Sunday, August 16, 2009

Democratic Party of Collin Co. Honors Gov. Ann Richards

Democratic Party
of Collin Co.


Annual
Ann Richards

Dinner
About Tx Gov Richards
The Democratic Party of Collin County had a substantial turnout for its annual fundraiser dinner honoring former governor Ann Richards. In addition to keynote speaker Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, U.S. Senate Candidate John Sharp also briefly addressed the dinner attendees.

Sharp, who served as Texas State Comptroller from 1990 through 1999, told the Collin County Democrats that turning out the Democratic vote in Collin Collin will be key in electing Democrats to statewide office in future elections.

Sharp reminded dinner attendees that the first of those statewide elections, the special election to fill U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's vacated senate seat, could be in the not so distant future.

On Monday (Aug. 17) U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will begin a five-day statewide campaign tour to formally announce that she will oppose Rick Perry in the March 2, 2010 Republican primary. Sen. Hutchison is scheduled to kick off her gubernatorial campaign tour of Texas at 8 A.M. Monday morning (Aug 16) in the gym of her hometown high school in La Marque.

Hutchison's formal gubernatorial campaign announcement will be no surprise, but everyone is waiting to see if she will surprise with a resignation announcement. There has been much speculation over her possible senate resignation and rumors are once again circulating that she will announce a resignation date during her Monday morning La Marque High School campaign kickoff event. (see Sen. Hutchison Says Will Resign Senate Seat In Oct. Or Nov.)


John Sharp
Sharp told county Democrats that when Sen. Hutchison does resign, Gov. Rick Perry will appoint a temporary replacement to U.S. Senate until he can order a special election.

Unlike most other states, Texas allows the Governor to make a temporary senate appointment only until he can order a special or emergency election. Texas election law allows Perry to call that special election as soon as 36 days after Hutchison resigns.
After a ceremonial bill signing of House Bill 3 at R.L. Turner High School in Carrolton in late July Gov. Perry said he might quickly call a special election to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison because too many important things are going on in Washington, D.C. [StarTelegram blog, July 29]
So, Texas could have a special election as soon as November 3, 2009, or at any time as late as May 8, 2010 depending on exactly when KBH resigns. Sharp said it is even possible that Texans will go to the polls on the November 3, 2009 uniform election date to vote on the dozen or so amendments to the Texas Constitution, scheduled to be on the ballot, and then return to the polling place again sometime later in November or December 2009 to vote for a new U.S. Senator in a special election, if Hutchinson resigns in October, as many Texas politicos are now speculating.


Shawn Stevens
During his remarks, the new Democratic Party of Collin Co. Chair, Shawn Stevens, reminded the audience that:
"Comparing 2008 to 2004, there were 20,000 more straight ticket Democratic voters in 2008, while the Republicans’ straight ticket votes were virtually unchanged. Also, the raw Democratic vote in Collin County went up by 40,000 votes, while the raw Republican vote went up by only 10,000, a 30,000 net gain for the Democrats, reducing the vote gap between the Democratic and Republican vote by around 17.5 points."

"Increasing the Democratic vote in Collin County is critical on a statewide, and perhaps national, level. Because of our large population, a few more percentage points in our county can tip a statewide race blue."

Stevens observed that in November 2008 the Democratic vote for Pres. Obama was just under 38 percent. That turnout was a significant increase from the 28 percent given to presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004 and the 24 percent given to presidential candidate Al Gore in the November 2000 election. Stevens told the county Democrats that if they can help bump the Democratic vote turnout by just another 5 or 6 points, to 43 percent, in statewide races, this county can provide the margin of victory for Democratic gubernatorial, U.S. Senatorial and other statewide candidates.
A representative for Houston Mayor Bill White, who has also announced his intention to run for for Kay Bailey Hutchison's vacated U.S. Senate seat, also made a few remarks during the dinner event.

Sworn in as Dallas County District Attorney on January 1, 2007 -- keynote speaker Craig Watkins -- was the first elected black district attorney in Texas. In November 2006, Watkins, then 39, was elected as part of a Democratic sweep in Dallas in which the party took 42 judgeships and six other countywide offices.

For his pursuit of a range of reforms designed to protect the wrongly accused and appropriately punish the guilty and for his willingness to stake out politically precarious territory to create a "conviction integrity unit," an operation that has freed prisoners who have been wrongly incarcerated, Mr. Watkins in 2008 was named "Texan of the Year" by the Dallas Morning News.


Dallas DNA Promo Segment
The Discovery Channel is currently running a six part series called Dallas DNA featuring Mr. Watkins and the work being conducted by the Dallas County District Attorney office's "conviction integrity unit."

Dallas DNA chronicles the pioneering CIU where post-conviction DNA testing is being used to clear the innocent, as well as confirm the guilty.

Mr Watkins maintained a mostly non-partisan tone during his keynote speech emphasizing that elected officials must always remember that they were elected by the people to serve the community, not themselves or their political party.


