The Hoopla about the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the same thing as “Obama-care” but a lot of people still don’t know that.  Polls show that people may like the ACA but don’t like Obamacare.  Go figure.

Systems speaking, there are always glitches and problems with new systems whether in the private sector or in government. As with most new systems, for the most part we have a parallel [health care] system running until the bugs are taken out of the new system.

I was not for the ACA, but I also recognize all the finger-pointing at the new system is yet another political avenue for those against it to rally together to create unnecessary attacks in the hope to somehow eliminate "Obamacare" but it will not happen that way.

The ACA is a major law that must now be continued and fixed along the way, until it is proven to be a bad law that does not help or work for the majority of people. When that happens it will be and should be removed from law by the very people it was supposed to help --- the voters.

Republicans and Democrats need to stop the in-house fighting for every issue under the sun. People need government to work for them and not for the benefits to elected and appointed officials and their special interests. That said, government needs to get out of regulating our daily lives. At the Federal, State and Local levels, government is dictating how we should live much more than it has in the past. It needs to stop.

Extremism at either end of the political and economic spectrums is what is destroying the America we once knew and loved. Once upon a time in America we used to work together, but that was then and this is now. There doesn't seem to be much hope that it will change soon.

A few words on Ted Cruz...

In my opinion, Ted Cruz is the defacto hero of the Tea Party crumpets and NOT the true Republican conservatives who don’t like him, but have taken a backseat to the Tea Baggers.  Cruz does well with extremist voters, especially those in Texas and other red states who are extremist in their view of being conservative republicans.  Rand Paul is an extremist Libertarian, not a Republican.

I think the result of having Cruz and others like him trying to take over the party is that there is a huge split in the Republican Party that most likely will hurt it in 2016, unless the party as a whole can form a cohesive unit around one candidate for President who is not an extremist.

I don’t know if the party will be able to do that, but it will be interesting to watch what happens.  Currently, red states do not have the majority electoral or popular votes as may be seen from the last Presidential election results.  Lucky us!

For a guy who is a double Ivy League college graduate, Cruz seems to be a fairly erratic and stupid man.  Instead of fighting the real battles, he chooses to manipulate people into focusing on what he wants them to.  Some of his disturbed focal points are that:

• Obama bad, Cruz good
• Obama-care bad, but he provides no positive replacement for it
• Cruz wants to be at the top of the party, but he is impatient and doesn’t want to play nice and take the usual steps to get there
• Cruz is loud, antagonistic and aggressive in his style
• Cruz is an attorney who does not want to play by the rules, only his own set of rules
• He attracts unintelligent, self-involved and aggressive people, maybe even grandiose people like himself.

Ted Cruz is a detriment to the Republican Party and to American citizens.  I think the majority of people see that, but that doesn’t make Cruz any less dangerous to our way of life.   He will continue to be a thorn in the side of the Republican Party and in time he may burn himself out of contention.  

If extremism becomes more of the Republican Party instead of true conservatism that the party was originally built on, true conservatives may leave the party or the Tea Party may become a real separate party onto itself.

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.

Texas is a Dictatorship!

Texas appears to be little more than a Dictatorship...

I am a centrist or centered Republican and I am not pro-abortion per se, but I am for right to privacy and for individual rights.  That said, I don't believe that women should use abortion as a means of birth control.  That's just wrong.

A few years ago Chinese officials made the choice to kill female babies when they were born as a means of birth control.  That was wrong.

What Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst did re: the "anti-abortion" bill by using heavy-handed political extremist tactics was also wrong.  Attorney General Greg Abbott has the same mentality.

If the state wants to educate women before and during their pregnancies, I'm all for it.  But for the state simply to dictate what women, their doctors and women's clinics must do is just damn wrong!

The state doesn't want outside interference in managing state affairs, but it is too quick to step in and regulate what the GOP and/or "Right to Life" and/or religious supporters want.  That's wrong.

The state doesn't want to regulate businesses in Texas, but it does want to regulate women, abortion clinics and public school districts.  That's wrong.

So, in Texas it seems that regulation is good when it is good for the extreme Republican majority, but not good otherwise.

However, there is no doubt that if the Democrats were in control of the legislature here in Texas, they also would have used heavy-handed methods to get what they want.

What I'm saying is that there is no room for extremist politics in Texas [or at the national level].  It is just wrong.

To push extremist politics on all the people is nothing more than a dictatorship, no matter what your individual beliefs are.  Few lawmakers seem to want to work together, to work on compromise and to arrive at more intelligent and rational decisions and resolutions.

That just seems more like a Dictatorship... and that's just wrong!

Get rid of the [Texas] School Board of Education

 School Board members are "irked" by the new school laws approved by the legislature.

The SBOE should "irk" all Texans and should be dissolved. The Board should NOT be empowered to make rules for all Texas school districts. The SBOE is little more than a politically motivated stopping ground for some of the most unintelligent individuals who then push for their special interest whims.

Place the management of Texas public education in the hands of each district to control themselves. Central governing seldom works. Perry and Texas legislators don't want Washington to tell us what to do, but we're okay with the centralist SBOE to govern and control all Texas school districts? Really?

We keep government out of controlling businesses in Texas, but we won't let schools control themselves?

Get rid of the SBOE and let school districts manage themselves. School-Based Management really works better.

One of AG Greg Abbott's first campaign ads for Texas Governor...

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and here's another one...

Extremist Politics Alive and Doing Well in Texas...

The Texas Anti-Abortion bill will be passed soon.   Along with the ridiculous Voter ID Law, Texas is now back in the Dark Ages.

So, welcome back to the 1950’s!  Seems we have quite a few McCarthy's in our legislature.

And before you point the finger that I am a liberal.... wrong!  I am a centrist Republican, not one of those extremist GOP Tea Party crumpet nut jobs infiltrating our government at all levels --- a REAL Republican.

Real Republicans are a faint glimmer of the past.  They believe in the basic GOP platform: less government in our lives, fewer taxes, rein in extravagant spending, and yet having compassion for all citizens and a high regard for the community good.  Those were the days, my friend.

It is just common sense that the above 2 laws attack individual rights, women, the elderly, the poor and majority community needs.

That said, there is no doubt that within a few years the Anti-Abortion and Voter ID laws will be overturned and removed.  It’s just a matter of time.

GOP extremists won the battle on these 2 issues, but NOT the war.

Extremists in either party will destroy themselves eventually.  Being more centered on most issues is best for the American people.

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.