Lubbock, like much of Texas, is in the middle of a drought. In an effort to end the drought and bring much-needed rain to West Texas, Lubbock's mayor and city council came up with an unusual solution. They decided to just ask God to take care of the situation.
Recently, the town's officials passed a resolution asking all residents to engage in prayer and fasting on July 30th. The city said they had success in the past by doing this. Mayor David Miller had this to say, "Nobody is going to tell God what to do and what not to do, but we are in a serious drought in West Texas and since he is the man who controls the rain clouds, we're asking him for his mercy and help."
Well, the drought has not ended. Does God just not like the folks in Lubbock? I figure God was just too busy running the Texas Republican Party, and didn't have the time to answer Lubbock's prayers. Maybe the Republicans should have asked God if he wanted the job, or had time to do it, before they dumped their chairmanship position on him a few months ago. God has to be working 24-7 to plug all the holes in the Republican dike.
I urge the leaders of Lubbock to not give up. After all, you haven't tried dancing for rain, voodoo, or magic crystals yet.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Friday, August 11, 2006
Random Texas Political Thoughts
Democratic candidate for governor, Chris Bell, seems to have a dilemma on his hands. He needs to attack the governor and try to get his poll numbers under 30%. If he doesn't, Perry could carry the election with the 35% he currently has. However, if he does get the numbers down, he will not benefit from it. This 35% is made up of hardcore Republicans, and if they leave Perry, they will go to either Grandma or Kinky. They will not go to a Democrat. That is the dilemma. He needs to get Perry's numbers down, but doing so will only help his other two opponents. I look for Bell to focus more of his attacks on Grandma and Kinky, and hope that those two can cut down Perry's numbers. It's his only option.
Back around the middle of May, the University of Texas at Arlington was being picketed by Vietnamese-Americans, because they had a Vietnamese flag flying among 122 others in one of the school buildings. They did this to honor their foreign students. The demonstrators were upset that the flag of communist Vietnam was included. When the school wouldn't remove the flag [they offered to also fly the South Vietnamese flag], the demonstrators went to Austin to complain. Rep. Hubert Vo [D-Houston] and Rep. Toby Goodman [R-Arlington] then told the university that it wouldn't get the money to build a new engineering building as long as the Vietnamese flag flew among the others. The school then took down all 123 flags. Today they got their payoff. The university was notified today that they will get a new 300,000 square foot, $100 million engineering building.
U.S. Congressman Joe Barton [R-Arlington] is calling for expanded drilling for oil. He wants to expand exploration and drilling for oil in Alaska, and off the coasts of California and Florida. Evidently, Barton is not satisfied to be responsible for protecting air polluters in the metroplex, and seeing to it that they can continue to pollute the DFW area. Now he wants to help destroy the Alaskan wilderness, and pollute the coastlines of America's most popular vacation spots. Is there anything that Barton wouldn't do for his corporate masters?
Back around the middle of May, the University of Texas at Arlington was being picketed by Vietnamese-Americans, because they had a Vietnamese flag flying among 122 others in one of the school buildings. They did this to honor their foreign students. The demonstrators were upset that the flag of communist Vietnam was included. When the school wouldn't remove the flag [they offered to also fly the South Vietnamese flag], the demonstrators went to Austin to complain. Rep. Hubert Vo [D-Houston] and Rep. Toby Goodman [R-Arlington] then told the university that it wouldn't get the money to build a new engineering building as long as the Vietnamese flag flew among the others. The school then took down all 123 flags. Today they got their payoff. The university was notified today that they will get a new 300,000 square foot, $100 million engineering building.
U.S. Congressman Joe Barton [R-Arlington] is calling for expanded drilling for oil. He wants to expand exploration and drilling for oil in Alaska, and off the coasts of California and Florida. Evidently, Barton is not satisfied to be responsible for protecting air polluters in the metroplex, and seeing to it that they can continue to pollute the DFW area. Now he wants to help destroy the Alaskan wilderness, and pollute the coastlines of America's most popular vacation spots. Is there anything that Barton wouldn't do for his corporate masters?
