Doing My Part For The Left

People have been wondering why the blog has gone quiet for so long.  Just as we made history electing Barack Obama, my entire world turned upside down.  I have been living the Chinese Blessing/Curse “May you live in interesting times.”  The following diary is a combination of the six diaries I was able to post on other blogs while I had no access to my own.

Hard times have hit us all at one time or another. We have seen the high unemployment numbers and the dismal forecast for economy in America. I never thought as a college graduate I would have an inside view of the day to day struggles of the homeless but I am there and will share my experiences so that people might gain a better insight and understanding of the plight we are facing in America. [Read more →]

It’s Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance’s Weekly Blog Round-Up. This is your pre-Thanksgiving edition, so enjoy it while you bake your pumpkin pies, stuff your turkey, or whatever your holiday traditions are.

jobsanger notes that some racists seem to think this election gives them permission to once again publicly display their sick beliefs in Racist Reaction To The Election.

The Texas Cloverleaf discusses the upcoming study that may result in a mileage based user fee rather than a gas tax for drivers in the US.

John Coby at reports the Texas Ethics Commission Fines State Representative Carl Isett $25,000

BossKitty at TruthHugger watches, with the rest of the world, America: A Spectator Sport or Soap Opera

Off the Kuff analyzes the precinct data for Harris County and declares the coordinated effort to get out the Democratic vote there a success, and that the Democratic base was everywhere you looked.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme claims the religious right exposes its dark underbelly with opposition to Prop 8.

McBlogger takes a moment to talk about the deficit, the economy and bailing us out. Because it’s, you know, important.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson post on the issues the Texas GOP is grappling with post election in, The GOP brand is tarnished in Texas.

Barnett Shale Radioactive Waste is Bone-Seeking Carcinogen When Airborne and Has 1622 Year Half-Life TXsharon at Bluedaze.

Environment and education have been greatly on the mind of the Texas Kaos community this week. Front pager TxSharon gave us a heads up on Brett Shipp’s expose of the Texas Railroad Commission on Bill Moyers Journal Friday, and diarist liberaltexan kept an eye on a Faith Based Initiative: Fundamentalist Religious Attack on Science in Texas.

Neil at Texas Liberal says that Galveston was a disaster before as well as after Hurricane Ike.

Vince at Capitol Annex poses a couple of questions about Tom Craddick’s Secret Police and asks exactly why former State Rep. and ex-deputy parliamentarian Ron Wilson is running around the capitol with Parliamentarian Terry Keel and serving as a media escort/hatchet man for the Speaker.

The Texas Blue looks at how Tom DeLay’s gerrymandering of the state has actually made Texas weaker on the national level than a fair apportionment would have.

The passing of Jim Mattox prompted a few reminiscences from Texas bloggers and corporate media. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs assembled a few, ahead of Monday’s memorial service.

It’s Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round-Up. This week’s edition is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

Oh, and don’t forget to vote early!

The Texas Cloverleaf helps spread the truth about ACORN.

McBlogger takes a look at our own Congressman from Clear Channel, Mike McCaul, and discovers that he is indeed different.

jobsanger points out the dysfunctional aspect of this year’s Republican campaign, first in Palin Disagrees With McCain, and then in Repubs Can’t See The Reality.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is sad to recognize that while America’s Foreign Policy Suffers - Unemployment Soars - Religion Goes Toxic America’s short attention span has been grabbed by personal survival and courted by political and religious philosophies.

As early voting begins Eye On Williamson charts the early voting numbers in Williamson County. HD-52 Democratic candidate Diana Maldonado continues to rack up the endorsements and launches her latest ad, taking on the insurance companies and high homeowners insurance.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted the second part of his Who I Would Have Supported For President series. The latest entry covered the years 1824-1852.

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News is keeping the early voting info up for the voters who need it but did notice that all the PUMAs have come home to Obama.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that the Texas Association of Business has finally pleaded guilty in connection with its 2002 violations of Texas’ campaign financing laws and that State Rep. John Davis (R-Clear Lake) and State Sen. Kim Brimer (R-Fort Worth) have taken big bucks from a company the TCEQ fined more than a quarter million dollars last week for polluting.

