TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalTed Cruz calls for Obama apology in State of the Union;
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ted Cruz called Sunday for President Obama to use his State of the Union speech to apologize for the “disaster” of Obamacare and for the fact that his own policies are making income inequality worse.
And an apology isn’t enough, he said.
“If you’re really sorry, you don’t just say you’re sorry. You actually do something to fix the problem,” Cruz said, appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation from Houston. (Transcript here.)
-snip-
As for Cruz, here was his unsolicited advice as Obama prepares for Tuesday night’s annual address to Congress and the nation.
“One of the things President Obama really ought to do is look in the TV camera and say to the over 5 million Americans all across this country who’ve had their health insurance canceled because of Obamacare, to look in the camera and say, `I’m sorry. I told you if you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it. I told you if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. And that wasn’t true. I’m sorry,’ ” Cruz said.
More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/01/ted-cruz-calls-for-obama-apology-in-state-of-the-union.html/ .
[font color=green]Click the link to read Cruz's denial of the federal government shutdown.[/font]
$8 billion worth of rare earth minerals in Sierra Blanca area mountain, company says
A fledgling Sierra Blanca company is trying to raise $20 million to continue developing plans for its proposed open-pit mine on a mountain near the West Texas town to produce billions of dollars of rare earth minerals that federal agencies have deemed critical to make clean-energy products and weapons.
"We're going to put Hudspeth County on the map," said Anthony Marchese, 50, a New Jersey investment banker and board chairman for Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp., which trades on the Over-the-Counter, or penny, stock market under the TRER symbol. "This could be a very large opportunity for the area, including El Paso."
China supplies more than 90 percent of the world's rare earth minerals.
Besides, energy and defense applications, the minerals also are used in electronic devices, lasers, in oil and gas drilling, water treatment, and other uses.
Texas Rare Earth Resources holds two state leases to explore and develop a 950-acre rare-earth minerals deposit in the almost mile-high Round Top Mountain, located eight miles northwest of Sierra Blanca and about 85 miles southeast of El Paso.
More at http://www.elpasotimes.com/business/ci_24993344/8-billion-worth-rare-earth-minerals-sierra-blanca .
James O’Keefe, ‘new sheriff in town,’ targets Battleground Texas
It is fitting that Battleground Texas officials first learned that they were being targeted by James O’Keefe, the wunderkind of undercover video, thanks to a chance act of eavesdropping. It was mid-September on a New York commuter train when a passenger found himself sitting near “a weirdly familiar-looking character” conversing with a companion.
The commuter recognized the character as activist James O’Keefe, and he emailed a warning to the general Battleground Texas mailbox: “I could not hear exactly what he was talking about, but it seemed to me he kept mentioning `videography’ and `Battleground Texas.’ It was definitely him, and I wish I could give you more details but the train was pretty loud. I am sure you guys are in his sights.”
The tip was on target, and the months since have seen an elaborate cat-and-mouse game across Texas between O’Keefe’s Project Veritas and Battleground Texas, a Democratic effort to turn heavily Republican Texas into an electoral battleground.
-snip-
New video expected soon
Late last year, O’Keefe and Jones {Lawrence Jones III - age 21} turned their attention to Austin, approaching the Battleground Texas office, the office of Travis County voter registrar Bruce Elfant, and the First Unitarian Universalist Church, where every Saturday Elfant trains and deputizes deputy voter registrars who can help potential voters register – nonpartisan training that is open to anyone but has included many volunteers with Battleground Texas, which now has about 5,000 deputy voter registrars statewide.
This time, O’Keefe, Jones and a third person with a camera rolling, arrived as themselves, not undercover.
“I thought he was a college kid doing a project. He asked if I knew who he was,” recalled Elfant, a Democrat. “I didn’t know who he was. He said, ‘I’m the guy who brought down ACORN.’ They seemed disappointed that I didn’t know them.”
More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/james-okeefe-new-sheriff-in-town-targets-battlegro/nc3Db/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium# . This lengthy article is behind the paywall at the Austin American-Statesman. Please send me a DU Mail if you would like additional details.
Republican National Committee finance chair Ray Washburne lured into investment scam
Ray W. Washburne, a Dallas investor and restaurant chain owner, was named the national finance chair for the Republican National Committee in February 2013, nearly two years after he gave money to Powell that he says wasn’t paid back in full before Powell’s death in May from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
More at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/national/among-mark-powells-alleged-victims-republican-nati/nc3Dx/ .
Additional background stories:
Will $15 million in life insurance help repay bilked creditors after Austin investment manager Mark Powell’s death?
Court documents show Powell borrowed at least $28 million from nearly 90 people, foundations and banks; where the money went remains a mystery.
And that has his creditors — nearly 90 of them so far — more optimistic that they’ll get at least some of their money back, even though what happened to the money remains a mystery.
More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/will-15-million-in-life-insurance-help-repay-bilke/nc3Dp/ .
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/austin-financial-advisers-death-sparks-inquiry-int/nX5Yp/
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/new-details-emerge-in-dead-investment-managers-fin/nYQDt/
Note: All links are behind the paywall at the Austin American-Statesman.
Is Southwest Chief a 'sacrificial train'?
Some rail watchers think Amtrak is using the Southwest Chief routing issue to sidestep its congressional mandate to subsidize long-distance trains — those traveling more than 750 miles — with federal funds.
Lawmakers gave more than $1.5 billion to Amtrak in 2013, with $71 million of that amount clawed back due to sequestration, a Nov. 13 Congressional Budget Office memo said.
“All told, the government covers almost all of Amtrak’s capital costs as well as more than 10 percent of its operating costs,” the memo said. “In 1970, when the Congress established Amtrak, it anticipated subsidizing the railroad for only a short time, until it became self-supporting. Since then, however, the federal subsidies to Amtrak have totaled about $45 billion.”
In July, Amtrak rolled out a $151 billion plan for improvements to routes in its Northeast Corridor, where it owns the tracks.
More at http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2014-01-25/southwest-chief-sacrificial-train .
Rio Grande Valley: Battleground Texas energizing young voters
Sarah Chavez approaches politics with the zeal of a missionary.
The University of Texas-Pan American senior estimates she spends 40 or more hours a week registering people to vote, getting them into classes to become voting registrars, making follow-up calls and, now, running the Battleground Texas Club at the University of Texas-Pan American.
“I find that I’m just carrying around a clipboard and I ask people if they want to get registered and it just becomes part of what you do,” she said, as she stood outside Cine El Rey on Monday, looking for potential marks to sign up to vote.
Chavez, whose parents’ missionary work brought her to the Rio Grande Valley, worked the crowd with other Battleground Texas volunteers during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the theater. Inside the theater and out, Chavez persistently and cheerfully pestered event-goers, reminding them of the importance of voting.
More at http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/article_4303a786-83e1-11e3-8d46-001a4bcf6878.html .
Greg Abbott criticizes Wendy Davis over abortion filibuster
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Republican attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott on Saturday criticized Democratic challenger Wendy Davis' 2013 filibuster to block new abortion restrictions and touted his record of defending state abortion laws.
Abbott spoke to about 2,000 anti-abortion demonstrators at the state Capitol during the Texas Rally for Life rally. The event was on the same steps where abortion rights supporters rallied last year and helped propel Davis, a second-term state senator from Fort Worth, as a rising star for state Democrats.
Abbott never used Davis' name, but referred to her as a "little known" state senator running for governor who seized on the publicity generated by her nearly 13-hour filibuster last June.
Her filibuster temporarily delayed a bill that banned abortion after 20 weeks and placed new restrictions on abortion providers. The Legislature's Republican majority passed the bill a few weeks later, and it was quickly signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Perry.
More at http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24992320/greg-abbott-criticizes-wendy-davis-over-abortion-filibuster .
Michael Quinn Sullivan (of Empower Texans) and His $372K Mistake
Last week longtime lobbyist and lawyer Steve Bresnen filed yet another complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission against rogue Republican PAC leader Michael Quinn Sullivan. This one in particular cites a missing $372,000 that was not disclosed to the IRS on a 2012 tax return, but was apparently reported to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Quorum Report noted that this most recent complaint could be the "most damaging accusation yet" against Empower Texans and Michael Quinn Sullivan.
For those keeping score this is the third complaint Bresnen has filed against Michael Quinn Sullivan and his dark money PAC Empower Texans dba Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
Bresnen has also filed a separate petition with the Texas Ethics Commission requesting rulemaking authority to ensure that all donations that are used for political purposes are disclosed, which would essentially require 501c4s to disclose their donors. The Ethics Commission has 60 days to decide on the rulemaking authority request. If it does decide that all donors need to be disclosed it could potentially reshape the political landscape for the 2014 election cycle.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14711/michael-quinn-sullivan-and-his-372k-mistake .
Race heats up in 33rd Congressional District
DALLAS — The previously quiet Democratic primary race in the 33rd Congressional District flared up Friday as the candidates tossed around labels such as “mediocre” and “Republican” to describe their opponents.
Freshman Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth is seeking a second term. His challenger, political newcomer Tom Sanchez, says he’s the person voters should send to Washington, D.C.
As the two squared off Friday in back-to-back interviews that will air at 9:05 a.m. Sunday on WFAA/Channel 8’s Inside Texas Politics, the gloves came off.
Veasey said his challenger is a Republican in disguise. Sanchez said Veasey is a “mediocre” politician who hasn’t done enough for his community.
More at http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/01/24/5512177/the-race-for-the-33rd-congressional.html .
[font color=green]So "Republican" is derogatory and denigrating. 
Federal campaign finance records show that Sanchez sent $500 to Perry’s presidential campaign in 2011 and more than $1,000 to Gingrich’s in 2012. There are no Republicans running for District 33 so the winner of the Democratic primary will be a shoo-in for the general election.[/font]
Self-Induced Abortion Increases Where Legal Care Is Scarce In The Rio Grande Valley
While many Texans reflected on what was a somber 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade this week, focus was shifted specifically to the Rio Grande Valley, where access to reproductive care services has vastly reduced. Because of this, doctors who previously were able to provide abortion care have highlighted the frequency of people whose only options are to self-induce abortions now that they cannot access legal services.
"I hope our politicians are made aware of how many girls are self-aborting in the Rio Grande Valley," said Dr. Lester Minto, owner of Reproductive Services of Harlingen. In a story from Al Jazeera America, Dr. Minto discussed how his patients had told him if his clinic closed, they would resort to something illegal.
In another report this week by RH Reality Check, evidence has shown that self-induction was already more common in Texas than other states around the country before HB 2. With abortion-inducing drugs more accessible across the US-Mexican border, this seems to be the obvious choice for those who have been left with next to nothing. Stomach ulcer drugs like misoprostol and Cytotec are some options people have used for self-induced abortions, but there are other methods being used such as herbs, laxatives, or more physically invasive methods such as inserting objects.
As reported previously, when oral arguments were heard in the Fifth Circuit Court about HB 2, the burden of travel was questioned for those living in the Rio Grande Valley, who are now without an abortion provider. However, Judge Edith Jones dismissed any undue burden on anyone seeking an abortion in the Valley because the roads were "peculiarly flat" and not "congested."
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14705/selfinduced-abortion-increases-where-legal-care-is-scarce-in-the-rio-grande-valley .
[font color=green]The nearest clinics providing legal abortions are in Corpus Christi and San Antonio (150 to 250 miles away).[/font]
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,167
