear ad campaigns and HD-52 Republican nominee Bryan Daniel? Dembones at Eye On Williamson follows the money trail back to Swift Boat financer, Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, whose latest smear campaign tries to link Barack Obama to '60s radical William Ayers.

Doing My Part For The Left's refinish69 wonders if Texas Deferred Adjudication is helpful or shameful.

North Texas Liberal has video of Sen. Hillary Clinton condemning John McCain's use of her picture and quotes in his ads.

PDiddie assembled some of the satirical ridicule of John McCain's selection of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld Sarah Palin of Alaska at Brains and Eggs.

BossKitty at TruthHugger observes "

FEMA Gets A Second Chance - NOLA Redux for “Mother Of All Storms”

Vince at Capitol Annex offers his opinion on Michael L. Williams' manipulation of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. concerning Barack Obama's experience. For added value, one of Williams' campaign staffers decided to comment on the post and attempt to defend his boss.

nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders why PUMAs are exhibiting a high level of disrespect to Hillary and her request for full support and asks PUMA, Was It Ever About Hillary Clinton ?

Mike Thomas at Rhetoric & Rhythm is unhappy with some liberal bloggers who decided to label his Congressman - Ciro Rodriguez - as a so-called "Bush Dog Democrat".

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September 03, 2008

What a bunch of damn bullshit

You know, there a number of things I'd like to say about Palin and her 'reformer' image. But it's hard to call someone a reformer when their only true reform is to leave their constituents more in debt than they were prior to their 'service'. To the tune of $4,000 per resident in tiny Wasilla. See the extended for some good stuff on her tenure from someone who knows her. I think the phrase 'RANK INCOMPETENCE' pretty much sums it up.

Of course, there's the matter of the pregnant daughter. I knew girls that got pregnant in high school. Some of them graduated with me, some did not. Some of them had the kids and some did not for one reason or another. I never lost respect for them and I certainly won't say that this revelation has negatively effected my opinion of Palin. I had a negative opinion of her from HER actions, not those of her daughter. But, this pisses me off...

When Pam Younggren, 61, of Fargo, N.D., was told the news of the 17-year-old’s pregnancy, she shrugged. “Well, she wouldn’t be the first one,” she said.

“We can’t control what our daughters do,” she said. “I don’t see it as a problem. She will have appropriate care for her baby.”

And this one...

“People are looking for real,” he said in an interview. “Real means blemishes, real means warts, real means real. These family imperfections make people say, ‘That family isn’t so different from my family.’”

Uhm, they aren't like the rest of us. My parents kept rather strict controls over Barfly and I when we lived under their roof, so yeah... you can control your kids. It's called PARENTING. Palin did not. Period. My parents also made sure we KNEW the implications of intercourse and were prepared for it with appropriate protection. Palin did not. Now, even with these precautions, some kids end up being parents. My problem with this is that Palin willfully decided NOT to prepare her daughter with information and protection. That's not a knock on her daughter, that's her OWN very real character flaw. And it's one I would find unacceptable in any public official, Democratic or Republican. Especially one that's traveled far and wide preaching the wonders of abstinence only sex education, not to mention parental and personal responsibility.

What's most galling about this situation is that had this been the Democratic VP candidate, there would have been endless sermons and screeching rants from the far right (including some of the women quoted in the NYT piece) denouncing their family values and judgment, among other things. And calling them an unacceptable choice for America.

HOWEVER, I'm hearing quite the opposite from the folks in the bully pulpits of talk radio. And it's causing the words of Harry Truman, after reading McArthur's farewell address to Congress, to echo through my mind:

"It was nothing but a bunch of damn bullshit."

Beat up on Bristol? Not at all. But am I going to light into Palin EVERY TIME the phrase 'personal responsibility' leaves her lips? You betcha. Muse has a different take... she's a mother, she can go there. But her take on it dovetails nicely with the emails floating around from Wasilla residents. From them, it's pretty obvious that the only person who has benefited from Palin's service is Palin. It's certainly not her constituents, most of whom are decidedly worse off for her 'unbridled ambition'. Take a look in the supersize...

This email is floating around the 'sphere. I've received two other very similar accounts from different people.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a “babe”.

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out
there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s
surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t
fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•”Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•”PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•”NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•”Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•”Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 02, 2008

Reality and Charles Krauthammer

Charles Krauthammer is decidedly unimpressed with Sen. Obama. Which isn't surprising because they only person who impresses Charles Krauthammer is Charles Krauthammer. However, he's really stretching to be negative about Sen. Obama, to wit

The oddity of this convention is that its central figure is the ultimate self-made man, a dazzling mysterious Gatsby.

