A Fierce Campaign To Stop Clean Energy Development

DemRapidResponse June 21, 2010 "How Republicans Would Govern" AmericansUnited June 22, 2010 " The Republicans' Choice for America?"

Republican have waged a fierce campaign for more than 30 years to confuse the public on the issues of climate change. An effort that poll results indicate have had a negative impact on public understanding of climate change and recognition of the urgent need to address it.

Reams of data and papers have been published in the best scientific journals documenting and supporting the consensus view that humans have altered the climate in potentially catastrophic ways.

In contrast, evidence to support the views of contrarian skeptics remains mostly unrecognized and unpublished in scientific journals. That is not an indication that the peer-review process is somehow corrupt, as talk radio and TV personalities contend, but rather a clear sign that those who claim there is no evidence of climate change have failed to present any credible scientific evidence to support their contrary opinions.

A study by Stanford University researchers, that was published in the highly-regarded journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining the credibility of climate skeptics found a clear lack of credibility among skeptics who doubt man-made climate change. The small number of scientists who claim to be unconvinced that human beings have contributed significantly to climate change have far less expertise and prominence in climate research compared with scientists who are convinced, according to a study led by Stanford researchers. [Science Daily]

Scientific American: Climate change and the breakthrough of clean energy technologies are linked, since climate change is a major factor spurring clean energy development and [adoption] growth. Energy titans who do not want to lose their business or their income try to keep clean energy [competitors] from growing is through continual attempts to undermine the scientific findings of some of the world’s greatest [climatology] scientists. Well, it is no surprise to find out that one of the climate skeptics’ leading scientists makes quite a bit of money working for energy companies.

PBS: Many of the researchers expressing doubts about the science of global warming have financial ties to the oil, auto, electricity and coal industries.

These experts appear regularly at Congressional hearings, on television, radio and in print, and at events in order to spread their message. That message varies somewhat from skeptic to skeptic but generally sows doubt about climate change, challenging the consensus of mainstream scientists. They ask whether global warming is really occurring, whether human activity is truly to blame and whether rising temperatures are such a bad thing.

In contrast to those expressing doubts about climate change Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the U.N. World Meteorological Organization, announced at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 that the last decade ranks as the hottest since temperature records began in the 1850s. Jarraud reported that 2009 ranked in the top 10 warmest years since 1850 and that since 1980 every decade has been warmer than the previous one. He also stressed that greenhouse concentrations were highest now than at any time over the last 800,000 years.

While President Obama has pledged to craft policy based on the best science available and to consult with the most credible experts, conservative biased cable TV and talked outlets continue to sow doubt about the scientific consensus on climate change. That dangerous distraction is delaying action on climate change and fostering continued dependence on dirty energy sources.

While conservative Republican lawmakers continue to roadblock congressional action on climate change by fostering private sector clean energy technology development, military planners in the Pentagon have concluded that “global warming is now officially considered a threat to U.S. national security.” In its 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, Pentagon planners report that climate change could result in food and water scarcity, pandemics, population displacement, and other destabilizing events that could create conflict.

“The American people expect the military to plan for the worst,” says retired Vice Adm. Lee Gunn, a 35-year Navy veteran now serving as president of the American Security Project. “It’s that sort of mindset, I think, that has convinced, in my view, the vast majority of military leaders that climate change is a real threat and that the military plays an important role in confronting it.”

If you have any doubt that fossil-based energy companies want to kill clean energy technologies, California is headed for a high-stakes battle over clean energy after an oil industry-backed measure to suspend the state's aggressive clean energy law qualified for the November ballot. Texas oil giants Valero Energy Inc. and Tesoro Corp. got enough signatures on a petition to force an anti clean energy proposition on ballot:

LA Times: Under California's law, known as AB 32, the state sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, oil refineries and other industries, and will probably increase the state's electricity generation from renewable sources to 33% by 2020, up from about 15% today. Supporters of the law say it has spurred a large market for solar, wind and other clean energy sources, and more fuel-efficient cars.

Big oil backers of the ballot effort called their petition drive, "the California Jobs Initiative" to paint California's clean energy legislation as "an energy tax." Their initiative would halt enforcement of the law.

The fight will pit the state's powerful environmental organizations and a rapidly growing number of clean-tech businesses against the oil and manufacturing industries. It also arrays many conservative political leaders, including the GOP nominee for governor, Meg Whitman, against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican who regards the clean energy law as a key part of his legacy.

Schwarzenegger lashed back Tuesday, saying, "This initiative sponsored by greedy Texas oil companies would cripple California's fastest-growing economic sector, reverse our renewable energy policy and decimate our environmental progress for the benefit of these oil companies' profit margins." He added, "I will not allow this to happen on my watch."

Americans Are Optimistic, But Less So Than A Decade Ago

While Americans are largely optimistic about the future, according to a poll from the Pew Research Center For The People and The Press, they are much less optimistic than just a decade ago.

The poll also shows a sharp dip in overall optimism from 1999, when 81 per cent said they were optimistic about life for themselves and their families. At the same time, the proportion optimistic about the nation’s future slipped from 70 percent in 1999 to 61 percent now, and those expecting a stronger economy fell from 64 percent to 56 percent.

Americans are also braced for a major energy crisis and a warming planet, according to the survey. More than half, or 58 per cent, fear another world war in the next 40 years and 53 per cent expect a terrorist attack against the United States using a nuclear weapon.

The poll might have found surprising results when it asked what amount of immigration would be needed to keep the country’s economy strong: Some 34 percent said less, but 36 percent thought the current level of immigration was fine and 26 percent called for more new arrivals. The question did specify legal immigration.

But, Americans see quite a lot to look forward to when asked about the next 40 years. By mid century, 71 per cent believe cancer will be cured, 66 per cent say artificial limbs will work better than real ones, 81 per cent believe computers will be able to converse like humans and more than 40 per cent believe Jesus Christ will return to Earth by 2050, according to a poll.

