(GOP is in bad shape when you lose Dick Armey's support - promoted by John McClelland)
Democrats have long struggled with communicating their core issues to the base American electorate. New polls and general anecdotal evidence are showing that it has started happening by default. Democrats now control the agenda on issues that are truly important to Americans, and it is due in large part to an unlikely ally - traditional Republican base voters.
Morethana few newspapers around the state last week covered the story of Patricia King, a prison guard who won a $250,000 sexual harassment suit in 1999 against the state. It's nearly seven years later, and the legislature is just finally getting around to taking care of her claim.
[King's] judgment, which with six years of interest, court costs and fees totals more than $640,000 because the state never paid the original jury award after it withstood appeal. [. . .]On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee passed a measure to pay the judgment.
Nixon rallied against Big Oil while Ford declared high prices on foreign fuel stood between Americans and their destiny. Jimmy Carter dutifully insisted "the energy industry should not reap large unearned profits," while George H.W. Bush preached of a future based on diverse energy sources. Could he have predicted his son's confidence in switchgrass in 2006?
Talk, talk isn't enough and our politicians know it. Today it's all about the photo op. Dennis Hastert was on top of his game before lunging for his SUV and the security only it can provide . Let's also give Congress credit for the new ideas they've brought to the table. There was the $100 rebate decried as insulting until a wild-eyed Dem proposed a $500 rebate (that's insult x 5). If the public insists on more than words and pictures (this time), our representatives are prepared to buy votes! When is the last time Washington was that honest with us?
In the days after September 11th, our patriotic duty required shopping. Today it demands we step on the gas. If Congress can keep us driving, perhaps we won't ask questions about our foreign policy and how it relates to this current crisis at the pump.
Our elected representatives are serious....seriously concerned their campaigns for re-election can't run on empty. What do Kay Bailey Hutcihson, Tom DeLay and Rick Santorum have in common? Besides beingthree people I hope I don't meet in heaven, they're at the top of a list that might explain our being stuck in nuetral for over 30 years:
The San Antonio Current has an interesting article up right now on AG Greg Abbott's lack of effectiveness in some areas, not to mention his ties to Tom DeLay:
