Bay Area Houston

Why do you have to be a dick about everything? Harris County GOP

January 28, 2019

The Chair of the Harris County Republican Party (HCRaP), Paul Simpson, has joined the “Why do you have to be a dick about everything” club standing with Congressman Louie Gohmert, Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, former County Clerk Stan Stanart, and Trump. Simpson used the Holocaust Remembrance Day to make an offensive political statement with a post on the official county Facebook page.

Within an hour of posting this, Simpson has edited out the “Leftists kills” comment and will soon deleted the entire post, as he should. Update: the post has now been deleted.

Last November Simpson guided his party to an epic loss, losing every County election except for one. Instead of using the time to understand why his party lost, Simpson takes the time to write offensive Facebook posts.

I just do not understand why he has to be a dick about everything.

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Posted by johncoby

Republicans at NASA instructed to clean the bathrooms

January 25, 2019

It’s hard to make up shit like this. Literally. From The Hill:

A NASA manager posted on Twitter on Thursday a sign hanging outside the bathroom asking staff to volunteer to clean the bathrooms once per week amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, as reported by The Houston Chronicle.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: NASA, Satire | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Press Release: Lt Gov Dan Patrick sets rules of the Senate

January 24, 2019

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sets rules of the Senate

January 24, 2018

AUSTIN – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced today that he is setting rules for the Republican members of the Texas Senate. Upon his announcement the lieutenant governor made the following statement:

“Based upon unprecedented issues facing the members of the Republican Party of Texas I have set strict rules that will be followed by every Republican office holder while conducting business in the Senate during the 2019 Legislative Session. Effective immediately the members of the Party will be bound to the following set of rules and guidelines.”

1. Racist comments will not be tolerated. Racism is bad, very bad and any Republican Senator who has a racist thought or gesture should keep it to themselves and express their opinion only in the privacy of their own home.

2. Do not send dick pics to interns. There will be many young interns working in the halls of the Senate. I expect every Republican Senator, including Senator Charles Schwertner, to refrain from texting the interns and sending dick pics while on the Senate floor.

3. Do not call women the C word. I do not expect Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to visit the Senate but if he does, do not follow his example and call women names, especially the C word. It is extremely offensive.

4. Don’t steal your donors money. Campaign donations are to be used for your campaigns only, not for vacations, or mistresses, or sending your kids to private yachting lessons.

5. Don’t be a dick. The Republican Party has become as popular as herpes at a hot tub party. Please do not contribute to this stereotype by being a dick about everything. Just don’t be a dick. Please.

It is sad that in the 21st century I have to remind members of my party not to be racist, a creep, a Misogynists, a robber, and a dick. For f*** sakes folks. Grow up.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Satire, Texas Politics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Tony Buzbee was full of shit. Literally.

January 22, 2019

This is what you can expect from a Trump loving candidate for Mayor of the great City of Houston. From ABC13:

“If you imagined a 2019 Houston mayoral election that would be bland and uneventful, the wheelbarrows of horse manure outside mayoral candidate Tony Buzbee’s midtown campaign headquarters would say (smell?) otherwise.”

Look folks. If if looks like Trump, smells like Trump, it probably is a Trump. Buzbee, like his press conference, is full of shit. Do yourself a favor and read about Tony Buzbee the Trumpette of Houston.

Buzbee is a politically ignorant, wealthy, “tell it like it is”, not a politician, lawyer who intends to self finance a run for Mayor of Houston, a political office. Sound familiar? It should. Buzbee is the Donald Trump of Houston.

Let’s don’t cheapen our political process in Houston. We have seen the damage a politically ignorant candidate can do for our country. Let’s don’t bring that pile of shit to Houston.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Houston Politics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Before you file for Houston City Council…..

January 22, 2019

The Houston City elections are coming in November with many Houstonians considering a run for city council. Before you file for a position do yourself, your family, and your friends a favor by investigating the office before running for the office. Here are a few tips and questions you might want to consider before signing up. I am sure a political consultant might want to add a few other tips to this list. It all depends upon the office you seek.

