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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Obama Weekly Address - Special Interests, Lobbysits Engaging In Fear To Stop Health Care Reform
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.
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] |
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.
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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.
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:
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.
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.
(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:
Related Posts:
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.
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- MS PowerPoint 1 - Colorado Comm on Elect Reform 121608.ppt
- MS PowerPoint 2 - Lubbock Co. Commissioner 032309.ppt
- Audio Recording - Dr. Stein's presentation 8-6-09.WMA (No .mp3)
- (See just one of the papers that Dr. Stein has written or co-authored: pdf-Engaging the Unengaged Voter - Vote Centers and voter turnout)
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.
Shawn Stevens, the Democratic Party of Collin County Chair and voting member of the Site Selection Committee, said in an interview for this blog,
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.
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.
"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: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.”
- 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);
- The unknown potential impact on minority, low-income, and mobility impaired voting populations (with the Voting Rights Act obviously being a related concern);
- 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
- 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.
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 |
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:
- Vote Centers Coming To Collin Co. For Election Day November 3, 2009?
- Consolidated Polling Centers Coming To Collin Co. Next Election Day?
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
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Click for Ticket Information
Ticket Purchase Deadline Aug 12
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:
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“:
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"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."
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