Of course, change Gatsby to Horatio Alger and you have the perfect sentence written by Charles Krauthammer about a Republican candidate. And the funny thing about it? Millions of Americans saw more substance out of Obama Thursday night than they've seen out of decades of McCain.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 29, 2008

Roundin' up the TPA

Do you know what the Texas Progressive Alliance blogs and bloggers have been up to this week? Well, our weekly round-up will tell you. This week's round-up was compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

refinish69 explains why Travis County and Texas doesn't need another Keel at Doing My Part For The Left.

Two White guys in Houston want each others' jobs. Former Gov. Mark might run for for mayor, and current Mayor Bill may run for governor. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the Frick-and-Frack report.

Prepare yourself for a shock when you visit Bluedaze and see the BILLIONS in handouts given to Big Oil. TXsharon shows how these handouts, paid with our taxes, enable Big Oil to buy influence, work against our best interest, blatantly ignore laws and keep the US dependent on hydrocarbons rather than moving forward.

Mayor McSleaze at McBlogger wonders why, if Washington is broken as McThuselah's campaign says, McThuselah himself hasn't done something to fix it since he's been there more than, you know, 25 years.

The major media outlets may be arguing about whether experience, the war or the economy is the most important issue in this year's presidential election, but jobsanger says there is only one issue that matters , and it's not any of those three.

The Texas Cloverleaf exposes the plan by Congressman Michael Burgess and the Bush DOT to make I-35 from Dallas to Denton a toll road!

BossKitty at TruthHugger is concerned about WATER and what our fearless leaders plan to do about it: "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink."

Justin at AAA-Fund Blog wonders when Houston will find good leadership – in government, in corporations looking for good PR, anywhere – for recycling.

Off the Kuff criticizes State Sen. Dan Patrick and State Rep. Frank Corte for their request for a ruling from AG Greg Abbott that the Lege can require cities to enforce federal immigration laws.

Off the Kuff criticizes State Sen. Dan Patrick and State Rep. Frank Corte for their request for a ruling from AG Greg Abbott that the Lege can require cities to enforce federal immigration laws.

Texas Liberal says that he is not a bridge builder.

Before she took off for the DNC convention in Denver, and the Big Tent, Texas Kaos frontpager SCCS took a look at the state of the Central Texas Congressional races.

The rich get Visas while the poor were asked to self-deport notes CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chimse.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts about Perry, Dewhursts, and Craddick's new toll road plan, Texas GOP Leaders Want To Use Public Pension Funds To Build Corporate Toll Roads.

Vince from Capitol Annex takes a look at Republican State Representative candidate Van Brookshire's stupid press release about immigration and the incorrect facts he based it on.

North Texas Liberal shares a stunning tribute to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, penned by a great friend of the late congresswoman.

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McCain gets frigid

Sen. McCain is rumored to have picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be the Republican nominee for Vice-President.

Palin, 44, is a reform-minded governor in Alaska who's challenged the party's old guard, attacked pork-barrel spending and taken a keen interest in energy and environmental issues. A former Miss Alaska runnerup, Palin hold a degree in journalism and has five children, including one with Down Syndrome. If Palin is selected, it could indicate a strategy on McCain's part to siphon off women voters disaffected by Sen. Hillary Clinton's loss in the Democratic primaries to Obama, D-Ill.

First, this ain't gonna peel off any of Hillary's diehards, nor is anyone going to be persuaded that her goodwill and character will rub off on McCain. At the end of the day, the veep is largely irrelevant and the only way Independents and Democrats will vote for a Republican is if the Republican nominee stopped being John McCain.

Update 11:45 - Watching the speech now and it's clear they are going to focus on reform. I guess no one told her that the man she's running with has been an integral part of what she'd like to reform for decades. Also, I don't think she realizes she's a Republican. Look for the Democrats to make the point that we can't really afford anymore Republican 'Reform' like ever expanding deficits, low job and wage growth and dramatically higher energy prices.

Posted by mcblogger at 10:08 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Change I believe in...

After watching Sen. Obama's acceptance speech, it occurred to me that anything I could post would be woefully inadequate. His words were precisely chosen, his delivery was flawless and for 42 minutes he held a crowd of millions with specifics. And with hope.

I can, without reservation, say I am a tough sell. Yesterday afternoon while talking to Sister Ruth, I told her I wanted to be inspired by his speech. I was going to vote for him, but I wanted to believe that he was what he claimed to be, a candidate who would transcend politics and really talk about issues, frankly and fearlessly. One who would fight, head to head, on every front. Frankly, I didn't see it. Even yesterday afternoon.

Early this morning, however, I'm still in awe of the man who was willing to stand in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 and speak about real issues, genuine ideas and not worry about the smaller, pettier matters and conflicts. One who was clearly focused on leading his party and his nation back from the brink of oblivion.

