A USELESS HOUSE

Congress returns from their summer recess on Monday.

I too have taken one myself, but I think mine was more productive than Congress's break.

Before leaving DC to return to their districts, the House took care of one piece of business.

Repealing "ObamaCare."

Since Republicans took control of the House as a result of the November 2010 election, they have pursued this endless quest of repealing the cornerstone of President Obama's agenda and what will certainly be a historic piece of legislation once he leaves office 20 January 2017. "ObamaCare" or the Affordable Care Act of 2010 as it is correctly known as, survived a Supreme Court challenge in June 2012 where the conservative-leaning Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote in the landmark case. "ObamaCare" survived the Presidential election and campaign against the original author of "ObamaCare".

It will survive the votes that House Republicans will continue to make. These votes are nothing more than symbolic and have now become... well... sad. On the last day before the summer recess, this was the 40th vote that the House GOP has scheduled to repeal "ObamaCare." Senator Harry Reid (D, NV) got the memo and it immediately went into this file:

The House can hold their little vote to repeal "ObamaCare" but all it is theatrics. It won't come up for a vote in the Senate because Democrats are the majority party in that chamber. The only way if it comes up for a vote in the Senate is if Republicans take control of that chamber and while that is a possibility in 2014, right now I cannot see that happening given the mood of the country toward Congressional Republicans.

But.... as much as I hate it, let's play the "What If" Game. Say the GOP gets the Senate in the 2014 mid-terms as Nate Silver is predicting and the GOP holds the House. So you have a Republican controlled Congress.... and a Democratic President. Nate Silver projects that the GOP will have a slim majority in the Senate, 51 seats to be exact. If the GOP was serious about repealing "ObamaCare" they'd fight to get veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate. To override a presidential veto it takes a two-thirds vote in both chambers to do so.

So.... if my math is correct, two-thirds in the House is 290 votes and that same threshold is 67 votes in the Senate. The best the GOP can do in the House is get to 240 seats as shown during the 2010 mid-terms. The path to 67 votes in the Senate is impossible. Even if the GOP wins ALL of the Senate races in 2014, they would still end up one seat short.

So, veto-proof majorities are out of the question. They could try impeachment of President Obama and Vice President Biden, but it would be some bullshit charges that would backfire on the GOP so quickly that their party would become irrelevant in not just Presidential Elections, but also down ballots.

Oh... and speaking of Presidential Elections, there is one in 2016 which is its own nasty animal given that the GOP has a BIG problem courting key demographics such as Women and Hispanics.

So while the GOP controlled Congress in this "What If" Game passes the "ObamaCare" repeal bill out of their chamber and Obama takes out his big red rubber "VETO" stamp to it and the Congress doesn't have a two-thirds vote in EITHER chamber to override his veto, the electorate is getting sick and tired of this dog and pony show. President Obama will act like the adult as he always does and keep his mind on the long game.

In this case, the long game is ensuring that Obama's party controls the White House until at least 20 January 2021... maybe 20 January 2025 given the inability of the Republican Party to cope with America's changing voting demographics. Meanwhile the Republicans will be unaware of that the public has become tired of their consistent efforts to block legislative proposals by their Democratic colleagues in the Congress and President Obama.

For starters, let's start with something that I am passionate about: infrastructure, in particular roads.

In the five years that I have lived in Texas since I've almost driven the entire length of Interstate 35 through Texas. I cannot count how many times I have gone down to Austin in this time period.

Since my first post-Navy trip to Austin in December 2008, I have seen the construction project taking place along I-35. The plan is to widen I-35 between Hillsboro and Austin to where it is at least a three-lane freeway in both directions. The two-way frontage roads will become relics of the past and give way to the one-way frontage roads that are common in the highly urbanized areas. This construction project along I-35 is in part due to most of the population in Texas resides along this interstate and the freeway is a major north-south route for transit through the middle of the United States as it starts at the US-Mexico border in Laredo, goes through San Antonio, Austin, splits into E-W branches when it reaches the Metroplex, and heads north into Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Iowa, splits into another set of E-W branches at Minneapolis-St. Paul and ends in Duluth, MN.

Even though we have made advances in travel, we are still a nation that predominantly travels by car. We need high quality roads if we are to maintain our global economic advantage. Case in point: this story from the Texas Tribune about roads in South and West Texas being downgraded to gravel.

While there is this major construction project going on between Hillsboro and San Antonio, let's see about what is going on in the Metroplex.

The last time there was major improvements to I-35 in the Metroplex was to the widen the original stretch of I-35W from Downtown Fort Worth to I-20 in the late 1980s. As shown in the pictures below, I-35W opened in 1957 and was still designated the old US-81 signage.

When the freeway was widened in the 1980s it also included a new stack interchange at I-20.

The next major improvement was replacing the old interchange at I-35W and I-30. The project was completed at the turn of the century and involved redirecting I-30 to its current location south of the Fort Worth post office and a new stack interchange that also involved a more direct connection with South I-35W to South US-287.

But since then, there has not been any major improvements to I-35W or I-35E in Dallas as the population of the Metroplex continues to grow especially in the suburban areas of the northern parts of Tarrant and Dallas Counties. Currently construction is taking place along I-35W between Alliance Airport to Loop 820 in Tarrant County as part of the larger North Tarrant Express project. Just recently there was an announcement about the widening of I-35E from US-380 in Denton to the LBJ/635 interchange in Dallas will begin this year. These were roads that needed to widened at least 15 years ago to keep up with the growing population.

While I understand that there is a LOT of planning that goes into freeway widening and these roads go through highly suburban and urban areas, eventually there needs to be some kind of action. My fellow drivers and I are getting tired of sitting through traffic on poorly maintained roads.

This is how bad I-35E is in Denton.

As shown by the picture, it is still a two-lane freeway. No left shoulder. Hardly any right shoulder. If a car breaks down or there is a nasty accident on this portion that goes near the UNT campus, all traffic will stop.

Traveling south on I-35E from Downtown Dallas to the split at US-67 in Oak Cliff is no better. That road is BADLY needing repaving... you know what, (expletive deleted) it, it needs to be replaced.

So, what does this have to do with the Republicans consistent voting on repealing "ObamaCare?"

House Republicans can hold these votes to repeal "ObamaCare" and in some cases threaten a government shutdownall day long, but it will not solve the problems our country faces. Eventually after the campaigning and grandstanding, you have to GOVERN. And frankly as I have stated SEVERAL times, the Republicans have FAILED at it.

If you thought the 112th Congress was unproductive, the 113th has been no better. Prior to going on their summer vacation, the House passed 15 bills compared to 23 bills at that same junction in 2011. Right now at this pace the House is on pace to pass 60 bills which is far fewer than the 219 bills passed by the previous congress.

As witnessed with the Violence Against Women Actand Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill, Republicans are the ones who are kicking and screaming in order to get the most basic forms of legislation passed.

"Why should we pass a Violence Against Women Act?"

Because a Justice Department study shows that the rate of sexual violence against women and girls age 12 or over has fallen 64% in the 10 years it has existed. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, stated that despite these positive statistics, "It is clear there is still too much violence and too many are fearful to report it."

"Why should we provide disaster relief? Those people are idiots for living in places that are hit by storms."

I kid you not, someone told me this. He's now a state rep.

These folks are anti-relief. That is UNTIL a disaster strikes their community and suddenly...

You can read my thoughts on these folks here (West Fertilizer Plant)and here (Texas and Oklahoma tornadoes).

The American public and myself are not too confident about Congress tackling the serious issues like Employee Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) and Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

For one, the House is slated to work only 9 days when they return from their month long vacation.

That is correct. Work only 9 days after a month long vacation.

And they wonder why folks are not big fans of the legislative branch.

And two, there is the looming debt ceiling crisisthat is expected to dominate when Congress returns.

Well, Congress can get to work on naming all those post offices.

But here is the main point that I am FINALLY making....

Right now there is a serious debate about whether we should intervene in the Syrian Civil War. While the Senate has cut short their vacation and returned to Washington to participate in hearings, the House appears to be in no hurry to participate.

GOP in Congress: "WE DEMAND A VOTE ON SYRIA!!!!!!" President Obama: Okay." GOP in Congress: "Oh shit."
— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) August 31, 2013

A whip count from Friday shows that it is likely to be defeated in the House with a majority of support coming from Republicans. I can't tell if they are being sincere about not wanting to put American forces in harm's way and they have learned the lessons from The Iraq War or this is just another political power play.

Recall the sequester when it happened earlier this year? I recall Rachel Maddow saying this in an interview with The Today Showwhen it happened:

"The bigger problem is crisis-to-crisis-to-crisis is not the way the biggest country on earth should govern itself. Other countries spend their time trying to build up their resilience. We, instead, invent our own crises."

