San Antonio voters should tell city to take a hike

After seeing what Bexar County has in store for taxpayers, that's my line and I'm sticking to it.

The Bexar County Commissioners Court voted unanimously earlier this month to present San Antonio voters with a $415 million venue tax increase measure on the May ballot.

From KSAT.com:

The six projects include: about $125 million to finish an extension of the San
Antonio River, about $100 million to convert Municipal Auditorium into a
performing arts center, $100 million for improvements to the AT&T Center and
Freeman Coliseum, $80 million for various amateur sports facilities across the
city, $4 million for the Briscoe Art Museum and $6 million for the Alameda
Theatre.

Basically, a lot of money for tourism projects.

San Antonio is a great city - if you haven't been, go as soon as you can, and see the Alamo early in the morning before the throng of tourists spoils the ambience - but do San Antonio taxpayers really need to be saddled with this?

Marc Levin with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has a great breakdown on what kind of damage this tax hike could do to San Antonio.

Ayn Rand, William Buckley, and books you should read

I became fascinated with Ayn Rand after reading Getting It Right by William F. Buckley, Jr. If you're a political junkie, you really should read this book - it's a fictional account of the formation of the conservative movement in the late 50s and early 60s. Now, we could argue about when exactly the movement began, but Buckley was certainly there when the young conservatives were coalescing around a cause. His account of actual events takes place from the point of view of a fictional young man who becomes a conservative activist after experiencing the Soviet invasion of Hungary first-hand.

The book delves into things like the formation of Young Americans for Freedom at the Sharon convention in 1960 (since this happened at Buckley's home, you can take it more or less at face value) and the formation and rise of the John Birch Society. The Ayn Rand part comes in later on, as the young hero and his love move in and out of circles familiar to any political historian.

Buckley isn't exactly revered by the Birchers or by Rand's followers, but nevertheless the book gives a fair account and is a great springboard for further research (I recommend Rick Perlstein's Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, even though I disagree with Perlstein's politics).

I saw on the Harris County Libertarian Party's listserv this morning that Ayn Rand's birthday is this weekend. You'll recall that Ms. Rand was responsible for The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, among other works, all of which influenced the rise of the libertarian movement and continue to inspire rising young conservatives and libertarians even today. There is a brief biography of this extraordinary woman available here.

(What do you mean, you haven't read any Ayn Rand??? Get thee to the bookstore!!)

Have you read your Russell Kirk today?

No? You really should.

Russell Kirk’s 10 Principles of Conservatism

• First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order.
• Second, the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity.
• Third, conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription.
• Fourth, conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence.
• Fifth, conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety.
• Sixth, conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability.
• Seventh, conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked.
• Eighth, conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism.
• Ninth, the conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions.
• Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society.

McCain, Romney bring different experiences

“Gov Romneyis touting his experience (in business) and I am telling people I am a leader,” Sen. McCain said – to which Romney replied that McCain has been a career politician.

Do you want a politician – re, long serving Senator -- or a successful businessman leading the country?

The question of the day for Floridians might be: Do you want someone endorsed by the New York Times? (McCain and Clinton have been endorsed by the NYT).

Social Security reform needs to be at top of GOP candidates' agendas

Jason Mattera from Young America's Foundation hit on this topic when he hosted Vent on Hot Air earlier this week. Back in August, Laura Elizabeth Morales with Young Conservatives of Texas told Fox News that this was the biggest issue facing young voters. It must be, if the biggest opponent to Social Security reform, the AARP, continues to sponsor MTV's Rock the Vote.

Why does Social Security need reform? Carrie Lukas from the Independent Women's Forum gave these headlining reasons in a speech in 2004 entitled "Why Women Need Social Security Reform:"

Seniors are a growing portion of the population: In 1950, just 8.5% of the
population was over age 65. Today, seniors account for 12.4%; by 2050, they will
be nearly 21%.

This means that each young worker must shoulder a greater cost of providing for Social Security beneficiaries. In 1960, there were 5 workers paying taxes to support each retiree. Today, there are just over 3. By 2050, when today’s teenagers are getting ready to retire, there will be just 2 workers supporting each retiree.

