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Is Rick Perry calling in reinforcements of “his people”

August 25, 2011 in Texas and Texans

Citizens of Laredo Texas report sitings of UFO’s two nights in a row.

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    Update on Perry’s Fundraising status from the Texas Tribune

    August 24, 2011 in Texas and Texans

    New Fundraising Calculus Unlikely to Hinder Perry

    by Ben Philpott

    Texas Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry campaigns at the Iowa State Fair on Monday, two days after entering the race for the Republican nomination for President.
    photo by: Bob Daemmrich
    Texas Governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry campaigns at the Iowa State Fair on Monday, two days after entering the race for the Republican nomination for President.  With just five and a half months left before the Iowa caucuses, Gov. Rick Perry has little time to raise the money he needs to catch candidates who have been on the campaign trail for months.

    No problem, says Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, a follow-the-money political watchdog.

    Read the entire article at The Texas Tribune
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    NOTE:  The two very best sources on the Internet for in-depth coverage and information about Rick Perry are The Texas Tribune and The Texas Observer.  No other sources can even come close to the quality journalism and reporter excellence of these two sources–especially when it comes to reporting on Rick Perry and any issue related to Texas.

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      Speaking of the “Lessor Evils”, who might be the next Governor of Texas?

      August 21, 2011 in Texas and Texans

      Scene from “The Garden of Earthly Delights”  –Hieronymus Bosch

      In normal times, the next Governor of Texas would be the Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst.  After all, that is how Texans got Rick Perry in the first place.  He was the Lt. Governor who took over when Bush packed his carpet bags and headed for Washington D.C.  However, as any American can attest, these are anything but “normal” times. As it turns out, David Dewhurst is running for the U.S. Senate.

      Now what?  Well, according to Texas law the 31 Senators in the Texas legislature choose one of their own to fill both the positions.  Here are the choices in the event that both Dewhurst and Perry win:

      THE THIRTY ONE TEXAS SENATORS and/or We must be careful what we wish for because we may obtain it.

      Sorted by Name
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        Houston, we have a problem (with Rick Perry’s Prayer meeting)

        July 15, 2011 in Texas and Texans

        The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants Gov. Rick Perry enjoined from leading a prayer rally at the 71,000-seat Reliant Stadium on Aug. 6, saying it would violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

        The nonprofit plaintiff claims more than 16,000 members nationwide, “who are opposed to governmental establishment and endorsement of religion,” according to the federal complaint co-signed by five of its Houston members.

        “Governor Perry has declared August 6, 2011 as an official Day of Prayer and Fasting, a day on which all citizens are expressly encouraged by Governor Perry to pray to Jesus Christ; the Day of Prayer and Fasting has been declared by the Governor to coincide with the prayer rally,” the complaint states.

        Read he entire piece at Courthouse News Service

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          You might be surprised at the states having the most government transparency

          July 3, 2011 in Texas and Texans

          It’s not often that Texas or Arizona have bragging rights regarding their state governments, but when it comes to transparency, citizens who live in Texas and Arizona and feel like they are being shafted, can’t pretend like “they had no idea” because they can go online and find out.  In fact, both Texas and Arizona get a grade of “A” from U.S. PIRG. [U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being.

          MISSION STATEMENT:U.S. PIRG is an advocate for the public interest. When consumers are cheated, or the voices of ordinary citizens are drowned out by special interest lobbyists, U.S. PIRG speaks up and takes action. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight to end them, using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation. U.S. PIRG's mission is to deliver persistent, result-oriented public interest activism that protects our health, encourages a fair, sustainable economy, and fosters responsive, democratic government. ]

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          The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending checks corruption, bolsters public confidence, and promotes fiscal responsibility.

          State governments across the country have been moving toward making their checkbooks transparent by creating online transparency portals – government-operated websites that allow visitors to see who receives state money and for what purposes. Forty states provide transparency websites that allow residents to access databases of government expenditures with “checkbook-level” detail. Most of these websites are also searchable, making it easier for residents to follow the money and monitor government spending. [ from U.S. PIRG]

           

          See How the 50 States Rank In Providing Online Access To Government Spending Data

           

           

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            Following the Money 2011

            April 14, 2011 in Texas and Texans

            Following the Money 2011

            U.S. PIRG graded all 50 states on how well they provide online access to information about government spending.

            States were given “A” to “F” grades based on characteristics of their online transparency systems that provide information on contracts, subsidies and spending at quasi-public agencies.

            Read the report Following the Money 2011 and click here for a web tool displaying the report’s findings.

            In terms of transparency, among the states getting an A were Texas, Louisiana and Arizona.  On the map shown above the darker the color the better the grade.

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              Please tell Rick Perry and Republicans that killing jobs is no way to balance the budget

              April 6, 2011 in Texas and Texans, Uncategorized

              Don’t Mess With Texas Jobs


              Sign the Petition. Tell Rick Perry and the Republicans that killing Texas jobs is no way to balance the budget.

              For months, the casualties of Rick Perry’s political agenda have been discussed in detail. Nursing homes will be closed, classrooms overcrowded and victims of abuse ignored. Last week, the Republican-controlled Legislative Budget Board estimated that the proposed Texas House budget will cost our state over 335,000 jobs by 2013. Perry has claimed Texas added 230,800 jobs in 2010, but his head-in-the-sand budget policy would cost us over 100,000 more jobs than we added in 2010.

