More Cornyn Lies About Healthcare

It should come as no surprise to Texans who know what Senator John Cornyn is like, but he is again telling lies and trying to scare the citizens of Texas in opposing real health care reform. He is now telling Texans that the Baucus Health Care Bill (which admittedly could be improved) will add $20.4 billion to Texas Medicaid costs over a ten year period.

Using figures he says comes from a Texas Health and Human Services report, he says the $20.4 billion cost will come from having to cover an additional 2.5 million Texans with Medicaid. Sounds scary, huh?

But the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin says the study "overstates the general revenue cost" and is based on "incomplete information." It says "There are cost savings in other areas", such as federal reimbursements that would increase under the bill.

It's not surprising that Cornyn would cherry-pick parts of the bill that support his scare tactics, and ignore other parts that mitigate those scary statistics. But perhaps the stupidest thing Cornyn said was, "Medicaid delivers poorer health outcomes than private insurance..."

Just what is he trying to say here? Does he want to cover these 2.5 million people, who cannot afford insurance, with a private insurance policy? Let's examine just what that would cost Texas in terms of dollars.

A private policy with decent coverage nowdays costs about $12,000 a year. But let's be generous, and assume that Texas would agree to a less expensive policy, covering less but still giving adequate coverage. Let's cut the figure in half, and purchase these private policies at $6,000 a year.

Just doing a little simple math, it would take $15 billion to cover the 2.5 million people with private insurance EACH YEAR! The total cost over Cornyn's ten year period would be $150 billion, and that's assuming there would be no rise in premium cost over that ten year period.

The truth is that private premiums are rising at about 10% per year, so the real cost would be much higher than the $150 billion. Even if the $20.4 billion for ten years was true, it sounds like a bargain compared to this.

But we all know Cornyn has no intention of helping these people to get private coverage (or any other kind of coverage). He's just trying to help his rich buddies at the insurance companies by scaring the people into opposing health insurance reform.

He and his rich buddies have their coverage, and to hell with everyone else. It's the Republican way these days.

Cornyn Fills The "Idiot" Void

Yesterday, George Bush ended his term in Washington, climbed on an airplane and flew back to Texas. While this was a cause for world-wide celebration, it did leave a void in Washington. Who was going to fill the position of "Biggest Idiot Politician from Texas"? But never fear folks, because a viable candidate has stepped forward -- John Cornyn.

Cornyn bid for the position back in 2004, when he compared homosexual marriage to marrying a "box turtle". Under normal circumstances, that would probably have earned him the crown. But Bush was still in Washington, and screwing up on such a scale that no one could equal him. So Cornyn had to wait for his chance.

Yesterday, Cornyn seized his opportunity as the Senate was approving several of Obama's cabinet members on unanimous voice votes. They unanimously approved Stephen Chu as Secretary of Energy, Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education, Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security, Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior, Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture, and Eric Shinseki to head up Veterans Affairs.

But when it came to Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Cornyn objected. He was the only senator to object, but all it takes is one to kill the unanimous voice vote. She will still be overwhelmingly approved today with a roll call vote after three hours of debate.

Cornyn said he wanted to know more about donations to her husband's foundation. That's a load of crap! There will be three hours of debate, but I can assure you that nothing new will be learned. There will be no new witnesses and no new evidence introduced. Senators will simply banter back and forth for three hours and then approve Clinton.

Cornyn knows he cannot win this battle, and doesn't really care. He was simply playing to the ultra-right of the Republican base to get himself noticed. That's why he picked Hillary Clinton. He knows the ultra-right hates her. Opposing one of the other cabinet members wouldn't have gotten him nearly as many "brownie points" with the wing-nuts.

I hope he succeeded. I'd like to see him become a darling of the right. Maybe they'll run a Palin/Cornyn ticket against Obama in 2012. I'd love to see that. The incompetence would be so overwhelming, it could be the death knell of the Republican Party.

I'm ready to crown Cornyn as "Biggest Idiot Politician from Texas". Can you think of a better candidate?

Cornyn Out Of Touch With Reality

Senator John Cornyn did some campaigning in Fort Worth on Tuesday, and once again showed just how out-of-touch with the real world he is. It's bad enough that he wants to foul our coastlines, the Rocky Mountains and the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve with new oil drilling, even though the oil companies have thousands of leases they have not yet drilled on, and they export a huge amount of our domestic oil production.

