Blog 8, reply to Voter Apathy

This is a reply to Peter’s blog seven on the subject of “Voter Apathy.” Peter makes good points on voter turnout, and voters IQ. I agree with him on both points. However, I disagree with him regarding his reasoning over the IQ part.

Peter believes that uninformed voters lack basic knowledge of political issues, and this leads to low voter turnout. I don’t agree with Peter putting all the blames on the voters’ shoulder. There are many reasons that account for low voter turnout. First of all, it is obvious that there is a decline in public interest for elections. Most American citizens feel that their vote does not matter, and seeing as they lead very busy lives they are not inclined to make time to vote when they feel as if their vote does not count. American citizens have no motivation to vote as they once did. They are not made to feel that their vote matters. Some people argue that lower voter turnout is not necessarily bad. It could mean the people are satisfied with the present state of the government. It may also be better because the number of educated votes being cast is higher due to the fact that highly educated people tend to vote more frequently.

To augment Peter’s point on the voter apathy, Texas has had one of the lowest voter turnouts in the union for years. Border communities and poor minority communities have been historically less likely to vote with extremely low turnout rates. For example, six of the seven precincts in Presidio County – one of the poorest counties in the nation – had fewer than half of the registered voters come to the polls in 2008. One barely topped 23 percent. Voters with better socioeconomic conditions were much more likely to vote than the impoverished.

What should we do so that voters will care enough to think about the choice and make a decision? I like the suggestion to try reducing the number of offices we vote on. There are too many for a reasonably busy person to keep track of now. Elect a governor and have him appoint the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and so on. If you don’t like the job the state government is doing, vote out the governor and get a whole new slate of officers. Now we don’t know who to blame — the governor, the secretary of education or whomever. Give folks a chance to vote against someone and they will do it.

How important is Texas’ energy role in the state’s economy?

Texas is a very important player when it comes to the increasingly crucial role of energy. Texas’s role in energy ties in with the American security and the economy. With its rich petroleum deposits and history of oil, the state often dictates policy for the rest of the country.

Texas is the nation’s leader in wind energy, and it has the strictest renewable energy mandate in the country. Now the wind capital of the U.S., Texas’s new law would make the state the leader in solar power as well.

Texas is the number two state when it comes to clean energy jobs, number one, of course, is California. Although Texas does not have a program at this time that provides funding of renewable energy equipment on an individual basis, there are tax exemptions available in certain instances. For example businesses that either use or manufacture or install solar or wind energy can receive franchise tax deductions and/or exemptions. There also exists a property tax exemption involving solar, wind, and biomass.

Even though Texas refines the most oil and produces much more natural gas than any other state, it boasts the second largest number of alternative fuel vehicles on the road. According to a study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, there were 55,646 workers employed in the clean energy industry in Texas. The study also found that venture capitalists had a favorable outlook on prospects for making money in the Texas energy sector. The state ranked third in dollars invested in clean energy applications.
 
Texas governor, Rick Perry, recently pointed out some of the successes he's overseen with regard to the state's energy policy. He notes that electric utilities in Texas were charged with reducing their minimum demand levels. They were able to reduce their demand below the desired goals. I say, Texas politics is pushing Texas energy policy in the right direction.

Criticism on: Education… The Governors responsibility?

This is a reply to Dan’s blogfive on the subject of “Education… The Governors responsibility?.”  Dan makes a good point on politicians’ promises during campaign getting forgotten after they are elected.

During the recent campaign and for any previous campaigns, education became a debating subject. This time, as Dan correctly, pointed out the subject was used for self serving purpose. Politicians usually pick education subject since it normally is a hot topic and gives the politicians something to talk about during the election campaign. I agree with Dan, regardless of who is elected, the issue will not be addressed after the election. I also agree with Dan that, both candidates exaggerated the state of the education systems.

I don’t agree with Dan when he blames the electorate for allowing these types of debate flourish, in this case, the topic of education. The politicians control the campaign environment; they are in charge of manipulation of the electorate’s mind. This goes for the education budget as well.

