national news, political news

Residency becomes an election issue

Jon Ossoff ought to know better than to be caught in the residency whipsaw affecting his candidacy for a seat in the U.S. Congress.

The young man, though, is facing an issue that under normal circumstances wouldn’t matter to anyone outside the district he wants to represent. These aren’t normal.

Ossoff is a Democrat running to succeed former Rep. Tom Price, who quit to become secretary of health and human services. Democrats think they have a shot at capturing a seat held for decades by Republicans. Democrats also believe they have momentum on their side as both parties prepare for the 2018 mid-term congressional elections.

So who’s the leading candidate in the special election set for today? A young man who doesn’t live in the Sixth Congressional District.

Good grief, dude!

Yep, it’s an issue

The 30-year-old Ossoff says it isn’t an issue. Why? Because he said he “grew up in the district” and plans to move back after his girlfriend — with whom he is living outside of the Sixth District — completes her medical school education.

C’mon! Either you live there or you don’t.

The law requires candidates for Congress to live within the corporate boundaries of the congressional district. It’s true at the state level as well.

Residency issues have entangled candidates of all stripes for as long as we can remember. Many of us in Amarillo recall when a local businessman sought the Republican nomination for a seat some years ago in the Texas Legislature. He established a residence in Potter County, even though he had lived for many years in neighboring Randall County; Potter County is part of the legislative district, Randall County is not. Questions arose about whether the gentleman actually was living in his Potter County house or whether he was going “home” at night to his digs in Randall County.

These residency issues would seem to be simple to resolve.

You live where you intend to run — or you don’t.

As for the special election that’s occurring today, it well might be decided if Ossoff wins an outright majority against the crowded field of Democrats and Republicans. If he doesn’t and faces a runoff against the No. 2 candidate, look for the GOP to make a serious issue of his residency.

national news, political news

Spinning losses into moral victories

Politics has this way of producing victories where none is apparent.

Democrats around the country, for instance, are seeking to turn electoral defeats into a form of winning. It’s a fascinating thing to watch — and it has me shaking my head.

A Kansas congressional district special election produced a Republican victory recently. The Fourth Congressional District seat once was held by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, whom Donald Trump appointed to become the nation’s top spook. Trump won that district over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election and it has been in GOP hands seemingly since The Flood.

The Republican who won the seat in the special election did so narrowly. Thus, Democrats are claiming some sort of victory.

Today, voters in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District are going to the polls. They’re going to choose a successor to Tom Price, who represented the GOP-friendly district before becoming secretary of health and human services; the Sixth District once was represented by none other than the inimitable Newt Gingrich.

A large field is running. It includes five Democrats and 11 Republicans. The top vote-getter needs to win with 50 percent plus one vote to win the election outright. The leader is a Democrat, a young man named Jon Ossoff. Polling indicates he is likely to fall short — barely — of the majority he needs to win. If he doesn’t make it, he needs to face the No. 2 finisher, likely one of the Republicans. The GOP hopes the party will rally behind their guy and elect him over Ossoff in the runoff election.

Still, Democrats — even if they lose this election — are likely to crow about how they damn near flipped that district.

Please.

As a progressive-leaning voter myself, I am pulling for an upset in Georgia. I would be glad to see Ossoff score an outright victory by day’s end. A win by the young Democrat clearly would send a message to the president and his Republican friends that they’re likely to have a serious fight on their hands in next year’s mid-term congressional elections.

However, elections determine winners and losers. Candidates need to get more votes than their opponent to actually win. Falling short of the total they need today in Georgia will not stop Democrats from spinning a loss into some sort of moral victory.

As the old saying goes, “Close counts only in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

business news, national news, political news

Tax returns become central to public policy

Tom Cotton is an earnest young man who happens to be a U.S. senator from Arkansas.

He held a town hall meeting this week back home. Someone asked him about Donald J. Trump’s tax returns and wondered why the president won’t release them.

Sen. Cotton, a fellow Republican, then gave the wrong answer. He said Trump is “under audit” by the Internal Revenue Service. The response drew a chorus of boos.

Here’s my take.

If the president has nothing to hide, he ought to release the tax returns. The questions from many Americans — and yes, many of us do care about this matter — center on the president’s foreign investments. The Russia story isn’t about to wither away. It’s going to remain on our national front burner for as long as Trump continues to refuse to release his tax returns in direct contradiction to four decades of custom; presidential nominees of both parties have made their returns public since 1976.

Cotton gets an earful

Sen. Cotton’s tepid defense of the president’s refusal didn’t escape the belief among many at his town hall meeting that Trump’s “audit” dodge doesn’t hold up. The IRS has said — without commenting on Trump’s situation specifically — that an audit does not prevent release of one’s returns.

Meanwhile, the questions about foreign investments persist. They will continue to persist until the president does what he should have done when he became a candidate for the nation’s highest office.

political news

Immigrant schools Trump on anthem protocol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_GaDLPUFRU

Ohhh, the irony is so very rich.