Leader. That's the word that describes the man I saw just a few hours ago. A man I'm proud to say I'm voting for in November.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 27, 2008

Great speeches overcome objections, but not ignorance

After Hillary Clinton’s rousing speech, CSPAN had their call-in segment. A woman from Alabama said she would not vote for Obama because of the radical talk he had heard as a member of “that” black church. Another woman from California, whose speech seemed slurred by intoxication, rambled on about this and that. However, her premise was she was not going to vote for any Democrat because she didn’t like giving her tax money to lazy people, and that the Dems were socialist.

This is more than anecdotal. From all the conversations and what has been spoken and printed, we find this is a disturbing attitude of many. Are they a tiny minority? After seeing current polling data, I think not.

From now until the election, do we need to waste time and energy talking to people - many in despair of personal tragedy caused in general by contemporary American conservatism and specifically by policies initiated and enacted by Republican Party rule - who will never vote for Obama?

Why is it wrong to leap to conclusions about what is in the heart of people who feel the need to denigrate equality, diversity, compassion, and the common good.

Let them fester in their own cesspool of racism and hatred.

We have our work cut out.

Posted by Captain Kroc at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 26, 2008

Frank Corte in a box?!

There IS a structure on the empty lot that Frank Corte calls home. It's a mailbox.

View image

Now, the question is, can he live in it? I guess I could have called this post 'DICK (in a box)'.

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August 25, 2008

The Transportation Daisy Chain

A certain political consultant emailed the release of the Republican Leadership (now ain't that just one hell of an oxymoron?) regarding their willingness to work with one another. After reading it, I responded to him with

Craddick sucks off Dewhearst sucks off Perry eats out Delisi sucks off Craddick?

To which he responded

I'd rather not have that image in my mind, but, yes, I think you have it about right.

Here's the gist...

Highlights of the new plan:

Stop funding the Texas Department of Public Safety with gas tax funds, and divert those millions to road construction. DPS could instead be funded with general revenue tax funds.

What an AWESOME idea, y'all! We've only been asking for it for years but it's good to see that you're finally doing what we told you to do. Next, find the revenue to fund DPS without the gas tax. Good luck with that, R's. WITHOUT taking away CHIP.

Create a special Transportation Finance Corporation to allow Texas-based investment funds to directly invest in state transportation projects.

Rutro! This is the kind of place where you people normally take a nosedive. Here's the inside skinny... the folks at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs (whatup, peeps!) are having problems selling toll bonds. Which means that road privatization has pretty much ground to a halt along with everything else in the debt markets, at least everything risky (read: toll revenue bonds). If Texas had issued tax-backed revenue bonds and indexed the gas tax (AS ADVISED YEARS AGO) they wouldn't have had any problems selling off the debt. However, toll bonds (much like subprime and Alt A mortgage credits) are questionable at best, valueless at worst. Which means nothing is selling and there's no way for Perry and his cronies at Zachry (and THEIR friends, Cintra (Bluebonnet)) to get the money to buy the roads. Burka has some great stuff up on just how successful road privatization has been. For investors.

So, now that private money has evaporated to finance your questionable plans, you morons want to dip into the underfunded public pensions!??!?!?! Lemme guess, you'll be giving the investment banks a cut on that transaction to work as adviser, right? And, of course, Zachry will be brought in to manage everything and take a cut. Annually. So, what does that leave for the pension fund?

Great idea, you guys! Precisely what I'd expect from folks with the intellectual capacity of sparrows.

Authorize perhaps as much as $5 billion in bonds for additional highway construction projects. Voters approved a constitutional change in November 2007 to allow these bonds, but legislation is still needed to authorize them.

Oh, those tax backed bonds! Yeah, you should totally issue those. Here's the thing, though... at some point, you R's are going to have to finally admit to folks you've been lying to them about the possibility of having economic growth, good public infrastructure and excellent services (schools, fire and police) all while paying less in taxes. Simply put, you've been selling (but not delivering) a free lunch. It's worked so far because no one's been real hungry. Now they're starving and they want something to eat.

EOW nails it and picks up on what the Statesman (and other major media sources) have always missed. These aren't REAL solutions, it's a shell game designed to make it appear that something is happening... and to put off the day when the bill really comes due.

The really wonderful post on all this comes from Paul Burka at Texas Monthly who lays it out beautifully.

The reality that no one on the R side wants to admit is that their ideology is fundamentally flawed. In the real world, privatization does not always work to the benefit of consumers, especially in the absence of substantive GOVERNMENT oversight. An old school economic conservative can you tell you that. In fact, I've done it several times. We, unlike the ideologues running the government who've never really worked in business, know from first hand experience that private enterprise can be every bit as wasteful as big government.

And we hate waste, whether it's Democratic or Republican. And crony capitalism is definitely waste.

One last point, there appear to be those who still want to parrot the old estimate that our transportation funding shortfall is $80-100 bn. It's NOT. It's not even close especially when you aren't building TODAY for capacity you won't need until the late 2040's. As a side note, I'd also like to ask the Lege to set up an independent body, appointed by the LEADERSHIP from both parties in the Lege, to audit TXDOT and what they are paying suppliers. I find it UNBELIEVABLE that true road constructions costs have escalated more rapidly than anything other than gold bullion.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 20, 2008

We (heart) Hector Nieto (and Jesmer's a tool)

No, Hector, not in THAT way. So you don't have to feel nervous around us...we love you for saying this...