Here are some other findings of the poll:

• 71 per cent believe cancer will be cured by 2050.
• 81 per cent believe computers will be able to converse like humans.
• 68 per cent of those under 30 predict a world war by 2050.
• 53 per cent say ordinary people will travel in space
• Nearly three-quarters, or 74 per cent, of those polled believe it likely that "most of our energy will come from sources other than coal, oil, and gas".
• Yet 72 per cent believe the world is likely to experience a major worldwide energy crisis by 2050.
• 66 per cent say the Earth will definitely or probably get warmer but it breaks down strongly along political lines, with just 48 per cent of Republicans saying so and 83 per cent of Democrats.
• 42 per cent say it is likely that scientists will be able to tell what people are thinking by scanning their brains but 55 say this will definitely or probably not happen.
• 89 per cent believe a woman will be elected US president by 2050.
• 86 per cent say it is at least probable that most Americans will have to work into their 70s before retiring.
• 41 per cent say Jesus Christ will return within the next 40 years while 46 per cent say this will definitely or probably not happen.
• 63 per cent anticipate the demise of paper money
• 61 per cent say almost no one will send letters by 2050.
• 31 per cent expect the planet will be struck by an asteroid
• Just half expect health care to be more affordable, and
• 49 percent anticipate improvement in public schools

The poll was conducted by telephone, with 1,546 adults polled from April 21-26. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, according to Pew.

RNC Chair Steele Says American Workers Better Off Under Republican Rule

RNC Chair Steele on CNBC

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele appeared on CNBC yesterday morning bashing President Obama's efforts at job creation. He told the interviewer that we need to return to the policies of George Bush because, "George Bush created a lot of jobs." That was an outrageous lie.

In the last month of Bush's administration, the Wall Street Journal (certainly no liberal media source) printed a story saying the Bush administration had created only only 1 million jobs during his two terms in office. That is pitiful when compared to the last two Democrats in office. Carter created 10.5 million jobs in only one term in office, and Clinton created a whopping 23 million jobs during his years in office.

Making Bush look even worse is the fact that President Obama is on-target to produce more than 1 million jobs just in 2010. Add this to the fact that the Bush policies contributed to the largest recession since the Great Depression, and you have the perfect picture of absolute incompetence in economic affairs. Just in his last four months in office George Bush lost more than 2 million jobs for this country (see chart).

Looking at these numbers, it is amazing to me that anyone (especially someone as high up as the chair of the RNC) could suggest a return to the policies of the Bush administration would be anything other than disastrous. It is ludicrous that Republicans hold themselves up as better guardians of the economy than Democrats.

Democratic policies may not be the best for the rich bankers of Wall Street, but they produce a whole lot more jobs for the people on Main Street -- and that's what the country needs right now.

The Bush legacy should be remembered as a grand and failed experiment of what happens when conservatives are in complete control of the government. Conservative ideology rails against government, argues that government is the problem, not the solution. So when a government run by conservatives so utterly fails to promote and protect the common good for all citizens, is it any wonder?

And now the same folks that brought us the worst decade for the U.S. economy in modern times by a wide range of data, with zero net job growth and the slowest rise in economic output since the 1930s are saying they want voters to trust them as they cast their votes this coming November.

Many who stayed employed were hurt too, with middle-income families making less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 — the first decade since the 1960s that median incomes have fallen. On balance, American families were worse off:

And the net worth of American households — the value of their houses, retirement funds and other assets minus debts — has also declined when adjusted for inflation, compared with sharp gains in every previous decade since data were initially collected in the 1950s. “This was the first business cycle where a working-age household ended up worse at the end of it than the beginning, and this in spite of substantial growth in productivity, which should have been able to improve everyone’s well-being,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank.

As IHS Global Insight Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh told the Washington Post, “The problem is that the conservatives controlling the government during the last decade mismanaged the macroeconomy, and that got us in big trouble.” America and Texas has learned what life is like under a true conservative government. Controlling all branches of government during much of the last decade gave Republicans near absolute power to construct a conservative government agenda with little compromise or input from progressives.

In a position of virtually unchecked power during most of the last decade conservatives failed utterly at the most basic responsibilities of governing, leaving our nation weaker and our people less prosperous, less safe and less free. The Bush years may have been years of political and legislative victories for conservatives, but those years of political and legislative victories have resulted in disastrous conservative governance and a tremendous increase in the national debt!

The nation moved from an annual budget surplus of $300 billion, as Pres. Clinton left office to an annual budget deficit of $1 trillion, as Pres. Bush left office. Republican representatives in Washington fully supported and voted for Pres. Bush's tax cuts and increasing deficit spending without complaint.

Reagan's "supply-side" mythology that "tax cut stimulus works best" is alive and well and still promoted by conservatives today. If tax cuts are the most stimulative approach to creating jobs in the economy, as RNC Chair Steele claimed during his CNBC appearance, then the economy should already be racing, given the trillions of dollars in tax cuts President Bush and Republicans gave the nation between 2001 and 2008. Right? Wrong! Pres.

The U.S. Department of Commerce data shows that as Pres. Bush was preparing to leave office in the fourth quarter of 2008 the economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly 27 years, sinking deeper into recession as consumers and business cut spending.

The government report shows a broad-based contraction across nearly every business sector with the gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, in a near free fall 3.8 percent annual rate of contraction in the fourth quarter. That is the biggest drop since the first quarter of 1982, when output contracted 6.4 percent.

The Commerce Department report said that late 2008 consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, fell 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter, after declining 3.8 percent in the third quarter, and Q4 spending on durable goods, like cars and furniture, plunged 22.4 percent, the steepest decline since Q4 of 1987. Investment by business also sharply declined at 19.1 percent, for the sharpest pull-back since the first quarter of 1975, and residential investment plummeted 23.6 percent too. Exports of goods and services plunged as well at a the rate of 19.7 percent, the biggest drop since the third quarter of 1974.

Added to the 0.5 percent contraction in GDP in the third quarter of 2008, the fourth quarter contraction rate of 3.8 percent yields the first consecutive quarterly declines in GDP since the fourth quarter of 1990 and the first three months of 1991.

Across all four quarters of 2008, GDP rose 1.3 percent, the slowest pace of growth since 2001, when the economy expanded 0.8 percent.

As Center for American Progress Senior Fellows Christian Weller and John Halpin noted in 2006, the outcome of the 2001 tax cuts was "the weakest employment growth in decades." The 2003 tax cuts didn't fare much better, resulting in job creation that was "well below historical averages."

When Bush's White House proposed the 2003 cuts, they promised that it would add 5.5 million new jobs between June 2003 and the end of 2004. But "by the end of 2004, there were only 2.6 million more jobs than in June 2003."

