The Texas 18th District Blog

Don’t we send them there and pay them to represent us.  Sheila Jackson Lee constantly reminds us that she is on the Homeland Security Committee among others. 

As Hurricane Gustav aims for the Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas coastlines we once again worry (if not panic) about the effects.  Remember it wasn’t a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina that flooded New Orleans and caused the devastation it.  It was the failure of the levees on Lake Ponchartrain.  I remember on Sunday evening seeing Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco telling everyone that the hurricane passed over and everything was fine.  They said they had contacted FEMA and told them officially the same.  I also remember the next day  the anxiety waiting to know if the levees would hold as the water in the lake rose from  the drainage of rain water.  They didn’t.  So 24 hours after the hurricane passed over the damage began.  Why?

Congress, the courts  and other government bodies long before Katrina made decisions that the bugs, fish and wild life were more important than the people of New Orleans. 

Read this.  New Orleans: A Green Genocide 

“As radical environmentalists continue to blame the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation on President Bush’s ecological policies, a mainstream Louisiana media outlet inadvertently disclosed a shocking fact: Environmentalist activists were responsible for spiking a plan that may have saved New Orleans. Decades ago, the Green Left – pursuing its agenda of valuing wetlands and topographical “diversity” over human life – sued to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from building floodgates that would have prevented significant flooding that resulted from Hurricane Katrina.”

And

 Greens vs. Levees
 ”With all that has happened in the state, it’s understandable that the Louisiana chapter of the Sierra Club may not have updated its website. But when its members get around to it, they may want to change the wording of one item in particular. The site brags that the group is “working to keep the Atchafalaya Basin,” which adjoins the Mississippi River not far from New Orleans, “wet and wild.”

“These words may seem especially inappropriate after the breaking of the levee that caused the tragic events in New Orleans last week. But “wet and wild” has a larger significance in light of those events, and so does the group using the phrase. The national Sierra Club was one of several environmental groups who sued the Army Corps of Engineers to stop a 1996 plan to raise and fortify Mississippi River levees.

The Army Corps was planning to upgrade 303 miles of levees along the river in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. This was needed, a Corps spokesman told the Baton Rouge, La., newspaper The Advocate, because “a failure could wreak catastrophic consequences on Louisiana and Mississippi which the states would be decades in overcoming, if they overcame them at all.” “

I heard on the TV today that since Katrina, the Army corps of Engineers has reinforced the levee bases and they are expected to hold.  I believe them.  I hope I am not wrong.

Hurricane Gustav appears is projected to make landfall in Louisiana just West of New Orleans, placing New Orleans on the “Dirty Side”. Projected rainfall for Southern Louisiana is predicted to be measured in “feet” of rain as opposed to inches. Several parishes are under mandatory evacuation orders.

All indications as are that Hurricane Gustav will make landfall as a Category 3 or 4 storm sporting winds of 115mph+. There’s no good reason for anyone to ride this one out in most of Southern Louisiana. This is a cataclysmic weather event that has the potential to destroy much of what is left of New Orleans. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to stay behind. Ships in the area of Gustav are reporting 47 ft waves. This one is real serious.

There will not be any local shelters offered in New Orleans and the mayor has urged everyone to get their “Butts” out. Anyone staying behind that survives is almost guaranteed to be without power, water, sewer, emergency services or renewable supplies for some time.

In reality, these facts probably apply to most of Southern Louisiana as opposed to just New Orleans.

As of 4am this morning the Louisiana “Contra-Flow” evacuation plan was enacted. Most highways are now open on both sides are now one-way out. See Louisiana “Contra-Flow” map below:

Houston residents, please try and convince stubborn relatives and friends anywhere in the southern half of Louisiana to bail out now at the last minute, while they have a chance and you still have contact. This one is not worth riding out for any reason!

Ken

What do Christians do in an election year with the choices at hand? How do we vote our faith in a moral way that expresses our best interest?

Down thru Anerican history from Thomas Jefferson through Bill Clinton the Democrats seem to have much more difficulty keeping their pants on and avoiding moral issues than the Republicans.