Kinky Asks D.A. To Investigate Grandma
Kinky Friedman has asked Travis County District Attorney, Ronnie Earle, to investigate Grandma to see if she has violated Texas election laws. The Houston and San Antonio newspapers have reported in the last couple of days, that Grandma has used state employees on state time, to work on her campaign. This is not only unethical, it is illegal under Texas law.
Kinky's campaign manager, Dean Barkley, said he doesn't understand why Grandma has done this. She has over $8 million dollars in her campaign war chest. He said, "She could have avoided these questions by simply paying her campaign staff to do this work."
Blake Rocap, Friedman campaign general counsel, said in a letter to DA Earle that depending on how much state time was used, "the comptroller could face first-degree felony charges carrying with them criminal punishment of a fine not exceeding $10,000 and life in prison. We urge you to investigate this matter and take proper steps to ensure that no candidate misuses a public office for their personal political benefit."
Perry declined to say whether he thinks Grandma should be investigated, but did say, "There appears to be some smoke."
Grandma's campaign said she often discusses state business no matter where she goes, so it was OK to use state employees. Her spokesman called it typical mudslinging politics.
DA Earle said his office's policy is to wait until after an election to investigate such charges. The written policy states, "This policy is intended to avoid the appearance of the criminal justice system being used for political purposes."
Perhaps most perplexing in this matter, is the reaction of Democratic candidate Chris Bell. Jason Stanford, Bell spokesman, said, "The statement that Kinky Friedman filed an ethics complaint against Carole Strayhorn, just that sentence, conveys levels of absurdity heretofore not known in Texas politics." Attacking the messenger? Does Bell really think it is more important to attack Kinky, than to see that Grandma obeys Texas laws?
Kinky's campaign manager, Dean Barkley, said he doesn't understand why Grandma has done this. She has over $8 million dollars in her campaign war chest. He said, "She could have avoided these questions by simply paying her campaign staff to do this work."
Blake Rocap, Friedman campaign general counsel, said in a letter to DA Earle that depending on how much state time was used, "the comptroller could face first-degree felony charges carrying with them criminal punishment of a fine not exceeding $10,000 and life in prison. We urge you to investigate this matter and take proper steps to ensure that no candidate misuses a public office for their personal political benefit."
Perry declined to say whether he thinks Grandma should be investigated, but did say, "There appears to be some smoke."
Grandma's campaign said she often discusses state business no matter where she goes, so it was OK to use state employees. Her spokesman called it typical mudslinging politics.
DA Earle said his office's policy is to wait until after an election to investigate such charges. The written policy states, "This policy is intended to avoid the appearance of the criminal justice system being used for political purposes."
Perhaps most perplexing in this matter, is the reaction of Democratic candidate Chris Bell. Jason Stanford, Bell spokesman, said, "The statement that Kinky Friedman filed an ethics complaint against Carole Strayhorn, just that sentence, conveys levels of absurdity heretofore not known in Texas politics." Attacking the messenger? Does Bell really think it is more important to attack Kinky, than to see that Grandma obeys Texas laws?
Radio Shack To Lay Off 400 Ft. Worth Workers
It was only last year that Radio Shack opened their new multi-million dollar office complex in downtown Fort Worth. Now, the company is in financial trouble, and has announced plans to lay off 400-450 workers in Fort Worth. Company officials say they are turning the company around after 18 months of declining profits. They have already closed 480 stores, combined two distribution centers, and closed 5 repair centers. Now the cutting has reached the headquarters in Tarrant County.
At the end of 2000, Radio Shack had 4,529 employees in Tarrant County. By 2006, 1000 of those workers were gone. Starting next month, they will eliminate 400 to 450 jobs at all levels in its Fort Worth headquarters. Maybe they weren't listening when Georgie told us how wonderful our economy is.
I guess I just don't understand the business mind. Why would a company with declining profits, build a new multi-million dollar headquarters complex? This kind of project sucks money out of a company and brings none in. Shouldn't a company with declining profits focus their attention on the retail outlets? That's where the money comes from.
Their next move will probably be to reward management with outrageously high bonuses. Isn't that what most American corporations do after a layoff?
