whitlesshumorings

Millionaire Tax Cuts

2010-12-08T14:31:00.002-06:00

This pretty much sums up my feelings about the Presidents capitulation on the Bush tax cuts.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don "No you can't" Sumners UPDATE w/ video

2010-12-07T12:10:00.003-06:00

So we all known that back on November 3rd Democrats took a shellacking. In that carnage we lost a chance to bring back integrity and competence to the Tax Assessors office (also the Harris County Voter Registrar) with Diane Trautman. Instead, we got this:

The county's new voter registrar is ending a longstanding agreement that allowed the League of Women Voters to register more than 1,000 voters a month without issuing them receipts for their voter registration applications.

Don Sumners, who as tax assessor-collector is in charge of voter registration in Harris County, said Monday that technically the League's voter registration activities at monthly naturalization ceremonies are illegal without the receipts.

Way to go Don! Not only is this a boneheaded move but it's probably illegal. From Harris County Democratic party chair, Gerry Birnberg, via Carl Whitmarsh's listserv:

The minute I learned of this Sunday night, I sent an e-mail to the county attorney's office protesting that this appears to be a pretty clear violation of the Voting Rights Act and urging them to contact Mr. Summers immediately to remind him that any change in the way voter registration activities are undertaken in this county require preclearance from the Voting Rights Section of the Department of Justice, and that if he failed to seek or obtain same (as I am confident he has failed to do), he is in violation of federal law and the judgment of the federal court and exposing the county to significant liability.

I understand that the problem relates to Mr. Summers' change of prior procedures to refuse to staff the swearing in ceremonies with a county official who can take possession of the applications on the spot.

It is very disappointing -- though not particularly surprising -- that Mr. Summers' first act as Voter Registrar is to (a) violate federal law and (b) reduce rather than expand voter registration -- and this of newly naturalized citizens.

All the hoop and hollering about voter fraud in the last couple years from the right pale in comparison to this blatantly partisan move on the part of this newly elected teabagger.

Kuff has more and so does KHOU:

Don "I was Tea Party before the Tea Party was cool" Sumners is political hack with an agenda to politicise the office even more so than it was before. Just check out his GeoCity esque website.

I have also attached the letter form Mr. Sumners to the Houston Area League of Women Voters.
LetterfromSumners

City Hall Shakeup

2010-12-07T09:45:00.006-06:00

What's going on down there at City Hall?

Mayor Annise Parker has parted ways with two major conservatives on the Houston City Council, removing Councilman Mike Sullivan from his role overseeing redistricting and accepting the resignation of Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck as mayor pro tem.

The development, which stems, in part, from a recent spat over who would be appointed to serve as a Port of Houston Authority commission member, comes at a critical time for Parker, who is about to confront three issues that are expected to greatly test her ability to rally the council's support.

Passing an extremely tight 2012 budget, a drainage fee mandated by popular vote and redrawing the lines of City Council boundaries could become far more difficult as her allies dwindle at City Hall.

Lot's of tough choices coming down the pipe for the Mayor and Council one of which is highly partisan (redistricting). I don't blame the Mayor for removing Sullivan from overseeing redistricting and I agree that if she can't trust him to keep his word on the Port Commission vote then how can she expect him to be a trusted voice when redistricting comes to the forefront next year.

Anybody want to take a guess who the next Pro-Tem will be? My guess is Costello.

A return to the blogosphere

2010-12-05T14:26:00.009-06:00

"Then most important political office is that of the private citizen" - Louis Brandeis

It's been almost a year since the last time I posted anything on this blog and to be honest I haven't really missed the day to day grind of trying to figure out what to write about. One of the reasons I wanted to start this thing was first and foremost to develop a voice in this crazy mixed up world that we like to political punditry and analysis. And secondly, to somehow in my own little way make a difference.

Quite frankly though, I soon realized it was a bit more than that. Collectively, during the 2009 Houston Mayoral race, local political blogs that I had read for years soon became a legitimate force in shaping the trajectory of the message in the final weeks of the campaign. In a time when newspapers and TV stations see increasingly smaller budgets to cover politics on a local level we now have a pajama wearing force of journalistic novices taking the fight to the man and attempting to driving home the message.

Unfortunately the Democratic message was lost in this last election. People (voters) forgot that all politics are local. It is your local representatives to your city, county and state government that have the most influence on our daily lives. We have allowed the idea to get stuck in peoples minds that the goings on in Washington DC have more effect on our day to day lives than our school board members or the local city council. This among many other things is why I hope to be a vocal voice in that ocean of other opinions that sticks out and makes you second guess what you thought you already knew.

I can't promise you that I will be as active as I once was on this thing but I can promise that I will keep it real and if you find my judgement lacking or in need of correction please let me know. Because in the end we are all just trying to do our part in shaping the direction of our collective future.

From the party that brought us Sarah Palin

2010-02-02T13:00:00.006-06:00

A new poll released today pretty much sums up my thoughts on the recent purging of intellectuals in the Republican party; there are none left.

From the Huffington Post via DailyKOS:

39 percent of Republicans believe Obama should be impeached, 29 percent are not sure, 32 percent said he should not be voted out of office.

36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.

31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "Racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck. 33 percent were not sure, and 36 percent said he was not a racist.

63 percent of Republicans think Obama is a socialist, 16 percent are not sure, 21 percent say he is not

24 percent of Republicans believe Obama wants "the terrorists to win," 33 percent aren't sure, 43 percent said he did not want the terrorist to win.

21 percent of Republicans believe ACORN stole the 2008 election, 55 percent are not sure, 24 percent said the community organizing group did not steal the election.

23 percent of Republicans believe that their state should secede from the United States, 19 percent aren't sure, 58 percent said no.

53 percent of Republicans said they believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.

I'm not really sure how to react to this news other then Republicans are idiots. Enough said.

And the winner is....Houston

2009-12-13T12:06:00.010-06:00

I don't think that last nights results have begun to set in yet so I will reserve my commentary to a minimum. As the Bloggateers sat waiting in anticipation of last nights results we could not help but worry when we saw the early vote totals come in, they were just too close for comfort. Visions of defeat were not far off because after all we had all stuck our necks out there in support of Annise Parker.

Personally, I spent election day at head-quarters receiving election poll vote totals from Annise's army of volunteers. It became clear around 3pm that we were going to win but elections are not an exact science so the campaign continued to push and push and push even harder because in the end you don't want to say that you didn't do enough. The end result was a victory not just for Annise but for Houston and the rest of this state.