But he is also opposed to any new taxes on the oil companies. It doesn't matter to him that they continue to set new records for windfall profits, to the tune of thousadns of dollars per second for every second of every day. Like most Republicans, he wants to shift the burden of taxes from the rich to the children and grandchildren of middle and working class people.

He's not opposed to spending government money. He's voted for all of Bush's record-breaking spending. He just doesn't want the corporations or the rich to have to pay for any of it. He seems to be perfectly willing for the Saudis and the Chinese to bankroll an ever-increasing portion of our growing national debt.

A prime example of how out-of-touch with reality the soon-to-be ex-senator is, concerns our transportation infrastructure. He knows our highways and bridges are crumbling, but how does he want to fix that? In Ft. Worth, he called for a "new system" to finance our transportation needs. The one thing he didn't do was explain how he's going to actually pay for it.

He wants to lower income taxes on the rich, refuses to support higher gasoline taxes, and says he opposes toll roads. What is left? Does he want the Chinese and Saudis to finance even more deficit spending? What happened to old-time conservatism that said we should balance our budget and pay-as-we-go?

Or mabe he thinks he a just pray new roads and bridges into being. We have got to vote this fool out of office. We need a senator that understands the simple concepts of economics. It's really not that complicated. You cannot cut your income and increase your spending. It doesn't work for an individual or family, and it doesn't work for a government either.

Fortunately for Texans, we have a candidate this year with some common sense -- Rick Noriega. He understands that no entity can earn less and spend more. He understands that deficit spending just means we are shoving our debts onto our children and grandchildren.

It's time we do something good for ourselves, our state and our country. It's time to send John Cornyn home and send Rick Noriega to Washington!

Cornyn Hates The Troops

It's getting harder and harder to have even a ounce of respect for the junior senator from Texas. A couple of days ago, the U.S. Senate voted 75-22 to pass a new G.I. Bill. This bill grants education benefits to those who have served our country in the military. Guess who was one of the 22 senators voting against the bill?

That's right -- Senator Cornyn of Texas voted against supplying the education benefits for our soldiers! It was bad enough that "Chickenhawk" Cornyn avoided military duty himself and then voted to support Bush starting an unnecessary war in Iraq. A war that has killed at least 4,081 American soldiers and wounded, both physically and psychologically, many thousands more.

It became worse when he voted time and again to continue the war, even after it became obvious to most Americans that it was a terrible blunder. Now he has voted to deny education benefits to those who fought in the unnecessary war he helped to start and continue. The man has no shame!

This makes it very clear that the people of Texas need a new senator. They need a senator that will support and help our brave soldiers. Fortunately, there is such a candidate in this election -- Rick Noriega.

Lt. Col. Rick Noriega has proudly served his country in the military -- commanding troops in the Afghanistan conflict.He understands what our soldiers are going through because he has experienced it himself. He also believes that we owe these soldiers a debt when they return.

Noriega thinks we must offer our returning troops the best medical and psychological care. He also knows that we must fulfill our obligation to help these troops get an education and find decent jobs.

I don't know why Cornyn hates our troops, but his actions show that he does. He's even said he will vote to support Bush if he vetos the new G.I. Bill. It's time to replace him. Support Rick Noriega for Senate.

Noriega Closing The Gap On Cornyn

I have to admit, this took me a bit by surprise. I've believed for several months that Democrats have an excellent campaigner and a great candidate in Rick Noriega, but the real campaign hasn't even started yet. Traditionally, campaigns don't kick into high gear until after the state convention.

Noriega hasn't even been able to run any commercials, and doesn't have anywhere near the money or name-recognition of his incumbent opponent. Additionally, with the presidential nominating race sucking up all the media attention, the senate race has not received much coverage. But even with all these things working against him, Noriega has been able to pull to within a few points of Cornyn.

According to the latest Rasmussen poll on the Texas senate race, Noriega is now only four points behind. The poll gives Cornyn 47% and Noriega 43%. Those are incredibly good numbers for Noriega at this point in the campaign!

This should worry the hell out of Cornyn. At this point, before the serious campaigning has really started, it doesn't look good for an incumbent to be polling less than 50%.

I think there are two things at work here. First, Cornyn is not a really popular senator and has not distinguished himself with the poor job he has done. Second, the public is really disappointed in the terrible job the Republicans have done for the last few years.

Even in a state as red as Texas, it looks like people are ready to give Democrats serious consideration. If Democrats can get all the people who voted in their primary back to the polls in November, Rick Noriega will be the next senator from Texas.

But it won't be easy. Cornyn has a lot of money, and he'll be willing to spend it to keep his job. This would be a great time to help Noriega out financially. Even if you can only give $10 or $20 dollars, please do it. Every dollar matters.

Rick can win this thing with a little help from us!

Cornyn Wants Guns In National Parks

A few years ago, I made a trip to the Banff National Park in Canada. As with many national parks both here and in Canada, it was a beautiful place. At one point, we had to stop and wait for about 15 minutes until a group of mountain goats decided they wanted to get out of the middle of the road. A little further along, a moose emerged from the forest and loped along beside our car for about a quarter mile until he got bored and disappeared back into the foliage.

These were magical experiences and made our visit to the area much better. The animals in the park were obviously not afraid of humans, and therefore did not try to hide from them.

The reason for this is because the government there is very serious about keeping guns out of their parks. Guns must not only be unloaded and packed away, but they are put in a bag with a special seal. If the seal is broken when you leave the park, you are in a lot of trouble. They do this to protect the animals and make the park experience better for visitors.

Although they don't go to those lengths, many U.S. National Parks also prohibit guns. But our Texas senators, Cornyn and Hutchison, would like to change that. They want to change the law to allow Americans to carry firearms into our National Parks. Fearing a possible Democratic landslide in the coming election, they are trying to save themselves by pandering to the large number of gun owners.

Now I am not one of those who think we should outlaw gun ownership. I can read, and I know the Constitution guarantees the right of the people to own and bear arms. But allowing guns in our National Parks is just a very bad idea.

There are too many nuts among us that would think it funny to use protected animals as target practice. They would not only drive the animals away and ruin the park experience for everyone, but they would make a park visit much more dangerous. We'd have to worry about dodging stray bullets because some jerk thought it was cool to take potshots at a park animal.

There is no legitimate reason to allow guns inside our National Parks. This is just one more reason we must see that Cornyn is defeated in the upcoming election.

Cornyn Is Chertoff's "Messenger Boy"

John Cornyn has always been George Bush's lapdog, but now it looks like he's extending his repertoire. Now he's acting as a "messenger boy" for Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff. It seems that Chertoff is unhappy with the opposition to the Republican's border fence here in Texas, so he's sent Cornyn to deliver a "get tough" message.

There are slightly more than 400 landowners on the Texas border that the federal government must deal with to build the ridiculous fence. The government says 110 of these landowners have refused to respond to government inquiries or have yet to be located. Another 40 have adamantly refused to give the government permission to set foot on their land.

Cornyn, who voted for the fence, is in Texas to threaten those landowners. He says that Chertoff is ready to get tough with the holdouts, and is preparing to go to federal court to force these landowners to comply -- probably by using the government's right of imminent domain. In other words, if these landowners won't give them the rights, they'll take the land by force.

The landowners are upset because in some cases the fence will cut through their land and leave some field's on the wrong side of the fence. In some other cases, the fence will cut them off from the river -- the only source of water for their crops and livestock.

But Chertoff, through Cornyn, makes it clear that he doesn't care about the landowners, or what the fence will do to harm Texas. These men only care about appealing to the racist base of their party. That's the only reason they're building the fence, since it will do nothing to improve the security of Texans or other Americans.

Cornyn does make a good lapdog and messenger boy, but is that really what we want from our senator? Wouldn't it be better to have a senator that will act in the best interests of the people of Texas?

There is a candidate ready to act on behalf of ordinary Texans, instead of the racists or the rich corporations. His name is Rick Noriega. Give him your serious consideration.

Noriega Has The Experience Texas Needs

We're still several months away from the primary election here in Texas, but Texans already know who their choices are in the race for the U.S. Senate. And the two men could not be more different.