Marlene Byndon
Marlene Byndon, Democratic Party of Collin Co Chair Vice Chair, served as the MC for Saturday evening fundraiser dinner. As evidence that the Democratic Party is gaining momentum in Collin County, attendance at this this year's Ann Richards dinner was significantly higher than in past years.

Related posts and links:

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Obama Weekly Address - Special Interests, Lobbysits Engaging In Fear To Stop Health Care Reform

The President talks about how the chatter and ruckus around health insurance reform on television obscures the reality of what's happening in America. He discusses how in most towns people and Members of Congress are having constructive conversations, and how people are learning how reform will help them and their families with the real problems they have faced with the insurance system. August 15, 2009.

Health Care Speaker Dr. Winfred Parnell - Sat. Aug. 22nd

Joe Duffy, Dallas Field Organizer for OFA and Dr. Winfred Parnell, member of Doctors for America will be available for an informative discussion on HealthCare Reform Legislation on Saturday, August 22 from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM @ Schimelpfenig Library in Plano.

Discussion agenda includes an overview of how you can support HealthCare Reform Legislation on a local and national level. Dr. Parnell will also give a presentation on Health Care legislation now going through the legislative channels.

(Schimelpfenig Library - 5024 Custer Road, Plano, TX 75023 - map)

For additional details available on the OFA site click here.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Town Hall Mob

The Town Hall Mob
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published in NYTimes: August 6, 2009

There’s a famous Norman Rockwell painting titled “Freedom of Speech,” (left) depicting an idealized American town meeting. The painting, part of a series illustrating F.D.R.’s “Four Freedoms,” shows an ordinary citizen expressing an unpopular opinion. His neighbors obviously don’t like what he’s saying, but they’re letting him speak his mind.

That’s a far cry from what has been happening at recent town halls, where angry protesters — some of them, with no apparent sense of irony, shouting “This is America!” — have been drowning out, and in some cases threatening, members of Congress trying to talk about health reform.

Some commentators have tried to play down the mob aspect of these scenes, likening the campaign against health reform to the campaign against Social Security privatization back in 2005. But there’s no comparison. I’ve gone through many news reports from 2005, and while anti-privatization activists were sometimes raucous and rude, I can’t find any examples of congressmen shouted down, congressmen hanged in effigy, congressmen surrounded and followed by taunting crowds.

And I can’t find any counterpart to the death threats at least one congressman has received. So this is something new and ugly. What’s behind it? . . .cynical political operators are exploiting that anxiety to further the economic interests of their backers.

Does this sound familiar? It should: it’s a strategy that has played a central role in American politics ever since Richard Nixon realized that he could advance Republican fortunes by appealing to the racial fears of working-class whites.
Read the rest of the story in the NYTimes:

[Listen - 2 min 57 sec]
The Health Care Debate Is Making Me Sick by Brian Unger NPR - The health care debate is toxic, revealing a lot about us as a nation. And it feels embarrassing — like the whole world can see our underpants. Or hear us fighting in the kitchen.

Republican “Death Panel” Talk Just "Nuts" Say GOP Lawmakers

In the multi-million dollar PR campaign to kill off health care reform, insurance companies, special interest groups and Republicans are lying to seniors telling them that health care reform will literally kill them; That government agents will be sent to senior's homes to ask them how they want to die or they will be required to have five-year medical reviews that could result in death sentences, if Pres. Obama's health care reform is enacted. Many Republicans in Congress are completely on board with this "kill granny" campaign of terror against senior citizens.
Last week, Sarah Palin echoed the audacious "kill granny" claim that President Obama plans to institute a system of “death panels” where “bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of people's level of productivity in society, whether they are worthy of health care.”

On his radio show Glenn Beck said that he thinks Palin has a point. ” I believe it to be true, but that’s quite a statement,” said Beck, adding, “I believe she at least should be listened to and you should question, ‘Is it evil?’” Listen to video above left:

Georgia’s junior Republican senator Johnny Isakson says that “death panel” talk is just “nuts.” The Republican lawmaker made that assessment in an interview with the Washington Post.

“In the health-care debate mark-up, one of the things I talked about was that the most money spent on anyone is spent usually in the last 60 days of life and that’s because an individual is not in a capacity to make decisions for themselves,” Isakson said. “So rather than getting into a situation where the government makes those decisions, if everyone had an end-of-life directive or what we call in Georgia ‘durable power of attorney,’ you could instruct at a time of sound mind and body what you want to happen in an event where you were in difficult circumstances where you’re unable to make those decisions.”

How someone could take end of life directives or living wills as [“death panels”] is nuts. You’re putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don’t know how that got so mixed up.”

The senator noted that all fifty states — including Palin’s Alaska — have some power of attorney or end-of-life directives aimed at protecting guardians from having to make life-or-death decisions.

“All 50 states now have either durable powers of attorney or end-of-life directives and it’s to protect children or a spouse from being put into a situation where they have to make a terrible decision as well as physicians from being put into a position where they have to practice defensive medicine because of the trial lawyers,” Isakson said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) of Palin's home state doesn't much like Palin's "death panel" talk either. Speaking to a crowd of over 100 at an event in Alaska, Murkowski took aim at her former governor, Sarah Palin, by talking some sense about "death panels." "It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there's these end-of-life provisions, these death panels," Murkowski said.
Quite honestly, I'm so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn't [in the bill]. There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill.

