El Paso Politics

Representative Naomi Gonzalez was awarded Freshman Legislator of the Year by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, which marks the second time in a row that the award went to a member of the El Paso delegation. Joe Moody won the award last time. That is a big sign of support from her colleagues and will likely be something that any possible challengers, even former seat-holders, will have to consider when making a decision to take on Gonzalez or not. Contrast that with the performance of Dee Margo, who has only passed a couple of pieces of legislation, one of which was written by the County. Margo has basically done nothing, despite being in the majority and having a Republican in the delegation, according to Margo, was supposed to be a good thing for El Paso. So far, it hasn't amounted to anything. The one thing both legislators have in common now is that they now have a record to run on, or for an opponent to run against. Dee Margo has made some really bad votes for El Pasoans...

As I said when I returned after my brief absence from the blogosphere, I'm doing things a little differently now. I'm going to be having more guest posts on my blog. Here is the first one below. Its written by Ernesto Villanueva, Jr, who was recently a candidate for city rep in District 8.

By Ernesto Villanueva, Jr. Since last November and the election that laid siege to the House of Representatives and lessened the hold Democrats had in the Senate, the Republicans have run on a motto, a motto that suggests they are the will of the people, on the premise that their motives and governance is in line with what that American people truly want out of Washington. We will get back to that in just a minute. Looking at the record of the 112st Congress we can examine if our new law makers are truly doing the will of the people or simply putting forth a Republican agenda under the guise of reform in politics. Since January we have seen the House vote to repeal the affordable Health Care Act, knowing there is no way it would pass the Senate or survive the President’s veto. Still they trudged ahead in with, what some called, a symbolic vote. A curious move, I thought, from a group of politicians interested in spending, debt and an unemploy...

Poor Sammy, he's become quite the puppet, first of the Republicans, now of Ness-Garcia haters. Its not my job to dispel everything the two conservative bloggers write. Frankly there are just not enough hours in the day to clean up after those two to begin with and no one ever really accused them of being accurate. But the two have been on a real rant lately writing about me. I understand why Sammy does, he really wants to develop an audience of readers. He's even remarked about how writing trash and lies has been popular for him in terms of traffic. Photoshopped image of Sammy. Relax David K, he's not really a Democrat and under my mind control powers, or is he? Sammy recently wrote about the El Paso Stonewall Democrats so I thought I would answer some of what he wrote. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you aren't entitled to your own set of facts. First of all Daniel Rollings is the President, not the Chair. I am the Vice President, not the Vice Chair. Sam...

When asked by Sito Negron of the El Paso Inc if failure to secure the third building of the medical school would mean that the session would be a failure, Dee Margo said, “From my perspective it would be” .  That being said, then yes, by Margo’s own definition, he failed in this session. From The Lion Star Blog by Jaime Abeytia The lack of funding for the third building was a major part of Dee Margo’s attack on Joe Moody during the campaign. In this article in the El Paso Inc, Dee Margo says, “My point is not one legislative bill filed by Joe had anything to do with the third building,” Margo said. “If you say it’s that important, I don’t care if you’re a rookie or whatever, go fulfill what you say is important. What changed?” I don’t care if you’re a rookie or whatever, go fulfill what you say is important.  That line may very well end up being Dee Margo’s Read my lips, no new taxes moment of his political career. If you visit video of the debate on ABC 7 Xtra between Joe...

So let me lay out the situation with State Rep Dee Margo’s TRB Amendment the way I understand the situation. Senate Bill 1048 is a bill on public-private partnerships to build stuff through public-private partnerships and give agencies the ability to enter into public-private partnerships. Someone made the decision (likely the Parliamentarian) that TRB (Tuition Revenue Bond) amendments were germane to the bill, so members started loading the bill up with amendments relating to institutions in their area. Margo put his TRB amendment for the Texas Tech Med School on SB 1048. TRBs are the way Texas builds structures at public universities. They use student fees and/or tuition to pay them off, and the state funds debt service for them. The legislature typically does this every other session. But Texas doesn't have money for them in this session as we all know. Rep Kolkhorst, a conservative Republican from Brenham, who represents Sam Houston State wanted to know if this was becoming the...

