Monthly Archives: October 2013

Uncategorized

Texas governor’s race about to get interesting

OK, here we go. Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis made official Thursday what most folks knew already, that she wants to become the next governor of her state.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/03/wendy-davis-finally-jumps-governors-race/

I’m waiting now to hear more about what she thinks about issues other than a woman’s right to end a pregnancy, which is what vaulted to national fame earlier this year.

She talked in Haltom City about education and about restoring some sense of trust among Texans in their government, that Austin is as interested in rank-and-file Texans as it is in corporate donors and political action groups.

Davis is the one Democrat right now who can wrest control of the governor’s office from Republicans. I’m not suggesting she’ll win in November 2014; she’s just the best Democrat in the field at the moment.

Davis will face a formidable challenge against The Republican Candidate, whether it’s state Attorney General Greg Abbott (the current GOP favorite) or former state GOP chairman Tom Pauken (who’s running as the “true conservative”).

The smart money is pretty smart so far, thinking that Abbott is the prohibitive favorite. Davis now is virtual a shoo-in to be the Democratic nominee.

It’s been a good while since Texans have had an interest-grabbing race for governor. We have one now.

Uncategorized

Outburst makes me miss Larry Combest

Randy Neugebauer’s disgraceful outburst against a U.S. National Park Service employee has brought unflattering comparisons between the West Texas congressman and the man who preceded him in that office.

Neugebauer, a Lubbock Republican, confronted a park ranger this week as she was seeking to enforce a rule banning visitors from entering an open-air exhibit on the Washington D.C. Mall. The exhibit was the World War II veterans memorial and Neugebauer, whose votes in the House of Representatives contributed to the partial government shutdown now in its fourth day, upbraided the ranger for refusing to let people in. “You should be ashamed,” he told the ranger. The exchange was caught on video and has gone viral.

It was an idiotic example of what’s transpiring now in D.C. The people responsible for this mess are now becoming the chief grandstanders.

I thought of Republican Larry Combest, who represented the same 19th Congressional District from 1985 until 2002, when he resigned unexpectedly to return to private life.

Combest came from a different era. He is just as conservative as Neugebauer but he saw up close the good side of divided government. Combest once served on the late Sen. John Tower’s staff and he would tell me of the times Tower would argue ferociously with the likes of the late Sen. Hubert Humphrey, who was just as liberal as Tower was conservative. Tower and Humphrey would debate on the Senate floor and then walk out arm in arm after the session was gaveled to a close. The men were foes — never enemies — while they were on the clock, but friends when time expired.

Combest understood that. His best friend in the House was a Democrat, Charlie Stenholm of Abilene, with whom he served on the Agriculture Committee. Stenholm lost his congressional seat in 2004; his district was paired with Neugebauer’s district. The GOP-led Texas Legislature made sure Neugebauer would win by stacking the new district with true-blue Republican voters.

I’ve long wondered how Combest voted in that election.

I got to know Combest pretty well over many years. For a time, from the early 1990s until 2001, his congressional district included the Randall County portion of Amarillo. Thus, he was a frequent visitor to the newspaper where I worked. I don’t know Neugebauer; I know only of him. What I witnessed this week was thoroughly disagreeable.

I have tried in the past day or so to imagine Larry Combest confronting that park ranger. The image just doesn’t register. Gentlemen know better than to make spectacles of themselves.

Uncategorized

Moving more deeply into 21st century

I am proud to announce that as of today I have taken yet another baby step farther into the 21st century.

My wife and I purchased a hybrid automobile, one of those vehicles that runs on electricity and gasoline. We intend to get incredible fuel mileage from this little 2010 Toyota Prius. We’ll need to save our pennies, given that our beastly 3/4-ton Dodge Ram pickup — which we have nicknamed Big Jake — will be consuming plenty of fuel as we haul our fifth wheel travel vehicle hither and yon.

But that’s not the best part of my 21st-century journey. Oh, no. The cool thing I did today was get my cell phone programmed into this little buggy so that I can answer the damn thing while I’m driving my car.

It’s pretty simple. Phone rings, I hit the little button on the steering wheel with the picture of the phone receiver off the phone; then I talk. When the conversation is over, I hit the button below the first one and hang up; that button has a picture of a phone with the receiver sitting on it. No sweat, no strain.

Plus, I won’t be breaking the law if I try to fumble for my cell phone while driving the car. You see, Amarillo joined other cities in banning the use of hand held cell phones and other telecommunications gadgets while you’re driving a motor vehicle. I don’t know precisely how the Amarillo Police Department is enforcing this new rule, as I haven’t seen a cop pull a motorist over who’s been gabbing or texting while driving.

Whatever. No one will catch me breaking the law.

I’m proud of myself for continuing this journey into contemporary society. If they install technology, though, that allows drivers to text while driving, I’m afraid my head will explode.