"Instead of resurrecting a non-issue like Fred Baron, why doesn't John Cornyn explain to the people of Texas why he voted six times against bipartisan legislation to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program? Every time a child goes to the emergency room because a parent couldn't afford quality healthcare, that parent can thank John Cornyn."

Yesterday, dippy little Rob Jesmer of the Re-Elect A Worthless Douchebag campaign (AKA, Cornyn for Senate) sent out an email about Fred Baron (who?) giving money to Rick Noriega and the Texas Democratic Party and Girl and Boy Scouts of America. While he mostly left Noriega and the TDP alone, Rob went hog wild on the poor little scouts.

"No, we don't want any more of your Fred Barron cookies. We don't want anymore of your trial lawyer sing alongs or massive settlement knots. We certainly don't want to see any more of your tort pine car derby's..." Jesmer went on to discuss the Freemason's, threatening to teleport laughing reporters into the sun (with his MIND) and the Illuminati/Rothschild/Bilderberg grand unified conspiracy theory.

He did not comment on when Cornyn will be giving up the MILLIONS in oil and energy company money he's taken while those same companies have raped Texans on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the Noriega campaign was taking a nap.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Roundin' up the TPA

It's time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up.

To kick the week off right, the TPA is unveiling its newly redesigned website where you can connect with the Alliance and our member bloggers via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, DFA, Party Builder, Ning and other social networking tools.

Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm looks at a week's worth of opinion columns from the San Antonio Express-News and determines there is a nearly three-to-one imbalance of conservative/Republican columns compared to liberal/Democratic ones.

On Bluedaze, TXsharon busts the myths that Natural Gas is cleaner, that shale drilling will make us safer, and that Domestic Drilling can make us Energy Independent.

There was no attempt of a citizens' arrest of Karl Rove while he visited Houston last week, raising money for Texas House Republicans. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs hoped it would happen, to no avail.

WhosPlayin is concerned about operators wanting to drill for gas in Lewisville's urban forest area near Central Park.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why sexual assault equates to perjury - wink, wink - if you're a person of power in Texas.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on HD-52 Democratic candidate Diana Maldonado's opponent Bryan Daniel sharing his campaign office with a local charity, IRS Complaint Filed Against Round Rock Charity.

Off the Kuff takes a look at the possible effect Libertarian candidates may have on some close State House races.

Texas Liberal uses the ancient epic Gilgamesh to discuss reactions to vulnerability and innocence in both the ancient and modern world.

McBlogger takes a look at the latest Republican fundraising pitch and finds that it's only appealing only to the same geriatric patients who are McThuselah's base. And those elephants are very tacky.

This week jobsanger is outraged by an Arkansas city that's trashing the Constitution and a small Texas country school that's allowing teachers to carry guns.

refinish69 awards the Infamous Cheese Tray Awards over at Doing My Part For The Left.

Mean Rachel supports Obama but argues against Maureen Dowd's assertion that Hillary Clinton's appearance in Denver will "dampen the dreams of our daughters."

Libby Shaw puts the pieces together for us over at TexasKos in his dairy Military Contractors Charge U.S. Taxpayers $85 Billion. Not only are we NOT saving money by outsourcing military support functions, we are pissing off people worldwide. Worst of all? Eisenhower's worst fear has come to pass, the MIC is real , alive and in control....

Justin at Asian American Action Fund Blog marvels at the coming Charlie Wilson Chair at UT, which will become the first Pakistan Studies chair in the nation.

Vince at Capitol Annex takes a look at a scandal that links State Sen. John Carona (D-Dallas) to a condo development in Houston that is falling apart.

Don't forget to check out other TPA member blogs for the latest news on Texas and national politics: The Agonist, Asian American Action Fund, B & B, Bay Area Houston, Beginning to Wonder, BlueBloggin, Bluedaze, Brains & Eggs, Burnt Orange Report, Capitol Annex, The Caucus Blog, Common Sense, Dallas South Blog, Dig Deeper Texas, Doing My Part For The Left, Dos Centavos, Easter Lemming Liberal News, Eye on Williamson, Feet To Fire, Grassroots News U Can Use, Half Empty, In The Pink Texas, jobsanger, Latina Lista, Lubbock Left, Marc's Miscellany, McBlogger, Mean Rachel, MindSpeak, MOMocrats, Musings, North Texas Liberal, Off The Kuff, Para Justicia y Libertad, The Red State, Rhetoric & Rhythm, Same Blog, Different Day, South Texas Chisme, StoutDemBlog, The Texas Blue, The Texas Clover Leaf, Texas Education, Texas Kaos, Texas Liberal, Texas Truth Serum, There... Already, Three Wise Men, TruthHugger, Who'sPlayin'?, and Xpatriated Texan.