CouldBeTrue from South Texas Chisme has some hints about how to get your specific sample ballot. Be prepared!

Off the Kuff analyzes the high level of early voting in Harris County so far.

XicanoPwr analyzes the GOP attack on ACORN and the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters carried out by Paul Bettencourt in Harris County.

John McCain describes the economy as a drive by shooting. The Texas Cloverleaf calls it a whack job.

North Texas Liberal reports on Sarah Palin’s $150,000 shopping spree at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, and discusses why it could signal the end for her and John McCain’s faltering campaign.

As Democrats in Harris County appear on the verge of something historic, the trends in the extraordinary early voting turnout portend the same blue surge that the rest of the country
is about to experience. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs has the deets.

refinish69 at Doing My Part For The Left wants everyone to say thanks to Barbara at Avenue Gallery- NOT!!!

nytexan at Bluebloggin points out just how McCain and Palin are alike with their FEC violations. We’ve gone from 8 years of the “emperor has no clothes” to “the empress has new clothes.” The GOP is priceless. Palin is following in McCain’s footsteps for FEC violations, what a pair of mavericks. CREW Files FEC Complaint Against Palin. And, for McCain, apparently he and Palin have an affection for Russia; McCain’s New FEC Violation: Asks Russia For Campaign Money.

George at The Texas Blue wants you to know your job’s not over just because you voted. We look at the early voting excitement across the state and remind you that it’s critical
to tell your friends and family to vote as well!

The Republicans in Texas are so sure of losing in November that they have started stealing Obama yard signs. It shows the desperate lengths they will go to just to try and stop freedom of speech for anyone but one of their own. One Obama supporter had their yard sign stolen three times and decided to do something about it.

Tired of having Obama signs stolen from their neighborhood, they decided to make one that can’t be (easily) taken; and spray-painted a giant 14-foot Obama logo on their front yard. If your yard sign is stolen, report it to the police. It is a crime. Set a camera or video recorder with a trip wire to your sign. Place a sign underneath your sign saying you will make another donation to the Obama Campaign if your yard sign is stolen.

For the past few weekends, I have been working with the Travis  County Democratic Party registering voters and doing visibility on South Congress Avenue.  Part of the visibility work I was doing was doing was merchandising Obama Stuff for visibility.  The wonderful owners of Uncommon Objects on South Congress had given us permission to set up a table in front of their shop.  The owners and staff are great supporters and were extremely helpful.  I wish I could say the same for Barbara.

Barbara, who is not the owner of Avenue Gallery, took it upon herself to complain nonstop because I was on the sidewalk selling Obama Stuff.  The first weekend I was there Barbara came out and said I was blocking her shop even though I was not in front of her store but I moved the table further down to try and keep the peace.  On Saturday October 25th, Barbara called the police on me but would not come out and say anything to me in person while the police were there.  On the 26th, Barbara again called the police and when they arrived I offered to shut down the site.  Once Barbara, the police officer, and some of the staff from Uncommon Objects discussed the situation, it was decided by all (including Barbara) that I could continue to be on the sidewalk as long as I moved to the other side of Uncommon Objects doorway.  Barbara then started making calls and complaining about the situation to the President of the South Congress Merchant’s Association so that they called the police.  The police officer returned and told me of the situation and I agreed to close down immediately.

I want every Democrat in Travis County to make a point of thanking Barbara at the Avenue Gallery for her support by stopping by and saying Thanks but No Thanks, I will do my shopping elsewhere on South Congress.

Avenue Gallery

1510 1/2 S Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 442-3600

At the same time, please be sure to stop in at Uncommon Objects and thank the owners and staff for their great support and friendship.  We need to support shop owners who support us.

