Texas politics is never dull. Former Public Utilities Commissioner Barry Smitherman was appointed to the Commission last year by Governor Rick Perry. He is now serving as Chairman. By any objective account he is bright, energetic, and a conservative policy wonk who has developed a plan for U.S. energy independence that Washington should take note of. He is a life long conservative and a thirty-year Republican activist with experience in the private sector. In the first round Smitherman has a commanding lead over his opponent Greg Parker at 28%. Turnouts in runoffs are iffy at best so it appears he will be tough to beat, but you still need to vote. TCR supports Barry Smitherman enthusiastically and he alone deserves your effort to go to the polls or vote early.
Rush For New Bond Issues Requires Close Look By Voters
So the trial balloons begin. HISD wants $1.8 billion for a school district with declining enrollment and a growing student dropout problem. The City of Houston may need to go to the voters for money to fix its aging water and wastewater pipe system. Harris County and/or the Port of Houston may be looking for bond money also, as may the Houston Community College System whose enrollment is growing. With the national economy sliding back into recession, it is important that we look critically at each request. Some may be necessary, some an unaffordable luxury during our time of economic trouble.
Roger Clemens Cleared, Why Was The Federal Gov't Wasting Time And Money On This Matter?
TCR is pleased that Roger Clemens was acquitted. Of course the question is where does he go to get his reputation back? It is incredible, all the time and money wasted on a witch hunt that relied on the testimony of a disgruntled former trainer makes TCR wonder who is in charge of the Justice Department and then we remember, Eric Holder, who has been stonewalling Congress on the sale by the US of weapons to narcotics gangs in Mexico. By the way, Clemens does deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
Obama Really Wants To Be King And To Govern By Decree
President Obama is really not running for reelection, but King! The latest order, allowing children who entered the country illegally and without criminal records to remain and be on a path to citizenship on its merits should be proposed, debated and voted on by Congress, because that is our system. TCR has a big problem with governing by decree or order. That is not the American system and that is where the debate here should be. Obama is the imperial presidency gone amuck and it's time to shut down this sideshow. That is why it is critical Mitt Romney be the next President.
Turnout In Primary Still Low, Why?
It is fascinating that our primary turnout remains low for Republicans and Democrats at around 12% for both parties. That is because due to district configurations there are just a handful of November competitive races, which means the vast majority of Texans have no influence on the winners! It also means as few as 3% of the registered voters choose our officeholders. It also tells us there are a whole lot of voters we know little about and if they decided to get involved, the results could be surprising.
Selective Thoughts By Bruce Bialosky, Contributing Editor
Watching the protesters in Chicago, who are commonly referred to as the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd, I am inclined to believe that we need to reinstitute the military draft for both boys and girls. It would make them into men and women.
Hillary Clinton continues to get plaudits for her work as Secretary of State, and as a result she is viewed very favorably by the public. But could someone please tell me what she has accomplished other than appeasing the pseudo-intellectuals of Europe who hated that cowboy from Texas.
Rarely have I been as impressed with a religious leader as Cardinal Timothy Dolan. When the time comes, the other Cardinals should seriously consider him for Pope (unless, of course, they've identified another equally awesome human being.)
Living in the political wasteland formerly known as the Golden State (California), I occasionally meet someone who has recently moved here who has no intention of seeking a career in the movie industry and I ask myself "why?" We have a dysfunctional government completely controlled by left-wing union bosses, a budget that has been hopelessly out of balance for over a decade, a lousy public school system, a high unemployment rate that is only worsened by the procession of employers leaving the state, soaring energy costs due to misguided "green energy" schemes, and the highest gas prices in the country. You have to wonder if these people have been in a cave. On the other hand, we have sunshine and no humidity.
President Obama's new economic plan is to hire more union workers. More construction union workers, more teachers and more local government employees with borrowed money. Those union workers will then contribute to the estimated $400 million the unions plan to spend on this fall's election on your behalf. The question is Mr. President what is the plan for the 93% of us who are not members of unions?
I watched the movie Windfall recently. It was about a group of people in upstate New York who came face-to-face with the real-world folly of wind energy. These people were enamored by the idea until they actually started to live with it - or more precisely, learned they couldn't live with it. This wasn't a documentary made by "right-wing kooks", but it did show that even the Left can't defend the stupidity of destroying American landscape with bird-killing windmills.
