Biden: They announced the unemployment figures nationwide. For the eighth month in a row, Americans have lost jobs. We have lost 604,000 jobs in a America, just this calendar year. We’re in a position where we had 84,000 lost jobs, shattered dreams, broken homes that occurred as a consequence of this loss of work just in the month of August. We now have 6.1 percent of the American work force idle. And you know what that means.
When a man or woman loses their job, they not only lose their income, they lose their sense of dignity, they lose who their identity, who they are. That’s how we identify ourselves. That’s how we’re brought up. That’s how in my neighborhood and yours, you’re identified. You’re identified by your willingness to work hard, your willingness to do the right thing, your willingness to show up every day and provide for your family. And so it’s not merely a lost job. It’s a lost sense of identity that occurs.
This ain’t your father’s Republican Party, by the way. This is a different Republican Party.
But, I’ll tell you, it’s not so much of what I heard in the Republican convention. When you heard John speak last night. It’s not so much what I heard, when I heard part of what the Governor had to say, the vice presidential candidate. It’s what I didn’t hear.
(Applause)
THE SILENCE - THE SILENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS DEAFENING. IT WAS DEAFENING. ON JOBS, ON HEALTH CARE, ON ENVIRONMENT, ON ALL THE THINGS THAT MATTER TO THE PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS I GREW UP IN. DEAFENING!
(Standing Ovation)
Ladies and gentlemen, THEIR AMERICA IS NOT THE AMERICA I LIVE IN. THEY SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN I SEE.
Ladies and gentlemen, literally, those of you, I can’t swear to this because I didn’t see every bit of every speech. But I asked my staff to check. Do any of you recall either candidate on the Republican ticket utter the phrase, middle class?
Biden: No!
Biden: Did any of you hear them utter the phrase, health care and how we’re going to help?
Biden: No!
Biden: Did you hear them talk about aid to get kids to college?
Crowd: No!
Biden: Did you hear them talk about aid to education?
Crowd: No!
Biden: Did you hear them putting more cops on the street to make us safer?
Crowd: No!
Biden: I didn’t hear a thing, a thing, about any of the things that matter to the lives of the people of my hometown of Scranton….
Rick Davis, John’s campaign manager, said two days into the convention, he said “this election is not about issues.” That’s what he said. And everything I saw at the convention demonstrated that.
It was about how well placed — and boy she is good — how a left jab can be stuck pretty nice. It’s about how Barack Obama is such a bad guy.
It’s about how in fact, how in fact, they got great quips. Man, they’re like the kids you know when you went to school and you were very proud of the new belt or the shoes you had, and there was always one kid in the class who said, “oh, are they your brother’s?”
Crowd: Yeah.
Remember that kid? That’s what this is reminding me of. ”Oh, I love your dress, was that your mother’s?”
You know what I’m talking about.
What do you talk about, when you have nothing to say?!
What do you talk about when you CANNOT EXPLAIN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS OF FAILURE?!
(Standing Ovation)
What do you talk about?! What do you talk about?!
You talk about the other guy.
Crowd: Giv’em Hell, Joe!
Biden: Remember what Harry Truman used to say. The crowd would yell, “giv’em hell, Harry.” And he’d say, “I’m not gonna to giv’em hell, I’m gonna tell them the truth, and they’re gonna think it’s HELL.”
At this morning’s “Power Breakfast” session of the Hutto Economic Development Corporation, Community Impact publisher John Garrett moderated a candidate forum between the Democratic and Republican candidates for Texas House of Representatives, District 52. Democratic candidate Diana Maldonado and Republican candidate Bryan Daniel made their pitch before a crowded room of local Hutto officials, small business owners and interested citizens.
Garrett posed questions about school vouchers, improving public schools, property appraisal caps, high-voltage transmission lines, transportation funding, state franchise and margins taxes, water management, re-regulating college tuition, the upcoming Speaker of the House race, voter identification and illegal immigration.