The Republican candidate is John Cornyn. Cornyn is a right-winger who blindly votes with the Bush administration, regardless of what's good for the country and Texas. Even though he has no military experience himself, he has repeatedly voted to sacrifice our brave soldiers in the unwise and unwinnable war and occupation of Iraq. Even though over 70% of Americans oppose the war and want to bring our soldiers home, Cornyn continues to vote against any kind of timetable for withdrawal.

Cornyn also opposes providing health insurance for for poor and working class children. He voted against the SCHIP bill which would have provided healthcare for children, and then supported Bush's veto of the bill. Once again he took this position even though over 70% of the population supported the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Instead of representing the people, Cornyn has simply been a lackey who votes as the White House tells him to vote.

The Democratic candidate is different -- a real man of the people, who's not afraid to stand up for what's right. Rick Noriega joined the Army in 1979. After finishing his term honorably, he went to college at the University of Houston, where he completed R.O.T.C. and became an officer in the National Guard after his graduation. He also earned a master's degree from Harvard University.

In 2004, Lt. Co. Noriega proudly served with his unit in Afghanistan. As Lt. Col. Noriega says, "It's time this state had people in Washington, D.C., who have the wartime experience to understand what is going on". He adds, "We need a change, and we need new leadership that has walked the walk, whether we're talking about the war or border issues or working in a bipartisan way".

And it's not just wartime experience that qualifies Rick Noriega. He has also coordinated efforts to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees, led his Guard unit at the Texas border to help law enforcement officials, and served as a state representative since 1999. He has been a school teacher and an energy executive. Rick Noriega has the broad experience that Texas needs.

Rick Noriega is also starting to get the endorsements of some Texas political veterans such as former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and former Cabinet Secretary Henry Cisneros. State Rep. Lon Burnam says of Rick, "He is a fundamentally decent man who has the right head and the right heart to represent this state in the Senate".

If you haven't climbed aboard the Noriega Express, it's time to do so. Tell your friends and neighbors about Rick. And if you can, give a few dollars to his campaign -- any amount will help. Rick is the best candidate, but he's going to need some campaign dollars to get his message out to all Texans.

Texas needs Rick Noriega -- and Rick Noriega needs your help.

Thoughts On Noriega vs. Cornyn

I've noticed recently that some of the right-wing blogs seem to be uncomfortable with the fact that senate candidate Rick Noriega has a distinguished record of service in the military. It bothers them that Noriega is proud of his continuing military service to our country and doesn't mind discussing it while on the campaign trail.

Rick Noriega joined the United States Army during the Iran Hostage crises, and currently serves as a Lt. Colonel in the National Guard. He proudly served his country in Afghanistan, fighting against the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Why would the right-wingers not want a candidate to discuss his military record during the campaign? Isn't this a valid criteria to help voters to judge a candidate's qualification for office? This got me to wondering what was going on here -- after all, couldn't their candidate just counter this with his own military record? Evidently not.

I went to Cornyn's web site, but was surprised to find it doesn't even contain a biography! I guess he thinks that being Bush's lapdog is enough to qualify him for the senate. Then I went to Cornyn's page on the government web site. This site did contain a short biograpgy of Cornyn, but there seemed to be a glaring omission -- any mention of any kind of military service.

Now I begin to understand the right-wing's nervousness when the subject of Noriega's military service is discussed. It looks like their candidate is one of those Bush/Cheney type of "Yellow Elephants" -- a person who is willing to vote to send others to die in an unending and unwinnable war, even though they did not serve themselves. It must be pretty embarrassing to have your candidate turn out to be a chickenhawk.

This is just another reason I am happy to be supporting Lt. Colonel Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate. Not only has he served his country proudly and unselfishly, but that service has given him the experience and wisdom to understand what a horrible mistake has been made in Iraq.

Comparing Noriega to Cornyn is like comparing day to night. One has a proud record of service to his country, and the other has been a parrot-like supporter of Bush's most disastrous decisions.

I hope you will join me in voting for and providing financial support for Lt. Colonel and State Rep. Rick Noriega. Texas needs this capable and honorable man.

Cornyn Shows His True Colors

Most people who watch what is happening in Washington have known for quite a while now that "Box Turtle" John Cornyn is one of the least effective legislators in the U.S. Senate. He has been little more than a lapdog for the current president. Regardless of how bad a bill might be for the citizens of Texas and America, Bush can always count on support from "Box Turtle" John.

