The wizards of Wall Street are threatening the survival of our republic and the free market. They want Congress to surrender budgetary authority to the President just like it surrendered War Powers during the debate over Iraq. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. We must have accountability and transparency.
Our Founding Fathers wisely limited each branch of government and assigned each part specific responsibilities. The Constitution is clear-Congress, not the President nor the Federal Reserve, is the "decider." Congress decides how much to spend and what to spend it on. George Bush's request for a blank check to bail out Wall Street strikes at the very heart of our Constitution. If our Representatives write the check without protections for the taxpayers, then the American experiment of limited government will be over.
November will be another wave election. Are you preparing to catch the wave or will you be left behind? My surfboard is ready. We can fight for change right here in Texas.
You can make a difference right now with our Online Phone Bank! Help me identify potential supporters. An online phone bank looks much like a typical phone bank, but it's paperless. All the information you'll need is on your computer through the internet.
The script and the "clickable" answers are on the screen. As you read the script and get responses, simply click the appropriate answer. When you hit "submit", the info feeds back into Texas VAN, and a new voter pops onto the screen for the next call. You can work from home, office, or a phone bank site. You can work for a few minutes between doing household chores or for hours at a time.
Please take a minute to register as a volunteer. Once you sign up, we'll provide you with the login information and a copy of the script. You can get started right away. Forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to volunteer too.
A competitive energy market is the key to driving down consumer prices. Right now big oil has a monopoly. We can take steps now to fix this problem. That's why I welcome the new bipartisan energy compromise. The New Energy Reform Act of 2008 includes significant investments in alternative-fuel vehicles; repeals tax breaks for big oil, and opens new areas to offshore drilling. We have to break the gridlock in Congress. American families and small businesses need an energy policy that works for us.
It's time to change fundamentally the dynamics of the energy industry. America's future depends on clean, affordable energy from a variety of sources. In the 1970s America faced a similar challenge to today's energy crisis. A small group of countries had threatened the prosperity of the entire world. The United States Congress led the way to reducing our nation's reliance on foreign oil, requiring new technologies to reduce home and automobile energy use. Instead of the disaster the doomsayers predicted, consumption fell and the economy bounced back. A wise energy policy makes a stronger America.
Thanks to our supporters from Texas and especially the Burnt Orange Report. This is one of our favorite state sites and on all our blog rec lists.
To show our appreciation we have added three Texas Congressional candidates in our next The Progressive Electorate pick a candidate contest
Our rules are a little bit different this time and the amounts that will be contributed to the winners are based on contributions that we receive over the next few weeks towards our other candidates.
You do have to sign up to register. But it takes less than 60 seconds.
Please come support Michael Skelly, Larry Joe Doherty and Glenn Melancon. They all have a chance to be voted in as the next The Progressive Electorate candidate contest.
(The author of this new site has done a great job on highlighting some of our Texas candidates. Head on over, create and account, and share your thoughts! - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
I'm beginning search for round two of my Progressive Electorate Candidates.
Melancon, Skelly and Doherty have all been mentioned. I'm only going to take one for Round Two. Also scanned over something on the Pete Sessions race. But haven't heard from anyone on that.
Give me your thoughts: I just did an article on Skelly.
Will try and do one with Melancon and Doherty later this week or early next.
Just like in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a local TV station is pushing Republican propaganda on energy. How many times do Ralph Hall and his corporate cronies have to be wrong before the media question their judgment? Is Tokyo Rose a professor in American journalism schools?
A perfect case in point is this KXII's story, "Texas-born petition supports fight against high gas prices in Washington." Reporter Emi FitzGerald simply repeated Hall's false assertions without ever reading the details of his proposal. FitzGerald also neglected to report any counter arguments or explain how this plan offers more of Hall's same tired proposals. During a heated national election you would think FitzGerald might call Hall's opponent. You would be wrong.
(Glenn is running in the 4th Congressional district against Ralph Hall. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
I had the great honor of winning the Democratic nomination for the Texas Fourth Congressional District. The bigger story, however, is the growing bipartisan dissatisfaction with Ralph Hall. He received only 42,212 of 57,530 Republican votes. If you add those who voted against Ralph in both parties' primaries, almost twice as many voters - Republican and Democratic - want a new Congressman!
"new
direction"
"stay
the course" with Hall
80,479 votes
42,212
votes
The tide continued to move forward four weeks later as Democrats packed precinct and county conventions. Particularly, impressive were the crowded conventions that I attended in Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Collin Counties. If Democrat are going to win a state-wide races, we have to do better in these "Republican strongholds.
The History News Network published the following article by me on September 23, 2002. As my oldest son approaches eighteen, I still don't want him to die in an unjust quagmire. It's wrong for Washington politicians to continue using our brave men and women as political props. It's up to us to lead them home with honor.
--------
Every school child can recite the value of history: those that ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. What lessons can we learn about the present Iraqi crisis from the Vietnam experience?
One of the most frequently heard "lessons" is that politicians should not tie the hands of the military. US forces got bogged down in a quagmire because politicians placed senseless restrictions on how to fight the enemy. If the politicians had stepped aside, the US military could have won the war.
I believe this line of reasoning misses the point. Vietnam was not a "quagmire" because the North Vietnamese Army or Vietcong were a military challenge. Vietnam was a quagmire because the US could not generate enough trust and support among the Vietnamese people. The US was seen as an imperialist power that lacked legitimacy. Does any one really believe the US, or some puppet like Diem, can RULE Iraq? I believe the US will become an "Israel," occupying lands in which the people's anger and hatred toward the occupier will grow day by day. No matter how benevolent US rule in Iraq is, no matter how much better living conditions are, the US will still be the aggressor fighting an unjust war.
How will disgruntle Iraqi's respond to a US invasion? Sit-ins? Marches? Civil disobedience? I think not. They will respond the same way disgruntle Palestinians and Vietnamese responded. The US may win the war versus the Iraqi "army," but in the process it will provide the biggest recruiting boost to the ranks of Al Qaeda, like minded terrorist organizations or simply local "patriots."
"I accept Ralph Hall's offer to debate the issues," said Glenn Melancon, Democratic Candidate for US Congress in Texas' Fourth Congressional District. "The voters need and want to know what the candidates stand for."
According to the Dallas Morning News (Thursday, March 6, 2008), Hall said he's ready to debate the issues. Both Republican and Democratic primary candidates had highlighted Congressman Hall's absence from local town hall meetings. Hall justified his absence by the need to spend his time at fundraisers.
"A Congressman should demonstrate to the public he can debate," said Melancon. "It will be good for the voters to see their candidates in action."
Melancon proposed a series of six debates around the district. He pointed out several local organizations all have experience hosting political forums. These groups include Sherman's KXII and Herald Democrat, Greenville's Herald Banner, Mount Pleasant's Daily Tribune, Paris' Chamber of Commerce and Paris News, and New Boston's Chamber of Commerce and Bowie County Citizen's Tribune. Melancon said setting the schedule now is important in light of Mr. Hall's busy schedule.
"These debates would be great for our democracy," Melancon said. "Traditional public debates have been pushed aside in recent years by 30 sec TV ads. It would be wonderful to restore the debating tradition in our District."
