Times are Changing

I rarely go to the grocery store with my wife but today I didn’t have anything better to do so I tagged along.

We weren’t in the HEB Plus for five minutes when I ran into a former coworker and then five minutes later my wife, and I ran into some old friends we haven’t seen in years. We reminisced about 20 minutes and ended it by acknowledging that every day that passes we get new aches and pains.

I’ve noticed that my yearly seminars in Austin, Houston or Corpus Christi were becoming harder and harder to attend. Ten years ago, getting up to 5:00 in the morning and driving to one of those cities was a piece of cake, especially the one in Corpus Christi. Nowadays, I have to pack my meds and not forget to take them.My peripheral vision and night driving skills are not what they were,so I rarely put it to test. 

This year because of previous appointments, Austin, Texas was the only two-day seminar that I could attend.

My initial plan was to leave Victoria no later than 5:00 AM to make the Thursday 8:00 AM registration. A couple of weeks ago, we drove to the IH 35 location, so I wouldn’t have any predawn surprises.

We had lunch with my daughter this afternoon, and the subject of my trip came up. She told me that I could leave tomorrow and make it a two-night stay because I'm not as young as I used to be, and that I shouldn’t be driving alone in the dark. She said that the roads were dark and foggy conditions make that route even more dangerous. I told her that I would be fine, so we continued eating our meal and started talking about something else. As soon as we told our daughter good-bye and got to our car, I could feel my wife's brain waves working overtime. That’s when she told me that it would be a lot safer if I left tomorrow and took my time. We went over the pros and cons, and the pros won without a fight. I’ll be leaving tomorrow at 1:30 PM, and hopefully I’ll be back Friday around 7:30 PM, making it only a couple of hours of driving in the dark.

It could be just me, but I’ve been hearing about automobile accidents a lot more these days. I wonder how much we could attribute that to people not taking the extra hours or day to drive to their destination. I know Victoria is growing (a lot more cars) which might contribute, but I think we have more than our share of fatal accidents. I immediately look at the ages of those involved in accidents and found that a lot of them are 55 years and older.

Well until Saturday or a day or two after ........ this blog will have to do.

I Can Spot A Smokescreen When I See One

I completely dismissed this LTTE titled “Column shows poor opinion of Hispanics” written by Brenda Cash of Shiner and printed in our local newspaper, the Victoria Advocate, as just another letter whining about someone’s opinion. Last night I actually read the letter.

The author insinuates that the Democrats have contempt and an insulting low opinion of what she calls our Tejano Americans. She used the term Tejano, so we’ll stay with Texans who identify as Mexican-Americans. I won’t elaborate on her accusation because nothing could be further from the truth.

No doubt that heritage runs deep in Texas is but that’s because Victoria is only 232 miles from Mexico, so the ties Mexican-Americans have to their heritage are a lot easier to maintain.

I read Jason Stanford’s article, and he never once equated  American citizens of Hispanic descent to any group that came here illegally. The illegal part does not remove the similarity in language, skin color, food, religious beliefs, heritage and the natural kinship. You can use any label; and you have (Tejano, Mexican-American, and Hispanic) and stereotype their work ethics, political and religious beliefs, but you completely miss the point. It’s all about the harsh rhetoric and tactics people on the right use daily to show their displeasure of those who come across our southern border illegally. Like your neighbors, coworkers, and friends in Shiner, I am not for open borders, but I can tell the difference of requiring birth certificates in a state where voter fraud is not a problem and using it for a political advantage. I took a look at the stats that show 600,000 people would be disenfranchised by the new voter ID laws and most of them would vote for Democrats. The emphasis that it would keep noncitizens from voting is a republican myth. Why would people who live in the shadows want to risk getting caught for a candidate or an issue that they don’t know anything about? You can take it further and you will find that Hispanic citizens don’t vote in great numbers, so Texas is using the voter ID laws like Florida and Virginia does when it purges their voter databases for every election.

