Official site of the Johnson Co. Democratic Party
Archive for July, 2010
RETURN OF THE KATRINA TRAILERS
Jul 16th
Thursday, July 15, 2010 | Posted by Jim Hightower
They’re baaaack. The Creepy Creatures from Hurricane Katrina are reappearing on the Gulf Coast, having been raised from the dead.
These creatures are the infamous contaminated trailers that federal emergency officials bought and set up in 2005 for tens of thousands of families who had lost their homes in the devastating storm. Unfortunately, the house trailers turned out to reek of formaldehyde – a toxic industrial preservative that can cause such unpleasantness as nasal cancer and possibly leukemia. The formaldehyde levels were so high that the government banned the trailers from ever again being used to house people.
Good! However, rather than destroying these contaminated creatures, the emergency agency decided to sell them in 2006, and more than 100,000 of them went to various buyers in public auctions. Each buyer was to inform any subsequent owners of the housing ban, and a formaldehyde warning label had to be prominently and permanently attached to the trailers.
But now they’re cropping up on the Gulf Coast again – not as tool sheds or some such, but as housing for workers involved in the clean up of BPs oil disaster. Yes, many of the trailers still reek of the toxic preservative, and, no, the workers living in them were mostly not informed of any danger, nor are the required warning labels still attached.
“These are perfectly good trailers,” asserts one contractor who’s selling them to workers who brought their families with them to the coast. “You know that new car smell,” asks the contractor? “Well, that’s formaldehyde, too. It’s not a big deal,” he says. Of course, he and his family aren’t living in one.
Meanwhile, federal health authorities have not even started the study they promised in 2006 on the health dangers faced by children who live in the trailers. So the disaster on the coast just keeps creeping along.
Johnson, Hood, and Somervell County Update: Edwards Leads Fight for Loan Guarantees to Expand Comanche Peak Power Plant & Create Thousands of Jobs
Jul 16th
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THIS JUST IN FROM “OBAMA FOR AMERICA”:
Jul 16th
The Senate just passed Wall Street reform. The bill will become law the moment President Obama signs it.
This reform represents the boldest financial regulations since the aftermath of the Great Depression — and the strongest consumer protections in history.
Every door you knocked in Iowa, every phone call you made in Ohio, every dollar you dug deep to give — it’s all for this. The Recovery Act, health reform, and now Wall Street reform, on top of everything else. In a year and a half, this administration has made bigger, bolder progress than any president’s in decades.
We have a president who fights for all of us, every day. We have you, the best organizers this country has ever seen, who flooded Congress with calls and letters, had millions of conversations with friends and neighbors, went toe-to-toe with the country’s most powerful special interests — and won.
And we have members of Congress who bravely stood with the President, even as right-wing groups have pledged $200 million to defeat them in November’s elections.
First, take a moment to celebrate. This is an achievement that will make American lives better and protect our economy for generations to come, and it absolutely wouldn’t have happened without you.
Then, take a moment to thank the members of Congress who stood with us and supported these landmark reforms. In the coming days, they’ll be taking a lot of heat for defying Wall Street — and they need to know they have our gratitude.
Organizing for America supporters are signing a note of thanks to Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and all of the allies in Congress who stood up for reform.
Will you add your name?
http://my.barackobama.com/WSRVictory
We’ll deliver these signatures to leaders in Congress who supported reform, after the President signs this into law.
Thanks for all you did to get us here. I’m so grateful to be making history with you, and I know the President is as well.
Message from TDP Chair Boyd Richie
Jul 16th
 |
Dear Fellow Democrat,
Betty and I want to thank everyone who participated in the 2010 Democratic Primary and particularly the Delegates and Alternates to the recent TDP Convention in Corpus Christi.
Largely due to the efforts of our enthusiastic Delegates, tireless volunteers and dedicated staff the Convention was a great success. We crafted a platform our Party can be proud of, heard stirring speeches from our candidates and office holders, and departed in high spirits, united and ready for the upcoming campaign.