Southern Republicans, It Seems, Have Seceded From Sanity

In a recent column Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker wrote:
". . .Not all Southern Republicans are wing nuts. Nor does the GOP have a monopoly on ignorance or racism. And, the South, for all its sins, is also lush with beauty, grace and mystery. Nevertheless, it is true that the GOP is fast becoming regionalized below the Mason-Dixon line and increasingly associated with some of the South's worst ideas.
It is not helpful (or surprising) that "birthers" -- conspiracy theorists who have convinced themselves that Barack Obama is not a native son -- have assumed kudzu qualities among Republicans in the South. In a poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos, participants were asked: "Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?"

Hefty majorities in the Northeast, the Midwest and the West believe Obama was born in the United States. But in the land of cotton, where old times are not by God forgotten, only 47 percent believe Obama was born in America and 30 percent aren't sure.

Southern Republicans, it seems, have seceded from sanity.

Republicans have been harvesting Southern votes for decades from seeds strategically planted during the civil rights era. When Lyndon B. Johnson predicted in 1965 that the Voting Rights Act meant the South would go Republican for the next 50 years, he wasn't just whistling Dixie.

A telling anecdote recounted by Pat Buchanan to New Yorker writer George Packer last year captures the dark spirit that still hovers around the GOP. In 1966 Buchanan and Richard Nixon were at the Wade Hampton Hotel in Columbia, S.C., where Nixon worked a crowd into a frenzy: "Buchanan recalls that the room was full of sweat, cigar smoke, and rage; the rhetoric, which was about patriotism and law and order, 'burned the paint off the walls.' As they left the hotel, Nixon said, 'This is the future of this Party, right here in the South.' "

That same rage was on display again in the fall of 2008, but this time the frenzy was stimulated by a pretty gal with a mocking little wink. Sarah Palin may not have realized what she was doing, but Southerners weaned on Harper Lee heard the dog whistle.

The curious Republican campaign of 2008 may have galvanized a conservative Southern base -- including many who were mostly concerned with the direction Democrats would take the country -- but it also repelled others who simply bolted and ran the other way. Whatever legitimate concerns the GOP may historically have represented were suddenly overshadowed by a sense of a resurgent Old South and all the attendant pathologies of festering hate and fear.

What the GOP is experiencing now, one hopes, are the death throes of that 50-year spell that Johnson foretold. But before the party of the Great Emancipator can rise again, Republicans will have to face their inner Voinovich and drive a stake through the heart of old Dixie. "

Monday, August 10, 2009

White House Introduces 'Healthcare Myth' Fact Check Website

The White House is introducing a new health care website section today that “debunks some common myths” and provides visitors “with online tools and content to share the facts with friends, family and anyone else in your social network.” Click here.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) write in a USA Today op-ed, condemn the “ugly campaign” this August to “to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue.” “Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American,” write the two House leaders.

Jon Stewart took on these town hall uprisings and their leaders in two segments, the first focusing on the media hypocrisy over the coverage of these events, and the second mocking the "death panel" debate.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Last Public Hearing On Implementing Voting Centers

Updated: Monday August 10, 2009 @ 11:15PM - see bold text in box below.
Dr. Robert M. Stein of Rice University in Houston spoke to the Site Selection Committee for over an hour during the committee's August 6th meeting. Dr. Stein, a Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science at Rice University, is an expert on urban politics, elections, voting behavior and public policy.
Final Meeting
of the
County Wide
Election Day
Polling Place
Site Selection Committee
Meeting
---------------
Monday, Aug. 10, 2009
7:00pm–9:00pm
Collin College
Preston Ridge Campus
Founders Hall
Shawnee Room F–148
9700 Wade Blvd,
Frisco, TX

(map)
Agenda:
  1. Public Comments
  2. Final Report on
    Proposed Election
    Day Locations
Dr. Stein has extensively researched how Voting Centers affect overall voter turnout behaviors as several election jurisdictions around the U.S. implemented voting centers over the past six years. Dr. Stein's presentation given Site Selection Committee on August 6th can be accessed at these links:
Below (bottom of post) is the list of 63 county wide polling locations identified by the Site Selection Committee as of the committee's Aug. 6th meeting.

However, the Collin County Commissioners, apparently, seeing this as an opportunity to cut the cost of running elections in the county, has reportedly asked the Site Selection Committee to cut the list of proposed November 3, 2009 polling locations from 63 down to 51.

The 12 locations on the chopping block are indicated with an “X” in the left “Cut” column in the table below.

