It's that time again. The AJ is warning about Prairie Dogs popping up where they aren't wanted - and it's high time someone played Whack-a-Mole with the biggest Prairie Dog of them all - Randy Neugebauer. Here's what Capitol Annex has to say about the race:
This race is one of those third-tier races where, though chances of turning the district blue are low, the Democratic candidate running is a quality candidate who could, running in a less red district with more financial support, be a good contender to ‘flip’ a district.
After all, Ricketts is a CPA with a PhD who holds an endowed chair at Texas Tech, for goodness sakes. When it comes to debates about the budget, deficit and government spending, there’s no question Ricketts could walk circles around Neugebauer and leave him tied to the post with his own leash.
This race also (oddly enough) has become one of the races with the best potential to spark internet interest, thanks in no small part to the constant patrolling of the folks at Blue 19th, who won’t let a single Neugebauer statement go by without pointing out why the sitting congressman is nuts, including his likening of Hispanics to Hezbollah.
The bottom line is that Neugebauer isn’t getting a free ride. Ricketts will hold him accountable for his actions and hopefully increase Democratic turnout, which could benefit Bell and other statewides in the region.
Yessiree-bob! We plan to hold that Prairie Dog's feet to the fire until we singe the hair off his kneecaps! It's time the people of West Texas had a Representative who was, well, "representative" of the best West Texas has to offer - not the throwed-off discarded remnant of a Prairie Dog who has stuffed his foot in his mouth so much the soles of his shoe are stuck between his teeth!
To listen to the Bush Administration, these must be good days to be a farmer. Ag Secretary Mike Johanns is announcing a wonderful $780 million drought relief assistance package. Of course, $30 million of that is taken out of the conservation budget. And another $700 million is just accelerated payments that would have been received anyway.
Oh yeah - and drought related losses are about $21 billion. Nice. That means the payments are about 2.5% of losses. You want to know why? 60% of famers will get nothing at all. That means that the bill is likely to get challenged by the WTO.
Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. I feel very fortunate to spend part of Labor Day with union members, the people who brought us the weekend. On a day specifically set aside to honor and celebrate the American who works for a living, we need to say thanks to you all for fighting for workers’ rights every day.
So many of us today take for granted what we consider to be “normal” rights, such as the right to a 40-hour workweek, the weekend, and overtime pay. But it has not always been this way. The American story is largely a story of the struggle by “common” men and women for equal rights, fair pay, and respect in the workplace and the community. Much of the progress in this struggle has come through the blood, sweat and tears of organized labor.
Now that you're all done with Labor Day, it would be a great time to re-dedicate yourself to making Texas a swing state by turning it blue one district at a time.
Blue 19th's $5 Friday has been a success - but there's still room for more. 14 people have donated $220 (and a penny) to put Robert Ricketts in Congress. You can still donate.
There's no better way to top off a sunburn/hangover/day with the family/all of the above than by helping build a patch of blue in West Texas.
The response has been terrific. A dozen people have dug into their own pockets to show that they mean business and Randy Neugebauer better watch his back! Our ActBlue page has been hotlisted and people are beginning to see that we have to take the battle to the Prairie Dog. This is where it begins, folks. This is where we draw a line in the sand and say, "No mas! Ya basta!"
Democratic candidate Robert Ricketts wrote for Blue19th yesterday that Mr. Neugebauer's conduct has been unbecoming of a US Representative. Immigrants coming to America with the dream of a better life and willing to work hard to make it a reality are not terrorists! They are symptomatic of a failed immigration policy that puts more value on votes than it does on humanity, controlling our borders, enhancing our security, or tending our economy. We don't know why Randy Neugebauer refuses to show any leadership on this issue, but we do know that he is failing to represent the interests of his district. He is a failed politician in a failed majority of a failed Congress.
Blue 19th is happy to offer its first ever Op-Ed, written by the Democratic Party candidate for Texas' 19th Congressional District, Mr. Robert Ricketts.
Throughout this campaign, Mr. Ricketts has demonstrated how different he is than the incumbent Prairie Dog Republican, Randy Neugebauer. Whereas Neugebauer speaks first and engages his brain at sometimes in the distant future, Mr. Ricketts has shown that he can deal with any topic with intelligence and forethought. As our country wrestles with the decision of what its image should be in the 21st century, we must call on all the wisdom and compassion that marks our history.
Mr. Ricketts writes on immigration this week, and shows that this is a topic in which he cares deeply - too deeply to let a Prairie Dog bandy about dangerous and racist rhetoric. Mr. Ricketts states:
At an Olney campaign stop last week, Neugebauer suggested that, like the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon, the Hispanic community in the United States wants to take control of our country. He further declared that over half of the prisoners in the federal prison system are “foreigners.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Today is Friday, September 1st. You have the power to make it the last day Republicans were secure and cocky about running the country. For less than what you paid to see Tom Cruise pretend to save the world, you can really and truly change the world - and maybe just save it, too.
What you're looking at is the US Drought Impact Reporter. Texas sticks out like a bright red thumb, doesn't it? That's because it has more drought impacts than any other state in the country - more than South Dakota and Colorado (the second tier of drought impacts) combined.
