Following are results from tonight's endorsement meeting:
Mayor
No candidate having received at least 60% of cast votes, membership
voted to dual endorse
Lee Leffingwell
Brigid Shea
City Council Place 2
Mike Martinez
City Council Place 5
Bill Spelman
City Council Place 6
Sheryl Cole
District Judge - 167th Judicial District
No candidate having received at least 60% of cast votes, membership
voted to dual endorse
Efrain de la Fuente
David Wahlberg
At a time when it seems there's so little we can do to really effect events, there's an opportunity to make a huge impact right here in Central Texas to help nourish hungry people.
Walmart has made a commitment to donate $2 billion by 2015 to the fight against hunger in America. This holiday, the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) in Austin has the chance to receive $1 million if Austin-Round Rock receives the most "likes" on the campaign webpage. The contest ends December 31.
The BOR Community can help to promote this opportunity:
In early October, I sent a message in support of health care reform and a public option to my U.S. Representative, Michael McCaul (TX-10). As I know the representative is ideologically disinclined to support Democratic initiatives or a public option, I was surprised to receive a reply:
October 6, 2009
Dear Mr. Lyon:
Thank you for contacting me with your views on HR 3200, the America's Affordable Health Choices Act. I appreciate your opinions that help guide and inform me in Congress.
Got my latest e-mail from the Cornyn campaign [Edited for clarity]:
Rick Noriega and his trial lawyer friends are rolling out the red carpet tonight for Barack Obama.
The AP reports Obama "heads to Houston for two high-dollar private fundraisers."
One event host is mega-trial lawyer, and close confidante of Rick Noriega, Richard Mithoff who held a fundraiser for Noriega just last month.
Noriega is sure to be there, pledging his undying devotion to the most liberal member of the United States Senate.
Please click here now to donate to [Rick Noriega], a real representative of Texas values.
It will send a loud and clear message to Rick Noriega and all his deep-pocketed liberal buddies...Texas [needs change]!
But as fun as my "edits for clarity" might have been, I'd like to get serious for a moment about Barack Obama being "the most liberal member of the United States Senate."
The Political Compass is a site which offers a test that will put you on a grid, from left (economically liberal, in today's parlance) to right (economically conservative, in today's parlance), and from authoritarian to libertarian. They have also, for the last few election cycles, generated results for our US candidates.
As you can see, in our system, our major party candidates don't go from "left" to "right." They go from "center right" to "far right." Except for Dennis Kucinich.
So until the Democratic party nominates Kucinich, let's just give this tired old saw about our "liberal" candidates a rest, shall we?
(Don't forget, you can also help Noriega cross the mark on Senate Guru's ActBlue page- they've been so supportive! - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
TPM Election Central is reporting that Liddy Dole is dumping 10 grand worth of donations from indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens leadership PAC.
2008 - Texans for Senator John Cornyn Inc - $5,000
2002 - John Cornyn for Senate Inc. - $10,000
2006 - Kay Bailey Hutchison For Senate Committee - $10,000
By my math, that's 15K Senator Cornyn's received from indicted Alaskan Senator Ted Steven's leadership PAC, and 10K to Senator Hutchison.
Will either Senator give back that tainted money?
Anyone?
Anyone?
Beuhler?
Beuhler?
P.S. - Senator Cornyn's been making hay recently because Rick Noriega's taken money from out of state donors. Liberal out of state donors. I'm no geographer, but I'm not sure one can get much more "out of state" than Alaska. Hawaii maybe. You might could give Noriega some local money. I know he'd appreciate it. Out of state? He'd be happy to have your support too.
I just received the following from the Cronyn (sic) campaign:
From: Kevin McLaughlin
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 1:40 PM
To: Rob Jesmer
Subject: Nutroots
Rob-
2 things;
1) Our guys at the convention told us Noreiga (sic) and his out-of-state buddies spent the morning attacking Senator Cornyn
2) according to finance team, the fact that Dean and Pelosi came in to shill for Noreiga (sic) really fired up our supporters the last 24 hours. We have raised well over 10K and I think we could another 10k if we send out the email below again.
Talk soon,
Kevin
Regarding point one: Now, admittedly, I wasn't there, so I don't know if Noriega et al. "attacked" Senator Cornyn. But I have two thoughts:
1) What do partisan gatherings do in an election cycle, but get together and talk bad about the other side's candidates? They weren't expecting a John Cronyn (sic) love in, are they? I mean, is RightOnLine loving on Rick Noriega and Barack Obama, or are they too busy trying to "Defund the American Dream"? (Ooops! I meant "defend.")