Uncategorized

West Texas lawmaker shames himself

A West Texas member of Congress has done something I didn’t think was possible. He has shamed himself while seeking to shame another government employee.

U.S Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, confronted a U.S. Parks Department employee today and told her she should be ashamed of herself for enforcing a rule handed down by Neugebauer and his congressional colleagues.

http://gawker.com/gop-congressman-makes-park-ranger-apologize-for-shutdow-1440577868

This demonstration of unbridled arrogance illustrates graphically the idiocy of what’s happening at this very moment in Washington, D.C.

Neugebauer, who represents the sprawling 19th District of West Texas, has been in Congress for a little while. He succeeded Larry Combest in the House after Combest resigned suddenly in early 2003. Neugebauer then sought a full term in a newly redrawn district against another West Texas stalwart, conservative Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm. Neugebauer won, thanks to the way the newly configured district was redrawn to favor the Republican.

Now he’s seeking to become a tea party darling. He’s been voting against funds for the Affordable Care Act and demands that it be repealed. His actions, along with many in the House, have helped create the situation that has brought us the government shutdown.

The Park Service is one of the agencies that’s been closed. The shutdown has forced park rangers to enforce a rule that prevents tourists from enjoying the parks.

And so Neugebauer confronts a park ranger and tells her she should be ashamed because she was doing the job she was ordered to do?

He has shamed himself.

Uncategorized

Put spending plan to a House vote

President Obama has introduced an idea in the on-going debate over the government shutdown that deserves immediate attention … and action.

Put the Senate-passed spending plan to a vote in the House of Representatives, the president said.

What a concept, letting the majority of a legislative chamber decide the future of legislation.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/politics/government-shutdown-main/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

The holdup to date appears to be from a handful of the most fervent radicals within the Republican House caucus. They number about 30 — maybe 40, depending on who’s doing the counting — members who don’t want to fund the Affordable Care Act and are attaching a defunding mechanism to any spending bill that should be considered.

House Speaker John Boehner is caving in to that small minority within his caucus, let alone an even smaller minority within the entire body of the House.

The president demands this of the speaker: Put the issue to a vote and let the entire House of Representatives decide the fate of a spending bill the Senate has approved. The bill includes money for the ACA, and it also reopens the federal government agencies that have closed because Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on whether to allow an establish federal law proceed — as it was enacted by Congress, signed by the president and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Put it to a vote.

Uncategorized

House speaker is held hostage

I can’t believe what I’m about to say … but I’m actually beginning to feel a little sorry for U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

He’s being held hostage by a cabal of his Republican caucus, the tea party wing of his party. He seems powerless to do anything about it.

At issue is this partial government shutdown. House of Representatives Republicans — or shall I say a minority of their members — dislike the Affordable Care Act so much they want to attach defunding mechanisms to any spending bills, which is a non-negotiable item to House and Senate Democrats, not to mention the Big Democrat in the White House, the president of the United States.

The tea party wing has Boehner scared. He doesn’t want to rile them. He doesn’t want to lose his speakership over this issue. So he’s being forced to go along with what they want.

Boehner is the Man of the House, if you will. He is one of 233 Republicans who comprise a majority of the 435 members who serve there. Each of them represents roughly 700,000 Americans, given that the Constitution requires each member’s district to be apportioned equally.

So, a country of some 310 million or so citizens is being “governed,” more or less, by a group of lawmakers whose combined constituency accounts for about 21 million Americans. Let’s see, that amounts to a good bit less than 10 percent of the country, correct?

Let’s play this out a little further. Republicans control one legislative chamber. Democrats control the other one. The White House is being occupied by a Democrat, who appoints a staff and a Cabinet of like-minded individuals, which the Constitution allows him to do. The third branch of government, the judiciary, is ostensibly non-political, although partisans on both sides accuse the court system of comprising “judicial activists,” meaning they’re actually politicians in judges’ clothing.

President Obama tried the other day to make this point as the Affordable Care Act took effect. He said essentially that a “minority of a minority” is calling the shots.

If the House speaker could have his way, he’d bring this whole matter to a vote of the entire House — and the government shutdown could come to a halt. The park system and other “non-essential” offices could reopen, veterans could get their disability checks on time, Americans could get their passports. The government would become fully functional, serving the people whose money pays for it.

John Boehner can’t have his way. He’s being held captive by members of his own congressional caucus who — if you’ll pardon my borrowing this phrase from another tea party sweetheart, Sarah “Barracuda” Palin — have “gone rogue.”

This is no way to govern.

Uncategorized

Let the Abbott v. Davis polling commence

The polling has begun and it shows a competitive race for Texas governor next year.

You know what they say, though, about politics: A week, or month, let alone a year, can be a lifetime or two … or three.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/02/abbott-leads-davis-eight-points-poll/

A Texas Lyceum poll shows Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott leading Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth by 8 percent in a theoretical matchup. Davis is expected Thursday to announce her candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, infusing enthusiasm into a state Democratic Party that has been in a virtual coma for two decades.