A big shout out needs to go to the crack field team the campaign assembled including Ward, Sanjay, Joe, Jerry, Maggie, Kate, Katie (the first round), Hannah, Lindsay and Nelson (both former Peter Brown staffers). I know I'm probably forgetting someone but if I am you know who you are. Without you guys(and gal's) Annise could not have done it. You all deserve every ounce of credit, y'all ran an unbelievable campaign.

It was an honor and privilege to work alongside my fellow bloggers. Myself being new to the whole blogger thing people like Martha, Kuff, John Greg and Stace all welcomed me with open arms and great advice.

One of the things I must point out before I end this post is the utmost respect that I have for not only my fellow Bloggateers but also for the unbelievable outreach and support from the Parker campaign. People like Adam Harris (Campaign Manager), Sue Davis (Communications), Jeri Brooks (Communications Director) and Justin Concepcion(Social Media) all put their trust in us. I have NEVER seen anything like it. It really does say a lot about how Annise will operate as Mayor; open and transparent.

Thank You Annise and Thank you Houston! And now on to some good governing.

UPDATE: I can't believe that I forgot about the great finance team led by Gilbert Garcia, David Arpin, James Cardona, Jenn Char and Bren Gormen. They did and AMAZING job raising nearly $3.5 million from more than 8000 individual donors in the last year. Without them there would be no campaign.

Ned Holmes get's thrown under the bus

2009-12-08T19:51:00.003-06:00

The dominoes are falling after the big smoking gun was discovered yesterday that Gene Locke's finance chair Ned Holms gave $20,000 to Steven Hotze's PAC. Today in an interview with KHOU's Lee McGuire Locke stated:

"I didn't know this flyer was going to come out," Locke said. "I had no knowledge of it prior to that.... I was not involved in any of those discussions. There was no coordination or cooperation between my campaign and that mailer at all. Any insinuation or suggestion that there was is simply false."

We know that Gene sought the endorsement of Hotze a while back. And we now know that he solicited Gene for money in turn for the endorsement. Allan Blakemore (Hotze's political consultant) said in a statement to McGuire that:

"absolutely we solicited the donations. We said we'd like to publicize our endorsement of Mr. Locke and we asked if they would like to help us. They did not review the flyer first," he said.

So now we have Blakemore stating that there was some level of communication between the two camps in regards to the endorsement/mailer. What else needs to be said?

Gene is either continuing to spin a yarn and misleading the public or he's lost control of his campaign. I refuse to believe that there was no communication or blessing from the powers that be inside Gene's camp. The guys running Gene's campaign are pros and pros don't allow this sort of thing to go down with knowing. If anything this is a prequel to what we might expect from a Gene Locke administration. It's time to come clean Gene.

For some more background and the Parker campaigns response check Lee's story out.

The Gene Locke Steven Hotze connection

2009-12-07T17:03:00.012-06:00

Well, we have been complaining about the Locke-Hotze connection for the last couple of months and now we have proof. According to the Conservative Republicans of Harris County latest finance report Ned Holmes (Gene's Finance Chairman) and Jim Dannenbaum (a member of Gene's finance committee) both gave $20,000 each to the PAC. This is the smoking gun. This is the proof that has been missing to connect Gene and Hotze the hate monger. Gene likes to say that he's against all this divisive campaigning but all along has misled the public about his dealings with this man. It's time for Gene to Come Clean and apologize for the hate that he has inserted into his Mayoral campaign.

NO matter how the Locke campaign tries to spin this the proof is there. Somebody like Holmes does not jump unless you tell him to. There is absolutely no way that these guys went rouge and did this on their own. Somebody within the campaign had to have told them to do this and if they didn't then how in the hell can we trust Gene Locke to handle the city's business.

See for yourself.

UPDATE: Bay Area Houston,Dos Centavos and Kuff have more. And for any naysayers that say this is a fraudulent report check out the Texas Ethics Commission website.

http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/php/filer.php?acct=00028384gpac

Annise Parker leads 42-36 in Latest Poll

2009-12-06T00:25:00.003-06:00

Considering that most politicos in town don't really have a life right now it seems fitting that I would write a post at 12:30 in the morning on a Saturday. The Chronicle and Zogby interactive have their latest poll out that shows Annise Parker leading Gene Locke 42-35 outside the margin of error(+/- 4.1%). I will wait to dive into the numbers until tomorrow but I thought that my readers should have a look at the internals of the poll that I snagged from the Chronicle's Political Blog section earlier tonight. Take a look for yourself and tell me what you think. Have at it.

ZobgyPoll

Zobgy Internals

Gene Locke's Republican Heavy Hitters

2009-12-04T21:35:00.014-06:00

I am a self-proclaimed political nerd and I look forward to scouring through various candidates finance reports. Well today the City of Houston uploaded the 8 Day reports for all the candidates in the various runoffs for December 12th.

After some lite reading I discovered an interesting payment by the Gene Locke campaign to a political consulting group by the name of The Election Group LLC. a subsidiary of the Eppstein Group. Why do I point this out you may ask. It turns out this firm and its parent company is run by some guys by the names of Bryan Eppstein and Keats Norfleet.

Lets start with Bryan Eppstein, from Texas Watchdog:

The Fort Worth political strategist helps elect politicians at every level in town, who turn right around and rubber-stamp his lucrative business deals. But now the powerful consultant may have invented an even cozier arrangement: using his lobbying client to provide aid and comfort for his political one in one of the most hotly contested races in Texas.

Did they say lobbyist? Sounds familiar right?

He works effectively on behalf of his clients, and in return they pay him handsomely and give him a political handout.For example, two years ago, he helped elect Jim Lane and Marty Leonard to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board. Soon after, the board turned around and gave Eppstein two no-bid contracts for crafting a public relations strategy for its half-billion dollar plan to redirect the Trinity River as it meanders through downtown Fort Worth.

That's enough on the primary benefactor of this group so lets move onto Mr. Norfleet. From the Quorum Report from earlier this year:

The Election Group LLC will be based in Austin. The new political consulting firm’s president will be 9 year veteran political operative Keats Norfleet. While at The Eppstein Group, Norfleet directed the successful 2007 statewide Texas Cancer Research referendum and co-directed The Eppstein Group’s 2008 election track record in winning 60 out of 65 candidate and referendum elections across Texas. Prior to joining The Eppstein Group, Norfleet served as 2006 deputy campaign manager for the statewide U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison reelection campaign and 2004 campaign manager for the Louie Gohmert East Texas Congressional Campaign. Norfleet also has past staff experience in the Texas legislature and served as West Texas/Harris County regional field director for the Republican Party of Texas.