A source close to the planning activity has indicated that the County Commissioner’s Court may vote against forwarding the Countywide Election Day Polling Place Application to the Texas Secretary of State unless the Site Selection Committee agrees to cut 12 Election Day polling locations from the current plan.
Commissioner's Court Judge Keith Self, reportedly, has added an item to the Court's August 10th 9:30 A.M. Monday morning meeting agenda seeking a Court Resolution that the Court will not approve any Site Selection Committee Plan that has more than 51 polling places for Election Day, November 3, 2009. This would be a reduction from the 63 Voting Centers currently under consideration by the Site Selection Committee and a reduction from the 59 polling places used in the comparable November 2007 election. The potential outcome of the Court's Monday morning vote is the rescission of the court's earlier vote to pursue a Collin County Vote Center plan this year.

There appears to be a 3-2 split in the Commissioner's Court on both the issues of polling place reduction and whether or not to continue pursuing the Voting Center trial. The Site Selection Committee is apparently similarly split between keeping the number polling places in a range of 59-63 Voting Centers for the first Voting Center trial-run experience on Nov. 3rd vs. reducing the number of polling places down to 51 Voting Centers, as may be demanded by the Commissioner's Court on Monday morning.
Update: Monday August 10, 2009 @ 1:05PM - The Commissioners Court voted during their session today to require that the Site Selection Committee limit the number of polling places to 57.

Update: Monday August 10, 2009 @ 11:15PM - After an hour of public comment and some short discussion among Site Selection Committee members, the committee voted 5-3 to recommend all 63 locations as vote centers for the November 3, 2009 election. Now it's up to the
Commissioners Court and the County Elections Administrator to decide on if and then how to proceed in submitting a vote center plan and application to the Texas Secretary of State befor the Aug 15th deadline.
Shawn Stevens, the Democratic Party of Collin County Chair and voting member of the Site Selection Committee, said in an interview for this blog,
"In my view, the intent of the concept of countywide voting centers is to make it more convenient for all voters so that more people have an opportunity to vote on Election Day, and of course I support making it more convenient for citizens to vote.

However, there are some that are interested in the voting centers because they perceive it as an opportunity to reduce the number of polling locations on Election Day, which they falsely assume will be a cost savings. The goal of this proposal shouldn’t be to save money, it should be to make it easier for people to vote.

The Site Selection Committee's charge is to recommend how many and where the polling locations are to be, according to the criteria we approve. I intend to recommend to the County Commissioners’ Court that if we do this, we use a maximum number of locations. The Site Selection Committee must be able to make its recommendation without political pressure from the Commissioners’ Court to cut locations because they think it will save money.

However, especially after having heard Professor Stein give his presentation on the studies of voting centers, I have serious reservations about the implementation of voting centers in Collin County for the November 2009 election at all, for numerous reasons.

We have to be mindful of the following:
  1. The extremely compressed time frame we have been given to implement anything (and the Site Selection Committee has not been able to visit locations or even review all of the parking and other characteristics of each proposed voting center);

  2. The unknown potential impact on minority, low-income, and mobility impaired voting populations (with the Voting Rights Act obviously being a related concern);

  3. The huge potential for voter confusion in not only our county due to the back and forth between election schemes between fall elections and the Primary election and any special election for U.S. Senate, but the potential to confuse voters in neighboring counties; and

  4. The extremely high likelihood of voter confusion because we have numerous cities in Collin County that are situated in multiple counties, for instance Dallas, Frisco, and Richardson --and communicating and getting voters to understand who in the area can vote at a voting center and who can’t will be extremely difficult. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that Collin County is only one county in the 7th largest media market in the U.S.
Several of these issues can only be solved by implementing the voting centers region-wide instead of just for Collin County. However, instituting voting centers for the entire DFW Metroplex is not allowed under the current enabling legislation, which means waiting until after the 2011 Regular Session of the Texas Legislature that spring. If we put this off until 2011, we would have the time to do this in a careful fashion and not rush into it without looking before we leap. Additionally, we could inform the Legislature about the problems we have been running into so they could take our realizations into account with more carefully considered legislation.”
Dr. Stein, in his presentation to the Selection Committee last Thursday, described Vote Centers as spacious "Big Box" polling place venues like shopping malls, large retail stores (like Fry's Electronics) and even large car dealerships.
Dr. Stein described Vote Centers as voting venues with lots of floor space to accommodate large numbers voters, up to a dozen ePollBook check-in stations to check in voters and a score or more of electronic voting machines. Dr. Stein also said Vote Centers must have convenient access and lots of parking to accommodate the large numbers of voters that concentrate into these "Big Box" voting centers.
In contrast, the Collin County Elections Office has proposed Vote Center locations that are, in the great majority of cases, the same locations that have been traditionally used as precinct polling places. The same schools and libraries that have always had limited parking and limited floor space to accommodate voter lines, voter check in tables and voting machines. The Collin County Elections Office and some of the County Commissioners just want to allocate fewer of these traditional precinct polling places and then call them "Vote Centers" because, as for early voting, Collin Co. voters would be allowed to vote at any of the fewer precinct polling places.