Dan’s argument is correct when he says, throwing more money at the education, will not fix the problem. However, I am not sure about his claim regarding Texas spending $60 Billion dollars on education. According to ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News, article dated, Oct 25 2010, on the Texas revenue, $48.9 billion budget went to public schools, junior colleges, universities. Either way, Texas’s education budget is huge. Of course, there are some money being wasted in the system.

I totally agree with Dan on the subject of Texas spending way too much money on the sport complexes. In addition to wasting the financial resources on the sport, emphasizing too much on sport, is having a negative impact on the quality of Texas education. 

In summary, Dan discusses from wide range of angles the subject of education, political importance of education issues, and the education budget in this blog. He criticizes the candidates for misusing the education topic during their campaign for governor. He also blames parents for their lack of responsibilities for their kids’ education. I agree with him criticizing the politicians and the parents for Texas’s education problems. 

University of Lobbyists

Become a lobbyist by graduating from the finest institution of Texas government. Our legislature process can train you to become a lobbyist in a short time. It is guaranteed that once you are elected and completed the legislator’s course, the process will land you on a lucrative lobbying position with extraordinary financial benefit.  While you are being trained to become a lobbyist, you will receive financial aid for $7,200 a year. So, hurry up and get elected to become a legislator to start your journey of becoming a successful lobbyist eventually.

Below is the 4 step process of how to become a successful lobbyist:

1). Election process 
2). Get elected  
3). Get trained by the legislature process

4). Graduate and become a lobbyist.

To start the election process, start spending money (yours or donations) for advertisements. Don’t worry; if you spend your own money, it is an investment; it will payoff big in the future, guaranteed. Come up with some mumbo-jumbo ads of negative stuff about your opponents, and positive ones with your family and pets in it. Make sure you make a nice slides show of you with your family, doing family activities like reading to your kids, walking with your wife, and make sure to hold hands and smile. During your campaign, use a lot of family words and phrases. If you are visiting some work places, wear jeans and a hardhat.  Make sure you act like a shark when making campaign movie clips; if any politician is not popular and is bleeding, go after him or her. Attack any bill that is not popular as well. Shake a lot of hands; use the sentences like “We want to get our state back.”

Seriously, that is how the local election system and becoming a lobbyist work. It is a big threat to the integrity of the Texas legislative process when a former legislator becomes a lobbyist. In that case, the lobbyist has access to the legislative staff, but is no longer beholden to the Texas citizen. However, he or she has obligations to a paying client.

Lobbyists are in direct communication with legislative or executive branch officials to influence their decisions about public policy. In Texas, lobbyists play a significant role in influencing legislation and shaping administrative actions. The action may not be in the best interest of Texas citizens. Many businesses and other groups pay lobbyists to represent their interests before the Texas Legislature.

Now, the question is: what to do about it? Are we stuck with a corrupted legislative system? Sir Winston Churchill (British politician 1874-1965) figured out the answer when he said “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

Don’t Budget Prematurely

Paul Burka, senior executive editor of TexasMonthly is the author of “Is it time to institute annual budget sessions?” He posted it in BURKABLOG on Thursday October 7, 2010. In his article he criticizes people responsible for writing the state budget, not having a clue over when and what measures to take for dealing with the budget shortfall. 

Paul makes a good point that in the best case, the budget processes is completed in June 2011, way two early into the biennium. It makes sense to come up with the budget in the second year of the biennium, when there is more information about the state of the Texas economy. Now there is the question of, is there any motive by the panicked-budget-cutting? Paul, rightfully so, points out that history has shown the current way that the budget is written lends itself to panicked budget-cutting any time that there is a downturn. He thinks the law makers should study the results of taking premature reactions to the budget shortfalls in the past, before start taking drastic measures for the present one.

I agree with Paul on the budget resulting surplus in 2003 only because estimating done by Comptroller Strayhorn proved to be too pessimistic. Legislators did not question the $9.9 billion shortfall, and acted prematurely on cutting the budget unnecessarily. That is an example of political motive, politicians trying to use the budget processes as a tool to score points with their opponents.

Paul is correct saying, Texas is facing a significant budget gap in the 2012-13 biennium. What is less clear is the exact size of the gap the Legislature will face when it convenes in January 2011.

