Monthly Archives: September 2014

Texas Politics

TLCQ 2014: Ron Hale

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In the Second installment of the 2014 Texas Leftist Candidate Questionnaire we hear from Ron Hale, candidate for the Texas State Senate, District 15.  He is a Republican.

Please note: Responses have been received directly from the candidate, and have been posted ver batim from the email received. This is done out of fairness to all candidates. Publishing these responses does not constitute an endorsement, but will be considered during the endorsement process.

 

TL:  What is your name, as it will appear on the ballot? 

RH:  Ron Hale


TL:  Are you a current or former elected official? If so what office(s)? 

RH:  No.

 

TL: As a political candidate, you clearly care about what happens in certain levels of government. In your own words, why is government important?

RH:  Government is important to the point of protecting the god given rights we are all given.

 

TL:  If elected, name your top 3 priorities you hope to accomplish for 2015 legislative session.  Describe how you plan to accomplish them. 

RH:  Property Tax Reform

Abolish property taxes and replace them with reformed state sales tax that includes an adjusted tax rate base.

Ideally, the reformed state sales tax would closely resemble the option with an 11% sales tax rate and an adjusted base that includes all services taxed in at least one other state, including the sale of property

Municipal Pension Reform

We have to fight to bring pension control back to our cities, so we do not have another Detroit situation on our hands.

Freeze enrollment in the current defined benefit system and enroll newly hired or unvested employees in a 401(k) style defined contribution pension plan.

Implement either a hard or soft freeze of the system for vested employees.

Replace current employee health care plans with Health savings accounts.

Education Reform

We must maintain our role as world leaders in educating our youth to be the workforce and future of our great State of Texas, and for America.

  •  I believe in having options when it comes to school choice, and that our tax dollars should have the ability to follow each student to their selected school of choice.

  •  There needs to be an end to standardized testing in Texas, and no longer should teachers be teaching an evaluation exam to students in order to achieve higher evaluation scores for that school.

  •  We need to encourage corporations and small businesses to partner up with local schools in their area so that they may provide workforce training during high-school, ensuring our graduates will have better career training and job opportunities.

 

TL:  A 2013 survey found that 54 percent of Texas voters support Medicaid Expansion under the Affordable Care Act.  Expansion is also supported by the Texas Hospital Association.  Without Medicaid Expansion or an alternate solution, Texas Hospitals are having to provide over $5 billion dollars annually in uncompensated care to patients who lack insurance.  This leaves Texas taxpayers paying not only for the uncompensated care of our residents, but also paying for expanded health care benefits in other states. If elected, would you support Medicaid Expansion or an alternate solution for the state of Texas, so we can bring our tax dollars back where they belong?  If not, please explain why.  If so, please explain how you would work to pass such a measure. 

RH:  No I do not support Medicaid expansion. It is tax payer who fund Medicaid now and growth in the program means higher taxes. We need to figure out a way to lower health care cost in Texas to provide the best care possible and the lowest rates available.

 

TL:  In the coming years, the state of Texas is projected to have a population boom of historic proportions.  But with more people and more opportunities comes an ever-increasing strain on Texas roads and infrastructure.  Describe your thoughts on what needs to be done to improve Texas infrastructure now so we can plan for a bright future for the state. 

 RH:  We need to open the bidding process to more companies with the tools to complete the jobs. this will bring to light the ability of lower cost construction through competitive bidding.

 

TL:  What makes you the best candidate for this office? 

RH:  My ability to work well with others and the will to do the right thing for Texas not matter what the issue.

 

TL:  When not on the campaign trail, how do you like to spend your free time?

RH:  Reading and watching the history channel. Also, spending time with my wife and the rest of my family.

 

 

Thanks to Mr. Hale for his participation.

Texas Politics

Texoblogosphere: Week of September 8th

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The Texas Progressive Alliance commends Sen. Wendy Davis for her courage as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff thinks all the statewide candidates should engage in at least one public debate and applauds Sam Houston for pursuing the matter in the AG race.

Libby Shaw now posting at Daily Kos is both shocked and pleased that the Houston Chronicle’s editorial board spanked Greg Abbott hard for his disingenuous and exaggerated claims about voter fraud in Texas. Texas: “Voter Fraud? What Fraud?”

In a state with a rapidly growing population and the mounting set of challenges associated with that growth, Texas Leftist can’t even believe how much money Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and other TEA-publicans are leaving behind in their refusal to expand Medicaid. Trust me, you won’t believe it either.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. If you’re in the “coverage gap” – someone who doesn’t have health care because Perry and the GOP declined to expand Medicaid in Texas – and don’t vote, then you’re choosing not to have health care coverage. To Expand Medicaid in Texas, Those Without Insurance Must Vote.

The disclosure by Wendy Davis in her forthcoming memoir of her pregnancy terminations pushed a reset button in the Texas governor’s race. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs says that whether it more greatly mobilizes her support or her opposition is something still to be determined.

Neil at All People Have Value said you should consider helping the Davis/Van de Putte ticket even if you are not a political person and if you have great skepticism about Democrats and our political system. The Abbott/Patrick ticket is a very extreme ideological team. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants you to know that cutting Medicaid reimbursements has shut down pharmacies in Texas. Cheap, short-sighted, heartless Republicans to blame.

================

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Grits for Breakfast reflects on Rick Perry’s criminal justice vetoes.

Lone Star Ma reminds us that Texas law protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in any place where she would otherwise be allowed to be.

Nonsequiteuse blazes with fury at the “Greg Abbott crushes Houston Votes” story.

Texas Clean Air Matters wants a Clean Power Plan that rewards Texas, not Wyoming coal interests.

BOR issues the #TacosOrBeer Challenge.

The Texas Election Law Blog dismisses the lesser arguments in favor of voter ID.

 

 

(photo credit:  Thomas McConnell)

Houston Politics

Wendy Davis Gets Personal In New Book

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Over the weekend Texans received something of a campaign season bombshell that has now turned into a national story.  In advance of her book’s release date, Wendy Davis revealed that she, like many other Texas women, has had to terminate two of her pregnancies due to severe fetal abnormalities.  Here are more details from the El Paso Times, via AP…

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who became a national political sensation by filibustering her state’s tough new restrictions on abortion, discloses in her upcoming memoir that she had an abortion in the 1990s after discovering that the fetus had a severe brain abnormality.

In “Forgetting to be Afraid,” Davis also writes about ending an earlier ectopic pregnancy, in which an embryo implants outside the uterus. Davis says she considered revealing the terminated pregnancies during her nearly 13-hour speech on the floor of the Texas Senate last summer — but decided against it, saying “such an unexpected and dramatically personal confession would overshadow the events of the day.”

The Associated Press purchased an early copy of the book, which goes on sale Tuesday.

Both pregnancies happened before Davis, a state senator from Fort Worth, began her political career and after she was already a mother to two young girls. Davis catapulted to national Democratic stardom after her filibuster temporarily delayed passed of sweeping new abortion restrictions. She’s now running for governor against Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is heavily favored to replace Republican Gov. Rick Perry next year.

After the news broke, Davis sat down with Robin Roberts for an interview on Good Morning America, where she was pressed about the interesting timing of her book release less than 60 days before the 2014 election.

The timing factor is interesting for sure, but interesting is not the same as illegal or unethical.  Politicians write and sell books all the time.  Politicians also do all sorts of other types of work while campaigning… you know, like not stepping down from being Attorney General and not excusing yourself from cases that could have a direct effect on your upcoming election.

For the Abbott campaign, Davis’ book presents a perilous quandary of how to respond.  So they chose to go the path of ethics.  Here’s more from the Houston Chronicle on that…

Republican gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott asked the Texas Ethics Commission on Monday to rule whether opponent Wendy Davis’ book deal and tour crosses the line on illegal corporate campaign contribution because it is tied to her ongoing campaign.

Davis’ campaign immediately labeled the filing a “frivolous stunt.”

In a three-page letter requesting an advisory opinion, Abbott campaign manager Wayne Hamilton asked whether a book tour paid for and promoted by a corporation constitute in-kind political contributions. Under state law, corporate contributions to a campaign are illegal.

[…]

While the request for an ethics opinion makes no mention of Davis, the name of her publisher and details of her book deal are the same as those in the letter.

“Because of the proximity of the book’s publishing and the election, the candidate will be using political funds on voter contact at the same time the publisher is using corporate funds to promote the book,” reads the letter,  insisting that political observers “seem to agree that the promotion of the book essentially equals promotion of the candidate’s candidacy.”

Davis’ campaign spokesman Zac Petkanas said the campaign was “very careful to follow every legal guideline.

“This frivolous stunt by the Abbott campaign is the clearest sign yet how worried they are about the power of Wendy’s story,” he said.

Were Greg Abbott running a more ethical campaign himself, this line of attack may garner more teeth.  But unless he’s planning to resign from office early, relax Voter ID laws reveal the locations of dangerous chemical locations, the request to the Texas Ethics Commission is little more than a small stone within Abbott’s magnanimous glass house.  Plus, what can the Republican really yield from trying to stop the tour anyway?  At best, attacking Davis for the timing of her book can motivate a few more people in his base… ones that really care about the “inside baseball” of politics and were solid GOP supporters anyway.  At worst, the attack makes Abbott look like a hypocrite.

On the other hand, Davis has nothing to lose from releasing her book now.  Scoring an interview on GMA rockets her name ID back to the forefront of the news at a time when she most needs it, and motivates the Pro-Choice base of both parties to really show up and show out this November.  Yes… in the real world, there are still Pro-Choice Republicans in Texas, the very people who Wendy Davis is counting on to win in 2014.

One more calculus that may have been made by the Davis campaign here.  Even more important than what and who everyone is talking about, guess who they are not talking about?  The correct answer is Greg Abbott.  In a critical time for the Republican to be connecting with voters over his personal story of tragedy followed by triumph, Davis has managed to stop Abbott’s momentum dead in its tracks.  As the old saying goes, ‘All politics is local’.  But Wendy Davis is proving right now that the best politics is personal.

 

 

 

Houston, Houston Politics

Houston: METRO Reconsiders FLEX Service

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All summer long, Houston area residents have had the opportunity to learn about Transit System reimagining… the complete restructuring of METRO’s local bus network.  If done right, the plan will connect residents to more job centers and points of interest than ever before, while providing a significant improvement in service frequency.  It’s an ambitious goal, but the agency believes they are almost ready to remake public transportation in the nation’s fourth largest city.

However some parts of the original draft present concerns, particularly converting large swaths of Northeast Houston from fixed route service into FLEX zones… basically a hybrid service between fixed route and METROlift.  This plan has generated some concern from affected community members, and blogs such as Texas Leftist.

But the latest reimagining update shows that METRO is reconsidering the draft proposal on FLEX, based largely on community input. In addition to the original draft, there are now some proposed alternatives to FLEX, including entirely fixed-route options.  Here’s a rundown of the new plans, excerpted from METRO’s update…

1)  Original Draft Plan

Flex option 1

2) Reduced Size Flex Zone
Flex option 2
3) Fixed Route Service (optimized for Cost) 

flex option 3

4) Fixed Route Service (optimized for Coverage) 

flex option 4

(Excerpts from METRO’s full update on reimagining)

First it’s really good to see METRO’s willingness to incorporate so much of the feedback within their updated presentation. It shows that the agency is truly concerned with giving Houstonians and multi-city residents a system that works best for them.  Secondly, the expanded options give the public a greater ability to choose what works, instead of being forced to adjust to an unfamiliar new system when it is implemented.

METRO also admitted (after this blog’s original suggestion) that ridership on the 52 Hirsch north of Mesa Transit Center was high enough to justify the retention of a fixed route.

Given that Northeast residents will be the ones most affected by reimagining, METRO’s careful consideration on these plans is needed and appreciated.  Northeast Houston may decide that a FLEX option is what works best for them… they may not.  But at least now they have more information on the matter.  We’ll see what is adopted in the final plans, but kudos to METRO for getting this far.

Texas Politics

Wait… How Much Is Texas Losing By NOT Expanding Healthcare?

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This is something that I’ve written on previously, but now some professionals have given more comprehensive numbers to prove what we know to be true. Texas is losing out big time by not taking any form of the ACA Medicaid expansion.  Here’s more on this shocker from the Dallas Morning News…

We’ve heard the arguments before. Advocates of expanding Medicaid, with the federal government picking up at least 90 percent of the tab, say it’s the humanitarian thing to do — and makes good sense, as the new billions of federal Medicaid matching money will generate new jobs. Opponents such as Gov. Rick Perry and state GOP leaders say there’s no guarantee the feds can make good on their promise down the road, given Washington’s big budget deficits. They also cite fears that once an entitlement’s offered, it’ll be hard to yank back. That could imperil state finances, warn the critics, who also fret about fostering more government dependency.