As a result, the amount of money that each worker will have to pay to
maintain Social Security benefits is going to skyrocket. Already, most Americans
already pay more in Social Security taxes than they do in income taxes. Social Security claims 12.4% of each paycheck. By 2040, if nothing is Social Security is not reformed, workers will have to pay 18% of their paychecks or nearly 1 out of every 5 dollars they earn just to support Social Security.

(you can find a lot of great research on Social Security at IWF here, or at Americans for Prosperity here)

So where do the remaining presidential candidates, on both sides of the political aisle, stand on Social Security reform?

John McCain - His website doesn't list Social Security as an issue unto itself, but if you dig deep enough, you find a reference to Social Security lumped in with other entitlement reform. Not bad, but does he support private accounts?

Mitt Romney - Again, no separate reference, and he only calls for entitlement reform in general terms.

Mike Huckabee - No separate reference, but under his Taxes headline, Huckabee states his purpose pretty clearly right off the bat (quoting from his website): I am running to completely eliminate all federal income and payroll taxes. And I do mean all - personal federal, corporate federal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment.

Ron Paul - Social Security gets it's own headline on his issues page and a page unto itself! I'll just quote directly from Dr. Paul himself: We must also address the desire of younger workers to save and invest on their own. We should cut payroll taxes and give workers the opportunity to seek better returns in the private market.

Hillary Clinton - She hasn't spoken out on the issue, though Students for Saving Social Security is taking her to town over it. She has, however, slammed her Democrat opponents for their proposals to increase payroll taxes to "fix" the Social Security system.

Barack Obama - Obama's got "Seniors and Social Security" on his issues list, and has stated publicly that he won't support privatization; it's clear from his position statement that his intent is to "beef up" Social Security and not change the system per se. He does propose eliminating income taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 a year.

John Edwards - In the South Carolina debate, Edwards reiterated that he does not support privatization, changes to the retirement age, nor will he cut benefits. His website doesn't tell us, but it does give his extensive position on eliminating or easing debt.

Social Security reform has been referred to as the "third rail" of politics, the one thing a politician doesn't go near unless he's commiting professional suicide. It is clear, though, now that baby boomers are collecting benefits, that we need reform and quickly. This is not something we can afford to wait on - and a serious presidential candidate would address that now and while in office.

Too true....

The state of the stock market and yesterday's scares make this quote from Dick Armey extremely timely:

"Never trust pessimistic forecasts from people who make a living selling more government."

Texas conservatives -- where will you go now?

Thanks to the Walker Report, I was reminded that Alan Keys is in the Republican Presidential race. A former UN Ambassador, the articulate, accomplished former San Antonio resident Keys was quoted as taking some Republican candidates to task. He said they weren't Republican enough, especially former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani for his stance as Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay and anti Gun Control, and Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts for being too was Pro-Choice despite the Governor's repeated explanations that he is now Pro-Life. Funny, he left John McCain out.
(http://walkerreport.blogspot.com/2008/01/republican-presisential-candidate-allan.html)

Maybe Keys agrees with a lot of other Texans that McCain isn’t even a real Republican. After all, McCain came in 9th in the Texas straw poll, just behind John Cox and Ray McKinney. If you are asking who they are, you are not alone. But they got more votes than McCain. http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=straw_poll_results

Some commentators had written John McCain off last year. And, Alan Keys could have a real resurrection. But I doubt that.

Duncan Hunter ran away with the Republican straw poll in Texas. But that was in early September, a lifetime ago in terms of Presidential elections. That was back when Hunter was still in the race. And Fred Thompson, the candidate coming in second in that poll, will likely be dropping out tomorrow.

Texas is truly up for grabs.

Moreover, the 60% of those Texans who cast their ballot for Hunter and Thompson in the straw poll are likely representative of Texas Republicans. That makes Texas an interesting state in this Presidential election. Those voters will likely migrate to the most conservative candidate on the ballot. And chances are that won’t be John McCain.

Is Morley Schieffer as smart as a 5th grader?