Paul makes a good point, blowing the budget shortfall horn too early is nothing but a tactic to scare the general public into believing that budget cuts have near-apocalyptic implications, and start with 10% cuts and may be more in the future.  In 2003, state agencies added to the rhetoric by inappropriately responding to questions about possible cuts in budgets and programs.

I agree with Paul, we need to wait. The budget gap in the 2011 legislative session will provide the perfect backdrop to enact the necessary changes. When this budget process unfolds, the sky will not fall in 2011 any more than it did in 2003.

Lack of Leadership affects school finance system

Rita Haeker, president of Texas State Teachers Association, is the author of the commentary, “Leadership lacking when it comes to school finance”. She blames the school finance system for the Texas school budgetary problem, not the struggling economy. Budget problems are mounting for many school districts. This will be a major legal and financial quagmire agenda item for the next governor.

I don’t think property tax increase is the answer to the budget problem now and in the future. People are struggling to pay their current high property taxes. I agree with the author regarding the state government shrinking its responsibilities on the matter. Budgetary task is one of the essential reasons for the politicians’ elections. They should take on the responsibility of coming up with a balanced school budget. It wasn’t too long ago that Texas lawmakers, facing a court order, finally, undertook a major overhaul of the school funding system.

The author makes a point that the budget cuts proposed by state Education Commissioner Robert Scott are not realistic ones.  The governor is responsible for guiding the $35 billion public school system and its 4.4 million students, which experts say needs a major overhaul to make sure schools are getting enough money.


I think the budget situation will call for disparate acts in 2011. Joe Smith, a school consultant and former superintendent has said, "There's going to be a whole lot of districts that are going to be up against the wall."

The author lists the lawmakers’ proposed budget cuts of totaling 260 million dollars from textbook purchase to dropout preventions programs. However, in a blog posted in the TexasMonthly by Paul Burka, the headline says: “Perry: no cuts to education budget in 2011”. Sherry Kofler had a ten-minute live interview with Perry on Sep 17. All of Kofler’s questions pertained to the budget. The most important part of the interview was when Kofler asked Perry, “Can you assure public school educators that our education budget will not be cut?” Perry’s response: “Yeah, I think so.”

We should not be surprised by a politician saying one thing during an interview, but have a hidden agenda behind the scene. I am not for raising property taxes every time the state is short in budget. Every industry with the exception of health care of course, is cutting cost. Perhaps education system can find a way to cut cost without sacrificing quality of education.  My recommendation would be to reduce the four-year high school duration to three years. This should keep the students busier during the senior year instead of being part time students.

I think Ms. Haecker complains about the budget cut, but she really does not offer a smart solution to the budget issue, instead she only defends the existing budget. She should evaluate the options within the education system’s efficiency. 

Time cures all problems, including the dishonest politicians

Is Texas making the right choice when it comes to candidates for 2012 president? Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and perennial big thinker in the Republican Party, recently has indicated that he will run for president in 2012. I think the article “Texas Republicans prefer Newt Gingrich for president; Ron Paul lags far behind” is worth reading, because we will see more of Texas support for Mr. Gingrich in the near future.

How easily Gingrich’s ethic issues are forgotten by Texas republicans. All that was needed is time. Time cures all problems, including the dishonest politicians.

On January 21, 1997, the House voted 395 to 28 to reprimand Gingrich for ethics violations dating back to September 1994. The House ordered Gingrich to pay a $300,000 penalty, the first time in the House's 208-year history it had disciplined a Speaker for ethical wrongdoing.

Eighty-four ethics charges most of which were leveled by House Democratic Whip David Bonior were filed against Speaker Gingrich during his term. These included charges that he claimed tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes. Eighty-three of the 84 allegations were dropped. Gingrich denied the charges over misuse of tax-exempt funds; however, he admitted to providing inaccurate statements during the probe over the college course and agreed to pay $300,000 for the cost of the investigation. The House Ethics Committee concluded that inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented "intentional or ... reckless" disregard of House rules.

The full committee panel did not reach a conclusion about whether Gingrich had violated federal tax law and instead opted to leave it up to the IRS.

In 1999, the IRS cleared the organizations connected with the "Renewing American Civilization" courses under investigation for possible tax violations.