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Imagine this cynical ploy in Austin …

Recently, a friend of mine and I had this brief discussion about traffic problems in Austin.

They’re becoming legendary and infamous. I mentioned to my friend — who, because of his standing as a public official of significant standing in Amarillo and because he doesn’t know I am using what he said as grist for this blog post, I won’t name him here — that I heard a recent NPR report about traffic woes in the state’s capital city. My pal, who was talking to me just as an Austin native and a University of Texas graduate, agreed that traffic there needs fixing.

NPR’s report noted that Austin’s population is booming and figures to continue booming for the foreseeable future and perhaps beyond.

We talked about driving on that nearby race track, aka Texas Highway 130, where the speed limit is 85 mph. We talked about the city’s zero mass transit planning. We talked about how long it takes to get anywhere in Austin. We mentioned the Interstate 35 gridlock that occurs seemingly at all hours of the 24-hour day.

Then he offered this view, which he admits isn’t his own, but is what he’s heard on the street when he’s gone back to Austin to visit family and friends: It is that some folks there believe the city fathers/mothers are deliberately avoiding any remedy to the traffic woes because they want Austin to become such a miserable place that no one else will move there and that some of the residents already there will want to move out.

My first reaction was that such a view is the height — or depth — of cynicism. What an amazingly cynical view for city planners to deliberately avoid doing something just to make life so miserable in a growing city. It’s even more cynical, I believe, for others to believe that the city would consider such a strategy.

My take-away from that discussion, though, is that conspiracy theories can thrive in any scenario imaginable. If that’s the case in Austin, then the city has a potentially serious public-relations nightmare on its hands.

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Evolution, creationism aren’t mutually exclusive

Bill Moyers is one of the smarter people on the planet.

He’s also one of the more spiritual folks around, given that he once was ordained as a Baptist minister back in his native East Texas.

The link attached here talks about the “partisan divide” over whether life on Earth evolved over billions of years or was created by God in six days. The blog is written by a staffer on his “Moyers and Company” PBS show. Even though Moyers himself didn’t write it, he likely endorses its content.

The Growing Partisan Divide on Evolution

I’ll posit this notion: The polling examined in this link is meaningless.

I’ve never for a moment believed that creationism and evolution were mutually exclusive theories. In my own heart and soul I believe they are the same.

I’ve read the Bible my entire life — or at least that portion of it in which I’ve been able to read. I know what it says in Genesis about how God created the world. However, I’ve always had difficulty believing He completed the task in six calendar days, you know, the way we measure time today.

I have long believed that the creation as told in the Bible is a metaphor for what actually occurred over a much, much, much longer period of time.

I’ll concede there’s no mention of T-Rex in the Bible or other such creatures. I cannot ignore, however, the mountains of scientific evidence of T-Rex’s existence at one time. Did God put those creatures on Earth? Sure he did. He’s God and is capable of doing anything — any … thing … at … all!

Gallup notes that Republicans believe more in the biblical story of creation more than Democrats. This is just me here spouting off, but that doesn’t make Republicans more God-fearing than Democrats.

Nor does the discussion of creationism and evolution mean they couldn’t have occurred at the same time.

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For GOP, immigration reform a necessity

Congressional Republicans are facing a stark reality in the face.

If they fail to approve immigration reform — and soon — they’re going to be cast farther into the political wilderness by those who would benefit most by such improvements in U.S. immigration policy.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/195764-obama-to-democrats-boehner-will-pass-immigration-reform-in-2014

The GOP already is in serious trouble with immigrants and with those who are the direct descendants of recent immigrants to the United States, as the 2012 presidential election proved without a doubt.

GOP nominee Mitt Romney fared poorly among Latino voters, winning about one in four votes, enabling President Obama to win an unexpectedly comfortable re-election victory.

Republicans who control the House of Representatives have been reluctant to act on immigration reform, such as enabling those who came to this country illegally as children a path to citizenship. They’re going to pay a big price down the road if they don’t do the right thing by giving those folks a chance to come out of the shadows.

House Speaker John Boehner, who I believe is a reasonable man caught in the vise grip of a wing of his party, is beginning to send out signals that immigration reform could occur this year. Barack Obama thinks it will happen, as he told congressional Democrats.

Given that the GOP has declared its intention to reach out, such reform is becoming a necessity.

It’ll be good for a beleaguered political party. What’s more, it will be good for the country.

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Would chairmanship compromise Thornberry?

U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry is in line to become chairman of one of the House of Representatives’s most powerful committees.

There’s a possible conundrum in the works, maybe, potentially … whatever.

Thornberry is vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee. The chairman, Buck McKeon, R-Calif., is planning on retiring and he wants Thornberry, R-Clarendon, to take over the chairmanship. It means a good bit of influence is coming to the Panhandle. A committee chairman can steer legislation favorable to his or her district, yes?

Thornberry’s 13th Congressional District is home to, oh, the Bell aircraft assembly plant in Amarillo, the one that puts together those V-22 Osprey tiltrotor airplanes. It also services and refurbishes helicopters for the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the Army. Bell’s operation means a great deal to the region.