This guy gets around the block and according to Gene's report it looks like he has been held on retainer for $13,000 (can be found on p.284 of Locke's 8 day report). Who knows what these guys are up to but if history is bound to repeat itself they are expecting a big payday if they manage to get Gene elected. What sort of backroom deals have been made already if any because it seems to be the modus operandi with these people.

It really is quite sad to see a hard working, civil rights activist like Gene Locke and his Democratic campaign manager Christian Archer stoop to these lows to win but is it really all that surprising?

I started off with a lot of respect for both of these guys. Gene has done a lot to help his community and I am willing to chalk this one up as a mistake by a first time candidate but Christian is another story.

I cannot wait for this election to be over.

Jack Christie (R) goes on the Attack

2009-12-03T16:05:00.009-06:00

Well this isn't at all surprising. Today I received an email from an operative within the Jack Christie (running for At-Large 5) campaign that included their mailer they will be sending out against incumbent Council Member Jolanda Jones. According to the source, it will be a fairly large distribution of about 100,000 houses and a promise for more to come. Every person that cast a ballot in the November election including those in districts A, C, D (only in Montrose), E, F, G, H and I will be getting one in the mailbox. To me this mailer is pretty effective because it uses Jolanda's own words and those of who she has had disagreements in the past with.

Sorry for the upside down picture of the front of the mailer but for some reason I can't fix it. Tell me what you think of it. Effective? Too Much?

Christie RO 120209

You LIE!!

2009-12-02T07:42:00.004-06:00

Gene Locke, why do you continue to lie to the voters here in Houston? Last night during the debate on ABC 13, Gene was asked if he had ever been a lobbyist. His answer was an unequivocal NO.

Well according to the State of Texas he is a liar. In 1999 he registered with the Texas Ethics Commission as a Lobbyist for Andrews and Kurth. I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish last night by misleading the audience about his prior job but this voter is not buying it.

Not only is he deceiving the public about never being a lobbyist for the Sports Authority but he is also withholding the facts about lobbying the city to give a lucrative concessions contract at Hobby airport to a Andrews and Kurth client. From a Chronicle article in 2003:

The Hudson Group includes businessman and concessionaire Gerald Wilson; entrepreneur Art Lopez, who also operates golf courses for the city; engineer Bobby Singh; and Brooks & Brooks, a company co-owned by Harlan Brooks of Harlan's Bar-B-Que. Lobbying on their behalf are Andrews & Kurth attorney Gene Locke and consultant Kathryn McNeil.

I know that Gene is a good man but I can't trust a lobbyist further than I can throw them. If he's willing to liable himself about his prior jobs or job titles what else is willing to mislead the voters about. Do we really want a Mayor that's profited from contracts given out to the city and willing to tell you what you want to hear instead of a Mayor who is willing to tell you the hard truth? This is the last straw. COME CLEAN GENE.

Gene Locke the first to go Negative

2009-11-27T21:20:00.010-06:00

Well Gene is the first to go negative on TV for the runoff on Thanksgiving too. Not only is it negative but it is also very misleading. Check it out and compare his ad to her's.

And Annise's ad running now:

Gene claim 1: Parker opposed to creating a gang taskforce.

Reality Check: This is misleading at best. Annise opposed the creation of a task force in every substation, which is what was proposed. She did want them in the areas that they were needed. She also thinks that the current police Chief is an out-of-towner who doesn't understand the problems that face this city's crime problem.

Gene claim 2: Parker will "Take apart the Police Department"

Reality Check: This statement is taken out of context. Annise is the only candidate that understands the budget. Over the last 6 years the police budget has increased by 40%, yet not a single police officer has been added to the streets. She supports the decentralization of the police force and the move to a more community based approach to the problem. She wants to move officers out from behind desks and onto the streets. This may seem like she wants to "take apart" the Department to the status quo but in reality it's just another approach to the problem that will shake things up at the top.

Gene claim 3: Gene is endorsed by the 5000 Houston Police Officers.

Reality Check: This statement is another attempt to mislead the voters. Gene is endorsed by the Houston Police Officers Union which boasts a membership of 5000 but in reality only 25% of those live within the city limits and just because the leadership votes to endorse a particular candidate doesn't imply the entire membership is with Gene. Also Annise has been endorsed by the same organization 6 times before when she ran for City Council and Controller. Was she "soft crime" then? I think not.

Seems to me like Gene is willing to mislead and lie to the public and in a weak attempt to"snatch victory from the jaws of defeat".

UPDATE: The Council vote that Locke's ad is citing for Annise voting against the "Gang Taskforce" on 6-23-1998 included no votes from then Mayor Lee Brown (Gene Locke supporter), Police Chief C.O. Bradford , and then Council Member J. Don Boney (another Gene Locke supporter) .

Happy Early Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T09:41:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving is not complete without a little Arlo Guthrie. My dad introduced this little tradition to me when I was about 10 or so. I can remember back in the old 101 KLOL, they would play this little ditty at noon. It's always important to reflect on the last year and be thankful for all the blessings that have been bestowed on me. A big thank you goes out to my family for supporting me in all that I do (ok maybe most of what I do) and to my new friends and old ones. This has been one hell of a year and one hell of a ride so THANK YOU.

TEXAS FIGHT!!

Arlo Guthrie Alice's Restaurant
Uploaded by shawshawshaw. - Explore more music videos.

Annise Parker's first runoff mailers.

2009-11-24T15:53:00.013-06:00

Usually I go about a week or so before I check my mail (simply because I live in an apartment that has the mailboxes on the other side of the complex). In my weekly trip to the mailbox I discovered that Annise had sent me two mailers asking for my vote both are large, full color legal size pieces. Check them out for yourself. They talk about how she is the only fiscally responsible candidate in the race while at the same time taking a few digs at Gene. The message appears to be a good one that focuses on Annise's ability to deliver for the people of Houston, get the job done and be a wise steward of the city's finances.

Will he or won't he?

2009-11-23T18:20:00.003-06:00

I had the privilege of attending the Bill White press conference today at City Hall in response to all the calls for him to run for Governor. In typical Bill White fashion he decided to hold off until December 4th for his final decision. He asked his supporters and the rest of Texas to give him advice as to what he should do. This is not at all surprising to me. For someone that has been running around the state telling everyone who he met that he was determined to be the next Senator from Texas it has got to be a hard pill to swallow. To do a complete 180 and focus his attention on the Governor's mansion has got to be a shock to the system.

