First off, vacation was great! Awesome! If you haven’t explored the Pacific Northwest, as I had not prior to this trip, you definitely need to make it up there. Hey, I actually saw a couple of gray whales in the wild! How about that? And did you know that we have a rainforest in the U.S.? I didn’t, until I drove through one. Weird, huh? If you are so inclined, and have a Facebook account, you can see a few of my pictures by clicking here.
Houston Votes, Leo Vasquez, Wing-Nut Lefty Bloggers
Wow, leave it to Leo to let the stuff hit the fan as soon as I leave town. He holds a press conference, laying out factually correct information about thousands of fraudulent, incomplete, and duplicate voter registration cards turned in by Houston Votes and BAM! Democrats are on him like white on rice. Can I still say that?
Heck, even the Texas Democratic Party jumped into the fray, tying that partisan knot around Houston Votes’ neck even tighter. Give me a day or so to put more thought into this but good grief, if there was ever a case of jumping the shark, the lefty bloggers in Houston politics have jumped it. Good lord almighty, they even surmise that Republicans must have burnt those voting machines to keep Democrats from voting. The last thing Republicans want is for a return to the fraud of paper ballots, you remember those days, don’t you? You know, when those heavy Dem precincts suddenly “found” 100 or so ballots that were misplaced? Mmm, hmm, you sure do, don’t you? No one with a connected cerebral cortex would think that Republicans would want that to happen again.
Day of Reckoning for Terry Lowry?
Heh, someone finally filed a complaint against the proprietor of the Link Letter, an rag used in Republican primaries which have led some to say that you have to pay for an ad if you want an endorsement. Never having tried to get an endorsement from the rag, I don’t know if that is true or not but I do know that the success record of the Link Letter and a couple of other similar rags makes for a weak Republican ticket in November.
As for the complaint, the basis of it is the same as I outlined in this post from March 2nd, to wit, you cannot charge different prices to different people for the same amount of ad space. We’ll see how it plays out: Mr. Lowry has been doing this a long time and will not roll over easily.
This actually came out the week before I left but I ran out of time to mention it. I did speak with the person that filed the complaint and his only comment was, no comment. Actually, when I asked him why he filed it, he said “it should be apparent”. Well, no, it isn’t. Because I don’t get the connection between the Mexican American Democratic Party Legislative Caucus and Harris County Republican primary politics. But then, I’m dense that way. Perhaps the goal of the caucus was to roil Harris County Republicans right before the election but if so, that is stupid because Terry Lowry and his ilk are irrelevant in the general election. As in, they mean nothing and have no role, other than giving Republicans a weak hand to play. If you want to view the complaint, click here .
Eversole to be Indicted?
Well, that rumor has been around for awhile and Mr. Eversole even said at one point that he thought that he would be indicted. The rumors are now flying hot and heavy that he will be indicted before the end of September. I give these rumors more credence than normal because they are coming from multiple, disparate sources and people “in the know” are vetting potential replacements. We’ll see come October 1st, won’t we?
Tomball Council Member Plans to File Immigration Ordinance
Click2Houston reports that Tomball Councilman Derek Townsend says he is going to file an ordinance preventing illegal aliens from renting apartments and homes in the city. I don’t think these ordinances have worked well but you can sense the frustration of citizens and elected officials alike as the economy continues to slide and little is done about the problem of illegal immigration. I doubt that Gov. Rick Perry is happy with stories like this or Rep. Debbie Riddle’s daily tirades but the reality is that illegal aliens become an easy target in times like this.
AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic
In case you missed it, the AFL-CIO held its annual Labor Day picnic in Pasadena over the weekend. And once again, pickings were slim in finding Republicans willing to go into non-traditional places to find votes. Fortunately, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett isn’t afraid of growing the party and was there with good presence – his signs were the first ones I saw inside the gates. I missed seeing him, he was in the judging tent eating pork ribs. Nice gig if you can get it! Although I didn’t see any signs, I heard that Judge Dan Hinde was there on Sunday judging the brisket.
It takes more than talk to win voters. You have to get out and talk to them, let them know your issues. Sure, these are union votes and no, Republicans in general don’t like unions. I know this because I get criticized every time I defend unions. The problem isn’t that employees band together, the problem comes about when unions mix with politicians and pass laws that restrict the free flow of labor. In Texas, we have it just right – you can join a union if you want but you aren’t forced to. Let’s keep it that way and Texas will continue to grow. Pass laws that force people to join unions and BAM!, Texas will suffer.
But even if a candidate has some philosophical bent against unions, he or she should remember that these are not lock step voters. They understand the price of high taxation just as well as anyone else. Tell them about Gene Green’s vote to do away with their jobs and they will understand that. Show them that their health care costs will increase even as their health care quality decreases under the Obama healthcare finance reform and they will get it.
But they can’t “get it” if we don’t tell them. Kudo’s to Judge Emmett and Judge Hinde for getting out there and pushing the Republican brand.
Of course, I said the same thing last year, so I don’t hold out high hopes for the near future. Still, with solid Republican leadership such as that shown by Judge Emmett, there my yet come a time when we’ll get to see Republican State delegate and rib smoker deluxe Justin Jordan winning the pork rib category. In the meantime, Justin….just sayin’.
And speaking of Labor Day, while I was walking around Seattle, I came upon a moving monument to the labor movement:
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Yeah, yeah, I know. No, that isn’t the average time it takes a union member to swing a hammer! Honest! The movement only stops on…Labor Day! That’s right, they give it a rest, just like a real laborer. Well, some real laborers anyway.
Renew Houston / Red Light Cameras
Two SPAC’s have been formed to fight Renew Houston’s open ended taking of taxpayer money with no accountability. One is called, appropriately enough, Tax Payers for Financial Accountability. Another is a group headed by Bruce Hotze and Paul Bettencourt. I’m not sure what the name of their group is, if you know, let me know. Mr. Hotze does have a web page up but it looks like it is in preparation for a run at something, presumably mayor. I wish both groups the best of luck in stopping this monstrosity of a tax increase. Have they ever heard of moderation and telling us what they want to spend the money on?
I see that the pro-Red Light Camera group has filed a lawsuit to keep the citizens of Houston from voting on the proposition forwarded by the Kubosh brothers. There is so much revenue involved, you knew that these companies wouldn’t go down without a fight. Apparently, they think the best fight is none at all. Stupid citizens, what do they know, right? Mattress Mac should be ashamed that he is funding this crap.
That’s a wrap for now. Lots and lots of events coming up, if you have one that I haven’t put on the calendar, let me know.