In preparing for November, I encourage you to visit our TDP website where you will find our Party’s position on issues, press releases–with great talking points–and other resources to help local parties and candidates reach our goals. While you’re there I urge you to become a Texas Majority Builder. Our Democratic Party works best when it is democratically financed and you can help a lot for only $10 a month.
Thanks again for your commitment and participation and thanks for supporting our Party and our candidates. Let’s work together to turn Texas blue in 2010.
Your friend and fellow Democrat,
Boyd L. Richie
Chairman
Texas Democratic Party
Perry Campaign Consultant Tied to Green Party Signature Campaign
Jul 6th
(From the Lone Star Project):
A document surrendered under court order identifies Rick Perry campaign consultant, Anthony Holm, as a key person working with Green Party leaders to use Republican money to fund a signature gathering campaign to qualify Green Party of Texas candidates for the 2010 ballot. Holm is a principal of the Patriot Group , which is a well- known GOP political consulting firm that lists Republican Governor Rick Perry as its client. During the current election cycle, the Rick Perry Campaign has paid the Patriot Group at least $90,000 (Source: Texas Ethics Commission). Holm also worked as an aide to Rick Perry calling himself, “Special Projects Director for Texas Governor Rick Perry” (Source: Patriot Group Website ).
Anthony Holm is the spokesperson for millionaire Texas homebuilder and Republican financier, Bob Perry (Source: Dallas Morning News, March 5, 2009). Bob Perry has long been one of the nation’s largest contributors to Republican candidates and causes, particularly those in Texas. Bob Perry helped pay for the infamous Swift Boat attack ads in 2004 (Source: Dallas Morning News, March 3, 2010). He has contributed millions of dollars to the Republican Governors Association, various Rick Perry campaigns and to current Republican members of the Texas Supreme Court (Source: FEC, Texas Ethics Commission).
Perry-Green Party Connection
Green Party of Texas Statewide Coordinator kat swift reports via e-mail to the party’s executive committee that she can finally identify an individual who can help provide signature gathering funds. In her email, swift says, “So I just got a call that a republican in texas [sic] wants to give us 40% of the cost of petitioning…I got his name! Anthony Holm.”
A copy of the document can be seen here.
Ultimately, more than $500,000 was received from a secret donor and then funneled through a nonprofit corporation to pay for the Green Party signature gathering effort.
The Rick Perry campaign has adamantly denied involvement with the Green Party of Texas. However, Anthony Holm is the third – and most direct – connection between Rick Perry and the Green Party/GOP ballot scandal. The Lone Star Project previously reported that Rick Perry’s top campaign strategist, Dave Carney , has worked closely with the Republican political operatives who facilitated the Green Party/GOP ballot scheme. In addition, former Rick Perry Chief of Staff, Mike Toomey , was secretly paying an individual to convince Green Party leaders to accept Republican money to finance the signature gathering effort.
It is no longer credible for Rick Perry to deny his campaign’s involvement in the ballot scandal. At least three of his closest political associates have been connected to the scheme. Court documents have shown that two of these individuals – Anthony Holm and Mike Toomey – were in direct contact with the Green Party of Texas. Anthony Holm is a paid consultant to Rick Perry’s campaign.
Efforts are currently underway to obtain sworn depositions from both Anthony Holm and Mike Toomey. So far, both individuals have avoided being served subpoenas.
GOP’s Jobs Ideas: Keep Bush Tax Cuts, Freeze Regulations
Jul 18th
Posted by Humphrey in Rants & Raves
Friday 16 July 2010
by: Gail Russell Chaddock | The Christian Science Monitor | Report
via Truthout
House GOP leader John Boehner. (Photo: republicanconference / Flickr)
Employers won’t create jobs until they have a clear sense of what comes next in taxes and regulation, say Republicans. House GOP leader John Boehner proposes a moratorium on new government regulations for a year and keeping the Bush tax cuts.
