Star-Telegram Endorses O'Rourke In Texas Senate Race

(This photo of Beto O'Rourke is from his campaign website.)

The two largest newspapers in Texas (The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle) have already endorsed Beto O'Rourke over incumbent Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race. Now the state's third largest newspapers joins them in supporting O'Rourke -- the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Here's what their editorial board had to say:

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz represent the hard left and right of American politics.

Neither stands in the middle ground, where the real work is done to lead America.

But only O’Rourke seems interested in making deals or finding middle ground. That is why the El Paso Democrat would make the best senator for Tarrant County’s future, and the future of Texas.

O’Rourke’s “new way” campaign against politics-as-usual has drawn attention, and also money.

But much of what he says, particularly about immigration and healthcare, sounds like what Texas business conservatives used to say before the emergence of New York Republican Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says we shouldn’t deport Dreamer students over their parents’ mistakes. Former Gov. Rick Perry, now energy secretary, has said a border wall “doesn’t make sense.” President George W. Bush endorsed a path to legal status for those who came illegally but worked peacefully, supported the economy and showed good character.

These are the same Texas values that O’Rourke now defends.

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus wanted to beef up spending on public schools and find a “Texas solution” to improve healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

O’Rourke now champions both. 

Cruz and O’Rourke both support free trade, which is essential for success in Fort Worth and Texas. Our city is emerging as a leading global distribution center, and Mexico is Texas’ No. 1 trade partner.

But O’Rourke would have more room to oppose the president’s questionable trade and tariff decisions, which threaten Texas.

O’Rourke raised eyebrows here when he called for further review of the locally built Lockheed Martin Aeronautics F-35 fighter jet. But he also says the plane is essential to protect the U.S.’s air superiority, and said he will protect jobs.

This endorsement did not come without some disagreement. Cruz is closer to Texas’ and Tarrant County’s views on issues related to faith and values, and also on energy policy.

But Cruz was elected with no experience in any council or legislature, and it shows. His intransigence prevents him from currying support or negotiating deals to help Texas.

This Editorial Board has recommended conservative Republicans such as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney for president, along with U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

But Cruz does not measure up. This office needs a reset.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board endorses Beto O’Rourke for U.S. senator..

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Conservative Texas Newspaper Blasts Anti-DACA Lawsuit

(Cartoon image is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.)

The teabagger/trumpista element has assumed control of the Republican Party -- especially here in Texas. These extremist right-wingers hate immigrants, and that includes the "Dreamers" protected by the D.A.C.A. program. They don't care that these Dreamers were brought to this country as tiny children. They don't care that Dreamers grew up here, attended American schools, have no criminal record, pay taxes, and have gotten a college education or served in the U.S. military. They don't care that Dreamers contribute far more to this country than they take from it. They just want them deported.

These odious xenophobes are having their heyday right now, with one of their own in the White House. Here in Texas, one of their leaders is Attorney General Ken Paxton. He has filed suit trying to get the DACA program declared illegal (unconstitutional).

Fortunately, they don't speak for all conservatives. And that includes the traditionally conservative Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Here is what the editorial board of that newspaper had to say:

Doesn’t Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have anything better to do with the time of state-employed lawyers and our taxpayer money than to file lawsuits that don’t benefit Texas?

We’re talking about the suit he filed last week against the federal government, demanding it end DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, that began under the Obama administration.

Most Texans say they support allowing the immigrants who came here as children to remain legally and hold down jobs. Nearly three-fifths - 59 percent of registered voters in our state - recently contacted by University of Texas-Texas Tribune pollsters, said the DACA program should be continued.

And the state’s biggest, most influential business group, the Texas Association of Business, doesn’t think the lawsuit makes sense, either. 

Jeff Moseley, the CEO of the Association, said ending DACA would deplete an already thin workforce in a state where businesses often rely on immigrant workers. The TAB website notes that Texans have invested taxpayer dollars to educate these young people in our public schools and often in our colleges and universities.

“This is a workforce that has received, relative to the world, some of the best education known to mankind,” Moseley told the Star-Telegram Editorial Board. “It makes no sense to us to take this highly trained group of individuals and turn them over to other countries to join their workforces.”. . .

Paxton says the suit he filed with six other states is about the rule of law. It's about not allowing a President — in this case Barack Obama — to create laws.

Paxton’s legal argument: the establishment of DACA "sets a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to ignore the laws enacted by Congress," to suit the president's own policy preferences and ignore the will of the people.

The truth is that Paxton, like other members of the Tea Party wing of the GOP, has long taken a stand against DACA recipients having legal status.

There are plenty of other Texas Republicans who want a legislative solution that would help shield the program from continued legal challenges like Paxton’s lawsuit. Republicans in the Texas congressional delegation, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, have been working towards one, though Trump’s plans for a wall have continued to get in the way.

This Editorial Board has argued that a solution for the Dreamers should be addressed on its own merits and not be a chip in the debate over securing the border.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article210516484.html#storylink=cpy

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Trump/GOP's Holding "Dreamers" Hostage Is Just WRONG

(This image is by Lalo Alcaraz at pocho.com.)

Donald Trump has rescinded the protection President Obama gave to "Dreamers", and if Congress doesn't act soon, they will face deportation (even though the U.S. is the only country they have known and they contribute greatly to it).

Poll after poll has shown the American people don't support deporting the Dreamers, and that includes many conservatives. But Donald Trump and the congressional Republicans are holding these young people as hostages to get political gain. That is just so wrong.

 Here is what the editorial board of the traditionally conservative Fort Worth Star-Telegram has to say about it:

Striking a deal in Washington often requires horse trading. We understand that. But when one of the bargaining chips is the lives of some 800,000 immigrants brought here as children — 120,000 in Texas — the negotiating takes on a sickening smell.

This week members of Congress and President Donald Trump are trading demands for what it will take to continue the DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, program. 

The program, started by President Obama, has provided work permits and a reprieve from deportation for some immigrants who were brought here by their parents and have never really known their birth countries.

The DACA recipients, called Dreamers, have graduated from high schools and attended colleges here. They hold respectable jobs. They serve in our military.

You can argue that their parents should be held accountable for illegally entering the United States. But it seems wrong to blame and punish young people, many who were barely out of diapers when adults decided they should grow up in the United States.

President Trump has given Congress a March 15 deadline to come up with a legal fix for the Dreamers or they’ll face deportation.

Most congressional Democrats and a fair number of Republicans want to find a solution that will allow the Dreamers to stay. The President told a bipartisan congressional delegation Tuesday if Congress can pass a plan that does that he’ll sign it. The hitch seems to be the President’s demand that border security and funding for a wall with Mexico be part of a deal.

Most everyone agrees we need a secure border. But defining what constitutes security and then paying for it has alluded Congress and previous administrations unable to adopt meaningful immigration reform. Texas has spent millions in state tax dollars on border surveillance arguing the federal government can’t seem to get the job done.

Linking these young people to a plan for border security is ridiculous. How is the border any more secure if they are deported?

It’s pretty clear that in the current negotiations what happens to the Dreamers has been thrown into a messy mix of immigration proposals, many too volatile to pass on their own. Elected officials who want a border wall, an end to the diversity visa lottery program and some other measures realize there’s an emotional value to using the Dreamers as bait.

We believe the continuation of the DACA program and the future of the Dreamers should be addressed on their own merits. Congress is playing with the lives of real people we all know. 

They aren’t just another policy and shouldn’t be held hostage by lawmakers or the President who want funding for a plan that includes a border wall.