Morley Schieffer on Face the Nation today delivered a commentary which would lead a 5th grader to quip, "That guy's not as smart as a 3rd grader.”

I could not believe my ears and, looking for confirmation, went directly to the CBS website (where I learned that Katie Couric has a PodCast “Katie Couric’s Notebook”…nope, it’s not “Katie Couric’s Big Chief Tablet”...but for all of you who miss her on the nightly news -- and a growing number of you do -- you can catch her PodCast.)

I continued looking for the Morley blunder and I found it in his blog (yep, Morley has a blog – who knew???) Here's what Schieffer said on the aire and wrote in his blog:

“...we don't hire our generals to rubber-stamp every idea their civilian bosses come up with. We hire them for their expertise on military matters…”

This leads those of us asking, is Morley as smart as a 5th grader?

Can Morley say “Commander in Chief”? We don’t live in a military dictatorship, Morley, despite all CBS’s hard work to discredit the current President.

DISCLAIMER: Face the Nation isn’t a program I watch. I caught the commentary purely by accident...and what I heard confirms why CBS isn't where I go for news.

Romney likely winner in Nevada and South Carolina - here's why

Mitt Romney won the Nevada Republican caucus today, but he likely won more. Though the media attention is focused on the South, more delegates in Nevada were at stake than in South Carolina for Republican candidates

But this primary vote important as it is the gateway to the South

McCain and Huckabee fought it out in South Carolina

What does this mean for Thompson? The Thompson campaign began the day admitting that it was imperative Thompson do well in South Carolina.

“…Today is Fred's big day--and the signs are good.
We make thousands of phone calls daily and they show a clear Fred surge. A number of polls show the same. One said that 56% of the voters would still consider voting for Fred!
Thanks to you, our media campaign and ground game have been fully funded.
We are going after every available vote. In the end, I believe Fred will prevail…”

Fred has again failed to prevail and most of the 56% of the voters “considering” voting for Fred decided against it. Fred for veep may be the next move. More important – who will the Thompson votes go to? Likely Romney – so Romney may actually be the big winner today in both states!

And here I thought voter fraud was the biggest electoral problem we face....

This is why Travis County (and possibly Williamson County, from the looks of things) needs a new county tax assessor-collector.

Thanks to the implementation of a new system, as many as 8500 voters were dropped off the Travis County rolls. Most really had left the county, but many Travis county residents could go to the polls on March 4 and find that they are not allowed to vote.

What's more, the provisional ballots that they could in theory cast in this situation may not even be totally legal!

Primary voters who find their registration has been canceled could still cast
"provisional ballots," which election officials decide whether to count in the
days after an election. But Travis officials say such ballots might not be
admissible under state law, an opinion that varies between counties.

The article cites Travis and Williamson counties specfically, but Harris County's Paul Bettencourt weighed in as well, as did Bexar County.

Might be worth reregistering to vote for the March 4 primary if you live in these counties, or checking with your county's voter registrar to make sure you'll be able to vote. For a list of who you need to contact, check out the Sec. of State's website here.

Tuesday tales....

The AP reports that "Dozens in Texas town report seeing UFO."

Just had to share that tidbit. Though my next one is far more likely to be true:

Nancy Fisher is reportedly leaving the Speaker's office, with former GWB lege director Terrel Smith to replace her. (if it's on QR, goodness knows.....)

Taxpayers Alliance for Good Government

The largest taxpayer organization in Ellis County, Texas appointed "one of our own" as its chairman last night. The press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2008

Public Relations:
Heaven Neal
469-288-7882

Taxpayers Alliance for Good Government 're-invents' itself, establishes executive board

FERRIS - The county's taxpayer "watchdog" group met in a packed Bea's Cafe Monday, Jan. 14 and established a new direction and a new executive board.

The executive members will serve in an interim capacity for three months until bylaws are formally adopted and permanent officers are elected.

A total of 21 activists from around the county attended the meeting, with many raising issues about a recent $10,000 commissioners court and elected official pay raise, a controversial dog-leash ordinance and higher taxes. TAGG plans to sponsor at least one central debate before the March 4 primary, with town hall-style debates in each commissioner precinct.