Uncommon Objects

1512 S Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 442-4000

In Orlando, Florida yesterday, Hillary Clinton announced the new theme for the Obama Campaign and the Democratic Party while campaigning with Barack Obama. This is our year to speak out against the corruption and cronyism of the past 8 years under the Shrub Regime and elect Democrats from the White House to the Courthouse. We can also let them know in Arizona, California, and Florida that we do not agree with the divisive politics of hatred and bigotry that is the corner stone of the Republican Party.

Early Voting in Texas is having recor breaking turn out. Check out some of the totals for some counties:
Denton 9,165
Harris 38,000+
Travis 24,000+

These numbers are much higher than have been seen in any previous election in Texas. We need to keep the heat on and get as many people to vote early as possible. Email or call your friends to remind them to vote early!!! We can all vote early and then get busy helping make sure that others vote early by volunteering to make phone calls or block walk for candidates in our respective counties. Many campaigns need our help. We can assist people in Arizona, California and Arizona to defeat the marriage Amendments that the religious wrong are trying to pass. We can make calls to swing states for Obama. This our time to shine as Democratic Activist who care and want to take our country in a new direction.

Some of the great Texas candidates who need our help are:

Barack Obama

Rick Noriega

Larry Joe Doherty

Diana Maldonado

Valinda Bolton

Sherrie Matula

Donna Howard

Woodie Jones

These are some of the great candidates from other states who need our help:

Annette Tadeo

Kay Hagen

Glen Nye

Al Franken

Scott Kleeb

There are many other great candidates who need our help- way too many to list in a single blog post.  Your best bet is to get involved in the campaigns in your area and work as hard as you can during these last two weeks.  If you are in an area where the results are clearly in your candidates favor or they have no opponent, then you need to get busy helping the candidates in other areas.  We can make a difference and we have to do this.  This is our election season to set the tone for the next 4 years on the national level.

Sherrie Matula is running for Texas Legislature from District 129. Sherrie is the right choice to help take back the majority in the Texas Ledge and actually represent all Texans and not just special interest.

Here is a chance to meet Sherrie and some of the other great Democrats from the Houston area.

Voter registration in Texas ended with record numbers of voters being registered. Early Voting starts on October 20th and goes through October 31st. Getting out the vote is one of the most important things we can do to make sure our voices are heard in November. We cannot allow another election to go by and not speak out for the change our country and our state so desperately needs. [Read more →]

October 6th is the last day to register voters for the 2008 elections.  It is time for everyone to get involved and make a difference.  Anyone in Texas can be sworn in as a deputy voter registrar and register voters.  All you have to do is go to your county Tax Assessor office and be sworn in.  Voter registration is at an all time high across the nation but we can do better with your help.

Follow me below the fold to find out all the ways you can help register voters and help make this the most historic election in Texas history. [Read more →]

My good friend TX Sharon is sick of the hype about Sarah Palin and all the lies and spin from the Republican Party.  See how TX Sharon is speaking out.

Read MY Lipstick: White Woman 4 Obama! Join me in this action.

Are you as sick as I am of hearing the media say that white women won’t vote for Obama?

Are you as sick as I am of hearing white women say that Palin is just an ordinary mother, just like them?

Do you remember when white men were saying they could have a beer with George Bush?

ENOUGH!

Please join me in this effort to prove the media wrong! Send me pictures of your windshield!

If I can drive around in the reddest county in Texas with this on my car, surely you can join me.

If you are not a white woman, please feel free to edit appropriately.

White Black Woman 4 Obama.

White Latina Woman 4 Obama.

White Brown Woman 4 Obama.

White Woman 4 Obama.

And etc.

I loved Sharon’s idea so much that I created a design for this campaign.

Read My Lipstick

Texas is on the ver4ge of going Blue in a big way.  Texans are sick of the lies and corruption of the Republican Partry.  The Texas GOP has spent their time in power helping out big business, regulating what people do in their own homes and stripping women’s rights while claiming they have family values.  Family values does not includde throwing children off SCHIP to balance the budget, writing discriminationn into the Texas Constitution, or doing the largest land grap for the Trans Texas Corridor which only the Republican Party supports.