Brenda Cash must not have read the exit polls that showed 72% of Hispanics voted for President Obama, so evidently they don’t agree with the Republican platform. Yes, there are the social issues where the Church takes a stance against homosexuality and abortion but there’s no verifiable proof that there is 100% compliance or close to it. I believe it’s human nature to have love for family and community even though conservatives claim it as their value. I don’t know of any mainstream Hispanic politicians who are preaching about lower taxes, regulations, and smaller government. Now that is a libertarian /Republican “I’ve got mine” idiosyncrasy. I did read where healthcare and good-paying jobs were at the top of their list of most Hispanics, as they are for most Americans.

The proof is always in the pudding. It will be interesting to see who will get most of the votes in the Rio Grande Valley. Will it be Greg Abbott or Wendy Davis? My money is on Wendy Davis because I’m not buying what Brenda Cash is trying to sell.

Local Elections…Why Bother?

I am the last person you should consult about voting in local elections because I find them rather boring, so don’t follow my bad example. I hope our city has a large turnout for the municipal elections because if change is needed your vote will help bring that about. Now I will vote on local issues like building new schools or the “no smoking” policy. Perhaps that will change now that the League of Women Voters has brought the elections into the 21st century with their televised debates.I can watch the candidates from my comfortable recliner.

I am not a micromanaging type, so I have not or will I ever attend a county or city meeting of any sort. Remember don’t follow in my bad footsteps. I rely on the annual financial reports and what I read in our local newspapers. I don’t personally know the candidates so my opinion will vary from time to time based on what they say, but it keeps me from having a personal vendetta. 

I have my own criteria for choosing a candidate to represent my wishes, and it’s not based on rumors, innuendo or unsubstantiated facts.Yes; a candidate's past performance is important but so is their vision for Victoria’s future. I certainly don’t want a single-issue  candidate or one who is consumed with ideology.

I badly want my hometown to grow and not let opportunities go to other cities because of some misguided ideology of “austerity only.”I believe a city must use all the available and necessary tools, and sometimes that means partnering with the private sector and using enticements like abatements. I began taking notice when some local council members started echoing the talking points of a national party. 

I’m going to be completely honest in my assessment of our local candidate based on what I have read in our local newspaper knowing full well it’s my opinion and fully admitting that I am one of those city election low information voters.

I’m going to start with Russell Pruitt, who is running for a seat in Super District, Place 6 currently occupied by Tom Halepaska. I am not that big of a fan of Tom Halepaska, but he’s much more open-minded than Pruitt. Russell is a long-time  tax protester and what I call a single-issue  candidate who is consumed with ideology. Russell Pruitt issued a very misleading statement when he said that he sees Victoria heading the way of Detroit, a city now strapped by financial mismanagement, apples to oranges Mr. Pruitt. Mr. Pruitt’s poorly structured website doesn’t mention growth or vision for my hometown. It’s just a single page of three pledges, but it’s really only two since” vote for lower taxes” and “vote against wasteful spending of tax dollars” amount to the same thing.” His other pledge is not to become a “ good old boy” whatever that means because that can have several meanings.

I’m going to wait on the televised debates before I comment on the mayor’s race. I can say that for me I will have to decide between Polasek or Armstrong because the other candidates haven’t impressed me. 

I want end this segment by posting some great comments I heard the candidates say and also some that were very strange.

For the life of me,I don’t know what former councilman Gabriel Soliz was thinking when he said "I honestly don't believe that whites hate Mexicans in Victoria," Soliz said. "When I ran, there were plenty of white people with Anglo descent who voted for me." He then said “he is running to break stereotypes and be a positive example for Hispanics.” Those are the most stupidest comments that I have ever heard from a local candidate.   His biggest claim to fame was that he toed the conservative line with his votes. I don’t have an interest in that race but I liked the words of Councilman Truman when he said” this is the third oil boom he has seen during his time in Victoria, and he wants to come up with long-term plans to keep the economic growth going.