Washington — As President Obama prepares to sign the second historic reform bill of his administration – health care in March, finance reform next week – Republicans are offering their own answers to why jobs have not recovered and enlisting business groups to help make their case.
Above all, employers need something they’re not getting from Washington these days, Republicans say, that is, reasonable expectations about what’s coming next in taxes and government regulation.
All of the antibusiness rhetoric coming out of Washington scares employers, said House Republican leader John Boehner, after meeting with 16 business groups in the Capitol Friday morning. It’s also not knowing whether the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire on Dec. 31, as mandated by current law, or how the new employer mandates on health care or financial regulation will affect their business, he adds.
“It’s clear that the path we’ve been on the last 18 months has not worked and is not working,” said Mr. Boehner at a briefing with reporters. These are the barriers to job creation, and if the Obama administration is serious about private-sector job creation, it needs to listen to the private sector, he added.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Boehner endorsed a proposal at Friday’s meeting to have a moratorium on all new government regulations for a year.
Boehner: Moratorium on Regulations “A Great Idea”
“I think having a moratorium on all new federal regulation is a great idea,” he said. It would be “a wonderful sign to the private sector that they’re going to have some breathing room.”
In response, Speaker Nancy Pelosi fired back in a blog on Friday afternoon: “Instead of standing up for American workers, their families and small businesses who have been burned by Wall Street, Big Banks and Big Oil – Boehner wants to give ‘breathing room’ to the special interests. The Bush-Republican decision to take the referee off the field is what led to the most serious fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.”
The moratorium on regulations would derail new rules to protect children from unsafe bassinets and cradles, new consumer protections for air travelers, and establishment of a public website disclosing federal contract information, she said.
Boosted by recent polls giving them a shot at taking back the House in November elections, Republicans are convinced that a 10 percent unemployment rate will eclipse all other aspects of the Obama agenda. GOP candidates are focusing their campaigns around jobs and the economy – an issue they say Democrats have sidelined in their rush to overhaul health care and Wall Street regulation.
“I’m on the House Ways and Means Committee, and the tax code for 2010 is not yet completed,” says Rep. Peter Roskam (R) of Illinois, who attended the Friday session. “When people don’t know what the government rules are, they’re reluctant to create jobs or put capital at risk.”
On Tuesday, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee called on Chairman Max Baucus (D) of Montana to begin marking up legislation on the expiring 2001 and 2003 tax cuts before Congress leaves for the August recess. That panel held its first hearing on the expiring tax cuts on Wednesday.
Trillions of Dollars Waiting to Be Invested
“Businesses are sitting on more than a trillion dollars of cash waiting to be invested,” wrote the 10 Republicans on the Senate Finance panel in a letter to the chairman released Thursday. “Until businesses and consumers can be confident that their taxes won’t rise next year, they will continue to refrain from investing, job growth will be stagnant, and as a result consumer spending will remain subdued,” they wrote.
House and Senate Democratic leaders have discussed letting the tax cuts expire for the highest earners, that is individuals earning more than $200,000 or families earning more than $250,000 a year. But Republicans and business groups often make the case that many small businesses would also count in that higher-income bracket and would face stiff losses if the law is allowed to expire.
“We could be looking at the biggest tax increase in history,” said Bruce Josten, top lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce, after Friday’s meeting.
In a letter to President Obama on July 15, Boehner and Republican whip Eric Cantor called on the White House to listen to the small-business owners who are the engine of job creation in this country.
“The biggest obstacle to economic recovery and job creation is the policy uncertainty created by Washington,” they wrote. “Small business owners don’t know what their effective tax rate will be in January. Business owners of all sizes don’t know what to expect from the next wave of government regulations. Investors and lenders, who are essential to getting credit moving again, don’t know what the new rules will be and cannot calculate their return on investment.”
All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.