Star Trek Movie

www.startrekmovie.com star-trek--trailer.blogspot.com

The latest "Star Trek" movie beamed to the top of the North American box office this weekend. The film grossed 76.5 million dollars on the weekend, including four million in Thursday preview screenings, easily surpassing the best opening weekend of any of the sci-fi franchise's 10 other "Trek" movies, box office, according to Exhibitor Relations.

HuffingtonPost.com: After a 19-year absence, Leonard Nimoy reprises his iconic role as Mr. Spock in director J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek" prequel opposite Zachary Quinto, who stars as a younger version of the half-Vulcan, half-human science officer. "The character is much more relaxed about who he is and what his life should be about whereas (younger Spock) is just beginning to find himself," said Nimoy of the movie's mature Spock. "It works extremely well. The character I portray in this film is much more like who I am today, personally. I am as close as possible to the character as I could ever be."

star-trek--trailer.blogspot.com

(Click on a picture to enlarge it.)

Happy Mother's Day!

Norman Rockwell's
Mother Tucking
Children in Bed
(1921)

Collin County Local Election Results

Collin County Observer Blog: May 2009 Collin County Local Election Results

A Special Screening Of Iron Jawed Angels

Putting this back on top of the posting list to remind everyone. Please RSVP by Wednesday, June 10, if you can attend - Pay by credit card online or at the door if you have RSVP'ed

IRON JAWED ANGELS recounts a key chapter in U.S. history - the struggle of suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment. Focusing on two defiant women, Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O'Connor), the film shows how these activists dared to push the boundaries of society to secure women's voting rights in 1920.

The U. S. Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in June of 1919 giving women the right to vote ! Join TX Democratic Women of Collin County to celebrate the 90th anniversary of women’s suffrage with a special screening of the movie Iron Jawed Angels Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:00-9:30 p.m. Angelika Film Center 7205 Bishop Road Plano, TX (The Shops at Legacy) Reserve your seat now space is limited! RSVP Non-member individual: $30 Non-member couple: $50 TDWCC member individual: $25 Member couple: $40 (click to go to the TDWCC information page)

Gov. Perry Running Hard Right Against Sen. Hutchison

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) 2010 primary election strategy against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) seems to be to court early and solid support from hard-right evangelical conservatives to scare Hutchison out of filing in December for the governor's race. Or, failing that, by moving so far right himself that by comparison it positions Hutchison as a Washington lefty in what promises to be a real rock'em sock'em Texas saloon brawl for the GOP primary in March 2010.

Perry's recent, repeated appeals to the conservative hard-right include high-profile support for a "Choose Life" license plate favored by those who oppose abortion, high-profile criticism of "Washington" and federal bailouts, refusal of federal stimulus money for jobless benefits and an invitation to conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh to move to Texas.

Perry, who strongly supports teaching only "abstinence" sex education in Texas schools, appointed young earth (earth age only 6,000 years) creationist Don McLeroy as chairman of the Texas State Board of Education to oppose teaching evolution in public schools. Perry has also promised to prevent stem cell research in Texas and touts his record for passing more restrictions on stem cell research than any previous governor.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry so incited participants of three conservative anti-tax (and largely anti-Obama) "tea party" rallies on April 15th with his anti-Washington and states' rights rhetoric that the audience began to shout, "Secede!" Perry told the crowd,

"I believe the federal government has become oppressive. It’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion in the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state. Texans need to ask themselves a question.

Do they side with those in Washington who are pursuing this unprecedented expansion of power, or do they believe in individual rights and responsibilities laid down in our foundational documents.

Where’re you gonna’ stand? With an ever-growing Washington bureaucracy, or are you going to stand with the people of this state who understand the importance of state’s rights. Texans need to stand up. They need to be heard, because the state of affairs that we find ourselves in cannot continue indefinitely..."

Perry also told the crowd he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted.

QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of Gov. Rick Perry's suggestion that Texas may need to leave the US?
	Approve	Disapprove	Not Sure
ALL	37	58	5
MEN	42	54	4
WOMEN	32	62	6
DEMOCRATS	16	80	4
REPUBLICANS	51	44	5
INDEPENDENTS	43	50	7
Daily Kos/Research 2000 Texas Poll

Perry further sparked approval of the hard-right with his secessionist talk and fiery anti-Washington rhetoric in support of a Texas sovereignty resolution in the Texas legislature.

Perry's anti-Washington secessionist rhetoric and pandering on right-wing social issues is clearly working with the Texas Republican base Perry is trying to woo away from Hutchison.

An internal poll from Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) camp finds Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) beating him in a Republican primary, 45% to 39%.


A new just released Rasmussen Reports poll supports Perry's internal poll showing that in a primary match up, Rick Perry now holds the edge at 42%, over Kay Bailey Hutchison's 38%.

Both polls indicate a heavy erosion of support from polls taken in 2008 indicating Hutchison held a strong lead over Perry in a 2010 primary match up by more than 20 points.

If Hutchison does beat incumbent Rick Perry in the Republican primary, her Democratic opponent, whoever that turns out to be, will have a tall challenge to beat her in the November 2010 general election.

On the other hand, if Perry does manage to edge Hutchison in the primary, he will have positioned himself so far right he will have irrevocably alienated himself from about two-thirds of the overall Texas electorate. This will give Perry's general election Democratic opponent, whoever that turns out to be, a real advantage.