The non-partisan group also has a political action committee which will be utilized to send direct-mail and/or directly influence elections in Ellis County. Part of the new strategy for TAGG, which orchestrated the successful property tax rollback in 2001, will be to utilize resources and manpower at every level - city council, school board and county precinct offices.

For more information on joining TAGG or to participate in upcoming events, contact TAGG at:

P.O. Box 1524
Red Oak, Texas 75154
ellistaxpayers@gmail.com
469-288-7882.

Chairman Joey Dauben - Ferris
Vice Chair Lori Perkins - Ferris
Secretary Charles Geshlider - Ferris
Sergeant at Arms/Member At-Large Bill Foster - Red Oak
Commissioner Precinct 1 Captain Jim Bradley - Palmer
Precinct 2 Captain Damon Holzer - Waxahachie
Precinct 3 Captain David Lister - Midlothian
Precinct 4 Captain Jimmie Simmons - Waxahachie
Publicity/PR Heaven Neal - Glenn Heights

--30--

Austin ISD on spending spree?

Austin Independent School District is holding hearings this week on the possibility of asking for $225 million in new bond money.

This despite having money still leftover from the last bond approved by voters! The school board still has not taken action to determine the location of two new elementary schools, to be paid for with money from the $520-million bond issue passed by voters in 2004.

The new $225 million bond question could go before voters as early as May. That's a mere 4 months away!

The hearings, open to the public, will be held as follows:

• Tuesday, January 15, 6 p.m. in the Covington Middle School theater. The
school is located in south Austin at 3700 Convict Hill Road.

• Wednesday, January 16, 6 p.m., in the LBJ High School cafeteria. The
school is located in northeast Austin at 7309 Lazy Creek Drive.

For more information on the proposals, please check out the Austin ISD website here.

Can we stop big government takeover?

Paul Weyrich's column on Townhall today should serve as an eye-opener for conservatives in a couple of different ways. First, in showing that we haven't been wholly unsuccessful in our quest to stop government growth. Second, and this is the bad news, that if we continue on our current course our efforts to stop big government's takeover will utterly fail.

For the Federal Government’s long-term projections show a radical change over
the next 40 years, with Federal spending soaring close to 40% of GDP or more.
This is due to our nation’s big entitlement programs – Social Security, Medicaid
and Medicare. Counting state and local spending, total government spending in
the U.S. would be over 50% of GDP.

The entitlement programs in our country are going to bankrupt us, and soon if they aren't dealt with. But Weyrich points out a possible solution and it's worth reading about.

Check it out here.

Texsa Number One

Texas is indeed number one -- as the Lone Star State has been chosen by Business Facilities as the winner of the magazine's first State of the Year award for business expansions and relocations. Even with allowances figured in for the size of the state and its population, Texas was still the hands-down winner, beating out Alabama, Michigan, Louisiana and Connecticut.

The magazine cites the Enterprise Fund as key to the state's success: http://www.businessfacilities.com/bf_07_12_cover1b.php

The magazine touts: Texas took the spot as this year’s big winner, with a total of $15.4 billion worth of investment and 9,335 jobs to be created by the projects it submitted. The Lone Star State certainly earned its designation as the 2007 Business Facilities State of the Year—as no other state came close to those numbers.

Congressional pay hike??

I try very hard not to listen to talk radio before coming to the office, to avoid high blood pressure and a twitch in my left eye. This morning, however, I'm glad I tuned in, because the local talk guys were debating Congress' new pay raise.

According to the Associated Press, Democrats had blocked a cost-of-living increase in Congressional salaries last year, vowing not to take a pay raise until they passed a minimum wage hike. That very event occured last July, and now lawmakers will receive $169,300 a year. That's an increase of $4,100.

It does make one wonder about the push for the minimum wage last year, and the intent and sentiment behind it.

More disturbing is that this pay raise was automatic; there was no record vote on this pay increase, so we have no idea who might have been for it or against it. It's not entirely clear if your Congressman, for instance, believes he's worth $169,300 a year.

This is your money, taxpayers, being used to fund these salaries. Ask yourself now if your congressman or senator is truly worth $169,300.