2008 is the year for Democrats to take back the majority in the Texas Legislature and actually represent Texas Families.  Tom Craddick and his cronies have had their time at the helm and have taken Texas oni a course of destruction.  They are more concerned with concentrating their power and shoving a bible down everyone’s throat than in governing.  This cannot be allowed to continue. There is a way you can help change the course of Texas and help Texas become the great state it can and should be.  You can volunteer to help out the candidates running in your area, register voters, talk to your family and friends.  You can also donate to help make Change possible.

The following email was sent by Rep, Trey Martinez Fischer:

The other day I saw State Senator Kirk Watson’s $5,000 “Adopt a Candidate“ match program and it made me think — How can I help Democrats take back the Texas House?  I liked his $20.08 idea and thought how can we really show our commitment to putting Democrats back in control…

So, what did I decide to do? Create a match program of my own.

For every contribution to the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee(HDCC), I will match dollar for dollar up to $20,000.08. That means OVER $40,000 will go to our Democratic House incumbents and challengers and, more importantly, will help Democrats take back the Texas House.

Today, I am challenging you to help me take back the Texas House and Turn Five Red Seats Blue!

Why am I doing this? I have seen the polls. I have talked to our Democratic candidates. And I don’t know if you have noticed, but the Austin insiders are paying much more attention to our side of the aisle. But, what they don’t know is that this election is not about them, it’s about restoring our faith in government. This election is about every Texan’s desire for more comprehensive healthcare, less expensive college tuition, and better performing schools.  We have a rare and unprecedented opportunity to take back the Texas House of Representatives. I know that we can win these races, but we need your help.

We can take back the House, and I am doing my part to make that happen.

Some people like to talk a big game, but actions always speak louder than words.  So, I will put my money where my mouth is and hope you will do the same.  Moreover, I hope after you make a contribution that you will contact your nearest Democratic State Representative and challenge them to get involved.  I will certainly be calling them because this election is too important to sit on the sidelines.

I could have given my money to any candidate, to any organization, but I chose to give it to the HDCC. Here’s why:

• As you may know, the HDCC is the only organization in the state dedicated solely to winning back a Democratic majority in the Texas House of Representatives.
• Since 2003, the HDCC has been instrumental in protecting incumbents and electing new Democratic members to the Texas House. In 2006 alone, all 13 endangered incumbents won re-election, plus Democratic challengers defeated 6 Republican incumbents.
• The HDCC targets their resources effectively, spending their money on polling, direct mail, staff support and GOTV.
• Most importantly, the HDCC knows how to win hard races.

Right now we are just FIVE seats from taking back the majority in the Texas House. We can only win them with your help.

Show me that you’ll put your money where your mouth is, too. Click here to give $250, $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can to the HDCC today. Remember, I will match it dollar for dollar.

Together, we will walk the walk and talk the talk and do our part to take back the Texas House.

Sincerely,

Trey Martinez Fischer
State Representative, District 116

Join Rep. Fischer and help take Texas Back!!!!

Vince Leibowitz from Capital Annex gives you 10 reasons to give John Davis the BOOT and elect Sherrie Matula:

As a blogger and political observer, one of the greatest moments of this election cycle has been watching Sherrie Matula’s campaign down in House District 129. Sherrie is a people-powered, grassroots candidate that has exceeded the expectations of “the establishment” and is in an excellent position to defeat incumbent State Rep. John Davis (R-Clear Lake).

Recently, Annie’s List has taken notice of Sherrie’s campaign and is matching every contribution made to her campaign dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 until Saturday, September 13.

Since the match is a $10,000 match, we thought we would give readers 10 Good Reasons To Give To Sherrie Matula. However, the more we thought about it, the more we realized that it would be more fun to give our readers 10 Reasons To Give John Davis The Boot. (Believe me, if we had time, we could give you 10,000).

So, please read the below, and help Sherrie meet her matching funds goal by contributing today.