It’s not a game. Running for office is not a game. The position has a direct impact on people’s lives whether it is timely trash collection or providing a safe neighborhood with our police and our fire fighters. Don’t cheapen the office by running just for the sake of running and distracting from those who have a clear understanding of what they are doing and are qualified to run.

It will cost money. Lots of money. A run for an At-Large position will cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This will include money to run a successful campaign to target the needed number of voters to win. If you do not intend to raise the necessary amount of money needed, then do not run, Do the math before you sign. Understand what the campaign will need and how much this will cost and whether you can raise that amount.

What qualifications do you bring to the table? Our government allows anyone to put their name on the ballot but some shouldn’t. Ask yourself if you understand the position you are running for. Do you have qualifications or personal experience that would apply to this position? Have you attended the city council meetings, understand the process used to pass legislation, and know who the players are behind the scenes? Have you been involved in your community that you want to represent?

How many votes do you need to win? This is a hard question and is never an exact science but you can determine, with analysis of the past elections, an idea of the number of votes needed to push you over the top. This number will drive your campaign strategy and fundraising efforts. If you can’t answer this question then you really shouldn’t run.

How much money will it take to win? The number of votes you need to win will drive your fundraising efforts. As said above, running for office is not a game and it costs money. You will be on the phone for hours a day raising campaign cash in order to achieve that winning number.

Who is your financial base? Who will you be depending upon to achieve your financial goals in order to achieve that winning number of votes?

Who is your volunteer base? Who will be there to make phone calls for you or block walk in the hot sun? Do you have a base of supporters or do you intend to file and expect your political clubs to drop what they are doing and support you 100%. A campaign will strain your relationships with family and friends. It’s a grueling undertaking requiring a considerable amount of dedication and support. You should have buy in from your family and those you expect to support you before you sign up.

Good luck and thank you for running. Or not.

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Posted by johncoby

Loaning even more Campaign Cash: David Mayes Middleton

January 16, 2019

David Mayes Middleton won his election in 2018 for Texas House District 23 in the Galveston area. He raised $3.2 Million, with $2.4 Million coming from his own pocket. He won 56-43. His opponent raised $4000.

According to his last ethics report Middleton raised $137,000 including $125,000 of his own money, plus another $500,000 loan. He has a Cash On Hand balance of about $481,000. His loan to his own campaign was made after the election in November.

He has spent $2.3 Million on a race that should have cost about $500,000 if it was competitive. It wasn’t. The Democrat on the ballot raised just $4000 and had no serious campaign. The $2.3 Million included $782,000 on salaries, $671,000 on consulting services, and $698,141 on advertising.

His expenses for salaries included over 20 individuals with salaries ranging from $137,000 to $18,000. The $782,000 in salaries included the following:

Berry Communications $137,000
Willi Luthy $62,000
Michael Jenkins $56,000
Ryan Caruso $52,000
Eric Romero $50,000
Kyle Diamond $48,000
Josh Lyrock $43,000
John Maurer $40,000
Kara Rose $35,000
Trevor Harris $27,000
Tylene Wilcox $23,000
January Arnold $18,000

It makes little cents to have so many individuals on the payroll for a campaign like this. Add this to the huge amounts of advertising and consulting services and it looks like a money laundering operation. Why would anyone pay over $3 Million for a race that required a little more than putting your name on the ballot? It just doesn’t make any cents. Gov Greg Abbott endorsed Middleton as well as Kathleen Wall who invested $6 Million of her own money to lose in the primary.

1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Ethics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Justice Democrats' record of losing elections

January 15, 2019

Justice Democrats, a Bernie Sanders’ socialist group is making waves about finding a candidate to run against Democrat Henry Cuellar. From the Texas Tribune:

Justice Democrats, a political committee founded after the 2016 election to reshape the Democratic Party through primary challenges, is working to recruit a challenger to Rep. Henry Cuellar, a seven-term congressman from a strongly Democratic district who’s one of the few anti-abortion-rights voices in the party’s House conference.

Based upon their lack of success in the 2018 elections, Justice Democrats should be the last group to find a candidate to challenge Cuellar, if a challenge is warranted. Out of 80 candidates endorsed by JD, only 7 won. 2 were incumbents in deep blue districts. 1 was unopposed. 4 were all in very blue districts wiping out their general election opponents. It’s not like they were endorsing in tough competitive states like Texas, although those that did, lost. All of them. One raised over a $1 Million and lost 70-30 in the primary.