As Paul Krugman has pointed out, the belief that Bush's tax cuts successfully stimulated the economy is a form of mythology. CAP's Michael Ettlinger and John Irons wrote in September, "Economic growth as measured by real U.S. gross domestic product was stronger following the tax increases of 1993 than in the two supply-side eras" that followed Reagan's 1981 tax cuts and Bush's 2001 tax cuts.

Indeed, employment growth was much stronger post-1993 than post-2001. The average annual employment growth was 2.5 percent after 1993 and just 0.6 percent after 2001.

And, remember President Bush's $168 billion tax cut/rebate economic stimulus plan the United States Congress approved in February of 2008, to help stave off economic recession. That does not seem to have worked either. Martin Feldstein wrote in the Wall Street Journal that of course the tax cut stimulus didn't work:

Here are the facts. Tax rebates of $78 billion arrived in the second quarter of the year. The government's recent GDP figures show that the level of consumer outlays only rose by an extra $12 billion, or 15% of the lost revenue. The rest went into savings, including the pay down of debt. . .

. . .Although press stories emphasizing that the rebates induced additional consumer spending were technically correct, they missed the important point that the spending rise was very small in comparison to the size of the tax rebates. . .

The small rise in spending in response to these tax rebates is similar to what previous studies of one-time tax cuts found. It also corresponds to what both basic economic theory and common experience imply. Although someone who receives a permanent annual salary increase of $1,000 typically would increase his annual spending by an almost equally large amount, a $1,000 rise in wealth caused by a share price increase or a tax rebate would raise spending only gradually over a number of years.

Bill White Is Running Neck And Neck With Republican Incumbent Rick Perry

According to a new poll on the 2010 Texas gubernatorial race released by Public Policy Polling, Democratic challenger Bill White is running neck and neck with incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry. They each have 43 percent of the expected vote.

This is notably different from a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, which put Perry ahead of White 48 to 40. [Both critics and defenders of Rasmussen Reports' polling have frequently cited Rasmussen's "likely voter" model to explain why their polls have tended to show substantially more favorable results for Republican candidates than the average of other surveys. - FiveThirtyEight]

Here's some analysis from PPP's blog post announcing the results:

Perry is an unusually weak incumbent, while White is an unusually strong challenger. Only 36% of voters in the state like the job Perry is doing while 49% disapprove. Among independents the numbers are particularly bad — just 27% give Perry good marks to 55% who think he's doing a poor job. White meanwhile is better known and better liked than most challengers running across the country this year. 37% of voters have a favorable opinion of him to 25% with an unfavorable one and he posts positive numbers with independents at a 35/24 spread.

Texas Can’t Afford To Buy New Far-Right Textbooks

Think Progress: Texas normally replaces textbooks on a rotating basis every 10 years. With Texas facing a budget shortfall of more than $18 billion for the next two-year budget cycle, the money isn’t going to be there for new textbooks:

For the past year, far-right members of the Texas Board of Education have been overhauling the state’s textbook standards. The changes include “pushing for inclusion of Confederate glorification,” re-naming the Atlantic slave trade the “Atlantic Triangle Trade,” prioritizing “a suggestion that the anti-communist witch-hunt by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s may have been justified,” and raising doubt about climate change.

[Ending a year of fierce debate in March 2009 evolution should be taught in Texas public schools, the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted on and passed a final version of new science education standards that calls for teachers to have a "critical discussion" of the “weaknesses of scientific theories" on evolution with public school students to “examine all sides of scientific evidence and scientific explanations so as to encourage critical thinking,” that includes intelligent design, (i.e.God created the earth in 7 days about 6,000 years) as a valid scientific theory. See Science Takes A Hit In Texas.]

However, the Texas Observer now reports that the state can’t afford to buy the new books:

The state normally replaces textbooks on a rotating basis every 10 years. With Texas facing a budget shortfall of at least $18 billion in 2011, the money isn’t going to be there. Textbooks covering the new [evolution is wrong] science standards would have cost $400 million, and the Legislature is already expecting a bill of $888 million for textbooks already ordered.

To ensure that students can still be exposed to “proof, supposedly, of evolution’s fallibility,” the Board is trying to secure funding for special “supplements for science classes from fifth grade through high school.” Social studies textbooks aren’t up for replacement until 2013 — by then, Texas might have enough money to teach their students about Phyllis Schlafly and the Moral Majority.

The lack of textbook funding underscores Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) constant compulsion to oppose federal funding that could help his state. At the beginning of June, he refused to let Texas compete for Race to the Top funding for education reform because he falsely claimed the program would weaken the state’s school standards. That allegation was even refuted by a fellow Republican governor, Sonny Perdue of Georgia.

A Houston Chronicle editorial from earlier this week lamented Perry’s stubborn “grandstanding” while noting why Texas needs additional, federal education funding:

“Of the 50 states, we’re No. 49 in the percentage of adults who’ve completed high school; and it’s estimated that a third of our Texas high school freshmen don’t make it to graduation.”

Texas faces a daunting $18 billion shortfall for the next two-year budget cycle, amounting to 20 percent of the total budget, but Perry misguidedly insists he can find enough spending cuts to create balance, and he is even blustering about rejecting supplementary Medicaid funding from Congress that would greatly help address the state’s fiscal woes.

Last year, he [Perry] tried to reject the stimulus money that proved key to balancing Texas’ budget, [when the Texas legislature approved the stimulus money over Perry's objections. Perry rejected the federal money] insisting, “We can take care of ourselves,” before the legislature intervened and secured the relief [money to balance the budget shortfall.]

Perry’s serial rejections, both actual and attempted, evoke his flirtation with secession; of course, with more federal aid, he might be able to afford teaching Texan youth about “the ‘significant contributions‘ of pro-slavery Confederate leaders during the civil war.”

Stalwart Republicans Deserting Perry To Support Bill White

Texas Kaos: It looks like even some hardcore Republican loyalists are as fed up with Governor Perry as we are. According to reporter Joe Holley of the Houston Chronicle, stalwart Republicans say they support Bill White:

When his candidate for governor, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, fell to Gov. Rick Perry, he switched his support to Democrat Bill White.

Madden is one of a number of former Hutchison supporters who have crossed parties to support the former Houston mayor, including Houstonians Matt Simmons, CEO of Simmons & Co. International, and James Flores, CEO of Plains Exploration & Production Co.

One thing that Texas Republicans and Democrats do have in common where Rick Perry is concerned a recognition of his blind loyalty to his biggest contributors.

"I realized he (Perry) supports his campaign contributors and not the people of Texas," said Mitchell, who voted for Perry in his previous campaigns. "You know how he said that oil spill was an act of God? He would rather blame God than his campaign contributors."

• Star Telegram - Perry repeatedly suggested that the [Gulf of Mexico oil] spill was “an act of God”

Shakedown?

BP has agreed to escrow $20 billion for damages to residents and business owners of the gulf coast caused by their massive oil spill and Republicans don't like it one bit.

The impact of the BP oil spill can be felt all over the Gulf. But it's perhaps felt most by those who make their livings from the water now contaminated with gobs of thick crude.

One small example of the impact the oil spill is having on gulf coast residents is the community of Grand Isle, La., where two-thirds of the residents get their income from fishing the area waters. Many have done so for generations, but none can continue because of contamination caused by the BP oil spill.

To this town of 1,600 not being able to live off the Gulf is not just about economics and generations-old businesses closing forever, it is about loosing their history, culture and community. They stand to lose everything if BP does not immediately and fully compensate them for taking away their livelihoods!

But, Republicans apparently don't think BP has a responsibility to those whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the oil spill caused by the company's Deep Water Horizon drilling operation that blew out due to a reckless and negligent management trying to save a buck by short cutting safe drilling practices.

Video of Joe Barton apologizing, & other Republicans defending BP

During opening testimony of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with BP's CEO Tony Hayward the committee's ranking Republican member from Texas, Rep. Joe Barton, told Hayward sitting at the witness table, "I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House" on Wednesday. Barton said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "shakedown" and a "tragedy in the first proportion." Barton was referring to the agreement that President Barack Obama announced with BP for establishment of a $20 billion relief fund.

Rep. Barton called the $20 billion escrow fund BP agreed to set up to pay for oil spill damages a “slush fund” resulting from a “shakedown” by the White House.

Barton's comments are indicative of the mindset of many conservative Republicans that the government should not mandate that BP take responsibility, financially and otherwise, for their mess. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said that he shares Barton's concerns:

"I think it's good that there's going to be some money there, I don't know whether it's going to be enough money to pay all the claims. They should pay the legitimate claims. But the part that Representative Barton is expressing some concern about, that I share the concern, is this has really become a political issue for the President and he's trying to deal with it by showing how tough he's being against BP. The problem is BP's the only one who really is in control of shutting down this well, and he's trying to mitigate, I think, his own political problems."

A new survey from Public Policy Polling finds that Barton’s and Cornyn's fellow Texans are overwhelmingly siding with the President:

Texans think that Barack Obama’s right and Joe Barton’s wrong when it comes to BP’s responsibility for cleaning up the oil spill, and a plurality of voters in the state think Barton should lose his leadership post on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Only 18% of voters think that BP deserved the apology Barton sent its way last week to 65% who think it did not. Barton doesn’t even get much support from Republican voters on that front – only 23% of them say it was right to apologize to BP. With Democrats and independents the numbers are even lower at 17% and 12% respectively.

The poll also found that the “episode is having a negative impact on how Texas voters perceive Barton overall. Only 21% have a favorable opinion of him while 28% see him negatively.” Meanwhile, 64% of Texans think Obama was right to ask BP to compensate victims of the oil spill with only 27% opposed to that move.

Rand Paul saying it is un-American for Obama to criticize BP BP's Safety Record?

Rand Paul, the newly nominated Republican candidate for Senate from Kentucky and Tea Party favorite agrees with Barton. Paul has said, “What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP. I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen.” While Paul has heard nothing about BP not paying claims, in fact, BP has paid less than 12 percent of claims submitted by people and businesses harmed by the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Paul's Democratic opponent, Jack Conway, replied, “Rand Paul apparently has a deeply held conviction that corporations should be allowed to do what they see fit without oversight or accountability.”

Echoing Rand Paul's position that sometimes accidents just happen, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has said the oil spill was an act of God.

Gov. Rick Perry defends BP saying the company has a stellar safety record.Perry ignores that BP's drilling operation blew out because recklessly and negligently management was trying to saving a buck by short cutting safe drilling practices, and it's not the first time.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) vigorously attacked the $20 billion for Gulf Spill oil damages fund: "The president just called for creating a fund that would be administered by outsiders, which would be more of a redistribution-of-wealth fund," Bachmann said on Tuesday, also adding that BP should say, "We're not going to be chumps, and we're not going to be fleeced."

The Republican Study Committee, a group of 114 conservative Republican House members, released a statement Wednesday bashing the fund -- and seeming to criticize BP for accepting it. The group's chairman, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), said in a statement that while BP should be held responsible for damages, "BP's reported willingness to go along with the White House's new fund suggests that the Obama Administration is hard at work exerting its brand of Chicago-style shakedown politics. These actions are emblematic of a politicization of our economy that has been borne out of this Administration's drive for greater power and control."

Rush Limbaugh said that the escrow fund would be a "slush fund," and wondered where the money would end up going: "Who's gonna get this money? Union activists? ACORN people? Who's gonna get this money. Let's keep a sharp eye on who Feinberg gives this money to. Because I'm telling you, this is just another bailout fund, called something else, and we'll see who gets it." Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon well blowout, Rush Limbaugh unleashed a conspiracy theory suggesting that liberal environmentalists intentionally blew up the rig in order to “head off more oil drilling.”

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) has also voiced criticism -- saying that forcing BP to pay the money now would cut into their profits, thus making it more difficult to pay more down the line. "If BP is the responsible party under the law, they're to pay for everything. I do worry that this idea of making them make a huge escrow fund is going to make it less likely that they'll pay for everything. They need their capital to drill wells. They need their capital to produce income. ... But this escrow bothers me that it's going to make them less able to pay us what they owe us. And that concerns me."

Also on Fox News, Stuart Varney and Sean Hannity speculated that the account would be used as a "political slush fund."

GOP Rep Trent Franks, is quoted in a Politico piece, apparently saying that Obama was "arrogant" in demanding the $20 billion escrow fund from BP:

"It's my opinion that Mr. Barton and Mr. Price's comments were more of a reaction to the arrogance in President Obama's speech, where he said he was going to 'inform' BP that they would set aside this separate compensation fund to be controlled by a third party," said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.). "Under our laws and Constitution, the president does not possess the power or authority to make such an arrogant command to a private company."

Bill Randall, who’s running to be the GOP nominee for a congressional race in North Carolina and identifies with the Tea Party movement, echoing a common conservative talk radio meme, is saying that the federal government and BP worked together to intentionally blowout the oil well and leak oil. Randall said at a media conference on Tuesday. “Someone needs to be digging into that situation. Personally, and this is purely speculative on my part and not based on any fact, but personally I feel there is a possibility that there was some sort of collusion. I don’t know how or why, but in that situation, if you have someone from a company violating a safety process and the government signing off on it, excuse me, maybe they wanted it to leak.

More from conservative talking heads :

• PAT BUCHANAN: “Barton made a very courageous statement in my judgment. … To have anyone stand up and even indirectly defend [BP] and say that they were a victim of a shakedown shows some political courage. ”
• INGRAHAM: “I think Joe Barton, before he apologized, had a legitimate point.”
• NAPOLITANO: “That is a classic shakedown. The threat to do something that you don’t have the authority to do. ”
• KILMEADE: “One Congressman calling the BP compensation fund a ’shakedown,’ but does he have a point? ”
• GINGRICH: “The president is directly engaged in extorting money from a company. ”

Think Progress

Vice President Joe Biden calls Congressman Joe Barton's apology to BP CEO Tony Hayward "incredibly insensitive" and "incredibly out of touch" "Daily Show" - Jon Stewart on GOP Congressman Joe Barton's apology to BP "Daily Show" - Jon Stewart on the GOP's flip-flop on Congressman Joe Barton's apology to BP

Rick Perry's Junket To The Middle East

Fort Worth's CBS 11 has uncovered the secrets behind an expensive trip Governor Rick Perry, his wife and four members of security detail took to the Middle East last August. The CBS 11 News story covers Perry's excessive personal spending during an $18 Billion Texas State budget shortfall, abuse of taxpayer dollars to cover security travel costs, insider business deals that imperil regulation and oversight, and cronyism with the special interests that put profits of the few above the good of all Texans.
This News Video from Fort Worth CBS 11 was posted on the BillWhiteForTexas YouTube website on June 15, 2010 with the following note: Rick Perry took a lavish trip funded by corporate contributions that were funneled into TexasOne, a secretive non-profit run out of the governor's office. Rick Perry needs to open the books on the secret charity that funds his extravagant lifestyle. - Read more: http://www.billwhitefortexas.com/blog...

Texas Republicans Adopted An Arizona-Style Get-Tough Policy On Immigration

Texas Republicans adopted an Arizona-style get-tough policy on immigration and bilingual education during the party's state convention last Saturday. The Texas Republican Party platform encourages state lawmakers to create a Class A misdemeanor criminal offense “for an illegal alien to intentionally or knowingly be within the State of Texas,” and to “oppose amnesty in any form leading to citizenship for illegal immigrants.” Texas Republicans also want to limit citizenship by birth to those born to a U.S. citizen “with no exceptions,” eliminate day-labor work centers and emphasize border security by encouraging “all means … (to) immediately prevent illegal aliens.”
The Texas Republican Party platform also calls to make American English the official language of Texas and the United States and to all end bilingual education. But, even as Texas Republicans seek to eliminate the Spanish language from Texas and the United States the party produced a Spanish language campaign video telling Hispanics that the party wants to, "establish bonds and express our common ideals with Texans whose language might be Spanish, and whose hearts and minds align with Republican principles,” according to Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri.

Within a dozen years, Latinos could be electing Democrats “because Democrats have the right message and Republicans have the wrong message,” longtime Republican advertising executive and political consultant Lionel Sosa said of his party's future, according to a Houston Chronicle news story. If it happens, then Texas will turn into a Democratic state and once Texas turns Democratic ... We'll never elect a Republican president again ... The figures are irrefutable. I am extremely concerned.”

Latinos make up a very large percentage of the population growth in Texas, and in direct contrast to the Spanish language campaign video released by the Texas Republican Party, articles in TexasKaos and Waco Tribune-Herald point out that many conservatives, who now control the Republican party, do not welcome Latinos, or indeed any minority, into the party fold.

According to an article in the Waco Tribune-Herald - Conservative Hispanic activists created the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County to reach out to Latino, African-American, and young voters. Part of the clubs stated mission would be to fill the vacancies in the 40 out of 92 precincts in county that lack precinct chairs. Many of the precincts that have vacancies are in predominately minority areas. However, the McLennan County Republican Party chairman M.A. Taylor does not consider it important to fill those vacancies, and apparently does not think that minorities hold conservative views.

Latinos represent 51% of population growth in the United States as a whole since 2000 and Texas has seen the highest percentage of Latino population growth. Latinos comprise 63% of the population growth in Texas since 2000 and are the single largest reason that the state is projected to gain four seats in the U.S. House — the greatest change, positive or negative, among any state in the nation — once the 2010 census is complete.

In Texas, the Latino share of the voter population grew between 2000 and 2008 to encompass over one-fifth of the electorate. Although Texas has had a large Latino population throughout its history, Latino voting registration and turnout jumped by approximately 30% from 2000 to 2008, and the Latino share of the overall electorate increased to over 20%. [From NDN]

Hispanics will make up 78 percent of Texas' population growth over the next 30 years, compared with only 4 percent for whites, according to demographic projections. Minority children already make up 66 percent of the state's 4.8 million public school enrollment — and Hispanics could surpass whites in the state's overall population by 2015, estimates show. (see Changing Voter Demographics In Collin County and The U.S. Census in Texas and Collin Co.)

Here are just a few of the Republicans put into their platform:

• Want deep-water drilling to continue in the Gulf of Mexico and other places.
  
• Want to abolish the Energy Department.
  
• Wants to abolish the Education Department.
  
• Wants to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and institute a national sales tax.
  
• Want to withdraw this country from the United Nations.
  
• Opposes the establishment of time-frames for withdrawal from Iraq or Afghanistan.
  