To me, this is a no-brainer. In order for Democrats to be successful in 2010 we need a strong candidate on the top of the ticket. There are many down ballot races that need a candidate like Bill White to drive people to the polls. This among other things is why I have been saying for months that Bill should switch to the Governors race. Rick Perry has made Texas the laughing stock of the nation. Bill is the Democrats best "Great White Hope" to take the Governorship back and finally represent Texas in a light that Ann Richards, John Connally, and William P. Hobby would be proud of.

Here is Bill White's statement on the subject:

Here's a statement from Bill White, speaking in Houston right now:

Since Friday a week ago Texans from all backgrounds and all regions have asked me to consider running to be our next Governor of Texas. Today I agree to consider running for Governor, and shall make a decision by Friday, December 4th.

Before then I invite the citizens of Texas to weigh in on this decision by visiting this page and emailing me at billwhite@billwhitefortexas.com.

Both our next Governor and Senator should bring new energy to the task of moving our state forward. In both positions, we need leadership that can bring our state together and reduce the strident partisanship in both Austin and Washington.

Texans know we can do better than ranking dead last in the nation in the percentage of our population with a high school diploma. Texans know we can do better than the last decade of soaring electricity and insurance costs, and skyrocketing college tuition.

Sen. Hutchison has postponed her departure from the Senate and acknowledged that her continued service limits her ability to campaign in our state. I share her belief, and that of her supporters, that we need a new Governor.

I thank many thousands of Texans who have supported my campaign with their volunteer hours and dollars. I will listen to your views on how we can best work together to do what is right for Texas. I especially welcome advice from the citizens of Texas' largest city, who know me best and have supported leadership by solutions, not just soundbites. You have been my partners in moving Houston forward by finding common ground, and running our City Hall with integrity, in a business-like, financially sound, and inclusive manner.

Politics aside, Texans should enjoy their friends and family during this week of Thanksgiving and say a prayer for those who cannot be home with their loved ones because they are serving us abroad.

Kuff and Stace have more on the subject.

Governor Bill White?

2009-11-23T11:36:00.017-06:00

Please let it be so!! The Tribune first reported that Tom Sheiffer is dropping out of the Governors race. Via the Texas Tribune:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer is getting out of the race this afternoon, sources said Monday morning. "He just couldn't put it together," said one.
"I can't comment," said Clay Robison, Schieffer's spokesman. Schieffer didn't immediately return calls. A short time later, they called a press conference for 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Houston Mayor Bill White will "have a statement" after Schieffer's press conference, said spokeswoman Katy Bacon; she wouldn't answer questions about whether White is getting into the governor's race if Schieffer gets out.

And from the Statesman:

A source inside one of the Democratic gubernatorial campaigns says that state party chairman Boyd Richie called a summit of the Democratic governor candidates (and candidates only) for 2:30 p.m. today at a Dallas law firm. The stated purpose early this month was to talk out guidelines for how the party would be involved and to make sure everyone was going to be aboard to endorse the eventual nominee. But this source speculates that this is some kind of gambit for Richie to blow everyone’s minds with Bill White as the candidate in favor. Same source says every candidate is committed to coming.

R.G. Ratcliff is also reporting that more than one reliable source is confirming White is jumping into the Governor's race.

Fort Worth businessman Tom Schieffer is expected to drop out of the Texas governor's race later today, and Houston Mayor Bill White then will join the fray, according to a reliable source.

We now have a second reliable source telling us that White's switch to the governor's race will occur.

Governor Bill White, doesn't that have a nice ring to it? As one of my politico friends just said to me in an email, "Chronicle has sources saying Bill White will announce for Guv today? Hear that? It was county wides cheering."

No doubt about it, if Kay insists on dithering on whether or not she will resign , why not have Bill White jump over and strike while the iron is hot. The longer he waits, the more money he spends and the less likely his donors and supporters will stay enthusiastic about his campaign.

Watch this latest video of Bill White talking to Evan Smith of the Tribune, lots of discussion about the Governor's race and Bill talking about education.

UPDATE: Miya Shay via her twitter says @miyashay: Just interviewed @billwhitefortx, did not deny governor rumors, says he will make announcement this afternoon.

Also via @brandigrissom (Texas Tribune): State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh endorses Democrat Bill White for governor. From the Shapleigh endorsement:

Shapleigh, who has been the speculation of many gubernatorial candidate conversations, said he was "very excited" to endorse White.

"Under his proven, responsible leadership, our great state can finally deal with the challenges of our times," Shapleigh said.

Looks like the dominoes are falling in place in anticipation of Bill's presser at 3:30

UPDATE 2:

Burka weighs in:

I think White would be in a much stronger position in a governor’s race. The obvious reason is that it’s a general election. Democrats will have somebody they can rally behind for the first time since Ann Richards.

If White can keep the race focused on state issues, he can win. The Republican base alone can’t win a statewide election.

I like what I am seeing right now.

2009-11-19T16:44:00.001-06:00

BOB MARLEY Wait In Vain
Uploaded by avajra. -

Latest Annise Parker internal poll

2009-11-17T17:34:00.008-06:00

Last week the Gene Locke campaign released a poll through former Kemah Mayor Bill King's email list that said:

The poll was conducted Monday and Tuesday nights (November 9 & 10) by Paul Maislin, who also polled for Lee Brown and Bill White. The poll showed Parker leading by a 43-39% with 18% undecided. The margin of error was 4%.Pretty close right?

According to the latest poll released today by the Parker campaign, it shows the race is not as close as the Locke camp would like. The poll was conducted between November 11-15.

In our recent survey, among likely voters with previous participation in past city runoff elections, Parker leads with 47 percent (37 percent strong) to 34 percent for Locke (27 percent strong). A fifth of voters (19 percent). A fifth of (19 percent) remains undecided.

It's hard to determine whether or not the Locke poll is a good indicator of what's going on in the field because they didn't release the internals or methodology of the poll. If my instincts serve me best, I would assume they are not polling "likely voters" that have a history of voting in municipal runoff's like the Parker poll. I will let the people that know more about these things chime in. Just wanted to put this out there.

*UPDATE* Greg, Kuff and Martha have more.

Gene Locke, what the heck were you thinking?

