Issues
Issues: social policy and political issues of importance to the Sun City Democrats; information and links
This is a page which will contain information about issues which are of concern to democrats in general and the Democratic Party at local (county), state and national levels. Issues adopted by the Sun City Democrats will be dealt with in greater detail;, including blog pages on this web site under a category describing the issue.
PR 5/29/08
Issues Group Meeting: Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Location: Betty Dougherty’s home at 129 Sunflower Street
Time: 2:00 PM
Subject: Judging Justice. The newly-formed Issues Group will be having its next meeting on Wednesday, June 24, at 2:00 PM at the home of Betty Dougherty at 129 Sunflower Street. The topic for discussion is “Judging Justice.” Texas is one of only 7 states to select its judges in partisan political elections; good-government groups are appalled that judges accept campaign contributions from lawyers and businesses that appear in their courts. Is Texas justice being sold to the highest bidder? Please let Betty know if you will be attending by calling 864-1582 or emailing: bettydou@suddenlink.net .
Issues Group Meeting: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Location: Don Mohr’s home at 104 Bee Creek Court
Time: 2:00 PM
Subject: Education is to be our topic for the Wednesday, May 27 meeting. It will be at 2:00 PM at Don Mohr’s home at 104 Bee Creek Court. Please let Don know if you will be attending by calling 868-2850 or emailing: donmohr@netzero.net .
Here is a Statesman editorial that appeared on Thursday, April 30, regarding Texas Education Funds: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/04/30/0430fund_edit.html
From the May 2009 Newsletter:
Eye on Williamson County
Reporting from deep in the heart of Texas, “Eye on Williamson County” casts a light on the corruption and incompetence of local and state government. Once a quaint, rural community, Williamson has vastly outgrown its infrastructure. As one of the nation’s fastest growing counties, our population has doubled in the past decade. With progress has come modern headaches: traffic, crime, pollution and overcrowded schools. Our elected officials who insist on funding their campaigns with contributions from owners of companies that do business with the county, see nothing wrong in their behavior. The influence peddling at the county courthouse puts the interests of these few ahead of that of the voters. Yet cycle after cycle, they continue to use their bloated campaign war chests to deceive voters and win re-election.
Although the Republicans have held a commanding majority in all countywide elections held since 1994, their margin of victory was reduced by 70 percent in the 2008 campaign. Diana Maldonado became the first Democrat to represent Williamson county in the state legislature since pro-business conservative Democrat Parker McCollough left office in 1992.
The labels “Democrat” and “Republican” in 2008 certainly bear little resemblance to their 1992 meanings. What is common is that there has always been one party in power. Back then it was Democratic. Now it is Republican. But what has been accomplished, as reported and hopefully in some small way influenced by this site, is for the first time the establishment candidate has been defeated. Opposed by more than a quarter million dollars of “swiftboat” Bob Perry and Speaker Tom Craddick money, Diana Maldonado’s message of investment in education and insurance reform resonated with voters and produced a victory that few could have imagined a few years ago.
We are a group of Democrats, the party of 44 percent of the county that, so far, has been unable to break the headlock by Republicans on county government. http://EyeOnWilliamson.org is approaching its fourth year on the Internet and is the leading source of liberal news from Williamson county. More than 40,000 visited the site in the past year (absolute unique IP visits, according to SiteMeter). This site continues to be a purely amateur hobby for our editors, wcnews and dembones. We entertain ourselves during our precious-few leisure hours by pointing out the scandalous ineptitude and corruption of our local government. Whether you agree with our politics or not, we hope you are amused.
A (tongue-in-cheek) response to the Austin-American Statesman article on Governor Perry’s secession threat:
“Hmmm … Relocate all military bases, strip all federal funds and subsidies away, impose tariffs on all Texas based businesses, as the remaining US government could easily do; and where would Texas in splendid secession be? Yippee-I-O cowboys, shipping beef and dwindling oil supply to the rest of the world. That loud whooshing sound is its educated population rushing for the borders. No, a better idea is for Texas to become the largest state of Mexico. Just think, no more illegal immigration! Entienden todos (y’all) espanol?
Tells you something about Perry’s delusional state, doesn’t it? If not a Democrat as replacement, then it makes sense to vote for Hutchinson, with whose ideology I don’t agree, but in whom I do note a non-delusional mind.”
~ Jack Noble, Sun City Resident
TEA PARTY FALLOUT: Independents Turned Off, Some GOPers Worried
It’s been several days now since angry conservatives hosted a series of tea parties across the country, and the fallout has some Republicans nervous.
