Sunday, August 10, 2008

Cornyn Approves Iraqi Gov. Sitting On America's Oil Money In The Bank

A new Government Accountability Office study reports (GAO report PDF) that the soaring price of crude oil will yield the Iraqi government a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by the end of 2008. While paying $4 per gallon of gas for every fill up at the pump, American taxpayers have also spent a total of ### for the war in Iraq, and the meter is still running. That large sum includes the $42 billion American taxpayers have spent, so far, for the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq. (That large sum does not in the cost of benefits the U.S. government will pay to military veterans over the next fifty or more years.) In contrast, the Iraqi government has spent less than $4 billion on the country's reconstruction while the government banks profits on its crude oil sales to America and the international markets.

During an appearance last Sunday on a CNN program with Wolf Blitzer, Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) said he believes it's a positive thing that American taxpayers are sending money to Iraq simultaneously out of two pockets while the Iraqi government banks its massive $79 billion oil profit surplus by not spending the money to rebuild its own country. The video of Senator Cornyn's appearance on CNN can be viewed at Think Progress.

Texas State Legislator Rick Noriega is the Democratic Candidate challenging incumbent John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate Seat for Texas.

A Reason To Vote Democratic in 2008 - Episode 2

Moving this video up near the top of the list again because it states so concisely why Americans should vote for every national and local Democratic Candidate on the ballot this fall!!!

Video Submission to Howard Dean's Democratic National Convention
"Why Am I A Democratic"
Video Contest:

Hillary Clinton Affirms Support For Barack Obama

In a call for party unity, Senator Hillary Clinton again affirmed her support for Barack Obama's presidential candidacy during a public appearance on Friday. Senator Hillary Clinton will headline the second night of the Democratic National Convention, the Obama campaign announced Sunday. The second day of the Convention, Tuesday, Aug. 26, is the 88th anniversary of the women's right to vote.

Associated Press News Video

Presidential Debates Set

PBS will host two of the four presidential debates with Jim Lehrer hosting the first debate and Gwen Ifill hosting the only Vice Presidential debate. NBC and CBS will host one debate each with Tom Brokaw hosting the NBC debate and Bob Schieffer hosting the CBS debate. ABC is noticeably left out the presidential debate line up this year.
  1. First Presidential Debate: – Date: September 26 – Site: University of Mississippi – Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security – Moderator: Jim Lehrer – Staging: Podium debate – Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment.

  2. Vice Presidential Debate – Date: October 2nd – Site: Washington University (St. Louis) – Moderator: Gwen Ifill – Staging/Answer Format: To be resolved after both parties’ Vice Presidential nominees are selected.

  3. Second Presidential Debate – Date: October 7 – Site: Belmont University – Moderator: Tom Brokaw – Staging: Town Hall debate – Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

  4. Third Presidential Debate – Date: October 15 – Site: Hofstra University – Topic: Domestic and Economic policy – Moderator: Bob Schieffer – Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table – Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate – Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Texas Observer - Big Bland John - Cornyn

The Texas Observer has a new story on U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is being challenged for re-election by Democrat Rick Noriega.

Democratic strategists in Texas have been telling anyone who will listen for the past year that they can defeat John Cornyn, the state’s junior U.S. senator, in November. This is big talk for a party that hasn’t won a statewide race since 1994 and hasn’t held Cornyn’s senate seat in 47 years. But they have some fancy polling data to back it up. More than a third of Texans wouldn’t know their junior senator if he fell on them. They call this “name ID” (or lack thereof) in the political consulting business. Cornyn’s is abysmal for a politician who’s served as a Texas Supreme Court justice, state attorney general, and, for the past six years, U.S. senator. Of those who do know Cornyn, fewer than 50 percent view him favorably—dangerous territory for an incumbent seeking re-election. Some of those same polls show him running closely with Democratic opponent Rick Noriega.

But you don’t need polling data to know that Cornyn can be beaten. Just watch him give a speech. “Dull” is an understatement . . .

. . . Cornyn often votes with a small group of two-dozen arch-conservatives in the Senate, and in opposition to the more moderate, and more popular, Hutchison. In July 2005, for example, he was one of 26 senators to vote against an amendment requiring gunmakers to install child safety locks on their weapons. In exchange for protecting children, gunmakers received immunity from lawsuits. Hutchison and McCain backed the proposal

“He’s very much seen as a partisan Republican,” says Allen of Congressional Quarterly. “There are a fairly limited number of issues where he’s reached across the aisle.”

He also has surrendered to political expediency. In 2006 and 2007, Congress nearly self-immolated over immigration ahead of the midterm elections. Cornyn made clear he opposed construction of a border fence. He told reporters at the time that walling off the entire border was a 20th century answer to a 21st century problem, that the wall wouldn’t stem illegal immigration, and that it was too expensive. “I’m not sure that’s the best use of that money,” he told reporters in early October 2006.

Three weeks later, he voted for the Secure Fence Act—a vote he later described as symbolic support of border security. He said he didn’t think the fence would ever receive funding. (The funding, of course, did come through, and construction began this summer.) His vote for the wall has infuriated some mayors along the border who are fighting the federal government’s efforts to build the fence.

Read the full Texas Observer article

Related Postings:
Texas - Part of the 50 State Strategy
U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega Latest Polling Info

A Rick Noriega Campaign Video

Proud To Support Our Democratic Candidates

I'm Barbara Walters, a member of the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County; OK, I'm the President! On Monday night, July 28, our organization donated $6000 to 8 candidates.