Some of their candidates were capable of raising large amounts of money and still losing such as James Thomson who lost 59-40 after raising $1.4 Million. Here is a list of all 80 candidates, the results of their election and how much money they raised. It isn’t pretty.

NOTE: Some are listed with $0 raised. This is due to the data not being available on the FEC site.

Candidate	Result	Raised
Raúl Grijalva AZ-03	Won general 61-39	$700,000
Ro Khanna CA-17	Won general 72-27	$2,700,000
Ayanna Pressley MA-07	Won general unopposed	$1,400,000
Rashida Tlaib MI-13	Won general 84-11	$1,600,000
Ilhan Omar MN-05	Won general 78-21	$100,000
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez NY-14	Won general 78-13	$200,000
PramilaJayapal WA-07	Won general 83-17	$2,100,000

Mary Matiella AZ-02	Lost primary	$291,000
BriannaWestbrook AZ-08	Lost primary 60-39	$42,000
Deedra Abboud AZ-Senate	Lost primary 79-20	$113,000
Audrey Denney CA-01	Lost general 56-43	$1,200,000
Roza Calderon CA-04	Lost primary	$97,000
Dotty Nygard CA-10	Lost primary	$66,000
Bryan Caforio CA-25	Lost the primary	$1,200,000
Laura Oatman CA-48	Lost primary	$244,000
Doug Applegate CA-49	Lost primary	$100,000
Ammar Campa-Najjar CA-50	Lost general 54-45	$400,000
Alison Hartson CA-Senate	Lost primary	$400,000
Saira Rao CO-01	Lost primary 68-31	$565,000
Stephany Rose Spaulding CO-05	Lost general 58-38	$366,000
Kerri Evelyn Harris DE-Senate	Lost primary 65-35	$69,000
Chardo Richardson FL-07	Lost primary 87-13	$41,000
Sanjay Patel FL-07	Lost general 60-40	$337,000
Pam Keith FL-18	Lost primary 60-40	$558,000
Michael A.Hepburn FL-27	Lost primary	$38,000
Lisa Ring GA-01	Lost general 58-42	$222,000
Kaniela Ing HI-01	Lost primary	$410,000
Courtney Rowe IA-01	Lost primary	$16,000
Pete D’Alessandro IA-03	Lost primary	$378,000
Marie Newman IL-03	Lost primary 51-48	$1,500,000
Sameena Mustafa IL-05	Lost primary 62-24	$134,000
Anthony Clark IL-07	Lost primary 73-26	$91,000
David Gill IL-13	Lost primary 45-13	$1,300,000
Dan Canon IN-09	Lost primary 68-30	$455,000
Brent Welder KS-03	Lost primary 37-33	$941,000
James Thompson KS-04	Lost general 59-40	$1,400,000
Juana Matias MA-03	Lost primary 21-15	$567,000
Roger Manno MD-06	Lost primary	$442,000
Ben Jealous MD-Gov	Lost 56-42	$0
Matt Morgan MI-01	Lost general 56-43	$1,300,000
Robert Davidson MI-02	Lost gneral 55-43	$1,200,000
David Benac Mi-06	Lost primary 37-21	$90,000
Fayrouz Saad	Lost primary 27-19	$769,000
Abdul El-Sayed MI-Gov	Lost primary 52-30	$0
Cori Bush MO-01	Lost primary 56-39	$150,000
Jamie Schoolcraft MO-07	Lost general 66-30	$55,000
John Heenan MT-AL	Lost primary 33-31	$1,100,000
Jenny Marshall NC-05	Lost primary 54-45	$140,000
Kara Eastman NE-092	Lost general 51-49	$0
Tanzie Youngblood NJ-02	Lost primary 57-18	$114,000
Peter Jacob NJ-07	Lost primary 66-19	$141,000
Antoniette Sedillo Lopez NM-01	Lost primary 40-20	$100,000
Amy Vilela NV-04	Lost primary 61-9	$198,000
Michael Devito NY-11	Lost primary 63-20	$48,000
Jeff Beals NY-19	Lost primary 22-12	$378,000
Patrick Nelson NY-21	Lost primary 55-9	$71,000
Ian Golden NY-23	Lost primary 32-13	$177,000
Cynthia Nixon NY-Gov	Lost general 81-17	$0
John Russell OH-12	Lost primary 40-16	$129,000
Greg Edwards PA-07	Lost primary 33-25	$451,000
Jess King PA-11	Lost general 59-41	$1,900,000
Matt Brown RI-Gov	Lost primary 57-33	$0
Aaron Regunberg RI-LTGOV	Lost primary 51-48	$0
J. Darnell Jones TX-02	Lost primary 52-22	$19,000
Lorie Burch TX-03	Lost general 54-44	$317,000
Laura Moser TX-07	Lost primary 70-30	$1,300,000
Vanessa Adia TX-12	Lost general 64-33	$208,000
Adrienne Bell TX-14	Lost general 59-39	$208,000
Derrick Crowe TX-21	Lost primary 30-23	$179,000
Mary Wilson TX-21	Lost primary 58-42	$112,000
Rick Trevinon TX-23	Lost primary 66-33	$56,000
Linsey Fagan TX-26	Lost general 59-39	$176,000
Darlene McDonald UT-04	Eliminated at the convention	$49,000
C Hallquist VT-Gov	Lost general 55-40	$0
Dorothy Gasque WA-03	Lost primary 42-5	$88,000
Sara Smith WA-09	Lost general 67-32	$0
Randy Bryce WI-01	Lost general 54-42	$8,600,000
Paula Jean Swearengin WV-Sn	Lost primary 69-31	$219,000

