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Texas
Related: About this forumPolitical Sweat Equity and the Real Greg Abbott
By Carol MorganAll news is a mixed bag, depending on the lens through which you view it. The key to staying sane is to have no illusions, without becoming disillusioned and cynical. To maintain that balance, we must read, stay informed, and utilize our own reasoning capabilities (not the media or our party line) to reach logical conclusions and solutions. If we can donate money, thats good, but political sweat equity is even better.
The hopeful news? The beginning of the 28th amendment was formally adopted by the Senates Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights Subcommittee last week. And it reads:
To advance democratic self-government and political equality, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections. Congress and the States shall have power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections. Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.
Nice but there are still many legislative hoops to leap until its finalization. All callers and letter writers should sustain their actions through September.
The discouraging news is that the plutocrats are hard at work behind the scenes to thwart our efforts. The Koch Brothers insidious conclave of billionaires met recently at The St. Regis Monarch Bay Resort in Dana Point, California for their plutocratic summit. How much money exchanged hands is a mystery. The one thing we do know is that Charles and David spent $870,000 of their own money to organize the secret soiree.
More good news? (bad news for the Abbott camp) Texans are gradually discovering who the real Greg Abbott is. Week after week, tasty tidbits of his private behavior behind-closed-doors versus his carefully designed political public image prove that his pristine facade is cracking.
This was a particularly bad week for the AG.
1. The Dallas Morning News reported on Abbotts ethics scandal involving a $3 million kickback. He approved taxpayer funded state contracts for a law firm tied directly to his campaign. Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson provided over $200,000 in campaign donations in exchange for taxpayer funded contracts.
2. It came to light that Greg Abbott has been fighting a lawsuit against a former employee he fired. Ginger Witherspoon refused to lie under oath and sign a false affidavit denouncing a Dallas County judge. This week, the Fifth Court of Appeals ruled the lawsuit could proceed.
3. After refusing to condemn the Texas GOP's controversial "reparative therapy" platform language, Huffington Post revealed that Greg Abbott has used the private planes of Dan and Farris Wilks and $30,000 of in-kind donations. The Wilks charitable trust, The Thirteen Foundation, has financially supported groups that promote the discredited pseudo-medical practice of gay conversion therapy.
4. Greg Abbotts ruling to keep dangerous chemical locations secret was given statewide coverage. The Houston Chronicle demanded that Abbott come clean on these sites.
5. Another whistle-blower controversy erupted this morning. Laura Rodriguez, a 29-year veteran of El Pasos Child Support division, was fired in retaliation for reporting insurance fraud on the part of an agency co-worker.
Add up all of Greg Abbotts transgressions this week and the others that have come to light since January, and I have to wonder why any Texan with a conscience would vote for Greg Abbott in November. How much more political patronage, corruption and abuse of office could he inflict as Governor of Texas?
And finally tomorrow is the first anniversary of Wendy Davis filibuster in the Senate. This day should be a reminder of how tenuous our hold on personal liberty really is. Opponents have emotionally inflamed the issue by reframing it with the term abortion, but in reality, the filibuster was not about abortion, but a much deeper issue.
Texas Conservatives bloviate non-stop about the evaporation of our personal freedoms. But what personal freedom is more important than an individuals sovereignty of her/his own physical body?
Pro-choice advocates hate abortion just as vehemently as the pro-life side, but allowing a state government to make that choice for a woman is tantamount to state-sanctioned slavery. And some extra shame should be heaped upon the conservative media for confusing this as a black-white, hero-villain, one-size-fits-all issue.
Their venomous attitude has led to sickening personal attacks on Davis; the moniker Abortion Barbie is the worst example. Perhaps we should follow suit and label Greg Abbott as Coat-Hanger-Ken because his policies on womens rights will predictably lead to the return of a horrific period in history, when women took matters into their own hands with a friend, a coat hanger, and a rented motel room.
The reality is that we are fighting a war on two separate fronts, nationally and statewide. Its a war against corruption, special interests, and abuse of power. Each one of us should have some political sweat equity in this battle. If not, we may see a final purchase of our government by the corporatists and the extremists.
http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2014-06-24/political-sweat-equity-and-real-greg-abbott#.U6nxwbFCz2Q
Posted with permission from Ms. Morgan.
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