I can’t believe he actually said this concerning the San Jacinto River waste pit, a Superfund Site on the east side of the County. From the Baytown Sun:

“I’ve driven by here 100 times, and this is actually the first time I’ve been on the ground down here,” Babin said.  

An EPA dive team discovered 22 small areas measuring up to 50-square-feet earlier this month that confirmed the protective cap was absent and the underlying toxic waste material was exposed. Data indicated that dioxins are still registering nearly as high in concentration as they were in those first days and weeks after Hurricane Harvey when they were more than 70,000 parts per trillion. The latest data found levels up to 60,500 parts per trillion, which is far beyond acceptable, as the EPA mandates cleanups for 30 parts per trillion and up. 

Really? Its not like it hasn’t been in the news. In fact not only has it been in the news, the Harris County Attorney, Vince Ryan, sued to have the pits cleaned. The pits were discovered in 2005 and was a dumping site for companies back in the 1960’s. Since 2005 the community and Harris County has been working to hold those who created this mess accountable. The EPA declared the pits a Superfund site in 2008. The Galveston Bay Foundation has a great collection of information and history about the site at their website.

So it’s not like the San Jacinto Waste Pits just sprang up as Babin was driving around in his district. It has been there for as long as Babin has been in office. It just wasn’t a priority for him especially when he advocates for the end of the EPA by cutting their funding. He also has major donors from the companies in the area who want to be freed from EPA regulations, the type that would prevent Superfund sites.

Babin continued:

“I’ve also heard there is a Space facility on the west side of the district. Maybe I will take a tour.”

Miller is under water on his financial reports. He is what we in Texas call a Texas sized a**hole. When you are looking for the a**hole of Texas, just look for Sid Miller.

In his last report, Miller raised about $63,000, spent $173,000, and has $136,000 Cash on Hand with a $275,000 outstanding loan. He is underwater.

Since running for Texas Agriculture Commissioner in 2014, Miller has raised $1.7 Million for this state wide race. $550,000 came from a couple of individuals who provided loans. He has paid back about $175,000.
Brad Allen loaned $200,000.
Richard Pedale loaned $100,000.
Tramell Crow loaned $250,000.

Of the $1,250,000 actually raised, $362,000 came from 7 individuals:
$97,000 Richard Redalen
$50,000 Donald McGill of McGill Toyota
$60,000 Tramell Crow
$30,000 Timothy Dunn
$25,000 Robert Patton
$25,000 Trevor Rees-Jones
$75,000 Todd Smith

It is difficult to determine from over 700 entries how much has come from PACs since much of the required information on the financial reports is not provided. Maybe I could dig harder on this in the future. For someone who hasn’t had an opponent for the general election in a long while, Miller has spent a ton of money with only $136,000 left and with $275,000 in outstanding loans.

State Representative Dennis Paul still has a $156,000 loan on his books. 

Paul only raised $31,400 this last reporting period. This includes $6000 out of state and $15,900 out of district. PACs amount for $25,000 and individuals provided just $6400. For a sitting representative his fund raising is lagging.

Last quarter Paul, who owns Paul Engineering, took $5000 from James Dannebaum. Dannebaum who also owns an Engineering firm, was raided by the FBI. From the Express News:

Ruben Villarreal is a Hispanic republican running for Texas HD144. Go figure. He beat Gilbert Pena in the republican primary after Pena raised a couple of thousand dollars.

His financial reports do not add up. He lists total loans adding up to $13,088 but only $9140 is documented. His total fundraising equals only $24,850 not including the $13,088 loan. Not including as in he didn’t include it in his contributions. About $8740 in loans came from, what appears to be a relative, Roberto Villarreal and $400 came from Ruben himself. His COH is $8076, again not including the $13,088 in loans.

His expenditures total 17,258.

$22,500 out of the $24,850 raised came from 3 PACS, $20,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform a front group for businesses in Texas, $1500 from the Hispanic Republican PAC, and $1000 from the State Farm PAC. Only $2350 came from individuals.

It appears TLR is going to finance Villarreal’s campaign. He is the Hispanic republican pigeon for the 2018 elections. I would bet this isn’t the first time TLR would finance a campaign in fact I remember a race years ago in the same area where TLR heavily financed a Hispanic Women in the Democratic primary. She lost.

Villarreal should be consider funded and dangerous. TLR is a cash cow and has tens of thousands to spend on this race against a current, very successful, representative, Mary Ann Perez.