There used to be a time when corporations showed responsibility. They paid their workers well, gave back to the community, and planned for long-term growth and prosperity. Now they are all focused on making as much as they can as quickly as they can, with not a thought given to employees or the community. The name of the game is to push up stock prices, so the owners and management can get rich quickly, regardless of what it does to the future of the company, or our country.
It looks like we can also expect more layoffs in the future from Radio Shack. Radio Shack vice-president, Jim Fredericks said, "We can't say this is the end of it." He says the company must get its costs in line with its revenues.
At the end of 2000, Radio Shack had 4,529 employees in Tarrant County. By 2006, 1000 of those workers were gone. Starting next month, they will eliminate 400 to 450 jobs at all levels in its Fort Worth headquarters. Maybe they weren't listening when Georgie told us how wonderful our economy is.
I guess I just don't understand the business mind. Why would a company with declining profits, build a new multi-million dollar headquarters complex? This kind of project sucks money out of a company and brings none in. Shouldn't a company with declining profits focus their attention on the retail outlets? That's where the money comes from.
Their next move will probably be to reward management with outrageously high bonuses. Isn't that what most American corporations do after a layoff?
There used to be a time when corporations showed responsibility. They paid their workers well, gave back to the community, and planned for long-term growth and prosperity. Now they are all focused on making as much as they can as quickly as they can, with not a thought given to employees or the community. The name of the game is to push up stock prices, so the owners and management can get rich quickly, regardless of what it does to the future of the company, or our country.
It looks like we can also expect more layoffs in the future from Radio Shack. Radio Shack vice-president, Jim Fredericks said, "We can't say this is the end of it." He says the company must get its costs in line with its revenues.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
New Resource For Your Blog
There's a new blog aggregator in town, that promises to make things easier for bloggers and for readers. It is called BlogNetNews.com/Texas. Here are some of the things they do:
1. Show the day's top news, based on the media sources and stories that Texas bloggers are linking to.
2. Provides a micro-search engine that will only search the Texas blogoshpere.
3. Has a guide to the hottest comment sections of Texas blogs.
4. Provides an index of the day's most active Texas blogs.
5. Provides a guide to the blog posts most linked to by other Texas bloggers.
Drop by and give them a look. I think you'll like what you see. You may click on the link above, or check our blogroll for BlogNetNews.com/Texas. They started this in Virginia, and it worked pretty well there. Now it has come to Texas.
1. Show the day's top news, based on the media sources and stories that Texas bloggers are linking to.
2. Provides a micro-search engine that will only search the Texas blogoshpere.
3. Has a guide to the hottest comment sections of Texas blogs.
4. Provides an index of the day's most active Texas blogs.
5. Provides a guide to the blog posts most linked to by other Texas bloggers.
Drop by and give them a look. I think you'll like what you see. You may click on the link above, or check our blogroll for BlogNetNews.com/Texas. They started this in Virginia, and it worked pretty well there. Now it has come to Texas.
Immigrants Not Taking Americans' Jobs
The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization, has released a new study regarding immigration and American jobs. This study was done by matching census data with state and federal employment data. What did they find? The huge increase in immigration since 1990 has not hurt Americans' prospects for employment. They found no evidence that immigration increases have led to higher unemployment among Americans.
In 2000, there were 28 million immigrants, both legal and illegal, in the United States. This was a 61% rise from 1990. By 2004, the figure was 32 million. Rakesh Kochhar, author of the study, said other factors, such as economic growth, played a much larger role than immigration in determining job availability in the U.S.
The report said immigrants tend to be younger and less educated than workers in the U.S., but said they found "no apparent relationship between the growth of foreign workers with less education and the employment outcome of native workers with the same level of education."
The study did not address the impact of immigration upon wages. Many believe the masses of immigrants willing to work for very little, has depressed the wages of American workers. In other words, getting a job is no harder because of immigration, but getting a job with good pay is harder. Something is certainly acting to depress wages in this country. Personally, I think it has more to do with outsourcing of jobs and naked corporate greed, and these will be problems whether there are large numbers of immigrants or not.
In 2000, there were 28 million immigrants, both legal and illegal, in the United States. This was a 61% rise from 1990. By 2004, the figure was 32 million. Rakesh Kochhar, author of the study, said other factors, such as economic growth, played a much larger role than immigration in determining job availability in the U.S.