The Site Selection Committee currently plans to meet for a final time on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. (See notice box above) During this final meeting the Site Selection Committee will review and vote on its final Site Selection Report which will be presented to the Commissioners' Court for approval. If the Commissioners vote to approve the Site Selection Plan adopted on Monday evening the plan will be forwarded to the Texas Secretary of State before the August 15th application deadline.
Color Key to Table:
X-Proposed 12 to cut from list in 51 plan
X-Proposed 6 to add back in 57 plan
- Early Voting Locations Used Again On Election Day
(see 'Vote Centers Coming To Collin Co. For Election Day November 3, 2009?' for more details.)

List of 63 county wide polling locations identified by the Site Selection Committee as of the committee's Aug. 6th meeting:

Cut Polling Place Address City

Suncreek United Methodist Church 1517 W. McDermott Dr Allen

Allen Municipal Courts Blding 301 Century Pkwy. Allen

Lovejoy ISD-Spurgin
Administration Building
259 Country Club Road Allen

Texas Star Bank 402 W. White Street Anna

Blue Ridge High School Library 11020 CR 504 Blue Ridge

Celina Senior Center 140 N. Ohio Celina

Mitchell Elementary School 4223 Briargrove Lane Dallas

Renner-Frankford Library 6400 Frankford Road Dallas

Farmersville City Hall 205 South Main Farmersville

CCCC Preston Ridge Campus 9700 Wade Blvd. Frisco

Benton Staley Middle School 6927 Stadium Drive Frisco
XX Liberty High School 15250 Rolater Road Frisco
X Lowry Crossing City Hall 1405 S. Bridgefarmer Rd Lowry
Crossing

Fire Station #7 861 Independence Pkwy. McKinney

Fire Station #5 6600 W. Virginia Pkwy. McKinney

Old Settlers Recreation Center 1201 E. Louisiana McKinney

Scoggins Middle School 7070 Stacy Road McKinney

Country Lane Seniors Community 2401 Country View Lane McKinney
XX Valley Creek Elementary School 2800 Valley Creek Trail McKinney

Collin County Elections Office 2010 Redbud Blvd.,
Ste. 102
McKinney

McKinney Senior Recreation Center 1400 South College McKinney

CCCC Central Park Campus 2200 W. University Drive McKinney

Melissa High School 1904 Cooper Street Melissa

Murphy Municipal Complex 206 N. Murphy Road Murphy

First Baptist Church - Lavon 209 Main Street Nevada

Community ISD Technology
and Conference Center
615 FM 1138 Nevada

Parker Community Center 5700 E. Parker Road Parker

CCCC Spring Creek Campus 2800 E. Spring
Creek Pkwy.
Plano
X Schimelpfenig Middle School 2400 Maumelle Plano
X Carpenter Middle School 1501 Cross Bend Road Plano
X Hendrick Middle School 7400 Red River Drive Plano

Armstrong Middle School 3805 Timberline Drive Plano
X Robinson Middle School 6701 Preston Meadow Dr Plano

PISD Administration Center 2700 W. 15th Street Plano

Haggard Library 2501 Coit Road Plano

Dart Station 1012 16th Street,
Suite 105
Plano

Shepton High School 5505 Plano Pkwy. Plano

Harrington Library 1501 18th Street Plano

Parr Library 6200 Windhaven Pkwy. Plano

Clark High School 523 Spring Creek Pkwy. Plano
XX Sigler Elementary School 1400 Janwood Drive Plano
XX Barron Elementary School 3300 Avenue P Plano

Plano Senior Center 401 W. 16th Street Plano

Douglass Community Center 1111 H Avenue Plano
XX Tom Muehlenbeck
Recreation Center
5801 W. Parker Road Plano

Carpenter Park
Recreation Center
6701 Coit Road Plano
XX Meadows Elementary School 2800 18th Street Plano

Bowman Middle School 2501 Jupiter Road Plano

Fowler Middle School 3801 McDermott Road Plano

Princeton High School 1000 East Princeton Dr Princeton

First Baptist Church - Branch 7011 FM 546 Princeton

Prosper HS Library 300 Eagle Lane Prosper

NSERL - Natural Science
and Engineering Research
Laboratory
875 Synergy Park Blvd. Richardson

Richardson Police Sub-Station 2003 E. Renner Road Richardson

Woodcreek Church 3400 E. Renner Road Richardson

Royse City Middle School (Old) 1400 Bulldog Road Royse City

Cox Elementary School 7009 Woodbridge
Pkwy.
Sachse

Westminster Volunteer Fire Dept. 311 E. Houston Westminster

Weston Community Center 117 Main Street Weston

Seis Lagos Utility District 220 Seis Lagos Trail Wylie

Wylie Municipal Complex 2000 N. Hwy 78 Wylie

Wylie High School 2550 W. Hwy 544 Wylie
X McMillan Junior High School 1050 Park Blvd. Wylie


Related Posts:
Related Links:

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Schieffer Blasts Hutchison's Senate Vote Against Sotomayor

Both of Texas' U.S. Senators voted against Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth blasted his potential opponent in the November 2010 governor's election, Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, for voting against Sotomayor.

Schieffer, in a press release shortly after the Senate's historic vote, called Hutchison's vote against the first Hispanic on the high court a "sad commentary on the bitter partisanship that grips our state and our country." Hutchison, he said, "turned her back" on Sotomayor's personal accomplishments and judicial resume "to court favor with some of the most strident voices in the Republican party.