What’s new is someone has put a price tag on what taxpayers in the 23 holdout states, such as Texas, will pay to expand Medicaid in 27 other states and the District of Columbia.

The bottom line: Between 2013 and 2022, federal taxpayers in Texas will cough up $36.2 billion for the expansion’s cost elsewhere.That’s in addition to forgoing $65.6 billion of new federal Medicaid matching money, which would’ve generated $34.3 billion in additional Medicaid reimbursements for Texas hospitals, according to Urban Institute researchers.

So basically… by not expanding Medicaid or creating an alternative option, the state of Texas will lose over $136 billion dollars.

That’s worth repeating in a bigger font.

By not expanding Medicaid or creating an alternative option, the state of Texas will lose over $136 billion dollars.  

Sorry for yelling, but this blog can’t even describe how simply surreal the Texas TEApublican attitude is about Obamacare.  But even beyond the loss of money, Texans will suffer a greater loss by not improving our healthcare system… the loss of lives.  By refusing expansion, TEApublicans will voluntarily cripple hospitals all across the state once the ACA funding cuts kick in. Many hospitals may be forced to close down entirely.  That’s fewer hospitals to serve a rapidly growing state… growth which is propelled predominantly by low wage, no benefits employment.  Under these circumstances, Not expanding Medicaid means more Texans are going to die.

Despite all of these mounting factors, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and a bevy of other TEApublicans have vowed to never, ever, ever take the ACA expansion.  It’s an ill-fated stance, but they have stuck with it anyway throughout this election season.  Eventually, Texans must take them at their word that they do not have the state’s best interests at heart here.

Meanwhile if Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte are elected, they have every intention of finding a way to expand healthcare in the state of Texas.   They will not leave our state’s hard-earned tax dollars to be given away to people in other states.  Now that we finally have a monster price tag with this issue, let’s hope that it gains more traction during the remaining parts of election season.

Here’s the main point… This is 2014, and Obamacare is real. No longer do we have to banter about some “boogeyman bill” that’s going to kidnap your  doctor like a thief in the night. Texas doesn’t have to wonder what would happen if we expand Medicaid… We can see for ourselves by just crossing the state line. People in Arkansas are living the reality of healthcare expansion right now, and the system, while not perfect, is working pretty darn good. So it’s time for the TEApublicans to make a choice. Either put Texas first now, or get out of the way. This November, I’m hoping for the latter.

Houston, Houston Politics

Policing Issues– Cameras Will Help, But What Next??

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In the wake of recent protests in Ferguson, MO., there has been new attention placed on law enforcement interactions with citizens across the nation.  The increased scrutiny is also causing organizations like the Houston Police Department to quicken some of changes that they may have had planned down the line.  For HPD, those changes start with body cameras.  Here’s more from James Pinkerton of the Houston Chronicle…

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland is asking City Hall for $8 million to equip 3,500 police officers over three years with small body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement and residents as a way of improving accountability and transparency.

Last December, McClelland announced a pilot program that fitted 100 officers with the recording devices at a cost of $2,500 per officer, explaining that body cameras were more likely to record officers’ contact with residents than dashboard cameras in patrol cars.

[…]

Proponents of body cameras – roughly the size of a pager that can be clipped to the front of a uniform shirt- say the technology can be key in lowering use of force by police and citizen complaints. However, the effort to equip additional officers with the devices faces uncertainty as Mayor Annise Parker’s administration acknowledged Wednesday it is having trouble finding money to pay for the project.

The addition of body cameras has had some dramatic effects on other police forces, some of which have seen as much as an 88 percent decrease in complaints filed against the force within one year of deploying the technology.  Perhaps the best part of camera use is that what is records is objective… protecting good the good parties and exposing the bad on both sides.  They don’t take sides between the officer or the person filing the complaint… but merely show the truth of all altercations.    After the horrific and wholly unnecessary assault of Chad Holley, Houstonians already know the difference that one camera can make.

Cameras are a big step in the right direction, but they won’t solve all of the issues with contemporary policing.  HPD, and all area law enforcement agencies can do much more to make the region safer.