2009-11-16T06:59:00.007-06:00

This past weekend the Chronicle ran a story confirming some of the rumors that had been floating around about Gene Locke meeting with a right-wing hate monger, Dr. Steven Hotze and David Welch, executive of the Houston Area Pastors Council. As you can imagine this has caused quite a stir. For a former civil-rights activist to get in bed with such a rag-tag group of people does not bode well for his campaign and his democratic credentials. According to the Chronicle piece:

He appeared at the Pastor Council's annual gala last Friday and was encouraged several times by State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a featured speaker, to stand for conservative values.

Locke has also met with and sought the endorsement of Dr. Steven Hotze, a longtime local kingmaker in conservative politics and author of the Straight Slate in 1985, a coterie of eight City Council candidates he recruited who ran on an anti-gay platform.

Gene came out this weekend and condemned the actions or potential actions that the group has plannned for the upcoming weeks against Annise Parker.

"As I have previously stated, I reject any association with the style of campaigning that was the subject of an article in the Houston Chronicle today. We have serious issues to deal with in our city that require us to work together as one Houston and I trust that Houstonians will choose a new mayor based on the issues that effect our lives every day and not to be swayed by divisive rhetoric."

This statement works if he had never met with Hotze but the facts remain that he did. I wanted to hear an admission of guilt or a least a better explanation of why he met with him and asked for an endorsement in the first place aside from the snarky response that Gene's spokeswoman Kim Devlin gave to the Chronicle.

Kim Devlin said he [Gene] has met with “thousands of people” and promised from the outset of his campaign to be “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.”
“Annise Parker is letting Houstonians in on her true character by leveling these highly incendiary, baseless and ridiculous attacks,” said Devlin.

I have no idea why the campaign thought that this was a good thing for Gene. It's one thing to try and make an appeal to the religious Republicans in town but it is a completely different thing for a man of Gene's history to even think of involving himself with a man like Hotze knowing his past. For those of you who are not familiar with this man let me re-introduce you:

Hotze says that when he's been asked about imposing the death penalty for homosexuality he's always given the same reply. "The only thing I've ever said is that I'm a Bible-believing Christian, and the Old Testament says that it is a capital offense for a man to lie with another man, as he would a wife," he says. "If the Old Testament has such a high penalty for such behavior, why in the world should we be promoting it as natural and safe and normal to our kids?"

While Hotze has long made it clear that he believes government should be operated according to biblical precepts, he says he takes the scriptural opprobrium to mean that the state should forbid gay marriages and adoptions, "affirmative action" for gays and the teaching in public schools that homosexuality is an "alternative, acceptable" lifestyle. "That's where I stand, period," he says.

Hotze actively campaigns for the greater involvement of religion in government. For all intents and purposes, he wants to install a theocratic system of government. Hotze is also a member of a group called the Christian Reconstructionists. In it's manifesto the group states:

We affirm that the Bible is not only God’s statements to us regarding religion, salvation, eternity, and righteousness, but also the final measurement and depository of certain fundamental facts of reality and basic principles that God wants all mankind to know in the sphere of law, government, economics, business, education, arts and communication, medicine, psychology, and science. All theories and practices of these spheres of life are only true, right, and realistic to the degree that they agree with the Bible.

This Hotze guy is a piece of work. He does not allow for anyone to meet with him without expecting any sort quid pro quo for his support. As one of his former political associates put it:

"Every meeting I've ever been to with Steve, he ran it."

Gene, is this really a guy that you want to associate yourself with? And don't tell the public that you meet with "thousands of people" and you plan on being a “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.” Houstonians await your response. Kuff, Stace, Martha and John have more.

The shit hath hitteth the fan.

2009-11-13T22:03:00.005-06:00

I can't say that this isn't a surprise but it really is sad that the Mayoral race has sunk to this level of slime. People should be ashamed even to associate with this sort of filth. I am going to wait a day or two and let this one sink in before I tear into it but I thought my readers should see this now. Here are just a couple snippets from the piece. The headline says it all.

Ministers, conservatives work for Parker's defeat Group opposes a lesbian in office

A cluster of socially conservative Houstonians is planning a campaign to discourage voters from choosing City Controller Annise Parker in the December mayoral runoff because she is a lesbian, according to multiple ministers and conservatives involved in the effort.
Locke courting right wing

Parker's opponent, former City Attorney Gene Locke, strongly distanced himself from a previous anti-gay attack against her that ultimately proved to have been a hoax. But he has made recent efforts to court some of the staunch social conservatives who are either actively planning on attacking Parker's sexuality or strongly considering it.
He appeared at the Pastor Council's annual gala last Friday and was encouraged several times by State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, a featured speaker, to stand for conservative values.
Locke spokeswoman Kim Devlin said he has met with “thousands of people” and promised from the outset of his campaign to be “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.”

I love The Daily Show!

2009-11-13T08:31:00.001-06:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Sean Hannity Apologizes to Jon

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

Um um good

2009-11-11T08:03:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I had the honor of watching our next Mayor, Annise Parker, accept the endorsement of former Mayoral candidate and current Council member Peter Brown. It was a perfect day for such an occasion and made even better by tasty refreshments handed out by some Gene Locke "volunteers". I thought the stunt was cute and the croissants (an homage to an Annise's mailer about Peter) provided by La Madeline were flaky and delicious. Heck, if I were in their shoes, I would have done the same thing. Free media is free media; you've got to take it when you can get it.

The one thing that I did find out though was the price of these pastries, apparently they cost $24/dz. According to my un-scientific count they had at least 3 dozen for a total of about $75. Don't you think that if you were going to pull something like this you would have gone to Kroger or Sam's to get a better price? I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the campaign found out about the endorsement the night before and decided at the last minute to crash the press conference. Quite possibly, the person in charge told the "volunteer" to grab some croissants on the way to City Hall and La Madeline just happened to be on the way.

Either way, I would like to thank the Gene Locke campaign for giving us poor saps at the press conference something to snack on during the event. THANKS!!!

Dynamic Stadium Blues

2009-11-09T17:10:00.006-06:00

Photo used with permission from source

I was wondering how long it would take for the Dynamo stadium issue to come back up again. Now let me preface this by stating that I am a fan of ALL Houston sports teams, in fact I have been to multiple Dynamo games and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Anyone that has ever been to one of these games to cheer them on will tell you that the crowd is as diverse as the population here in Houston. It's not surprising that one of the Mayoral candidates would be trying to win over the votes of the fans.

This past Sunday David Ortez tweeted that he was at the Dynamo game and so was the Gene Locke campaign. According to David, Gene Locke's staffers were passing out flyer's touting his support for the building of a new Dynamo stadium:

Gene Locke says the soccer stadium is a good deal for Houston:
“No ad valorem taxes are used, no money from city budget is being used, construction is covered completely by the team, and we get a facility for university and high school use that helps improve Houston’s economy.”