Remember during the 2008 Texas primary race between Obama and Clinton Rush Limbaugh urged his Republican and Conservative listeners, in what he called "Operation Chaos," to vote for Hillary Clinton in the open March 4, 2008 TX Democratic Primary to defeat Barack Obama. . . I'm thinking, just maybe, Democrats should return the favor in the March 2010 GOP primary and vote for Rick Perry to put him rather than Hutchison on the November 2010 general election ballot.

Obama's 2010 Budget Eliminates Federal Funding For Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

The Obama Administration today released its 2010 budget that eliminates federal funding for a range of abstinence-only sex education programs.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy organization immediately released a statement on the news that President Obama proposes ending federal government funding of abstinence-only sex education programs:

President Obama released his FY 2010 budget today and called for at least $164 million in funding for a new teen pregnancy prevention initiative. This includes competitive grants for evidence-based programs, research and evaluation, and an authorization for $50 million in new mandatory teen pregnancy prevention grants to states, tribes, and territories. The budget eliminates funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education and the mandatory Title V Abstinence Education program.

-- Texas has received more federal abstinence-only education funding than any other state,yet Texas has the nation’s third-highest teen pregnancy rate. Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry supports the existing abstinence-only sex ed policy encoded in Texas law. What will Perry say in response to the news that Obama's 2010 budget eliminates federal funding for abstinence-only sex ed?? --

HuffingtonPost.com - Shelby Knox writes about her experience with abstinence-only education in Lubbock, Texas high school:

Every year when I was in high school in Lubbock, Texas, we were herded into the auditorium for a lecture from a local youth pastor about the birds and the bees. At the culmination of every presentation, the pastor pulled a girl up onstage, produced a dirty, dingy toothbrush from his pocket and asked if she would brush her teeth with it. When she invariably said no, he pulled out another toothbrush, this one in its original box, and repeated the question. When she said yes to that one, he brandished the rejected toothbrush above his head and announced to the audience, "If you have sex before marriage, you are the dirty toothbrush." A report recently released on the state of sex education in Texas [by the Texas Freedom Network (TFN)] details other bizarre things students are taught in the classroom about sex, contraception and their bodies, all subsidized by federal dollars. One skit, titled "Jumping Off the Bridge," concludes that giving a condom to a teen is like saying, "Well if you insist on killing yourself by jumping off the bridge, at least wear these elbow pads." Another presentation equates pre-marital sex with instances of marital murder-suicide. Still another compares women's sexuality to crock pots that take awhile to get warmed up, and men's to microwaves that are ready to cook at a moment's notice. An entire generation of American teens has been confused, misinformed and endangered by abstinence-only-until-marriage programs like these. They are not just paid for by the federal government; states can't use these dollars for anything else. In the past 15 years alone, more than a billion taxpayer dollars have been doled out to every state to teach curricula that often contain factual inaccuracies about condoms and contraceptives, generalizations about sexuality that are based on biases about gender and sexual orientation, and religious messaging that probably violates the U.S. Constitution. The programs were a pet project of the Bush administration, and key to attracting votes and contributions from the religious right. Now, much of the money is still being doled out to faith-based organizations and crisis pregnancy centers, the latter often stating as their sole purpose the convincing of pregnant women, including ten and twelve year-olds and their families, that having an abortion will mean a lifetime of regret. Unbelievable as it may sound, there is no federal law mandating or supervising the medical or scientific accuracy of information taught in schools or given out in tax-exempt pregnancy centers, a loophole used to tell young people that condoms don't work, homosexuality is never part of normal human behavior and sexuality is the one academic subject in which students will be rewarded for lack of knowledge. In fact, abstinence-only sex education is so damaging that 25 governors, Republicans and Democrats, have refused abstinence-only funds. [Republican Gov. Rick Perry has said he supports the the existing abstinence-only policy. "The governor is comfortable with current law and supports abstinence programs," said Perry's spokeswoman, Allison Castle.] Rising rates of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted teen births and an increased need for abortion have dramatized the inefficacy and danger of such programs. And last year, the Journal of Adolescent Health published its opinion that abstinence-only funding may constitute a human rights violation. The huge majority of Americans agree. 88% think teens should receive information about condoms and contraception as well as abstinence in the classroom. Yet, no moves have been made in Washington to make good on these convictions.

President Obama's 2010 budget does move to bring an attitude of realistic common sense to sex education. Obama's budget proposal invests in programs that are effective and based on sound science. Obama's approach is reminiscent of the Clinton Administration's teen pregnancy prevention programs, initiated shortly after he took office in 1993, that resulted in a decade long substantial drop in teen pregnancies across the U.S.

After falling steadily for more than a decade, the birth rate for American teenagers again started to increase in a sharp reversal as the Bush Administration and Republican controlled congresses increased federal funding and focused emphasis on abstinence-only sex education programs across the U.S.

The teen birth rate rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 among 15-to-19-year-old girls, after plummeting 34 percent between 1991 and 2005, according to National Center for Health Statistics. After the teen birth rate rose sharply between 1986 and 1991, hitting an all-time high of 61.8 births per 1,000 girls, a massive comprehensive sex education campaign countered that trend and teen pregnancies plummeted between the 1990s and 2005.