$1,000 - Rick Noriega, candidate for US Senate
$1,000 - Tom Daley, candidate for US Congress, District 3
$1,000 - Glenn Glenn Melançon, candidate for US Congress, District 4
$1,000 - Jim Jordan, candidate for Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice
$500
- Susan Strawn, candidate for Court of Criminal Appeals Judge, Place 3
$500
- Don B. Chae, candidate for 5th Court of Appeals Justice, Place 3
$500
- Victor Manuel, candidate for Collin County Commissioner, Precinct 3
$500
- Eric Roberson, candidate for US Congress, District 32 (not in Collin Co.)

Our hard work over the last two years paid off. We organized, we raised money, we studied the positions of the candidates, we voted to endorse them, and then we invited them back to accept the checks! There was a full house of about 60 people and a wonderful amount of energy and excitement filled the room.

Pictures of Each Candidate Who Received a Contribution
With Barbara Walters, President Of
The Democratic Women of Collin County

Stephen Sargent accepting on
behalf of Rick Noriega,
candidate for US Senate
Tom Daley, candidate for
US Congress, District 3


Glenn Melancon, candidate for
US Congress, District 4
Jim Jordan, candidate for
Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice


Picture Not Available
Don B. Chae, candidate for
5th Court of Appeals
Justice, PL3


Victor Manuel, candidate for
Collin County Commissioner,
Precinct 3
Eric Roberson, candidate for
US Congress, District 32

(not on Collin Co. Ballots)


You can review responses to a position questionnaire submitted by the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County (TDWCC) to each of these candidates. Discover why the TDWCC endorses each for elected office.

We barely have time to celebrate, though, because we need to organize more, raise more money, and get out the vote to get our candidates elected in November.

The organization of Texas Democratic Women of Collin County are conducting multiple phone banks per week, voter registration drives, and having our second annual fundraiser dinner on Sept. 28. I f you want to know more, check out our website.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Democratic Candidates Showing Strength In Southern States

The Republican fortress in the South, which started with the Goldwater campaign in 1964, has been an impregnable voting block of conservatives for 40 years.

Now, the Democratic Party is running its most competitive campaign across the South in 40 years, fielding potential winners along a rib of states stretching from Louisiana to Virginia.

As recently as July 2006, the year Democrats took control of Congress, a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll showed Southern voters bucking national sentiment, saying they preferred Republicans over Democrats by 47% to 40%.

In early 2007, both parties expected only 35 to 40 House seats out of 435 to be truly competitive. However, in the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, conducted last month, Southern voters said they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress over a Republican one by a 44% to 40% margin, a reversal of the long-term historical patterns.

Presidential Election Results
Collin County

Year GOP DEM
2004 71.2% 174,435 28.1% 68,935
2000 73.1% 128,179 24.4% 42,884
1996 63.0% 83,750 28.5% 37,854
1992 47.0% 60,514 19.0% 24,508
1988 74.3% 67,776 25.1% 22,934
1984 81.6% 61,095 18.2% 13,604
1980 67.9% 36,559 28.2% 15,187
1976 60.0% 21,608 39.0% 14,039
1972 78.0% 17,667 21.1% 4,783
1968 39.9% 6,494 36.4% 5,918
1964 29.8% 3,341 70.0% 7,833
1960 42.2% 3,865 57.1% 5,229


In the spring of 2008, Democratic candidates won special elections for U.S. House seats in heavily Republican parts of Mississippi and Louisiana.
  • MS Democrat Travis Childers beat Republican Greg Davis 54% to 46% in a U.S. House special election in a red Republican district.
  • LA's 6th district Democrat Cazayoux Woody Jenkins, won a special election 49% to 46%, for a seat held by a Republican for two decades.
Plus, last year, while not a southern race, it is significant that Democrat Bill Foster won the suburban Chicago House seat held for 21 years by Republican Dennis Hastert, the former House Speaker.

Democratic voter turnout consistently outpaced Republicans across the South in this year's presidential primaries, often by wide margins, even in Texas. In the 20 largest counties in Texas, 19 had more Democrats turnout than Republicans. Democrats outvoted Republicans in Republican strongholds like Collin County and Williamson County by at least 20,000 votes.

During the 2008 Democratic Primary more people voted on the Democratic Primary Ballot in Collin Co. than voted for John Kerry (68,935 votes for Kerry in Collin Co.) in the 2004 Presidential general election. More than 20,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 Precinct Conventions on March 4th all across Collin County and approximately 4,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 County Convention in Collin County. These are all historic record turnouts for the Democratic Party in Collin County.

In the 2008 election cycle several Republican-held House seats across the South, including rural districts in Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana and South Carolina, that were once considered "safe" are looking more competitive as election day approaches. That could increase Democratic advantage of 19 House seats in the current Congress to an advantage of possibly up to 75 House seats over Republicans in the next Congress.

That edge could grow even larger if Collin County Democrats can turn out in large enough numbers to help Tom Daley, age 44, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District win against Republican incumbent Sam Johnson, age 78, and Glenn Melançon, age 42, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District win against Republican incumbent Ralph Hall, age 85.

Read more about "The New Southern Strategy" in The Wall Street Journal.

Related Postings:

GOP Drops While Dem Voter Rolls Grow Across U.S.
Texas - Part of the 50 State Strategy
U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega Latest Polling Info

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Bush Admin Seeks to Redefine Birth Control Pill as Abortion

As reported in the Wall Street Journal OnLine, "The Bush Administration's Department of Health and Human Services writes a draft regulation that defines most birth-control pills and intrauterine devices as abortion because they work by preventing fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus."

The regulation considers that such contraception approaches - destroys the life of a human being. By its expansive definitions, the draft furthers a key goal of the religious right - to define single-cell fertilized eggs as legal people with full legal rights. If the regulation is enacted, insurers, hospitals, HMOs and other institutions could decline to provide or cover contraception pills and IUD devices.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, it is conceivable that even the common birth control pill and IUD device could eventually be ruled to be a type of abortion by a very right leaning Supreme Court of the United States. The next President will likely appoint as many as three new Supreme Court Justices to the bench. Long after the next president is gone, his appointments will be sitting on the bench, making decisions that impact our rights and liberties.

McCain has repeatedly stated that he opposes abortion and has said that he would appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark court decision from the 1970s that legalized abortion, whereas, Obama supports the current Roe v. Wade position.

Which Presidential candidate do you want to appoint the next three Supreme Court Justices? John McCain or Barack Obama?? The choice is up to you - the voter!


A message from Cecile Richards,
President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.


It seems like the [other] person who doesn't want to discuss this issue is Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt. A few days ago, health care blogger Scott Swenson asked Secretary Leavitt whether it will be "HHS policy that the 98 percent of Americans who use contraception at some point in their lives are terminating rather than preventing pregnancy." Leavitt's reply: no comment.

We deserve answers from Secretary Leavitt on this secret plan to radically change family planning funding rules, and we need you to help us get those answers. Here's what you can do:
  • First, leave a comment on Secretary Leavitt's blog urging him to respond to Swenson's question and growing concerns that the Bush administration's proposed rule would severely threaten women's health care. Just leave a comment on his most recent blog post. Leavitt uses his official blog to communicate about government policy — it's time he came clean on this issue.
  • Second, let us know you left a comment. Because the blog comments are moderated, some may be blocked from visitors to the site. We need a way to keep track of the growing outcry about the Bush administration's proposed attack on women's health care — we can't let them keep this quiet.
Please, help us stop this proposed rule change before it can harm the people who most desperately need access to quality, comprehensive health care. The first step is to get straight answers from Secretary Leavitt. And don't forget to tell us what you said to Secretary Leavitt.

Thank you for standing with us, and please keep an eye out for future updates on this vital issue.

P.S. Our best chance of stopping this assault on the fundamental health care rights of women is to raise a massive public outcry. Help us get a head start by urging your friends to contact President Bush. Click here.

ExxonMcCain'08

The Politico.com reports that the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday will launch an “Exxon-McCain ’08” campaign website where ExxonMcCain'08 lapel buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs, complete with gas-pump logo, will be available. Click on the bumper sticker below.


Donations to McCain's campaign from the oil industry

Obama Leads McCain In New AP-Ipsos Poll

AP-Ipsos Poll - A new AP-Ipsos poll just released shows Barack Obama leading John McCain nationally by 6 percentage points. The Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows that Obama is leading his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent. McCain has a 10-point lead among whites and is tied with Obama among men. Obama leads by 13 points among women and has huge leads with minorities and the young. Poll Press Release PDF

McCain Chooses Big Oil Over American Families For Gas Price Relief

Robert L. Borosage: The Audacity of Contempt at (Huffington Post) - "Exxon reports a new record in the history of corporatedom. So Barack Obama suggests that we provide every American with a $1000 tax rebate to help pay for rising prices, paid for by levying an excess profits tax on the oil companies. What does the maverick battler of big oil say? No way. McCain angrily dismisses the idea, saying that it would lead the oil companies to reduce their drilling in the US -- but this is based upon what might generously be called a big lie. . . McCain's not about to support a tax on the big oil companies whose executives are helping to fund his campaign. But that won't stop him from selling himself as a maverick promising to "battle Big Oil." If nothing else, he has the audacity of contempt for the very voters he needs to win." Read the full editorial

Republican incumbent for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, Sam Johnson, age 78, Republican incumbent for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, Ralph Hall, age 85, and Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn all stand with Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, age 72, on the issue of continuing big federal tax breaks (gifts) to big oil even as big oil rakes in new record highs in corporate profits quarter after quarter from struggling American families! (See- Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)

In addition to calling for a excess profits tax on big oil companies, Barack Obama proposed Monday that President Bush, if he is truly interested in immediate gas price relief, immediately sign an executive order to sell 70 million barrels of oil from the government operated strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies.

The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

NYTimes: GOP Drops While Dem Voter Rolls Grow Across U.S.

NYTimes.com, "Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level. For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all.

Voting experts say the registration numbers may signal the beginning of a move away from Republicans that could affect local, state and national politics over several election cycles. In several states Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant gains in registration." Read the Full Story

This is a trend that has also been observed in traditionally Republican Collin County. During the 2008 Democratic Primary more people voted on the Democratic Primary Ballot than voted for John Kerry (68,935 votes for Kerry) in the 2004 Presidential general election. More than 20,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 Precinct Conventions on March 4th all across Collin County and approximately 4,000 people attended the Democratic Party's 2008 County Convention in Collin County.