2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Ethics, Texas Politics | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Protest against Trump's Shutdown in front of NASA

January 13, 2019

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Posted by johncoby

List of Tx Congressmen on the fence for Trump wall

January 12, 2019

Here is a list of all 36 members of the House and their support of Trump’s wall. Some key notes:

36 members from Texas 13 Democrats and 23 Republicans
All 13 Democrats are a NO.
5 Republicans are a NO
2 Republicans are wishy washy and will not commit

District	Name	D/R	Support
1	Louie Gohmert	R	Yes “We’ve got to stand firm on getting money for the wall. We have got to stand firm on that.”
2	Dan Crenshaw	R	Yes We should not only build the wall but also ramp up tech-savvy ways to secure our border, like drones and sensors
3	John Taylor	R	Yes
4	John Ratcliffe	R	Yes “I was proud to vote for the passage of $5.7 billion to fund the wall along our Southern Border,”
5	Lance Gooden	R	Yes. “On today’s agenda: 1) drain the swamp and 2) FUND THE WALL!”
6	Ron Wright	R	Yes “I applaud President Trump’s decision to send the National Guard to protect our border. Congress should support the president on this including fully funding the wall”
7	Lizzie Fletcher	D	No
8	Kevin Brady	R	Yes I voted to stand with President Trump in his call to fully fund the border wall
9	Al Green	D	No ““=Building what President Trump calls ‘a big, beautiful border wall’ is a ‘clear, simple, and wrong’ answer to a complex immigration problem. To be clear, every sovereign country has the right and duty to control its border. However, we should not create a false sense of security with a pseudo-panacean wall when the problem is much more complex.”
10	Michael McCaul	R	Wishy Washy “You have to understand, too, that a 30-foot concrete wall is a very expensive proposition. And there are a lot of other things we can be doing technologywise to make it a smart border that’s more effective and more cost efficient.”
11	Mike Conaway	R	No. Voted NO on building a fence along the Mexican border.
12	Kay Granger	R	No She said Trump’s call for a wall between the United States and Mexico would hurt our relationship with the country.
13	Mac Thornberry	R	No A prominent Republican said Tuesday he does not want money allocated for the military to be used for a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
14	Randy Weber	R	Wishy Washy Supports fences.
15	Vicente Gonzalez	D	No“I want to see a wire transfer from the federal government of Mexico to the United States Treasury for that wall,”
16	Veronica Escobar	D	No “We know walls don’t work, that they don’t stop drugs. That they don’t stop migration,”
17	Bill Flores	R	No “No. We need border integrity. Border integrity is a physical barrier where a physical barrier makes sense, where it’s feasible to have one. The bulk of the Texas border doesn’t represent an area where a wall is feasible.”
18	Sheila Jackson Lee	D	No
19	Jodey Arrington	R	Yes Whether it’s a loser or not politically, this is the right thing to do.
20	Joaquin Castro	D	No
21	Chip Roy	R	Yes “Fully fund and build the border wall immediately.“
22	Pete Olson	R	Yes. In a competitive district.
23	Will Hurd	R	No. Barely won in 2018, “Building a wall from sea to shining sea is the most expensive and least effective way to do border security. We need to allow the men and women in Border Patrol to adjust their tactics, techniques and procedures as they see fit. You can’t have a one-size-fits-all solution,” he said in a statement to the Tribune. “What works in San Diego doesn’t necessarily work in Tucson, and you need something different in El Paso. In heavily populated places a wall can be a useful tool. It’s just one more tool in your toolkit used to solve this problem.”
