Melania: Shut mouth. You look like idiot.
Easter Rabbit: Blow it out your ears Melania!
Melania: I wasn’t talking to you, rabbit.

Municipal waste water facility named after long term Congressman Louie Gohmert of Texas

March 23, 2018 Pilo, Texas. The new waste water facility of Pilo, Texas will celebrate it’s long awaited re-opening along with renaming the facility after Congressman Louie Gohmert. The facility has completed a massive refurbishment but has continued to serve the community in a limited, but effective, capacity.

“I’m am thrilled that the refurbishment has been successfuly completed and the facility will be at 100% capacity.” said the facility manager, Cecile Budai. “I am also very proud to announce that after long deliberations we have decided to bestow the honor of renaming the Pilo Sewer Treatment Plant after our own Congressman, Louie Gohmert.”

“Congressman Gohmert, over his long tenure in Congress, has demonstrated his ability to represent this facility in a manner that would make any Pilo resident proud to wake up to. We searched far and wide looking for an individual who was capable of representing the essence of this facility. Gohmert has the necessary skills to sit down and make shit up. His has what it takes for many of his constituents to refer to him as simply as an asshole. He is known to search deep into the bowels of government to crap on the less fortunate and to take a dump on those he disagrees with. Gohmert, like the treatment plant is just full of shit.”

These are the traits the Pilo facility managers were looking for when renaming the sewer plant after Gohmert. Congressman Gohmert was asked to respond but was backed up at the moment. His chief of staff released a short statement “Ain’t that some shit”.

The grand opening will be held at approximately 8:15 am in the bathroom. Please bring your own paper or iPhone if you intend to tweet about the event.

Maybe it was Kathaleen Wall’s mousy voice. Or her constant ads coming across your TV. Or her poorly timed gun nut ad right after the Florida shooting with an AR-15. Whatever it was for Wall to come in third place and miss the runoff for the republican nomination for Congress it cost her a boatload of money. About $6 Million to be exact.

$6 Million she isn’t going to get back. Wall is probably the only Congressional candidate in history to self finance a campaign like she did. She only raised about $10,000 from other individuals so she was basically buying a Congressional seat. Unfortunately the voting republicans weren’t buying her. Her opponents used the line “Buying a seat” many times and it probably resonated with the low information voters.

Buying a seat in Congress probably did her in but maybe she didn’t lie enough for the republicans. Or wasn’t perceived to be a racist. Or wasn’t an assh*le enough like Trump. Maybe that would have changed their minds but in the end she is out. After all, they do have their limits.

Wall was Greg Abbott’s endorsed candidate. The $6 million woman. She deserved the loss. So did he.

Don’t expect the republicans in Congress to tackle the gun violence issue anytime before the mid term elections. It’s not going to happen. Their reluctance to have a discussion on possible ways to avoid another Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland, Killeen, Fort Hood, or Parkland shows how strong the vice grip of the nra is on their balls. They can’t breath, much less govern.

With the latest shooting the nra congress have given up their right to propose a solution. They need to simply be quiet just like they have since the first mass shooting and let others decide how the 70% of Americans, who do not own a firearm, want to live. As an idea, one the nra congress will never consider, let Americans buy assault weapons and high capacity clips with just a few restrictions.

Owning an assault weapon should be a felony unless that weapon is securely stored at a gun range. If you want to buy an assault weapon, have it shipped to a secure gun range. If you want to shoot, go to the range. If you want to show it off, go to the range. If you want to fondle it, go to the range. If you want to move, have it transferred to a new secure gun range.

An assault weapon should ever be stored at home or be available on the street. A violation should be a felony with a mandatory minimun sentence of 2 years in jail.

The nra congress will not like this idea but they don’t like any idea like keeping weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill or background checks or any common sense legislation. There is only one way for common sense reforms or any reforms to be proposed, debated, and voted on. The nra has to be voted out of congress.

November 6, 2018

There ought to be a law….

Kathaleen Wall is one of the republicans running to replace Ted Poe in Texas Congressional District 2. A quick look at her fundraising numbers might make one say something like “Needless to say the republican candidate has millions.” but looking beneath the surface tells a different story.