"I don't want to anticipate a bust, but eventually it does happen," Truman said. "We need to come up with sustainable industries that will keep our hotel rooms filled and keep Victoria growing."

I’m confident that the council will stay within its means because no politician wants to be part of the reason a city gets cash- strapped and has to raise taxes and lay off people. We currently have a $20 million reserve fund; a AA bond rating;business seems to be booming;interest rates and materials are low, so our city doesn’t have to operate as though it’s going broke tomorrow. With that in mind, we should be thinking  more about the future of our city when deciding our priorities.   It’s not always about what appears on the yearly financial reports because I believe the new schools, improved roads, and an open-minded city council is conductive to having new businesses consider our city their new home.

There were a few candidates I didn’t mention because their view points were similar to those of the others.

These are my personal views and I certainly won’t try to pretend that I represent the views of Victoria,Texas.

Secession!..Are you kidding me?

I was willing to allow the Republicans to sulk for while but the media keeps bomb boarding me with stories of a new kinder, gentler GOP who's now willing to compromise. I don't believe a national party can do a 180°in a week's time. It's still the same people in office, and they're still not willing to raise the tax rates on the millionaires and billionaires. They think because they kept the House of Representatives,it  means that people do not want to raise taxes. I'll get back to that later.

Here in Texas, we have a lot of whiners who are acting like spoiled children over the election results. They (about 85, 000) have petitioned the White House for secession, even though our constitution doesn't allow secession. These low information citizens haven't the foggiest idea of what it would mean if they got their way. What they really are saying is that they don't want to live in a country unless a white republican is president. The White House is required to respond to the petitioners who gathered 25,000 signers, so I hope they use some low-level staffer for that purpose.

The GOP wants to ignore the exit poll where 68% said we should raise taxes on the top 2% as part of the plan to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. I still don't think the president has a mandate, but he does have a lot of leverage this time around. I do like the approach he is taking by negotiating from a position of strength. The president has requested $1.6 trillion in tax increases, which is twice the amount of the grand bargain he originally proposed. He would probably settle for $1.2 trillion in tax increases, which is in the middle. The GOP does not want to raise tax rates on the top 2%, even though we would see immediate results if that were to happen. They would rather talk about eliminating loopholes and deductions, which would have to be negotiated over a longer period of time. It's still about the arithmetic because eliminating loopholes will not get to $1.2 trillion of tax increases over 10 years. The extra revenue would have to come from eliminating the home-mortgage deduction and charitable contributions which will in turn hurt the middle class and slow the recent growth of the housing market. If nothing else, the Democrats put taxes back in the conversation because Republicans were trying to make a case that spending was the only problem. I think once we get over the tax increase barrier, it's going to be easier to talk about creating jobs and avoiding the fight over the debt ceiling.

Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal, said the GOP needs to stop being the “stupid party" and should stop catering to Wall Street and the rich. You can find similar statement from Newt Gingrich and other GOP surrogates, but the fact remains they were the ones leading the march to stupid. Bobbie Jindal pushed creationism on Louisiana schools, and Newt called President Obama “the food stamp president" who had a 'Kenyan, anti-colonial' world view." Paul Ryan said President Obama won because of a lot of urban votes. What's that supposed to mean? It's a known fact that people that live in the big cities outnumber those who live in rural areas. Then again, Paul Ryan says that the GOP has a mandate because they were reelected. I guess that he discounts the fact that the Democrats picked up at least eight seats (and they're still counting in Arizona) and that was against Republicans in gerrymandered districts. Democrats received more than 500,000 more votes than their republican opponents.

The GOP doesn't have a choice but to change because the days of saying, “I’m for smaller government, lower taxes and liberty" will no longer win elections. Voters want more than partisan talking points. The GOP can't just throw out Marco Rubio and expect to get the Latino vote because it's much more than immigration. The GOP lost the Asian vote by a lot, and they're usually conservative and have a high medium income. They also lost the young voter, the Catholic and the moderate voter. Election results are temporary because it was only two years ago that we thought that the Tea Party had a lot of political influence. We also thought that we couldn't beat all the big money for special-interest groups.

We mustn't lose sight that big money did win in downhill elections. It's said that Karl Rove only got his donors, a 1.29% margin on their investment, but that's only in the senate and presidential election. We didn't discuss global warming  at all or Afghanistan much, so we will continue not having a national discussion on those matters for a while. That suits the defense contractors and those who do not want t curb their greenhouse emissions.

Rand Paul's immigration proposals are to the left of any Democrat because he's insisting on a path to citizenship (with conditions) for the 12, million undocumented people who are already here. As a true libertarian, Senator Paul wants legislation to decriminalize marijuana use. He thinks he will get something done because no one questions his conservative credentials. We'll see.

The local Republicans are pretty quiet, but that's understandable because that's what I did after the 2000 election. The only difference is that I had to accept my minority status in this county, so I lost interest in the local and state issues (if I ever had any) and devoted all my attention on national issues. I accepted the saying that “the pendulum swings both ways" but our local conservatives will never accept that saying. Several local Republicans think that all they have to do is use the word “liberal" in the pejorative and say that they are conservative. That may work in this county but enjoy it while you can because being superior is always subjective.

On a lighter note,it will be interesting to hear from those who went to the see the movie "2016: Obama's America"  and were gullible enough to believe the theme.  Nah,like the Fox viewers they will continue to believe because it's easier than saying " I was wrong."

A local Renter v Landlord Dispute

Without taking sides in the local renter vs. landlord dispute, I can say that Mr. Huffmaster should not be allowed to rent this particular trailer, because of the  condition it is in. The shoddy wiring I've seen on our local evening news is a fire hazard waiting to happen. We have laws to protect us from restaurant's operating in unsanitary conditions; an unsafe unlivable environment should be treated the same.

I've never been a landlord, but I know many who are, so I'm not completely in the dark about their concerns. I know that renters will ruin a carpet in a short period of time, damage the walls and put more wear and tear on the housing unit than the landlords can deduct on their income tax. Victoria's housing shortage allows them to raise their rent in a true supply and demand scenario, this allows them to recoup some losses from previous years.The housing shortage will go away but I seriously doubt the rents will come down accordingly.

I've had a chance to be a landlord a couple of times in my life;once when my mother left us her home and the other when I sold my first home.  I declined both times because I would have to hire someone to make the needed repairs but most of all because I didn't want the responsibilities that came with a good renter/landlord relationship.

Some will say that renters have the trump card because of the current laws of eviction notices, moving out without paying, and leaving more damage than what they paid in rent payments. That may all be true but in today's market, the landlord can afford to be more choosy and doesn't have to put up with as much because the renter doesn’t  have a lot of options. The better apartment units will investigate the renter's credit and renting history before they allow them to move in.

Donna Carr's history is none of my business, but I do sympathize with her plight. It's not hard for me to feel sympathetic for someone living with breast cancer and caring for a granddaughter with only $739 in monthly income. A local poster noticed that she had a cigarette in her hand and quickly calculated the cost of the habit of smoking and its health effects. I think that comment was more of a lecture coming from someone who thinks being poor is always preventable. From what I've seen, a cigarette might be the only gratifying thing this grandmother has, and she can't be spending too much on the habit, being she only has $739 coming in.

I liked the comment about 49% of Victoria's renters not being able to afford what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development considers a modest two-bedroom apartment. Whoever did the numbers didn't account for the housing shortage or scrupulous landlords. From what I've seen, paying $450 a month for that the double-wide trailer, the government is once again getting ripped off.

I guess this one story is ending well since the grandmother, and granddaughter have found a new four-year-old mobile home they will rent to own. On the other side, the landlord gets his wishes because his nemesis is leaving. I'm sure he didn't think he would get all the negative publicity or be ordered to fix the electrical wiring issue in 10 days.