There are likely several factors that explain this progressive shift in Collin County. Part of the shift may be explained by Republicans loosing faith in their party leaders. More than half of Republican voters now believe that their Republican leaders, who have controlled America's direction for more than eight years, have taken the country down the wrong track (55%), up from 51% in June, according to a July 2008 Reuters/Zogby national poll of likely voters.

Another part of the shift may be explained by the dramatic population growth across Collin County and the voter demographic shift such growth engenders.

Collin County

Historical Populations

Census Pop.
2008~ 758,500 +8.5%
2006* 698,851 +11%
2004* 625,000 +27%
2000 491,675 +86.2%
1990 264,036 +82.6%

* - Estimated
~ - Projected

The county's population in 2006 was estimated at 698,851 with a near 50-50 split of males and females. The median age was 33.7 years, slightly younger than the U.S. average. The county's population in 2006 was a near 50-50 split of males and females and the median age was 33.7 years, slightly younger than the U.S. average. The education level of the county's 2006 workforce was almost double (47 percent) Texas and U.S. averages, with almost half of those age 25 and older possessing bachelors or advanced degrees. From 2000-2006, about 43,000 workers holding bachelor's degrees and 23,000 workers holding higher degrees moved to Collin County. (The current trend has been that younger voters and voters holding college degrees tend to hold more progressive views. . .) The 2006 demographic breakdown by age was:
  • 28.70% under the age of 18,
  • 7.40% from 18 to 24,
  • 37.90% from 25 to 44,
  • 20.70% from 45 to 64, and
  • 5.30% who were 65 years of age or older.
Of the projected population of 758,500 people for 2008, approximately 540,810 people will be of voting age on election day. Approximately 380,000 people are currently registered to vote in Collin County, so that leaves as many as approximately 160,810 unregistered potential voters. Even if one assumes that 10% of this number are not U.S. citizens, and therefore are not eligible to vote, there are still up to 144,729 unregistered potential voters. Likely a large percentage the unregistered voters are between 18 and 33 years of age -- the age group most open to the progressive message.

From now and until election day all the Democratic Groups around Collin County will be busy registering new voters and campaigning for the party's local and national candidates. Then, starting on the first day of early voting on October 20th and continuing all the way through to the closing minutes of voting on Election Day November 4th all the Democratic Groups will be busy getting people out to vote.

The Democratic Candidates who will appear on Collin County ballots this fall need your help -- They MUST have your help to win here in traditionally Republican Red Collin County!!

PLEASE contact you neighborhood Obama campaign organizer, the Democratic Party of Collin County, the Texas Democratic Women of Collin County, any of the local Democratic candidates' campaign organizations or any of the other Democratic groups active here in Collin County. Look in the left-hand sidebar of this blog page to find all of the Democratic candidates (see - Democratic Candidates '08) running for office in Collin County that need your help.

PLEASE VOLUNTEER to help Get Out The Vote (GOTV) in this "Change'08" election year!!

Possible that Obama Leads By 100+ Electoral Votes

Huffington Post, "Despite Media Narrative, Obama Leads By Over 100 Electoral Votes According To Independent Groups. It's quite instructive to see how the independent groups (and even right-leaning ones) currently see the state of the race through the only prism that matters -- the Electoral College."

Obama McCain Margin




Real Clear Politics 322 216 Obama +106
Electoral-Vote.com 316 209 Obama +107
FiveThirtyEight.com 303 235 Obama + 68
Pollster.com 284 147 Obama +137

----------- ----------- -----------------
AVERAGE 306 202 Obama +104

Read the full Huffington Post Posting

WaPo Blog: Swift Boat Veterans Take Aim At Obama

Washington Post Blog, "Just as they sought to destroy John Kerry in 2004, the founders of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group are aiming their guns at this season's presumptive Democratic presidential candidate. But unlike four years ago, when the Swifties spent millions to discredit Kerry, their hit on Barack Obama so far hasn't cost them a dime.

The opening assault came over the weekend in the form of a mass email to would-be sympathizers. "As liberal as Kerry was, America faces an even more liberal threat today: Barack Obama," wrote John O'Neill, a founder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who co-authored the book "Unfit for Command," the attack (or smear) on Kerry's Vietnam War record."

Read the rest of the story

Monday, August 4, 2008

West Texas Wind Turbines

Giant wind turbines are not uncommon in the wide open West Texas plains. But there's a big problem getting that electricity out to the big cities like Dallas and Houston.
Listen to this Marketplace Radio Report:

Tom Daley, Democratic candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, age 44, and Glenn Melançon Democratic candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, age 42, do understand the dramatic revolution to American industry, white and blue collar job availability and personal life style that 21st century clean alternative energy technologies can bring to a 21st century America and Texas. Both Democratic congressional candidates, whose districts meet down the middle of Collin County, stand with U.S. Senate Democratic Candidate for Texas, Rick Noriega, and the Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, for the deployment of clean alternative energy technologies for a better America and a better Texas.

American Tax Payers Paying the Price for Republican's Zeal to Deregulate

Immediately after Republicans eliminated the regulatory guidelines of prudent banking practices, unscrupulous home mortgage lenders were free to unfairly prey on both American home buyers and securities investors. Mortgage lenders were free to aggressively market risky sub-prime home mortgages to unsuspecting home buyers and then speculatively trade those risky sub-prime loans in securities markets to such unrestrained levels that the U.S. Federal Reserve and FDIC are now forced into government bailouts of banks and private securities companies to avert economic disaster.

