One by-product of the economic slowdown in the US is that fewer dollars are being funneled into Mexico.  Mexican banks say remittances of US dollars to our amigos’ coffers are down almost three percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Remittances are vital to Mexico’s economy, the country’s second-largest source of foreign income after oil exports. But the bank said it expects little or no growth in remittances by year’s end. In addition to the slowing U.S. economy, migration experts blame the drop on the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration.

Uh-oh.  I see another excuse brewing for not enforcing our immigration laws:  We’re going to destroy Mexico.

PS - Who are the “migration experts” and how do you get to be one?

If you enjoy fast food from time to time, you may want to begin checking your burgers for lemony-freshness.

SANFORD, Fla. — Eyewitness News discovered a popular Sanford fast food restaurant that’s accused of storing food on the floor inside the men’s restroom.

“The bread was stacked sky high to the ceiling, plus it was only about 12 inches from the men’s commode,” said former customer Willie Jones.

Never fear, fast eaters, for local government is on the case:

Unfortunately, [health inspectors] don’t know how long the Sanford Checkers kept both bread and cups in a bathroom that was quickly cleaned as Eyewitness News arrived Tuesday.

Anyone for dessert? I hear the toilet cakes are a local specialty.

A Town Hall meeting was held at Cy Fair College (part of the Lone Star College System in North/Northwest Harris County) Tuesday night.

I missed the first 30 minutes of the meeting because for some reason, I thought it was at the Berry Center.

By the way, the Berry Center is huge… How big is it?

Big enough to take you 20 minutes to figure out the big Town Hall Meeting you are looking for, isn’t there.

Anyway, I walked in 30 minutes late and missed the first presentation. The place was packed.

I’m going to try and put in as much of the information I was able to hear/make notes of. But I am not a stenographer, therefore, not able to capture every word accurately. If you have any additional information I may not have covered either accurately or completely or at all, please put it in the comments. Thanks!

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The first person I heard was Paul Bettencourt. The problem that I have with Paul is that every-time I start listening to him, I just about have a brain aneurysm. Today was no different.

Bettencourt referred to a presentation (I missed) by Dr. David Anthony, the Superintendant of the Cypress Fairbanks ISD. Cy-Fair ISD is in the middle of a huge financial crisis because it is no longer getting back as much state allocated money. Cy Fair is one of the biggest/fastest growing districts in the state and yet it is not getting enough money to keep up with that growth. Dr. Anthony is considering abolishing the Homestead Exemption. This would help the financial crisis but start a different financial crisis with just about each and every taxpayer in the district. Dr. Anthony does not want to do this, so we need to contact him and support him (not wanting to do this).

Bettencourt mentioned that there are 400 taxing districts in Harris County. Ouch! How does anyone keep up with that?

Bettencourt shared with the us that he received a communication from Austin right before the meeting that Harris County has not raised appraisals enough! That’s right, Austin is getting on Harris County’s case to raise tax appraisals even higher! (I think I just lost my right frontal lobe…)

Bettencourt said that you should protest your tax assessment. Harris County now has a system that is cutting edge. iSettle is on HCAD.org; it allows the taxpayer to conduct a good bit of the tax protest via computer. You can find out more about it here.

Paul had a lot of great slides showing how the Appraisal Caps has kept homeowners from really getting hit. The Appraisal Caps help; but a 5% cap would be better!

The next subject was the Business Tax. Senator Patrick had sent the comptroller a letter asking that the due date for monies be pushed back some more. Her response to Senator Patrick is that those monies are important to education budgets and are “spoken for”. Bottom line, the people need to contact as many lawmakers/leaders as possible to get them to understand how onerous and difficult this tax is on businesses.

The Business Tax is going to really hit a lot of busninesses hard. The reason why it was structured the way it was is so it could avoid being an “Income Tax”. When you do look at the amounts being paid and how it is being applied, you can’t help but think this is a new “Income Tax” for Texas. Senator Patrick is concerned that a lot of businesses may be very adversily hit.

The next subject matter was immigration. When asked, almost everyone in the room raised their hand in agreement that immigration is one of the top two issues facing us today. John Colyandro of Texas Conservative Coalition gave a presentation on the issues with immigration. The point of the presentation was what the State of Texas could do to curb illegal immigrants in the state (as opposed to waiting for the federal government enforcement).

One of the issues that will be tackled in the next legislative session is to make it a law for voters to have a picture ID. The Supreme Court ruled that the Indiana law mandating a photo ID in order to vote was Constitutional.