I was traveling through Australia as an Oil Industry Executive when the Clinton-Monica news broke and I was embarrassed to be American.

Just look at the latest “Edwards” news, playing around on his wife with cancer - the term “pathetic” becomes “non-descript”. 

Nothing much has changed here:

Obama is all out stark “free choice” where McCain has played his stance defining life at conception and subsequently backed that stance up by selecting a female running mate as vice president who chose to have a pre-known down-syndrone baby as her 5th child exclaiming that (paraphrased): “every child born is God given and has equal opportunity to make the world a better place”. Check me here, but I think that just happened.

You have to love that stance.. She is not only hard core “family”, but she is a hard core: “Political Corruption Cleanup Monster”, as demonstrated in Alaska already. That’s what McCain will charge her with in Washington as soon as they are elected.

That’s real change we can believe in!

The best “moral” vote the way I see it is the McCain/Palin ticket. I’d be willing to discuss that here with anyone who opposes my stance.

Engineer2

As an occasional visitor to the official website of the Congressman of the 18^th District of Texas (you can Google it—you know how), I see that the site has been revamped.

Maybe she found out I had been going around telling everybody that she had no e-mail link in her site. She also has several bullet points offering her help to constituents. It may be more of a dare than an offer, but better, in theory, than telephone numbers. At least, when you click “Send,” you get a greater sense of satisfaction than when you get a recording promising to call you back (dream on) or a surly staffer telling you to call the Washington office if you want to express an opinion on pending legislation. Washington response is usually pretty surly, too. She hasn’t called me back about “Drill Now,” even though she gave me her word that she would.

But let’s talk about the record to which the website points with pride. If you click on the “Legislation” button, you will find a list of 87 SJL initiatives, dating from January 1, 2007, the period of the 110^th Congress, as well as a list of 1,000 co-sponsored items. She is one busy lady! How many of her colleagues can boast of introducing 6 Resolutions and 14 bills on one day (1/5/2007)? Never mind that every one of them died in committee and not one had a co-sponsor, even though most are hard to oppose, such as, “Expressing the sense of Congress that the people of the United States should grieve for the loss of life that defined the Third Reich and celebrate the continued education efforts for tolerance and justice, reaffirming the commitment of the United States to the fight against intolerance and prejudice in any form, and honoring the legacy of transparent procedure, government accountability, the rule of law, the pursuit of justice, and the struggle for universal freedom and human rights.”

The only item that made it through to passage by the Senate was House Resolution 354, “Recognizing the 100th birthday of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th President, designer of the Great Society, politician, educator, and civil rights enforcer.” Who would bother arguing with that? Of 35 bills proposed, 11 “amend” and 1 “revises” (the title) of previously enacted legislation. Of these, 8 died peacefully, 1 was subjected to a subcommittee hearing before its demise and 3 were duplicates of other bills. That’s 0 for 12.

A favorite: On 8/1/2007, HR 6776: “To prevent hate crimes, to provide support services for victims of hate crimes, and for other purposes.” (Still pending in committee, as of 8/19/2008.) Now compare these: On 2/7/2007, HR 930: “To recognize the extraordinary performance of the Armed Forces in achieving the military objectives of the United States in Iraq, to terminate the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), to require congressional reauthorization to continue deployment of the Armed Forces to Iraq, and for other purposes.” Out of subcommittee, committee hearings held. On 10/31/2007, HR 4020: “To recognize the extraordinary performance of the Armed Forces in achieving the military objectives of the United States in Iraq, to encourage the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe a national day of celebration commemorating military success in Iraq, and for other purposes.” Huh?  (Both dead).

During the same period, John Culberson has introduced 12 items, Ted Poe 36, Nick Lampson 46 and Gene Green 55. Take a look at Green’s list because most of them are technical matters related to his district, which includes the Ship Channel and refineries. Lampson’s website says, “Sign my petition to drill.” Culberson, Poe, Lampson and Green all support drilling. No where on the Jackson-Lee website will you find the word, “drill.” All references to “energy” include the words “alternative” and “efficiency.” 

