Category Archives: Texas News

Jeb!!!!$$$$? Throws Eminent Domain Stone

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Jeb!!!!$$$$? attacked Donald Trump at the latest GOP slugfest in New Hampshire for using eminent domain to take an elderly woman’s house in Atlantic City for a parking lot.  Trump, however, was a piker compared to Jeb!!!!$$$$?’s big brother W when it comes to enriching yourself through the power of ED mixed with excellent family connections.

W had pretty much been a failure at every possible enterprise until he stumbled into an ownership position of the Texas Rangers.  His $600,000 investment somehow turned into over $14 million allowing him the financial security to make his first run for Governor.  But exactly how did that happen.  First, through some slick political maneuvering, he and his partners (primarily business genius Richard Rainwater) persuaded Arlington and Texas to directly subsidize the construction of a new stadium for the Rangers.  That taxpayers should foot the bill to make a billionaire like Rainwater and his cronies even richer was offensive enough.  But it did not end there.  In order to build the magnificent temple of baseball, W and his fellow owners successfully used the power of government to take land from other private citizens so it could be used for their own private purposes.

The details are complicated, but here is what happened. W and his partners in the Rangers convinced Arlington officials to: pass a half-cent sales tax to pay for 70% of the stadium; use the government’s powers of eminent domain to seized land the Rangers either could not or would not buy in a fair market transaction; give the Rangers near complete control over the stadium and environs; and allow the Rangers to buy the $191 million stadium for just $60 million. After 12 years as the sole occupant and primary beneficiary of the stadium project, the Rangers, a privately owned business, will receive title to the stadium for the $60 million worth of rent and expenses that they will have already paid.  Has Trump ever put together a deal that lined his personal pockets at the expense of the taxpayer that compares to this one?  Red doubts it.

So poor old Jeb!!!!$$$$? picks exactly the wrong stone to throw at Trump – a stone that will likely bounce of the billionaire’s Teflon and crash right back into the Bush family’s glass house.  Someone that politically inept doesn’t deserve to be President.

Is There Anything Ted Cruz Doesn’t Lie About (cont.)?

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) tried to trick potential Ben Carson caucus goers into supporting him on Monday night by falsely claiming that Carson was dropping out of the race.  After it was reported that Carson was going home to Florida on Monday night, Cruz and his campaign quickly tried to create the impression that Carson was ending his campaign.

Just as the caucuses were beginning to meet at 7 p.m., the official Ted Cruz mobile app sent a message to some Iowans.

“CNN is reporting that Ben Carson will stop campaigning after Iowa.  Make sure to tell all of your peers at the caucus supporting Carson that they should coalesce around the true conservative who will be in the race for the long haul: TED CRUZ!”

Carson denied that he was quitting, but at least some damage may have already been done.   Numerous caucus attendees have reported that Cruz supporters attempted  to sway Carson voters by announcing that Carson would be dropping out of the race.

For his part, Carson has described Cruz’s tactics as “dirty tricks” and has called on Cruz to fire anyone involved in the “shenanigans.”  That seems unlikely as Ted is probably unwilling to fire himself.  “If Ted Cruz doesn’t know about this, then he clearly needs to very quickly get rid of some people in his organization,” Carson said. “And if he does know about it, isn’t this the exact kind of thing the American people are tired of?”

Ted Cruz Bullies Way to Victory in Iowa

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Red knows that Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) won the Iowa Caucuses last night edging out billionaire Donald Trump by about 4%.  Cruz is riding a wave of support from the evangelical base of the GOP.  His entire campaign seems to be aimed at convincing everyone that he is among the most religious men on the planet and that only Ted can save our country – indeed perhaps humanity –  from the evils of  . . .  well, anyone but Ted.  This son of an immigrant come to save our country from immigrants.  This smartest man in every room come to tell us exactly how smart he is.

Somehow Red just can’t get his head around the fact that 28% of people anywhere think that Cruz would be a good choice to lead their neighborhood property owners association much less this country.    What is it that these voters like about Ted?  His plan to raise their taxes while providing huge tax cuts for the wealthiest?  His bellicose foreign policy plans that call for what would likely be an unending war in the Middle East – not that we don’t already have that thanks to the Bush family?  His winning personality that has resulted in not a single one of his fellow Senators endorsing him?  His blatant narcissism?  His persistent lies on  many topics?  His frying bacon with an automatic weapon?  His misleading and near fraudulent mailings to voters? His failure to follow simple campaign disclosure laws? His plans to lead the GOP over a cliff?

Please tell Red, he wants to know.

Texas Ethics Commission Rules Paxton Can’t Accept Out-of-State Donations to Pay his Legal Team

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Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton got more bad news on Monday when the Texas Ethics Commission narrowly ruled that he cannot accept money from out-of-state donors to pay for fees for his legal defense team.  A so-called anonymous inquiry was made to the TEC asking if an individual working in the attorney general’s office may accept “benefits” from people or entities outside Texas.  The Texas Tribune has more on the decision that might keep Paxton from using his influence to fight off the mounting criminal charges that he faces.

A draft opinion considered by the commission said a person in the attorney general’s office — including Paxton — would not be prohibited from accepting money in circumstances where an out-of-state donor does not have any pending matters before the attorney general’s office.

But three commissioners – Jim Clancy, Tom Ramsay and Bob Long – voted against the proposal. Four voted for it; five votes are needed to pass an opinion.  Clancy said the commission should not pass the proposal without knowing who requested an opinion.

“I don’t know how you can evaluate this without knowing who is the donor and who is the recipient,” he said. “I’m concerned about the unintended consequences.”

But Commissioner Tom Harrison reminded commissioners that Paxton already must report any gifts.  “There’s no doubt, at least in my mind, that some donations made are going to be extremely scrutinized by members of the public and the media,” he said.

Is there Anything Ted Cruz Doesn’t Lie About (cont.)?

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) is turning to desperate measures to win in Iowa.  The junior Senator from Texas is apparently afraid his campaign is in serious danger of implosion without a bravo showing in the Hawkeye State.  The smell of desperation was apparent when the Tea Party hero’s campaign sent out the following mailer to Iowa voters.

You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.

If that weren’t misleading enough, the mailer also included a chart with the name of the voter and his or her neighbors and their voting “grade” and “score.”

Voter registration and voter history records are public records distributed by the Iowa Secretary of State and/or county election clerks. This data is not available for use for commercial purposes – use is limited by law. Scores reflect participation in recent elections. 

This is wrong on so many levels.  First, it was specifically designed to look like an official government document.  This raised the ire of Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate, who issued his rejoinder.

 Today I was shown a piece of literature from the Cruz for President campaign that misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law. Accusing citizens of Iowa of a “voting violation” based on Iowa Caucus participation, or lack thereof, is false representation of an official act. There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting. Any insinuation or statement to the contrary is wrong and I believe it is not in keeping in the spirit of the Iowa Caucuses.

And if that weren’t enough, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker has done some more investigation and it appears that the voting scores given to the targeted voter and his or her neighbors were simply made up by Cruz staffers.

After looking at several mailers posted online, I was more curious about how the Cruz campaign came up with its scores. On all the mailers I saw, every voter listed had only one of three possible scores: fifty-five per cent, sixty-five per cent, or seventy-five per cent, which translate to F, D, and C grades, respectively. Iowans take voting pretty seriously. Why was it that nobody had a higher grade?

In Iowa, although voter-registration information is free and available to the public, voter history is not. That information is maintained by the secretary of state, who licenses it to campaigns, super PACs, polling firms, and any other entity that might want it. So was the Cruz campaign accurately portraying the voter histories of Iowans? Or did it simply make up the numbers?

It’s Ted Cruz for crying out loud!  Of course he made it up.  That’s what he does.

Image from bloviatingzeppelin.net.

Is there Anything Ted Cruz Doesn’t Lie About(cont.)?

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“You know who one of those millions of Americans who’s lost their health care because of Obamacare? That would be me. I don’t have health care right now. I had purchased an individual policy and Blue Cross Blue Shield canceled all their individual policies in the state of Texas effective December 31st. So our health care got canceled.”     Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas).

A very moving story, that is if it wasn’t completely fabricated. The whole tale smelled from the beginning.  You don’t lose your health care with a single letter.  Moreover, if true, then Cruz is a moron for not securing another plan from the many choices.  More importantly, it was pure bullshit as a part of Cruz’s agenda to destroy the American healthcare system.   The Cruz campaign had to quickly fess up and throw Ted’s insurance broker under the bus.  Cruz was automatically enrolled in another plan by his provider.  Since the Affordable Care Act is actually working, Cruz has to lie and make up stuff to paint a picture of failure.

Mom Said Smoking all that Dope Would Make You Stupid

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The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports that a 27-year-old man has been arrested for stealing a life-size Miley Cyrus inflatable doll from an adult video (read porn) store. The doll was found in his backpack along with some marijuana when he was stopped on Wednesday for riding his bicycle the wrong way on a highway frontage road.