              These job losses are the direct result of a permanent structural deficit caused by Perry’s out of balance 2006 tax swap plan. Not only are cuts to education and health care a real threat to our economic future; cuts that kill over 335,000 jobs are a threat to our economy right now. It’s time to fix the structural deficit so that future budgets don’t require use of the Rainy Day Fund and find a reliable revenue stream to ensure schools are funded and basic needs of Texans are met.

              The Texas economy would be better served by losing a few Republican politicians’ jobs than by killing over 335,000 Texans’ jobs. Please sign the petition.

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                Stories from one of the most beautiful rags in the world–The Texas Observer

                January 22, 2011 in Texas and Texans

                If you are a Texan, please read these stories as they are sure to open your eyes.  The one titled “Lifestyles of the Rich and Corrupted” lifted the veil from my eyes.  Since moving to Texas, I’ve puzzled about how Texas legislators make it  on their annual salaries of $7,000. Then I found out that the legislature only meets on the odd numbered years and for only 140 days.  I didn’t realize until I read the article that Texas legislators are allowed to use campaign money to augment their lifestyles.  Under Texas law, legislators can legally use campaign money to pay for trips as long as they can somehow be connected to state business.  And the article by Melissa Del Bosque is one of a growing number of articles that are being written that inform us that poverty is a business that, like war, the rich and Wall Street profit from.  It’s disgusting.
                Foxes In the Henhouse shutterstock
                FOXES IN THE HEN HOUSE – by Melissa Del Bosque
                This article is the first in a series of stories called “The Poverty Business” about regulators and the industries that enrich themselves at the expense of Texas consumers.  MORE

                ****************************************************************

                Lifestyles of the Corrupt and Elected

                How do Texas legislators live large on their $7,200 salaries? Campaign funds pay for lavish perks and personal expenses, courtesy of special interests. If you’ve wondered as I have how Texas legislator make it on their $7,200 annual salaries, this will ‘splain a few things.

                Pool area at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, where Sen. Jeff Wentworth stayed in 2008. photo courtesy Beverly Wilshire Pool area at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, where Sen. Jeff Wentworth stayed in 2008.

                If you’ve wondered as I have how Texas legislator make it on their $7,200 annual salaries, this will ‘splain a few things.

                more

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                  How dirty are your politicians? The ones in Texas are filthy.

                  January 20, 2011 in Energy, Texas and Texans

                  If you are talking about MY politicians from Texas in regard to how much money that they get from dirty energy like oil and coal, then you are talking “booko bucks”.

                  John Cornyn (R-TEX) one of my Senators gets 88% of his campaign funds from dirty energy a whopping $1,906,460. Kay Bailey Hutchison is “only” half as bad at $2,002,214, but then if you consider percentages, she is even worse at 93% of all her funds from dirty energy. Sam Johnson at $294,674 is at 75%. Still it is outrageous to think that all of my representatives in Congress get well over more than half of their campaign money from dirty energy. AND do you wonder why Texas ranks #1 in Mercury pollution in the nation? Mercury is one of the by-products of coal firing plants. Texas has 19 coal firing plants.

                  Photobucket

                  IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE SIZE OF THE HANDOUTS THAT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON DC get from DIRTY ENERGY:  go here and in the header in the upper right corner type in your zip code.

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                    RICK PERRY IS A CHEAP DATE: ASK HAROLD SIMMONS

                    January 6, 2011 in Class War, Texas and Texans

                    Photobucket

                    IF YOU ARE A BUSINESSMAN LOOKING FOR CHEAP DATE, GIVE OLE RICK PERRY A HOLLER.  YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED.  He puts out on the first date.

                    Rick Perry is a cheap date, as are most politicians, if you consider what their financial supporters typically get out of the deal and the advantage it brings them to have a governor or DC politician in their pocket.

                    For example, Harold, for a mere $1.1 million spread over almost 10 years has secured a license (the only one in the state) to dump radioactive waste from other states as well as Texas.  The radioactive waste to be dumped near West Texas aquifers will be hot for tens of thousands of years.  The license granted to Harold Simmons waste control company is for a mere 15 years.  After that the Texas taxpayer will be left holding the bag for the expense of babysitting Harold and Rick’s mess. Think Harold gives a damn?  He will likely be dead by then.  He is almost 80 years old today.

                    Having Rick Perry in his hip pocket for a mere $1.1 million has saved Harold Simmons hundreds of millions of dollars AND let him off the hook for ongoing baby sitting of the radioactive waste that he is bringing into our state.  Over a period of 15 years Harold and/or his heirs will make billions off this investment.  After that the taxpayers from the state of Texas can foot the bill for babysitting his mess.  Yes you Tea Party yahoos, this is what your vote bought you: radioactive waste for your children to babysit for Harold Simmons and his heirs for  generations to come.  WELCOME TO THE ‘FREE’ MARKET FOLKS.  The part that the politicians forget to mention is that it is “free” for them and their friends, but not free for the rest of us.

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