My friends, we are under-represented. How many of you have complained that the Lobbies control our government?  How many of you have said that your one vote doesn’t count?  Well, now is the time to make a change for the better in the Texas 18th Congressional District!  Vote, talk about voting, and get your friends and neighbors to vote FOR John Faulk or if you prefer to vote AGAINST Sheila Jackson Lee! None of us can afford to sit this election out! If you have a few extra dollars, donate to John Faulk. I promise you he will spend your hard earned money better than Sheila Jackson Lee spends our tax dollars!

You can help us send John Faulk to Congress in November, today.

Thomas Sowell’s Random Thoughts

“Now that the Senator with the furthest left voting record in the Senate and the Senator with the third furthest left voting are the Democrats’ nominees for President and Vice President, there will be great expressions of indignation over being “negative” if anyone dares call them “liberals.” Actually, leftists would be more accurate. ”

I have been drafting another post but when I read this I had to share it with you.  The guy is just so insightful and wise.  Its a breath of fresh air.

Here’s more:

“Although you can block unwanted phone calls from commercial sources, you cannot block automated phone calls from politicians, which will be inundating us this election year. Apparently the courts think that the right of “free speech” includes the right to impose that speech on an unwilling audience. Maybe we need a new Constitutional Amendment, guaranteeing “freedom from speech.” ”

“There are countries in Europe that would love to have their unemployment rate fall to the 5.7 percent unemployment rate to which ours has risen. Yet those who seem to want us to imitate European economic and social policies never seem to want to consider the actual consequences of those policies. “Unacceptable” is one of the big weasel words of our time– almost always said when the person who says it has no intention of doing anything, and so is accepting what is called “unacceptable.”"

Let’s hope we can have change, too.

Over night hurricane Gustav intensified beyond all predictions. It gained strength jumping from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 115mph. Within 24hrs the pressure dropped from 991 to 959 mb. The lowest pressure a hurricane has ever exhibited is 888mb. This one is extremely dangerous and predicted to intensify from here out.

Weather forecasters had predicted that Gustav would enter the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 and strengthen to a 3 before landfall,  however it looks now like it will enter the gulf as a major storm and intensify from there over warm open waters. Gustav has the potential to intensify and hit the Northern gulf coast as a category 4 or 5. This is a very dangerous storm which has the potential (probability) to become a cataclysmic weather event, even more devastating than Katrina.

Most of the projected paths take the storm directly into New Orleans or a little closer to Houston just West right now,  placing New Orleans on the “dirty side” with expected maximum flooding.

The storm has picked up speed and is expected to pick up more speed and intensity over the weekend with landfall late Sunday or Monday over the holiday weekend. Many folks shut down their computers over holiday weekends and go about barbequing to focus on friends, family, in-laws and baby back ribs. Unfortunately this isn’t a weekend to let go of concerns for personal and family safety.

One of the best places to follow the latest breaking news is at the >NOAA National Hurricane Center:

If you haven’t joined emergencymail.org yet you may want to consider joining now so that you can stay informed by e-mail, pager or cell phone.

There is not much doubt that Gustav will be a major weather event, over 70 deaths have already occured just getting started.

If this storm comes in with the fury as predicted, devistating winds and flooding will occur well inland, including Houston. This is not just a Gulf Coast weather event. Please stay informed and take measures to protect yourself, family and pets now, going into the holiday weekend.

Ken

Governor Perry sent a letter to Sheila Jackson-Lee:

May 20, 2005

The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee

 U.S. Representative,

District 18 U.S. House of Representatives 

2435 Rayburn House Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congresswoman Jackson Lee:

Thank you for your letter about the Minuteman Project and border enforcement.  As you know, I did not invite the Minuteman Project to Texas. Nor do I, or any other elected official, have the authority to prevent law-abiding citizens from traveling to, from or within this state.

With that said, I fully understand and can appreciate the frustration that many Texans and others across the nation have with illegal immigration, its potential impact on our national security and the unacceptable burden it is placing on taxpayers, and state and local criminal justice, education, and health care systems…

For full text of letter you’ll have to do a google search.  I don’t know what her question was but it seems to relate to the minuteman project,  She was probably representing indiviuals not happy about it.    I also know the problem not only didn’t go away but worsened.