The U.S. Federal Reserve and FDIC were forced into such a Federal bailouts of Bear Stearns in March 2008 and IndyMac Bank in California in July 2008 over these risky sub-prime mortgage loan trading practices. The depth of sub-prime mortgage loan risks to the U.S. economy are yet unfolding with thousands more American homeowners losing their homes every month through foreclosure.

Republicans would rather allow banks and brokers to take unmitigated and unregulated risks, to profit the few, and then socialize the bailout cost of those "too big to fail" by adding the rotten fruits of their bad decisions onto the public debt.

The United States is in the second inning of a recession that will last for at least 18 months and help kill off hundreds of banks, influential economist and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini recently told Barron's in an interview.

Taxpayers will pay a big price for helping bail out the rest of the financial services industry as well, Roubini said; likely in excess of $1 trillion and possibly closer to $2 trillion. The banks will become insolvent because of mounting losses as a result of the housing bust and because they have only written down their sub-prime loans so far, he said. Still in front of them are their consumer-credit losses, for which they lack the reserves, Barron's reported. He also said there are hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding in home-equity loans that could be worth zero, too.

Democrats favor legislation that will restore the federal banking regulatory authority that the Republicans discarded in their zeal to eliminate any and all protective government oversight in every quarter of American financing and commerce.

Read RawStory's article, "Expert on bailouts: Bank regulators should investigate themselves" for additional background.

WaPo: GOP Tries To Scare New Voters Away From the Polls

The Washington Post - Editorial Section, "In Virgina, as in other states, loads of first-time voters are registering to cast ballots in the fall elections . . . As registration drives accelerate, including those run by the Barack Obama campaign and its allies, it's no wonder that Republicans are increasingly anxious about retaining their hold on a state that GOP presidential candidates have carried since 1968. What is surprising is their utterly baseless charge of "coordinated and widespread voter fraud" . . . The allegation of a "very serious and troubling trend" of registration fraud is unsupported by election officials, police or prosecutors. It is couched in the toxic language of gauzy innuendo, insidious suggestion and simple fear." Read the rest of the story in the WaPo.

House Republicans On Floor Of Empty Chamber in Drill More Holes Push

RawStory.com - Read the full story

Excerpts from RawStory:
While most of their colleagues in the House of Representatives had already gone home for a five-week break Monday, a group of House Republicans returned to the floor of the adjourned chamber to demand that Congress open more of the nation's coastlines to oil drilling.

Following a dramatic demonstration last Friday, in which GOP lawmakers refused to leave the House floor after a vote to adjourn for Congress's annual August recess, several conservative Republicans returned to the Capitol to continue their demonstration.

"What you are about to witness is the beginning of a sustained effort to demand that Speaker Pelosi bring this Congress back to Washington DC and give us an up-or-down vote on an energy bill that includes more access to American oil," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) during a brief press conference before the lawmakers stormed the floor.

Left out of their criticism Monday morning was another prominent politician who has the power to order Congress back to Washington: Republican President George W. Bush.

It will take more than ten years for drilling new oil wells in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and in off shore locations to drop prices by perhaps as much as a few cents per gal.

On the other hand, while Republicans pontificated in an empty House chamber to gin up an election year political diversion, Barack Obama proposed Monday that the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum stockpile. This immediate supply of crude oil into the oil markets could serve to break the back of speculative commodity traders who many believe are responsible for as much as 50% of the price increase to $4 per gallon of gasoline Americans are paying to big oil companies. (Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all)

The so-called "Enron Loophole" was created and attached to U.S. Senate legislation in December 2000 by McCain's former campaign co-chair Senator Phil Gramm at the behest of Enron executives. It was this "loop hole legislation" that Enron exploited to speculatively manipulate electricity commodity trading in California energy markets in the summer of 2001, spawning artificial electricity shortages, steep climbs in electricity prices and rolling brownouts across California. It is this legislation that continues to allow unbridled and unregulated oil and gas commodity trading that has propelled gasoline price increases by as much as an additional 50 percent since mid-2007. Republicans in the Senate recently blocked legislation offered by Senate Democrats that would have closed the so-called "Enron Loophole."

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Should Voters Consider the Technology Awareness of 21st Century Candidates?

Should the computing habits of today's Presidential, Senatorial and Congressional candidates have any bearing at all on the candidate's credentials as voters decide which candidate they should elect on November 4, 2008? Here are a few considerations given in an article that discusses John McCain's lack knowledge on the 21st century computing and Internet tools that are already used by 73 percent of all American adults and an even higher percentage of young adults and teens. Excerpts from a New York Times article titled, "McCain, the Analog Candidate."

"“We’re not asking for a president to answer his own e-mail,” said Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley futurist who teaches at Stanford. “We’re asking for a president who understands the context of what e-mail [and blog] means.”

The [candidate's] “user experience,” Mr. Saffo said, brings with it an implicit understanding of how the country lives, and where it might be heading. As Mr. McCain would lack this, he would also be deficient in this broader appreciation for how technology affects lives [and the American economy.]

Computers have become something of a cultural marker — in politics and in the real world. Proficiency with them suggests a basic familiarity with the day-to-day experience of most Americans [and American businesses] — just as ignorance to them can suggest someone is “out of touch,” or “old.”

“There’s a certain tempo to the thinking of someone who [understands and] uses all kinds of new [technology] media,” said Mr. Saffo, who said he would anoint Mr. Obama, if elected, “the first cybergenic president,” just as John F. Kennedy was considered the first telegenic president."