24	Kenny Marchant	R	Yes “We need to fulfill the will of the people and most of the feedback I’ve received from my district is to vote to fund the wall.”
25	Roger Williams	R	Yes U.S. Representative Roger Williams, District 25 (R-Austin), discusses why he believes increased funding for a wall on the U.S. southern border is necessary.
26	Michael Burgess	R	Yes “Trump’s support for a border wall is refreshing.”
27	Michael Cloud	R	Yes“Congress must fully fund the border wall”
28	Henry Cuellar	D	No “If you want to secure the border from letting drugs come in, a wall is not going to help because if you look at the latest DEA report, most of the drugs that come into the United States come through ports,”
29	Sylvia Garcia	D	No
30	Eddie Bernice Johnson	D	No “A border wall will not achieve the goal that President Trump seeks to accomplish and I disagree with its premise to keep all immigrants out of our country. Furthermore, building a 2,000 mile long wall along our southern border is not only a knee jerk reaction to our issues with immigration, it is fiscally irresponsible.
31	John Carter	R	Yes“It’s time to build that wall,” Carter said. “If you don’t want people from Austin, liberals like the folks who most of us moved up here to get away from, if you don’t want them running … you gotta wake up with this election.”
32	Colin Alred	D	No He says he supports border security, but characterizes the $5.7 billion Trump wants for the border wall as a waste of money.
33	Marc Veasey	D	No
34	Filemon Vela Jr.	D	No. Told Trump to stick his wall up his ass.
35	Lloyd Doggett	D	No “For our Nation of immigrants, a wall rejects our very history. A wall is not about America leading the world, a wall is about trying to shut off the rest of the world.
36	Brian Babin	R	Yes. “I am proud of President Trump for drawing a line and insisting that we fulfill the promise we made to the American people in 2016 to build the wall” Won his re-election 73-27

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Immigration | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

Texas Republican Party. "We are only 25% racist!"

January 11, 2019

Pic by Star Telegram reporter Bud Kennedy

Last night 25% of the executive committee of the Tarrant County Republican Party, about 49 of them, voted to remove a committee member because he is a Muslim. They failed, but the fact they actually had a vote and 49 of the 139 members voted in favor speaks loudly about what the (R) behind a candidates name stands for and the misplaced faith by Dr. Shafi. From the Dallas Morning News:

“Today, the beacon of liberty held by the Statue of Liberty is shining brighter,” Shafi said after the vote. “My faith in our party, in our country, has been reaffirmed.”

It’s hard to have pity for Dr Shahid Shafi. He knew what he was walking into when he joined the Republican Party just like every Hispanic, Black, woman, non-christian, and teacher have. This party does not reflect your values. The fact they had to actually vote on your religion should tell you that you picked the wrong party.

Your faith in a party that calls for a Muslim ban, whose leaders claims Muslims are terrorists, whose members call for your removal based upon your religion, is misplaced on the (R)acist party. This is who they have become. This isn’t the beacon of liberty. It the light of darkness and shame.

This is partly your fault. You knew who they were. You knew what the (R) stands for. You should not be complaining.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Racism | Permalink
Posted by johncoby

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Bay Area Houston