"The only reason Sen. Hutchison voted against Judge Sotomayor was because Republican partisans demanded it," he said. "That is not how the system is supposed to work, and is not the way a conscientious public servant would act."

Schieffer is seeking his party's gubernatorial nomination in the 2010 Democratic primary race to run against the victor of the bruising Republican gubernatorial primary between Hutchison and incumbent Gov. Rick Perry.

Democratic Party of Collin Co. Honors Gov. Ann Richards

Dinner RSVP Deadline was Aug 12th - for more information click here.

The Democratic Party of Collin County
honors legendary
Governor Ann Richards
(Dinner and Silent Auction)

August 15, 2009
6:30-Cash Bar / 7:15 pm-Dinner

Hilton Gardens Inn, Allen TX
705 Central Express (map)

Keynote Speaker:
District Attorney Craig Watkins
2008 Texan of the Year
First African American
District Attorney in Texas
Invited Guests:
2010 TX Governor Candidate
Tom Schieffer
2010 U.S. Senate Candidates
John Sharp & Bill White
TX State Senator - District 23
Royce West
---------------------------
Click for Ticket Information
Ticket Purchase Deadline Aug 12

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Contrary to Steele’s Claim, TX State GOP Is Actively Promoting Town Hall Mobs

RNC Chairman Michael Steele: We’re not encouraging people to be angry I mean to the point of being nasty and brutish and ugly. That’s not what this is about. There’s no upside for the Republican Party or the people involved to do that. . . .that’s not something deliberately coordinated by me or any one state party.

Steele’s statement isn’t true. This past weekend, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was harassed by right-wing protesters who refused to have a civil dialogue with the Congressman. The front page of the official website of the Texas Republican Party prominently features and endorses the incident. The website headline reads, “Doggett Fields Softballs“:
If you click on the YouTube picture, it links to a video that portrays the Texas GOP's version of the Doggett town hall. This video is hosted at the Texas Republican Party’s official YouTube account, txgoptv. At the conclusion of the video, the words “Produced by the Republican Party of Texas” pop up alongside a legal disclaimer that proclaims the video was paid for the by the Republican Party of Texas.

Now, contrary to how the Texas GOP portrays the events of Congressman Doggett's town hall meeting this past weekend, the video left shows what really happened. Congressman Doggett was the victim of the right’s strategy, where protesters followed him and chanted “just say no” to health care. Congressman Doggett had this to say after being cornered by a mob this past Saturday:
"This mob, sent by the local Republican and Libertarian parties, did not come just to be heard, but to deny others the right to be heard. And this appears to be part of a coordinated, nationwide effort. What could be more appropriate for the "party of no" than having its stalwarts drowning out the voices of their neighbors by screaming "just say no!" Their fanatical insistence on repealing Social Security and Medicare is not just about halting health care reform but rolling back 75 years of progress. I am more committed than ever to win approval of legislation to offer more individual choice to access affordable health care. An effective public plan is essential to achieve that goal."

Control Over The Dollars Americans Spend On Healthcare

Video - MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Exposes How Conservative Protesters At Health Care Town Halls Are Being Manipulated And Used By The Insurance Industry And Ultra-Wealthy Money Men To Maintain Their Control Over The Dollars Americans Spend On Healthcare - 08/05/09.

In an email sent Wednesday morning, the Democratic National Committee labels recent town hall disruptions as "a sham," describing them as an orchestrated effort by the health care industry to "break the President and his agenda for change."

Jen O'Malley Dillon, Executive Director of the DNC, says the protests "are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform." She accuses them of using "lies" and "fear" to sustain the status quo.

"Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families -- we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way," writes O'Malley, before offering five facts about the protests:
  1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.

  2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.

  3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting -- and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.

  4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents.

  5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds.Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress."
The DNC email concludes, "It's time to expose this charade, before it gets more dangerous. Now, more than ever, we need to stand strong together and defend the truth."

The DNC email is part of a larger effort by the DNC to combat angry disruptions in recent town hall meetings hosted by Democratic lawmakers.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Next Public Hearing On Implementing Voting Centers

Meeting Thursday, August 6th On Implementing Countywide Voting Centers for the Nov. 3, 2009 Election.
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Thursday, August 6, 2009 – 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Collin County Community College.
Spring Creek Campus.
Conference Center Room AA135.
2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano, Texas - map.
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Agenda:
  • Site Selection Committee Report on Proposed Election Day Locations
  • Research Presentation on Vote Centers by Dr. Robert M. Stein.
  • Public Comment on Countywide Election Day Polling Place Program
Though the efforts of Shawn Stevens, the new chairperson of the Democratic Party of Collin County, Dr. Robert M. Stein of Rice University in Houston will attend the August 6th meeting to speak to the planning committee.