There is, perhaps, more to this story than just using and understanding personal computers and Internet technology in the 21st century. Incumbents that have not kept up with the times likely do not understand other 21st century technologies that have the potential to benefit Americans and the American economy.

Case in point is the myriad of 21st century alternative energy technologies that stand poised to revolutionize how Americans, and the rest of the world, generate and use energy.

Republican incumbent for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, Sam Johnson, age 78, Republican incumbent for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, Ralph Hall, age 85, Republican incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, age 72, all advocate drilling more oil well holes in the ground and coastal areas as America’s primary energy strategy.

All these Republican incumbents also downplay the impact that alternative energy technologies can bring to American and Texas. Do the Republicans advocate drilling more oil well holes because drilling holes in the ground is the most advanced technology they understand? Or, is it something else? Multiple oil company executives did give huge contributions to Senator McCain's campaign just days after his offshore drilling change of heart. (Until very recently Senator McCain was against offshore drilling.)

T. Boone Pickens may be an old Republican, he is sounding awfully like a younger generation Democrat these days. Watch his T. Boone's TV ad:


Younger candidates such as Tom Daley, Democratic candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District, age 44, and Glenn Melançon Democratic candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District, age 42, do understand and do use personal computers and the Internet in the course of their daily lives and to support their respective congressional campaigns.

Both Democratic congressional candidates do understand the dramatic revolution to American industry, white and blue collar job availability and personal life style that 21st century clean alternative energy technologies can bring to a 21st century America. Both Democratic congressional candidates, whose districts meet down the middle of Collin County, stand with U.S. Senate Democratic Candidate for Texas, Rick Noriega, and the Democratic Presidential candidate, Barack Obama, for the deployment of clean alternative energy technologies for a better America and a better Texas.

Scientists Mimic Plants' Photosynthesis Energy Production & Storage System

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2008) — In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Excerpts from the ScienceDaily Article:

"Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."

Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow sun light to be converted to energy for immediate use and also stored for later use.

The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas.

Sunlight has the greatest potential of any power source to solve the world's energy problems, said Nocera. In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.

James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a "giant leap" toward generating clean, carbon-free energy on a massive scale."

When electricity — whether generated from a photovoltaic cell, thin-film photovoltaic plastic sheets, a wind turbine or any other source — runs through the catalyst treated electrodes, water is very efficiently split into oxygen and hydrogen gases. It is the hydrogen gas created in this process that can be stored for use in future home energy systems or the hydrogen can be fed into hydrogen powered cars already in production today. That could mean no more $4++ per gallon gas fill ups at the local Exxon Station - rather you could fill up your hydrogen powered car for free with the sun, rather than Exxon, as your energy provider.

Read the full ScienceDaily article here

U.S. Senate Candidate for Texas Rick Noriega supports the development of alternative energy sources such as this. Noriega's opponent, Texas' incumbent Senator John Cornyn, dismisses such alternative energy research and development as "unrealistic" and "against mainstream solutions" such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and off shore drilling -- both advocated by Senator Cornyn as priorities over alternative energy development.

It must also be noted that, like Rick Noriega, Collin County U.S. Congressional Democratic candidates Tom Daley, Candidate for the U.S. 3rd Texas Congressional District against Republican incumbent Sam Johnson and Glenn Melançon - Candidate for the U.S. 4th Texas Congressional District against Republican incumbent Ralph Hall also support alternative energy technology development. Both Sam Johnson and Ralph Hall favor the energy positions held by incumbent Senator John Cornyn -- drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and off shore drilling for carbon fossil crude oil as priorities over alternative energy development.

Experts agree that arctic and off-shore drilling would not add significantly oil flow to refineries and it would not cool gas prices at the pump. In 10 years time arctic drilling might drop crude oil prices as much as $0.75 per barrel of crude oil.

That's not to say that continued careful drilling using modern drilling technologies is necessarily a bad idea. Millions of acres of oil and gas leases in the lower 48 states sit undrilled and untapped.

Why are John McCain and other Republicans so urgently trying force the issue of arctic and off-shore drilling when so many acres of oil and gas leases sit untapped in the lower 48 states. Could it be diversionary election year politics? Or, is it something else? Multiple oil company executives did give huge contributions to Senator McCain's campaign just days after his offshore drilling change of heart. (Until very recently Senator McCain was against offshore drilling.)

Even if all the oil wells possible were being drilled today, no one should get the idea that would reduce America's dependence on foreign oil imports or reduce the price we all pay at the pump for a gallon of gasoline. Only significant investments in the development of domestically produced alternative energy technologies will significantly reduce America's dependence on foreign oil imports, improve America's national security and reduce the price we all pay for every form of energy.

All of the Republican candidates, that will appear on the Collin County Voters' ballot this fall, support continuing tax breaks to big Oil and Coal companies for projects such as Arctic and Off-Shore drilling. (read Big Oil's biggest quarter ever: $51.5B in all) These tax subsidies bleed money away from American tax payers and the Texas economy and simple add to big oil profits.

Alternative energy development, particularly like west Texas wind power generation, is already pulling much needed jobs and money back into the Texas economy. Technologies such as developed by MIT can rapidly accelerate solar and wind power investment and development in Texas. After all, anyone who has lived in Texas for very long knows well that the most abundant resources to be found in Texas are wind and sun!!!