One of the problems for an illegal immigrant is what happens if he comes here for harvest season, completes the work and returns to his native country.  Next year he faces the same risks crossing the border through the wild desert area, criminals who prey on those entering, the killing heat, snakes, etc. It seems it is more rational to stay once he is here.  A consequence of staying is he is separated from his family.

 If he had a legal means to enter, work the harvest or whatever, return home and then re-enter U.S. farmers would get the help they need and the illegal would be legal.  The strain on our welfare systems would be less since many would not be living here permanently.

 Thomas Sowell points out how the debate about immigration legislation is not being talked about honestly. An excerpt:

…Let’s return to the question of what would happen if border control legislation were to be voted on separately from amnesty legislation, instead of in the current package deal.First of all, we would find out who is serious about border control, especially if the question of amnesty (by whatever name) is postponed for some definite period of time, in order to first see what happens at the border before taking that irrevocable step. Who would lose anything by this separate consideration of the two pieces of legislation? The country would not lose anything. Neither would the illegal aliens already in the country.The biggest losers would be politicians. They could no longer be on both sides of the issue by voting for a package deal but would have to stand up and be counted on border control.Some say that the Democrats would filibuster a bill that offered border control separately. Fine. Let them!Let them show their true colors in an election year and then go face the voters in the fall.For additional insight about the illegal immigration go here:  How often have we heard that illegal immigrants “take jobs that Americans will not do”?  Dr. Sowell explains the issue.

Separating the issue into 2 parts, border security (a national security issue) and what to do with those already here makes the most sense to me.

I have listed some additional links for more relevant analysis.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1639037/posts

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell041206c.asp

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmQwZGU0Njc2MDlkNzM3MmJjZGYxOTM3NTk1ZjM5ZmU=

http://jacksonlee.house.gov/immigration.shtml

http://profiles.numbersusa.com/improfile.php3?DistSend=TX&VIPID=795

Dr. Williams in his article “Economic Myths” reviews Professor Lott’s latest on government and economics.  I know, one economist talking about another sounds boring but it isn’t.  Its full of easy to understand examples.  See it here Economic Myths 

“A far more successful means to monopoly wealth is for businesses to enlist the aid of congressmen to form a collusion. Classic examples are the dairy industry, which uses the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Federal Milk Marketing Orders to set statutory minimum prices, or the Gasoline Retailers Association using state law to do the same or the sugar industry using Congress to establish quotas on foreign sugar imports.”

“The U.S. Department of Justice would go after a private business using similar predatory practices of intimidating its rivals and selling goods and services below cost. The U.S. Department of Commerce sanctions foreign companies accused of selling goods in the U.S. below cost with anti-dumping duties. If selling goods below cost is seen as unfair in the international arena, why is it not when it’s done by government entities? ”

When the government sells goods and services below cost, who makes up the difference?  Who is the governments’ source of cash?  You are!  You the taxpayer!

The quantity of bills and laws in existence to provide a competitive edge to certain businesses is startling (and frightening).  You may not be a user of bulldozers, earth movers, etc.  but you pay for them with your tax dollars when congress subsidizes those industries.  What would happen if these businesses didn’t have government propping them up?  They would become more efficient and competitive.

Sheila Jackson-Lee  Rated By Chamber of Commerce

Rated 31% by the US COC, indicating an anti-business voting record.

Jackson Lee scores 31% by US Chamber of Commerce on business policy

Whether you own a business, represent one, lead a corporate office, or manage an association, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of AmericaSM provides you with a voice of experience and influence in Washington, D.C., and around the globe.

Our members include businesses of all sizes and sectors—from large Fortune 500 companies to home-based, one-person operations. In fact, 96% of our membership encompasses businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Wikipedia “Spin” 

 ”In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in one’s own favor of an event or situation; it is a euphamism for propaganda. While traditional public relations may also rely on creative presentation of the facts, “spin” often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and/or highly manipulative tactics. Politicians are often accused of spin by their political opponents.

Because of the frequent association between “spin” and press conferences (especially government press conferences), the room in which these take place is sometimes described as a spin room. A group of people who develop spin may be referred to as “spin doctors” who engage in “spin doctoring” for the person or group that hired them.”

Many scholars denigrate Wikipedia as a research source.  It may be that it is not an authoritative source, but then again what is.  I have found definitions in Wikipedia that make sense and then when I go to some other source and I better understand what they are talking about.

The popular version of “Spin” I believe goes to the 1930’s when Hitler’s propagandist starting following a technigue that follows this dictum: “a lie told often enough takes on the same value as the truth”.  When a politician screws up, with the right spin, it can be made to look as though it produced a good result.  Or, make an opponent look bad (falsely).  I firmly believe the antidote to spin is the truth.  I believe the truth told often enough trumps the lie, because the truth is provable.  The key here though is the truth has to be told, and told over and over.  I have noticed over the last few decades that people don’t say anything to defend themselves or set the record straight.

Last Saturday night I watched John McCain speak at Saddleback.  He gave concise firm answers such as when asked  ”when does he believe life begins”.  He stated “conception”.  No if’s and’s or but’s.  When asked what would he consider a satifactory solution to terrorism, he stated “defeat of terrorists all over the world”.

What was the “Spin”?  On Monday he was accused of savagely attacking his opponent.  Go figure!  I was baffled.  He didn’t talk about anyone.  He just gave brief answers to the questions asked.  Then he was accused of having listened to his opponents answers before it was his turn to be interviewed.  What could his opponent have said to provoke McCain into deciding that winning a war against terrorism is a good thing.  Certainly nothing new.

So as the political debates get more intense between now and November at all levels, think about what is being said, think about the effects of promises and positions and judge for yourself if the statemens make sense or just sound nice.  Are they realistic or just puffery.   And remember the most important goal of an elected politican is retaining that office.  An officeholder is a salesperson trying to make a sale.

A Guide to the Political Left

•  Congresswoman representing the 18^th District of Texas, downtown Houston 
•  Member of the radical Progressive Caucus 
•  Member of the Congressional Black Caucus 
•  Ken Lay of Enron helped bankroll her first election to Congress
•  Lent her prestige to 2001 anti-Jewish United Nations conference in Durban, South  Africa 
•  Provided propaganda for Communist FARC guerrillas in Colombia 
•  Voted against school vouchers for Black parents in Washington, D.C.

The Role Speculators Play in the Marketplace

Was Walter Williams Psychic or Just Educated? 

“I guarantee you we would begin to see a reduction in today’s prices even if it took five to 10 years for us to get the first barrel. Put yourself in the place of an OPEC member knowing there would be a greater supply of U.S. oil five or 10 years, hence maybe driving oil prices lower to say $40 a barrel. What will you want to do now while oil is $130 a barrel? You would want to sell as much oil now and OPEC’s collective efforts to do so would put downward pressures on current oil prices. Right now the U.S. Congress is OPEC’s staunchest ally.”

Walter Williams wrote these words on July 9, 2008 before the price surpassed $140.00 per barrel.  Now that pressure has been put on Congress to allow offshore drilling, look what happened. Immediately the price dropped to approximately $110.00 (it varies day to day so I can’t use an exact figure).  It went up a few dollars today because of the hurricane hitting Florida.  Dr. Williams explains how speculators actually play a key role in the market frequently absorbing losses as well as profits.  No one knows what the price of any commodity will be after a hurricane or after any event that can happen between now and a year from now.

Sheila Jackson-Lee rushed along with all of her congressional colleagues to condemn speculators for the increases in oil prices when as Dr. Williams explains the catalyst is supply.  Another conundrum is that it will take 10 years to drill and start pumping new wells, not when the rigs are already in the gulf and just need to be moved.  We also hear that the oil companies should drill on the land they now have approved for them.  They would be if there were oil under that land.  They make their profit by selling oil not by letting it sit undisturbed.  If it was there it would be pumped. 

My point today is that congress is just scapegoating the speculators to take the heat off of their inaction  Speculators also are involved in buying next years corn crop lest there be floods or disease and a poor harvest.  When a speculator holds contracts for a commodity and the time for payment and taking possession comes due, they either take ownership and pay to store the commodity or sell it immediately and whatever the current price is.

