(If you have thoughts on whether John Courage should run against Lamar Smith please let him know by responding to his one question survey in the post. John has previously challenged Smith in 2002 and 2006 under three different sets of redistricted lines. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
I'm sure most of you, like me, are fed up with Congress and the stalemate going on there. Money is the big 300 pound gorilla on the backs of just about every member.
Sure the Republicans pledged no new taxes to Norquist. Why wouldn't they break their pledge? Not because of any idealism about being real conservatives, but more about the realism of the money they would lose. They know Norquist and the deep pocket backers of his and the other groups that are aligned with the Conservative/Tea Party'ers would cut off their life blood for reelection campaign funding, or run someone against them.
Many Democrats aren't much better they cow tow to many Wall Street and other Special Interest groups when they serve on committees and water down legislation or behind closed doors in the Democratic caucus and refuse to back the Presidents plans and don't show any backbone.
It's all about the money and getting reelected and not about what is best for 'We The People'!
That's why I am seriously considering making another run for Congress in the 21st Congressional District.I would like you to seriously consider my candidacy and let me know if you really think I should run again or should I step aside and see if anyone else steps up to the plate. Please complete the survey attached.
Frances Carnot needs our support and our help in her bid to unseat Frank Corte in State Rep. District. 122. Frances is a smart, articulate, and committed women dedicated to ridding the Texas Legislature of the useless menace of Frank Corte.
If you are a women, then Frank Corte is your public enemy number 1. He has singlehandedly done more to undermine women’s healthcare and women’s rights in the Texas Legislature over the last ten years than any other legislator in Austin.
If you are a parent of a public school student, he has consistently undermined public education and supported redirecting public education funding to private and religious institutions.
If you are paying high insurance fees, that is because Frank Corte is a ‘Best Friend’ of the insurance lobby!
If you are out of work or under employed and need extra help with providing healthcare for your family, don’t look to Frank Corte for that help, as he has turned a cold shoulder to the senior citizens and children of Texas when it comes to providing adequate healthcare in Texas. He is one of the reasons Texas is last in the nation for providing healthcare for our children.
Clean Elections Texas, a collaborative effort of several statewide and national organizations is launching an effort to bring the issue of Publicly Financed Elections before the Texas State Democratic Party Convention by initiating the presentation of Clean Election resolutions at the precinct convention level statewide in the upcoming March 4th Democratic Primary.
The effort to place this item on the Democratic Primary ballot as a question Democrats around the state could have expressed their preference on was stymied at the SDEC January meeting, so the proponents are going to work with local Democratic Parties and Clubs and other progressive organizations to bring the issue before the Party through the primary precinct convention system.
This is a very significant issue at this time. Possibly the most significant issue facing Texas voters and voters across this country today. No other issue such as Universal Healthcare, social justic issues, environmental justice issues, ending the war in Iraq or protecting american jobs and economic equality will ever get a fair shot as long as Big Money, special interests, private interests and corporate America control the campaign purse strings of elected officials from Austin to Washington.
Publicly Financed Elections is a proven program for putting the electoral process and conversely the legislative process back into the hands of the voters and citizens.
(Rumor has it that the Senate will hear HB 218 as soon as tomorrow. - promoted by Matt Glazer)
*quote from Rep. Dunnam on the House floor during the Tuesday debate on Voter ID
The underlying motivation behind the Voter ID Bills, HB 218 and HB 626, is to intimidate minority and elderly voters who typically vote differently from the way the sponsors of these bills want them to. If you have been following our website and watching and listening to the debate, and if you have been reading the editorials in papers all over Texas, you understand that this is a "solution in search of a problem." These bills are targeted toward voters of a certain kind.
I believe the authors and movers of this bill have an agenda to stay in power and maintain contol of our state and national government, and this intimidation is one of their tools.
I do not intend to imply that everyone who thinks these bills sound reasonable or thinks we should make sure only citizens vote are racists or classists. But the forces behind this legislation (which is also being promoted in other states) certainly do feel that way.
Let me say this one more time as clearly as possible.
There is no mass voter fraud problem in Texas. There are no cases of voter impersonation that have been claimed or proven. There is no effort to steal the elections in Texas by getting people who aren’t citizens or who aren’t eligible to cast votes for anyone! There are already laws in Texas that require a voter to show an ID when they vote in Texas. These laws are working! We do not have any such problem!
But there is voter intimidation in Texas, and there have been situations where people have been turned away from the polls or have been forced to vote with a provisional ballot (of which 20% or fewer are counted). Texas has been and continues to remain subject to the Voting Rights Act because of our history of voter intimidation and voting rights abuses.
Maybe that is why Texas is second in population but only fifth in the number of voters who do vote.
Creating barriers to voting, no matter how well they are disguised, is still the wrong direction for us to take in Texas.
Knowing the insidious nature of this bill, I hope, will change your view if you have been supporting it. If not, so be it. As I said at the top, reasonable people can disagree. We at TCAN will continue to call ’em as we see ’em and work to protect Texans from an anti-democratic agenda and will champion reform where needed to ensure the ethical, electoral, and democratic process that is guaranteed to all of us under the Constitutions of the United States and Texas.
Sincerely,
John Courage, Chair
True Courage Action Network
(You have voted 4 times on-line, have you voted yet in real life? - promoted by Matt Glazer)
On behalf of Team Courage, and from the bottom of my own heart, I want to say THANK YOU to the blogosphere, the Netroots, and all of the voters who helped me win another online victory yesterday. At 7:01 p.m. EST, we learned that we were one of the three winners in John Kerry's PAC's "3 at the Buzzer" poll. Along with my fine Democratic colleagues, Senate candidate Jim Webb and congressional candidate Dan Seals, we are honored to have garnered the most online votes in the field of 17 Netroots candidates, terrific challengers all.
The prize is to be featured in Sen. Kerry's final fundraising email of this election season. With more than 3 million email recipients in his list, Sen. Kerry can give us a major boost at this critical point in the campaign.
I've read the recent posts and comments about the 21st Congressional District race, and I want to thank those who have continued to support my campaign and assure you that reports of my recent demise are greatly exaggerated.
Certainly the latest redistricting changed the makeup of CD 21. This is great for Austin, giving a favorite son and one of my favorite congressmen, Lloyd Doggett, a well-deserved strong base in Travis. But it is also good for a lot of people in the newly added areas of District 21, because they will now have an opportunity to elect a congressional representative with honesty, integrity, and the courage to stand up for them.
Even though the statistics may indicate a five-point swing in the voting pattern, that means less in today's volatile political landscape.