1. John Davis Thinks a 44 percent increase in college tuition for Texas families is “reasonable.” Yes, John Davis actually said that. He said that the spike in tuition costs to Texas public colleges and universities of almost 50 percent was reasonable. Of course, when you illegally spend $1,500 on a pair of boots with campaign cash, that probably is reasonable to you.

2. John Davis Voted For The Trans-Texas Corridor, Tolling Existing Roadways, Allowing Private Toll Roads, And Double-Taxing Texans. John Davis voted for every piece of legislation in the quartet of bills passed over two sessions which created, authorized, and set up the funding mechanisms for the Trans-Texas Corridor, and also allowed for the tolling of existing roadways already paid for by taxpayers, as well as private toll roads. [House Journal, 67th Day, 78th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 608, pp. 2963-2964; House Journal, 77th Texas Legislature, 76th Day, p.3500; House Journal, 77th Texas Legislature, 77th Day, p. 3557; House Journal, 77th Texas Legislature, Day 75, Record Vote 446, p. 3333].

3. John Davis Voted To Create An Entire State Agency To Protect The Business Interests Of One Of His Big Contributors. John Davis voted to create the Texas Residential Construction Commission by voting for House Bill 730, which helped provide cover and protection from lawsuits for Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, one of Davis’ major contributors. [House Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Day 56, Record Vote 364, p. 1950].

4. John Davis Puts Corporate Welfare Above Human Welfare. John Davis voted for legislation which created the Texas Enterprise Fund [SB 1771, 77th Texas Legislature], a giant corporate welfare fund administered through the Governor’s office. [House Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Day 80, Record Vote 778, p. 4559]. But, he voted against helping keep kids out of institutions and voted to continue roadblocks that prevented the elderly and disabled persons from getting Food Stamps. Davis voted against Amendment 25 to CSSB 1, 77th Regular Session, which would have provided appropriations (tied to HB 1213) to establish family-based alternatives to the institutionalization of children who could not remain with their birth parents. This amendment also included a measure to “kill” electronic finger printing for Food Stamp applicants. Electronic finger printing, which cost the state more than $3 million a year is a huge hurdle that the elderly and disabled must overcome to get Food Stamps. And, the program has uncovered relatively little duplication or attempted fraud for the money it costs. [Amendment 25, CSSB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 77th Texas Legislature, Day 40, Record Vote 126, p. 1065].

5. John Davis Took Money From Lobbyists For Accenture And Passed Legislation To Help Them Privatize Health And Human Services Call Centers. John Davis voted FOR House Bill 2292, the sweeping re-organization legislation that combined 12 HHS agencies into five. [House Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Day 57, Record Vote 367, p. 1981]. The legislation also: (1) brought about cutbacks in Medicaid benefits and coverage; (2) brought about full-family sanctions to TANF; (3) mandated the use of call centers to determine eligibility for HHS programs, and required private contractors to operate those call centers; (4) gutted the requirement that children in schools and child care facilities must be immunized; (5) defunded the Medically Needy program; (6) provided for “estate recovery,” meaning that the assets of deceased Medicaid patients could be taken by the state to pay for those patients’ care; (7) eliminated income disregards for CHIP; (8) established an asset limit for children in families above 150% FBL within CHIP; (9) provided for a shorter coverage period for CHIP; (10) reduced benefits packages and increased premiums and co-pays; (11) provided the potential for privatization of state schools and state hospitals; (12) eliminated mental health professional services for adults on Medicaid; (14) created a “healthy marriage development program” for TANF recipients.