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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Says No To Donald Trump

The parade of conservative newspapers abandoning the Republican presidential candidate continues. This time it's the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Their editorial board stops short of endorsing Hillary Clinton, but they do ask their readers to NOT vote for Donald Trump. The editorial board writes:

The dominating image and personality of Republican nominee Donald Trump have defined the 2016 presidential race, and for some of what he has shown us we should be thankful.

The fact that millions of Americans have joined his anti-establishment, anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-free-trade, anti-news media message must open our eyes to how truly unhappy many of our neighbors are.

Many sincerely believe our economy and our leaders have not and will not treat them fairly. They are angry. Our next president, no matter who it is, must change that.

Still, most of what Trump has shown us has been so dark, so negative, so lacking in the knowledge and demeanor essential in our president that we must urge our readers to reject him.

He has said and done so many things during the course of his campaign, from outright bullying his GOP rivals (“little Marco” and “lyin’ Ted”) to fanning the flames of bigotry (“rapist” Mexicans) to truly repugnant comments about women, that we have taken his measure and found it not only lacking in moral standards but profoundly dangerous to our nation and its highest office.

Should his mouth, so unfettered by reason or humility, be loosed on the world with the power of the Oval Office behind it, we could hardly blame friendly nations for withholding trust or unfriendly ones for raising their guard.

We should have known. It’s not like Trump’s TV reality show personality has changed. We just didn’t think it would get this far – and clearly, the Republican Party didn’t either.

Trump announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015. Before the year was out he would sayMexican immigrants are criminals, that John McCain is not a war hero because he was captured and that he knows more about ISIS than our generals. He mocked a handicapped reporter, called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” and aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He was just getting started.

In the next few months he would favor torture, comment on the size of his genitals on national TV, demean the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz, insult the president and people of Mexico by insisting they would pay for a wall between our two countries despite their objection, cast doubt on our NATO commitments, lashed out at the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, hinted that “Second Amendment people” could eliminate Hillary Clinton and, as we all know, was exposed as bragging about assaulting women.

There’s a reason the real issues about running our country have taken a back seat in this election campaign.

It’s Trump’s inability to devote more than brief and shallow attention to those issues before diverting the conversation to absurdity — like saying if he wins Clinton will be jailed or claiming the election is rigged and balking when asked whether he will accept its ultimate result.

Trump may say this election is about “America First,” and we all must learn from that. We must pay attention to the millions of Americans who have rallied to that message.

But we need a president who is more than a slogan. We need a leader.

Many of his followers say they like Trump because he makes no attempt to be “politically correct.” In a troubled world, a troubled economy and a nation that needs sound domestic policy, Trump is not correct for anything.

The Star-Telegram Editorial Board recommends rejecting Donald Trump for president.

Conservatives Now Shocked At The Monster They Created

(Cartoon image is by Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.)

It started in earnest with Richard Nixon's "Southern strategy", when Republicans eagerly accepted racists into their party. The GOP thought this was their path to winning elections. And it worked. The South, which had been dominated by the Democratic Party, turned solidly Republican in just a very few elections. This proved to be insufficient in 2008 and 2012, and Barack Obama was elected. The GOP them opened its doors to the ultra-right (the John Birchers, who has previously been considered too extreme).

The GOP establishment thought they could control these groups, and use them to win elections while ignoring them after those elections. They were wrong. The racists and ultra-right nuts weren't satisfied with just being used, and they took over the party in many states. Those groups have pushed the party far into the fringe right. That is illustrated by all of the GOP candidates for president this year -- but none more so than the leader of the race, Donald Trump. A monster has been created -- and the GOP has no one to blame but themselves.

This became very clear to many mainstream conservatives in the last few days, when Trump surpassed his normal hate speech and proclaimed there should be a ban on ALL muslims entering the United States. These conservatives, especially among the media, are now trying to distance themselves from the monster they helped to create -- fearing he could seriously damage the party.

A perfect example of this comes from the reliably conservative newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Their editorial board writes:

Donald Trump stands alone.

Not that there aren’t people who agree with his reckless manifesto against Muslims on Monday — of course there are.