Would a new chairman work extra hard to protect those interests? Or … would he hold to the principle of staying away from what’s been called “pork-barrel politics,” which has been a hallmark of Thornberry’s congressional career.

He’s served in Congress since 1995. He is running for yet another term and faces two GOP primary challengers this March and a Democratic challenger this fall.

I’m guessing the incumbent is going to use — in some vague or perhaps overt way — the possibility of a House Armed Services Committee chairmanship as a selling point.

It would be good for the district. Does doing what’s good for the district mean more money coming this way? Is that pork-barrel politics?

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Sen./Dr. Coburn to leave the Senate

The U.S. Senate is losing one of its more intriguing members early next year.

I’ll miss Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn in ways that I still need to define.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/01/17/coburn_to_leave_senate_in_early_2015_121275.html

Sen. Coburn is leaving to continue his ongoing battle against prostate cancer. His departure in January 2015 will set off a campaign to replace him in a special election. Don’t look for that seat to flip from Republican to Democrat, given that Oklahoma hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1994.

I’m intrigued by the notion that Coburn is (a) one of the Senate’s most conservative members and (b) one of President Obama’s best friends in the Senate.

How can that be? Aren’t the two parties at bitter odds with each other? Well, apparently Sen. and Mrs. Coburn are quite close to President and Mrs. Obama, owing to the time the men served together in the Senate. I’ve heard over the years that Coburn took young Barack Obama under his wing after the Illinois Democrat was elected in 2004. He showed him the ropes, introduced him around the place, got him acquainted with some of the key players.

Coburn and Obama have been fighting tooth and nail ever since, but they’ve managed to maintain their friendship. It harkens back to the old days on Capitol Hill when political adversaries could avoid becoming enemies.

Coburn, a physician by training, knows the health hazards associated with the disease he is battling.

I wish him well as he continues that fight and hope the relationship he has managed to maintain with a key Democrat — Barack Obama — isn’t lost on his Senate colleagues who’ll stay on to continue their service.

Godspeed, Sen. Coburn.

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Water supply excellent … for now

Lynn Tate, head of the High Plains Water District, gave the Rotary Club of Amarillo some good news Thursday.

Amarillo is in excellent shape with regard to its long-term supply of water. We’re in far better shape than almost any other significant city in Texas, he said. T. Boone Pickens once had this idea of pumping water from the Texas Panhandle to places downstate; it didn’t work out, Pickens never found a willing buyer and he ended up selling the water to the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, which quenches Amarillo’s thirst.

We’ve got about 200 years worth of water available to us from the Ogallala Aquifer, which covers several states from Texas to Nebraska and even parts of the Dakotas.

Hey, no problem with water supply.

Should we be complacent? I don’t think so.

I didn’t hear Tate say anything about whether cities — namely Amarillo — should institute mandatory conservation measures.

He seemed curiously serene about it.

I am in no position to question seriously Lynn Tate’s expertise on these matters. He’s a lot more educated than I am on these matters. He grew up in a farming and ranching family in the eastern Panhandle. He went to law school and has had a successful law practice in Amarillo. He’s a first-rate agriculture lawyer.

However, I cannot help but think the city ought to be a tad more proactive in its water conservation efforts than it seems to be at the moment. Same with CRMWA and the High Plains Water District.

Tate did mention that irrigated agriculture accounts for 85 to 90 percent of all water use in the Panhandle, which means there’s little that homeowners in Amarillo can do to prevent the decline in water resources. He also said he believes the aquifer is recharging in some areas and that the water levels are “stabilizing.”

Isn’t it time, though, to discuss openly what we should do to forestall the day when crises arrive and we might not have enough water to take care of our needs?

I know that 200 years is a long way off. We’ll all be gone by then. So will our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Good stewardship requires us to think even beyond that time, doesn’t it?

Just sayin’.

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NSA changes welcome

Count me as one of the relatively few Americans who have become overly concerned about National Security Agency surveillance practices.

Perhaps it’s because I have nothing to hide or fear from the government. I behave myself, pay my taxes, don’t talk to terror organizations and am generally happy with my station in life.

Pretty boring stuff, actually.

Still, President Obama’s planned reforms of NSA surveillance tactics ought to be welcome news to those who have become anxious over recent revelations about what the government does to prevent terrorist attacks.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/16/22328345-obama-to-propose-key-changes-in-data-collection-program?lite

One change will be the requirement of judicial oversight of the release of any data collected. Republicans and Democrats seem to speak with one voice in Congress about the need to rein in the NSA, believing it operated with too much intelligence-gathering latitude.

Maybe so. Again, I have nothing to fear from it.

I get the concern, however, from those who worry about possible erosion of civil liberties, such as the right to privacy and the right to be protected against overzealous government intrusion.

Hasn’t the president told us that the NSA is not listening in on everyone’s phone calls? Hasn’t he assured us time and again that our privacy is being protected, that the NSA has been targeting only those suspected of engaging in potentially dangerous activity involving organizations bent on harming Americans?