Texas has received more federal abstinence-only education funding than any other state in the country, yet Texas has the nation’s third-highest teen pregnancy rate. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) a Texas teen gets pregnant every 10 minutes.

According to a report (PDF Full/Summary) released in February by the Texas Freedom Network (TFN) a majority of Texas schools use scare tactics and teach false information in their sex education classes. TFN's two-year study of education materials from 990 Texas school districts showed that about 94 percent of public schools use abstinence-only programs that usually pass moral judgments while giving inaccurate information on contraception and health screenings or ignoring the subjects altogether. (Watch TFN's "Sex Ed...Texas Style" videos)

A large 2008 federal study,confirmed several previous studies in its finding that abstinence only sex eduction is not as effective as comprehensive sex education. "Taking an [abstinence] pledge doesn't seem to make any difference at all in any sexual behavior, but it does seem to make a difference in condom use and other forms of birth control that is quite striking," according to Janet E. Rosenbaum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ms. Rosenbaum's report, that appears in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, highlights that:

Teenagers who receive abstinence-only sex education and pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a large federal survey released last month.

Ignoring all facts and evidence that the "just say no" abstinence-only sex education approach does not stop or even reduce the numbers of teens who have sex, Texans for Life Coalition representative Kyleen Wright gave testimony before the Texas House Public Education Committee on March 31, 2009 making a "full court press" for the position that only "abstinence-only sex ed" should be taught in Texas schools. It was Wright who successful lead the fight to keep any medically accurate information about contraception and disease prevention out of new Texas high school health textbooks in 2004.

The House Public Education Committee was taking public comment on HB 741 (by State Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio) that would end a requirement that Texas public schools devote attention to abstinence-only sex education. The House Bill, HB 741, if passed, would remove much of the controversial and unsound language from the Texas Education Code that places abstinence education above responsible instruction about sex education and sexually transmitted diseases.

The fact that abstinence-only sex education translates to a higher tax payer burden to support teen mothers and their babies was all but ignored. Texas Medicaid paid for 17,322 deliveries to teen mothers aged-13-17 last year at a cost of $41 million. That $41 million is on top of the many millions of dollars tax payers are spending on a government sponsored abstinence-only public school sex education program that is a proven failure!!

Republicans Gear Up To Say NO To Healthcare Reform

HuffingtonPost.com: A memo from Republican strategist Dr. Frank Luntz lays out plans to dismantle any effort to give all Americans access to quality health care. Dr. Luntz, the man who developed language designed to promote preemptive war in Iraq and distract from the severity of global warming, is at it again -- this time with a messaging strategy designed to sink our historic opportunity for health care reform.

Sidebar - Democratic strategist Paul Begala “is circulating a point-by-point rebuttal of GOP consultant Frank Luntz’s widely read strategy memo on health care.” The memo urges “congressional Democrats to push back hard against ‘Republican Orwellian rhetoric.’” “Because they know they cannot win the argument honestly, Republicans are resorting to mendacity,” Begala wrote in the memo. “Democrats must not let them get away with it.”

Not surprisingly, since the American public is strongly in favor of fixing the broken health care system, the Luntz strategy is predicated on deception. In his memo, Dr. Luntz lays out multiple ways that opponents of health care reform can trick and manipulate the American public.

One strategy that stood out to me is to call efforts to reform our broken health care system a "bailout for the insurance industry." This is ridiculous. This statement is developed to serve the same interests who stopped at nothing to derail health care reform in the 90's, who blocked health care coverage for low-income children, and whose top Medicare priority for 15 years has been transferring money from seniors and taxpayers to the insurance industry.

When support for a prescription drug benefit in Medicare became too powerful to ignore, President Bush and his allies created the convoluted system we now have. Rather than simply add a prescription drug benefit to the tried, true, and popular Medicare program as Democrats wanted, they devised a giveaway for insurance companies. For years Dr. Luntz's clients have virtually abdicated health care policy making to the insurance industry; the last thing it needs is a bailout.

Today though, even the insurance industry is engaged in constructive negotiations about how to repair the health care system. Unfortunately for the vast majority of Americans who support reform, however, Dr. Luntz's new game plan to stop change is being embraced by leaders in the Republican Party. In a briefing where Dr. Luntz presented his strategy to Republican House members, Rep. Mike Pence from Indiana, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, made it official by saying, "Frank is back."

So expect a massive misinformation campaign coming to a health care debate near you. Opponents using Dr. Luntz's doublespeak will argue for a "balanced, common sense approach" to health care but what they really want is to keep the system the way it is. They'll say that a public plan will not be "patient centered," but their real goal is to block accessible health care for every American. They'll say reform will deny Americans "choice" even when every American will be allowed to keep their health insurance and their doctor. They'll claim that the "quality of care will go down," while callously ignoring the fact that millions of Americans have no health care at all and millions more are denied the medications and procedures they need.

More - GOP Wastes No Time Embracing Frank Luntz’s Vapid ‘Patient-Doctor’ Health Care Rhetoric

When The Environment Changes - Adapt Or Die

Time magazine's cover story on how the Republican party -- with no new ideas and a lack of leadership -- is struggling to find its way as the political environment is rapidly changing around the one time Grand Old Party:

Twenty thousand years ago, when climate change dramatically altered the woolly mammoth's environment, they had to resort to eating their own dung to stave off extinction. -- It didn't work then either.