• Supports the "democratically-elected" governments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  
• Want to abolish Affirmative Action.
  
• Wants to eliminate the Endangered Species Act.
  
• Want to outlaw driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants.
  
• Want to let religious organizations engage in politics without fear of losing their tax-exempt status and want to eliminate the separation of church and state.
  
• Want to eliminate the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
  
• Want to abolish Supreme Court jurisdiction in abortion, religious issues and the Bill of Rights.
  
• Want to require a presidential candidate to submit a birth certificate before they can be placed on the state's ballot.
  
• Want English adopted as the official language.
  
• Want to abolish "no-fault divorce" laws.
  
• Want to ensure marriage can only be between a "natural man and a natural woman".
  
• Wants to re-institute sodomy laws and deny the Supreme Court the right to review the law.
  
• Want to make it a felony crime to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple.
  
• Want all human life respected from fertilization to natural death.
  
• Supports the death penalty and want to extend it to rape cases.
  
• Want to outlaw the sale and use of RU-486 and any other "morning-after pills."
  
• Want to eliminate social security and the social security tax and transition to "private pensions."
  
• Want to "defund, repeal and reject" the health care act passed by U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama.
  
• Oppose government mandating the vaccination of children.
  
• Oppose pre-school, kindergarten and any government programs dealing with early childhood development.
  
• Support "open carry" laws and oppose "Gun Free Zones."
  
• Supports the formation of an armed state militia.
  
• Want the Minimum Wage Law to be repealed.
  
• Opposes the Fourteenth Amendment which gives citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.
  
• Opposes a Palestinian state being carved out of "historical Israel."
• Calls to cut off money to the RNC and any group or candidate that does not fully support every plank of the the Texas GOP platform.

Pres. Obama's Address to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill

President Barack Obama strongly criticized the federal government's oil industry oversight agency Tuesday night in an address to the nation on the Gulf oil spill. In his first speech from the Oval Office, Pres. Obama called on the United States to "embrace a clean energy future" in the wake of the country's worst environmental disaster to date, promised the potential of millions of jobs being created in new energy industries, and took the Minerals Management Service -- the oil regulator -- to task in a subtle jibe against the previous administration.

"Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility – a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves," the president said.

Obama continued, "At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations."

Editorial comment: For decades conservative Republicans have held that all government is always the problem, never the solution, and that it is impossible for government elected by "We the People" to protect the interests of "We the People"and the environment in which we live and earn a livelihood better than corporate business.

The Bush Administration eliminated government regulatory oversight and replaced it with industry self-regulation by staffing every government regulatory agency with industry insiders hostile to their respective agency's basic regulatory purpose.

After years of planned neglect, mismanagement and ideological attack, the American government, across the board, has gotten out of the way of corporate America – and the country is paying a heavy price.

And the lesson that a "hands off corporate business" approach to government is a failure is reinforced by the cries for help from the conservative political leadership of the Gulf Coast states – who in the past led the charge for smaller and less intrusive government.

Beyond all question the 70,000 barrels of oil gushing every day into the Gulf of Mexico that is devastating the shores of America and disrupting the livelihoods of coastal residents demonstrates the need for competent government regulation that is not controlled by the interests it is supposed to regulate. It destroys the simplistic notion that the interests of business coincide with those of the American public.

The president officially announced the appointment of Washington lawyer and Clinton administration veteran Michael Bromwich to head up the MMS. "His charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog – not its partner," the president said.

The president spent considerable time in his speech Tuesday evening emphasizing the federal government's role in cleaning up the spill, evidently in response to critics' claims he waited too long to react to the environmental disaster.

Of the Gulf coast shrimpers and fishermen whose livelihoods are at risk, he said: "The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost. I refuse to let that happen."

Of BP, the president said: "Make no mistake: We will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy."

Address to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Oval Office

Text of Remarks As Prepared for Delivery:

Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists. And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.

On April 20th, an explosion ripped through BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about forty miles off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers lost their lives. Seventeen others were injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water.

Because there has never been a leak of this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge – a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.

As a result of these efforts, we have directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology. In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90% of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely.

Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years.

But make no mistake: we will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again.

First, the cleanup. From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history – an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost forty years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and cleanup the oil. Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I have authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims – and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible.

Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming, and other collection methods. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. We have approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we are working with Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines.

As the clean up continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need. Now, a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise. I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip. So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it. If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them.

But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts, oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly, no matter how effective our response becomes, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done. That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast.

You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year. I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers – even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected. I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists will start to come back. The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.

I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party.

Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short-term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that has already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment.

I make that commitment tonight. Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, a former governor of Mississippi, and a son of the Gulf, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region.

The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again. A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe – that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken.

That was obviously not the case on the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why. The American people deserve to know why. The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion – these families deserve to know why. And so I have established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place. Already, I have issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially.

One place we have already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service. Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility – a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves. At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.

When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency. But it’s now clear that the problems there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow. And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency – Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General. His charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog – not its partner.

One of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20% of the world’s oil, but have less than 2% of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean – because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked – not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, but over the last year and a half, we have already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that will someday lead to entire new industries.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of good, middle-class jobs – but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation – workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.

When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill – a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.

Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And some believe we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy – because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party – as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development – and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fear hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet. You see, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny – our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there. We know we’ll get there.

It is a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.

Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea – some for weeks at a time.

The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago – at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced.

And still, they came and they prayed. For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers. The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “…even in the midst of the storm.”

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. What sees us through – what has always seen us through – is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it. Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Perry's Campaign Tries To Hold A Presser Outside The Travis County Democrats’ Coordinated Campaign Office

The Austin American-Statesman reports:

While Gov. Rick Perry was in China, his campaign spokesman called a curbside press event in front of the office of Travis County Democrats’ Coordinated Campaign office, which serves as the local campaign office for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White and all other Democrats running for office in Travis County.

Mark Miner, Perry’s mouthpiece, stood in the early afternoon’s sweltering heat - in a dark suit nonetheless - to try to talk to members of the Capitol press corps.

But unless you were standing inches from the sweaty Miner, you couldn’t hear anything but the chants of Democratic campaign workers, one of whom donned a chicken outfit.

“Rick Chicken Perry,” they squawked. “Debate Bill now.”