Yes, I know: This is the same president who pledged we wouldn’t lose health coverage under the Affordable Care Act … and that pledge didn’t quite work out so well.

This is a different matter altogether.

Still, the changes ought to assuage some fears out there about NSA overreach.

Meantime, I’ll keep leading my boring life.

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Fired aide may hold key to Gov. Christie’s future

A special committee assigned to investigate the bridge lane-closing scandal that just won’t go away has within its power the ability to determine one key question.

What did Gov. Chris Christie know about the lane-closure and when did he know it?

I should add that the panel can determine the motives behind the closure.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/16/22325075-christie-campaign-organization-on-subpoena-list-in-bridge-probe-source-says?lite

Just ask Bridget Kelly, the fired former deputy chief of staff to Christie.

Someone ordered the lanes closed on the world’s busiest bridge, the George Washington, which connects New Jersey to New York City. At issue is why. Some have alleged the lanes were closed to get back at the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who had declined to endorse the Republican governor, Christie, for re-election.

Now … is that why Kelly wrote the email that declared it was “time for some traffic problems” on the bridge? Only she can answer that.

What’s more, did she tell her boss in advance of the closure that it was going to happen? She has the answer to that one, too.

Put the woman under oath and make her tell the truth under fear of prosecution for perjury. Then we might get to the bottom of this matter.

I have no particular desire to see Gov. Christie caught in a lie. I hope he told the truth the other day when he said he didn’t know in advance of the lane closures, or that he didn’t even know that the bridge traffic had been constricted so terribly.

Why is this story so important? Because Christie is considered a possible — if not probable — candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

My desire, though, is to find out from the one person — Kelly — whether the governor knew about the closure, whether he ordered the closure to get back at the mayor and whether he felt he needed to teach the mayor some kind of cruel lesson that simply got out of control.

I’m actually a little weary of this story. Tell us what happened, Bridget Kelly … and why.

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‘Compromise’ not such a dirty word

It turns out that compromise indeed is possible in the 113th Congress.

When it shows itself, we learn that things actually can get done, such as approving a federal budget that keeps the government running through September. The House of Representatives approved the deal overwhelmingly and has sent it back to the Senate hopefully for final approval.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/politics/house-spending-bill/index.html

The $1.1 trillion budget deal marks a departure from recent history, where Republicans and Democrats have fought over every big and little thing in the budget. It has produced gridlock, made a lot of people angry, shut down part of the government for a time, forced public opinion of Congress into a sinkhole and redefined the term “political dysfunction.”

Does this signal a new day on Capitol Hill? Probably not. However, one can hope.

Tomorrow might bring a new set of hassles and disagreements, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that seems to have declared its intention to block everything House Democrats and the Democrat in chief in the White House want to do.

The bill reduces funds for the Internal Revenue Service, gives federal workers a 1 percent pay increase and gives money to the Environmental Protection Agency. These measures make Republicans happy. Meanwhile, Democrats got something for themselves, such as funding for Head Start, which helps early childhood education efforts.

No one is entirely happy with the deal, nor are they entirely unhappy.

That’s the spirit of compromise. Things can get done. It’s how you legislate. It’s how good government is supposed to work.

What’s more, it doesn’t inflict nearly the pain that stubborn intransigence can produce.

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Cat does well, even without claws

I am happy to report that at least one of our de-clawed cats can hold his own in a fight.

We adopted two sibling kittens in the summer of 2002. We brought them home and they acclimated themselves immediately into our family. They are wonderful pets. One little problem kept occurring: We could not get them to stop scratching the furniture. We finally reached the end of our tolerance over that when our little female kitty decided to climb the drapes in the dining room.

That’s it. We’re going to de-claw them. It was a tough call, given that we’d never done that to any of the many cats we’d owned. My mother used to call it “mutilation.”

We took them to the veterinarian. She took out the front claws. They recovered just fine.

Problem solved with the furniture-clawing.

Our two cats are quite different in personality. They’re about to turn 12. They’re in great health. Our female, Mittens, is quite shy, particularly around strangers. Our male, Socks? Another story altogether. He’s most definitely un-shy. He loves people, particularly my wife and me. He loves us so much that my poor, tormented wife hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in about, oh, 12 years. Our male kitty likes to cuddle at all hours of the night. We do not have the heart to banish him from the bedroom. Besides, if we closed the door I am quite convinced he’d beat it down.

Well, we witnessed something yesterday that validates even more our decision to de-claw our pets.

Socks went outside for his morning constitutional and encountered an intruder, another cat from the ‘hood. They confronted each other against the back fence. Then it started. Our cat pounced on the intruder and, shall we say, gave him the dickens.

We had heard from our vet that cats can defend themselves without front claws by using their back claws as weapons. To be honest, the combatants were moving so quickly I could detect precisely how our brave cat was fighting off the intruder.

Suffice to say he did. The other cat jumped the fence. Socks’s fur was bristling. He settled down quickly once he realized he had won the fight.

I felt this odd sense of pride in his ability to fend off the intruder. No blood was shed by either animal.

Still, I have to say it: That’s my boy.

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