"As the party has shrunk to its base, it has catered even more to its base's biases, [by continually re-ingesting old talking points] that the New Deal [banking regulation and stimulus spending] made the Depression worse, carbon emissions are fine [as in beneficial] for the environment and tax cuts actually boost [tax] revenues -- even though the vast majority of historians, scientists and economists disagree.


The RNC is about to vote on a kindergartenish resolution to change the name of its opponent to the Democrat Socialist Party. This plays well with hard-core culture warriors and tea-party activists convinced that a dictator-President is plotting to seize their guns, choose their doctors and put ACORN in charge of the Census, but it ultimately produces even more [party] shrinkage, which gives the base even more influence -- and the death spiral continues."

A Union Invades Republican Collin County

The Plano Firefighters Association (one of them union things that Republicans hate so much) has growing political clout Plano politics. Firefighter unions have long advocated for candidates in recent local elections in Arlington, Dallas, Irving and Mesquite. A Fort Worth association spent more than $700,000 into last year's elections, records show.

The Plano Firefighters Association is making its influence felt in the May 9, 2009 Plano city election by endorsing candidates and supporting bond proposition #1 on the city ballot.

Long dominated by Republican leaning high growth real estate development interests, new constituencies are slowly taking over as the real estate developers lose interest in using their influence to sway local politics to their favor, now that Plano is all but fully developed. The rise of Plano's Firefighter Association is another indication the city undergoing a political shift in the progressive direction.

While the firefighter association does not have collective bargaining power, it is making its influence felt. Since forming a political action committee in 2003, the Plano association has put more than $75,000 into city campaigns, more than any other interest group, endorsing candidates and mailing advocacy literature to voters. The association pays for its political activities with donations, not dues.

A recent Dallas Morning News article reports:

"I admire the firefighters. But the association is taking it a step further and influencing people with money," said Susan Plonka, a council candidate. "To say they have to pay us $20,000 to get a phone call returned is not accurate."

The association, which recently endorsed Plonka's opponent, Ben Harris, for the Place 2 council seat, does not see it that way.

"We don't feel like our side has been told a lot of times in the past," said Scott Kerr, the association president. "But ultimately the decision is [the City Council's]. And we respect that."

From The City of Plano's 2009 Bond Referendum Pamphlet:

1. Totals $11,368,000 and is for Public Safety Improvements in the City of Plano. This proposition includes funding for the reconfiguration, remodel and expansion of existing fire facilities; an additional $1 million for the construction of one new fire station (#13); the purchase of firefighting equipment and apparatus; and the purchase and installation of video surveillance apparatus in various City-owned areas in the City of Plano.

The Clock Is Ticking On The Texas Voter Photo ID Bill

Will the Texas House get a controversial voter photo ID bill out of committee this week, and if so, what form will it take? The clock is ticking, with the May 11 deadline to vote bills out of committee about a week away.

It seems that most in Republican leadership know that the version (SB 362) that passed in the Texas Senate on Mar 17, 2009 in a party line vote and subsequently debated in the House Elections Committee in early April has little chance of passing a full Texas House floor vote.

The version of the bill debated in the House Election Committee in April would have allowed voters, who didn't have photo ID, to presented two other forms of non-photo ID to cast a ballot. That requirement would not have been phased-in until 2013, which is after the 2011 round of redistricting scheduled to take place after the 2010 U.S. census. The bill debated in the House Elections Committee would also reportedly only take effect if lawmakers earmark $7.5 million in the 2010-11 state budget for voter registration efforts. Hundreds of Texas citizens gathered in Austin during early April to make comment before the House Elections Committee on that version of the voter photo ID bill.

House Election Committee Chairman, State Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, had been strongly suggesting that the compromise voter ID bill delayed until 2013 had at least a chance of attracting enough Democratic votes to pass the House and become law. House Republicans, however, found the compromise language unpalatable and apparently would not have even voted that compromise version of the bill out of the House committee.

So, on Wednesday, Committee Chairman Smith circulated a new very restrictive version of the Republican Voter ID bill that absolutely requires voters to present a government issued Photo ID before being allowed to cast a regular ballot. This new revised language is vastly different from the legislative language opened for public comment by the House committee in April. Gone are the alternative provisions for the two other non-photo forms of ID, the $7.5 million for voter registration efforts and the 2013 phase-in.

The new restrictive voter ID language makes an absolute requirement for a government issued photo ID that would be become effective in 2011. Smith's last minute maneuvers to immediately mandate photo ID for Texas voters comes after 71 House Republicans signed a statement of principles indicating that any Voter ID legislation must require voters to present photo IDs, without exception, at the "next possible uniform election date," this year.

Listen to the this May 1, 2009 Texas Public Radio Report made before Chairman Smith started circulating the more restrictive bill.

Committee Chairman Smith could schedule a "bums rush" vote on the new restrictive voter Id bill in House Elections Committee at any moment without debate or additional public comment to pass it out of the House Committee and onto the House floor for a vote. The House Elections Committee would likely vote to pass the bill out of committee in a probable party line vote of 5 Republicans for and 4 Democrats against the bill.