It was explained that if you want to vote in Mexico, you must have a picture voter ID. (An example was shown in the PowerPoint presentation.) One of the proposals made is to put citizenship status on all Driver Licenses. Right now, there is no formal verification of citizenship with regards to citizenship status; it is under the “honor system”. If you say you are citizen, then you are given a voter registration card.

One slide showed the following statistic between Mexico and US voting registration (keep in mind, Mexico has picture ID):

Mexico (2006)

95% of Mexicans are registered
68% vote

Texas (2006)

78% of Texans are registered
26% vote

It seems to me that if Mexico could do that, why couldn’t Texas? Why is it such a terrible thing to ask for a photo ID?

After this presentation, Debbie Riddle got up and spoke about trying to get together a Citizens Task Force to look at the budget. How it would work is each person (citizen) would be assigned to look at very small parts of the budget and dissect it with a small tooth comb. The goal is to become an “expert” on that part of the budget and actually testify before the legislature about it.

The goal is to look for savings.

Just as a side note, this is an excellent idea. This seems to be an off-shoot of the idea that Glen Reynolds a/k/a Instapundit wrote about in An Army of Davids. The idea is that technology and communication are helping the little guys get together and fight the big guy.

Rep. Riddle is looking for volunteers. If interested, call her office.

Wayne Christen got up next to talk.

By the way:

HI WAYNE!!!

(Wayne wanted to be mentioned somewhere )

Wwayne first mentioned that we need to get involved in the voting process. 20-25% vote actually vote. If more would actually vote, we could take back our government and make them represent us.

He also mentioned that over $110 million was sent to the border counties. Since then, crossovers (those that crossed over the border), have gone down 45%. Major crime in the border area has gone down 65%. When border enforcement is done, there is a downward turn in crime.

Next, the Americans for Prosperity gave the Defenders of the American Dream award to Dan Patrick. He received an “A+” grade based on his voting record.

Dan spoke some more about Immigration. He wants immigration; legal immigration. Immigrants should be paying $5,000 to get here legally, not to a smuggler.

He went on further that Conservatives are positive. We want positive things, we are not negative.

He is working for things for the next generation, not the next election.

Lastly, there was a Q&A where audience members could get up and ask questions.

The subjects covered were the Margins Tax, illegal immigration, The Blocker Bill and taxing abilities of Harris County Emergency Services District (”ESD”).

Frankly, I had no idea about how the ESD worked. My brother is a long time Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Dept volunteer, so I take a lot of time in trying to understand the system. I think more information, perhaps a meeting about the ESD, would be worthwhile all by itself.

By the time the meeting broke, it was 10:00.

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The Cy-Fair campus was quite beautiful! It was tranquil and serene. I was quite taken aback that such a beautiful campus was built just a few years ago, and has nothing to be embarrassed about in terms of architecture and surroundings. Any person should be quite proud of coming here…

It was time to leave the campus; on my way out I was able to take one last picture of the Barry Center.

Does anyone see anything “wrong” with this picture?

Cy Fair College @ Night
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Middle age has made me more of a cynic than I would like.

When I was a kid, the policeman was your friend, incapable of doing wrong.  The government was here to help you.  And the system worked.

I’ve accepted those days are gone forever, and I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.  In fact, I continue to be amazed by the brilliance and foresight - and the timeless warnings - of those irrelevant dead guys known as our founding fathers.

Yes, they were visionaries, and dreamed of the greatness that their country would achieve.  They riled and inspired.  But make no mistake:  They were just cynical enough to keep their senses razor sharp.  And nowhere did they show that more than in their thoughts on government.

Thomas Jefferson knew that when “the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”  He warned against an “energetic government,” which he said is “always oppressive.”

Thomas Paine recognized that government,  ”even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”

And George Washington was even more blunt:  ”Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

Our ancestors knew it is not disloyal to be wary of our government; instead, it is essential.

But they also knew that our survival depends on us taming and using government to avoid chaos.  It requires us to suspend, or at least control, our cynicism and anger to make the system work.

I was again reminded of the fine line we walk with last week’s acquittal of several New York police officers who shot and killed an apparently unarmed young black man outside a strip club the night before his wedding.

Our feelings about our society sometimes depend on the day of the week.  People want “justice” when they perceive a grievous wrong has been done.  They demand indictments and trials.  And they revel in the American Way - so long as things turn out Their Way.

We have “the greatest judicial system on earth” until it fails us.  When L.A. police officers were found not guilty of criminal assault in the first “Rodney King trial,” blacks took to the streets in riots and vandalism.  When O.J. Simpson was cleared in the murder of two people, whites shook their heads and grumbled about the country going to Hell in a handbasket.  Whether “justice” is served often depends on exactly whose ox gets gored.