It is fascinating to see the Left struggling to dig up dirt on Mitt Romney. First, they get fixated on the dog. Then they try to get us focused on something he supposedly did in high school fifty years ago. Next we'll get naughty tales of him looking up little girls' dresses from an elementary school friend. Soon they'll be talking about how evil he is because he speaks French, or how he sexually harassed his nursery-school teacher.
Jay Carney is the most inept Presidential Press Secretary in my lifetime.
Never in my life have I seen a candidate, that I so badly want to lose, step into a giant hole as Elizabeth Warren has done with her ludicrous claims about being part Cherokee. And never in my life have I seen the same candidate so happy to continue bringing up a story that makes her look so horrible and deceitful. She just would not let it go until recently. And Scott Brown never has to say a thing. This is just too much fun.
To which country do you think we should continue giving foreign aid? Egypt, Pakistan or China? Or would you prefer Yemen?
Watching the terrific retrospective on Johnny Carson on PBS brought two thoughts to mind. First, if this show is so good, why do we have to underwrite it with tax dollars? Why can't it be supported by sponsors – just like all the other shows on television? Second, it's amazing how Johnny continually made jokes about politicians without ever taking sides. The man who most idolizes him, David Letterman, has allowed his show to disintegrate into a left-wing jokefest that isn't funny and alienates half his audience. Too bad Johnny isn't still here to slap him around; it might teach him what his job really is as a late night host. The Late Show is about as much fun to watch as The View. At least he still has a good house band.
Recently the new football coach of Ohio State, Urban Meyer, owned up to a major transgression of the NCAA rules. While visiting a high school coach before a game, he happened to come across one of the players, to whom he said "Good Luck."
That is what happens when you let left-wing professors run a sports organization. You can't even be cordial to someone without breaking a rule.
Can someone explain to me what the big deal was about the trading loss that JP Morgan recently suffered? In the quarter in which they had the loss, they made $5 billion, and they'll earn about $20 billion this year. So what's the point of discussing the trading loss?
GM is apparently doing great, and I'm being told by my left-wing friends that this is a validation of the President's policy. Even Republicans admit that they're making money. Of course, wouldn't you make money if you had all your debt – even secured debt! – wiped out by the government, who then also allowed you to carry forward all your losses for tax purposes?
The big question is: when are we going to get back the $25 billion still owed plus interest?
Lost in the discussion about the many misstatements from President Obama's recent press conference was his answer to the question about security leaks. He said "In my White House." I can never remember a President saying "In my White House." In my administration or during my term of office is what Presidents have always said, not "In my White House." Mr. President that is OUR White House, you are just a renter and some of us want to terminate your lease this fall.
I have it on good authority that after Elizabeth Warren loses her U.S. Senate race she will be applying for a casino license.
Bruce Bialosky is the founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition of California and a former appointee of President Bush.
TCR on the Air
Red, White & Blue featuring TCR Editor Gary Polland and liberal commentator David Jones, Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and replaying Sundays at 5:00 p.m. on PBS Houston Channel 8 and on the web at www.houstonpbs.org.
Upcoming shows:
06/22/12: "Political Predictions for 2012" with Professor Richard Murray, Professor Franklin Jones, Professor Robert Stein and Robert Miller.
06/29/12: "As Texas Goes... How the Lone Star State Hijacked the American Agenda" with Gail Collins, New York Times columnist and author of "As Texas Goes..."
07/06/12: "Spirit of Independence"
For a fun feature go to www.houstonpbs.org and under Red White and Blue, you can see commentary about the show and its guests by Gary and David each week. The current show as well as past shows are also available on YouTube.
About Your Editor
Gary Polland is a long-time conservative and Republican spokesman, fund-raiser, and leader who completed three terms as the Harris County Republican Chairman. During his three terms, Gary was described as the most successful county Chairman in America by Human Events - The National Conservative Weekly. He is in his fourteenth year of editing a newsletter dealing with key conservative and Republican issues. The last eleven years he has edited Texas Conservative Review. As a public service for the last 8 years, Gary has published election guides for the GOP primary, general elections and city elections, all with the purpose of assisting conservative candidates. Gary is also in his ninth year of co-hosting Red, White and Blue on PBS Houston. Gary is a practicing attorney and strategic consultant. He can be reached at (713) 621-6335.
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