House Democrats are asking for prudence and additional public input on this new last minute version of the legislation. Thirty-three Democrats who are chairmen and vice chairmen of House committees sent a memo to GOP House Speaker Joe Straus and Committee Chairman Smith, on Wednesday calling for a new committee hearing on the more restrictive voter photo identification legislation. "While some components of the bill may have been discussed previously in committee, the public has not had an opportunity to give voice to their opinions regarding the comprehensive new bill," the memo states. "This is only prudent, given the Voting Rights Act and the impact of this bill on every citizen in Texas."

Requiring voters to present a government-issued photo ID to vote is a flawed solution to a made-up problem. Republican maneuvering has every appearance of a disparate scheme devised to stack the deck in favor of Republicans in the 2010 legislative elections. Republicans are anxious to maintain control of the Texas House and Senate to give them the upper hand in the federal and state redistricting decisions that the Legislature is scheduled to make in 2011 following the 2010 U.S. census.

The Texas photo Voter ID bill is part of the Republican agenda to keep Republicans in office by suppressing the vote of groups that tend to vote Democratic. In the 10 states that have already passed voter picture ID laws, voter participation is down about 3 percent. However, black and Hispanic voter participation is down more than 10 percent in those states. The success of Democratic voter registration drives among these Texas groups in 2008 threatens to tip the balance of power away from Republican candidates in future elections. As the tide of Democratic voters continues to grow across Texas, voter ID legislation would be an effective way for Republicans to hold back the tide.

There is a chance the bill will not pass in a House floor vote given Republicans hold only a slim 76-74 majority in the House and two of those Republicans sided with Democrats against a similar bill in the 2007 legislative session. It is notable that only 71 of the 76 House Republicans signed the "statement of principles" letter calling for the restrictive photo ID measure. To date, most of the 74 House Democrats oppose a restrictive voter photo ID requirement, but Rep. Joe Heflin, a Democrat who sits on the elections committee has reportedly said he is leaning toward supporting a photo ID law.

Call Elections Committee Chairman Todd Smith and ask him why Republicans are making photo Voter ID the highest priority when there is no evidence of voter fraud, even after Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott's $1.4 million two year investigation attempting to locate voter fraud failed to identify anything more than 26 cases where people forgot to sign and address the absentee ballot envelope:

Contact Information:

Call Rep. Todd Smith, Chairman of House Committee on Elections, at his capitol phone number (512) 463-0522 or write him an email - link to email form - or do both!

Elections Committee Contact Information:

Rep. Betty Brown (R)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0458	Link to email form
Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0727	Link to email form
Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0564	Link to email form
Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0641	Link to email form
Vice Chair Aaron Pena (D)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0426	Link to email form
Rep. Alma Allen (D)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0744	Link to email form
Rep. Rafael Anchia (D)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0746	Link to email form
Rep. Joe Heflin (D)	Capitol office: (512) 463-0604	Link to email form

Click here to see members of the House Elections Committee.

Write a letter to your local newspaper editor

Read more at: Take Action - Photo Voter ID Bill Up For House Committee Vote

Dem Party Position On Local Candidates

We have received several comments and emails to the blog in response to our municipal elections posting asking if the Democratic Party of Collin County has a position statement covering candidates appearing on any of the city and ISD election ballots. As far as we have been able to determine the the Democratic Party of Collin County has no such candidate position statement for the local elections.

It is unfortunate that so few progressives have made themselves available to run for any of the local city and ISD elected offices across Collin County. For the most part, the ballot choices in this election are between a conservative Republican and a more conservative Republican or between a conservative Republican and a Libertarian. This county sorely needs Democrats to get active in local city government and school district oversight and run for office!

Since this election is officially called a "non-partisan" election, party affiliation is not noted beside any of the candidate names on the ballot. Voters really need to work hard to research the candidates to make the best possible choices.

There are two sources of information on the that Collin County voters can reference. One is the League of Women Voters of Plano/Collin County voter's guide: (click LWV guide name)

• Allen City Council & ISD
• Frisco City Council & ISD
• McKinney City Council & ISD
• Plano City Council & ISD

The second is the Dallas Morning News Voter Guide.

Secretary of State: “Homestead Exemption Tax Amendment” e-mails are fake

The Austin American-Statesman Newspaper - Austin, Texas
By Patrick George | Friday, April 24, 2009, 04:49 PM

Officials at the Office of the Secretary of State say e-mails circulating about a Homestead Exemption Tax Amendment are fake.

The e-mail in question says voters must choose whether or not to keep the homestead tax cap for people 65 and older. [Texas Secretary of State] Spokeswoman Ashley Burton said that the e-mails are completely false and that there are no statewide initiatives on the ballot for the May 9, 2009 election.