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August 15, 2008

(Not so) Great Ideas

Bad Decision

Mixing bourbon, vodka and gin with root beer (in my defense, I was 12)

SUPER Bad Decision

Making Chet Edwards the nominee of the Democratic Party for Vice-President.

Seriously, I'm not going to go on some asinine rant about how Chet's not liberal enough. Or progressive enough. Or attractive enough. Or interesting enough. He's not enough of any of those things, but at the end of the day, he's perfect for Waco and it's environs. He's conservative, he's moderately attractive, boring as a motherfucker and basically a perfect fit to represent people who voted for Bush. Four times.

And I'm certainly not going to beat up on a Democrat who can get re-elected, cycle after cycle, in the red territory most us only know as the asshole on the 35 between Austin and Dallas. Seriously, voting for the bankruptcy bill was THE right thing to do, mostly because those yokels are too stupid to realize he worked to restrict their Constitutional right to wipe the slate clean and get a fresh start in their lives. They're not too bright, much like their asshat Congressman.

However, while all this not great, it's not the end of the world. Chet votes his district. However, there is one issue which makes Chettie boy as goddamn unacceptable as John McCain. On several occasions he's voted for actions and laws that were unconstitutional. He's voted to give up our rights, freedoms and disregarded his duties as a member of the United States House of Representatives. Needless to say, having a man so willing to surrender what makes us Americans a heartbeat away from the Presidency shouldn't make anyone excited.

Of course, having the endlessly spineless Pelosi pulling strings for him also makes him pretty unacceptable. Let's face it... when the American people put the Democrats in the majority they expected the Executive Branch to be held accountable. They expected a restoration of the Constitutional power of Congress. They expected Democrats to stand up and say that prosecuting the War on Terror does not mean we have to abandon what makes the US the land of the free. I'm one of millions not willing to give up my privacy so Democrats in Congress can act tough and I'm certainly not one of these crazies who thinks an imperial Executive is a good thing. I was one of the millions who helped put Democrats into office in 2006 and we expected to see accountability in Washington.

What we got, instead, were Democrats like Chet Edwards caving on issues large and small, joining with the minority Republicans to form a majority and pass bad legislation. Maybe that's why the approval rating for Congress is so low.

I refuse to stand up and endorse a man who thinks compromising his Oath of Office is good politics. I won't do it for McCain and I certainly won't cut the Bastard Of The Brazos any slack for being a Democrat. If anything, he gets double black marks for voting give up what makes this country great to add perceived safety and security.

And we all know what Benjamin Franklin had to say about those people.

As for me, I'll just call him worthless... well, except for his work for Veterans. However, given his district, is it any wonder that someone looking to get re-elected would be a big believer in giving Veterans a voice? However, maybe that is the one thing he does purely because it's the right thing to do.

Oh, and let's remember that the DMN has been Chet's biggest booster in Texas. You should keep in mind that in 2000 and 2004 the bright Ed Board at the DMN decided to endorse Bush over the Democratic nominee. The same people who see in Edwards the same things, apparently, that they saw in Bush.

Don't say you weren't warned.

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August 04, 2008

Notes on a scandal

So, Pete Sessions (R - North Texas Douchebag) had a fundraiser in a Vegas strip club. He called it a burlesque show, but we've all been to one of those places and we think Pete's a lying sack of shit (granted that's not much of a stretch for the retard).

Here's Pete with some supporters. We're really not sure which one is Pete (it was hella dark in the club) but we're reasonably certain he's not Asian. And that he's not a woman.

Here's some more on the scandal with audio and then there's this from D Magazine.

Really, Pete, a burlesque show? What is this, the 1890's??!? Do you really think anyone's going to be believe that you weren't watching the dancing ladies and that 'Little Pete' (girls talk) wasn't standing at full mast?

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August 03, 2008

Roundin' up the TPA

It's time once again for another Texas Progressive Alliance roundup. Here are the blog highlights for the week of July 28:

TXsharon challenges you to view these pictures of Domestic Drilling Armageddon in the Barnett Shale and still support the Drill and Burn Domestic Drilling agenda.

U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez' Republican challenger for the 23rd Congressional seat is taken to task by Mike Thomas of Rhetoric & Rhythm for shirking his responsiblity on a critical hospital expansion vote before the Bexar County Commissioner's Court.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the GOP's "latest" energy plan in Carter, Oil, & Hair Of The Dog.

Neil at Texas Liberal asks what would be the impact if Polar Bears could vote.

Off the Kuff looks at a Texas Monthly overview of the effects of the Presidential race on downballot elections in Texas and offers his criticism of it.

Guest Columnist JR Behrman at Texas Kaos has a few strong words about Energy Policy: Democrats Routed. He also has a Texas Plan.

