You've probably heard by now, including from several posts here at BOR about the terrible state of the TCEQ. The TCEQ has failed to adhere to the federal Clean Air Act, jeopardizing our health, our safety, and the quality of our air. This is why, on Tuesday, May 25, the EPA took over the TCEQ's authority to grant clean air permits for 40 facilities across the state of Texas, most notably the Flint Hills Resources' crude oil refinery near Corpus Christi.
The TCEQ has failed to fulfill its promises to the federal government and the citizens of Texas, whom it is supposed to protect.
The Sunset Advisory Commission is a 12-member body appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the speaker of the house to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies. Every 12 years, over 150 government agencies are reviewed for potential changes and improvements in their responsibilities and operations. And since the review of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the TCEQ, is quickly approaching, we're getting organized! Will you join us for a call next Thursday, June 10th at 6pm CT? (details in bold after bump)
What's the difference between the Pete Sessions / Allen Stanford scandal and Pretty Woman?
A: Julia Roberts won't kiss you-- for any amount of money
The bubbling scandal over the "mini Madoff", R. Allen Stanford, and the Ponzi scheme he (allegedly) engineered in his bank, Stanford Financial, continues to percolate and slime everyone he had dealings with.
Let's briefly reset the stage, shall we? Sir R. Allen Stanford was a relatively big financier, meaning he would take your money, invest it, then give you a healthy return. Of course, what he is accused of doing by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is "massive ongoing fraud" of investment funds worth over $8 billion. Allegations are that Stanford would take your money, use it to pay other clients who had previously invested with him, and then take money from others and give it to you-this is what is known as a "Ponzi scheme" and is the same thing Bernie Madoff was convicted of. But with Stanford it's much less clear, as many of his bank accounts are hidden in notorious banking black holes in various Caribbean islands, so Stanford is not yet convicted of anything: we should continue to give him the presumption of innocence that our legal system affords him. Ditto on the allegations that he laundered money for the Mexican Gulf Cartel or cheated on his personal and property taxes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However, the following are facts which are NOT in dispute. Stanford threw money around Congress and various elections like it was water, with over $2.4 million given to various candidates from Stanford, Stanford Financial's PAC, and its employees bundling their donations. These donations were often given to individuals who sat on committees who would mark up a bill which would regulate financial securities and clamp down on fraud-- the same fraud he is now alleged to have been perpetrating. Convenient, no?
Senator Hutchison (who you might have heard is running for governor), published an op-ed last week in a couple of Texas papers about how the ACES Bill would cripple Texas. We've pushed back, and actually got something printed in one of those old-timey-newspaper thingies in one of the papers that ran her op-ed, the Round Rock Leader. (I know, quaint-- right? newspapers? Who reads those anymore? < end sarcasm>)
Have a read here for the whole thing, or if you're in North Austin or WillCo, go pick up a Round Rock Leader. I've posted an except below:
United States Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison takes a head-in-the-hot-sand approach to climate change that will get Texas burned and drive tens of thousands of new jobs elsewhere ("Cap and Trade is No Good For Texas," Aug. 27 Leader). She misses the mark on energy policy, using discredited industry statistics to drum up fear about a Cap and Trade policy that represents just a small portion of the initiatives proposed in the energy bill that passed the House of Representatives in July.
She fails to acknowledge that the bill includes provisions for renewable energy and energy efficiency - the real solutions to climate change. Hutchison's solution is no solution at all: more oil, more coal and more nuclear, with absolutely no coherent policy on how to lower energy costs and find alternatives to dwindling resources.
America is faced with the worst economic crisis in generations, Sen. Hutchison is turning away opportunities to create new jobs while slavishly clinging to the talking points of the oil industry.
(This is happening Wednesday morning. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Public Citizen is holding one of a series of national events in front of the Capitol in Austin on Wednesday about the upcoming Citizens United v. FEC case in the Supreme Court.
This will take place Sep 9th starting at 10:30 am on the South steps of the Texas Capitol (11th and Congress), to coincide with the Supreme Court hearing the Citizens United case, in which they have signaled they want to overturn a century-old principle that bans corporations from directly participating in campaigns.
Imagine it-- if corporations could openly support or oppose political candidates and give money to their elections!
We will need people to come who support clean elections and are tired of corporate influence in our politics. We will be holding two simultaneous rallies. One will be a Citizens Rally with homemade signs (feel free to bring your own) and another with people dressed in suits (led by your truly) representing the corporations, carrying stock signs saying "Corporations are People Too", "Why shouldn't I be able to buy a President?",
If interested or for more info, go to www.DontGetRolled.org or please email Andy Wilson awilson-at-citizen.org
Also read our full press statement from Public Citizen's New President, Rob Weissman here and after the jump
The US House of Representatives passed HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sometimes referred to as the Waxman-Markey Bill, or ACES, by a vote of 219-212. A majority in the House of Representatives in 218 votes.
While I wish I could say this vote went along party lines, it did not. 8 Republicans (none from Texas) voted for the bill, while an amazing 44 Democrats voted against President Obama, the environment, and green jobs (including three from Texas).
These Dems should be whipped and whipped hard. The consensus in the enviro community was that this bill was watered down and wouldn't meet the promise of a truly great energy and climate bill. But it would be the best we could get. The closeness of the vote shows that every compromise literally had to be made to get any climate bill passed.
As for our Texas delegation, we have good news and bad news. (more after bump)
Maybe this isn't the very definition of irony, but on a day of happiness centered around a theme of unity, change, and bipartisanship, I guess someone had to bring a little black raincloud on this otherwise beautiful day.