6. John Davis Took Money From Companies That Run Privatized State Mental Hospitals, And Then Led The Charge To Make It Easy To Privatize Texas’ State Schools And Hospitals. John Davis took contributions from Joey Jacobs, CEO of Psychiatric Solutions, and contributions from PSI’s federal and money from PSI’s lobbyist, Marsha M. Jones. He then led the charge to make privatizing state schools and hospitals easy. John Davis introduced Amendments 137 and 138 to House Bill 2292 [House Bill 2292, 78th Texas Legislature, Regular Session] which would have allowed the state to privatize state schools if they could be run at a mere ten percent cost savings [Amendment 137, CSHB 2292, (2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Day 56, p. 1923] and privatize state hospitals if they could be run at a mere ten percent cost savings [Amendment 138, CSHB 2292, (2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 78th Texas Legislature, Day 56, p. 1924]. As we’ve seen with Accenture, privatization doesn’t work with health and human services.

7. John Davis Voted To Allow Radioactive Waste To Be Buried In Texas. Davis voted for HB 1567 [House Journal, 77th Texas Legislature, Day 53, Record Vote 316, p. 1713-1714] which allowed for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste from Texas, Maine, and Vermont, within Texas. [Bill Analysis, CSHB 1567, 78th Texas Legislature].

8. John Davis Thinks The Air In Harris County Is Great! John Davis has voted several times against clean air. And, as a matter of fact, Davis actually thinks that air quality in Houston is better than it was 30 years ago: “It’s much cleaner than it was 20-30 years ago. I believe we are on the right track. I don’t want to choke off industry,” he noted in a debate in 2006. John Davis voted against funds for daily “fence-line” monitoring emissions pursuant to Title V of the Clan Air Act. Davis voted to TABLE the amendment, meaning he cast a vote AGAINST clean air. [Amendment 16, CSSB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 44th Day, 79th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 228, pp. 1453-1454]. John Davis voted to TABLE an amendment to the General Appropriations Act which would have funded Diesel Emissions Reduction Programs. John Davis voted FOR dirty air and AGAINST clean air. [Amendment 98, CSHB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 46th Day, 80th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 242, pp. 1344-1345]. John Davis Voted Against Clean Air And Against Helping Non-Attainment Areas Improve Air Quality. John Davis voted to TABLE an amendment to the General Appropriations Act which would have required the installation and operation of ambient air quality monitors in non-attainment areas . John Davis voted AGAINST cleaning up the air in his own district! [Amendment 100, CSHB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 46th Day, 80th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 243, pp. 1346-1347]. All the while John Davis was voting against clean air, he was taking money from Texas’ top polluters, including $9,000 from TXU and its PACs. TXU planned to build at least half a dozen smoke-belching coal-fired power plants in Texas, which resulted in a protracted environmental battle before the TXU/KKR merger. Additionally, TXU’s existing Texas power plants rank among the top 50 in the nation in terms of overall pollution and specific pollutants. Davis has also taken money from AEP, which runs the nation’s dirtiest power plant in terms of mercury emissions and is situated in Texas.

9. John Davis Killed Responsible Sex Education. Davis MOVED TO TABLE an amendment to CSSB 1, 79th Texas Legislature, which would have allowed the Department of Health to contract with agencies that provide abstinence-based sexuality education that included information about contraception which was age-appropriate and medically accurate. Davis’ motion resulted in responsible sex education being scuttled. [See House Journal, 79th Texas Legislature, 44th Day, Page 1464]. Davis is also against accountability for abstinence-based sex ed programs. During debate on the General Appropriations Act in 2005, an amendment was proposed which would have required that agencies receiving state funds for abstinence education report back on the programs’ successes at reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases/infections to the Department of Health. That amendment was amended to stipulate that general revenue funds could not be used to compile the reports. Rep. Davis voted AGAINST the amendment as amended on final passage. This was a vote AGAINST accountability in abstinence-based sex education programs. [Amendment 38, CSSB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 44th Day, 79th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 233, pp. 1464-1466]. John Davis also voted against requiring that family planning service agencies receiving state money be required to abide by federal regulations. Davis voted to TABLE an amendment which would have required any provider receiving a grant of state funds appropriated under the GAA to comply with the Family Planning Policy Manual for Federal Titles X and XX. [Amendment 45, CSSB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 44th Day, 79th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 234, pp. 1467-1468].