Which is very true. Instead of actually taking on and solving the REAL problems our country faces, the House GOP manufactures crises. Gutting food stamps, stalling disaster aid relief, discussing whether women have access to contraception, voting to defund ObamaCare, and threatening to shutdown the government which would damage the slowly recovering economy because Republicans don't get everything what they want.

This does not instill a lot of confidence in governing.

If there is any reason why the GOP needs to be voted out of governing in 2014, this is it right here. The House GOP is great at channeling the faux outrage of their manufactured media machinery while inside the bubble...

BUT...

When it comes time to step out of the bubble and participate with the rest of the country, they are nowhere to be found.

This should serve as a reminder to why elections matter and why it is important to put competent people in charge of governing.

Otherwise... we get a useless House.

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"I HAVE A DREAM." (28 August 1963)

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BULLIES

Texas passed its omnibus anti-choice legislation one week ago by a vote of 19-11 in the State Senate. This last Thursday Governor Rick Perry (R) signed it.

At the same time the US House approved a farm bill without funding food stamps by a vote of 216-208. The debate was heated with Democrats accusing Republicans of dismissing low income Americans while Republicans did what they could do stifle vocal opposition.

These two polices passed by Republicans at the state level in Texas and the national level are summed up by Rachel Maddow's quotein her analysis of President Obama's re-election speech as she was commenting about what the real political divisions in this country are.

The biggest political divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, it's between who care and people who don't.

Republicans do not care about the rest of their constituents.

They only care about those that participate in the Republican Primary and those that fund their campaigns.

My State Rep, State Senator, US House Member, and US Senators do not care about me. I didn't vote for them, but I expect that they would hear me out because they were elected to represent me. Honestly, they don't represent the interests of me or my friends that fall into the same category as me.

I reached that conclusion during the Texas Senate's HB 2 debate.

During the debate, Senate Democrats offered 20 amendments to try to lessen the blow of the proposed legislation and back to the House for reconsideration. Among those amendments were restoring funding to the cuts to family planning services and education that happened in the 82nd session to teaching age appropriate comprehensive sex education to Senator Wendy Davis's "Equal Pay for Equal Work" proposal.

All 20 amendments were tabled.

By the end of that night, the bill passed as expected.

I made this observation at the start of these special sessions back on 31 May 2013:

This special session is nothing more than an opportunity for the very vocal minority of Tea Party Republicans to push forward their agenda and to prevent some legislators from seeing a formidable primary challenger in 2014. State level Republicans know they are going to get hammered on issues such as the budget and not pushing enough of an extreme agenda by their base.

I later expanded on that observation in the days after Senator Davis's filibuster at the end of the first special session.

One of the reasons for passing this anti-choice omnibus bill was the argument coming from Republicans saying that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks. I asked this question via twitter:

The #TXGOP's argument is preventing pain for 20 wk fetus. What about the pain of a live child going hungry? #TXLege#SB1#HB2#SWTW
— Michael Watts (@mjwatts1983) July 12, 2013

I had a few responses to this tweet. They were from your stereotypical right-wing Tea Partier types. What did I do?

Blocked them.

The fetal pain theory is bunk(among OTHER anti-choice theories that are circulating the so called "pro-life" movement and Republican politics). A British study says that fetuses cannot feel pain until 24 weeks while an American study says it is much later at 28 weeks. The reason for these findings is that fetuses' have not developed the nervous system to feel pain.

Also, a 2005 study by the Centers For Disease Control published that less than 1.3% of all abortions occur after 21 weeks.

Or in other words, science.

Another issue that Texas Republicans are claiming is that they want to make health care for women safer.

So how safe are abortions in Texas? 22% of abortions in Texaswere preformed in facilities classified as ambulatory surgical centers while the rest were preformed in clinics that don't meet HB 2's standards. According to the health department, the type of clinic has no impact on safety where the abortion is preformed.

HB 2 was not based on sound science or making health care for women safer. Instead it will punish poor women and women of color as they seek unsafe alternative methods to terminate a pregnancy such as purchasing abortion inducing drugs on the Black Market or worse... going to medical providers who will butcher a woman.

I know I have said it once in prior entries, but it is worth repeating.

HB 2's passage was nothing more than political gamesmanship to satisfy the rabid Tea Party base going into the 2014 elections. Texas Republicans pushed their luck and they have lost. There is a sense of anger among people on my side of the aisle and we have had enough. This could be the beginning of the end of the Republican Party's almost 20-year hold on Texas politics.

