Knox County Democrats

Today, we held the drawing for ballot order for statewide and local candidates in the March 2, 2010 Democratic primary.
 
The document is at http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddj44hp_45hfrjjmc3

Knox County Democratic Filings
Justice of the Peace:
    Vonnita Ivie*
 
County Treasurer:
    Rosie McElroy Ake*
 
County Clerk:
    Annette Offutt*
 
County Commisioner, Pct. 2:
    Charles Griffith
 
County Commissioner, Pct. 4:
    Johnny Birkenfeld*
    Gary Tidwell
 
County Attorney:
    Megan Suarez*
 
County Chair:
    Reed Underwood
* - denotes incumbent

From the New York Times:
 
"A new report on the community group Acorn by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has found no evidence of fraudulent voting or of violations of federal financing rules by the group in the past five years."

From Associated Press, via ABC:
 
"[W]hen Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House in 2003, they overcame Democratic opposition to add a deficit-financed prescription drug benefit to Medicare. The program will cost a half-trillion dollars over 10 years, or more by some estimates."
 
Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, says it's a matter of what's fashionable:
 
"Six years ago, 'it was standard practice not to pay for things,' said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. 'We were concerned about it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question.'"
 
Even some more moderate Republicans are calling foul:
 
"Bruce Bartlett, an official in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush...said the 2003 Medicare expansion was 'a pure giveaway' that cost more than this year's Senate or House health bills will cost. More important, he said, 'the drug benefit had no dedicated financing, no offsets and no revenue-raisers. One hundred percent of the cost simply added to the federal budget deficit.'"
 
The fact is, Democrats in Congress have at least paid for the healthcare bills with tax increases and cost-cutting measures, something Republicans didn't bother to attempt when they irresponsibly forced through the largest increase to entitlements in recent U.S. history.

Gov. Rick Perry's people sent out emails over the weekend blasting his primary opponent Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for "standing with Democrats" on a procedural vote to limit debate on a Defense spending bill.  Republican Senators threatened to filibuster the bill, necessary to fund war efforts, as part of their obstructionist strategy for delaying health insurance reform.  Hutchison, in the end, voted to limit debate and eliminate the threat of a filibuster on the bill after it was clear the Democrats had the votes.  Perry's email apparently hit home with his more conservative followers and the Tea Party crowd.  They showed up earlier this week at Hutchison's Austin offices in protest.  The message seems to be, "Don't even try to be reasonable.  Not even a little."
 
Please, check out the Democratic candidates for governor: Felix Alvarado, Bill Dear, Farouk Shami, and Bill White.  It's time for a change here in Texas.

Straight from Sarah Palin's Twitter account:
 
"Earth saw clmate chnge4 ions;will cont 2 c chnges.R duty2responsbly devlop resorces4humankind/not pollute&destroy;but cant alter naturl chng"
 
In this one status update, without corroboration or qualification, Palin contradicts the mountains of peer-reviewed literature and real science indicating that human activity is contributing to climate change.  This is right up there with her Facebook post about "death panels" which won her the dubious honor of "Liar of the Year" from Politifact.com.

A few items that have stacked up while I've been busy and failed to post anything here:

• The House passed H.R. 3962, The Affordable Healthcare Act, that will regulate health insurance and provide a public option to compete in the new insurance exchange created in the bill.
• The debate over U.S. involvement in Afghanistan continues to heat up as the Obama administration mulls whether to send additional troops there.
• Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Too Big To Fail, Too Big to Exist Bill which would induce the Treasury to identify institutions which are "too big to fail" within ninety days of passage, and the identified institutions would be broken up according to antitrust rules.  Sen. Sanders' is one voice among the many calling for reform of banking regulation.
• President Obama spoke earnestly and eloquently at the memorial for those killed in the tragedy in Ft. Hood last week.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to those injured in the attack and the families of the victims.

The Texas GOP's recent selection of Cathie Adams as their new state Chair is further evidence that the party is continuing to distance itself from reason, decency, and progress.  Mrs. Adams, the former leader of the radical Texas Eagle Forum, is on record comparing the President's recent address to schoolchildren to the Nazi youth movement, calling Ann Richards an "anti-religious bigot", and declaring that Latinos in Texas lack moral fiber .  In different times, the news might be shocking, but, at present, it seems to make perfect sense.

New York Times editorialist Nicholas Kristof argues that enlarging our military presence in Afghanistan is counterproductive:
 
"Dispatching more troops to Afghanistan would be a monumental bet and probably a bad one, most likely a waste of lives and resources that might simply empower the Taliban. In particular, one of the most compelling arguments against more troops rests on this stunning trade-off: For the cost of a single additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, we could build roughly 20 schools there."

Salon joins Texas in mourning the passing of Judge Wayne Justice:
 
"His very name made his life's work almost inevitable, a matter of destiny. William Wayne Justice was a federal judge for the Eastern District of Texas. That's right, he was 'Judge Justice.' And he spent a distinguished legal career making sure that everyone -- no matter their color or income or class -- got a fair shake."