According to her FEC single fundraising report Wall raised a whopping $2,744,692.79 but that includes $2,733,801.79 from the candidate  herself leaving only $10,891 raised from 14 other donors. So Wall is literally trying to buy an election. Her closest primary opponent Kevin Roberts raised $531,311 including a $270,000 personal loan. Rick Waller raised $367,492 including a $300,000 loan.  David Balat raised $155,000 with an $85,000 loan and Johnathon Havens raised $111,000 with an $80,000 loan. None of the republicans are capable of raising money on their own. 

Here is the FEC report on the candidates:

Kathaleen Wall did not list her $2,733,801 donation as a loan but as a candidate contribution. I know if a donation is listed as a loan then it could be paid back, with interest, from campaign contributions but if it is listed just as a self financed campaign donation then it might not be refundable. Regardless there ought to be law preventing people from buying a race like this.

You can view her entire report here.

As I said yesterday:

Candidates need money to introduce themselves to the community, to buy literature, to pay staff, to buy resources like internet access, signs, media buys, and campaign headquarters. If you can’t get your message out you can’t expect voters to vote for you.

You can review all the fundraising information for all candidates in the Congressional Districts of Texas by visiting this link. So with a bit of commentary, here are the numbers from the FEC.gov website:

Congressional District 2
Needless to say the republican candidate has millions, $2.7 million to be exact, but it is all of her money! See my post here. Democratic candidate, Litton, has raised $367,492 to date. More than any other candidate, republican or Democrat excluding any loans or self financing. Some candidates do not have any data on the FEC site. I do not intend to update later. They are not actively raising money and should regroup and run at a later date.

Congressional District 7
Wow. Lots of money being raised in this period. Alex has raised nearly $1 Million. 4 of the 7 candidates look viable. Moser brought in a considerable amount this period mainly from ActBlue which is how it is reported. I thought that the contributions had to be itemized with who actually contributed the money via ActBlue, but I may be wrong. The bottom 3 Candidates should consider dropping out, endorsing someone, then put their resources into the winner of the primary.

Congressional District 29
Notice that Muhammad Tahir Javed has an incredible amount for a single reporting period of $647,775 but……that includes a $400,000 personal loan from his own pocket.The bottom 4 candidates have about $39,000 combined which includes a $27,683 personal loan by Roel Garcia into his campaign.The bottom 4 might consider dropping out. As I have said “This is not a game”.

Today is the last day for reports to be filed for Federal races. Some reports have been filed already, some have not. Some have an incredible amount of money especially in Congressional District 7, some have an incredible lack of money especially in Congressional District 7. Hopefully by tomorrow numbers will be posted for CD2, CD7, CD29, and CD36 to give primary voters a look at who can be viable in the general election.

Over the past month or two forums across the county have focused on questions about the environment, immigration, health care and taking control of the trump administration, but few questions have been asked about the viability of the multiple campaigns. This is a very serious question. Candidates running for an office should be able to say how many votes they need to win in the primary and the general, how much money they need to win these votes, and how they intend to raise the money necessary to win.

Running for office isn’t a game. Lives are literally at stake. It is serious business and requires pre-filing analysis. Candidates should have either a large amount of money or a very large army of volunteers, based upon the office running for, or a combination of both. A combination of both is most probably the best bet to win. Candidates need money to introduce themselves to the community, to buy literature, to pay staff, to buy resources like internet access, signs, media buys, and campaign headquarters. If you can’t get your message out you can’t expect voters to vote for you.

So. Tomorrow we Count de Monet.

The Houston Chronicle probably said it best:

In fact, I don’t think any city in Texas has a chance at Amazon’s HQ2. Mostly because our regressive, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT state leadership has given the state a horrendous reputation on the coasts that only a political revolution will overcome.

But someone really put it in simple terms to Amazon with a letter from a Texan. In short, we don’t like Muslims, Gays, Mexicans, and Teachers. And we love guns, and machetes, and guns, and more guns. At least the writer was being honest.

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over Brian Babin. In a letter to his constituents Babin falls for the FBI Secret Society prank based upon a joke between two FBI agents over text. From his email:

These text messages from high ranking FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page show the depth of anti-Trump bias at the FBI and DOJ, which we now know included the existence of a “secret society” to coordinate their efforts. I urge all my constituents regardless of party affiliation to take precautions to protect themselves from possible violation by the FBI. I highly recommend the Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil for best protection.