While at the same time attacking Annise Parker's position on the matter out of context:

Annise Parker says she won’t “fund more museums and stadiums …”

Sounds like typical campaign rhetoric, right? Well fortunately for Dynamo fans, both candidates are pretty much on the same level when it comes to their support of the venue. But Gene is continuing to mislead the public about Annise's stance on the subject. What she said in her ad that he uses against her was "I won't raise taxes or cut police to fund more stadiums or museums we can't afford...". She was simply telling the public the truth; that she supports the stadium but the City has done it's part and it is now time for the ownership and the county to ante up. Now can you tell me what is different in her statement and what Gene says in his flyer? There isn't much daylight between the two on the issue.

Suffice to say this is not my first parlay into politics. I am well aware that candidates tailor a specific message to specific audiences. But I do have a problem when candidates blatantly pander to voters knowing that their own position is no different from their opponents. The only daylight between the two candidates that I can see is Gene Locke has been involved in previous stadium negotiations while serving as General Council to the Harris County Sports Authority. He made a staggering $640/hr, and while doing so, potentially leaving taxpayers in the lurch on bad stadium bonds worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

As you can probably tell by now, I am not a fan of taxpayer dollars being spent on single use sports stadiums. The last time I checked we have the 8th Wonder of the World, the Astrodome, sitting dormant and in ill repair while a Mayoral candidate worries about whether or not his opponent wants to build another stadium. Maybe Mr. Locke should focus more on the important issues that face this city during these tough economic times instead of promising another "semi-publicly" funded sports arena to get elected.

*FULL DISCLOSURE* I am still supporting Annise Parker for Mayor.

Demoncrats Win Big!!

2009-11-02T13:24:00.014-06:00

Forgive me for being so late to the game on this one but last night I had to miss the fun to study for a test on Wednesday. Myself and many other Democratic campaign staffers have been involved in a co-ed softball league for the past couple of weeks at the Houston Sportsplex. Last night was an epic night for the team. The teams Communications Director Dan Derozier sent out a press release about the big wins last night. So if any of the readers would like to come out and cheer us on we play every Sunday night usually between the hours of 6:30 and 8:30. The schedule is posted here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dan Derozier

HOUSTON—For the first time this season, the Demoncrats won both games of their weekly doubleheader at the Houston Sportsplex this Sunday.

The Demoncrats, joined by first-time players Jason Brock, Max Cardenas, Bill Kelly, Steve, and Jose, and boosted by guest players "Grandma" and "Angel", routed their first opponent 17-8 and outlasted their second opponent 16-12.

"TWO DUBS," said shortstop Ryan Slattery when asked for comment after the game. "TWO DUBS."

Even though this evening held the team's first double win, this evening's achievement is made more remarkable considering the lack of pregnant ladies on the opposing teams. Even more remarkable is the Demoncrats' success on the field without Annise Parker's staffers, who everyone agrees should be really good at softball.

GAME NOTES:

* Pitcher Matt Zeis made 643 pitches on the evening, for a combined total of 95 miles per hour.

* New player Jason "Big Papi" Brock smashed the stitching out of one ball and hit an out of the park homer in another at bat to lead the Demoncrats to their first double-header win.
* The scores might not be totally accurate, because Ryan broke the scoreboard.
* Statistics and scores may or may not be right because as Democrats we were drinking liberally.

Gene's withering campaign

2009-10-29T11:52:00.003-05:00

Just a couple of months ago political insiders in town were saying that Gene Locke was a shoe in for the runoff. But now, a couple days before Election Day, it looks as though his campaign is flailing around like a fish out of water. He went around town saying to supporters that he could carry the African American vote with 80% or better while at the same time appealing to the white Republican base in a so called "pincer" strategy. This failed to produce any support according to the latest polls, which show him splitting the African American vote and loosing the battle with Republicans to Peter Brown.

He waited to start running TV and radio commercials while both of his opponents sailed along the airways for weeks. Maybe this tactic was designed to manage their cash flow for his outrageously expensive paid-field program (nearly $15,000 per week) or to meet payroll for his staff (all of whom get paid roughly twice the industry-standard) A lot of people that have looked more closely at his finances think he was just trying to pad his numbers on his 30 day report. By waiting to go on air and by putting his field program in the hands of minimum wage block walkers and a Field Director who makes $6,000 a month he allowed both Annise and Peter to get out a message that resonates with the voters. When you ask most people that have been paying attention to the race what each candidate's message is you will more than likely get "I am ready to lead" for Annise and "I have a blueprint" from Peter. But what is Gene's? Nobody knows.

Then came an article in Bloomberg stating that the Harris County Sports Authority would have to pay back nearly $142 million early on their stadium bonds to creditors. Not only had Gene been personally involved in the procurement of these new stadiums but had managed to over look the financial viability of those bonds while at the same time bilking the county for $640/hr.

In yet another example of disarray within the Locke camp, we hear that he has gone and hired some local Republican guns with the help of far right extremists (Allen Blakemore and Stephen Hotze) to go after the Westside vote. Now this has yet to be confirmed but according to Martha the heavy Republican hitters in town have been going around saying that this particular rumor is true. And if you look at Gene's recent attacks on Peter and his African American credentials you can extrapolate that internal polling is not confirming his predictions of an 80% support that Gene is counting on to win.

Now I have personally been involved with campaigns that were in the same position that Gene is in right now and I can tell you that the tension within that campaign headquarters must be palpable. At this point in my opinion, there are very few paths to victory other than knocking and dragging people to the polls on Tuesday.

Sorry Gene but at least you didn't sink millions of your wife's dollars into a losing campaign; instead you wasted millions of your supporters dollars. My money is still on Annise and Peter in the runoff.

Bil White for Texas Young Professionals

2009-10-26T20:24:00.003-05:00

This just popped in my in-box and thought that I would share it with you guys and gals.

Come on down and meet your next U.S. Senator, Mayor Bill White this Thursday, October 28 at the Belvedere in Uptown Park. Last time the Young Professionals had an event, it was a huge sucsess with over 300 people attending and raised nearly $20,000. Tickets are $35 pre-sale and $40 at the door. So come on out and enjoy a night with some good people and your future Senator. You can buy your tickets here. Thanks and hope to see you there.