“There are only local elections,” Burton said. She said some variations on the e-mail have been floating around the Internet. Below is [one version of the] fake message:

Please pass the word and VOTE for the following constitutional amendment. Early voting: April 30 - May 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; May 6 from noon to 6 p.m. May 7 & May 8 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day: May 12 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Texas Homestead Exemption Tax Amendment Please read and pass on to all your Texas email friends as this applies to all voters. You must vote in May to keep the Homestead tax cap for 65 and over, even if you are not 65 yet. If you are a Texas homeowner then this is important to you. If not, it is important to your friends who are. I am sending this email to everyone on my email address list that lives in Texas. I want to be sure you are aware of a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot at the May election. It is an amendment to correct an error made by the lawmakers when they voted for a reduction in school property taxes in 2005. When the lawmakers voted for a 1/3 reduction in school property taxes beginning in 2006 and to be completed this year, they forgot about the homestead exemption for senior citizens and people with disabilities. The state constitution caps school property taxes for homeowners 65 years and older and those who are disabled. However, they DID NOT get the same reduction when the property tax cut for schools was voted on two years ago. So an amendment is on the May ballot to correct this error. The problem is that most voters who are younger than 65 or not disabled probably won’t even notice the amendment or care. PLEASE get out and vote for this amendment if not for yourself, then for your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. We would really appreciate your getting the word out to all your friends and families to vote for this amendment. The fear is that with a low voter turnout, the amendment could very well not pass.

Click Here For May 9, 2009 Municipal Election Early Voting Locations & Times

Is The GOP Shrinking In Collin Co. Like It Is Nationally?

In more than 7,000 interviews conducted by the Pew Research Center in the four months of 2009, just 23 percent of voters self-identify as members of the Republican Party. (Pew Report) That's down from 30 percent in 2004 and down from 25 percent as recently as January in previous Pew polls.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll shows just 21 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as Republicans and the latest NBC/WSJ (original poll here) shows only one in five (20%) adults self-identifies as Republican.

That's the lowest since the fall of 1983, when just 19 percent identified themselves as Republicans. From a high-water mark of 35 percent in the fall of 2003, Republicans have slid steadily to their present low state in the several recent party identification polls.

The Associated Press reports that a polling firm with close ties to the GOP found in its latest survey that the public holds greater confidence in Democrats than in Republicans in handling most of the issues. Democrats were favored by a margin of 61 percent to 29 percent on education; 59 percent to 30 percent on health care and 59 percent to 31 percent on energy. Democrats were even viewed with more confidence in handling taxes.

According to the Pew Research data Republican identification has sunk by more than five points in all four regions of the U.S. Just one in five voters in the Northeast call themselves Republican, the party's worst region, while 25 percent of Southerners say they are Republican, the region where the GOP performs best.

But these Republican losses have not translated into substantial Democratic gains. Voters who once called themselves Republicans are not ready to call themselves Democrats.

So far in 2009, 35% of adults nationwide identify as Democrats, about the same as in 2008 (36%). While GOP identification has fallen seven points since 2004, the Democrats have gained only two points over that period. Instead, a growing number of Americans describe themselves as independents, 36% in 2009 compared with just 32% in 2008 and 30% in 2004.

Looking at the individual monthly surveys since December suggests that both political parties are facing declining membership in the wake of an engaging election cycle.

In the Pew Research Center's April 2009 survey, 33% identified as Democrats, down from 39% in December 2008. Over the same period, the share calling themselves Republicans has fallen from 26% to 22%. By contrast, the number of independents has risen from 30% in December to 39% now. While it is not unusual for Republican and Democratic identification to grow over the course of an election and subside afterward, the magnitude of these changes is noteworthy.

The pattern of partisan change in recent years has been remarkably consistent across the nation. Since 2004, the GOP has lost at least five points in party identification in every region of the nation. Meanwhile, Democratic identification in 2009 is either at or just slightly above 2004 levels.

It is just my opinion, but I think the trends described in these national polls also describe what is happening in Collin Co. and Texas. If so, then Democratic candidates in Collin County can appeal to newly "independent" voters not by waving the Democratic Party flag, but by talking sensibly about the issues. That's what the GOP is planning to do.

The GOP is set to launch a new rebranding effort to revive the image of the Republican Party. The new initiative, called the National Council for a New America, will involve an outreach by a group of GOP'ers, ranging from 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and the younger brother of President George W. Bush. The group is planning town halls around the country, to discuss issues like health care, the economy, energy and national security.

Gov. Rick Perry Asks Feds For Help With Swine Flu.

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), who has made headlines for months by saying the federal government is the problem, never the solution and suggesting that Texas may consider seceding from the Union, is requesting help from the federal government to deal with a possible swine flu outbreak in Texas:

Gov. Rick Perry today in a precautionary measure requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide 37,430 courses of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile to Texas to prevent the spread of swine flu.

Dallas Morning News: So far, 3 'probable' swine flu cases have been found in Dallas County:

The three - a 24-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 3-month-old – have not been hospitalized, and the cases do not appear related, said officials, who also began urging bus travelers arriving from Mexico to seek medical help immediately if they feel sick.

on Sunday, the White House announced a public health emergency, a step officials described as a routine measure designed to help ease the distribution of vaccines. Twenty cases of the disease have been confirmed in five states, including two in San Antonio, though no one has died of it here.

In Mexico, Churches were shut down in Mexico City and soldiers were distributing surgical masks to try to stop the spread of the disease.

Long Time Alternate Election Judge At Carpenter Park Early Voting Location Has Passed

It was with profound sadness that I learned of the sudden and unexpected death of Jordan Lofye on Sunday April 26, 2009 in Plano Tx. Jordan, age 76, who retired several years ago from Texas Instruments, was a long time Alternate Election Judge at the Carpenter Park Recreation Center Early Voting location.