While the anti-tax sentiment of the protests may have been sincere, the images pulled from the events have often been offensive, embarrassing, or politically problematic.
It is a development that has tripped up the GOP before. The rallies outside McCain-Palin events included some of the same bile that was seen at the tea parties: charges of fascism, terrorism and other malicious criticisms leveled at Barack Obama. And it did the Republican ticket little good in its efforts to bring moderate voters to the cause.
Not everyone sees the connection. But some Republicans and Independents do view the fallout between the tea parties and the McCain-Palin rallies in a similar way: bad for the GOP.
“It is not clear-cut that the tea-party phenomena helps the GOP, unless they have a specific measure or policy (like Prop. 13 in 1978, and income tax cuts after that) to coalesce around,” said Steven Hayward, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “Right now it reminds me a bit of the free-floating ‘angry moderates’ of 1992 who fueled the Ross Perot candidacy, and that is the hazard for Republicans I think. I think the crazies at the rallies are a problem, but probably out of proportion (they always get the media attention) to the real breadth of sentiment underneath, which I think is largely authentic.”
Self-professed middle-of-the-road political types were even more biting in their critiques.
“My own sense that is I don’t see anything going on that is good for Republicans,” said Doug Bailey, a longtime Republican consultant who helped co-found the centrist reform movement Unity08. “I just don’t get it. It may be, and I don’t doubt this, that there is a large segment of the American public that can and is riled up about taxes and can be riled up about one thing or another. But a large segment, in terms of numbers, doesn’t amount to a couple hundred people demonstrating in Washington or wherever. That’s a non-event … Nobody likes taxes. So, of course, I’m sympathetic myself. I might throw a tea bag myself. But the fact is, that it is particularly ineffective for the Republican Party when it is Rush Limbaugh and the likes stirring it up. That just doesn’t speak to the middle.”
Of course, because the series of nationwide tea parties were geared towards a specific day (Tax Day), the political ramifications of the events seem naturally limited. “Those tea parties will be long forgotten by, oh, say tomorrow,” said Stu Rothenberg, of the Rothenberg Political Report. “Do you really think that next November, when people go to the polls, the April 15 tea parties will be on their minds?”
That said, plans are in place for a next wave of protests in July. More significantly, as the GOP continues to stake their future on a wave of populist anger at the government and economy (witness: Texas Gov. Rick Perry talking about secession), the likelihood only increases that the most vocal and offensive elements of that anger will come to personify the party.
“Conservatives are finding out why I generally don’t like protests on my side,” Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsos said in a post-tea party tweet. “They bring out the wackos.”
~ Sam Stein, Huffington Post
From the April 2009 Newsletter:
WE’VE BEEN PUBLISHED!
… or at least two of our Sun City Democrats have had a “Letter to the Editor” published!
Billie Reaney, 396 Precinct Chair, had the following letter published in the Williamson County Sun newspaper on March 22, 2009 :
A Teachable Moment
I am responding to Mary Fenoglio’s commentary because it presents a “teachable moment”. Mary’s major complaint is that legislators acted irresponsibly because they didn’t have time to read and digest the 1,079 pages of the Stimulus Bill. Actually, legislators almost never read bills. They have staff to read, digest and write summaries for them. It would only take a few hours for 10 staff members, reading 100 pages each, to digest the whole thing. (Yes, they have that many staff members.)
But in the case of the Stimulus Bill (actually the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), there was plenty of time for one individual to read the whole thing. I began reading it online shortly after it was passed by the House on January 28. I should add that the postings were in .PDF format, so they were easily “searchable”. I wanted to learn, among other things, about the $500 benefit for individuals. I learned that it went to “workers”, but it was not clear how the money would be delivered or if I qualified since I am retired.
Next the U.S. Senate took its turn to make changes to the bill. Senate Republicans added amendments in well-publicized meetings with the Democrats. All Senators and their staffs were invited and urged to engage in the meetings. Most Republicans declined, but several Republican-sponsored amendments were agreed to for the final Senate version. That version moved on to a joint committee for reconciliation with the House version. One Senate amendment added tax relief for businesses. Costs were reduced by cutting out some of the money destined for state governments that were experiencing dire budget problems. Another Republican amendment reduced the $500 going to workers to $400 per worker. The media gave wide visibility to all of these changes, so any legislator could learn even if they refused to participate.
The final version of the Recovery and Reinvestment Bill came out of the usual reconciliation process on February 12. The Senate had insisted that the House accept the Senate version in total or they would filibuster the final bill. So there were no substantial changes in this last version of the bill. If you wanted to know about the changes, the bill was posted online in the early hours of February 13. There I learned about the $100 cut to “workers”. (I also learned that I was not a worker.) Workers would get their $400 in their paychecks, through cuts in their withholding tax. Added to the bill, however, was a $250 benefit for retirees. Aha!
It was this 1079 page final version of the bill that Minority Leader John Boehner dramatically slammed to the floor of the House claiming that he was ignorant of what was in it. I was personally awed. I had been reading and keeping up. Boehner has a large, experienced staff, who are surely more adept at finding the right Web sites than I am. I do not mean to imply that I read all of the bill; but in the two weeks from the time the House passed its version on January 28 to February 13 when they had to vote on the final version, I certainly had time to do so. I conclude that there were a lot of legislators who chose ignorance as a tactic hoping to gain sympathy from the public. That tactic only works when the public is also ignorant.
BILLIE REANEY
721 Texas Drive
Georgetown
Bonnie Boorman wrote the following after hearing Bob Moser speak at our January meeting. The letter was published in The Texas Observer magazine, in the March 20, 2009 issue :
Tables Turned
The strength-and-weaknesses argument is evidence that the whole controversy about evolution requires Christians to face the fact that the scriptures are not literally true, but allegorical. As long as fundamentalists cling to the literal truth of the Bible, they won’t understand science, and they limit the limitless power of God.
BONNIE BOORMAN
Posted at www.texasobserver.org
JS04/05/2009
The Environmental Defense Fund responds to a false Republican claim …
Claim:
“We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? Not very long.”
~ RNC Chairman Michael Steele, guest-hosting Bill Bennett’s Morning in America radio show, March 6, 2009
Truth:
As we’ve posted before (http://blogs.edf.org/truthsquad), the planet is not cooling. Yes, 2008 was cooler than 2007, but it was still one of the top ten warmest years on record. And, the warmest decade on record is the last ten years.
Here is a graphic from our Climate 411 blog (http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/) that shows the extent of the current warming trend:
Folks who claim that the planet is cooling simply don’t know what they’re talking about.
Oh, and as for why Greenland is called Greenland when it’s mostly covered in ice, it’s an interesting historical story. It turns out that Viking settlers used the inviting name to entice more settlers to join them. In reality, Greenland’s ice cap is hundreds of thousands of years old and covers more than 4/5 of the land. The rest of Steele’s quote kind of loses focus. We are not sure how to politely respond. (http://www.edf.org)
JS 04/05/2009
TEXAS WATCH: How *YOU* Can Get Involved …
Megan Morrow, our February speaker and the Outreach Director for TEXAS WATCH, really got everyone interested in Homeowner Insurance Reform! Several members asked what we as individuals can do to support the efforts of TEXAS WATCH. All of these suggestions may be found at their excellent website: www.texaswatch.org.
TEXAS WATCH is dedicated to providing individual Texans with a platform to become engaged in the legislative process. It is crucial for state leaders to hear from Texans who are directly impacted by the decisions they make. At TEXAS WATCH, they help facilitate communication between activists and their lawmakers by organizing and mobilizing Texans from every corner of our state on issues that are important to them.
TEXAS WATCH issues have included insurance and credit scoring problems, third party liability, workplace safety, medical malpractice, dangerous products, and many more. To learn more about the issues that TEXAS WATCH works on, please visit the Issues section on their website. Insurance is the first issue listed.
You choose your level of involvement. Whether it is coming to Austin to meet with your lawmaker, calling your legislator’s office to voice your opinion, using their efficient and easy Legislative Action Center (http://capwiz.com/texaswatch/home/) to send an e-mail, or sharing your story, TEXAS WATCH can help you become engaged in the legislative process.
To become a part of their Citizen Lobby Team and receive e-mail updates that include legislative reports and actions you can take, please take moment to complete the form at: http://www.texaswatch.org/TW/.
Sharing Your Story: TEXAS WATCH helps activists engage in the legislative process by providing a platform to advocate for real legal and insurance reforms. Your story helps them better understand the problems their activists face so that they can promote common sense reforms that strengthen accountability measures and make our marketplace fair for all Texans. Stories shared with the Legislature, media and communities have helped shape decisions with the needs of citizens in mind, not just special interest lobbyists.
UPDATE! TEXAS WATCH will be hosting an Insurance Reform Lobby Day at the Capitol!
