Homescholers for Perry

Under the leadership of Rick Perry, we rank at the bottom of most categories of education including the following:

#49 in verbal SAT scores in the nation 
#46 in average math SAT scores
#50 Percent of Texans with a high school diploma
#33 Average salaries of public school teachers
#46 Per-pupil public school state funding,

Thanks to Blake Mitchell for the pic!

An Embarrassing Endorsement for Shami

Sometimes I have to wonder about the Mexican American groups in Texas. We are the fastest and largest minority in the State, yet we don't vote like we are, and then we make these real stupid endorsements:

Following a meeting on Saturday morning, the Mexican American Democrats (MAD) announced the group's endorsement of Texas Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Farouk Shami.

Steve Salazar, State Chair for the Mexican American Democrats of Texas, said that Farouk Shami's "willingness to sit down and listen, to talk to people about issues that affect us as a group-not only the economy and jobs, but also immigration and crime-led us to make this endorsement. He is inclusive of all people from all walks of life and can identify with those of us who were not born in the United States." Salazar added that the group felt Shami "represents to a lot of us what the American Dream is about: hard work, dedication to the community, and willingness to serve." 

This is embarrassing. It is no wonder we don't vote with endorsements like this. Next up for MAD? Endorsement of Kinky Friedman along with the Dallas Morning News.

Dallas Morning News to Endorse Shami and Medina

The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board must be smoking crack for endorsing Kinky Friedman in the Democratic Primary for Agriculture Commissioner. One thing the DMN didn't remember is that Friedman is not a Democrat. Never has been. Never will be. You would think if you were going to endorse a Democrat, endorse one that is actually a Democrat and one that knows something about what he is running for. Their endorsement of Friedman was nothing more than the following sentences:

Friedman, 65, of Austin, doesn't get into such details. He says he'd hire experts to hash out policy so he could concentrate on being a spokesman for family farms and kindness to animals. That's not a great model for the job, but a better one than Gilbert proposes. 

What is next for the DMN? Using their level of intelligence, I would expect them to endorse Farouk Shami who would pour money into consultants and hair care products so he could travel the world to bring jobs to Texas. Then they will endorse Medina who would find volunteer teabaggers to run the office of Governor and fend off an attack from the Mexicans. I mean, why the hell not? Here is the proposed writeup for Shami:

Shami, 65, of Houston, doesn't get into such details. He says he'd hire experts to hash out policy so he could concentrate on being a spokesman for his hair care products and kindness to animals. That's not a great model for the job, but a better one than White proposes. 

And one for Medina:

Medina, 23, of Poteet, doesn't get into such details. She says she'd hire experts to h\ash out policy so he could concentrate on being a spokesman for secession and kindness to animals. That's not a great model for the job, but a better one than Perry proposes. 

I've seen real thoughtless endorsements before, like endorsing Bush in 2004, but this one is incredibly stupid.

McCain: Teabaggers are Racists

Well color me surprised! Meghan McCain, the daughter of Senator John McCain called the Teabagger movement "innate racism" something that goes without saying. Also going without saying, but she said it anyway, is that the teabaggers are scaring away the youth.

"It's innate racism, and I think it's why young people are turned off by this movement," McCain retorted on The View.

"I'm sorry, but revolutions start with young people, not 65 year old people talking about literacy tests and people who can't say the word 'vote' in English," McCain added.

I have to agree. Who would want to teabag with a bunch of old, white, racist, republicans? Talk about Gross Old People! (GOP)

Shami Needs to Shadup

When trying to climb out of a hole, that you dug for yourself, sometimes the best thing to do is grab a ladder and shut up. This is what Farouk Shami should be doing right about now instead of insulting the very party he is trying to win the nomination from.

Clearly I don't say the Democratic Party, because they've been supporting one candidate because he's been a Democrat longer than me. That is not democratic. That's not in the Constitution. And that is not what people think. So it is not fair that the Democrat Party backs up somebody without listening to the other.

The Democratic Party, as a party, does not support any candidate until the primary is over. Members of the Party are free to what what they want, except to support a non-Democrat, which Shami seems to be moving toward. If Shami was so concerned about getting support from Democrats, maybe he should have been a Democrat before running for office as one.

Shami doesn't have a Democratic voting record, or a voting record for that matter. It's hard to run for the nomination of a party when you can't show, at the very least, you participated in their elections. Shami hasn't participated in the Democratic party. Again, if you are going to run, at the very least be part of the party and participate. And because of this he doesn't have any name recognition. Anywhere. Not even in the Houston area.