Jordan was again scheduled to serve as the Carpenter Park Recreation Center Alternate Election Judge for the May 9, 2009 municipal election early voting period starting, Monday April 27, 2009.

Jordan, apparently in good health and high spirits, was testing the voting equipment at Carpenter Park just the day before his death to make sure everything was operational for the opening day of early voting.

Those of us who worked with Jordan at Texas Instruments in his capacity as the Manager of Texas Instrument's Computer Center Design/Support Group and as Alternate Election Judge for Collin County Elections hold him in the highest esteem.

Jordan, a friend, colleague and dedicated public servant, will be missed by the community and all who knew him.

Race To Fill Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R) U.S. Senate Seat

There are now six people gearing up for a run to fill Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat. Plus, there are at least five or six more that have been rumored to be considering throwing their hat in the ring for that race too.

The problem is nobody, with the possible exception of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, knows when or if she will vacate her Senate seat to run against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry for the Governor's Mansion.

Hutchison might resign from the senate by the end of this year, or it could be after the March 2010 Republican primary election, in which she hopes to make Perry a lame duck. Or, she could wait to resign from the Senate on Jan. 1, 2011, the day she is sworn in as governor, assuming she wins the 2010 primary and general elections.

Senator Hutchison has publicly denied reports that she will not resign from the Senate while running for Governor, and has stated that she may resign as early as late 2009. (See "Senate Run May Spur Dewhurst to Pick Up the Pace," p. B-8, Austin American Statesman, March 26,2009 / also see Did Hutchison Make Promise to Set Up May '10 Elections Months Ago?)

In contrast to that denial, fearful that a special election for U.S. Senate could result in a Democratic victory, Congressional Republicans appear to be pressuring Hutchison not to resign unless and until she is elected governor. Republican insiders have been indicating Hutchison will not resign at all if she is unsuccessful in her bid for the Governor's office.

Under Texas law, if Hutchison resigns earlier than shortly before the November 2010 election, Rick Perry, a Republican, would appoint a short-term replacement for Hutchison until a special election can be held.

A special election would likely be held in November 2009 if Hutchison resigns her U.S. Senate seat before September 28, 2009. If she resigns late in 2009, the special election for her senate seat likely could not be scheduled to coincide with the March 2010 primary and would instead be scheduled for May 2010.

If Hutchison does wait to resign until about early September 2010, the special election for her open Senate seat could be held concurrently with the November 2010 general election, ensuring maximum turnout for any Republican senatorial candidate.

If Hutchison doesn't resign until after the November 2010 general election, assuming she is elected governor, she could theoretically name her own short term replacement and call a special election for her Senate seat for May 2011.

Of coarse, if Hutchison wins the March 2010 primary and doesn't resign by election day November 2010, and a Democrat is elected as the new Texas Governor in the November 2010 election, that would deny Democrats the opportunity to challenge her Republican Senate seat until the 2012 election cycle.

Two Democrats — Mayor Bill White and former state Comptroller John Sharp — and four Republicans have announced their candidacies and set up fundraising committees over the past few months. While six candidates have thrown their hats in the ring, none know for sure when or if their names might appear on an election ballot - it all depends on when Hutchison resigns.

Candidates: (Left to right) Houston Mayor Bill White (D), former State Comptroller John Sharp (D), Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams (R), State Sen. Florence Shapiro (R), former Secretary of State Roger Williams (R) and Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones (R)
Potential Candidates: (Left to right) Rep. Kay Granger (R), Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R), US Rep. Joe Barton (R), Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R), Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) and TX State Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio)

Pictures from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

So far, the Texas Governor's race has been a battle between two Republicans. Conventional wisdom says that if Perry manages to pull off an unexpected upset in the primary, he's actually vulnerable in the general election. (Perry is the most unpopular politician in the state of Texas, and probably the least popular Governor in memory.)

Conventional wisdom also says that if Hutchison wins the primary match up against Perry, she will likely skate to the Governorship in the November 2010 general election. Things are looking a little less certain for Republicans to retain the Texas governor's mansion, even if Hutchison does win the primary, now that long time Texas Democrat Tom Schieffer seems ready to join the Texas governor's race.

Tom Schieffer is a former State Representative, former partner in the Texas Rangers, brother to Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer, and Bush-era Ambassador to Australia and Japan.

Schieffer, a lifelong Democrat, did endorse G.W. Bush for the offices of both Governor and President, but he supported Barack Obama for the 2008 primary and general election, and he supported Democrat Chris Bell in the 2006 Governor's race. Conventional wisdom suggests that Schieffer can attract not only Democrats, but Independents and even some moderate Republicans.

Dallas Morning News: "We are experiencing a crisis of leadership," said Schieffer, a former U.S. ambassador under President George W. Bush who plans to run as a Democrat.

He dismissed his ties to the former Republican president, saying Texans want leaders who are less partisan and more effective in dealing with issues like education and health care.

"Our politics have become less substantive, less thoughtful, less creative and less innovative," said Schieffer, 61.