Abbott is the prohibitive favorite to be nominated by the Republicans next spring, although I’m not yet willing to count out my old pal Tom Pauken, a Dallas lawyer and commercial real estate developer (with interests in Amarillo), who’s also running for the GOP governor’s nomination.

Abbott has lots of money, lots of support among mainstream Republicans and lots of name identification.

Davis is no slouch in name ID or support among mainstream Democrats. Her problem, though, is that Republicans outnumber Democrats in Texas by a large margin. Therein lies the obstacle she faces.

The Lyceum poll says Davis does much better among women; she’s in a statistical tie with Abbott. She does better among minorities. Abbott, though, does better among independents.

I’ve noted before that the governor’s race needs some excitement. Wendy Davis is going to provide it.

Whether excitement translates to votes, though, will be the operative question going forward.

Uncategorized

Park closure blowback going to get serious

The National Park Service has closed its operations while the government shuts down much of its operations.

And we all know what that mean for tourists who spend time and money getting to these places of interest.

While waiting this morning at the VA hospital eye clinic to have my pupils dilated, I caught an item on the Fox News Channel that highlighted the plight. A group of World War II veterans was turned away initially from the World War II Memorial on the D.C. Mall, but then the vets essentially marched through the yellow police tape to pay their respects at the memorial built in their honor and in the memory of those who fell during that great conflict.

They had gone to Washington on one of those Honor Flights, which fly veterans to the nation’s capital to tour these sites. America Supports You-Texas — once run by Amarillo resident Jack Barnes — has been a huge participant in these events, for example.

Well, Fox News talking heads sought to lay the blame for the park closure on Senate Democrats and President Obama, ignoring one key element in this discussion — which is House Republicans’ fetish that seeks to get rid of a standing law, the Affordable Care Act.

Aside from who’s to blame for this, the impact of the park closures is real. It is a true-blue shame that veterans who have flown from across the country to visit this particular memorial were told they couldn’t pay their respects.

I suspect there will be plenty more outrage expressed at all sides in this tumultuous debate. They’d better get ready for some serious blowback.

Uncategorized

National attention span is so … fleeting

A colleague at work posed a most interesting question the other day.

“Why is it,” he wondered, “that Americans’ lose attention so quickly on crises deemed critical to our national security? Does anyone care these days about Syria?”

He’s talking about the national fixation on the government shutdown, which has supplanted the Syria crisis as Public Issue Topic No. 1.

Hmmm, I’m still thinking about that one.

It does seem like a long time ago, when it really was just a month ago, that we were worried sick about whether we were going to start bombing Syrian military targets in retaliation for that government’s use of chemical weapons on its citizens. President Obama issued the threat. The Russians stepped in and brokered a deal that appears to have persuaded the Syrians to turn their weapons over to United Nations inspectors. We aren’t going to bomb them after all — at least for the time being.

Never fear. Leave it to members of Congress to jerk our attention away from one crisis to another.

The House of Representatives’ Republican majority, led by its tea party wing, now has determined that the Affordable Care Act, an established law, is reason enough to shut down many agencies of the government. They hate it so much that they want to include defunding it in a bill that would have kept the government open and serving the people. That, of course, is a non-starter with the president.

Concern over Syria has subsided. Now we’re worrying about the future of our own federal government.

I’m waiting for the next crisis. Oh wait. That one’s coming soon. It’s called the “debt ceiling.”

Uncategorized

AMA to stay in the game with new airline

American Airlines and US Airways want to merge. Texas officials had protested their merger … until Tuesday.

The state has reached an agreement with the potential new airline giant that seeks a guarantee that the airline will serve 22 Texas cities for at least the next three years. The announcement came from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott — who also is running to become the state’s next governor.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/01/abbott-appear-american-airlines-ceo/

What does this mean for Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport? It means AMA stays in the American Airlines network of terminals now being served.

AMA has some additional skin in this game, given Amarillo’s unique relationship with American Airlines. The city once poured several millions of public dollars into keeping jet service at AMA. It came in the form of sales tax money collected by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation. Some communities, even some media, scoffed at Amarillo for paying more than $1 million annually to American Airlines to keep the jets flying between AMA and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The strategy served to boost the city’s business climate.

That was then. American flies jets exclusively now in and out of AMA.

The merger likely now will go through, even though the federal government is protesting it. The feds contend the merger likely would be bad for competition and would drive the already-expensive cost of air travel even farther upward.

American Airlines and its parent company AMR have been huge corporate partners in Texas. The deal also means the airline will keep its headquarters in the Metroplex and that D-FW Airport will serve as the airline’s major hub.

Communities such as Amarillo, though, need the service to D-FW. Let’s hope the deal struck between the state and the company will lead to a longer-term commitment to this growing community.