There is much more examination to be done on how, when and why police officers engage in brutality, and/or make the decision to take a life.  Many citizens assume from basic gun training that the police know to prioritize non-lethal force when interacting with a possible assailant. But as Dara Lind of Vox recently discovered, this is simply not the case with most law enforcement interactions…

In principle, when a cop fires a gun at a citizen, it’s so the officer can neutralize the threat — he’s not shooting to kill, per se. But in the two seconds that a cop actually has to make a decision, the most certain way for him to neutralize a threat is to aim for “center mass” on the civilian’s body, which is likely to be a lethal shot.

Cops in Richmond, California, have to go through firearms training once a month. But Chief Magnus says that even with that much training, the conditions an officer faces — everything from the stress of a confrontation, to the weather and the lighting — make it impractical for an officer to aim a shot somewhere other than the center of the body. “The notion that it’s possible to shoot somebody just to the level that they’re debilitated — to shoot a gun out of somebody’s hand, to shoot them in the leg — that is the stuff of TV and movies. That’s wildly unrealistic.”

Magnus’ department has a good track record when it comes to lethal force — Richmond officers haven’t killed any civilians since 2008. (Officers shot five suspects during that period, but they all survived.) But he says that once an officer has decided to use a gun at all, he’s deciding to use lethal force — and he needs to accept the consequences thereof. Even if the goal isn’t to kill the civilian,  “you have to accept that that is a very real possibility.”

But the question is whether the officer is thinking about questions of responsibility. That’s not something the force continuum teaches — it just talks about what’s authorized, not if there’s a better way to do things. Nolan, the former union official turned criminologist, thinks there’s a second level of questions that department policies don’t ask — leaving it up to the public to make sure they get answered: “Not only was it authorized and justifiable, and do we support it. But was it, under the circumstances, appropriate and necessary and warranted?”

Of course the culture of police militarization is bolstered, even self-perpetuated by the over-abundance of guns in the United States. Police would not have to always assume the worst if the country’s lawmakers were brave enough to pass sensible gun reforms.  But until that occurs, there will continue to be intense pressure on police to make very difficult judgement calls when out on the streets.

As addressed above, it may be time for a culture change in how police administer the use of force so that they can account for the safety of all parties, instead of just assuming every interaction will escalate into a deadly threat.  For these changes to happen, citizens must first raise the issue repeatedly in public forum. No better time than now, as we approach election season, to shine the light on how to improve law enforcement.

For more on body cameras, see Off the Kuff and Hair Balls– the Houston Press Blog.

Politics, Texas Politics

Leticia Van de Putte Launches TV Campaign

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State Senator Leticia Van de Putte continues with another huge step in her historic campaign to be Texas’ first Female, Hispanic Lieutenant Governor. Today the Democratic candidate released her first major statewide TV ads.  Here’s more from the Van de Putte campaign via press release…

San Antonio, TX — This weekend, Leticia Van de Putte is releasing her first two television ads, one in English and a separate ad in Spanish. The 30-second spots are a significant buy in multiple major media markets, as well as markets with a dominant Latino population.

In “Twice,” Leticia Van de Putte directly calls out Dan Patrick, who voted twice against our kids. Patrick’s cuts to our neighborhood schools in 2011 resulted in the loss of 11,000 teacher jobs. In 2013, Leticia worked across the aisle with many Republicans to put Texas first and support our students. Despite bipartisan support for our neighborhood schools, Dan Patrick voted against our kids — again.

In “Respeto,” Leticia Van de Putte shares about the respect that every Texan deserves. Leticia introduces her immigrant grandmothers; as well as the service of her mother, a teacher, and that of her father, a veteran. Texans never give up, and Leticia — a mother of six, grandmother of six, pharmacist and a State Senator — commits to continue the fight to protect the future of our kids.

The aspirational nature of “Respeto”  speaks deeply to a community whose voice has long been lacking in Texas statewide politics.  “Twice” does a great job of straddling the lines of presenting negative information on the opponent, while managing to be a net positive ad. Touting her strong bipartisan record and unique family story, these ads seem to have all the right ingredients for success.

With six weeks to go before the first votes are cast, it’s impossible to predict just what kind of impact will be had from these spots.  But by getting out ahead of her opponent Dan Patrick with strong ads, Leticia has assured that the first “big move” is hers.