But we cannot believe that Trump and his followers represent America. No more than we believe the two terrorists who killed 14 people and wounded many others in San Bernardino last week represent the world’s more than 1.6 billion Muslims or the estimated 2.75 million Muslims of all ages in the United States.

Nor do we believe Trump’s views represent Republicans — the denouncements from other GOP presidential candidates are telling.

Trump read from a campaign news release Monday in South Carolina, saying he wants “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.”

Trump and those who agree with him are the ones who can’t seem to figure it out.

There are radical Islamic extremists among the world’s Muslim population. That much is clear from the rise of the Islamic State and its sponsorship of world terrorism.

There are those, like the two murderers in San Bernardino, who although perhaps not ISIS-directed are at least ISIS-inspired and would do Americans great harm.

Dealing with this threat requires concentrated attention from our government, top to bottom, as well as a high level of alert from all of us. 

As President Obama pointed out in a speech to the nation Sunday night, it also requires a high level of attention and assistance from the U.S. Muslim community to locate individuals who are threats.

But it simply does not stand the test of reason to say we should retaliate against all Muslims by banning their entry into the United States.

They are business leaders crucial to our economic interests, students in our universities, families in our neighborhoods, children in our schools.

While we must deal with our enemies, we cannot turn our backs on our friends.

Trump said there is “great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.”

One of his sources for that statement, the Center for Security Policy, is run by Washington Times columnist Frank Gaffney, whom the Southern Policy Law Center calls “one of America’s most notorious Islamophobes.”

Trump’s only other source, the respected Pew Research Center, has done several surveys of Muslims but was at a loss to identify where he got his information — and Trump didn’t clarify.

Trump stands alone.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/opinion/editorials/article48687350.html#storylink=cpy

The problem is that Trump does not stand alone. He currently has the support of about a third of all Republicans, and mainstream conservatives are terrified that he could increase that support -- and become their nominee.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram And Dallas Morning News Both Endorse Sam Houston For Attorney General

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a conservative newspaper that loves to endorse Republicans for statewide office in Texas. But even they can't stomach the criminal nominated for Attorney General by the Republican Party this year. So (albeit grudgingly) they have officially endorsed Democrat Sam Houston (pictured) for that office. Here is what their editorial board wrote in making the endorsement:

There is no great candidate in the race for Texas attorney general.

The Republican nominee, lawyer and state Sen. Ken Paxton of McKinney, is undeserving of consideration.

Paxton was fined $1,000 and still may face a felony investigation.

In May, state securities regulators found  Paxton sent clients to an investment firm without registering or disclosing his own paid role.

It happened three times. A 2012 violation is within the five-year statute of limitations.

Paxton should know better.

No candidate to lead “the people’s law firm” should ever have misled a client, a state board or the people of Texas.

The Democratic Party candidate, Houston civil litigation lawyer Sam Houston, is running his second campaign.

Using “Sam” instead of his professional name, Samuel A. Houston, he drew more votes than any other Texas Democrat in a losing 2008 Supreme Court race.

Houston has practiced law for 26 years. He describes his practice as litigation representing doctors, lawyers and mortgage companies. He is board-certified in personal injury trial law.

Houston says many of the right things about the Texas attorney general’s office, which is basically a big civil law firm. He says the position became too political and should return to operating an efficient, even-handed law office.

In particular, he expressed concern about the office withholding public records.

Houston said he will fulfill the attorney general’s obligation to defend state law in court whether he agrees or disagrees with it, reassuring voters concerned about whether a Democrat would defend Texas abortion laws or marriage restrictions.

Libertarian candidate Jamie Balagia of San Antonio, a criminal defense attorney and former police officer, takes the conservative position on many issues and might pose an alternative for liberty-minded Republicans. However, he focuses mostly on decriminalizing marijuana.

No matter how this election turns out, the district attorneys in Travis and other counties should decide as soon as possible whether to investigate Paxton or bring a case to a grand jury.

