Posted on 05/25/2006 6:40:39 AM PDT by jpsb
The GOP is self destructing before our very eyes.
I fear you may be right.
He doesn't want the job, wants to stay with his family. To bad he is exactly what we need in Congress.
That is the first I heard of that.
Actuall No, I was actually going to give you some information to help that has worked for a lot of people. As in the case of many counties, the more protests that are filed, the more local appraisal policies change. (I've actually seen it here where after a few years of disputes in my district by a lot of active people, I have seen a 5% drop in appraisal value while my actual resale value has increased about 12%.) Remember, the appraisal district's #1 job is generating revenue. Nothing else. If they are spending time on reevaluating appraisals and responding to disputes, they suddenly don't feel as 'liberal' with our rates.
Not for a while. Freshmen senators are back-benchers who have a ways to go to have any influence.
The Harris County Tax collector assessor, who is on the short list to replace Delay on the ballot agrees with Dan.
Who cares? If, by some fluke he gets dubbed to run for DeLay's seat, he will have nothing to do with Texas' tax policy.
They may have more influence then you think. Ever hear of Clout? They and a few others help found it. It stands for Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes. It is a grass root organizeation dedicated to property tax appraisal caps. It has over 22000 member households and has had over 151000 hits. http://www.clouttexas.com/
Republican Revolution Is Growing!
Edd Hendee 5/18/2006 Top
Dear CLOUT Members:
Last weekend the Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee comprised of 450 Precinct Chairmen - the real footsoldiers and non-com officers in our Republican Army - passed 3 resolutions which stung Austin and have really riled the party leadership. The strongly worded resolutions supported the 4 Harris County Republican Reps who voted against the Governor, criticized HB1 for lack of Appraisal Cap, and denounced the creation of the Perry/Sharp Business tax. This means a real revolution for the heart and soul of our party is brewing. But it's not just Harris County - and it's not just Texas either! Here is the Wall Street Journal's take on a landmark primary election this weekend in Pennsylvania
From the Clout website.
Even as a freshman he will have a lot of clout. And also do not doubt the power of owning your own radio station. You know the old saying about avoiding picking a fight with men who buy their ink by the barrel in politics.
Uh-huh. What is CLOUT's solution to Texas school funding?
Until you come back with that, who cares what they think?
It's easy to piss and moan. Providing solutions requires taking risks and gaining a consensus.
A few disgruntled extremists in Houston are not going to matter, in the long run.
What are they going to do? Vote for Kinky?
Nobody but Tom Craddock has clout in a body that meets every two years.
And Craddock will squash Patrick like a bug.
Soloutions there are several out there. But one thing is clear a large number of Texans are not warming up the Perry's solution in an election year. Try this for a solution. Limit spending grownth to inflation and population growth and institued a 65% solution that make every district spend 65% of its total budget on the classroom. Instead of the current about 50% average we ahve now. Do this and we will need no new taxes.
Can he squash his radio station? No. Will he like the backroom goings on public? Probably not.
"Friedman would turn Texas into a laughingstock."
Yeah, as if then "rookie" Governor Ricky boy didn't make Texas a national laughingstock when he vetoed 70-something bills with one stroke of his pen right after taking office; many of which were very good bills. But, he wanted to show everyone that he could sign his name and he was the big, bad governor.
As far as Kinky Friedman having no policy statement; where have policy statements gotten us in the past 15 years? We still have no plan for funding schools.
Maybe, sinkspur, it's time for some common sense in Austin and just give the politics-as-usual a rest.
Yes we do. The fact that you don't realize it indicates you're in exactly the demographic Kinky's gunning for.
Kinky's running is a PR stunt, designed to raise his profile for future books and public speaking gigs. He's not serious, has nothing except "how about a cigar in the governor's mansion" to run on, and has revealed that the "sap factor" is rather high in Texas.
You want the state to dictate to local school districts how they spend their money?
That's the domain of the school board.
People like you won't get off your lazy butts, go to school board meetings, and attempt to change things at the proper level.
Hey, why not have the federal government mandate how much money Texas schools ought to be spending where, since you're so hot against federalism?
Are you aware that Mr. Friedman spoke on behalf of a twice convicted murderer. The murders happened in the early eighties and the conviction was appealed (and lost) thus the murder was convicted twice! Friedman had met him while interviewing him for an article in the "Texas Monthly" magazine.
The most revealing quote Friedman made on his television interview after testifying says much about his character and his qualifications to be our governor: He said: "The defendant (Max Sofar) has earned his innocence; like a soldier who has been in Iraq or Viet Nam ... ".
I take offense at his comparing a twice-convicted capital murderer to a soldier who has been on foreign soil, in harm's way, doing what is honorable and meaningful and important and just. If avoiding punishment for his crimes while waiting for his appeals to move through the system has caused Max Sofar to "earn his innocence" then, according to Friedman's philosophy, Usama Bin Laden will be innocent of his crimes if he can continuing hiding out for a few more years.
Just remember the State introduced a photo of the kids' bodies lined up in a row, face down on the floor of the bowling alley. There WAS a witness to the crime, but he did not testify He was another kid/employee of the bowling alley who was also shot. The bullet entered one side of this kid's head and out another by his eye. Soffar's conduct left no witnesses capable of testifying about the crime!
I don't care for Perry or Strayhorn but I sure won't be voting for Friedman! If a twice - convicted murderer can sway Friedman, what could a bleeding-heart liberal do?
Don Imus' drinking buddy (although Imus actually quit drinking) has this to say about immigration:
Kinky also supports a guest worker program which would allow approximately 400,000 new guest workers per year. IOW, he's for amnesty. LOL!!
From the same website:
Kinky proposes several options that, if implemented, would bring new money into the education budget and improve the state of education in Texas:
Legalizing casino gambling ("Slots for Tots") to bring in billions per year,
Both he and Strayhorn would fund Texas education by legalizing gambling, which has a negative effect predominately on poor people.
Yeah, ole Kinkster is really a non-typical politician, ain't he?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.