10. John Davis Voted Against Texas Veterans. Davis voted to TABLE an amendment which would have ensured that veterans, their dependents, and survivors, receive all due benefits from the Texas Veterans Commission. [Amendment 23, CSSB 1, (Hse. 2nd Rdg.), House Journal, 44th Day, 79th Texas Legislature, Record Vote 231, pp. 1458-1459].

The Texas Republican Party can see the handwriting on the wall.  Tom Craddick, the embattled Speaker of the House, had his staff talk to the Libertarian Party to beg them to pull their candidates.  We have also had a Cornyn staff member playing sock puppet while on the Senator’s payroll. Thanks to Matt Glazer at Burnt Orange Report we have the latest attempt by the Texas GOP to lie to Voters and hold on to their power,

Tom Craddick’s Former Assistant Parliamentarian’s Online Identity Revealed

As readers may have noticed, we at BOR have taken a particular interest in the open SD-17 special election (you can read most of the posts here) and have raised over $1,000 for Chris Bell.

Now it seems like someone else is interested in the race, too: Ron Wilson.

In fact Wilson, talking about himself in the third person, had something to say to our readers.

You would stand a better chance being raped by a water buffalo than having any accurate information on Ron Wilson or Tom Craddick.

Former Craddick assistant parliamentarian Ron Wilson seems to not only be interested in SD-17, he seems to be working with Republicans to recruit and keep questionable candidates and the ballot.  Wilson is also spinning the Republican talking points and defaming Democratic candidates and their supporter.

Before I go much further, it’s time to let everyone know that Ron Wilson is not Baby Snooks as one reader speculated. That did get me wondering though, about the writing pattern of user “D. Davenport” who has only shown up a handful of times to attack Democratic House Leader Jim Dunnam, defend failed candidate Latreese Cooke, defend Donna Keel’s brother-in-law and Craddick Parliamentarian Terry Keel, and Craddick D Sylvester Turner.

D. Davenport has an extensive understanding (although faulty interpretation) of House rules.  D. Davenport has written almost exclusively in Austin, but seems to know a lot about Houston elected officials and races.  Most interesting, D. Davenport has made it a point to lie about matters of public record including payments and statements on the House floor.

At one point in June of last year, D. Davenport said, “You have no idea who you are corresponding with nor do you need to know.”

After some investigation, we can tell you we know who D. Davenport is.

D. Davenport is none other than Ron Wilson.

That’s right, former Assistant House Parliamentarian and State Representative Ron Wilson is the one who has been attacking readers and calling people racists on Burnt Orange Report.

Like all our registered community members, Ron Wilson provided an e-mail address when he registered.   The e-mail he provided only had two results when you google it. One site is the state bar of Texas. The other is a car forum, where a guest, “ron_wilson” talks shop about high end cars.

This is almost exactly how we found the secret identity of David Beckwith (aka Buck Smith).

The point here is that D. Davenport, like Buck Smith is a paid political operative.  They concealed their identity, picked fights with our community members, and expected to get away with it.  We don’t go looking up every user account. (For one, there are over 4,000 users and besides that, we generally expect people to play fair.)

In fact, if a reader hadn’t speculated that Baby Snooks was Ron Wilson, we never would have found out who D. Davenport was.  I wouldn’t have looked through his 20 comments to realize a pattern.

Because of “D. Davenport’s” comments, one reader called to tell me Ron Wilson admitted to recruiting Stephanie Simmons to challenge Chris Bell in Senate District 17 — saying simply, “What do you think about what we did to your boy Bell?”

How do you feel about that? We don’t like it and we don’t like “Buck Smith” or “D. Davenport” style deception on Burnt Orange Report.

If you don’t like it either, please feel to give a dollar for every comment Buck Smith and or D. Davenport has made on BOR to either TexBlog PAC or the House Democratic Campaign Committee (HDCC) to make sure we can end this sort of deception in Austin.

That’s 20 comments from Ron Wilson and an impressive 84 comments from David Beckwith.