Representative Ann "Nana Chanclas" Morgan Lilly is really in a dilemma right now. Shortly after the election, she sold out and signed an agreement with two candidates that she defeated to support their key issues in exchange for their support. She was originally in support of domestic partner benefits. She publically supported the will of the people, but on more than one occasion in candidate forums Lilly defended her support for domestic partner benefits. And then she flip-flopped again after the election in order to get the endorsement of two other candidates in the race. The fact that Lilly so often switches sides on issues is problematic for her. First of all, it calls in to question her values as a candidate. We are talking about two very different positions on the issue. And I don’t just mean the actual vote, its more about the subtext of equality. For political expediency, she suddenly switches her position? How do to the Pastor Tom Brown crew trust an agreement with s...

I’ve commented on the fact that I am pretty much sick of Democrats that are afraid to stand up to the right-wing echo chamber of pre-packaged ideological bullshit talking points. I’ve also commented on how I’m pretty sick of Democrats that are afraid to stand by the values of the Democratic Party and take on the Republicans and call them out on their pre-packed ideological bullshit talking points. United State Congressman Silvestre Reyes during Vietnam Which is why I am very proud of Congressman Reyes. It’s about damn time we had a Democrat stand up to Perry’s constant barrage of negative attacks on border communities. I honestly can’t think of a Governor of Texas that has dissed the border region more than Governor Rick Perry. As if the whole car-bombs-are-going-off-in-El-Paso wasn’t bad enough, to say that the drug lords have operational control over most of the border is shameful, even for Governor Perry. He clearly doesn’t support the work of Border Patrol, Customs, and various law...

As the clocked ticked down the final moments of the 82nd Legislative session, the prediction of some Senate Democrats that their Tuesday vote to block  HB12  was the end of “sanctuary cities” came true. Sen. Tommy Williams did not try a second time to bring up the Arizona-style proposal and HB12 died a quick and painless death. This victory belongs to communities in El Paso, Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Texas Valley, West Texas and others. RITA is proud of the efforts of our state-wide alliance and other advocacy groups such as the TRUST coalition. We all made the difference with our actions, our energetic strategy and our dedication to Texan values and rights. We are also proud of those Senators that stood up for civil and human rights, community safety and economic security. We thank all of them, Wendy Davis, Rodney Ellis, Mario Gallegos, Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa , Eddie Lucio Jr., Jose Rodriguez, Carlos Uresti, Leticia Van De Putte, Kirk Watson, John Whitmi...

A few people wanted me to follow up with my previous piece about the victory celebration for Judge Regina Arditti and her legal council at the monthly meeting of the Tejano Democrats. I spoke to a couple of the 60 or so attendees and they say that it was a pretty ordinary meeting except for the fact that Arditti, Leeds and Caballero were given a standing ovation. A few of the people I spoke to confessed that they only gave the ovation because they didn't want to be the only ones not standing. Judge Arditti spoke and thanked her family and supporters for standing by her during a tough time. She also spoke about believing in the system the entire time. Leeds chose not to speak but Caballero spoke and from what the attendees told me, she was vintage Caballero, taking shots at the District Attorney and the presiding judge. Interestingly the attendees said she remarked that she was going to go after the judge, but they didn't know exactly what Caballero meant by that remark.

Washington, May 25  -  Homicides in Austin increase more than 70 percent, yet Governor Perry calls border "a national disgrace" New FBI data show Texas Capital and cities represented by Boehner, Cantor, McCarthy, and McConnell all have more homicides than Texas border cities combined  Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX-16) released the following statement in response to Governor Perry's continued attacks on Texas border communities.  New preliminary data released by the FBI this week show that Texas' border cities remain among the safest places to live in the United States: "Instead of pandering to TV cameras to tarnish the image of Texas's border region, Governor Perry should focus on controlling crime in the rest of Texas.  While Governor Perry falsely claims that 'drug cartels have operational control of a substantial amount' of the border to incite fear, new data released by the FBI this week confirm that border cities remain among the safest place...