The report said immigrants tend to be younger and less educated than workers in the U.S., but said they found "no apparent relationship between the growth of foreign workers with less education and the employment outcome of native workers with the same level of education."
The study did not address the impact of immigration upon wages. Many believe the masses of immigrants willing to work for very little, has depressed the wages of American workers. In other words, getting a job is no harder because of immigration, but getting a job with good pay is harder. Something is certainly acting to depress wages in this country. Personally, I think it has more to do with outsourcing of jobs and naked corporate greed, and these will be problems whether there are large numbers of immigrants or not.
Georgie Is Destroying U.S. Credibility
The entire world is clamoring for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, but Georgie is dragging his feet. This lack of real action toward establishing a cease-fire is damaging U.S. credibility in the Mideast. The people of the Mideast are not stupid. They fully understand that the U.S.'s failure to act is really a cover for allowing the Israeli's more time to accomplish their aims in Lebanon.
In the Carter, Clinton, Reagan, & Bush I administrations, the U.S. established a fairly neutral position from which they could help negotiations in the Mideast. They convinced both sides that they could get a fair deal. Georgie has destroyed all that previous work. Even an idiot can see now that the U.S. has chosen to back Israel exclusively. Georgie's idea of negotiating with Arab countries and organizations is to ask them to surrender to whatever Israel wants.
Israel has the right to exist and to be secure, but so do the Arab countries. Georgie's absolute backing of Israel has set back all Mideast negotiations. Why should Arabs allow us to broker a negotiation, when they know we support their enemy?
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said, "Foot-dragging on a ceasefire and the continuation of the Israeli agression detract from the credibility of the United States and the West in the region. The United States has not moved to a sufficient extent and with the neccessary speed to contain the situation. Long months have passed without full implementation of resolution 1559. It is inconceivable that what was not achieved in past years and months could be achieved in the midst of the current crises and within a few weeks." Remember, Mubarak and Egypt is our ally. Imagine what our enemies think!
It looks like the U.S. is trying to destroy any support we have left in the Mideast. Even the Lebanese, who were starting to believe in the U.S., now considers us to be an enemy - not a superpower who could broker a peace, but an enemy. The Lebanese now believe that we put Israel up to attacking Lebanon. They may be right.
Georgie has put the U.S. in a bad position in the Mideast. It will take years to repair the damage, if it can be repaired. Until it is repaired [or a new world leader emerges], the conflict in the Mideast will continue. The time table for Mideast peace may have been set back by years. Once again, Georgie's incompetence has trumped sanity.
In the Carter, Clinton, Reagan, & Bush I administrations, the U.S. established a fairly neutral position from which they could help negotiations in the Mideast. They convinced both sides that they could get a fair deal. Georgie has destroyed all that previous work. Even an idiot can see now that the U.S. has chosen to back Israel exclusively. Georgie's idea of negotiating with Arab countries and organizations is to ask them to surrender to whatever Israel wants.
Israel has the right to exist and to be secure, but so do the Arab countries. Georgie's absolute backing of Israel has set back all Mideast negotiations. Why should Arabs allow us to broker a negotiation, when they know we support their enemy?
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said, "Foot-dragging on a ceasefire and the continuation of the Israeli agression detract from the credibility of the United States and the West in the region. The United States has not moved to a sufficient extent and with the neccessary speed to contain the situation. Long months have passed without full implementation of resolution 1559. It is inconceivable that what was not achieved in past years and months could be achieved in the midst of the current crises and within a few weeks." Remember, Mubarak and Egypt is our ally. Imagine what our enemies think!
It looks like the U.S. is trying to destroy any support we have left in the Mideast. Even the Lebanese, who were starting to believe in the U.S., now considers us to be an enemy - not a superpower who could broker a peace, but an enemy. The Lebanese now believe that we put Israel up to attacking Lebanon. They may be right.
Georgie has put the U.S. in a bad position in the Mideast. It will take years to repair the damage, if it can be repaired. Until it is repaired [or a new world leader emerges], the conflict in the Mideast will continue. The time table for Mideast peace may have been set back by years. Once again, Georgie's incompetence has trumped sanity.