When: April 1, 2009, from 9am to 4pm
Where: The Texas Capitol
RSVP: By calling 1-888-738-4226 or emailing grassroots@texaswatch.org
JS 04/05/2009
From the March 2009 Newsletter:
How BIG BUSINESS Covered Up Global Warming
by Aaron Swartz
In 1995, the UN’s panel on international climate change released its consensus report, finding that global warming was a real and serious issue that had to be quickly confronted. The media covered the scientists’ research and the population agreed, leading President Clinton to say he would sign an international treaty to stop global warming.
Then came the backlash. The Global Climate Coalition (funded by over 40 major corporate groups like Amoco, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and General Motors) began spending millions of dollars each year to derail the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty to help reduce global warming. They held conferences entitled “The Costs of Kyoto,” issued press releases and faxes dismissing the scientific evidence for global warming, and spent more than $3 million on newspaper and television ads claiming Kyoto would mean a “50-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax.”
The media, in response to flurries of “blast faxes” (a technique in which a press release is simultaneously faxed to thousands of journalists) and accusations of left-wing bias, began backing off from the scientific evidence. A recent study found only 35% of newspaper stories on global warming accurately described the scientific consensus, with the majority implying that scientists who believed in global warming were just as common as global warming deniers (of which there were only a tiny handful, almost all of whom had received funding from energy companies or associated groups).
It all had an incredible effect on the public. In 1993, 88% of Americans thought global warming was a serious problem. By 1997, that number had fallen to 42%, with only 28% saying immediate action was necessary. And so Clinton changed course and insisted that cutting emissions should be put off for 20 years.
US businesses seriously weakened the Kyoto Protocol, leading it to require only a 7% reduction in emissions (compared to the 20% requested by European nations) and then President Bush refused to sign on to even that. In four short years, big business had managed to turn nearly half the country around and halt the efforts to protect the planet.
And now most people think global warming is a hotly contested issue even when the science is clear. But all this debate about problems has kept us away from talk about solutions. As journalist Ross Gelbspan puts it, “By keeping the discussion focused on whether there is a problem in the first place, they have effectively silenced the debate over what to do about it.”
JS 02/23/2009
From the February 2009 Newsletter:
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BUS?
by Billie Reaney
Last week a majority of the City Council, including our councilman, Bill Sattler, nixed the plan to keep the Sun City Bus running. It is important to keep in mind that our bus was a trial only, instigated to gauge ridership. Bus drivers kept detailed records of the number of riders and their destinations. They reported that the bus was averaging 3.7 riders per hour, which was considered a good result. Only Council members Eason and Oliver voted “yes” to continue the Sun City route, citing these good results. Councilman Sattler said he saw buses go by in the afternoon without riders, “which is not good.” He voted “No,” he stated, on the Sun City route because of these empty buses, disregarding the data provided by the study.
I am a member of the Transit Working Group that advises the council on a bus plan. This Transit Group recommended completing the bus trial period (3 more months) with the Sun City route running concurrently with a new route in Southeast Georgetown. The discussion began at the Monday workshop and continued at the Council meeting the following evening. Council member Eason pushed for approval of the plan to continue the bus trial as recommended. The continued plan would have required the approval of additional money. One option would have required an additional $64,000. A second option would have needed only $34,000.
Additional funds was a stumbling block for several. Council member Berryman stated that the city “did not have the money” because the city was looking at an operating deficit for the next budget year. However, the funding source for the project, a city fund with a balance of over $500,000, which could only be used for one time projects such as this bus trial, had been specified in the motion to proceed. But Berryman made the “no money” argument several times. Her misinterpretation of the money situation was addressed more than four times by either the City Manager, the Finance Director or Council members Sansing and Eason. Ms. Berryman rejected their arguments.
Noting the presence of a number of her constituents from the Wesleyan at Estrella, Ms Berryman indicated reluctance to vote “No.” She chose to abstain. Councilman Sansing lodged a protest, saying that members may not abstain unless they have a conflict of interest. The city attorney confirmed his protest. Ms Berryman then voted “No.” Later it became clear that Council member Berryman’s “no money” mantra was due to the mistaken impression that the bus trial was intended to morph into a full-fledged bus system.
Council member Brainard was absent from the informational workshop on Monday. He along with Council members Ross and Berryman had also been absent at the Council meeting and workshop when the Bus Trial project had been approved. Brainard and Ross did not contribute to the discussion at the Council meeting. Both Ross and Brainard joined Berryman in voting “No.” Council member Sansing’s vote was also “No.” He helped craft a compromise that was approved. It cut out the Sun City bus and shortened the life of the other route.