As Miner tried to address the handful of reporters in attendance, the Democratic campaign workers waved Bill White signs and tried to bait Perry into a debate.

Presumably Miner was speaking about the same topic that was on a press release handed out by his campaign companion. It said that White continues to refuse to release tax returns from his days as the deputy secretary of energy and chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.

[In fact, Perry's campaign is behind the curve, again, because] Last week, White's campaign made public his tax returns from his time as Houston mayor.

On the issue of Rick Perry refusing to debate Bill White:

The Houston Chronicle - AUSTIN — GOP strategist Royal Masset thinks Republican Gov. Rick Perry is unlikely to debate Democratic challenger Bill White, and his reasoning has nothing to do with Perry’s call for White to release more tax returns first.

“There’s a real probability we won’t have a debate. I just don’t think Rick sees it in his interest to have one,” said Masset, former political director of the Republican Party of Texas. “All he’d be doing is giving name ID to an opponent.”

Masset — who disagrees with those in his party who offer angry rhetoric on issues like immigration — backed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the GOP primary but plans to vote for Perry in November. Masset noted that voters rarely see an unscripted answer in a debate, but White could bring something different — and that’s no advantage to Perry.

“He (White) is plain-spoken. He is very specific-oriented,” Masset said. “He’s kind of our nightmare ... Why give him a chance?”

Video report from The Texas Tribune on Miner's in front of the Travis County Democratic Coordinated Campaign office

Photo, from Elise Hu's twitter feed Miner in the suit on the left.

Good pictures from the Burnt Orange Report Blog

GOP To Again Focus On Non-Existent Voter Impersonation Fraud In 2011

When the Texas legislature next convenes in January 2011 it should address the long list problems that Gov. Perry and the Conservative Republican legislative leadership has wrought for Texas. These problems include:

• An $18 billion permanent structural deficit in our state budget created by the property tax swap that Gov. Perry the Republican controlled legislature passed in '06.
• Almost 1 million Texans are unemployed, a state record.
• 5,550 Texans continue to lose their health coverage each week
• Texas leads the nation in percentage of residents without health insurance with only 49.5 percent of Texas residents covered by employer-sponsored insurance [DMN]
• Texas' state debt has doubled under Perry.
  
• A recent report showed the Texas Enterprise Fund is "not creating jobs as promised."
• Health care premiums have increased 91.6% since Perry became Governor
• Tuition continues to rise at Texas' colleges and universities
• Utility rates continue to rise, and some utility companies and Perry thinks that is just fine.
• Rick Perry's property tax increase is hurting our local schools
• The student dropout rate in Texas is upwards of 30 percent, and as high as 50 percent in some large urban districts.
• Texas currently has the third-highest teen pregnancy rate in the United States and “the highest rate of repeat teen births.
  
• The rate of student pregnancies has increased as much as 57 percent and rates of sexually transmitted diseases are rising in some urban school districts.
• Mail-In Ballot Abuses
  

But all these problems now plaguing Texas' families are NOT the priority for the Republican Party. No, passage of a government issued photo voter ID requirement will be the GOP's legislative priority for the 2011 Texas Legislative session, according to state Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, the chairman of the House Elections Committee, which met this week to hear invited testimony on what, if any, evidence has been found that would warrant Texas to require voters to present a photo ID before casting a ballot.

There have been 267 requests referred to the Texas Attorney General’s office to investigate voter fraud in Texas since 2002, according Jay Dyer, special assistant to Attorney General Greg Abbott, in testimony before the committee. Of those 267 referrals, only 35 have were deemed to have merit to proceed to prosecution.

Over 50 percent of the referred complaints are related to mail-in ballots, yet all of the efforts of Republican legislators during the past three sessions have been focused on voter ID impersonation fraud, even though the Texas Attorney General’s office has never been able to identify a case of in person voting ID impersonation fraud.

Five years ago Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott tapped a $1.4 million federal crime-fighting grant to establish a special voter fraud investigation unit in his office as he pledged to root out what he called an epidemic of voter fraud in Texas. Mr. Abbott found and prosecuted only 26 cases of election fraud – all against Democrats, and almost all involving vote by mail (VBM) ballots, a review by The Dallas Morning News showed. The VBM cases that Mr. Abbott's office pursued were mail ballots that were properly cast and no vote was changed – but people who assisted and transported VBM ballot carrier envelops to the mailbox for other voters were prosecuted. Under a 2003 Texas law, anyone who possesses another person's ballot and does not sign their name on the back of the ballot envelop is guilty of a misdemeanor. Depending on the number of ballots involved, the charge rises to a felony.

According to Texas election code, anyone other than the voter who requested the mail-in ballot isn't allowed to mark or possess the mail-in ballot, in most situations. The law provides that voters, in most situations, will privately and personally mark the mail-in ballot without assistance or coercion, either in person or by phone, then affix their signature, seal the marked ballot in the provided mail-in carrier envelop and personally deposit the carrier envelop into a mailbox. [§86.005] The only situation where assistance may be rendered to a VBM voter in marking his/her mail ballot [§86.010] is when a voter can not read the ballot or is physically unable to mark the ballot and therefore would be eligible to receive assistance, if voting in person at a polling place. [§64.031 / §64.032(c)] It a crime to assist or transport a voter's ballot to the mailbox, unless the assisting person writes his or her own name and address on the ballot carrier envelope. [§86.006 / §86.005 / §86.0051]

Of the 26 cases Mr. Abbott found and prosecuted in his $1.4 million investigation, 18 of the cases involved situations where a person allegedly helped voters and or carried voters' mail ballot envelop to the mailbox, but did not write their name on the ballot carrier envelop. Among those prosecuted were Willie Ray, a member of the Texarkana City Council, and her granddaughter, Jamillah Johnson. They helped homebound senior citizens get absentee ballots in the 2004 general election and later, after they'd been privately filled out, carried them to a mailbox. Both women pleaded guilty to mishandling the mail-in ballots, and they were fined $200 and given probation. Of eight indicted in Hidalgo County, the cases were eventually dismissed for lack of evidence. Just last April an Hidalgo County court-at-law judge dismissed charges against its last remaining defendant — a 73-year-old McAllen woman accused of illegally possessing the mail-in ballots of three voters without signing their carrier envelopes to say she assisted them. All 18 cases were similarly dispatched.