Houston presents an adequate résumé in a thin field.

The  Star-Telegram Editorial Board recommends  Sam Houston for attorney general.

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The Dallas Morning News, another conservative newspaper has now followed suit, writing:

Serious legal issues dogging Republican state Sen. Ken Paxton should rule him out for consideration to be the next attorney general of Texas. It’s fortunate for voters that there’s a solid alternative in a Houston attorney whose name isn’t easy to forget.

Career litigator Sam Houston, a Democrat, is making his second run for office, having been on the ballot in 2008 in an unsuccessful run for the Supreme Court of Texas.

This newspaper recommended Houston for office then and recommends him now, on the strength of his legal experience and ideas for the office.

Paxton’s impaired candidacy stems from his written admission that he broke state law by failing to register with the State Securities Board even though he solicited paying clients for a financial services firm that paid him a 30 percent cut. It wasn’t a one-time slipup on Paxton’s part. The Securities Board’s civil complaint against him cites solicitations from 2004, 2005 and 2012.

As if to make the situation vanish, Paxton, 51, a veteran lawmaker from McKinney, declined to contest the disciplinary order and paid a $1,000 fine in May. But the matter lives on. A complaint has been filed with the Travis County district attorney’s office, which has postponed any decision on taking the matter to a grand jury until after the election. That raises the possibility of felony charges against a sitting attorney general, the state’s chief law enforcement officer. Voters should not invite that kind of embarrassment for Texas.

Houston, 51, is a partner in a law firm with experience on both ends of a lawsuit. He has a clear-eyed view of the attorney general’s office and its core function as the state’s chief legal counsel.

As such, Houston said he would bring the art of mediation to bear more often, saving the state considerable legal costs that could be spent better elsewhere.

Houston makes one commitment, in the wake of the chemical disaster in West: He would override the attorney general’s recent ruling that allowed the State Department of Health Services to withhold records on dangerous chemicals stored by Texas businesses. That ruling relied on a portion of the Texas Homeland Security Act, which intended to keep potential explosives out of the hands of terrorists.

Houston criticized the ruling as unnecessarily restrictive on release of information, based on vague notions of how how certain substances could be used. He said other sections of law are clear on the public’s right of access to government documents. In the same vein, Houston said the attorney general erred in barring release of records on grant requests from the Texas Enterprise Fund, administered by the governor’s office.

Defending the Texas Open Records Act is another core duty of the attorney general’s office. Houston’s zeal for government transparency shows he has the right stuff for that important part of the job.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/07/6182493/sam-houston-for-attorney-general.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Chronicle Improves Its Web Site

I must confess that I'm a news junkie, especially on the internet. Each day, I scan multiple Texas, national and international web sites to catch up on what's happening in the world. The news business is changing fast, and most news sources have found that they must have a presence on the internet.

Although I live all the way across the state, one of my favorite sites on the internet is the site offered by the Houston Chronicle. As Texas newspapers go, the Chronicle site (chron.com) is one of the better ones.

When I clicked on the Chronicle site today, I got a little surprise. They have redesigned their site. I like the re-design. The site is more pleasing to the eye than the old site was, and is easier to read. The old site had sort of a cramped feeling, but the new site doesn't.

That is surprising because the headlines are in a larger and bolder print. They have also changed the color of the headlines to a more pleasing blue color. But even though the new site seems to be less crowded and has larger headlines, they actually seem to have included more stories on the page.

Good job, Chronicle. The new site is a definite improvement.

Another one of my favorites, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has a blurb on their front page saying they are also in the process of re-designing their web site. The new site is supposed to be unveiled in a few days, and I'm looking forward to it. I hope they do as well as the Chronicle did.

Now I just wish my current hometown newspaper, the Amarillo Globe News, would do something about their web site. Their problem is not one of layout though, but a lack of unbiased and readable content.