Babin has also called for an investigation into the Russian meddling in our election. Actually he hasn’t. In fact Babin wants the investigation investigated. It is clear he will do anything to protect trump, his family, and his connections to the Russian government.

Sad.

Someone has to pay for the Trump tax cuts.

As I said before “We have a race!” Congressional District 7 should be a competitive race to unseat the incumbent John Culberson. I find this race interesting because of the fundraising effort.

There are 6 Democrats in the primary with 4 raising serious money for the election according to the latest FEC reports. Joshua Butler and James Cargas have not raised much money with only $10k and $3k cash on hand. Butler was considering a run as an independent then came back to running as a Democrat. With $3,000 he might want to consider running for school board. James Cargas ran before and raised just as little money as he has today. You have to thank Cargas for running when it wasn’t a possible winning district but if you can’t raise money, you can’t raise interest in your candidacy.

Running for office is serious business. It requires serious fundraising efforts. It is extremely hard work but in this day and age money is required to get your name and position out to the voters. If you do not put the time and effort into raising money you will not be a serious candidate. Hopefully Butler and Cargas will bow out and support one of the other candidates. Let’s thank them for running.

So who is left? Alexander Triantaplyllis, Elizabeth Fletcher, Laura Moser, and Jason Westin with Cash on Hand of $535K, $403K, $271K, and $167K respectively. They have each raised $668K, $550K, $401K, $262K. Culberson has $388K and his republican opponent has $90K COH. Westin’s $262K is OK if he was running for State Representative. He might want to reconsider at the next FEC report.

The other 3 have raised significant amounts of money for a primary. The general will require millions to be competitive. It looks like Alex and Elizabeth have the ability to raise this money. Moser might struggle as will Westin. Their next reports might show something different.

It is good to see qualified candidates with the ability to raise money to run a serious campaign. CD7 will be fun to watch. Good luck to the candidates in the primary.

I’ve said it before but I am now convinced it is true. Remember when we used to say “Not all republicans are racists, but all racists are republicans”? The events over the last week have turned the Party of Lincoln into a party for racists. You have to wonder why those who claim “I’m not a racist….” haven’t left the party.

Former republican Joe Scarbrough left the party on national TV. He has been critical of Donald Trump prior to his election and has now moved to being critical of the entire party. Ana Navarro, republican political commentator, has called out Trump and the republican party for over a year now but will not leave the party. She should. Many should. Her party no longer exists. It’s become a safe haven for racists protected by the President of the United States. What is she waiting for?

That all changed last Saturday.

There is no excuse, none, zero, zip, for any republican to remain silent about Trump’s response to the white supremacists and nazis in Charlottesville. As President George W Bush once said “You are either with us or against us. Republicans need to take a side but the vast majority have not.

Our Congressman Brian Babin, representing the Clear Lake area, issued a dimwit response to the violence much like Trump did.

“There is no place in America for the violence and extremism that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. We must stand united against all forms of evil and violence directed at our fellow Americans. I call for a swift and complete investigation by the Department of Justice.”

Way to take a stand Babin. It really isn’t that hard to take a stand and say something like: 

“At least three people were killed and 20 people seriously injured in an act of terror today in Charlottesville. The vile beliefs of the perpetrators of this violence insult our fundamental American values and must be condemned in the strongest terms.  

The President’s talk of violence ‘on many sides’ ignores the shameful reality of white supremacism in our country today, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around such acts of hate.”

The daily caller, a white wing rag founded by Tucker Carlson, wrote that Babin is attempting to obstruct the Russia probe:

Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin is asking for congressmen to sign onto a letter requesting that special counsel Robert Mueller appear publicly in a congressional hearing, The Daily Caller has learned.

“Every nominee for United States Attorney must be confirmed by the Senate, a process that brings to the forefront any concerns regarding the nominee’s ability to hold their position in a decent and impartial manner. However, as Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team of lawyers investigate our very own president, we as a nation wait in the dark with very little information about those given this great authority,”

Babin is considered armed with dangerous misinformation and should not be trusted to tell the truth. Last seen with Donald Trump.

As I have said in the past:

We have a saying here in Texas “We do things bigger in Texas”. It isn’t really true, but its a cheap simple minded saying to make Texas seem like it’s something it isn’t. But Texas does have some of the biggest idiots elected to office.