But just before Congress adjourned for the summer, "Box Turtle" John cast a couple of votes in the Senate that highlights just how bad a senator he is, and how out of touch with American citizens he has become. These two votes were so out of the mainstream, that I can only assume he was trying to protect the corporations and lobbyists that supply so much of his campaign money -- money he will need to stave off a strong Democratic challenge in 2008.

The first of these two ridiculous votes was a vote against children. Millions of poor and working class children in America do not have any health insurance coverage. Evidently "Box Turtle" John thinks that is the way it should be. He joined 30 of his Republican buddies in voting to oppose increasing the funds available for the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

He said his vote was to prevent a government takeover of health care. But the truth is that he receives large donations from insurance and drug companies, and his vote was to protect these corporate interests at the expense of America's children. Whatever the reason, it is just sick to vote to deny health insurance to children. Since the insurance and drug companies won't address the problem of insuring children, who is left to get it done other than the government?

The second of his ridiculous votes was his vote against ethics reform. The American people are sick of government by lobbyists. One of the reasons that Democrats made a major comeback in the last election was because of the lack of ethical behavior between the Republicans and the K Street lobbyists.

The ethics reform bill would limit the gifts and money a lobbyist could give a congressman or senator. It would also force lobbyists to publicly disclose the number and amount of campaign donations they give to individual candidates. With his close ties to corporate lobbyists, it is easy to see why "Box Turtle" John voted against ethics reform (He was one of only 13 senators to vote against it). He doesn't want the people of Texas to know just how much money he receives from the lobbyists.

Do you really want a senator that opposes both children's health insurance and ethics reform? I certainly don't! That's why I'm supporting Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate. I can assure you that Lt. Colonel Noriega would have voted in favor of both of these bills.

If you don't support the indefensible voting record of our current senator, "Box Turtle" John Cornyn, then it is time to step forward and support the only viable alternative for 2008 -- State Rep. Rick Noriega. If we are to defeat Cornyn in 2008, then we must start now to support Noriega both politically and financially.

Rick Noriega isn't rich, and he doesn't receive money from the corporate lobbyists. He is depending on support from common folks like you and me. You don't have to give a lot, but please do give something! Even a very small donation will help more than you could imagine. If you'd like to donate online, go to ricknoriega.com. If you'd prefer to send a check or money order by mail, then send it to this address:

Rick Noriega Campaign

P.O. Box 231163

Houston, Texas

77223-1163

Help stop Cornyn now, and give Texas a senator we can be proud of.

Will Money Rule Texas Senate Race ?

With the ending of this last campaign reporting period, we know who the candidates are that corporations and rich people would like to see elected. They have made that clear with their donations.

The rich would like to see either Republican "Box Turtle" John Cornyn or Democrat Mikal Watts elected. I understand why. These are the candidates who would most likely protect the interests of the rich. "Box Turtle" John long ago sold out to the corporations, and Watts is himself one of the extremely rich. Frankly, the more I learn about Watts, the less difference I see between the two of them.

Fortunately for the people of Texas, there is a "people's" candidate about to enter the race -- a candidate who believes that ALL Texans deserve to partake of the American Dream. State Rep. Rick Noriega (pictured above) will announce next week that he is forming an exploratory committee to examine running for the senate. This will allow him to begin collecting donations also.

Noriega will be starting out far behind in campaign money. "Box Turtle" John raised $2.1 million in the last period, giving him a total of $5.4 million. Watts raised $1.1 million in the last period, and combined with his own contributions to his campaign, has a total of $4.9 million.

But even though Noriega may be starting out behind in money, he does have a couple of things working in his favor. He is the candidate supported by the blogs and most Democratic grassroots organizers. This should not be underestimated. The ability to get voters to the polls can trump a lot of money spent on TV and newspaper ads.

Noriega is also a Lt. Colonel in the National Guard and an Iraqi veteran, giving him a better understanding of the situation in Iraq than either of the other candidates. This could be very valuable in a campaign where Iraq will probably be one of the major issues.

But this doesn't mean that Noriega will not need money to compete -- he will, and lots of it. With my next paycheck, I plan to make my first donation to the Noriega campaign. I urge you to do the same.

Let's replace "Box Turtle" John with a real senator of the people. A senator we can be proud of -- Rick Noriega.