Back to my question that I tweeted asking about how can Texas Republicans care about fetus pain but not about the hunger pains of a child.

The Republican Party claims to be the party of "pro-life." There is a catch... they only care about you if you are a fetus. After you are born, you are on your own.

As shown with the farm bill, House Republicans passed a bill that gave subsidies to farmers and big agriculture businesses but no funding to food stamps. It is not just food stamps. Here in Texas, our legislature cut education funding. There is the issue of fracking which raises concerns about the quantity and quality of our water supply. And of course, for the 38th and 39th time, the House GOP voted to repeal ObamaCare. Meanwhile 1 out of 4 Texans are without healthcare coverage. Then there is the issue of that Republicans are refusing to taking on gun reform legislation because the NRA has them by their collective testicles threatens to run NRA backed candidates against them.

Oh and Lege Republicans have filed this bill, The Fetal Heartbeat Bill, that would criminalize an abortion where a heartbeat is detected. The bill is classified as "trigger" legislation meaning it will only take effect if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade (1973).

The bill was filed within minutes of Governor Perry signing HB 2.

And we are also a state where an ultrasound is required before a woman can terminate her pregnancy.

So... back to the title of this entry.

My fellow Democrats/Liberal minded people can present Republicans with the facts and we can write letters, tweet them, call them, and show up physically to their offices in their district and the capitol building.

We can hold marches and yell and scream at them to vote for a position that we advocate, but as shown with the votes in The Lege and the US House, those actions did not sway their opinion.

You would think that when a crowd of this size....

from WITHIN TEXAS shows up to the Pink Dome in Austin, that Republicans in The Lege would stop and think about what they are doing.

But as shown with their votes, we don't matter to them.

When Republican politicians return to their districts the moment the Special Session adjourns sine die, they will brag about how they passed this anti-choice bill. The only thing these politicians will be proud about is they have something to shelter themselves going into the 2014 Republican Primaries which will be brutal for them. Other than that, this legislation does nothing to curb Texas's exploding teen birth rate. The Lege did nothing to ensure that future generations of Texans have access to health care with their constant moaning about how ObamaCare is an unfunded mandate (and HB 2 isn't?). And most telling is they didn't fully restore the education cuts that took place during the 82nd session and were unwilling to listen to Democrats proposals to make Texas a better state.

The sad part is they refused to listen to the voices of the victims of sexual assault who were traumatized by their experiences. Or the women who experienced a wide range of complications during their pregnancies that not only endangered the well-being and formation of the fetus but also jeopardized future pregnancies and in some instances endangered the health of the mother.

Because of their unwillingness to listen to the marginalized and only listening to the most extreme voices in their party, Republicans will pay a heavy price at the election booth come November 2014.

Eventually, we will stand up to these bullies.

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MITCHELL/DAVIS

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S#@! MY CONGRESSMAN SAYS

This is my congressman, Representative Michael Burgess (R, TX-26). There are many like him, but this one is mine. Before being elected to Congress, he was an OB/GYN.

Here is his recent thoughts on why the House should pass the highly unconstitutional Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. And the House passed the bill before the events in the Texas Senate, despite the threat of an Obama veto.

This is a subject that I do know something about. There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks. Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful. They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to think that they could feel pain?

Observation 1

Who the (expletive deleted) signed off on his OB/GYN qualifications?! I'm thinking it was Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other popular cartoon characters. Strangely enough, those signatures, except the Goofy one, have the same handwriting patterns..... Hmmmmm....

The person(s) involved in gaffing off gun decking Burgess's card back during his initial training in the 1960s and 1970s should be de-Nukedpermanently disqualified from ever practicing medicine. In addition, Burgess should have his qual card medical license torn up and burned in front of him. Then force his dumbass to re-qualify from a list of approved signatures which I suspect will be no fewer than 99.5% women.

Observation 2

Masturbating fetuses.... that sounds like a late-1970s/early-1980s underground London punk rock band. Didn't they open up for the Sex Pistols once?

Observation 3

Burgess is without a doubt one of the most useless and inept Congressmen in Texas. He once got all-hot-and-bothered over the White House pushing for new standards concerning light bulbs.

Yes, light bulbs!