The race for New York Congressional District 26 is usually drama free. It’s a solidly safe Republican seat. Republicans have something like 30,000 more registered voters than Democratic voters in the district. It’s a very safe Republican seat. Well, it WAS a safe Republican seat. How did the Republicans find themselves on the losing end of that kind of election? It all started with photos on Craig’s List. The previous congressman posted a shirtless image of him on the site and resigned shortly thereafter. Thus the need for a special election. The Democratic candidate, Kathy Hochul used the fact that the Republican candidate, Jane Corwin said she would support controversial House Budget Plan put forward by Congressman Paul Ryan that in part, calls for the privatization of Medicare. Hochul defeated the Republican candidate and the Tea Party candidate, ending with 48%. That is a significant development when you consider that was a very safe Republican seat and Republican special-interest ...

Yesterday protesters from the Border Network for Human Rights gathered to protest the Republican Party's latest anti-immigrant legislation in Austin. Protesters Against SB 12 Protesters say that the bill in the Texas legislature is similar to provisions in Arizona's controversial SB 1070.  During the debate for SB 1070, Texas legislators and elected officials including Governor Perry, Senator John Cornyn, and State Representative Dee Margo all said that Arizona-style legislation was not right for Texas. Texas conservative activists, like counter-protester Sammy Carrejo, actually the ONLY counter-protester at the event, have defended and been supportive of Arizona-style anti-immigrant legislation. (There were other Republicans present, but they didn't want to join Sammy, so he went alone.) Counter-Protester and El Paso LNRC Chairman Sammy Carrejo  That was BEFORE the election that is. After the election, Governor Perry made several anti-immigrant measures part of his "e...

An email was sent around to the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats stating that tonight's meeting at Su Casa Restaurant is a "Victory Celebration for Judge Regina Arditti, Theresa Caballero, and Stuart Leeds". That's really interesting because Caballero is likely going to take on Jaime Esparza for District Attorney. Esparza has been closely allied with the Congressman in the past and the Congressman's staff did a lot of work for the party in the last election and were the go-to people for contributions. Its also interesting because the El Paso County Democratic Party Chairman Danny Anchondo has long been rumored to be interested in running for a judicial seat and let's face facts, Judge Arditti will certainly have an opponent. She is VERY vulnerable to a challenger and Anchondo would likely beat her in a head to head race. If he were interested in taking her on that is.

Approval by Senate Follows House Passage AUSTIN, TX-- State Representative Marisa Márquez (D-El Paso) today saw the passage of her legislation, H. B. 336, which requires larger school boards in cities of 500,000 or more to post campaign finance reports for candidates online. The bill heads to the Governor's desk after Sen. Jose Rodríguez (D-El Paso) successfully guided Márquez's bill through the Senate. Márquez previously passed the bill in the House. "This is a good day for transparency and open government," said Márquez. "No one bill can guarantee an ethical government, but each step towards transparency and accountability is a step in the right direction." The bill will become law on September 1 of this year upon approval by the Governor. Márquez is serving her second term in the Texas House of Representatives.  She represents District 77, which includes downtown El Paso, UTEP, and neighborhoods near Fort Bliss. During the 82nd Legislative Session, Márque...

** El Paso believes Texas can do better **   DOZENS EXPRESS THEIR OUTRAGE IN OPPOSITION TO HB12   El Paso, TX-The Border Network for Human Rights, a human rights organization based in El Paso, is organizing a vigil TODAY Tuesday May 24 at 4:00 P.M. outside the headquarters of the Republican Party in El Paso (6006 N. Mesa) in opposition to proposal HB12. After a trick played by Sen. Tommy Williams on Friday, the proposal HB12 (imitation of the Arizona Law), is back in the legislature.   It is common knowledge that HB12 would divert precious law enforcement resources away from their real job: keeping Texas communities safe. Instead, this legislation would turn our local police officers into immigration agents forced to tell the detainees, "your papers, please." FACT: HB12 is opposed by nearly ALL law enforcement leaders in Texas. HB12 is a serious threat in terms of racial profiling, unfunded mandates, invasion of privacy, civil ...

I’ll make this short and sweet. I wanted to walk away from the blogosphere but there is a lot of stuff going on in politics and there isn’t anyone else locally to offer balance to the conversation that was basically all from the far right during my short absence. A lot of people asked me to get back in it, pretty much for over a month now. My kid is really the one that made it happen. She basically repeated things my Dad woulda told me. Stopping a blog is one thing, but I can’t stop caring about politics. As much as I hate to admit it, its in the blood. For those of you that are pissed that I am blogging again, this is America. If you don’t like what I write, don’t read it. You have the freedom to make that choice. You want to write bad comments, knock yourself out. I choose not to give a shit. Things are going to be a little different now. For those of you that are glad I’m back, thanks for the support. For those that aren’t, just don’t read my blog and go on about your happy little l...