Please follow the link for a detailed report from the first head-to-head discussion between the candidates for House District 52.
(Ed. note: Community Impact reporter Patrick Brendel has provided us with links to the video from Thursday morning’s session. Those links have been added below.)
While from the standpoint of displacing homeowners and ultimately, for them - cheaper start-up costs (buying land) - the south was probably their preference from the beginning. Here’s a link to the text of the email Commissioner’s Valerie Covey and Cynthia Long sent out announcing their decision. After going through, again, an attempt to justify the need for this action now we get to the meat of the announcement.
After much study, we have also concluded that Highway 29 cannot be expanded on the existing road through the Liberty Hill area due to engineering and environmental issues and the exorbitant increase in the cost of the project. As a result, we have selected the southern bypass alignment from the Burnet County Line to Ronald Reagan Blvd. The selection of the southern alignment is also intended to minimize the amount of residential and business displacement in the area.
[...]
This SH 29 expansion will NOT be built until it is needed; construction would take place only when overall traffic volumes significantly increase, resulting in traffic congestion at both peak and non-peak periods. We estimate that the road would not be built for at least 15 years, depending on traffic counts and safety issues along the highway.
By working to preserve options for SH 29 today, we are able to focus on the purchase of land, rather than the purchase of land and buildings in an effort to reduce the cost to our taxpayers. We also believe that by informing people today about where the road will go in the future – at least 15 years into the future – everyone can plan better.
Notice there is no “need” for this road for at least 15 years. In the AAS Commissioner Long is saying something a little different.
Construction of Texas 29 is not expected to begin for 20 to 25 years, Long said, but the county wants to have a plan in place and land in hand before the need arises.
“We’d rather be buying dirt than buying dirt and buildings,” Long said. “Every day we wait will have an impact on more people and the bottom line.”
15, 20, 25, whatever it takes. But the AAS at least gave some time to those who live south of Liberty Hill.
The plans to expand Texas 29 through the mostly rural area has upset some residents, who don’t want a major highway through the area.
J.T. Cox, who owns land where the bypass would connect back to the current roadway, said he is “in total, 100 percent opposition” to having the highway bypass Liberty Hill and to the chosen route south of town because he thinks future growth in Liberty Hill will be to the north. He said the county would have to buy a little less than an acre of his land, and “I ain’t no willing seller.”
Cox also had this to say about the response he’s gotten from elected officials in Williamson County:
Judge Gattis: no return calls or emails
Sonny Gattis: no return calls or emails, especially when I did as instructed.
Valerie Covey: history
Cynthia Long: I’m thinking about running for her job
John Carter: can’t talk to me
State Sen. Ogden: pretty good talk from his secretary, don’t count
It’s doubtful that will surprise anyone. When faced with a tough issue most of these folks just hide and hope it goes away. That’s what happens when elected officials believe they can’t be voted out. While this deal is moving forward, it’s not done yet, and this key sentence from the AAS story shows out the only option left.
County commissioners are expected to vote on the transportation plan at the beginning of the year.
If this is to be stopped, the two incumbent commissioners on the ballot in November, (Covey and Lisa Birkman), can’t be reelected. If they’re no longer in office in January 2009 they can’t vote for it. Removing those two will show the three remaining on the court that citizens are serious, and will vote them out. So vote for Greg Windham, Mike Grimes, and Jaime Lynn in November to bring accountability back to government in Williamson County.
Greg Windham, Democratic candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3, is causing quite a bit of consternation among those who still support his opponent, Valerie Covey.
Below are some links for the claims made in the ad.
For a list of Covey’s most egregious campaign contributions click here. One of the “no-bid” contracts was with contributor Chiang, Patel, & Yerby, Inc., for over $4 million dollars, (see here, agenda item #18). The contract wash for creating the SH 29 Corridor/Toll Road plans. That she has not, so far, agreed to debate Windham is becoming legend. Here are her recent vote against a new county park, and low income housing (See June 4 issue of the WCS article titled, “County Pulls Money Our Of Sierra Ridge”) . And of course her support of the plan to turn SH 29 into a toll road through Liberty Hill is well documented.
The Hutto Economic Development Corporation, as part of it’s “First Thursday Power Breakfast” will host a candidate forum for the race for state house district 52:
This month, Hutto EDC is hosting a Candidate’s Forum with . . .
Diana Maldonado
and
Bryan Daniel
Moderated by John Garrett
Founder and Publisher of Community Impact Newspaper
Here’s the time and place:
When: Thursday, September 4 at 7:30 am Where: Holiday Inn Express
323 Ed Schmidt Blvd
Hutto, Texas
The Holiday Inn Express is located
behind Lowe’s
That’s really short notice, and that’s really early. Full invite here[.pdf]. I hear their is a possiblity of a live stream. Hopefully they’ll have it on YouTube as well.
Foiled again, Williamson County has failed its latest attempt to stamp out the use-of-force lawsuit Richard Graves v. Don Zachary. In 2004, Zachary, a WilCo sheriff’s deputy, nearly killed Graves by shooting him twice as Graves held a gun to his own head, threatening to kill himself; the deputy has argued in numerous motions that he believed Graves might have turned the gun on him. But, on Aug. 12, New Orleans’ 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld for a second time a 2007 decision by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks denying Zachary’s motion for summary judgment, which, if granted, would have ended the case. Now, the lawsuit is most likely headed back to Sparks’ court for trial. “This makes my week,” said a jubilant Graves. “All Graves has ever asked for,” said attorney Jeff Edwards, “is a jury of his peers to decide whether Zachary used excessive force. [WilCo's] done everything in their power to prevent this.” Though Zachary may appeal yet again, Edwards doubts that the U.S. Supreme Court would consider his appeal because “the 5th Circuit has applied the law correctly in this case.” Assistant County Attorney Steven Ackley, who’s defending Zachary, could not be reached for comment.
CouldBeTrue is happy for Webb County! Finally, the long sheriff’s primary is over and Martin Cuellar is the official sheriff-to-be. And, yeah, the AG is looking into the hinky first recount.
With Tom DeLay and the TRMPAC indictments back in the news, Off the Kuff conducts an interview with Cris Feldman, one of the attorneys who won a civil judgment against TRMPAC for its violations of campaign finance law in the 2002 elections.
Neil at Texas Liberal is glad to note that the Galveston County Democrats Club http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/galveston-county-democrats-club-is-working-hard-for-victory/ is, as always, working hard for all the people of Galveston County—Both on the mainland and on the island.
What is the linkage between radioactive waste dumps, smear ad campaigns and HD-52 Republican nominee Bryan Daniel? Dembones at Eye On Williamsonfollows the money trail back to Swift Boat financer, Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, whose latest smear campaign tries to link Barack Obama to ’60s radical William Ayers.
Quorum Report is reporting on a new poll by Opinion Analysis, Inc.
After testing some issues, Democratic pollster Jeff Smith says “there is a message path to a Democratic victory”
The snippet form QR shows that there’s quite a bit of undecided voters still out there, with both candidates polling at 35%:
New polling by a Democratic polling firm indicates Dems’ confidence that they can be competitive for the HD 52 seat being vacated by House Transportation Chairman Mike Krusee (R-Round Rock).
The poll, conducted by Opinion Analysts, Inc., showed the Democrat in the race, Diana Maldonado, tied with the Republican Bryan Daniel. They each drew 35 percent with the Libertarian Lillian Simmons drawing 3 percent.
As BOR points out in there analysis this is a huge change in Maldonado’s direction since a June IVR poll was released:
Diana Maldonado, TexBlog PAC’s first endorsed candidate, has made significant ground since an IVR Poll in June. She has had momentum, and now finds herself in a dead heat.
[...]
This is wonderful news. In an obviously crucial race, we clearly stand a good shot. If the momentum stays, Maldonado will win. Now is as good of a time as any to contribute or help out in any way. Because we can win. We need five, and this should be one of them.
With “undecideds” breaking overwhelmingly for the challenger, along with the demographic changes in HD-52 and the problems of the Republican brand, added to the momentum the Maldonado campaign has, HD-52 becoming a Democratic seat in the Texas House is looking better and better each day.
In their latest newsletter, the Hutto Citizens Group (HCG), has made it clear that Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Morrison will be responsible for the outcome of the next incarnation of the landfill contract with Waste Management, Inc (WMI). Giving him Dubya’s moniker of the “decider”, they’ve let him know that his future, as a commissioner is in his hands, and they’re watching.
Using a word from the vocabulary of President George W. Bush, it’s clear that Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Ron Morrison is now the “decider” regarding what will transpire regarding the county’s landfill north of Hutto.
The reason Morrison now has that status and authority is because three other members of
commissioners court—Pct. 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman, Pct. 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long, and Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey—have stated that they look to Morrison to take the lead regarding what the county will do on the landfill contract and permit, and they also have said that they will follow his lead. And Morrison has said nothing to indicate otherwise, thereby accepting the point-man status.
Morrison has been the “decider” for quite awhile now, at least since August 28, 2007, when
commissioners voted 4-1 to table the proposed, renegotiated landfill contract between the county and Waste Management (WMI). Apparently County Judge Dan Gattis doesn’t hold the same view as Birkan, Long and Covey regarding following Morrison’s lead, inasmuch as Gattis cast the sole dissenting vote on that motion to table and, in the opinion of the Hutto Citizens Group (HCG), appears to be acting in a ham-handed manner to get a majority of commissioners to approve a new contract with WMI. Based on media reports, it appears that a draft of the renegotiated contract will be brought up for a vote in commissioners court in late September or early October.
While this is Morrison’s “territory” and the other commissioners will, more than likely, follow his lead the other commissioners deserve blame too, because this is a county issue. And Judge Gattis, Sr.’s actions need to be seriously scrutinized because of the deep connections to statewide GOP players regarding this landfill contract from the beginning. How this all plays out will have a bearing on those players willingness to involve themselves in future Gattis family undertakings.
More than likely, as long as the current make up of the court is intact, any new contract that’s concocted for the landfill will be largely, if not entirely, beneficial to WMI. Of course it will include a few minor concessions to the citizens in hopes of placating them long enough, which is extremely doubtful, so that by 2010 they’ve forgotten about it and will again vote for Ron Morrison or some other Republican.
If the proposed contract which emerges is bad for the county’s citizens, taxpayers, the City of Hutto, and residents of the Hutto area, Morrison knows that to properly represent his constituents, he must vote against it and take the lead in stopping it from being passed.
If he does, then Birkman, Long and Covey will have some serious explaining to do if they don’t follow Morrison’s lead.
On the other hand, if Morrison, as the “decider” votes for a bad contract, he also should know that Gattis’ gag scenario no longer applies, so he’ll be able to look forward to a long and intensive public discussion regarding why he voted the way he did.
That’s the kind of accountability which accompanies being a “decider”.
Ron Morrison is on notice. We’re all watching now, and what he does from here on will directly impact his future.
The Austin Chronicle is now reporting on the IRS complaint filed against the Greater Round Rock Charitable Foundation (GRRCF) for a possible violation of its non-profit status:
Political friction is growing over the role played by a Williamson County’s chamber of commerce in the House District 52 race between Republican Bryan Daniel and Democrat Diana Maldonado, and it’s all to do with Daniel’s address.
The GRRCF has been quite successful at raising funds, building up more than $1 million in assests; and to their credit has been modest in their office accommodations. According to the Williamson County Appraisal District, the building at 206 East Main has only 704 square feet. If the building’s frontage on Main Street is any indication, Daniel is a prominent tenant. Lacking separate entrances is an indication that this property was not built to be sub-let. The arrangement appears as cozy as taking on a boarder in a one-bedroom apartment.