Peter Brown's land deal problem

2009-10-26T08:18:00.007-05:00

In this past weekend's debate, Mayoral Candidate Roy Morales asked Peter Brown why he had not recused himself from a council vote last year regarding a land condemnation case in the Galleria. This question led me to do a little digging into the charge. It turns out that the Chronicle had done some reporting about this and had some of the same questions.

Some background on the case back in March of 2008:

Houston veterinarians James and Jock Collins envisioned a nest egg for their retirement when they bought a house in the Galleria area in 1982.
Instead of enjoying the proceeds from their investment, however, the 75-year-old twins are locked in a battle with the city of Houston. In an unusual use of its eminent domain authority, the city has condemned the property to develop a small "pocket park" on the edge of a large, upscale redevelopment project...
The city acquired the property, at the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak Lane, on behalf of Uptown Houston, a management district created by the state Legislature in 1987 to oversee public improvements in the Galleria area.
The Collinses said city officials first advised them of plans to develop a park on the 7,200-square-foot property in October 2006 - three months after their negotiations to sell the property to Wulfe & Co. for the BLVD Place project broke down.

Shortly after the negotiations between the brothers and Wulfe broke down the city quickly voted to condemn the property.

Using its power of eminent domain, the city of Houston seized the land for the park from brothers James and Jock Collins last year. Officials claimed there was a "public necessity" for the park in the Uptown area, despite the fact that a much larger one - the 4.7-acre Grady Park - is just two blocks away...
Councilman Peter Brown also is fighting a deposition regarding a possible conflict of interest in his vote for the condemnation. Brown's wife is an investor in BLVD Place.
The complex case, involving a series of land transactions and a web of relationships between elected officials at City Hall and developers, raises the question of whether the city abused its power in taking land it now is hard-pressed to prove that it needed, land that a developer was seeking to control.

Well it turns out that Brown's oil service heiress Ann Schlumberger wife has some vested interest in the acquisition of the property. She is involved and invested in the development known as BLVD Place which ended up benefiting from the city's acquisition of the brothers property.

My question is similar to Mr. Morales: Why would then Council Member Brown not think that this sort of land deal would create a possible conflict of interest? I am pretty sure that he knew his wife would financially benefit from the deal. What sort of deals will a Mayor Brown allow to go down if he is faced with some similar conflicts of interests involving his wife's investments around the city?

I think that the calls for Mr. and Mrs. Brown to disclose these investments to the public are justified. Voters may want to ask: Why else would a man invest so much of his families personal wealth into a political race? Is he hoping to be payback in the future? Questions remain and the public waits for the richest man in the race to come clean about his wife's personal investments around town.

UPDATE: Come to find out the principle of Wulfe & Co., Ed Wulfe gave Peter Brown $2,500 on 5/12/09 and another $2,500 again on 9/24/09 .

Dear Yardsigns,

2009-10-22T09:35:00.006-05:00

I know that you really think that you make a difference but in reality you are the bane of every campaign staff's existence. You look nice on the front yard of supporters but are you registered to vote? Do you increase the amount of people who turnout for your candidate? Most candidates really love their signs. They spend countless hours designing the best sign and then wonder why the regular Joe won't put you in their yards.

During early voting and election day you clutter the front of voting locations, souring the lovely right of way with vote for my candidate advertisements. Did you know that by and large, the people that are coming to the polling location's have more than likely already made up there minds? Even better, you have some candidates that obsess about you night and day and wonder if they have enough of you out in the field. Let's be honest, you are only there to make the candidate feel better about themselves and stroke there lovely ego.

So in closing, take a look at this video. All the signs in the world can't buy you enough votes to win even if you have the precious time to waste and piss off your staff (in this case 60 staff members and 38 volunteers), take note. As the beginning of this video says, "money isn't everything." Spend your money wisely, like on a field and mail program.

Sincerly,
Whitless Humorings

PS: this is not about any particular campaign. It's just an observation from an formerly overworked campaign staffer.

So today I am special.

2009-10-21T09:49:00.011-05:00

Well at least that is what some people think of me. Earlier last week my friend Martha sent me an email saying that I was invited to a media only "private coffee with Salon Editor Joan Walsh" at the Planned Parenthood Annual Meeting and Luncheon. I was a little surprised to say the least. When did this little blog become part of the "media"? I mean what do I know about reporting or asking the hard questions?

Well I accepted the offer not knowing what to expect. I am somewhat nervous to find what it is like to sit at a media table and blog/report on what Mrs. Walsh has to say.

So today I become part of the "media" if only for just one day. Wish me luck. More to come later today. If you have any questions for Mrs. Walsh leave them in the comments section and I will pass them along. Oh yeah If you wish to follow my live tweets of the event follow me @erikvidor .

Joan Walsh's latest smackdown on the Bill O'Reilly over the murder of abortion Dr. George Tiller.

UPDATE: Martha AKA Muse, has a great live blog of the event so go take a look.

I am so scared!!!!

2009-10-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Doubt Break '09

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

My thoughts on the Chronicle Mayoral Poll

2009-10-17T10:56:00.014-05:00

Today the Houston Chronicle released a poll from Zogby stating that Peter Brown is leading the pack with Annise Parker following behind and Gene Locke trailing Brown and Parker respectivly. The big unknown is still the large portion of respondents being undecided.

To me this says a couple things:

1) Peter Brown is spending his own money very wisely on paid media and African American outreach and he has a solid message that appears to be resonating with the voters. Running the Mayor Bill White playbook seems to be working for him.

2) Annise Parker remains strong with her base of regular voters that come out for her every time she's on the ballot. Even in the head to head match ups between her and her opponents she is ahead by 8 points against Locke and neck and neck with Brown. As muse points out in the comments, this could explain the recent questioning of Browns exaggerations of his record on council. Being on the ballot for the last 12 years has made her a known entity in City politics.

3) Gene Locke has a lot of work to do to build his name ID. As Martha stated today, his support among the African American community is not a lock. If I was on his campaign I would be mighty worried about these numbers and I would not be surprised if their own internal polling has been telling them this all along, hence the Beverly Kaufman robo-dial, and flip-flopping on 287(g) during an interview with Dan Patrick.

So what does all this mean? To me it says that Annise is in the runoff, while the race between Locke and Brown appear to be tightening. My money is on Brown making the runoff simply because of his name ID, aggressive outreach to Locke's supposed "base" and unlimited funds to bombard voters with TV and mail. Only the voters can decide, so go out there and vote for the best candidate. Here is a link to a list of all the early voting locations.