Shami is behind in the polls and for good reasons including sitting at the bottom of a hole he dug. He should quietly climb out without blaming others for digging it.

Power Watch: Electricity Rates for Feb 2010

Nothing has changed much. The lowest rate is 10.7 cents per kWh by Brilliant Energy for 12 months down from 10.8 from last month. The highest rate is 14.6 by Liberty for 24 months up from 12.8 last month.

TXU  and Reliant continue to charge more than the smaller companies. TXU is at 13.5 for a 12 month contract and Reliant is at 12.4.

The lowest month to month plan is at 8.8 with Dynowatt and the highest is 14.2 by Texas Power.

The lowest 100% renewable energy is at 11.7 by YEP and the highest is 14.4 by TXU.

Palin's Hand Job to Teabaggers.

Just how stupid can this lady be?

Sarah Palin was back in 10th grade biology class yesterday -- using cheat notes on her hand during the Q&A following her speech at the Tea Party Convention in Tennessee.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2010/02/07/sarah-palin-hand-cheat-notes-photo/#ixzz0etySJrtO

Wow. And to think the teabaggers are saying "She is just like me!". Like DUH! Literally.

LaRouche Hitler Youth Group CD22 Candidate

We have 3 very strange candidates running in the Democratic primary to challenge Pete Olson in CD22. One is a Libertarian. One has absolutely no clue. The other is a member of the LaRouche Hitler Youth Group, a far out (not left or right, just out) candidate. She, Keisha Rogers, is not a Democrat but that doesn't stop her from running as one. Here is Congressman Barney Frank having his way with a LaRouchey.




CD22, the former district of Tom DeLay loves republicans. In 2008 they voted for Pete Olson who replaced a ranking Democrat, Nick Lampson, on the Science Committee in charge of NASA. Lampson would have been the chair of the Committee, instead voters replaced him with Olson, a space rookie. NASA's Constellation program has since been canceled in the 2011 budget, but at least CD22 has a republican Congressman.

Rogers ran for the Chair of the Texas Democratic Party in 2006. I think she got 20 or so votes from her Hitler Youth members. You might see the members standing in front of a post office handing out worthless LaRouche magazines complaining about something someone is doing and calling for interplanetary trade. (I am serious!) LaRouche people are good at complaining, but nothing else.

They tend to be young, but misguided. They would rather complain in front of a Post Office instead of walking door to door for a candidate. They also like to carry around pictures of Obama pictured as Hitler. Keisha is also calling for the impeachment of the President. Why? Who knows.

Regardless of who wins the primary, neither has a clue about running a campaign. There is a good reason why no good candidate wants to run in CD22. These candidates obviously do not know about this little secret.

Raising Campaign Cash from Bob Perry in 2009

It's not a record for Homebuilder, Bob Perry, but it is a very large chunk of money.

Perry donated $2,076,405 in 2009 including $205,000 to Democrats and $1,871,405 to Republicans and Republican causes. Attorney General Greg Abbott received $200,000, Lt Governor Dewhurst $100,000, $300,000 went to Governor Rick Perry, and $30,000 to new comer, Addie Wisemen. Addie is a former City Council Member of District E (Clear Lake and Kingwood) She is running for State Representative in the Kingwood area.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform received a lump sum of $250,000. TLR acts like Perry's personal front group working to keep Perry and the home building industry from being held responsible for their actions. The donations to Governor Perry and others couldn't stop the abolishment of Perry's Texas Residential Construction Commission. The spreadsheet can be downloaded here.

In 2008 Perry donated over $4Million:

Whether the tail is wagging the dog is for others to decide, but the facts concerning Perry's donations are clear. In 2008, Perry donated $4,238,250. $364,000 (8.5%) was donated to Democrats. 

Teabaggers: Illiterate African Americans Elected Obama

One of the Teabagger Nation keynote speakers was former Republican Congressman and candidate for Klucker of the year, Tom Tancredo. Tancredo's hatred for immigrants have overflowed to African Americans in his speech to the Teabagger Convention.

In his speech Thursday to attendees, former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo invoked the loaded pre-civil rights era buzzword, saying that President Barack Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."

Of course this type of speech fit well with the angry white republican crowd, all 600 of them, which for a national convention was a tad small, probably due to the $500/head price tag. Most of this will go to Sarah Palin who will follow the racist comments of Tancredo with her soothing high pitch squawking and also to.

Republican Teabaggers are the worst of the right. The party of Tancredo, Palin, and Nugent. The Ku. The Klux. The Klan.