The remaining eight of the 26 cases involved ineligible voters or manufactured votes, according to a Dallas Morning News report. They include a woman who voted for her dead mother, another in which a Starr County man voted twice, three South Texas women who used false addresses to get voter registration cards for people who did not exist and a Refugio County commissioner who distributed vote by mail ballots to residents in a senior's community to mark in his presence.

Former state Rep. Steve Wolens Wolens (D-Dallas) introduced House Bill 54 in 2003 during the 78th Legislature, setting out penalties for appropriating ballots and other abuses of the mail-in voter process. Wolen's bill, which became law in September 2003, was the last substantial action passed addressing the vote by mail process.

In preparation for the convening of the 80th Legislature in 2007, the House Committee on Elections prepared a report that asserted, "most allegations of election fraud that appear in the news or result in indictments relate to early voting by mail ballots.” The report referred to an investigation taking place at the time in the tiny South Texas enclave of Duval County concerning a 2006 primary election in which half the ballots cast were mail-in. The election saw a 57 percent voter turnout, as opposed to 8 percent statewide.

The report concluded that lawmakers in the upcoming 80th Legislative session should "review the need to add, enhance or reassess the effectiveness of criminal penalties provided by the Election Code. The Legislature should provide educational assistance for prosecutors and election officials to improve understanding on criminal violations of the Election Code.” In the 80th Legislative session, though, two bills were introduced with the term “voter fraud” as part of the text. Neither mentioned mail-in ballots. Both dealt with voters' rights.

In January 2009, before the session of the 81st Legislature, another report was issued by the House Committee on Elections. Now the report had grown in size, from 62 pages two years before, to 161 pages:

It included an account from Starr County election administrator Rafael Montalvo, who told of a batch of 30-40 absentee mail-in ballots requested from a single address, and another stack of 278 mail-in ballots for which signatures did not match the ballot applications. Montalvo also brought up the "large problem" of politiqueras in his testimony to the committee:

“Mr. Montalvo said sometimes politiqueras receive $10 per voter and can make good money during [an] election period. The elderly targeted are individuals who do not get out much.”

Among the committee recommendations for 81st Legislative session lawmakers to address:

“The committee would like the 81st Legislature to take in consideration the recommendations offered by the sub-committee on mail-in ballot integrity. As agreed by the whole committee, there is mail-in ballot fraud and those issues do need to be addressed during the upcoming session. ... The problem Texas faces with politiqueras, or 'vote brokers,' is an issue needing to be addressed during the 81st session. Currently in Texas statute there are laws prohibiting the practice of vote buying and the coercion of votes. However, these prohibitions only apply to offenses conducted in direct relations between campaign workers and the voter. The committee believes the 81st Legislature should look into ways to prevent vote brokering, including revisions to current law and more effective enforcement.”

Lawmakers in the 81st Legislative session proposed two bills that broached the subject of mail-in ballot fraud, but neither HB-452 nor HB-3444 advanced past the committee process to the full legislature. The latter measure, sponsored by state Rep. Rafael Anchía, would have required anyone who assists more than five voters in an election to register as an “early voting assistant" and provide a phone number in addition to other information already required. The mail-in ballot plans took a back seat to a hotly debated voter ID bill, which would have mandated ID requirements for in-person voters.

In the case of several election-related bills, Linda Rogers, chair of the Burnet County Republican Party, was called to testify to lawmakers in Austin. She was a dogged supporter of the voter ID bill and concedes that the bill "probably" obscured other voting issues, including mail-in ballot fraud.

Look in your purse or wallet - other than your Driver's License, what current (unexpired) government-issued photo ID do you find? Do you find a U.S. passport? Maybe; a few people have passports. Some seniors may find a Veterans Identification or Armed Forces Identification Photo ID Card, but they do not have 'issued' and 'expires' dates. In Indiana many older veterans, who had stopped driving and let their Driver's License expire, tried to use their Veterans and Armed Forces Id Cards to vote in 2008. Even those veterans who have served our county were turned away because every government photo ID card they possessed were either expired or not dated.

So, if you are a senior citizen who has given up driving, or if you are poor and don't own a car, and therefore never bothered to get a government-issued photo ID Driver's License, you likely do not have any current government-issued photo ID.

And, if you can't drive a car to the state driver's license bureau or county elections office, where you must submit your original (or notarized copy) birth certificate, you can't get a government-issued photo ID card and you will not be allowed to vote in any election under the Texas Photo Voter Id law proposed by Republican lawmakers.

A Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law study (and many other studies) finds that as many as 11 percent of citizens, mostly the elderly, poor and minority American citizens, do not have a current, government-issued photo ID. Another academic study of the 2004 presidential election conducted for the bipartisan Federal Election Assistance Commission found that states with Voter ID laws had an overall turnout reduction of 3%, a figure that reached 5.7% among African Americans and 10% among Hispanics. Former Texas Republican Party Political Director Royal Masset estimated that a photo ID requirement would reduce Democratic turnout in Texans by 3%. That is a lot Texans who would be denied the right to vote in Texas!

During the Texas House Elections Committee debate in the voter photo ID law in the last legislative session Republican proponents of the law admitted there is no evidence of voter impersonation "fraud" in Texas. "We can't prove there is voter ID fraud. . . We may have a big voter impersonation problem we don't know about. I think we do," said Skipper Wallace, the Republican Party chairman of Lampasas County. [So, the bottom line Republican argument is they just have faith that Democrats are perpetrating voter ID fraud in Texas]

"This is a racial issue, make no mistake about it," said Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, in 2009. "This is about skimming enough minority votes so some people can't get elected." An estimated 25% of legal, registered voters in Texas are Hispanic and over the next 30 years 78% of Texas' population growth is projected to be Hispanic.

The success of Texas Democratic voter registration drives among minority, elderly and low income groups in 2008 threatens to tip the balance of power away from Republican candidates, if such growth in Democratic voting ranks continues. As the tide of Democratic voters continues to grow across Texas, a government issue photo voter ID requirement for in-person voting would be an effective way for Republicans to hold back the tide.

Consequently, the use of baseless "voter id fraud" allegations to promote voter photo ID legislation is a more urgent 2011 legislative session priority for Republicans, than focusing the on the long list of real problems plaguing Texas families.