About 3:02 p.m. police saw the man rode his bike the wrong way near Interstate Highway 37 and Corn Products Road, according to a Corpus Christi police news release. The officer found marijuana in the man’s pockets. After the officer searched the man’s backpack, he found the life-size Cyrus doll.

The officer knew of a theft reported at an adult video store at 7430 Intestate Highway 37, a few minutes before he made the traffic stop, the release states. After investigation officers found the man matched the description of the person reported to have stolen the inflatable doll, which was estimated at $49.95.

Was that an officially licensed Miley Cyrus doll or a cheap Chinese knock-off?

 

Cornyn Backing Criminal Justice Reform

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has been fairly quiet of late – what with the junior senator from Texas sucking all the air out of the room.  But Cornyn (whom Red has taken to task in the past) is actually serious at times about his work as a senator representing not only Texas but the best interests of the nation.  Red speculates that watching Ted Cruz bloviate and bluster his way to national prominence has not set well with our silver-haired senior senator.  Cornyn appears determined to forge his own path to consolidating the considerable power he holds as the No. 2 “man” in the Senate and trying to get legislation passed – something that interests Sr. Cruz not at all.

In that light, Cornyn has taken on the considerable task of federal criminal justice reform by pushing a bill out of the Judiciary Committee that, among other things, would give federal judges more leeway in sentencing, end mandatory life sentences for three-time losers convicted of non-violent crimes, and establish programs to ease released prisoners back into society.

Cornyn faces opposition from other Republicans.  Cruz himself is opposed and as usual misrepresents what the proposed legislation would actually do.  “I don’t think what the justice system needs is additional leniency for violent criminals,” Cruz complains having apparently not bothered to actually read the bill.

For the full story on Cornyn’s efforts check out Mary Clare Jalonick of the AP.

Be Careful What You Ask For – Grand Jury Clears Planned Parenthood and Indicts Their Accusers

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The Houston Chronicle reports that a grand jury convened to investigate Planned Parenthood over the alleged sale of fetal tissue and organs has instead cleared the organization and instead indicted the two pro-life activists who secretly videotaped their meetings with PP officials.

The Harris County grand jury indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, both of California, on charges of tampering with a governmental record, a second-degree felony with a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison. It also charged Daleiden, the leader of the videographers, with the same misdemeanor he had alleged – the purchase or sale of human organs, presumably because he had offered to buy in an attempt to provoke Planned Parenthood employees into saying they would sell.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced the indictments in a statement, noting the probe had lasted more than two months. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us,” said Anderson, a Republican. “All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.”

Fortunately for Anderson, she is unopposed in the GOP primary in March.  This decision cannot be popular among the Tea Party base in Harris County.  Which probably explains why Tea Party hacks such as Texas Attorney General Ken “Waiting for My Next Indictment” Paxton, OPIG Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pledged to continue to investigate.  According to Patrick, “the horrific nature of these videos demand scrutiny and investigation.”  What exactly Patrick thinks the Harris County DA’s office was doing is anyone’s guess, but “scrutiny and investigation” are the watchwords for the typical prosecutor.  This has been scrutinized and investigated and PP has come up clean.  But that will never satisfy the witch hunters.

UT is Coming to Town

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The Houston Chronicle reports that the University of Texas system will in fact be making its presence known in Texas’ largest city.  UT will be paying $450 million over a period of 30 years for a 300 acre campus just south of the South 610 Loop.  The land is likely the largest open parcel that close to central Houston and is surrounded by several other slightly used tracts that could be used for expansion.  The purchase has raised outcries from University of Houston supporters who are feeling the heat of real Tier One university coming to town.  For a city its size, Houston is severely under-universitied. Houston has UH and Rice as major universities and then a small number of other players including UH-Downtown, the University of St. Thomas, Texas Southern University and Houston Baptist University.  Six real universities for a city of over 4 million is totally inadequate.  Red welcomes UT to town.  UT System Chancellor William McRaven said he wants to “astound people with our boldness.”

Perhaps this offends the powers that be at UH – who are more accustomed to astounding people with corruption and ineptitude.  If they had any vision, they would see that adding another major university center to Houston can only benefit UH by making Houston a university city and expanding opportunities for cooperation.  But they are too busy attempting to build walls to protect their fiefdoms, building expensive stadiums that are underutilized, and covering up any hint of scandal.