DMN States The Obvious
From The Political State Report:
Two months from Gov. Rick Perry's target date for a special session to address public school finance, the Dallas Morning News did a pretty good job of stating the obvious in Saturday's editions:
"The big three--Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick--are not on the same page on the thorniest question they face...That question--what taxes and other revenue raising options will be used to fix Texas' school funding systems and pay for education reform?"
The Morning News did, however, do a decent job of summarizing some of the plans currently being discussed, which include:
*A $1 increase in the state cigarette tax to $1.41, raising nearly $1 billion a year.
*Legalization of video lottery terminals at racetracks in Texas, raising nearly $600 million a year.
*Splitting school property tax rolls into a state tax for business and commercial property and a local tax for residential property.
*Tapping the state's rainy day fund and other surplus funds for $500 million.
*Increasing the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 7.25 percent, raising $1.9 billion a year.
*Increasing the motor vehicle sales tax from 6.25 percent to 7.25 percent, raising nearly $400 million a year.
*Expanding the sales tax base to consumer services such as auto repairs and residential construction.
*Replacing the current business franchise tax with a new business activity tax that would apply to most businesses and levy a tax of roughly 1 to 2 percent on the value of goods and services or a similar benchmark.
*Closing a current loophole in the franchise tax that allows companies to incorporate in another state and pay no tax in Texas, raising nearly $240 million a year.
One of Perry's top aids has been lauding the second of the plans listed above. Dewhurst, however, says the Senate has been working from legislation that passed that chamber last year but died in the Texas House.
Under that plan, the present sales tax would be expanded to cover a number of services, and a statewide property tax system for schools would be instituted to offset the cutting of school property taxes by half and and end to the Share The Wealth school finance program.
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Nathan Newman, on his Blog, NathanNewman.org, notes that Veterans will also lose benefits in the controversial overtime reg changes:
"Bush really hates veterans, or is just really politically stupid.
Apparently, one provision of his assault on overtime pay is to define training people receive in the military as making them 'professionals' and therefore no longer eligible for overtime pay.
So serve your country, lose your right to overtime pay. What a bargain for all the returning Iraq veterans."
Local Republican Party Sinks To New Lows
The Van Zandt County Republican Party sank to a new low this week.
In the party's periodic column in the Canton Herald and Van Zandt News, included were several comments that should have been paid political advertisments, not public service announcements.
The GOP went out of its way to attack Sheriff Pat Burnett and indirectly attack Tax Assessor Collector Vicki Looney.
The Democrats, in our columns, have never, ever, resorted to such lows. While both parties have previously listed and promoted their candiadates, we have never (or, to my knowledge, been allowed to) used the space granted to us by the newspapers to directly attack candidates of other parties.
The Republicans should be ashamed.
If you are as upset about this as we are, please email these Republican leaders and tell them what you think of their below-the-belt efforts:
Jerry Barker, President, Republican Club of Van Zandt County
Lance Lenz, Republican Party County Chair
Rob James, Republican Club Vice Chair
Timna Rutledge, Republican Club Publicity Chairman
Dean May Have Revitalized National Democrats, But What About Us?
In the upcoming Newsweek, Jonathan Alter notes:
"After the thousandth showing, "the scream" was still a scream to anyone but Dean supporters, priceless hara-kiri video that will live forever in campaign lore and the good doctor's nightmares. But the moment was not the cause of Dean's demise, and no matter what the voters' ultimate verdict, he deserves to be remembered for more than acting like a demented cheerleader threatening to attack half the states in the Union. Besides, we'll have Howard to kick around for a while longer yet. While his once sure nomination is now a long shot, he may well prove an important factor in the 2004 campaign. At a minimum, he's the man who gave the Democrats their mojo back."
While I won't define "mojo" for those of you unfamilar with the word, let's just say that Alter is saying Dean may have been the one who is responsible for revitalizing the Democratic party and "grass-roots" Democrats in America.
And, that may be true. Dean raised millions from ordinary Americans, proved once and for all that the Internet is an important tool in campaigning, and proved that, in spite of all that's happened in the last few years, Democrats are alive and well in America.
So, what about Texas? What about Van Zandt County.
We also need to get our "mojo" back, for lack of a better word.
What will do this for us? Well, a political win or two would be nice. While Democrats in Texas don't necessarily need to prove that we're still a viable political party, we do need to prove that we can get the votes and connect with the people. A statewide win is one good way to do this. Winning other benchmark races is another. An excellent example of something that has revitalized the Democratic Party in Texas is the Sadler vs. Eltife contest in Senate District 1.
A lot of Republicans didn't give Sadler a chance against all the Republicans in the race. Sadler, however, proved them wrong. Although we still have to wait out a runoff, we've shown in this race that East Texas Democrats aren't dead.
One thing that I believe has helped Sadler and will help the Democratic Party this cycle and in the next is that the Republicans in charge have done so much to move away from the people who elected them. Republicans won not because every county in Texas is a fully Republican stronghold, but because independent voters and some Democrats voted for GOP candidates because of certian issues or because they liked the candidates better.
Now, those independents and others (not to mention the majority of Republicans anywhere to the left of the Radical Republican Religious Right) have been betrayed. The Republicans in power have become drunk with that power and used it to transform Texas based on their skewed visions of reality and the people's desires, eg: redistricting, taking tort reform too far, Rick Perry's nauseating education ideas, etc.
If Texas Democrats can capatilize on the Republican's betrayal of Texas, we can win.
We can, we will, we must.
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