Why Increasing Taxes (on anyone) Doesn’t Balance the Budget

Sheila Jackson-Lee Supports a More Progressive Income Tax

The outcome of a more progressive income tax is that “the rich” pay less taxes.  Let me define “the rich”.  In congress speak the rich is anyone or family with income above approximately $60,000 in a year.  When talking about progressive tax congress means the “super rich”, like John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, John Edwards, and of course Hollywood.  The super rich have their money invested, they do not receive most of their annual income from a job.  How are investments taxed?  When you sell investments you pay a capital gains tax if you sell them for more than you paid for them.  How can you avoid or defer tax, don’t sell them.  Get another year out of the old yacht. Don’t buy that new villa on the Mediterraneum right now.  Wait until the tax rates are lowered again by a future administration or congress.  In other words, don’t have too much income this year, don’t pay too much taxes.

But what about the budget?

Many years ago an Englishman, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, indentified two economic prinicples.  The first: work expands to fill the time allotted; the second: expenses rise to meet income.  Parkinson was a Member of Parliament for many years who observed that Britain had increased its Navy for the war, it didn’t decrease after the war.

Instead of performing unique naval type tasks after the war, the beaurocracy kept busy by creating reports and a chain of command for getting approvals.  Also, each member of the Navy hierarchy had to have as many subordinates as his counterparts.  The British Navy actually grew after the war.

So how does this impact us?  When congress raises taxes to “balance the budget”, the budget actually grows that year and every year after.  George H. W. Bush learned this the hard way in 1991 when he made an agreement with congress.  In spite of his “no new taxes” pledge to the public, he agreed to approve an increase in taxes if congress would not increase spending.  He fulfilled his agreement with congress and the rest is history.

By recent polls it seems up to 75% of the populace is convinced that opening up offshore resources is an important element for our energy future. We could not agree more. We also believe near 100% agreement between large oil and gas companies.

Debate signed sealed and delivered? That has not happened so maybe it is time to resolve other oil and gas energy issues.

Business decisions in the oil industry can take 10-15 years to play out. Increased right for drilling while important is not a comprehensive oil policy. We believe that a comprehensive oil and gas reform bill would help to stabilize our energy industry for decades to come and allow regulatory certainty from which projects could be planned. Below are listed some areas where further improvements to our oil and gas policies could be part of a comprehensive oil and gas reform bill:

• Pipeline permitting from the North Slope is an issue that is of importance to the oil industry. If we can assure pipeline routes are available for natural gas and oil we will help grow production from this vital region in years to come.
• Vertically integrated oil companies could be actively engaged in creating a supply system for natural gas to power vehicles.
• There are some very favorable leases under conditions that could be thoughtof as a mistaken transaction by our government. Some have suggested re-negotiation of these leases in the interest of fairness.
• Coal-to-liquids processing plants are desired by our military.

What makes the most sense for our future is to reconcile all these problems in one coordinated effort. Oil and gas companies should be solicited for proposals that would help the industry reconcile these and other problems.

The negotiations could be jump started with some of the ideas already in consideration:

• We could require that coal-liquids products be used as a minimum percentage in motor oil like we do currently with ethanol. The resultant motor oil would be higher quality and would provide a small market for the nascent coal-to-liquids industry.
• We could ask the oil companies to re-negotiate old leases as a condition to open up the new lease areas.
• We could ask vertically integrated oil companies to build CNG and LNG fueling systems in sufficient quantity that we can drive across the country.
• Within economic limits, we could require that natural gas pipelines to allow gas to be purchased along the routes. This would allow access to cheap gas by farmers and others along these long distance routes.
• Small changes to depreciation recovery schedules for long distance pipelines could be a powerful incentive.

We are aware that others are attempting to link increased drilling rights to increased taxes, changes in solar, wind and other peripherial issues. We do not discount the importance of these issues, but suggest that while we have the public’s attention and the oil companies interest in a deal we attempt to resolve some of these other oil and gas issues as well.