How to Search the Texas Ethics Commission's Database

Over the last few years we have posted a series titled "Spending Campaign Cash" and a few "Raising Campaign Cash" highlighting what our elected officials in Austin are doing with their donors money. Many are following the laws of the Texas Ethics Commission while some have been spending their donors money on personal items such as custom made cowboy boots, condos, cars, and football tickets. Many of these violations have disappeared after a few citizens took action that the TEC should have done.

So, how do you search the TEC website to find out what your elected official is spending your donations on? Browse to http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/php/cesearch.html. It is not the easiest search tool. First put the last name of the individual into the search engine at the top of the page. Hit enter to the right of the name.

The next page will have a listing of those with the last name. Copy the Filer ID and return to the first page. Now scroll down to the Advanced Search area. If you want to get a report on all expenditures select "Expenditures" in the transaction type block. And select "All Years" in the "Year" block. Now scroll down a bit further and copy the Filer ID into the block labeled "Filer ID".

You will notice that there are alot of options available for you to use, but I found the results unreliable. Downloading the entire data into a spreadsheet is much easier to manipulate and use.

Now go to the bottom of the page and select the "Excel" button. This will give you an Excel spreadsheet with all the expenditures for the elected official with the corresponding Filer ID. When you open the spreadsheet you will have to convert the date and money columns to data/currency. Usually they are just in text format. I usually remove the first header line then make the conversions.

It is that simple. Now sort on the date, or any other column to find the data that you want.

Best Radio Ad Yet Against Rick Perry

Finally Hutchison puts out a radio ad that doesn't sound like a Whataburger commercial, although this one you have to wait for the punch line till the very end:

Every 4 years you vote for Rick Perry. Then for the next 3, you wonder why you did.

Want some fries with that?

US Supreme Court's New Robes have Arrived!

Dear Obama on Don't Ask Don't Tell

Dear President Obama,

Would you please sign a damn executive order and get rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell and get it over with? Quit talking about it. Quit mentioning it. Quit studying it. Just be a damn leader and do it.

This country has so many more important issues to deal with like the economy, the job market, and the two wars we are fighting and yet you have wussed out on this issue for over a year. Sign a &^%damn executive order, repeal it, and move on.

If anyone doesn't like serving in the military that is open to all American citizens, then they can get out of the military and go do something else with their lives. Quit being a wuss and just do it.

John.

Moving Texas Forward: Bill White on Education

Even Britians Think Texans Suck

This is sad.

The BBC has questioned why people in the United States continue to vote against their best interest using Texas as a prime example of the ignorance in the health care debate:

In Texas, where barely two-thirds of the population have full health insurance and over a fifth of all children have no cover at all, opposition to the legislation is currently running at 87%.

Needless to say, I have been critical of those who continue to vote for republicans who have ruled Texas for over 10 years, while their insurance rates triple, their electricity rates have doubled, their college education bills skyrocket, their air and water are the most polluted in the country,  their rights to the courts have been taken awary, their homes are taken for toll roads, and their great State ranks last in many categories. But, at least they got a $200 tax cut and it seems that is all that matters to these simple minded people.

Ignorance is an extremely powerful political tool and the republican party has been very effective in channeling this ignorance for their re-elections. It is like clubbing a baby seal as they look up at you waiting for the thump of a tax cut. They believe the club and the republicans are good for them. You have to hand it to the republicans, they are good at clubbing the ignorant.

During the Bush administration, the United States became the laughing stock of the world. Thankfully for some, Texas has now taken over that position. Even the Brits think we are stupid.

Texas Teabaggers Ground NASA

Well you Teabaggers wanted less government, you got less government. President Obama calls for the end to the Constellation program in his 2011 budget.

Obama also kills his predecessor's signature space program to return astronauts to the moon. NASA had already spent $9.1 billion on the program, which was projected to cost $100 billion by 2020.

During the last Administration you enjoyed spending money like a drunk prostitute on two wars, bailouts to the banks, tax cuts to the rich, adding $5 Trillion to our debt. Once your party was out of power, you called for cuts to Government spending and now you got it. Congratulations.


You couldn't help us when Bush called for a mission to Mars, to the Moon, and to create a new vehicle, without any new money to pay for his $700 Billion adventure. No you sat on your hands hoping to pull money out of your ass. You couldn't have helped us in 2002 when Bush took a $250 billion surplus and turned it into a $450 billion deficit. No, you sat on your hands. You couldn't help us when Bush call for the invasion of Iraq at a cost of $1 Trillion. No, you sat on your hands. You couldn't help us while Bush added $5 Trillion to our debt. No, you sat on your hands. And now you finally start yelling about "our children's future" and calling for cuts in spending? Now that your party  and Bush is out of power?


