Bay Area Houston

There is nothing worse than someone who attempts to play both sides. Case in point, Tony Buzbee, Republican running for the Mayor of Houston.

Since 2011 Buzbee has donated $905,601 to various candidates. $520,423 to Republicans, $268,678 to Democrats, $17,100 to unknown candidates, and $100,000 to Texans for Insurance Reform. Texans for Insurance Reform is described as

“The sole mission of Texans for Insurance Reform PAC is to stand with and support candidates for the Texas Legislature.  Candidates who aren’t afraid to stand up to the insurance industry…..“

The details of the donations are significant. On the Republican side Buzbee donated $308,000 to Greg Abbott and $79,000 to Rick Perry, and $2000 to the Galveston County Republican Party. He gave nothing to the Harris County Republican Party. He donated about $142,492 to a number of judicial candidates.

On the Democratic side Buzbee helped the party wipe out the Republican judges in Harris County with his $90,000 donation to the Harris County Democratic Party not including the $20,000 to their Federal PAC in 2018. He also donated $176,178 to Democratic Judicial Candidates. Every one of them won.

Tony Buzbee used to be a Democrat. He was the Chair of the Galveston County Party and a Democratic candidate for House District 23. Then he struck it rich and started to be a player. As I have said before:

In 2016 Buzbee gave the Trump Victory Fund $250,000. He held a fundraiser for Trump at his home in River Oaks. He donated $35,000 to Trump’s PAC and $165,000 to the RNC. He then donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration. 

He is player, playing both sides, but Democrats know better. Maybe the Republican Judges that are without a job understand this also.

It makes you want to ask Congressman Pete Olson: “How old are you? 12?”. From his latest tweet:

Bernie Sanders (S-VT) has filed Senate Bill 1129 establishing the “Medicare for All” act. This bill has a 0 chance of ever becoming law. Zero. As in Nada. Zero. Zip. It has as much chance of passing as the 912 other bills that he has filed over the last 30 years with only 3 becoming law. It is a Socialist pipe dream.

Sander’s bill has been sent to the Finance Committee and will get a hearing so the republicans can talk about the $32 Trillion price tag and use testimony in ads to attack every Democrat who runs on MCA. It had a hearing in the House with republicans taking to MSNBC to highlight this price tag although the CBO Cost Estimate has not been issued yet. Look for “Socialism” and “Socialized Medicine” to be said over and over and over again even though it is not Socialized Medicine.

There is no doubt that our health care system is the most expensive in the world probably because the insurance companies add 20-30% on top of the cost of care for their salaries and the high cost of services and drugs prices are driven by the insurance companies. It’s a vicious cycle but will Medicare for All or Single Payer, or Universal Health Care solve it? No.

No because Sander’s bill has absolutely no way to become law. He is the last person in Congress along with any other Socialist to be leading the charge on this, including freshman Socialist Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. It’s not only a pipe dream it is a weapon that will be used against us.

The Affordable Care Act barely passed in both chambers and required help from Republicans in the Senate to get it to the floor and eventually passed into law. In the words of Joe Biden “This is a big f****** deal!”. And it was. It was the first major overhaul of our health care system in decades and it required months of hearings and working with both parties something Sanders has not and will not do. His MCA is a legislative pipe dream.

With that, Medicare for All isn’t for everyone. It is for no one.

Buzbee is playing both sides.

Mary Hamon, Communications Director for Tony Buzbee questioned the owner of a spreadsheet which listed Tony Buzbee as a Republican and asked that it be changed to “Independent”. Here is the request via Erik:

The spreadsheet will not be changed and for good reasons. Buzbee used to be a Democrat. He was the Chair of the Galveston County Democratic Party for a short time. He ran against Larry Taylor for State Representative. That was all before he became very wealthy. Then he switched to the Republican Party.

As I have said before:

In 2016 Buzbee gave the Trump Victory Fund $250,000. He held a fundraiser for Trump at his home in River Oaks. He donated $35,000 to Trump’s PAC and $165,000 to the RNC. He then donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration. 

But that is not all. Since 2015 Buzbee has become the sugar daddy of a number of state parties donating $110,000 to the Republican Party in 11 different states. He has donated over $1,000,000 to various candidates including $308,000 to Greg Abbott and $80,000 to Rick Perry.

On top of that Buzbee is courting the Houston Pastors Council, and extreme right wing, of the Republican Party that prides themselves in attacks on the gay community.

Buzbee is also playing both sides. He donated $110,000 to the Harris County Democratic Party and tens of thousands to various judicial candidates which resulted in every Republican judge to be ousted from their court. He played the Republican Party. Idiots.

So is Buzbee a republican? You’re damn right he is. His support of trump and the Pastors Council should disqualify him for Mayor and solidify him as another politically ignorant ahole.

No Place but Texas:

Texas House Bill 357 (get it? 357?) has been pulled by the author, lead gun nut, State Rep. Jonathan Stickland. This bill, called “Constitutional Carry” was strongly supported by the Texas Republic Party because we do not have enough guns in Texas. Stickland pulled the bill after a gun nut activist attempted to confront the Speaker of the House at his home. From the Houston Chronicle:

The announcement came amid news reports that Chris McNutt, a gun rights advocate outraged by the lack of movement on Stickland’s bill, had traveled to House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s home and was intercepted there by officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Yep. That actually happened, but it gets worse. Speaker Bonnen was setup by a Republic Party power broker Darlene Pendery who purchased 3 tables at a fundraiser with Abbott, Patrick, and Bonnen. One of the tables was right next to Bonnen’s and Pendery had invited McGunNutt to sit with him. It didn’t end well with a physical altercation being reported. From the Texas Tribune:

An unidentified man seated next to McNutt handed the speaker a Kool-Aid packet. Bonnen said he tossed the packet on the table, prompting the man to stand up and threaten a “physical altercation.” The man, Bonnen said, “kinda got in my face and said, You should just leave.'”

Well as the old saying goes…when you lie with tea baggers you might wake up with a bad taste in your mouth. 

With the elections coming up in a year and a half and our candidates vying for position Trump supporters (MAGAts) might jump in with unsolicited comments and critiques. Here is a guideline for responding to these comments: