MoveOn members in Texas's 21st District have voted to endorse Lainey Melnick for Congress. It's up to all of us to stop the corporate takeover of Congress-you can volunteer with the campaign here:
We couldn't have chosen a better day to release our first campaign video. Today, many in our district received another one of Lamar Smith's taxpayer funded self-promotion newsletters. This time, he uses a quote from the majority leader, Steny Hoyer, which he claims supports his assertion that the Democratic majority is irresponsible. The quote was lifted completely out of context from an article dated May 11, 2006 and entitled "The American People Are Not the Only Ones Rejecting Republican Policies - So Are the Republicans." The statement was in response to the Republican majority being unable to bring their party together to do the job for America. In this article, he says, "Republicans cannot escape responsibility and accountability for their fiscal failures."
Today marks the 80th day since this crisis began. This disaster is now the largest offshore oil spill in our history. It is estimated that 35,000 to 65,000 barrels of oil are pouring into our Gulf waters everyday, and now we've seen tar balls hit our Texas shores. Our economy, our wildlife, our way of life has been decimated, but BP still finds ways to make even more bad decisions that harm Americans.
Lamar Smith thinks that he has found the winning campaign platform. All he needs to do is rant about how the Obama administration isn't securing our borders, use fear to connect terrorism with immigration, and gamble on your intolerance to accept that immigrants are creating our unemployment problems. The problem is that Lamar Smith has had 23 years of policy-making to show us that he has the solution, that he can make us safe, and that he can grow our economy. He has failed.
Shares Texas Values Lainey Melnick was born on a US Air Force Base in 1962. The second daughter of hard-working parents from the midwest, she has lived in two countries, seven states and has experienced the American Dream. Her search for a permanent home ended when she and her husband found the perfect community to raise their family. Lainey has spent a quarter of her life as a Texan, and is proud to call Austin home.
While Lamar Smith has gained power and prestige in Congress, Texas has become the home to the highest number of uninsured children in America. According to the 2008 Census, almost 30% of children under 18 yrs old, in our district alone, are either uninsured or are already on a government insurance program. In our district alone, the newly passed health care reform bill will give the opportunity of insurance to over 25,000 of our uninsured children, over 93,000 uninsured adults, and almost 2,000 uninsured seniors. In our district alone, over 75,000 young adults, of whom 1 of 4 lives below the poverty level, will qualify to stay on their parents' insurance policy instead of adding them to the pool of uninsured or government subsidized. In our district alone, over 35% of our population of all ages, and 95% of our seniors, almost 300,000 of our neighbors, are either uninsured or are already on a government insurance program. Yet our community suffers from only a little over 4% unemployment. Our neighbors are not trying to get something for nothing. They work hard, and they deserve an opportunity to purchase the security net of affordable health insurance for themselves and their families.
The Big Tent Event: Democratic Primary Election Night Watch Party (A multi-candidate, multi-club event)
Supporters, Volunteers, Friends and Family
You are invited to celebrate with ~ Lainey Melnick ~ Candidate for US Congress and Our Co-Hosts:
Capital Area Democratic Women ~ Burnt Orange Report ~ Capital Area Progressive Democrats ~ Capital City Young Democrats ~ Circle C Democrats
Plus These 2010 Democratic Primary Candidates and Their Supporters:
~ Bill White for Governor ~ Farouk Shami for Governor ~ Rebecca Bell-Metereau for District 5, Member State Board of Education ~ Judy Jennings for District 10, Member State Board of Education ~ Valinda Bolton for District 47, State Representative ~ Donna Howard for District 48, State Representative ~ Kurt Kuhn for Place 4, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals ~ Lora Livingston for District Judge, 261st Judicial District ~ David Crain for District Judge, 331st Judicial District ~ Tim Sulak for District Judge, 353rd Judicial District ~ Eric Shepperd for County Court at Law 2, Judge ~ Olga Seelig for County Court at Law 3, Judge ~ Brandy Mueller for County Court at Law 6, Judge ~ Elisabeth Earle for County Court at Law 7, Judge ~ Sarah Eckhardt for Precinct 2, County Commissioner ~ Daniel Bradford for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Yvonne Williams for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Karin Crump for Precinct 2, Justice of the Peace ~ Susan Steeg for Precinct 3, Justice of the Peace ~Raul Gonzalez for Precinct 4, Justice of the Peace ~ Herb Evans for Precinct 5, Justice of the Peace ~
The Big Tent Event: Democratic Primary Election Night Watch Party (A multi-candidate, multi-club event)
Supporters, Volunteers, Friends and Family
You are invited to celebrate with ~ Lainey Melnick ~ Candidate for US Congress and Our Co-Hosts:
Capital Area Democratic Women ~ Burnt Orange Report ~ Capital Area Progressive Democrats ~ Capital City Young Democrats ~ Circle C Democrats
Plus These 2010 Democratic Primary Candidates and Their Supporters:
Bill White for Governor ~ Farouk Shami for Governor ~ Rebecca Bell-Metereau for District 5, Member State Board of Education ~ Valinda Bolton for District 47, State Representative ~ Donna Howard for District 48, StateRepresentative ~ Kurt Kuhn for Place 4, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals ~ Lora Livingston for District Judge, 261st Judicial District ~ David Crain for District Judge, 331st Judicial District ~Tim Sulak for District Judge, 353rd Judicial District ~ Eric Shepperd for County Court at Law 2, Judge ~ Olga Seelig for County Court at Law 3, Judge ~ Brandy Mueller for County Court at Law 6, Judge ~ Elisabeth Earle for County Court at Law 7, Judge ~ Sarah Eckhardt for Precinct 2, County Commissioner ~ Margaret J. Gómez for Precinct 4, County Commissioner ~ Daniel Bradford for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Karin Crump for Precinct 2, Justice of the Peace ~ Susan Steeg for Precinct 3, Justice of the Peace ~ Herb Evans for Precinct 5, Justice of the Peace
Today Houston Mayor Bill White made the official move to run in the Democratic primary for Texas Governor. Hank Gilbert decided to switch races and run for Agriculture Commissioner instead of Governor, leaving Bill White as the frontrunner battling it out with CHI founder, Farouk Shami, and Kinky Friedman, as well as Felix Alvarado and Bill Dear. John Sharp is waiting out the race for Kay Bailey Hutchinson's seat. Those in Judicial races have also been swapping places which leaves Karen Sage and Cliff Brown now both unopposed for the time being although Mindy Montford is considering joining the race for retiring Judge Baird. This election season is full of surprises.
Today we are faced with another fear-based debate about whether or not the Guananomo Bay Detainees should be housed in US prisons and be given their days in court. If you were to believe the rhetoric from the Republican partisans, America has never faced such danger from any other past enemy or based decisions during wartime on human rights, the Constitution and international law. The reality is, of course, that we have been faced with all these things before and our values cannot be compromised especially in challenging times. The Supreme Court decisions upholding habeas corpus rights for these detainees is evidence that we, as a people, have a firm belief in the Constitution and our role as model for international law and human rights.