*Full Disclosure* I am publicly supporting Annise Parker for Mayor.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-15T23:29:00.005-05:00

Some of my earliest memories as a child was my mom reading this silly little children's book by the name of "Where the Wild Things Are". I can remember carrying around this book every where I went, it was the greatest story I had ever been told. As I look back on those innocent times I really wish that life could be so simple again but alas, I have grown up and learned that life is not so simple or easy but we can still dream, right? I cannot tell you how excited I am about seeing this movie, plus the title track is my new favorite song.

UPDATE: Per my mom's better memory, I correct the record. It was my mother who read me this book because my dad was in Law School and studying for the bar most of those years. My dad read the Hobbit to me.

Good Morning ya'll. It's almost Friday!!

2009-10-15T08:45:00.003-05:00

Now that's what I call a Response.

2009-10-14T23:38:00.014-05:00

Tonight Mayor Bill White, who is currently running for a yet to be seen U.S. Senate race, responded pretty strongly to a NRSC statement on his latest blockbuster fundraising quarter via his Facebook page. From the NRSC:

“Bill White’s fundraising diligence is exceeded only by his negligence to his current position. The city of Houston is facing a $50 million budget shortfall, Houstonians are facing potential tax hikes, city employees are facing possible layoffs, and yet, Bill White is traveling around the country raising money while collecting a paycheck from Houston taxpayers. Instead of spending his time worrying about a job promotion Bill White ought to focus on the job he was elected to do.” – Brian Walsh, NRSC Spokesman

And the statement from Mayor Bill White's Facebook page:

"Houston has run operating surpluses for most my time as Mayor, while we cut tax rates. Meanwhile DC borrowed trillions to pay operating expenses even before the recession. Yet some party hack in DC criticizes me for raising money for my Senate race, ...saying I neglected our City's finances? (See the link below.) They don't get it. Many fiscally conservative Republicans serve with me on City Council and they deserve credit--as do all Council members--for working as a non-partisan team to make sure that Houston is in the best financial condition of any of the nation's big cities.We aren't raising taxes or laying off employees. When is the last time they ran a surplus in DC? 1998-2000? Is it possible that in DC someone is looking at a poll and is worried?"

Now that's is what I am talking about! Go get em' Mayor. It seems to me that the national politicos (on both sides of the aisle) are looking at this possible open seat as an opportunity to gauge the political winds in Texas. If a well funded Democrat can win a special election here, the RNC and NRSC have a lot of work to do to rebuild their image even in a state that has such a strong Republican foothold.

*Full Disclosure* I am publicly supporting the Mayor in his pursuit to take back former Senator Lloyd Bentson's seat.

Realism at it's best

2009-10-14T13:13:00.004-05:00

You know, normally I don't listen or even take Pat Buchanan seriously but every once in a while he makes complete sense. This man may be a racist bigot but when it comes to international relations, Pat speaks truth to power. He is the definition of a Realist. And a damn good historian to boot.

Just check out these two videos from Meet the Press a couple years back where he faces off with former Soviet dissident and neoconservative Natan Sharansky over the Iraq War, Israel, and democracy in the middle east. Very interesting discussion.

My Current Musical Obsession

2009-10-14T10:07:00.005-05:00

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros - Get Down Moses RIP Joe

Johnny Appleseed

Gene Locke and the Sports Authority

2009-10-14T06:40:00.006-05:00

h/t to Charles Kuffner for pointing this article out by the Texas Watchdog group.

It seems like Houston Mayoral Candidate Gene Locke may have some explaining to do when it comes to his involvement with Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.

According to Bloomberg news the Sports Authority:

" may need to refinance $1 billion in debt and pay as much as $142 million ahead of schedule on bonds and interest-rate swaps....

The extra costs will push higher annual debt service by $20 million to at least $83.7 million in 2011 from $62.3 million this year. "

Now this may seem to the average voter like another waste of taxpayer dollars and it is, but we do have a candidate in the race that has used his position as General Council to the agency as a point of experience in his campaign, while at the same time blasting his opponents about the discrepancies in the city budget. Asking the question of Annise Parker and Peter Brown ; why they had not sounded the alarm earlier? Describing the two as being "quiet as a church mouse" in a recent televised ABC debate.

I don't have any problem with Mr. Locke calling into question the state of the budget and the other candidates involvement in said shortfall, but to throw stones in a glass house is not exactly a smart idea when these sort of issues surround one of his major resume points.

So I ask Mr. Locke, where were you when these issues came up in the Sports Authority meetings that you and your law firm, Andrews and Kurth, were paid $640/hr to attend? Why were you "quite a a church mouse" in sounding the alarm to this large budget shortfall?

UPDATE: Martha has more on the subject.

Procrastination

2009-10-13T22:38:00.006-05:00

Why is it that I always find myself waiting till the last moment to get the next paper done or study for the next test? In fact as I write this post, I have a test in the morning and an essay due on Thursday. But never the less I do it anyways. For some odd reason I run around in circles, telling myself that I will get it done tomorrow morning, this weekend or next week.

This procrastination trait in my personality causes quite a bit a stress on my little noggin to say the least. But to this end, I still love to procrastinate. I find that I do my best work on a time crunch and this little fact is what has continued to plague me throughout my college career.

I have managed to squeak by with my God given talent of pulling shit out my ass, slapping it on a piece of paper and making the grade, but someday this mentality is going come back and bite me in the ass. Never the less, I continue on this journey of self-inflicted stress and agony only to contemplate what it would be like without my favorite friend, procrastination.

My First Time

2009-10-13T19:08:00.001-05:00

One of the things that I find most difficult to do in today's fast paced society is to get my point across without having hundreds and thousands of people looking and judging. Facebook and Twitter have opened my eyes to the way humans now communicate with each other. We share intimate details with complete strangers that really have no business knowing them, while at the same time looking and judging other people ourselves. It has gotten to the point where posting on these sites has lost all of it lack-luster and newness.

I have seen people loose friendships, relationships and sometimes jobs because of what they post to their group of friends and wonder; why is this happening? And to be completely honest, I am guilty of these same sins. I post something political or controversial on my Facebook page and I leave myself open to criticism from my entire friends list. My motivation to start this blog stems from these things, I too have had some fallout from commenting on other peoples statuses and tweets as well. There has to a better way and I think that I have found it. I'm taking the plunge and becoming a blogger.

Thank you for taking the time and checking this thing out. I can't promise that you won't be offended but I will try my hardest to not let political correctness get in the way of what I am thinking. And If you don't like what I have say, don't read this blog. More to come tomorrow.