Julie Pippert of the MOMocrats asks the Obama campaign to explain its absence in Texas after they announced the roll-out of their Spanish-Language ads as an outreach to Hispanic voters, then discusses a Senate proposal that would require 50% of US cars to have a flexible fuel system by 2012, and finally the MOMocrats share the draft of their position paper to be submitted to the Democratic National Committee for inclusion in the party platform.

McBlogger had a great time in the subprime panel at Netroots Nation. So good in fact that he decided to offer some of his own solutions since the panelists, including the dimwitted Rep. Brad Miller, decided to offer nothing of substance.

XicanoPwr reports on the latest poll by the Pew Hispanic Center on the Latino vote. Latino polling shows that 66% of Latino registered voters will support Obama.

Burnt Orange Report points out that Ag Commissioner Todd Staples finally comes around to what Democrat (and future Ag Commissioner) Hank Gilbert has been saying all along- Texan's are being overcharged at the gas pump due to lack of state inspections.

BossKitty at TruthHugger dreams about the "Count Down To Accountability - Bush, Cheney Indictments"

refinish69 from Doing My Part For The Left invites everyone to meet Annette Taddeo- A True Progressive Democrat.

jobsanger writes about how after years of the Bush Presidency even our cloest traditional ally no longer trusts us in Brits Don't Trust Bush On Torture.

Obama and the down-ballot races in Texas are the focus of two articles by R.G. Ratcliffe of the Houston Chronicle. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs summarizes, and finds some to agree with and some not.

Mean Rachel writes an open letter to Rep. Elliot Naishtat, encouraging him to consider joining the technology age and starting an inexpensive, easy-to-use website tailor-made for state legislators with Wired for Change's DLCCWeb, a Netroots exhibitor.

nytexan at BlueBloggin keeps an eye on Mitch McConnell, the GOP king of distortion and extortion. McConnell plans to block legislation that can impact Americans now and push for a bill whose product will not be seen for 10 years; McConnell Extorts Senate For Off Shore Drilling. McConnell never fails to please Bush and his corporate buddies.

WhosPlayin looks at a new USGS petroleum estimate for the Arctic Circle, and notes that only a small portion of ANWR is estimated to be productive, and that the study doesn't address economic feasibility. (Includes Map)

Vince from Capitol Annex tells us that, while indicted former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) won't accept a presidential pardon, he'd love one from Texas Governor Rick Perry.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme gets upset with crappy newspaper article.

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August 01, 2008

Sen. Kirk Watson NAILS IT

Here's a sample of today's WatsonWire...

But the Mansion fire isn’t only a symbol. It’s a symptom of the self-interested neglect and mismanagement that have come to define those who purport to lead this state. While Texas is blessed with dedicated, hard working, public service-oriented employees, they have been denied the tools and leadership they need.

Texas, and every Texan, deserves better. It’s time to demand a government that works.

Read the rest here. Kirk, we need this from you... and we need you desperately to be a leader on transportation funding that won't leave the majority of the state in the slow lane.

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July 30, 2008

I really gotta stop reading Salon

I, like many of you, am feeling let down by Democrats in Congress and by our own candidate. From FISA to faith based initiatives, the Democrats seems as willing to trash the Constitution as the Republicans. Greenwald thinks it's all because of the Blue Dogs... stop them and you regain a progressive agenda. Basically, we have to target the Blue Dogs or even, God forbid, allow Republicans to win these races to make a point with the leadership and the caucus that taking voters for granted is a super bad idea.

There is another theory that I like better... simply, we need to put a super majority of Democrats into Congress to completely marginalize the Blue Dogs.

What are your thoughts? I know where I'm falling on this... and the polling should be showing the Democrats that playing the same old games, instead of actually taking a stand and leading, is their ticket to a loss in November.

Obama offered his own horse-race assessment ...

... while attending a fundraiser in Arlington, Va., Monday night. Talking to about 40 supporters, he opined that when he began his White House quest, "there weren’t too many people who thought we were going to pull this off."

Now, he said, “We are ... in a position where the odds of us winning are very good. But it’s still going to be difficult.... We’re not going to see a huge gap develop between now and Nov. 4 [in the polls]. This is going to be a close election. I’m new on the national scene. People sort of like what they see, but they’re not sure.”

Uhm, Senator, the fact that in this environment you're having problems beating a guy who is so close to Bush they smell the same is a pretty clear indication that your strategy isn't working. Seriously, rethink your excuses. You're close because you caved on things that Democrats, Republicans, Independents and even Libertarians can agree on. So, that leaves us all wondering why the hell we should vote for you.

If you lose this, Senator Obama, you have no one to blame but yourself.

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July 29, 2008

The Tubes reveal indictments

Sen. Ted Stevens (R - The Tubes) has been indicted. Which came as a huge surprise to those of us at McBlogger. Of course, we were all shocked (SHOCKED, I TELL YOU!) when Tom DeLay was indicted and everyone apparently knew about that like a week before.