There they are: the first family of the United States of America. They’re standing on the Truman Balcony of the White House at the start of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

The band strikes up the National Anthem. Barron Trump and his mother, first lady Melania Trump, place their hands over their hearts. Then the first lady nudges the right arm of the man to her left, the president, who then places his right hand over his heart.

Why the irony? Well, Donald J. Trump has spoken badly for, oh, the past year or so about immigrants. The illegal immigrants are pouring into the country to commit all manner of crimes, he has said; the legal immigrants are taking jobs from Americans, he adds.

So, what about the immigrant standing next to him on the balcony? His third wife is a native of Slovenia; indeed, two of the president’s three wives have come here from foreign lands.

There’s just a fascinating bit of poetry associated with this brief video and I am pleased to see that the first lady is so attuned to the “optics” of these events.

Take note, Mr. President. I hope he thanked his wife.

national news, political news

POTUS signs kid’s hat, then tosses it away … what the … ?

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The annual White House Egg Roll reportedly was in some jeopardy.

They managed to stage the 139th annual event today, drawing the usual crowd of excited children to play on the lawn and “compete” with each other in this delightful extravaganza.

Then something truly weird happened. A kid handed Donald J. Trump his hat, asking the president to sign it for him. The president agreed. He signed the hat — and then tossed it into the crowd! Trump didn’t give the hat back to the youngster.

He did it again, to a second youngster.

There goes the hat

I know this isn’t a huge deal for most of the rest of us. It certainly is, though, to a couple of kids who were excited to have the president of the United States sign their headwear.

I am unaware of what this might say about the president.

It surely cannot be anything good. I guess I’ll just let others draw their own conclusions.

I’ll just stick with “weird.”

International news

Trump’s loud talk produces diminished illegal immigration

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly gives Donald J. Trump ample credit in the fight to stem illegal immigration into the United States of America.

U.S. officials report a dramatic decline in illegal crossings along our southern border. Kelly’s reasoning? The president’s loud and persistent complaints about illegal immigration somehow has deterred people from coming into the country without proper documentation.

I kind of understand the secretary’s logic. Moreover, I am willing to give the president great credit for talking a good game.

Kelly more or less echoes the thoughts expressed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who, according to USA Today, said the following: “This is a new era,” Sessions declared during last week’s trip to Nogales, Ariz. “This is the Trump era. The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigration laws, and the catch-and-release practices of old are over.”

I beg to differ with the AG on whether the previous administration’s policies somehow were more lax than, say, those of earlier administrations. President Obama became known as the “deporter in chief,” as his administration caught and deported record number of undocumented immigrants during his two terms in office.

Now, about that wall.

I give Trump all the credit in the world for whatever impact his loud and boisterous rhetoric has had on those seeking to enter the United States illegally.

Here is my question of the day pertaining to this issue: Does a precipitous decline in illegal border crossings now render “the wall” that Trump wants to build irrelevant?

I live in a border state, albeit we’re a good distance from the southern border. I’ve ventured along the border twice in the past few weeks and haven’t witnessed anything approaching a “horde” of criminals crossing the border.

Perhaps if the president keeps harping out loud about what he intends to do when his administration’s border officials catch illegal immigrants, then there might be even less need for a wall.

I’ve heard already from too many immigration experts who tell us that a wall won’t stop illegal crossings. Desperate individuals can  be quite creative in looking for ways over, under or around such barriers.

If Secretary Kelly is willing to give the president’s rhetoric for stemming the flow of illegal immigration, I am more than happy to accept it as a contributing factor.

Keep talking, Mr. President.

national news, political news

‘Re-litigate the election’? Really, Kellyanne?

Kellyanne  Conway might need a dose of something to enhance her memory.

Donald J. Trump’s senior policy adviser now says the anti-Trump protesters are seeking to “re-litigate” the 2016 presidential election. She’s calling on Democratic Party officials to implore the demonstrators to tone down their protests.

Wow, young lady.

I believe I’ll revisit a thing or two with Conway.

I believe the president himself has been guilty of continuing to “re-litigate” the election. He has done so repeatedly while fielding questions regarding geopolitical matters. The president has gotten queries about this or that international problem and he would launch into some recital of his “massive electoral landslide.”

Well, there’s nothing “massive” about the “landslide.” It was even a landslide.

Protests offer a glimpse of division throughout the land.

I need not remind Conway that her boss polled nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Rodham Clinton while winning enough Electoral College votes to be elected president.

Critics of this blog are welcome to spare me the lecture about how Trump won the election outright. I get it! However, he has done next to nothing to bring the country together since winning the presidency. He has continued to sow seeds of division and conflict among demographic groups.

As for the protests that continue to plague his presidency, Trump and his team — which remains largely under construction 80-plus days after the inaugural — will have to learn how to deal with it. They don’t need to accept the protests, but they need to understand that protest and dissent are quintessentially American activities.