Well you got it. While we expand our military spending to over $600 Billion, we will cut programs such as NASA. This is your fault. This is your wish. Own it.


Short sighted, ignorant, bastards.

Why Would Anyone Buy a Pulte Home in Texas?

In San Antonio over 25 homeowners have felt the devastation from buying a new home in Texas, this time from Pulte Homes. Pulte merged with Centex in 2008 taking on the liability of these homes that are literally sliding down a hill. This major screw up has received national attention. From the Washington Post.

No one has been injured, but about 80 homes were evacuated on Sunday after a resident in the northwest side subdivision reported that his backyard was sliding down hill. By Monday afternoon, residents in about 55 of those homes were allowed to return after inspections and soil monitoring found them to be safe,

What They Could Lose

No matter how much stabilizing Pulte will do on these foundations, the owners will have a difficult time finding a buyer at a reasonable price. Those in the surrounding area will also feel the impact if these homes remain on the hill. Property values will plummet, buyers will boycott. Who would knowingly risk their life savings and investment in that subdivision?

The homeowners could be in litigation for years while they live in an apartment and paying their mortgage. Or worse they could end up in arbitration with a low ball judgement. Eitherway, it's not good for these families.

What Pulte Should Do
Texas Builders are known for waiting till the media circus is over then low balling the homeowners or just ignoring them until they just give up. If Pulte had any shred of decency, they would buy back the homes on the retaining wall, give the owners moving expenses, and 20% of the home value for inconvenience and let these homeowners move on with their lives. The homes should be leveled, the retaining wall fixed, and a playground or park install on the property.

Blame the Victim
If history is any indication, it will be just a matter of time before the home building industry attacks the homeowners. The Executive Director of the Texas Association of Builders (TAB) has already blamed them for signing a contract with an arbitration clause. Next they might make comments like "They should have known what they were buying." Blaming the victims for buying a new home in Texas is what they do best when confronted with an indefensible issue. Much like blaming a rape victim for walking down the wrong street.

Why Buy From Pulte?
With this Pulte disaster and the lack of consumer protection why would anyone buy a Pulte home in San Antonio or in Texas again? Besides forcing a buyer into binding arbitration for any defects, including sliding off a hill, Pulte has a history of questionable construction. From the KENS TV in San Antonio.

Koenig is not the only one using the Web to document complaints against Pulte. "Poorly Built by Pulte Homes" is a website run by Building Justice, a Washington, D.C.,-based group hoping to unionize Pulte's workforce.

Caryn Klebba, a spokesperson for Pulte and Centex, says the company is aware of such sites.

"Everyone is entitled to state their opinion," she said. "We try to reach out to them and help them. But you can't fix everyone's issues. I think our reputation speaks for itself."

Yes. I think Pulte's reputation does speak for itself.

One too Many Candidates in Democratic Gov. Debate

While some and others on the net think that the 7 candidates running for Governor on the Democratic side should be invited to the debate on Feb 7 on KEDA (Kee Duh), I think there are 6 too many. I'm not even sure why Bill White would need to debate Farouk Shami who has no idea what he is doing, or what he would do as Governor. (Much like Debra Medina)

And the others, who I can't even name, are as irrelevant as the candidates running for Congress in District 22.Who are they and who really cares?

Including every unknown candidate (including Shami) wouldn't be a mistake. It would be stupid. If this was a debate for High School President, it might be a good thing, but this isn't a liberal twister game we are playing. White vs Shami is bad enough.

Oh....the picture above is one of the 6 besides Shami who doesn't know what the hell he is doing running for Governor.

Surprise Winner in Republican Debate: Wayne Slater

Congratulations to the surprise winner in the Governor's debate between Rick Perry, Kay Bailey, and Medina, and that winner is Wayne Slater of the Dallas Morning News.

Wayne not only asked more questions, he answered more questions than the candidates. Perry at times was irritated and mad at Slater while Kay looked puzzled, and Medina was puzzled. Neither candidate provided straight answers or discussed anything important to the future of Texas such as education, insurance, electricity, or the sad state of our government. Instead they kept talking about the dead, such as the Trans Texas Corridor, and the past. Nothing new. Nothing the average person is interested in.

So, the winner is Wayne Slater for Texas Governor!