You can see him briefly in the PBS Frontline documentary "Obama's Deal," which chronicles the story about how the health care bill got passed. He didn't provide anything substantive to the documentary. I suspect they only interviewed Burgess because he is a doctor. I've attended his town hall meetings. In 2009, I went to two of them. The first was in Denton and it was intimidating. If I was wearing an Obama shirt, it would have incited a riot. The other one was at a church in the Lewisville-Flower Mound area and let me tell you... the anti-Obama sentiment in the air was thick.

In 2011, I was at his town hall meeting where he said he would support jobs for Veterans.... but infrastructure, not so much. At another town hall meeting in August 2011, this time with unhappy Tea Partiers in North Fort Worth, he flirted with the idea of impeaching President Obama brought up by a constituent by stating that "It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up."

An empty chair would be an improvement over Burgess.

But here's the thing. Burgess is just the tip of the problem and perhaps the general voting public is finally wising up to it. Last week one of Burgess's House colleagues, Trent Franks (R, AZ-9), said this during a hearing:

Before, when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject — because, you know, the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.

It is becoming more and more apparent that the Republican Party has not learned a goddamned thing since the last election. In the last two Presidential Elections, Women voters went for Obama. In 2008, Women supported Obama 56-43. Even though Obama won Women 55-44 in 2012, he was able to widen the gender gap from 12 points in 2008 to 18 points in 2012.

In 2012, Women made up 54% of the electorate. I've said it a lot of times: "Studies have shown Women make up at least 50% of the voting public."

We saw what happened in Austin at the end of the first special session. To no one's surprise, Governor Perry called another special session of the Texas Legislature. It wasn't to tackle the problems with the continuing cuts to education, nor the issues of the looming water crisis our state faces, not even trying to find ways to expand Medicaid in the state like what Arizona is doing.

No.

Governor Perry called the first special session to tackle redistricting but then added on the large omnibus anti-abortion bill. Many people swarmed down to Austin to express their distaste for this bill. The highlight was State Senate where Wendy Davis (D, SD-10) of Fort Worth filibustered the bill. She shared stories from various women and other citizens on why this bill should not passed. Sadly the bill passed by a whatever vote. The vote happened after the first special session ended at midnight, but it didn't matter because time had ran out on the session thus killing the bill.

This is more about how the Republican Party clearly has not learned the lessons from the previous presidential election.

That's fine because as shown in the previous election, Women voters have a way to shut the whole thing down.

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MADDOW/DAVIS

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IT'S ON

Today was the start of the second special session of the 83rd Texas Legislature.

And it started with this:

Talking Points Memo reports that at least 5,000 people were at the south steps of the Capitol building attending the rally. According to Texas Tribune editor Emily Ramshaw, the protest was so loud that she could hear it at the 14th floor of the Texas Tribune building blocks away in downtown Austin.

Protest at the Capitol so loud I can hear it clear as day from 14th floor of @TexasTribunebuilding blocks away. #txlege
— Emily Ramshaw (@eramshaw) July 1, 2013

For now there is a calm as both chambers have gabbled in, but immediately adjourned in part due to the upcoming July 4th Holiday.

However, the controversial abortion bill (HB 2), authored by Rep. Jodie "Rape kits = abortion" Laubenberg (R, HD-89), has been referred to the House State Affairs Committee. The hearingis slated to be held at 3:30 PM (CT) in room E2.030 on Tuesday 2 July 2013. The chair is Rep. Byron Cook (R, HD-8) and will allow testimony to go on until midnight.

Gee... I hope it doesn't become repetitive for him.

The Senate has also filed similar anti-choice bills: SB 1 was filed by Senator Glenn Hegar (R, SD-18) and SB 9 was filed by Senator Dan "no, not from ESPN" Patrick (R, SD-7).

Governor Perry is going to great lengths to ensure that this anti-choice omnibus bill is passed. He has ordered increased security presence at the Capitol Building. Today's rally had mounted police officers and there are reports that the capitol is shutting off power outlets, turning the WiFi down, and ordering people to turn off their cell phones before entering the gallery.

This special session is gearing up to be a fight for Texas.

It is SO on!

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#STANDWITHTXWOMEN

Today Senator Wendy Davis along with other members of the Texas Democratic Caucus in The Lege spoke at a Stand With Texas Women rally on the south steps of the Capitol Building in Austin, TX.

Text provided by Progress Texas.

