Think Texas comment

On November 28, 2011-- Ana Whitman posted on her Think Texas blog about the Texas death penalty issues here in Texas. I was very interested in her post because I didn't hear about Rick Perry's comments about not losing any sleep over the death penalty issues. I'm not a Rick Perry fan and I can't say that I'm shocked about Perrys comments. I do agree that Texas has an issue with innocent people being sentenced and put to death. If even one innocent person dies, then there's a problem because I believe that one is too many. It's disheartening to think of innocent people being killed but I do also believe in the death penalty, especially for the most heinous crimes committed. Innocent people have died as a result of the Texas justice system, even a  judge publicly has said this himself. I completely agree that the Texas justice systems need reform and all evidence and data needs to be analyzed properly. I am glad that the Innocence Project is around but here in Texas we should be doing a better job of ensuring that innocent people aren't executed. I would like to see a requirement for a case review before executing people, especially those who continually declare their innocence. The Texas justice system is yet another area that desperately needs reform in Texas.

Texas Education, part two

I just want to expand on my previous post about Texas Education and the failure to make education a priority in Texas. There's some options on how to better fund education here in Texas and even though some might sound crazy, you must remember that ultimately the effects of not making education a priority is far worse. Texans not getting an adequate education can lead to more students dropping out of school, not being prepared for college, less students going to college and it all leads to Texas having a diminished talent pool for the various businesses (health care, technology, banking/finance, education) in Texas. On top of a diminished talent pool in Texas, you could say it will affect public assistance resources and also, the more unaware or uneducated individuals means that politicians get away with more crap. I believe this cost far more in the long run for Texas.
Like Jefferson said, nation can't be free and ignorant. Moving on to a list of ideas to better fund Texas education:

1. Gambling
2. Raise taxes (property/businesses/alcohol/tobacco)
3. State income tax
4. Pay cuts for high earning "public" officials 
5. Cuts to certain expense fund accounts used by high earning "public" officials
6. Inheritance tax
7. Donations
8. Reconsider those businesses/organizations that are tax-exempt/receive tax cuts and tax them
9. Parent paid preschool (Austin ISD starts this type of program for 2011-2012 school year)
10. Resurrect our founding fathers (or at least Thomas Jefferson) back from the dead and let them tackle the issue.

Texas gets little funding from the federal government compared to the amount of funding that comes from local and state resources. Bottom-line, it is Texas responsibility to find a way to better fund public education and the effects are not making education a priority needs to be understood. We need a solution, the need to reform the way public education is handled in Texas has to be addressed and fixed.

Texas Constitution..

Texas.Truth posted a blog about the Texas Constitution in October about the mess our constitution has become and the need for an update. While, I can say that I agree with these statements, unfortunately this will probably not happen. Our politicians are too busy passing sonogram laws and constitutional amendments to allow them to keep their pay and not perform their current job while running for another office. Oops, that's me being bitter and disappointed. (sigh) Although, it really should be poked and prodded, re-written and updated, I seriously don't see it happening because it's easier just to make amendments than politicians actually coming together to comb through the entire constitution to rewrite it. I'm curious to know if any politician has actually read the entire constitution or if it's even possible to read the thing because of all the bandages (amendments) attached to it.
I'll expand on Texas.Truth argument that the Texas Constitution needs to be revised, it does and it has been attempted several times with no success, the closest chance this had to becoming possible was back in the 1970's and to-date The Texas Constitution has been amended 474 times!
Our constitution is too long, too confusing and poorly written.
Yes, we need an updated/rewritten constitution but the chances of it happening are not likely.........we need the politicians to get it together and Texans to pay attention and push for this to have a chance of becoming reality.

Frustration with Texas Politics and Education

Texas politics and education are doing a great job here in Texas! Then, I woke up from my dream and this statement said out-loud would be a lie. Texas is doing a bad job when it comes to education, Texas is close to the bottom in spending per student and also close to the bottom in SAT scores in the nation.

The following information comes from Texas Comptroller website:

• Texas is #49 in verbal SAT scores in the nation (493) and #46 in average math SAT scores (502).
• Texas is #36 in the nation in high school graduation rates (68%).
• Texas is #33 in the nation in teacher salaries. Teacher salaries in Texas are not keeping pace with the national average. The gains realized from the last state-funded across-the-board pay raise authorized in 1999, which moved the ranking from 33 to as high as 26th in the nation, have disappeared over the last five years.
• Texas was the only state in the nation to cut average per pupil expenditures in fiscal year 2005, resulting in a ranking of #40 nationally; down from #25 in fiscal year 1999.
• Texas is #6 in the nation in student growth. The general student population in Texas public schools grew by 11.1% between school years 1999 and 2005, with the largest percent of growth seen among low income and minority children.
• Between school years 1999 and 2005, the number of central administrators employed by Texas public schools grew by 32.5%, overall staffing in public schools grew by 15.6%, while the number of teachers grew only 13.3%.

All this information tells me is that, the way Texas handles education is a major problem and it should be fixed. A good start would be politicians putting more money into education, instead of making these ridiculous budget cuts.  Texas has chosen to increase funding for other things, such as public safety and corrections over the years far more than education.
I hope that most people in the Lone Star state would be willing to pay more taxes if it's for education, I know I would. I am personally at the point where I really don't care where or how they get the funds (allowing gambling or Texas having a state-income tax), as long as politicians address the issues and make some significant positive progress.
Teachers need pay raises and students need more educational resources (books, programs, etc...). Education in Texas is only going to get worse if our politicians don't do something and start to make this issue a priority.

November elections......more amendments!

I've come across a blog posted on Empower Texas by Dustin Matocha, a social media coordinator for Empower Texas and a current UT students pursuing a degree is Management and Government, about the upcoming elections for more constitutional amendments (Texas loves amendments!) regarding Proposition 3 and paying for college. 

Since, I'm currently in college at ACC and plan to transfer to either UT or Texas State in pursuit of a new career this is sort of interesting to me personally. Lets start with putting exactly what Prop 3 says via the Votexas.org website which states:

Proposition Number 3 (SJR 50)

SJR 50 would amend the constitution to authorize the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board or its successors to issue and sell general obligation bonds on a continuing basis for the purpose of financing educational loans for students, subject to certain constitutional restrictions, including a restriction as to the maximum principal amount of bonds outstanding at any one time.

The proposed amendment would appear on the ballot as follows:  "The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of general obligation bonds of the State of Texas to finance educational loans to students.”

Matocha asserts that this will only cause more issues by giving the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board permission to build debt and drives up the cost of education by allowing more subsidized educational loans available and allowing no free market. 
I'll be honest, the guy has me sort of convinced.......I'm not an economic major but it makes sense to me and I've always wondered how the cost of education was being drastically increased. If this is all true, who does the American person blame? State? Government? or educational institutions? There's many people who depend on these types of loans so, I'm not going to blame the students for wanting cheaper loans. That's just silly!
I'll have to agree with Matocha in him saying the effects of having no free market causes higher prices, having a monopoly isn't really a good thing for consumers since they can charge whatever they want because there's no competition. And agree with him stating how the verbiage on the proposition is vague, I'm not sure how I feel about this being on a "continuing basis". We'll have to wait to see if this proposition is first approved by whoever goes out to vote, and if it's passed, then wait for the positive or negative effects.

Matocha writes for a general audience, his point of view and explanation is easy to understand but his credibility isn't mature, yet at least. Matocha is a 21 year old college student who works for Empower Texas. After reading this, I asked myself whether or not to believe this kid? From my point of view, he's just a kid but then I wonder if he has any real agenda or motives to kill this proposition. Why would a college student dislike a proposition that could possible get him cheaper loans?  Matocha is either right or has an agenda and is devilishly clever.
The things that make you go, "hhhmmmm....?!" 
 

Keyston Pipeline XL

Barry Smitherman is the publisher of this opinion piece in the Austin-American Statesman on the Keystone XL pipeline, which he obviously strongly supports. Smitherman is the Railroad Commission of Texas (appointed by Governor Perry), chairman of the Public Utility Commission and serves on various other committees/boards, he has an impressive resume. Smitherman claims this pipeline is completely privately funded, will create jobs, have no significant negative impact on the environment, and help the US dependence on foreign oil.  He attempts to back this up by stating “Keystone XL has been subjected to an exhaustive three-year federal review of a project that's destined to deliver the jobs, investment and energy security our country needs — right now.” This all sound nice the way he writes for the general audience (no big words, yeah!) but I remain skeptical about this pipeline because it’s just the way I am. I need to hear other sides to this story, the ones who strongly oppose this pipeline being built and why.

Do I like the idea of more jobs for Americans? Of course I do!

Do I like the idea of no more foreign oil dependence? Duh! Of course!

I agree with Smitherman in those two areas, Americans need jobs and the United States needs to be less dependent on the Middle East for oil. Whether I agree with building the pipeline still remains to be figured out. I just know that after reading this commentary I have lingering questions about this pipeline, like…

Who’s going to regulate/enforce the maintenance of these pipelines? Who will ultimately be responsible?  (I don’t want another blame game fest, like after the oil spill in the Gulf) And, what does “will not have any significant negative environment impacts” actually mean? Is this “not have any significant negative environmental impact” like saying we’re killing off some feral hogs or is it bigger than that? I want to know because this could mean different things to different people.  

What a Rick Perry Presidency Would Look Like for Women.....

I love this blog post......... I will let it be know now I am not personally a big fan of Governor Perry and the 'Mean Rachel' blog highlights some of the reasons why. I think this post is worth a quick read because it highlights a few issues concerning women under Governor Perry here in Texas and she comments on the HPV vaccine and the recent sonogram law.
I am a women, I am a mom and I do believe in a women's right when it comes to her body. There is such a fine line on the whole abortion issue anyway but to make a women see and hear a sonogram before she has an abortion is just wrong. Abortion is not something to be taken lightly by any women but to require a women to go through that when she's already making such an important decision in her life is senseless to me. Are we trying to make women feel even worse about having to make that decision, none of us know what's truly going on in every women's life, we are not walking in her shoes. A women could be raped, by a stranger, family or her husband, being in an abusive relationship. These events could be unknown to others and really, whatever the reason, no one knows but the women making that decision. It's like Perry is saying that all women who have abortions are just plain selfish and incompetent .  (And to make this bill "an emergency".....really?!?)
I just feel like Perry has made an extremely hard decision even worse on women. What's happens to those women who have made that decision, then see that sonogram and still continue with the abortion. Any guilt felt by women who have chosen to have an abortion is now 100x greater. Depression is a result, whether it's caused by regret or just plain sadness for not being able to keep the child for whatever reason, it doesn't matter. Any guilt, any depression is magnified 10, 100, 1000 fold as a result of this bill. I think this post is worth a quick read because it highlights a few issues concerning women under Governor Perry here in Texas. She


I know there will be plenty of people that disagree with me and that's fine........I don't believe that abortion is a decision women take lightly. All I'm really trying to say is that we all walk our own path, we all have our own shoes and no one knows what's truly going on in their own lives expect themselves. If everyone knew exactly what was going on in everyone's lives, suicide would never happen. That's another subject all together........or maybe not.

http://www.meanrachel.com/