Of course, we were having one of our famous month long party's at the time. And if you weren't invited there probably was a reason. And yes, we realize this will probably cause your anxieties to escalate and you'll want to cut yourself. We really don't care.

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McCaul gets pwn'd

A couple of boys are attending a school that a US Congressman doesn't like and labels a 'jihadist seminary' without knowing anything about it. He then makes sure, through some hitherto unknown mechanism available to members of Congress, that they are removed from the school.

Who would dare to violate the religious and intellectual freedom of Americans? None other than our own Republican Congressman, Mikey McCaul (R - ClearChannel). Regardless of how pro- or anti-American this school is, their FATHER sent them there. Why did McCaul feel a need to violate the wishes of a parent? Will he be stepping in to assist other children who don't like the schools they are attending? Maybe even beat up on parents for sending their kids to bad summer camps?

Finally, these kids were from ATLANTA, GEORGIA. Not Texas. It's great that Mikey can spend so much time working on violating the wishes of a parent who isn't even his constituent, but we'd love it if he'd start doing what WE, his actual constituents, would like him to do.

Mean Rachel has more and some video.

Oh, and it would be nice if you'd help us get rid of Mikey by throwing some support to Larry Joe!

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July 25, 2008

A Buttertroll, CradDICK and John Davis walk into a bar...

The more things change... John Davis is in trouble. Sherrie Matula is kicking his ass for being as useless as tits on a boar. She's outraising him and now little Johnny is starting to freak out. So bad, in fact, that he's requested none other than the electorally toxic CradDICK and Karl "Buttertroll" Rove to come to his aid. While they aren't good for votes, they're great for money.

So, we need to make sure Sherrie keeps in the advantage. Give what you can, even if it's a dollar, and let's help the folks in HD 129 get rid of this worthless bastard. Remember, change in one seat in the Lege may be the advantage we need to get rid of CradDICK and start rebuilding our State.

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July 22, 2008

Roundin' up the TPA

It is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up.

This week's round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

The Texas Cloverleaf asks if John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison want more HIV in the global pandemic? Our TX Senators were 2 of the 16 votes against the latest HIV/AIDS bill in the Senate this week that passed overwhelmingly.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on Diana Maldonado's great fundraising numbers in Diana Maldonado Has Almost 4 to 1 COH Advantage In HD-52.

WhosPlayin at WhosPlayin steped outside of his comfort zone a bit and commented on the Fannie and Freddie situation.

jobsanger blasts Republican attempts to allow offshore and ANWR drilling in Drilling Won't Make Us Energy Independent and in Bush Playing Politics With Oil.

The bar may be open, says TXSharon at Texas Kaos in Fire Water: With Compliments from EnCana, but if Encana's serving up the cocktails, it might be better to abstain.

McBlogger's own
Harry Balczak has a new recurring feature, href="http://www.mcblogger.com/archives/2008/07/harry_balczacs.html">Harry Balczak's Reminder To You People. In this edition, he'd like to remind Those Of You Who Just Couldn't Vote For Kerry that your decision was, well, pretty stupid. He is nice about it, though.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that poultry kingpin Bo Pilgrim paid to jet around Texas Governor Rick Perry's staff to promote the ethanol waver he bought and paid for with a $100,000 contribution to the Republican Governor's Association.

Mean Rachel contemplates whether Fannie and Freddie have anything to do with being raised in 78704, but living through young-adulthood in 78749 in Crashes.

The final word, for now, on the Webb County Sheriff's race says Martin Cuellar wins by 41 votes. Since the various 'official' totals for Cuellar have been +37, -133, +39 and finally +41, CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders what the h*ll happened!

Off the Kuff looks at the Harris County campaign finance reports and finds good news and not-so-good news for Democratic campaigns.

The Texas Observer's Melissa Del Bosque had an observation about one
of the panels at Netroots Nation this past weekend, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs had some observations about what she observed.

BossKitty at BlueBloggin shows us smuggling humans into the US is no problem at all; From Africa to Mexico to US, Any Way They Can Immigrate.

BossKitty as TruthHugger points out the continued struggle by our soldiers suffering from PTSD and the inadequate response by the incapable VA, in But, When They Come Home ….

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July 18, 2008

Harry Balczac's Reminder To You People, Part 1

Even though it's 2008, I'm still good and stewed over that dumb, dumb thing You People did in 2004 - all 62 million plus of you. (I won't bring up 2000 or what a smaller subset of You People did in '98 and '94, because I'm magnanimous that way).

So just to make sure You People don't do something similarly stupid this year, I'm introducing a new recurring feature from now until Election Day: Harry Balczac's Reminder To You People. In this series, I will periodically chime in with some reminder of the ridiculous sales pitches that duped all You People just four short years ago.

Hopefully, being made to inhale your own brain farts in this manner will build up your resistance to future campaign sophistry (a more accurate term would be McThuselan Bullshit or GOP Projectile DooDooBomb, but again, my magnanimity...). So without further ado, I bring you Installment One: "The Commander In Chief....Of T-Ball!!"

Remember when all You People were scared that terrorists were under the bed, but you felt safe because His Deciderness wore a fighter pilot uniform, and said "Bring it on" to the "Terr'rists", and swaggered a lot, and had his surrogates slander the other candidate who actually went into combat instead of playing hookie from stateside duty, and all You People positively SWOONED over what a strong, manly, Alpha-male Commander In Chief we had, like old-timey women who got the vapors while entertaining gentlemen callers in the parlor?

Well, the war in Iraq is still on, Afghanistan is still a festering Stage IV decubitis ulcer on the ass of the Asian landmass, Pakistan is getting worse in a hurry, the military is more demoralized than ever, but our Commander in Chief, who YOU PEOPLE elected, can't be bothered right now...because he's got a T-Ball game to officiate. Dana Milbank of WaPo has the story here.

Nero played the violin while Rome burned. Our commander-in-chief plays T-ball with a chipmunk. You People think about that.

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July 10, 2008

Thank you, Rick

Ladies and Gentleman, our candidate for US Senate...

“Many times throughout my lifetime I have sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. This isn’t a part-time Constitution. We as a nation cannot grant anyone sweeping amnesty if they break the rules. It's appalling that my opponent, John Cornyn, puts his special interest campaign contributors ahead of the Constitution. Texans have had enough.

Americans will not accept an abuse of power, and they will not accept corporations getting away with breaking the law.

We already have a law in place that balances national security concerns while adhering to the Constitution. This is not the time to compromise the privacy of the American people and not the time to disregard the Constitution of United States. I regret that the Senate has voted this way.”

Spot on, sir.

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FISA and the dumb things people do

Well, to start Digby has a good recap and some information on the folks who voted against cloture in the Senate. Obama's not one of them so don't freak out. He lost his balls in a tragic polling accident (well, tragic because he didn't have the huevos to stand up to a President with a 28% approval rating). The NYT ran a great op/ed about this but, sadly, the Republicans in the Senate decided to ignore it. As well as a minority of the Democrats.

A few thoughts...

The ACLU has already pledged to take this to court. Throw them some money and support, the same money and support you were going to throw to Obama. He'll win anyway but we can't afford not to stand up for our rights. Since it's clear he won't.

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July 07, 2008

Really, Boone?, TOD problems, $1 Trillion Deficit and more

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July 05, 2008

Take action on FISA

Well, as individual citizens who are not members of the US Senate, there's very little we can do to stop the freight train of telecom immunity and the ultimate effect of it, to protect Bush from ever having to answer for his illegal actions.

However, sometimes 'very little' is enough. Sign the petition here, donate a few bucks here and, if you're on Sen. Obama's campaign site, click here to ask him to join the filibuster.

Posted by mcblogger at 05:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Whining? No, this is ANGER.

I've heard from a brave few of you, and one of you posted, about my 'whining' about Obama's cave in on FISA. And Faith Based Initiatives. You're brave because you know I can be, to be perfectly honest, a little volcanic in response to criticism.

First off, let me make one thing perfectly, crystal clear. IT'S NOT WHINING. IT'S ANGER.

Let's make something else crystal clear, we live in a REPUBLIC. We elect officials to serve us. We do not need them to 'carry a banner', especially not on these issues. We need them to do the right thing and when they don't we express our displeasure in a number of ways. Finally, they are the ones we have placed in positions to effect change. If they don't do it, what the hell are we supposed to do?

These are Constitutional issues. There is NO compromise on them. This isn't a litmus test issue, like gay marriage, abortion or any of the other issues that people vote on. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL OUR LAWS AND OF OUR COUNTRY.

My question to you is why the hell YOU aren't as mad as I am. Make no mistake, this isn't about a lingering primary that still festering. This is about OUR candidate for President blithely agreeing with, even extending, some of the most ridiculous programs of the Bush regime.

I have been opposed to wiretapping since it was discovered in December, 2005. I have ALWAYS been opposed to faith based initiatives. I did not oppose these programs because they came from President Bush's rotten brain. I opposed them because they violated the Constitution of the United States (and, in the case of the wiretapping, because it was also a violation of federal law). I would have opposed them just as ardently had Bush been a Democrat. Integrity demands nothing less.

Take me to task over my very solid criticism? Like hell. Why aren't YOU fighting alongside me?

Posted by mcblogger at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

McCain attacks Obama

And this one wins the MOTO of the day award...

McCain typically leaves the sharpened criticism to others, in the hope of being able to claim the high ground of conducting a "respectful" campaign. But the abrupt shift in tone among his paid staff members, volunteer surr