B) I would imagine that the Cronyn (sic) campaign would spin any discussion of their campaign by Democrats and the Democratic Party as "attacks."
Frankly, the hyperventilating is getting a bit old.
Upon hearing that was Obama abandoning his previously stated stand on FISA, Phillip Martin said:
Like many progressives -- especially those of us who call ourselves "policy progressives" -- I was wholly outraged at Obama's statement on the legislation.
Like Phillip, I was outraged at Senator Obama's capitulation. Well, briefly, anyway. But then the unexpected happened.
Outrage jumped the shark. My outrage meter broke. Feelings of white hot outrage were replaced with warm feelings of numbed resignation. Or perhaps that was the second glass of Chicken Killer Barley Wine Ale speaking. Who can tell in times like these?
(I love our readers. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
(Updated below)
Just got my latest update from the Cornyn campaign:
Our opponent, Rick Noriega, just sent out an email solicitation asking people to vote for him in Senator Barbara Boxer's "Choose A Challenger" online contest. "If we win the contest," the email says "our campaign could receive tens of thousands of dollars."
That's right, Rick Noriega is enlisting California Liberal Barbara Boxer's help to raise money. Barbara Boxer, the one who opposed Chief Justice Roberts' nomination to the Supreme Court and verbally assaulted Justice Alito during his confirmation process.
Awwwww. Y'all say it like it's a bad thing!
But it gets worse. You know what Senator Boxer is up to now? To quote her own website: "I want you to know that I won't give up in our fight to stop the drilling..."
Gas is approaching $4.10 a gallon with no end in sight and Rick Noriega is asking for help from Barbara Boxer, who is leading the charge to stop domestic drilling making us even more dependent on foreign oil?
Johnny Johnny John John. Of course you'd say that. There's 1,211,475 reasons you'd say that. You know, seein's how, since 2000, you've accepted $1,211,475 from the oil and gas industry, and supported the industry in 100% of selected votes. (Figures from TrueMajority.)
While Rick Noriega is counting on Californians to help his campaign, John Cornyn is counting on Texans just like you.
Texans like me didn't just fall off the oil tanker. That crude won't come on line for years. And the US doesn't have enough reserves to affect the price of oil to any significant degree.
(Update: As This report from McClatchy notes, oil from ANWR wouldn't hit the market for ten years, and would drop the price per barrel by 75 cents. A whole 75 cents! Whoo hoo!)
The latest electronic missive from the Conryn campaign hit my inbox today. And it says (in part):
Yesterday, Senator Cornyn’s opponent announced his support for the Boxer Climate Tax Bill, which would impose government mandates on carbon dioxide emissions.
The legislation would cost an estimated $6.7 TRILLION. That's trillion, not billion, not million; but trillion -- $6.7 trillion dollars.
New Report Finds Doing Nothing on Global Warming Comes with a Huge Price Tag
WASHINGTON (May 22, 2008) – A report released today by researchers at Tufts University, commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), presents two ways of estimating the costs of inaction on climate change, both leading to staggering bottom lines. A comprehensive estimate, based on state-of-the-art computer modeling, finds that doing nothing on global warming will cost the United States economy more than 3.6 percent of GDP - or $3.8 trillion annually (in today’s dollars) - by 2100. On the other hand, a detailed, bottom-up analysis finds that just four categories of global warming impacts -- hurricane damage, real estate losses, increased energy costs and water costs -- will add up to a price tag of 1.8 percent of U.S. GDP, or almost $1.9 trillion annually (in today’s dollars) by 2100.
The Senate bill assumes getting $6.7 trillion over the next four decades from the sale and trading of carbon emissions allowances in order to meet the imposed emissions caps.
So Senator Cornyn is complaining about $6.7 trillion over forty years, but willfully ignores the projected costs of over $100 trillion to the United States due to global warming over that same forty years.
To ignore the facts on the ground suggests the Senator is as reckless as George W. Bush. And to ignore the straightforward economics suggests the Senator knows less about economics than does Senator McCain.
We need some real leadership in Washington. Real change. We need someone who doesn't let ideology trump sound judgement. Less John Cornyn. Less hat. More Rick Noriega. More boots.