Federal Judge Frank Montalvo ruled in favor of Pastor Tom Brown and his allies yesterday. Remember all the people that said that it wasn’t going to affect retirees, etc? Guess what, they were wrong. It does. So now you are all screwed. Remember the group of conservatives that did it to you…

I really just wanted to end the blogging and get away from politics. Ending the blog is one thing, but getting away from politics is a lot harder than I thought. Especially given the fact that, as many people have pointed out to me, there is no balance in the blogosphere if its only conservatives left to comment on local political issues. Not only have they been pretty solidly distributing the talking points, but they both seemed on trashing the personal life of District 1 candidate, Lyda Ness-Garcia. That is, when they aren’t dedicating their blogs to posts about me. By the way, I’m flattered guys. Both of you have made comments about promotion of my blog, while spending a great deal of time promoting it. Sorry, couldn’t let the irony go without comment. Anyway, we have heard the right wing of the blogosphere spend a lot of time talking about Ness-Garcia’s children, alleged multiple husbands, sexuality, marriages, night-life, and even her eyebrows. That’s not an exaggeration by the wa...

There has been some really crappy election analysis floating around so allow me to weigh in. First of all, the big theme of election night that no one seems to focus on is the fact that two very significant things happened. First and probably most easily recognizable, is the fact that the Brown faction got their clocks cleaned. There wasn’t a single one of them in serious contention. Hell Manny Hinojosa probably did the best of all the Brown acolytes and he did his level best to not sound like one of them. The other significant thing about election night is that it was a major defeat for conservatives. The only conservative to do well on election night was a conservative Democrat, Eddie Holguin. He easily defeated a challenge from his left in Gerardo Rosiles, and a challenge from outer space in Zulema Lazarin. Every other conservative did very poorly. I think that says a lot and should teach the fiscal conservatives a valuable lesson. Last Saturday’s results were an indication of what ...

Well, that's it folks. I've posted my last posts. No sappy good-bye's. I posted my reasons for ending the blog a while back and my mind hasn't changed, despite the fact that some very good people have made some very compelling arguments. To dispel a few rumors, I am not leaving to go write for someone else or Newspaper Tree. Not that I wouldn't, I probably would in a heart beat, but the truth is I haven't talked to anyone about that. I've done some cool stuff as part of the blogosphere and had a chance to meet some really interesting people along the way. I still have some audio and video I haven't posted and I will post it over the next couple of days, but this is basically it. Thanks for reading. Take care. And oh yeah, one more thing... Speak Truth to Power...

The El Paso Democratic Party has been in a civil war for several years now. Just when things looked like they were getting better, they came to a boiling point the day of the President’s visit to El Paso. The President’s visit was a policy visit, not a campaign stop. So the Democratic Party was only given a small amount of tickets. That made a lot of people pretty mad. Organizing for America pretty much ran the show. Organizing for America is the remnants of the Obama delegates in the last Presidential election state convention.  Basically they were the people that were most screwed over the by the Hillary delegation. At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party, the people who felt like they didn’t get their fare share of tickets were bitching and moaning about it. One of them was Blanche Darley. Why Darley was even in the conversation is a mystery to me because she hates the President. She has state publically in the past that she didn’t vote for the President ...

Actually, I think he's probably already spoken for.  David K has set a lot of bad stuff about me. Actually, about a lot of people. But then again so have I. The difference, David K lies and I back up what I say.  And by lies, I mean he willfully and maliciously lies. Either that or he's more stupid than you might have given him credit for.  I actually feel a little stupid myself. I couldn't figure out what his weird obsession with Lyda Ness Garcia was all about and why all of a sudden he became Ann Morgan Lilly's night in shinning armor.  Then I saw the emails from the open records request. Now its clear. DK has been with her for years. I know, I know, he's talked a lot of shit about her in the interim. Of course he has, he does that to a lot of people. I guess he figured he need to be two-faced to speak out of both sides of his mouth. For a guy who wrote this piece in a comparison to me earlier this week: I, on the other hand, do not talk to candidates unless I hav...