In response to the the House's vote to reject the Senate payroll tax extension plan, Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Grant released the following statement.
"This is a disgrace. Rejecting this bipartisan plan and risking a tax increase for millions of working families is shameful, but not surprising. This is another example of millionaire Michael McCaul, the single richest member of Congress, failing to understand what really matters to Texas' families and spending more time supporting political theater, showdowns and standoffs, than addressing these urgent problems. We need people in Congress who understand what $1000 means to a family saving for college or struggling to stay afloat in these hard times, not people willing to play politics with the lives and livelihoods of those they claim to represent."
Dan Grant, an Austin-based foreign policy expert, filed last week to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas' 10th Congressional District against Rep. Michael McCaul. This is the sort of strong response that's refreshing to see from Democrat.
Dan Grant released a statement today on the interim Congressional maps released by the Federal Courts on Wednesday, making clear that while he will not be running against Congressman Lloyd Doggett in the 25th, he is giving strong consideration to the newly drawn 10th district.
Grant had previously announced that he was exploring a run in the Legislature-drawn 25th district, which stretched from the University of Texas through parts of Bell County up to Fort Worth. 11 Republicans had also announced intention to seek the seat. With the lines re-drawn, Grant is now taking a closer look at the 10th, where he ran in 2008 against Rush Limbaugh's BFF Mike McCaul.
Grant's statement is as follows:
Statement on the Release of Interim Congressional Maps
Two days ago, the hopes of Democrats and progressives across central Texas were met with resounding action by a federal judicial panel's release of fair and equitable interim maps for the United States House of Representatives.
Dan Grant, who has been exploring a run in the State Legislature-drawn 25th district, will withdraw from the race for CD-25, allowing Rep. Lloyd Doggett to return to his newly re-drawn district to continue representing the people of Austin.
"Travis County has been made whole, and Congressman Doggett has traditionally represented Texas' 25th - I will willingly step aside so that he can run unopposed. The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 to ensure that all Americans would have equal access to voting and representation. The court's decision has upheld this principle with a fair map that allows all Texans these opportunities," said Grant.
Speaking in regards to his own campaign, Grant added, "I have been touched by the enthusiasm and support I've received in my exploration of the 25th Congressional district. The unique opportunities in the coming election season will afford Travis County, and all Texans, real representation in Congress. In the days ahead, I will be considering how best to move forward with these new Congressional opportunities."
There has been a lot of chatter in Wednesday's redistricting diary about the newly drawn 10th -- what are your thoughts? Is this a potential pick-up opportunity for the right candidate? Can a Democrat overcome Mike McCaul's father-in-law's bank account?
(I do not look forward to redistricting, but this is possible. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
In the Wednesday, Oct 20 edition of the Houston Chronicle, there is a front page article on the upcoming redistricting battle in Texas. Buried in the continuation on page A-14 is the first public indication I have seen about the situation I have been talking about ever since I entered the race.
The Texas Independent has reported that executives from Taxmasters, a company charged by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot in May with illegally defrauding customers seeking help for tax problems has contributed over $160,000 to State and Federal Republican politicians and political organizations. This includes the FEC maximum of $4800 to Michael McCaul, my republican opponent for Texas Congressional District 10 this November. Mr. McCaul is using potentially illegally obtained money to influence the electorate and he should immediately return it.
The Congressional newspaper "Roll Call" has just caught Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, representing the Tenth District running from the Houston suburbs to the Austin suburbs, under reporting millions of dollars in 2008 and 2009 income and assets. Representative McCaul is the ranking Republican on the trial of Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, to be held later this month, on charges of not reporting income from a rental property.
(For discussion. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article entitled: "The End of Management". It is a very interesting article that posits that the management techniques developed in the 20th Century by people to run large corporations are being obsoleted in the 21st Century, just as Sloan, Durant, Ford, Drucker, et. al. obsoleted the 19th Century artisan model of management. The author, Alan Murray, says we still don't know what the new model will be, but there are intimations in the rapid change in communications and connectedness. He illustrates with the examples that it took 38 years for radio to reach an audience of 50 million, television 13 years, internet only four years, the ipod three years, and Facebook two years to do the same.
(Ted Ankrum is the Democratic nominee in TX-10 against Rep. McCaul. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Many Americans believe that their politicians vote in response to campaign contributions, rather than in the interests of the ordinary people in their District. Representatives Rangel and Waters are about to be tried by a subcommittee of the House of Representatives for just this kind of activity. It seems their defense is "We all do it". My opponent in the next election, incumbent Republican Michael McCaul of Texas' US House of Representatives District 10, is the lead Republican on this "trial" and it would be interesting to test this assertion by looking at his campaign contributions and his votes.
This information is taken from the latest Federal Elections Commission report, ending June 30, 2010, on campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees; starting from the beginning of 2007, after Mr. McCaul's first reelection, when corporations and big donors start to pay attention. The totals are bare minimums because contributor's employment is listed by company name, and I don't claim to know the names of every financial firm, for instance. I've only tabulated contributions affilliated with those relatively well-known companies whose principal business is one I know.
BOR recently featured a story based on a press release from the DCCC on Mike McCaul's "Vote against the troops before Memorial Day". I asked the DCCC why they made this press release in a race about which they have been largely silent since Jack McDonald dropped out. The answer: "WE SEND THEM OUT FROM TIME TO TIME IN ANY DISTRICTS THAT WE THINK COULD BE COMPETITIVE".
On a related note: On Memorial Day, I made the Keynote speech at the Burleson County Courthouse in Caldwell, a county I might have won in '06 except for Mccaul showing up just before early voting began with a $200K Homeland Security grant for the local Volunteer Fire Department. McCaul made his speech in hard Republican Washington County. When our campaign volunteer videographer gets back from his family summer vacation, we'll be posting a video contrasting the two speeches, and superimposing how McCaul voted, just three days before his speech. The contrast will be startling. It's what makes this district competitive: McCaul says one thing and does another. I need your help to expose this to the voting public!
Going into the Memorial Day weekend, Republican Michael McCaul, voted against funding for America's troops and their families.
"As Americans prepare to honor our fallen soldiers this Memorial Day, Representative Michael McCaul was in Washington voting against the bill to fund our troops on the battlefield," said Ryan Rudominer, National Press Secretary of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "It's outrageous that Representative McCaul would talk about supporting the troops but then play politics by voting against the funding they need to keep the American people safe. Our men and women in uniform and their families deserve better."
What did the bill do?
The Defense Authorization for FY 2011 (H.R. 5136) authorizes $726 billion for defense programs in FY 2011 [HR 5136, #336, 5/28/10].
The measure includes $159 billion in FY2011 to support operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the general war on terrorism.
This includes authorizing $33 billion in FY 2010 funds to support the surge of additional forces in Afghanistan and relief operations in Haiti.
The legislation also calls for a 1.9 % pay increase for military personnel.
In the past year, McCaul has voted against families, health care, education and now our troops. McCaul is on the wrong side of consistency.
Many people in US House District 10 have received fund raising letters from incumbent Republican Michael McCaul. They open with "I've been targeted by the National Democrats for defeat in 2010. First, they recruited an Austin tech millionaire who raised more money than any challenger in the country, over $1 million in cash. Now, they found an attack dog who professes that his one goal is to tear down my record, using the money from the millionaire to fund his initial efforts." The letter goes on to highlight some of his "accomplishments"