This week’s example brings us to - who else? - the Rev. Al Sharpton.   Sharpton is  crusading for federal charges against the officers (some of whom, by the way, are black) because their acquittal means to Sharpton that the system is broken.  And now, he has outdone himself, virtually labelling Barack Obama an Uncle Tom for having the gall to urge, of all things, non-violence.  According to the New York Post:

Barack Obama made a call for nonviolence in the aftermath of the Sean Bell verdict - infuriating the Rev. Al Sharpton, who accused the presidential candidate of trying to “grandstand in front of white people.”

Obama made the rather reasonable observation that ”resorting to violence to express displeasure” was “completely unacceptable and counterproductive.”  Sharpton said no one had been violent, and was apparently miffed that Obama might suggest things stay that way.

 ”[Obama] issues this statement and not a single rock had been thrown,” said a source. “How does the candidate of change ask people to accept a verdict that is unjust?”

The source said Sharpton had hoped Obama would “side with the Bell family” and not use it as an “opportunity to grandstand in front of white people.”

Forgive me for being, well, cynical, but doesn’t that sound awfully close to a prelude to justification for violence as a reaction to the verdict?

While Sharpton and Congressman John Conyers are forming their “federal strategy” on how to deal with the case (translation: pressure on the Justice Department to indict the cops on federal charges), it would be nice if “Reverend” Sharpton joined Obama in seeking calm rather than more or less implying that violence is inevitable.

To be sure, there are miscarriages of justice, and we need to strive always to prevent them.  But that does not mean that every time someone is acquitted of wrongfully harming a black man (or any particular person), the system has failed and we need to attack it.   If trials are only and always a vehicle simply to announce the guilt of the defendant, we might as well be the Soviet Union under Stalin.  If we consistently reject the authority of our courts, we risk anarchy - which can hardly serve us better.

So I have to thank Al Sharpton for reminding me that, as often as I get frustrated with the workings of government, including the courts, there is such a thing as going too far.  And while I remember our founding fathers’ admonitions to keep an eye on our government, I also remember their labor in creating one that can, and usually does, work.

Then again, if you’ve already passed the point of no return, there is always good old Patrick Henry:  “If this be treason, make the most of it!”

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Dawn Wolf Design– LST’s full-service graphic designer of choice. Talented, professional, competitively priced; a generous LST volunteer, we could not recommend her more highly. | 713-984-9200 | website

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New York City - Nate Beeler, editorial cartoonist for the Washington D.C. Examiner, has won the prize for April 2008 in editorial cartooning from internationally recognized cartoon authority, Texpat, a contributor at the prominent and authoritative news and current events blog, Lone Star Times.

Click here for enlarged version.

With his poll numbers tanking and superdelegates waffling, Barack Obama is “outraged” about his spiritual adviser, marriage ceremony officiator, children’s baptism officiator and pastor’s worldview.

“I’m outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday,” Mr. Obama said, speaking to reporters here today. He added, “I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am.”

Heh. Unfortunately, it contradicts nothing that the spiritual adviser, marriage ceremony officiator, children’s baptism officiator and pastor has said from the pulpit through the years while Barack either slept in the pew or had ear plugs in. Suddenly the guy that was supposed to open his campaign ceremony with a prayer is treated as a leper.

“What particularly angered me is his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks was somehow political posturing,” Mr. Obama said. “Anybody who knows me and anybody who knows what I’m about knows that I’m about trying to bridge gaps and I see the commonality in all people.”

Bridging gaps with lies. Sounds like a new country song. I’m guessing that it will be awhile before we see another photo op like this.

Why is it that reading a column written by the Houston Chronicle’s Lisa Falkenberg invariably leads to head shaking while chanting Lisa, Lisa, Lisa? When she isn’t busy telling us it is wrong for law abiding citizens to protect their liberties with force, she’s busy telling us that we shouldn’t be concerned with open borders. Today’s installment is about the open borders, snarkly titled “Ignorance is worse than Immigrants“.

To back up her assertions today, she uses a report that is quite possibly the worst report ever produced under the authority of the great State of Texas, the farce that Carole Keeton Strayhorn produced shortly before she left office. Officially titled “Special Report - December 2006 - UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN TEXAS: A Financial Analysis of the Impact to the State Budget and Economy“, it claimed that illegal aliens were actually a financial boon for Texas.

The Comptroller’s office estimates the absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our Gross State Product of $17.7 billion. Also, the Comptroller’s office estimates that state revenues collected from undocumented immigrants exceed what the state spent on services, with the difference being $424.7 million.

Lisa is quick to mention that number in her rebuke.

The sales and property taxes paid by as many as 1.6 million illegal immigrants in Texas provided $1.58 billion for the state. They seem to have paid back what they took, plus $424.7 million.

But she completely glosses over the fact that the reports states that local governments are in the negative by a billion dollars. Just one paragraph removed from numbers she cited, we find this in the report:

While state revenues exceed state expenditures for undocumented immigrants, local governments and hospitals experience the opposite, with the estimated difference being $928.9 million for 2005.

But those numbers are meaningful only if you believe the underlying assumptions of the report itself, which are so flawed that the report is rendered meaningless. If Lisa had just read through the report, she would have seen this. Or if she had researched it just a little bit, she would have found hundreds of criticisms of the report. But no, it supports her political viewpoint, so she uses it without giving it a second thought!

Of the many critiques of this report, one that stands out was by El Gabo Gringo. It stands out because he was one of the first and he noted two quick reasons why we shouldn’t trust this report in his normal, easy to understand style. Unfortunately, he stopped blogging about a year ago but his quick takes are still available.

Using the data in the report itself, he quickly calculated that illegal immigrants are responsible for a drop in per captia income, which is really the most important economic indicator for an individual.

So if the Comptroller’s report is correct, if illegal aliens vanished tomorrow, our GDP would go down by 17.7 Billion. Out of a total state GDP of $837.5B this represents a decrease of 2.1%, yet this is accompanied by a per-capita GDP increase of 4%.

So the report itself states that individual Texans would be better off if illegal immigration was eliminated. But that is only if the report can be trusted. Which it can’t. Because, as El Gabo pointed out, the underlying assumptions were patently false.

What they are saying is they get their numbers (the $17.7 billion) by estimating that an illegal alien has the same economic impact as an American citizen of Hispanic descent. They are lumping in my friends that have college degrees and 6 figure salaries designing microchips with the illegals who come with no education, don’t speak English (and in many cases can’t write even in Spanish) and who work entry level (or below minimum wage) jobs.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa.

There’s a lot more in her column that is blatantly wrong, including the notion that we shouldn’t mention “illegal” in a crime report. Much like the Chronicle has stopped using the color of skin when describing an assailant. Nonsense.

I do agree with her on this:

Perceptions aren’t always reality.

Lisa, your perceptions aren’t even close to reality.

If you have concerns about our hardened, ruthless enemies the Iranians, you can rest easy. If push comes to shove, a B-52 full of cluster-bimbos over Tehran will dispatch our foes to the nether regions of decadence, whence they shall trouble us no more.

A joke? Hardly:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A top Iranian judiciary official warned Monday against the “destructive” cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.

Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi said in an official letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi that the Western toys was [sic] a “danger” that needed to be stopped.

Operation Bimbo Drop is proving to be a stunning success.

“Undoubtedly, the personality and identity of the new generation and our children, as a result of unrestricted importation of toys, has been put at risk and caused irreparable damages,” he said.

Intercepted communications reveal that The Great Satan has been corrupting Iranian youth with plastic infidel boobies for some time now.

In 1996, the head of a government-backed children’s agency called Barbie a “Trojan horse” sneaking in Western influences such as makeup and revealing clothes.

Administration critics are often quick to point out that our intelligence agencies do not have any “boots on the ground” in places like Iran, but this story reveals that we have, in fact, gone those critics two better with large numbers of boobs on the ground. And this is to say nothing of the marketing potential:

• Burkha Barbie
• Jihad Barbie
• Bazaar Bomber Barbie
• Zionist Tool Barbie
• Whore of the Great Satan Barbie
• Osama bin Barbie cave playset
• Mahmoud and Barbie Martyr Palace with 72 Virgins (sold separately)

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Dawn Wolf Design– LST’s full-service graphic designer of choice. Talented, professional, competitively priced; a generous LST volunteer, we could not recommend her more highly. | 713-984-9200 | website

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This is why the voters of SD-7 elected a true conservative to office.

Senator Dan Patrick sent a letter to Comptroller Combs last Friday asking what’s the rush in collecting the new business tax. Noting that accountants and business owners across the state are still trying to figure out the tax and the fact that many businesses will be facing a huge and unexpected payment in three weeks, Patrick urged Combs to delay payment until Oct 15th.

“I was against this tax plan from day one and did all I could from outside the legislature to stop it in 2006. Now that I’m in the legislature I have a duty to do all I can to help business owners across the state,” said Patrick.

Senator Patrick raised serious complaints with the franchise tax including the May 15 deadline. “The idea that this tax and report was due only 30 days after the federal filing date of April 15th was absurd to begin with. The fact that it taxed businesses that didn’t even make a profit was obscene. The reality that this new business tax is stifling our businesses and bankrupting our school districts is the last straw. This was not a well thought out piece of legislation,” stated Senator Patrick.

Senator Patrick is now convinced that swift and dramatic changes are required as the business community across the state begins to feel the impact of the new franchise tax structure. “I am going to work to repeal this tax in the next session and find a better solution for taxing businesses more fairly,” said Senator Patrick. “If we can’t slow this thing down, then I will ask Governor Rick Perry to call a special session.”

“The State of Texas is preparing to double its business tax revenues and we can’t wait until 2009 to make sure we aren’t shooting our economy and school districts in the foot.”

Sen. Patrick’s Letter to the Comptroller in PDF

Page 1 of Sen. Patrick’s Letter

Page 2 of Sen. Patrick’s Letter

If only there were more like Dan Patrick in the state legislature!

The United States Supreme Court has upheld Indiana’s law requiring a photo identification to be entitled to vote, over the objections of the ACLU, and many Democrats, that the law discriminates against minorities, the poor and the elderly.

The Court approved the law by a 6-3 vote, with Justice Stevens writing that the requirement was “amply justified by the valid interest in protecting ‘the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.’”  Stevens’ opinion was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy.

Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas were the other three in the majority, though they wrote separately to express their reasoning.  Scalia called the law “eminently reasonable” and said it did not impose any significant increased burden on voters.

In his dissent, Justice Souter argued that the law “threatens to impose nontrivial burdens” on thousdands of Indiana citizens.  Justice Breyer and ACLU extremist Justice Ginsburg were the others in the minority.

It once would have seemed unthinkable to argue that preventing vote fraud by requiring a photo ID was somehow unreasonable.  But in this contentious and partisan atmosphere, such laws have routinely been challenged by the ACLU and other liberal groups.

Thank goodness the Supreme Court has restored a bit of sanity in this area.

Texas legislators, are you listening?

It has taken me a while to get this together, there is so much to think about and write about. I think you can tell by how long it is. Sorry about that.

My initial quick post from Friday (with pictures) can be found here. If you want to see the material written as part of the “live blogging”, you can find it here on the HoustonPBS: Houston Have Your Say.

So here we go!

Part I

First of all, I want to compliment KUHT PBS 8 Houston for their top notch planning, programming and help!

The more I examine or “un-pack” this in my mind, the more amazed I am at the participants in this program. A lot of work went into the planning of this and the picking of the people to participate. It showed. Every person was there for a reason, for important reasons, and I must commend the organizers/planners of this show for putting so much time, effort and outright “heart” into it. It showed.

Secondly, the people in the background cannot be complimented enough; they deserve it. They were available to answer questions and help out on a moments notice. Laptops were provided and were ready when we arrived. However, I am one of those throw backs that is pretty cripple when it comes to using those thumb pad thingys instead of a good old fashioned mouse. (Until laptops come with mind reading software, I am stuck with the mouse.) I asked the guy that was helping us if there was a mouse available. He said there was, and voila, a mouse was produced in short order. (It is the little the things that make everything so much better!)

The “Moderator” of all of this, Patricia Gras, was amazing to watch. I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect what I saw. She was positively flawless. She was able to go from one person to another media, such as phone call or email, without skipping a beat. I realize she had a lot of help in the background, but still the mark of a professional is that it did not show. She listened, responded and kept on. I also like the fact she kept asking for “solutions”; more on that later. (By the way, if more media/journalist types came off as professional and respectful as she did, I think the trust factor would go up significantly.)

I also want to mention that my co-blogger in this, Charles Kuffner, was a complete gentleman. Charles is well regarded in the Liberal/Democrat circles, and frankly, I was a bit on edge about meeting him. Those feelings were completely misplaced. He was nice and kind and had a great sense of humor. Once you can laugh with someone, everything else is just a detail. Humor heals. (Frankly, it is something our leaders need to learn: laugh. Mostly, they need to laugh more about themselves and their opponents. But that is another subject and post.)

My mother, who watches PBS for the BBC programming, called this, “one of the most important programs that PBS Houston has ever put on” and mostly, “it was important for the community to have”.

I would have to agree, which brings me to Part II.

Read more

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