Texas Governor Rick Perry Indicted!!!

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.  LOL



Rick Perry has been indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury re: abuse of power and coercion.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140815-gov.-rick-perry-indicted-on-charges-of-abuse-of-power-coercion.ece

It's about time Perry had to answer for some of his actions.

For the past 14 years Perry has been so protected by the Texas GOP machine.  No one could or would touch him.

Reminds me of how the Feds finally caught Al Capone.  They couldn't get him for all his crimes and murders, but they were able to do an "end around" and send him to prison for not paying his taxes.

Even if Perry escapes being imprisoned, the rest of his 6-month term of governor will be defending himself on the charges.  It also gives Perry a lot of unwanted national publicity.

Texans, please vote 'No' on Proposition 6 in 2013 November election

VERY IMPORTANT VOTING NEWS:

At first the words in Proposition 6 may sound very appealing, but the words do NOT give you the real facts.

"Texans for Public Justice provided a very helpful analysis today of the big money backing Prop 6.  It is another scam by businesses who are trying to buy this election to control the purse for water projects.  The two largest contributors are Associated General Contractors ($375K) and Dow Chemical ($250K).  Do you think they care about affordability or ensuring independent farming doesn’t completely tank in Texas after they move groundwater or flood agricultural land for wasteful reservoirs?"

The helpful organization Independent Texans also is AGAINST Prop. 6 and you can read about what the group and founder Linda Curtis says here.

I just completed early voting and definitely voted against Prop 6 because it's just another special interest ploy that will hurt most Texans.  I recall the last time Rick Perry galloped around Texas pushing for various propositions.  One of them was to ensure that preventing frivolous lawsuits would surely cut down on our medical costs.  Well, look around you folks... have your medical bills and health care premiums gone down???

No, they continue to escalate even without "the dreaded" Obamacare takes effect.

So, please vote a resounding "No!" on Proposition 6...  Thank you.

Rick Perry Marches On... to a 3rd Special Session

Rick Perry is demanding a 3rd Special Session.  Each of these cost taxpayers a minimum of $2 million.  It's amazing that we can't find money to finance public education, reduce property taxes or to build roadways, but Perry sure has enough money to piss it away on his not-so Special Sessions.

And it's not the first time Perry wastes our tax dollars on not-so Special Sessions.  Maybe 8 years ago he called for 3 Special Sessions to try to get a controversial redistricting map approved.  It never happened and finally the courts determined a map that has been batted around in the legislature and the courts to this day.

In fact, Perry has wasted more of our tax dollars on not-so Special Sessions than any previous Texas Governor.  We need to point that out to the American people when Perry begins his Presidential run, among all his other idiosyncrasies that could further destroy our nation.

A major issue that many people in Texas don't seem to understand is that those in charge of the GOP here are NOT the majority of the party. They are extremists, not the core of the Party.

While I have been a Republican since the Eisenhower administration, back in the 1950's, I am not in synch with the current GOP in Texas. The Tea Party appears to be in charge here, at least for a short time, but I believe the majority of Republicans are not on the same platform.

Consequently, there is a schism in the GOP of its members and that is a big reason why the Party can't pass bills, bonds, what have you, easily.

I believe that very soon there will be a coup within the Texas GOP. It has to happen because the GOP as it is today is useless. Most of what it tries to do is unconstitutional, so because of this, the Party then tries to add amendments to change the laws to permit its absurd direction.

At best, the Texas GOP is ineffective.  At worst, it is a corrupt and cancerous tumor.

Endless Extremist Leadership

I'm a centrist Republican (centered on most issues) and it burns me up how the Repugs will fight for THEIR agenda items without hesitation or respite, but continue to do so little for the majority of Texans.

I know both sides do the same thing because we live in a time where there is no middle ground and none of our leaders want to work towards a good future for all Texans, but it really disgusts me how little the community matters in the eyes of the opposite extremist running our state and nation.

We need to vote in people who can work well with each other to improve life for all Americans.

Still Building Unnecessary Toll Roads

Texas Pushing Through Special Interest 130 and MoPac Toll Roads and More

Toll roads in general are simply ridiculous. They create long term debt and 80 percent off the top of toll collections go to the company that builds and operates the road. They usually create other unforeseen issues, e.g., on 130 motorists are hitting feral hogs at 85 mph.

The 130 toll way is almost as absurd as the proposed MoPac (LOOP 1) "managed care lanes" that are being pushed upon motorists. The problems inherent on MoPac are not being resolved. Instead, TxDOT and toll authorities continue to push for toll roads to make revenue instead of figuring out what will really move traffic along congested areas.

Private road companies like CINTRA will pay states $1 or $2 million or even more up front to ensure that it is considered to build and operate future toll roads. Then, where does that money go to? We don't see a paper trail. Where do TxDOT and legislators put those big dollars? TxDOT "found" $130 MILLION to put into the MoPac managed care lanes while still crying that it has no money to repair roadways, build new ones or build an overpass, say for MoPac and Slaughter Lane or to resolve the decade-long congestion crisis at the Oak Hill ‘Y’ intersection and many other road area issues throughout Texas.

Texans are being scammed all the time and they should be plenty angry at officials. Tweaking lights at intersections at different times of the day would help the flow of traffic, but TxDOT and/or the Department of Safety don't do that. Capital of Texas Highway (360) needs authorities to close the side roads at various lengths of the highway to permit the reasonable flow of traffic; however, they won’t. Instead, they opt to make drivers more angry and frustrated so that they will go along with endless toll road projects Governor Perry and his special interests want.

Voter Photo ID Cards

Thinking people know better than to believe voter photo identification is needed to prevent voter fraud and with good reason. It’s not true.

There is a strong commitment particularly by ‘red’ states to push for voter photo identification. As minority populations, e.g., Hispanic, Black, etc., are significantly increasing in the south they are becoming the new majority and it will change the political structure and status for many years to come.  However, more than half of this population does not vote.

The political climate is changing slowly and the GOP is fearful of losing its tight hold on control.

Consequently, those currently in charge are going to do whatever possible to keep the larger and increasing minority populations [potential Democrats] from voting. Texas is one of the southern states that is trying to keep the political status quo. So, what better way to keep Hispanics, Blacks and other populations from voting than to create and push the platform to curb voter fraud by forcing voters to present voter photo identification cards.

The GOP has the most to lose since the minority-majority are NOT Republican nor potentially Republican voters. For now, “voter fraud” is the battle cry of the GOP in order to maintain its control.

However, if voter fraud was truly a significant platform, the GOP would do well to monitor more closely the integrity of voting machine and also the process of counting mail in votes.

So, the reality is that the GOP will continue to push for voter photo ID’s as a hope to maintain its power and control in an ever increasing minority population especially in the south cities.

While the ploy may work well in the short term, it is only a matter of time before the political status quo will change. Voter Photo ID cards are merely a postponement of inevitable political changes.

All that being said, if you want a photo ID system in place, fine, do it --- but don't make it an issue of Voter Fraud, because it is not.  And if you want to focus on Voter Fraud look at Voting Machine Integrity, the handling of mail-in votes and on those who are in charge of voting machines and the election process itself.

TxDOT is squawking again

In response to Ben Wear's Austin Statesman article "TxDOT says outsourcing highway maintenance could save millions, but previous pilot project fell flat"

 

We have learned during the past 10 years that what TxDOT has to say often means very little regarding the truth on various issues.

 

Mr. Wear makes some good points in the article, e.g., that TxDOT already has used private contractors to perform various highway and road building and maintenance. Unfortunately, more often than not, the work performed is not professional or quality oriented.