It really is sad to see how desperate the Texas GOP and infuriating that the Texas GOP has so little regard for Texas Voters that they will lie, cheat and steal to stay in power.

It’s Monday, and that means it is time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance weekly round-up. This week’s round-up is compiled by Vince from Capitol Annex.

Two Bartonville (or is it Argyle?) Republicans are indicted for voter fraud, a 3rd degree felony. The Texas Cloverleaf follows the story.

Vince at Capitol Annex notes that right-wing Republican, anti-immigrant, 14th Amendment-hating State Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) is taking steps to launch a campaign for governor in 2010.

jobsanger points out that McCain may not want to use the “P” word but still wants to privatize social security, and tells us the investigation into Palin’s ethics is getting messy (and weird).

Harry Balczak has another Reminder to You People over at McBlogger. In this edition, Joementum Loserman, disrespectful Republicans and their hatred of Veterans.

Off the Kuff looks at some polling data and suggests there isn’t much room for a Palin bounce, especially in Texas.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees Republican love/hate over the Hispanic vote. Meanwhile, some Hispanics say a pox on both your houses.

Texas Liberal asks just how is it the government could come and take you gun.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is suspicious, What Is Condeleeza Rice REALLY Doing Over There?, and why the media puts this on the back page.

nytexan at BlueBloggin points out the recent activity with the McCain Palin team in Alaska is the continuation of the Bush administration corruption in McCain Palin Troopergate Stonewall Is Bush Cheney 2.0

dembones at Eye On Williamson posts a synopsis of this week’s candidate forum in HD-52, Maldonado and Daniel make their case before Hutto EDC.

Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole declares himself a dead man walking, and PDiddie at
Brains and Eggs notes his pending exit with a heartfelt “so long, and thanks for all the fish”.

refinish69 at Doing My Part For The Left tells everyone who is who’s fired up.

North Texas Liberal listens in on Republican commentators Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy as they tell us how they really feel about McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin when they think the cameras are off.

The Travis County and Texas GOP came home from the Twin Cities after spending a week wearing costumes and separating themselves from the Worst President in history talking about they are excited and ready to win elections.  They are excited by McCain who is so old he cannot remember how many homes he owns and Sarah Palin who wants to ban books and force her religious views on America.    In Travis County the GOP is excited by Donna Keel who is Terry Keel’s daughter-in-law and a personal friend and supporter of Tom Craddick the embattled Speaker of the Texas Legislature.

The GOP  wants to claim they are the party of change when they are responsible for the war in Iraq. The GOP is the party of fear, hatred and prejudice.  If you listened to the insanity in the Twin Cities, you heard McCain’s cronies still blaming 9/11 on Iraq after that lie has been disproved many times.

The Republican Platform

The Travis County Democratic Coordinated campaign proved they were fired up after the two conventions by having a kickoff event Saturday September 06.  The event start at 9 am and by 10:30 am there were over 1,000 happy and determined Democrats working together and planning on victory for November.

Democratic Volunteers

Excited Democrats

Keeping Travis County Democratic

The excitement felt by Democrats in Texas is not only about Barack Obama and Joe Biden but about our chances of taking back the majority in the Texas Legislature. The Democratic ticket for November has many candidates running for various offices who will win. They will win if we can keep the momentum from the March primary going at full force. They will also win because people are thoroughly disgusted by the lies, corruption and total disregard for the average person that is so rampant in the Republican Party.

Sen. Kirk Watson & Rep. Mark Strama

Sen. Kirk Watson has decided to adopt some house candidates and is willing to match donations for several up to $5,000.  Rep. Mark Strama is up for reelection and is a voice of reason in The Texas Ledge.  Mark is one that is being targeted by the Travis County Republicans but with our help and support he will win again.

Rep. Donna Howard

Donna Howard wants to continue working for the betterment of Texas.  Donna has worked to make things better for Texas families and children and with our help and support she can keep making a difference.

Constable Bruce Elfant

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