Research 2000 Texas Poll of 600 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections conducted from April 20 through April 22, 2009 provides a current snapshot of candidates for the U.S. Senate and Texas Governor races:

Favorable / Unfavorable

	RACE	VERY FAV	FAV	UNFAV	VERY UNFAV	NO OPINION
PERRY (R)	GOV	17	34	24	19	6
HUTCHINSON (R)	GOV	27	37	16	13	7
SCHIEFFER (D)	GOV	9	17	6	5	63
ABBOTT (R)	SEN	21	24	13	13	29
DEWHURST (R)	SEN	15	24	17	14	30
WILLIAMS (R)	SEN	13	20	13	12	42
SHAPIRO (R)	SEN	11	17	14	10	48
SHARP (D)	SEN	17	19	14	10	40
WHITE (D)	SEN	16	17	12	11	44
OBAMA (D)	--	20	25	26	27	2

Full poll results available here.

Republicans Seek To Rename The Democratic Party

Republicans ushered in totally unregulated free-market enterprise in every business and public interest quarter while they controlled all branches of government. Unregulated free markets simply means there is no rulebook and no referees to enforce rules of fair and honest play. That permitted corporations to grab monopolistic control over markets and drive reckless speculative excesses, thus overriding the power of free market competition.

As Republicans eliminated the regulatory guidelines of prudent business and 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 banking and securities markets to such unrestrained levels that the financial system was at the brink of collapse.

The resulting financial system "crisis of credit" froze business and consumers out credit markets literally freezing the flow of business transactions, particularly in the housing and auto industries. The U.S. government was forced into bailouts of banks, securities companies and "too big to fail" corporations to avert economic disaster.

An unregulated free-market system is like asking professional football teams to play a season without a rulebook and without referees to enforce the rules of play. The game of football would be reduced to chaos and a lot of casualties on the field of play.

Over the last eight years we have seen what happens when the free market rulebook is scrapped and the referees leave the free market field of play. Democrats want to restore healthy free market competition, which naturally drives innovation and economic growth, by making sure that American business and financial institutions follow some basic rules of fair and honest play.

To this idea that business must have a rule book of fairt play and referees to enforce the rules Conservative Republicans cry "Socialism."

Refering to Democrats as members the "Democrat Party" rather than the "Democratic Party" is not derogatory enough for Republican National Committee conservatives.

In an e-mail sent to the 168 voting members of the RNC committee, RNC member James Bopp, Jr. is urging the membership to adopt a resolution that requires Republicans to always refer to Democrats as members of the “Democrat Socialist Party.”

While RNC Chairman Michael Steele does not strongly support a RNC resolution to officially rename the opposing party, he supports the idea of "branding" Democrats as socialists for supporting the concept that a healthy free market system needs business to follow some basic rules of fair and honest play. “The Democrats are indeed marching America toward European-style socialism, and I will continue to criticize their dangerous policies in that regard,” Steele wrote in a memo to RNC members.

Organizing for America Office Coming To Collin Co.??

The Dallas Morning News TrailBlazersBlog:

Some news from suburbia this week... Word on the street is that President Obama's new grassroots issues campaign -- Organizing for America -- is kicking the tires on putting an office in conservative Collin County.

The chatter coincides with activity elsewhere. Earlier this month, the group [announced Luke Hayes as the Texas State Director for Organizing for America.] Now, Hayes is embarking on a Texas-wide "listening tour" to chat with and recruit volunteers.

When asked about the possibility of a Collin office, Natalie Wyeth, a Democratic spokeswoman in Washington, said in an email that nothing has been decided.

"We've asked local supporters and volunteers for suggestions on where it would be useful and convenient to have an OFA office in their area. Right now, Luke is working out of the Democratic Party headquarters in Austin. Anything else folks are saying about office space is speculative," she wrote.

Establishing an official campaign office in Collin County, of course, would be a bold move for Obama. Republicans have dominated the affluent suburban area for decades.

Still, experts say that the last few elections have revealed subtle Democratic shifts. Stay tuned.

While running to become the President of the United States, Barack Obama's campaign recruited millions of campaign supporters and contributors through online social networks. Over two million joined myBarackObama.com, a website fusing social networking with volunteer political organizing, while more than 5 million supported Obama's profile across other social websites like MySpace and Facebook. More than a million people asked for campaign text messages on their cell phones and yet more kept up with campaign information on Twitter. Most importantly, over 13 million voters signed up for regular e-mail fundraising pitches and other communications.

On January 15th Barack Obama announced the formation of a new group known as "Organizing for America" to continue the grassroots advocacy organization that supported his run for the presidency.

The key idea behind "Organizing for America" — is that the 20th century model of communicating with and motivating supporters has given way to a 21st century Internet media model of communication channels built around YouTube, Social Networking, Twittering, etc. — as was evident during his campaign and as is already evident in the White House’s media strategy. (see White House YouTube video channel bar in the right sidebar of this blog)

Organizing for America is now operating under the umbrella of the Democratic National Committee. The organization is looking at ways to leverage thousands of trained field organizers and tens of thousands of neighborhood coordinators to provide valuable grassroots support for Democratic candidates committed, or thinking about, running for office in the 2010 mid-term and 2012 election cycles. And not just national and state office candidates, but also local county and city office candidates - even in Republican strongholds like Collin County.

Related Postings:

• Can Texas Go Blue Like Colorado?
• Republican Brand Growing Weak In Texas
• The Incredible Shrinking Republican Base
• Politics Is No Longer Local - It's Viral
• Texas voters increasingly unhappy with GOP - DMN
• Poll's shocking SOS for Texas GOP - DMN