Related Post:

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home Two Americans

Thumbs Up To Pres. Bill Clinton For Bringing Home U.S. Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

The two journalists were accompanied by President Clinton and CAP President and CEO John Podesta, arrived back home in California this morning after being held for five months in North Korea while reporting for Current TV. They had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for allegedly illegally entering North Korea. North Korea held the two captive for 140 days.

“I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones,” President Clinton said in a statement. “When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed. I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home.”

Shortly after landing in Los Angeles, Ling expressed her “deepest gratitude” for the rescue:
LING: Thirty hours ago Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea. We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp and then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now, we stand here, home and free. Euna and I would just like to express our deepest gratitude to President Clinton and his wonderful, amazing, not to mention, super-cool team.

Conservative GOP Violent Rhetoric Breeds Violence


DNC Web Ad: "Enough of the Mob"
President Obama faces an increase of 400% in death threats a day as lobbyist-run conservative special interest groups whip conservative activists into mounting mob mentality. Telegraph.co.uk:
Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.

Some threats to Mr Obama, whose Secret Service codename is Renegade, have been publicized, including an alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee late last year to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Most, however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts. Although most threats are not credible, each one has to be investigated meticulously.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the president of the freshman Democratic class has revealed that “at least one freshman Democrat” has already been “physically assaulted at a local event.” Connolly warned that conservative groups had taken things to a “dangerous level“:
“When you look at the fervor of some of these people who are all being whipped up by the right-wing talking heads on Fox, to me, you’re crossing a line,’ Connolly said. ‘They’re inciting people to riot with just total distortions of facts. They think we’re going to euthanize Grandma and the government is going to take over.”
The violent rhetoric from talk radio and FOX News continues to throw gasoline on the fire. Remember Dr. Tiller?

In fact, threatening phone calls escalate to a death threat for Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) over the health care bill. His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.

RNC Refuses To Accept Calls Generated By New DNC Web Ad On Conservative Mobs

Cherry Creek News: A BROAD STRATEGY: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has endorsed the strategy of staged protests, telling Politico the days of civil town halls are now "over." [Democrats launch a phone counter-offensive on Pete Sessions]
In a memo to House Republicans, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) promised "anger" during the August recess: "Americans' anger will be on full display in the weeks ahead as Members of Congress leave Washington and travel the nation listening to the voices of their constituents."

The published memos are similar to talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks that push an anti-health reform assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by AFP, is busing people all over the country to protest health care reform. America's Health Insurance Plans, the trade group and lobbying juggernaut representing the health insurance industry, is also sending staffers to monitor town halls in 30 states.

Meanwhile, Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR), led bydisgraced hospital executive Rick Scott, is running a national campaign against a public health care option. Yesterday, the group took credit for "helping gin up the sometimes-rowdy outbursts targeting House Dems at town hall meetings around the country, raising questions about their spontaneity."

Earlier in the week, a representative of CPR "sent an email to a list serve (called the Tea Party Patriots Health Care Reform Committee) containing a spreadsheet that lists over one hundred congressional town halls from late July into September."

And last weekend, CPR announced it will send staff to "confront" lawmakers at town halls and then transition to negative ads.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Mental Illness Services in Collin County (Meeting)

The Healthcare Committee of Collin County (HCCC) will conduct a panel discussion on Mental Illness in Collin County on Tuesday, August 4, at 7:00 PM at the Collin College McKinney Campus Conference Center.
2200 West University Drive, McKinney, TX 75070 - Room D106 Section B - Look for the main entrance across from the Clock Tower on Campus - map
Most Texans don't realize that the State of Texas is ranked 49th in per capita funding for Mental Health while one out of every six adults will experience a serious Mental Illness throughout their life.

The HCCC has assembled a panel of local experts in the field of mental health care services who will share their thoughts and expertise on the subject. The committee is a nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to improving healthcare in Collin County. Please attend to find out what mental health care services are available in your Collin County community.

This meeting is open to the public, and the public is encouraged to ask questions of the panelists.

Sign up at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfz7l

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Right-Wing Thuggery At Democratic Events

Tea party conservatives are organizing into a campaign of disruption and intimidation to disrupt health-care forums and other Democratic events. Politico reports that disruptions are becoming quite common and Think Progress reports that the disruptions are being carefully planned:
This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Missing from [corporate media] reporting of these stories is the fact that many of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.

The lobbyist-run groups 'Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks,' which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to Democratic iniyitives. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democrats.
Some of the advice being dispensed to disrupt Democratic events includes:
  • Be Disruptive Early And Often
  • Try To Rattle To Not Have An Intelligent Debate
Chris Good at The Atlantic reports that we can expect a long August with these kinds of events:
Over August recess, conservative activist groups will mount a renewed effort to kill the dreaded ObamaCare. August will be a melee of grassroots (or Astroturfed) activity on both sides: members of Congress will be home in their districts, holding town-halls, taking feedback from constituents--in other words, they'll be more open to pressure from activist campaigns than at any other time during the year.
Think Progress: Angry right harasses Rep. Lloyd Doggett with anti-health care chants. (Updated) - Today, House members are back home to begin their month-long recess. The far right has indicated that they plan to welcome many of their representatives with large, angry throngs (“town halls gone wild”). The corporate lobbyists engineering these “grassroots” efforts have indicated their harassment strategy is to “yell,” “stand up and shout,” and “rattle” the members. Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being confronted by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls.
This past weekend, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) was the latest victim of the right’s strategy, where protesters followed him and chanted “just say no” to health care. Watch the video:

Congressman Doggett had this to say after being cornered by Teabaggers and Birthers this past Saturday
"This mob, sent by the local Republican and Libertarian parties, did not come just to be heard, but to deny others the right to be heard. And this appears to be part of a coordinated, nationwide effort. What could be more appropriate for the "party of no" than having its stalwarts drowning out the voices of their neighbors by screaming "just say no!" Their fanatical insistence on repealing Social Security and Medicare is not just about halting health care reform but rolling back 75 years of progress. I am more committed than ever to win approval of legislation to offer more individual choice to access affordable health care. An effective public plan is essential to achieve that goal."
Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation and stands to be among the most to gain from Obama’s health care plan. “Nearly 6 million Texans, including the one in six U.S. uninsured children who live there, could get health insurance for the first time if the plan is enacted.”
MSNBC's Countdown talks about these disruptions in the following video:

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Latest Republican Scare Tactic Against Healthcare Reform

In the most recent multi-million dollar PR campaign to kill off health care reform, insurance companies, special interest groups and Republicans are lying to and scaring the daylights out of senior citizens in the most appalling manner.

They are telling seniors that health care reform will literally kill them; That government agents will be sent to senior's homes to ask them how they want to die or they will be required to have five-year medical reviews that could result in death sentences, if Pres. Obama's health care reform is enacted.

Republicans in Congress are completely on board with this beyond this campaign of terror against senior citizens.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews talk about this so called "deather" campaign in the video below.



Where Did All the Republicans Go?

Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from the first six months of 2009 continues to show only four states with a sizable Republican advantage in party identification. As was the case in Gallup's analysis of 2008 yearly data, most states are currently Democratic in their party orientation, with the greatest number (30, including the District of Columbia) classified as solidly Democratic, with an additional 8 states leaning Democratic. Meanwhile, only four states can be considered solidly Republican -- Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska, with Alabama falling into the leaning Republican category.

While the size of the Democratic advantage at the national level has shrunk in the first six months of 2009, this has been due to an increase in independent identification rather than an increase in Republican support. While the Republican Party is still able to compete in elections if they enjoy greater turnout from their supporters or greater support for its candidates from independent voters, the deck is clearly stacked in the Democratic Party's favor for now.

The mid-2009 Gallup state-by-state data continues to show a 42% to 40% Democratic Party identification to Republican Party identification in Texas.


New York Times The January 2009 Gallup poll showed Texas and large swathes of the U.S. to be competitive for Democrats.



Gallup released a report on its survey of political party affiliation by voters at the state level. The results, depicted in the map above, show that only five states have a statistically significant majority of voters who identify themselves as Republicans. The data come from interviews last year with “more than 350,000 U.S. adults as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking.”

The survey shows that Texas is no longer a solid red state and lists Texas as among the “most balanced political states” in party identification. The surveys show that Democrats in Texas now have a slight advantage in party identification, 43% to 41%, a clear reversal from the recent past.

The advance by Democrats is not accidental. Under one party Republican control, Texas ranks last or near last on virtually every issue that affects quality of life for Texas families.

Graphic: LoneStarProject.net

Republicans like Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison and David Dewhurst have failed as leaders. At the same time, Democrats have reorganized politically, targeted resources carefully and nominated mainstream candidates who put ideology aside to solve problems.

Related Posts and Links:


Scrap Obama Care For Perry Care Plan, Says Gov. Perry

Obama said last week at an AARP-hosted town hall on health care, "I got a letter the other day from a woman. She said, 'I don't want government-run health care. I don't want socialized medicine. And don't touch my Medicare.'" The woman should send that letter to Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The Texas Observer:
This afternoon, Rick Perry’s office released a letter the governor has sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In the letter, Perry once again threatens to invoke the “state’s rights” protections in the 10th Amendment to resist any health care reform passed by Democrats in Washington. (see Gov. Perry Threatens 10th Amendment Again To Reject Health Care Reform)

Instead of Obama-care, Perry wants the feds to approve a free-market-based plan that Texas officials pitched about 18 months ago.

Under the Perry plan, Texas would divert Medicaid money to allow uninsured Texans to shop for, and buy, health coverage from private insurers.

[...]

Perry writes in his letter to Sebelius that his plan “presents a strategic alternative to continued reliance on government-run health care programs and our already overburdened safety net systems of care.”

I have just one question: Does Perry not realize that Medicaid is a “government-run health care program”? Or that using Medicaid money to fund his plan isn’t reducing our reliance on government-funded health care at all?

(Here’s a pdf of Perry’s letter to Sebelius. And, for all the policy geeks out there, here’s a pdf of the original Texas proposal from December 2007.)
Read Insurance Industry Pushing For "Private, For Profit" Health Care Reform