Kinky/Bell/Grandma Tied For Last Place
Burnt Orange Report is reporting on the results of a new Rasmussen Poll, and unless you're a Perry supporter, it is not good news. Here is how the race stands according to Rasmussen:
Perry....................35%
Kinky....................18%
Bell....................18%
Grandma....................18%
Undecided....................10%
Let's be honest here. If these numbers don't change, Perry will win his re-election bid. He has stayed around 35% in all the polls, and that support seems to be rock-solid. He has not polled less than 35% in any poll. Folks, 35% is a winning number. Even if Kinky, Bell, or Grandma were to get all of the 10% undecided voters, they would still be 7% behind Perry [35%-28%].
Either someone starts to make a dent in Perry's numbers, or this race is over. Any of the last-place trio would have to double their numbers to beat Perry.
Grandma may have a problem developing. Capitol Annex says Grandma has been using her staff of state employees to work on her campaign while on state time. This is illegal. Do the voters care? We don't know yet since this has just come out. If her campaign begins to implode because of this, it could change the whole dynamic of the governor's race. We'll just have to wait and see if it makes a difference.
But the main thing that needs to be done is to get Perry below that 35% mark. Until that is done, the other three are just vying to see who the most popular loser is.
Perry....................35%
Kinky....................18%
Bell....................18%
Grandma....................18%
Undecided....................10%
Let's be honest here. If these numbers don't change, Perry will win his re-election bid. He has stayed around 35% in all the polls, and that support seems to be rock-solid. He has not polled less than 35% in any poll. Folks, 35% is a winning number. Even if Kinky, Bell, or Grandma were to get all of the 10% undecided voters, they would still be 7% behind Perry [35%-28%].
Either someone starts to make a dent in Perry's numbers, or this race is over. Any of the last-place trio would have to double their numbers to beat Perry.
Grandma may have a problem developing. Capitol Annex says Grandma has been using her staff of state employees to work on her campaign while on state time. This is illegal. Do the voters care? We don't know yet since this has just come out. If her campaign begins to implode because of this, it could change the whole dynamic of the governor's race. We'll just have to wait and see if it makes a difference.
But the main thing that needs to be done is to get Perry below that 35% mark. Until that is done, the other three are just vying to see who the most popular loser is.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Pot-Bellied Pig Predicts The Texas Weather
Alvarado, Texas, has a rather unique weathercaster - it's a 15 year-old pot-bellied pig named Pork Chop. Owner of the pig, Luis Gonzalez, said he could predict the weather by scanning the pet pig's coat. Gonzalez said the pig's predictions are right about 85% of the time. The owner says, "Around 2 years old we kind of figured out what the weather was going to be according to the hair on his neck and back - if we were going to have a cold winter, the hair will get thicker but the hair along his back and neck would get extremely long, so the longer the hair, the colder the winter." The exact opposite is true in the summer - the shorter the hair, the hotter the summer.
Gonzalez said his pig is predicting at least 3 more weeks of over 100 degree weather. Pork Chop is a talented pig, but I hate this latest forecast. Maybe he could be wrong just this once - please!
Gonzalez said his pig is predicting at least 3 more weeks of over 100 degree weather. Pork Chop is a talented pig, but I hate this latest forecast. Maybe he could be wrong just this once - please!
60% Of Americans Oppose The Iraq War
In a new Opinion Research / CNN poll released today, 60% of all Americans oppose the Iraq War. This is the highest number opposing the war since it began in 2003. When the war began, 72% of all Americans supported it. 36% are now in favor of the war. This means Georgie has lost half of his support since beginning the war.
61% of the people polled said there should be at least some troop pullouts by the year's end [26% favor the withdrawal of all troops and 35% favor the withdrawal of some troops]. 34% of the people do not favor withdrawing any troops. When asked about setting a time table, 57% of respondents wished to set a time table, while 40% did not want a time table set.
When asked whether the U.S. would win the war or not, the pollees were almost evenly split. About 47% said the U.S. could or will win the war. 48% said the U.S. can't or won't win the war.
Can the war last much longer with over half the population against it?
NOTE - 2,592 United States soldiers have now died in the Iraq War. How many more will there be?