Why aren't the Republican candidates John McCain, John Cornyn, Sam Johnson and Ralph Hall supporting alternative energy development when it can be so good for the Texas economy?

U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega Calls for Alternative Energy Strategy

U.S. Senate candidate Rick Noriega calls for wind, solar power in all Texas homes by 2019 (The Dallas Morning News) - "Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega called Tuesday for all Texas households to get their electricity by renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar power, by 2019. "

The Dallas Morning News article includes in its news observation, "Mr. Noriega does not, however, support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which is believed to contain significant oil deposits." --A position supported by Noriega's opponent, Senator John Cornyn-- The article goes on to report that Mr. Cornyn's campaign dismissed Mr. Noriega's energy plan [for national renewable energy resources strategy] as unrealistic. Senator Cornyn's campaign manager Rob Jesmer wrote in a statement, "The sad truth is Rick Noriega is against many mainstream solutions [solutions such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and off shore drilling as advocated by Senator Cornyn] that will put America on the path to a comprehensive energy plan."

Rick Noriega's alternative energy plan can be found - here.

Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega has served in the Texas House of Representatives and is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. Noriega was deployed to Afghanistan for one year and served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Watch
Noriega's YouTube videos displayed in the right sidebar of this blog page!!

Obama Wants Full Voting Rights for Florida and Michigan Delegates

The New York Times Caucus Blog, "Senator Barack Obama, the party’s presumptive nominee, has asked the credentials committee to let the two states have full voting rights at the convention. The credentials committee is to meet Aug. 24, the day before the convention begins in Denver, to determine who will be seated."

Precinct 4 Commissioner Race Added To Collin Co. Fall Ballot

The Collin County Commissioners' Court approves the annual budget and all county expenditures, sets the county property tax rates, approves the tax roll and determines public works policy such as building programs and conducting elections. The court appoints most non-elected department heads and standing committees and represents the county in state and regional matters. Members of the court also serve as Trustees of the Collin County Health Care Foundation, Collin County Housing Finance Corporation, and the Collin County Substance Abuse Foundation.

The July 2008 death of long time Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Hatchell opened up a vacancy for the remaining 2 years of his commissioner's term. The Precinct 4 Commissioner's office position will be added to the appropriate "ballot styles" by the Collin County Elections Office for the 2008 General Election. The Precinct 4 Commissioner's District falls generally in the south western portion of Collin County. People who live in that district will see that race as one of their ballot position choices for the General Election this fall. (See Precinct 4 Commissioner's District Map PDF.)

In the interim, former GOP county chair Kathy Ward was last month appointed to fill the Precinct 4 Commissioner's office until the November election. Ms. Ward has also been named by the Republican Party of Collin County to stand for election to that office in the General Election to fill the remaining 2 years Hatchell's term.

It was announced at the July 26th monthly "4th Saturday" meeting of the Democratic Party of Collin County (DPCC) that long time Plano Attorney Jean Power was filling with the County Elections Department to form a campaign committee to run as the Democratic candidate for the Precinct 4 Commissioner's District. Ms. Power made a few brief remarks at the DPCC "4th Saturday" meeting expressing her strong desire to serve her community as the Precinct 4 Commissioner.

Ms. Power also gave DPCC members attending the DPCC 4th Saturday meeting a brief summary of her professional background and community service. Ms. Power is the Managing Partner of Power Family Law and has practiced family law in Plano for 18 years. She is a former president of the Plano Bar Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the Rape Crises Center of Collin County and the All Saints Catholic School Advisory Committee. She is also a former president of the Collin County Social Services Association. Ms. Power received her law degree from Texas Tech in 1989.

Visit Jean Power's Collin County Precinct 4 Commissioner's Court website for more information.
Related link:Collin County Commissioners Court Democratic Candidates

Largest Asian-American PAC Endorses Obama

On Saturday the largest Asian-American political action committee, the 80-20 Initiative, formally endorsed Sen. Obama for president. They decided on the endorsement after a day-long convention and discussion among 33 delegates of various ethnicities, ages and party affiliations. The delegates represent a national, nonpartisan organization of 700,000 supporters.

GOP Senior Senator Ted Stevens Indicted On 7 Criminal Counts!

GOP Senior U.S. Senator Ted Stevens Indicted On 7 Criminal Charge (Huffington Post) - Sen. Ted Stevens, the nation's longest-serving Republican senator and a major figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, was indicted Tuesday on seven counts of failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in services from an oil services company that helped renovate his home.

The first sitting U.S. senator to face federal indictment since 1993, Stevens has been dogged by an investigation into his home renovation project in Alaska and his dealings with wealthy oil contractors.

TPM Election Central is reporting that Liddy Dole is dumping $10,000 in donations from indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens leadership PAC. Burnt Orange Report is reporting that John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison also accepted donations from indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens leadership PAC.

How Senator Ted Stevens' Alaska house re-do became a federal indictment against Senator Stevens - Reported in the McClatchy Newspaper on Saturday, August 2, 2008

Obama Taps Rep. Emanuel for Debate Negotiations

TheHill.com reports, "Barack Obama’s presidential campaign agreed to three debates against rival John McCain this fall and announced that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) will handle the Illinois senator's negotiations. In a letter to the Presidential Commission on Debates, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote that Obama will participate in three debates, and his running mate will participate in one vice presidential debate. Emanuel will take the lead on negotiating the specifics of the debates on behalf of the Obama campaign."

McCain The Low-Road Warrior

Mudslinging will damage McCain’s brand—but it may be the only way he can win, begins an article in the The New York Magazine. Here are a couple of excerpts from the New York Magazine article:

"With the week long string of attacks uncorked by the Arizona senator and his people during Obama’s trip abroad and in its aftermath—some brutal, some mocking, but all personal and focused on Obama’s character—we now have an inkling of just how deep in the mud McCain and his people are willing to wallow in order to win in November: right up to their Republican eyeballs.

As countless fact-checkers and tsk-tskers have maintained, the broadsides were a blend of distortion, innuendo, and outright slander. But that doesn’t mean they (and their inevitable successors) won’t prove effective. The strategy behind all this isn’t hard to discern: Drive up Obama’s negatives and render him unacceptable to pivotal voting blocs. Thus the depiction of him as too young, too feckless, and too pampered to be president. "
The New York Magazine is worth a read. Go to the New York Magazine article here:

Is the low road working for McCain? According to recent Quinnipiac polls taken in swing-states since McCain shifted to a harshly negative low-road posture, he has gained ground on Obama in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

By the end of last week Obama had started to toughen his rhetoric too, and so had his campaign. But now it's time for Obama go on the hard offense, to batter McCain for his gaffes and incoherence, hammer him for his flip-flops, highlight how his maverick status is a thing of fiction, and turn him into a combination of Bush and Grandpa Simpson.

There is also an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune. In this Tribune article Ed Rollins, a longtime Republican strategist, said McCain sometimes appears frustrated and angry when he talks about Obama, especially when complaining that the press does not treat him fairly. "John needs to be the deliberate, experienced veteran and not the grumpy old man," Rollins said. "If he's the grumpy old man, angry that the media is not in love with him anymore because they're in love with Barack Obama, that's not going to play well with the public." Go to the Chicago Tribune article here:

On ABC's Sunday "This Week" program, longtime Washington hand David Gergen took umbrage with John McCain's recent attack ads, charging that the Senator was using coded messaging to paint Barack Obama as "outside the mainstream" and "uppity." - Read more at Huffington Post

Then there are a couple of postings from AmericaBlog that points out why the Swift Boat type attack may not work in this election year. Go to the AmericaBlog positings here and here.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

U.S. Senate Candidate Rick Noriega Latest Polling Info

Rasmussen's latest polling information on the U.S. Sentate race in Texas between incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R) and Texas State Legislator Rick Noriega (D) shows that, despite a serious fundraising disadvantage, Rick Noriega remains competitive with John Cornyn for the Texas U.S. Senate seat:

The latest Rasmussen Report telephone survey in the Lone Star State finds Republican Incumbent John Cornyn leading Democratic State Legislator Rick Noriega 47% to 37%. When “leaners” are included, Cornyn leads 50% to 39%.

The incumbent senator is viewed favorably by 55% of voters and unfavorably by 31%. Noriega’s numbers are 45% favorable and 33% unfavorable.

July marks the second straight month that support for the incumbent has dropped below 50%. Last month, Cornyn had a 48% to 35% lead. Incumbents who poll below 50% are generally considered vulnerable. Cornyn polled better in early June, when he led the democrat 52% to 35%.

Though Cornyn’s lead has decreased this month, his numbers among unaffiliated voters have improved. The Republican now leads 41% to 24% among those voters. Support from his own party fell slightly this month, from 85% to 81%. On the other side of the aisle, Noreiga is now backed by 79% of Democrats, up from 68% last month.

The Republican now leads by fourteen percentage points among men and seven points among women, representing little change from last month.

Noriega's struggle, as it has been throughout his campaign for the Texas U.S. Senate seat, is to raise enough money to buy radio and TV spots to make himself more widely known to voters across Texas, which, as we know, is a very big state.

Cornyn's campaign is flush with money. Among his contributors, according to the Burnt Orange Report, John Cornyn has accepted donations from indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Steven's leadership PAC.

For two months running Cornyn has polled below 50% while more than half of Republican voters now believe that their Republican leaders, who have controlled America's direction for eight years, have taken the country down the wrong track (55%), up from 51% in June, according to a July 2008 Reuters/Zogby national poll of likely voters. On top of those facts, add that Senator Obama's presidential polling numbers are also within competitive striking distance in Texas and there's clearly an opening for Noreiga, if he can pull together the campaign contributions to stay competitive.

On the topic of campaign contributions -- The Texas Democratic Women of Collin County (TDWCC) recently endorsed Texas State Legislator Rick Noriega for the office of U.S. Senate. TDWCC membership voted to make a $1000 contribution to Noriega's campaign coffers on July 23, 2008. The picture at left shows Stephen Sargent accepting the $1000 contribution from Barb Walters, TDWCC President, on behalf of Rick Noriega's campaign on July 28 at the organization's monthly membership meeting.

Rick Noriega will speak at the Democatic Party of Collin County's Ann Richard's Dinner and fundraiser at the Heritage Ranch Country Club in McKinney, TX on August 16, 2008.

Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega has served in the Texas House of Representatives and is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. Noriega was deployed to Afghanistan for one year and served as deputy garrison commander of the KMTC training facility in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Watch Noriega's YouTube videos displayed in the right sidebar of this blog page and watch the video below to get to know him a little!!

Candidate for U.S. Senate,
Texas State Representative,
Military Veteran of War, and
Lieutenant Colonel - Texas Army National Guard