Thank you. You are all wonderful and I am so glad you all are here and we can be together at YOUR Capitol. I have heard many kind words in these recent days and I am humbled and grateful. But the truth is:  you all have given me and so many others a renewed sense of strength.

Less than a week ago you were at the crux of a turning point in Texas history. You joined the ranks of brave men and women who love this state and fought for their liberties and preserving Texas values.

It was your voices -- lent to me -- that made it possible for me to stand those 13 hours. The last two of those hours, my brilliant, passionate, eloquent Democratic senate colleagues took over.  Each was extraordinary.

But even they couldn't get us over the finish line.  With only 20 minutes left on the clock, you, after having suffered quietly and patiently the repeated abandonment of the Senate rules and traditions, could be silent no longer, your voices joined together, roaring through what we all understood was a raw abuse of power, to secure a victory.

How fitting that it was the "people’s filibuster" that stopped SB5 and put the politicians currently in power on notice.

Texans expect honesty and respect from their elected officials and they will take back their power when disrespected and misused. It’s your strength, your courage, your conviction that causes me to say today -- I Believe in Texas More than Ever.

Texas is the greatest state in our great nation.  There is no better place to live, work and raise a family.  It is still a place where hard work and a belief in yourself can add up to success.

I grew up like a lot of little girls in Texas, without many advantages. My mother was a single mom with four kids and a 6th grade education. And by the time I was a teenager, my life was beginning to look like hers. I was a single mom, too. I had a high school diploma, but no idea how to get ahead in life.

Education changed everything for me. Eventually I graduated from Harvard Law School and then had the honor of being elected to serve the people of Fort Worth in public office.

I was lucky enough to be able to make the choices in my life that I knew would work for me. And I don’t regret for one minute my decisions about my daughters, my education or my direction in life.

That’s what we are fighting for now – a Texas where every woman is able to overcome her unique challenges – because she has the same choices and the same chances I did.

For years, too many Texas politicians have tried to boost their careers by bullying women who need help with health care.

They have messed with the way Texas women can get cancer screenings or birth control - or even prenatal care. Those in power have turned down millions and millions of our federal dollars meant to help women here - simply because they wanted to hurt one organization committed to quality healthcare for women.

We have fought for years to convince these politicians that the best way to prevent unintended pregnancies is to give women real control of their lives – by investing in good family planning services and honest, effective, age appropriate sex education for our kids.

And we have fought to pay women equally so they can ultimately determine their own destinies.

That’s what we want to work for in the upcoming special session and we need your help.

United, responsible senators are now working to reintroduce the Texas equal-pay-for-equal-work bill because fair pay for our families is worth fighting for.  Governor Perry vetoed this bill, essentially saying he believes women here don’t deserve it. He is wrong in so many ways.

This is not just about women - this is about our families and our values.  Here in Texas, so many families depend on working moms AND dads. And both parents need to be paid fairly.

Let’s remind Rick Perry that fairness is – and always will be - a fundamental “Texas Value.”

Texans deserve someone who will stand up for them and their values. It shouldn’t be unusual for a public official to stand and fight for the men and women who elected them.  It should be a job requirement.

But right now, our state is in trouble. Every single statewide office is held hostage by the kind of politician who cares more about their own future than that of their fellow Texans. So, it’s far too rare that young Texans realize their biggest dreams.

For the last decade, we have watched the politicians in power embarrass Texas and diminish our dreams on an almost daily basis. They have long forgotten what real Texans want or need, forgotten that lots of folks don’t agree with them on so many issues:

·       They’ve forgotten their duty to represent all of us - folks who work hard every day,

·       They’ve forgotten the people whose quality of life depends on the quality of state leadership,

·       They’ve forgotten the down-to-earth Texans who count on politicians to care about them.

We need people in politics who love this place as much as the rest of us do – people who want to build a better Texas, not just bigger political résumés.

A great number of us have felt discouraged about the current state of affairs here.  Some of us have felt mad.  Today is different though, today we feel hope.  We've had an opportunity to be inspired by each other's actions in our democracy.  We've witnessed how much we can accomplish when we reclaim our power and require accountability.

Texans are proud of their state.  Texans are leaders.  Together, Texans can move beyond partisan politics and create a future that includes all of our state.  We've proven that, by working together, we can pass important bipartisan legislation such as equal pay for equal work.

The Promise of Texas is bigger than personal ambition and extremist interests -- bigger than one political party.  Together, we can do what they won’t – we can stand up for each other, stand up for what’s right – and stand up for Texas.

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