61% of the people polled said there should be at least some troop pullouts by the year's end [26% favor the withdrawal of all troops and 35% favor the withdrawal of some troops]. 34% of the people do not favor withdrawing any troops. When asked about setting a time table, 57% of respondents wished to set a time table, while 40% did not want a time table set.
When asked whether the U.S. would win the war or not, the pollees were almost evenly split. About 47% said the U.S. could or will win the war. 48% said the U.S. can't or won't win the war.
Can the war last much longer with over half the population against it?
NOTE - 2,592 United States soldiers have now died in the Iraq War. How many more will there be?
Lieberman Is Not A Democrat
Last night, Joe Lieberman lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut to challenger Ned Lamont [48% to 52%]. Almost immediately, Lieberman said he would run as an "independent Democrat" to save the party from extremists. Lieberman doesn't seem to understand that the Democratic Party no longer wants him as a candidate. The Democrat running for senate is Ned Lamont. The minute that Lieberman announced his independent bid for the senate, he ceased to be a Democrat. Democrats do not run in the general election after their party chooses another candidate instead.
Since Lieberman is no longer a Democrat, and never was much of one, he should immediately be removed from the Congressional Democratic Caucus, and have all his committee assignments dissolved. If he does somehow beat the Democratic candidate in the Fall, he should not be accepted back into the Democratic Caucus. His current actions can do nothing but harm the party, and he should not be rewarded for them.
Lieberman would like to believe that it was only some extremist elements in the party that opposed him, and only because he supported the Iraq War. That is just not true. "Extremists" do not control the Connecticut Democratic Party, and a majority of Connecticut Democrats clearly do not want to be represented by Lieberman. His support of the war did impact his electibility, but so did many other issues. It seems like every time an important issue came up, Lieberman voted with the Republicans. The people just got tired of supporting a Democrat who voted like a Republican.
Lieberman needs to stop his war on the Democratic Party. He needs to accept the fact that he lost, and retire gracefully from public service. Otherwise, he will have to be embarrassed again in November.
Since Lieberman is no longer a Democrat, and never was much of one, he should immediately be removed from the Congressional Democratic Caucus, and have all his committee assignments dissolved. If he does somehow beat the Democratic candidate in the Fall, he should not be accepted back into the Democratic Caucus. His current actions can do nothing but harm the party, and he should not be rewarded for them.
Lieberman would like to believe that it was only some extremist elements in the party that opposed him, and only because he supported the Iraq War. That is just not true. "Extremists" do not control the Connecticut Democratic Party, and a majority of Connecticut Democrats clearly do not want to be represented by Lieberman. His support of the war did impact his electibility, but so did many other issues. It seems like every time an important issue came up, Lieberman voted with the Republicans. The people just got tired of supporting a Democrat who voted like a Republican.
Lieberman needs to stop his war on the Democratic Party. He needs to accept the fact that he lost, and retire gracefully from public service. Otherwise, he will have to be embarrassed again in November.
The Sentence Is Now Known
On 8/8/2006, the judge in the 396th District Court in Tarrant county, sentenced Eddie Jefferys to 75 years in the Texas prison system. He will be eligible for parole when he is 72 years old. As many of you probably know, this is the Aryan Brotherhood criminal who shot me in the abdomen and stole my car, then threatened another person with a gun and stole their car. He was found guilty of two counts of AGGRAVATED ROBBERY WITH A DEADLY WEAPON.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read about it at the following links:
Remembering The Day I Was Shot
Remembering The Day My Dad Was Shot
No Longer A Victim
Finally, this is now over. It happened on 9/19/2005, and has dragged on for over 10 months. I would like to thank the Tarrant County District Attorney's office for their excellent work, especially Mr. Nichols and Ms. Tourje. They did a wonderful job.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read about it at the following links:
Remembering The Day I Was Shot
Remembering The Day My Dad Was Shot
No Longer A Victim
Finally, this is now over. It happened on 9/19/2005, and has dragged on for over 10 months. I would like to thank the Tarrant County District Attorney's office for their excellent work, especially Mr. Nichols and Ms. Tourje. They did a wonderful job.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
State Rep. Burnam Demands Leininger Investigation
Last week, the Employee's Retirement System for the state of Texas, lost millions of dollars when stock of Kinetics Concepts, Inc. took a nosedive. The company is owned by James Leininger, the right wing contributor to many Texas fundie campaigns. Why did the ERS invest in such a volatile company? That's what State Representative Lon Burnam [District 90] would like to know, and he is asking Attorney General Abbott to investigate the matter. Following, is most of the letter Burnam sent to Abbott:
The Honorable Greg Abbott
Texas Attorney General
300 W. 15th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Dear General Abbott:
I am writing to ask that you immediately launch an investigation into the peculiar circumstances surrounding the Texas Employee's Retirement System [ERS'] purchase of 80,000 shares of stock in Kinetic Concepts, Inc., [stock symbol KCI] , a medical device company founded and owned by James Leininger. Last week, a San Antonio jury ruled against Leininger's KCI in a high-profile patent infringement lawsuit. As a result, the stock lost over 40% of its value last friday, August 4.