And that someone is John Cornyn. (although a shout out to Rick Warren's gray cloud, too*)
As just reported by CNN,Texas' junior senator has placed a hold on Hillary Clinton's nomination to Secretary of State. She will not be confirmed with the rest of the cabinet later this afternoon, but rather, later tommorow. He supposedly has problems with Bill Clinton's financial disclosures
This strikes me as the worst kind of partisan dick move. It is both ineffectual and either completely partisan or personal, as she will be confirmed, merely delaying the inevitable, and therefore begs the question: why? And why Cornyn? If the GOP leadership really wanted to hold up her nomination, even for one day, let David "yes i wear diapers and visit prostitutes" Vitter do it, as he was the lone person who voted against her confirmation in committee.
Now you can certainly vote against Hillary Clinton's nomination if you wish. But to delay her confirmation? Cornyn is denying the incoming administration of a key member if its national security team at a time when we are dealing with two wars, a simmering invasion in Gaza, a newly aggressive North Korea, "Putin rearing his head" by shutting off natural gas shipments to Eurpoe, and various other emerging threats. (Can you tell I've waited several years to play the "Republicans are putting our country at risk by being partisan" card for a while?)
In any case, thanks John Cornyn, for letting the country know that on a day like today, you can still count on Republicans and Texas to be a little dickish.
* - This gray cloud's silver lining? that Warren's invocation was forgettable and banal while the benediction was the second best part of the entire Inauguration, slightly above John Roberts screwing up the Presdidential oath and Obama correcting him.
I had a great day yesterday. Partly because our office blog (www.TexasVox.org) had an amazing day in terms of hits, no doubt due to our coverage of Straus and my opinuendo piece about Bill Richardson and public financing.
The real highlight, though, was to meet Phillip in person when he was visiting the Public Citizen offices. Fun to actually meet someone IRL who you've been reading on those cyber-web-series-of-tubes.
And then a friend sent me this article, which chronicled the work habits of one Mr. John Stuart Mill (a famous philosopher, in case you weren't a philosophy or political science nerd-- guilty!), who it revealed would go to work by first removing his coat, shirt, and pants. Talk about sitting around writing in your underwear!
The article's a good read, talking about Rousseau's ADD and Bertrand Russell's OCD. A lot of everything seemed to revolve around coffee, but which made me think about how similar many bloggers' lives are to these great thinkers of the past.
Anyway, I wanted Phillip (and everyone at BOR and around the blogosphere) to know they're in good company.
John Stuart Mill, of his own free will, On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill Plato, they say, could stick it away, Half a crate of whiskey every day Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle, Hobbes was fond of his dram And Rene' Descartes was a drunken fart: "I drink, therefore I am"
There's nothing Nietzche couldn't teach ya 'bout the raising of the wrist Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.
I’ve heard it said that churches are supposed to make bad men good and good men better. Our campaign finance system seems to do the opposite: make good men bad and bad men worse (ie, Governors Richardson and Blagojevich, respectively). As far back as Socrates, outside observers have noticed the corruptive influence of money on public policy. Our public servants worshiping at the altar of campaign donations is sure path to hell for most of us. But the fact that we force them to do so by not providing a public financing system begs the question: Are we getting what we deserve?
As Richardson withdraws his name for consideration of being Commerce Secretary, more and more details are coming out about his ethical problems. Did he take campaign donations that changed his votes? Possibly, or at least there’s enough of an ethical cloud there that no one can know for sure.
(Let the discussion begin... - promoted by Matt Glazer)
Today’s New York Times reported that life is not all peaches and cream for the Obama campaign after they opted out of the presidential public financing system. (See Article “Straining to Reach Goal, Obama Presses Donors“)
Pushing a fund-raiser later this month, a finance staff member sent a sharply worded note last week to Illinois members of its national finance committee, calling their recent efforts “extremely anemic.”
The signs of concern have become evident in recent weeks as early fund-raising totals have suggested that Mr. Obama’s decision to bypass public financing may not necessarily afford him the commanding financing advantage over Senator John McCain that many had originally predicted.
But the campaign is struggling to meet ambitious fund-raising goals it set for the campaign and the party. It collected in June and July far less from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s donors than originally projected. Moreover, Mr. McCain, unlike Mr. Obama, will have the luxury of concentrating almost entirely on campaigning instead of raising money, as Mr. Obama must do.
It is not yet clear whether the Obama campaign will be able to ratchet up its fund-raising enough in the final two months of the campaign to make up the difference.
Public financing is a boon to any politician who accepts it, as it allows her or him to run free from the strings attached to big-dollar-donations and to focus the campaign’s time on where it should be spent: connecting with voters. This is why when I explained Public Financing to Congressman Nick Lampson, currently running in the most competitive House race in the country, he was exuberant
Given that McCain is now trying to wriggle out of public financing so he can take even more money from big donors and lobbyists, can we assume that his flip-flop on offshore drilling off the Gulf Coast has anything to do with his donor base? But I guess this is what 3/4 of a million dollars collected in $2300 chunks and bundled by high-powered lobbyists will get you.
So I ask, are we that cheap? If that's all that it takes to overturn a ban implemented by the first President Bush almost 20 years ago, then that is money well spent by industry.
Coming soon: why offshore drilling is an economic loser, an ecological disaster waiting to happen, and why it will continue our addiction to foreign oil and greenhouse gases, not ease us off them.
"this post does not reflect the views of anyone or any other organization other than Citizen Andy, and even then not all the time."