Case in point Congressman Blake Farenthold from the Corpus Christi area commenting on Republican female Senators not voting for repeal of the ACA. From the Texas Tribune:

“Some of the people that are opposed to this, there are female senators from the Northeast … If it was a guy from South Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.”

In 1804, Aaron Burr famously shot and killed his political adversary, Alexander Hamilton, in a New Jersey duel.

This type of rhetoric shouldn’t surprise anyone especially voters in the Corpus area. They have elected this man 4 times since the great wave of tea baggers of 2010. This type of talk is not only accepted, it seems to be required from their elected officials. Farenthold has made other jaw dropping comments in the past. Go ahead and look it up. He is a tough talking swaggering Texan until he gets on TV at which time he seems to cave to common sense.

Well this IS exciting!

According to the Federal Elections Committee there are 7 (yes 7) Democratic candidates seeking the nomination in the primary in order to challenge John Culberson. One thing about raising money. The more you raise, the more you raise. When contributors see you have the ability to raise money they tend to give money. The FEC has  reports for all candidates here. According to the Houston Chronicle:

A crowded field of Democrats eyeing a chance to take on Republican John Culberson in his west Houston congressional seat have raised more than $1.2 million in the last three months, according to new campaign finance reports.

Maybe we ought to give Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick what they want, a mean spirited, hateful, unnecessary bathroom bill  targeting the transgender community. This is what they want. This is what their party wants and it will come with heavy consequences.

Abbott has been warned by the NCAA and the NFL about pushing and passing an unnecessary bill that targets specific members of the community. Texas could lose any future consideration of a Super Bowl in Houston or Dallas with a loss of hundreds of millions. The NCAA has warned of relocating the 2018 Final Four from San Antonio. They could also move the FCS Football Championship game. The A&M and Arkansas game could be moved from Jerry Jones stadium.

Businesses such as IBM, who has been vocal in their opposition, could stop any expansion in the state. Many would reconsider relocating to Texas. Other state governments could ban travel to Texas. Conventions would be relocated. The financial impact to the state could be huge hurting people who depend upon these businesses for their economical well being. According to the Texas Tribune:

Also Monday, CEOs and top executives from more than a dozen major Dallas-based corporations — including American Airlines, AT&T and BNSF Railway — delivered letters to Abbott, Patrick and Straus decrying the bathroom bill as a proposal that would “seriously hurt the state’s ability to attract new businesses, investments and jobs.”

But that doesn’t matter to Abbott or Patrick. They are more concerned with attacking a specific group of Texans than representing all Texans. Maybe we, as a state, need the bill to pass so the threats can become a reality. If Jerry Jones, the city of Frisco, San Antonio, and Houston will not stand up and speak up then they need to suffer the consequences of Abbott’s hate.

Abbott will continue to defend the bill as he has said “You want me in that stall. You need me in that stall. When you put your hand in a pile of poo that was once your best friends burrito…..”.

I’ve said it before:

We have a saying here in Texas “We do things bigger in Texas”. It isn’t really true, but its a cheap simple minded saying to make Texas seem like it’s something it isn’t. But Texas does have some of the biggest idiots elected to office.

Case in point. According to CNN:

Starting this fall, adults in Texas can openly carry knives with blades longer than 5.5 inches. In fact, swords, spears, daggers, sabers, bowie knives and machetes are all perfectly fine to tote around. Pretty much anything you can whip out in a Dungeons and Dragons battle is fair game.

As someone on Facebook said “You never know when you might be attacked by a snake or bison.” So not only do we have to watch play soldiers walk around with their hands on their guns we also have to worry about Texas sized idiots carrying knives, swords, and machetes!

From The Christian Post

Donald Trump met with his evangelical “christian” buddies for a prayer session. Trump offered the following:

Oh Lord  Let us prey.
Let us prey on the poor for they cannot afford to fight.
Let us prey on the sick for they cannot afford insurance.
Let us prey on the Hispanics for they will not vote.
Let us prey on the Black for their lives do not matter.
Let us prey on the disabled for they are weak.
Let us prey on the Muslims for they are now targets of hate
Let us prey on the Immigrants for they do not belong here.

And oh Lord
Let us prey on my supporters for they are too ignorant to know we are preying on them