UPDATE: According to his latest report Middleton has raised over $1.7 Million (not 1.5) with $1.5 coming from his own pocket, 87% of his entire fundraising efforts. He has $45,099 COH. $1.7Million to win a primary.

This is what is wrong with politics in Texas.

State Representative Dennis Paul loaned himself $156,000 for a state house race. Angela Paxton received a $2Million loan from her husband mired in a felony trial, and Kathaleen Wall spent $6Million of her own money in a losing Congressional primary race. 

Then came David Mays Middleton running for State Representative in HD23, the Galveston area. He challenged the current republican, David Faircloth, in the primary and won. Middleton raised an incredible amount of money, over $1.5 Million for a state House primary race!

But….when you look at his financial reports you will find loans and contributions to himself totally $1,485,000, a total of 95% of his entire fundraising efforts. According to his July 2018 report he only raised $74,187, much coming from out of district, and he has only $45,099 cash on hand meaning he has spent about $1.5Million on a State House primary race. 

Much like Dennis Paul, Middleton is buying his seat in Austin. He has spent nearly $1.5 Million of his own money in order to win this primary election. This is wrong. It is un-American. We should not be buying a seat just because you have money to burn.

It is sad that the residents of Galveston do not care enough or are too ignorant to make sure their seat is not for sale. It is. Middleton looks to have bought it. To top it off, according to his website “Mayes recently co-founded the Chambers County Ethical Government Board “. Yeah right.

Next up: Raising Campaign Cash: David Mays Middleton. Then Spending Campaign Cash.

#NoPlaceButTexas

From Babin’s email to his constituents:

There has been much coverage by the mainstream media about separations at the border – much of it is incorrect, “fake news.” They’ve even resorted to doctoring photos and creating fake narratives. I would encourage folks to learn the facts about this situation.The Department of Homeland Security has worked tirelessly to reunite as many families as possible. 

Between 1,425 and 1,720 still being held. This number is based on the two specific estimates offered for the number of children separated from their parents. The first was 2,047, a figure given in late June by Azar. The administration has said 2,342 children in total were separated from their parents. (The lighter-colored icons on our chart indicate the difference between those two figures.)

I’ve always wanted to start a new series called “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?” dedicated to the elected officials who just act like a bag of dicks. Examples are Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Donald Trump, and former Congressman Steve Stockman. There are many more but today is dedicated to Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert.

Gohmert embarrassed himself, Congress, and his district once again during the hearing of FBI agent Strzok. Just like a dick, Gohmert made a very personal attack on Strzok during the hearing causing an uproar in the chamber with one Congresswoman yelling “Are you off your meds?”. You can watch his dickness on CNN.

In Gohmert’s defense, no he is not off his meds. That is who Gohmert is. He is a dick. He acts like a dick. That is Louie Gohmert. A dick. This isn’t the first time Gohmert has been a dick about everything. He claimed Mexicans were coming across the border to give birth to “Terror Babies”, American citizens who would return 18 years later as a terrorist. He actually wrote a letter to the FBI requesting an investigation into the “Muslim Brotherhood” and President Obama. He nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for his photo op with Kim Jung Un.

Gohmert represents Texas Congressional District 1 home to Tyler Texas. His constituents must like dicks since he easily wins each election. Instead of voting for him they should be asking Gohmert “Why do you have to be a dick about everything?”.

Patrick might want to go back to grade school and refresh his math.

According to the Texas Tribune TX Lt Governor Dan Patrick is (partially) donating up to 10 metal detectors to the Santa Fe School District where 8 kids and 2 teachers lost their lives due to gun violence. From the Texas Tribune:

Patrick announced Monday that he’ll donate “up to 10” metal detectors to the Santa Fe Independent School District, a Galveston County district of about 4,700 students. A private metal detector company, Garrett Metal Detectors, has also agreed to donate metal detectors to the district, as well as perform a security analysis and train staff at no cost, Patrick said.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is an incredibly stupid idea an a great tax funded give away to metal detector companies. Get your slide rules out and lets do the math. Lets assume each school will need at least 1 metal detector. There are over 9300 public schools and 1200 charter schools in Texas. Each metal detector costs $4000 (not including the training, periodic calibration, and maintenance). So..

1x10500x$4000= $42,000,000 for just 1 detector per school. Assuming we average a total of 3 per school and you have a $126 Million price tag which does not include the cost of training, periodic calibration, maintenance, technical support, onsite personnel. $126 Million.