The nation was founded, after all, by dissenters.

Conway does make a valid point about the violence that has erupted at some of these protests. No one should want to see Americans attacking other Americans simply over political differences.

However, must I remind the young woman that there have been recorded instances of violent treatment by Trumpkins against those who have demonstrated against him? Furthermore, must I also remind her of the things the presidential candidate said about demonstrators while they were being hauled away from his political rallies?

A bit of self-awareness would provide needed perspective and context to these concerns expressed by Kellyanne Conway.

local news, political news

Hoping, as always, for a big voter turnout

I spent most of my nearly 37 years in daily journalism as an opinion writer and editor and as such, I spent a lot of energy exhorting residents of the communities where I worked to vote in local elections.

I implored them. I pleaded with them. I thought of different ways to say the same thing — which was to “get out and vote.”

Each of those efforts produced mixed results. In Oregon City, Ore., in Beaumont, Texas, and in Amarillo, Texas, the calls essentially were the same: The local level is where government makes the greatest impact on your daily lives. Don’t cede the responsibility of picking who you want to sit on your city council, your school board, your county commissioners court to someone else.

Well, we’re on the verge of another municipal election in Amarillo.

This one is guaranteed to produce a significant change in the makeup of the governing council. Three incumbents aren’t seeking new terms. That means the next City Council will comprise a new majority. Mayor Paul Harpole is bowing out; Place 2 Councilwoman Lisa Blake decided against seeking election to the seat to which she was appointed in 2016; Place 3 Councilman Randy Burkett is forgoing a re-election bid for a second term.

A new majority is going to take office after the May 6 election. Not only that, we’ve got a new city manager, Jared Miller, who’s already seized the administrative reins of power. He’s making his own mark on City Hall.

Will this be the year when a healthy percentage of eligible voters actually cast ballots? Oh, I do hope so.

After all, this is where government makes the decisions that affect us. It’s where we pay to pave our streets, provide cops on the beat, firefighters to keep us safe, to ensure clean drinking water, to provide safe and clean parks, to pick up our garbage.

These are important matters, folks.

How about making your voice heard on Election Day? It’s less than one month away. Do not let your neighbors — or total strangers, for that matter — make this decision for you.

local news

Who needs mountains to enjoy nature’s splendor?

A former mayor of Port Arthur, Texas, once told me upon returning from vacation in Wyoming that the “mountains were nice, but they kept getting in the way of the sunsets.”

Well, tonight some family members and I got a glimpse of what the mayor once mentioned.

We peered east down our street and saw some “mountainous” thunderheads forming not terribly far away. OK, the sun was setting in the other direction, but its bright light shone on the clouds, lighting them up in this fashion.

It reminded me of something I observed about the Texas Panhandle almost immediately upon our arrival here in early 1995. It was that God Almighty didn’t bless this region with lofty peaks, but it did grant us the pleasure of looking at the biggest damn sky I’ve ever seen.

I saw it as God’s payback. It’s as if he’s saying, “So, I gave your neighbors to the west all those mountains and tall timber. They can enjoy that. I’ll give you folks out here on the Caprock a chance to relish that big ol’ sky that lights up at dawn and again at dusk. And I just know you’ll enjoy that as much as the mountain folks enjoy the snow-capped peaks.”

I believe God was correct.

Then again, is God ever wrong?

The sunrises and sunsets in this part of the world are nothing to sell short. What’s more, even the sky at the opposite horizon from where the sun is setting — such as tonight — can take one’s breath away.

There’s just so much of it out there.

Yep, that long-ago Gulf Coast mayor was right. The mountains can get in the way.

local news

Getting ready for more major road work

I made the turn down Hillside Road in Amarillo the other day and noticed a lengthy row of orange construction cones stretching from the Canyon Expressway to Bell Street.

My first reaction to my wife was, “Well, that’s just great.”

Then I caught myself. I wasn’t going to go there — then, or now.

Hillside seems to have been carved up of late more than a Christmas turkey. That’s OK. It’s the price of progress, I reckon.

Amarillo’s streets appear to in a constant state of repair. It makes sense, given our community’s love affair with motor vehicle transportation. I tend to support what’s known generally as “infrastructure improvement.”

Sure, it makes me grumble at times. However, I also understand the payoff at the end of it. We get streets that don’t rattle our bones as we travel along them. They don’t mess up our vehicle alignment or damage our tires.

Some of the City Council candidates are addressing the street construction issue in varying ways. I welcome the discussion, as it is part of the job of councilmen and women to address these issues that have such a direct impact on our lives.

I haven’t yet caught up with what’s going to happen with the Hillside construction. I should get to know, as it is a street my wife and I use regularly.

Wherever you live or travel throughout Amarillo, please heed this tiny bit of advice: They say that patience is a virtue; it becomes especially true as we seek to navigate our way around the city.

Be patient.

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