Texas employees and retirees are faced with a seven-figure loss while Mr. Leininger has lined his pockets with nearly $100 million from selling off KCI stock. Mr. Leininger cashed out at the top while Texas employees and retirees lost millions. This is wrong. You need to immediately determine if Texas employees and retirees were the victims of a massive pump and dump scheme, and what role [if any] ERS board member, Bill Ceverha, played in this multi-million dollar loss.
According to his own ethics filings, Ceverha is a paid lobbyist of Leininger's Texans for Educational Excellence.
After Mr. Leininger took KCI public, and sold millions of dollars worth of shares, ERS initiated a substantial position in KCI. On June 18, 2005, shortly after KCI went public, ERS purchased 15,000 shares of KCI at $58.94 per share. The purchase cleared on June 21, 2005. On July 26, 2005, ERS purchased another 15,000 shares at $59.93 per share. The purchase cleared on July 29, 2005. Due to the pending patent litigation, which was public information at the time of these purchases, the stock tumbled soon thereafter.
Despite the stock dropping precipitiously, ERS doubled down and substantially increased their position in KCI, buying an additional 50,000 shares of KCI at $35.12 on October 28, 2005. The purchase cleared on November 2, 2005. Last week, the market reacted to KCI losing its patent infringement lawsuit by knocking the stock down 40%, to less than $25.00 per share.
...as I mentioned earlier, ERS board member Bill Ceverha is a paid lobbyist for a Leininger funded entity called Texans for Educational Excellence. Mr. Ceverha's lobby registration forms for the past three years show this. This raises numerous questions which I believe you need to investigate. For instance, why did ERS take such a big position in a stock owned and controlled by a man for whom one of ERS' board members lobbies?....
As you know, Mr. Ceverha is no stranger to legal controversy. A state district judge found the lobbyist and treasurer for Tom DeLay's TRMPAC liable for breaking state election law. He was ordered to pay a six-figure judgement for his role in hiding illegal political contributions. More recently, Mr. Ceverha has been in the news after trying to hide a $100,000 gift from Bob Perry. Is Mr. Ceverha hiding anything with regard to ERS' ill-advised purchase of 80,000 shares in a company founded and owned by one of his lobby clients?
Texans deserve to know what role Mr. Ceverha played in this purchase that has resulted in a seven-figure loss for Texas employees and retirees. Did Mr. Ceverha ever suggest to the small cap manager at ERS that KCI would be a good investment? What conversations or communications did Mr. Ceverha have with anyone in the investments department regarding ERS' purchase of 80,000 shares of Mr. Leininger's company? These questions need to be thoroughly investigated so state employees and retirees have a full understanding regarding why they lost so much in these transactions....Why would ERS put millions of dollars into such a risky company that just happened to be founded by a Republican kingmaker?
Given the peculiar circumstances surrounding ERS' risky purchase of 80,000 shares of KCI, I hope that you will immediately launch an investigation. Mr. Leininger built his wealth by cashing out of KCI stock at the top. Unfortunately, given the jury verdict against KCI last week, Texas employees and retirees lost money at a time when pensions - and pensioners - are already suffering.
I call on you to immediately determine if the Texas employees and retirees were the victims of a massive pump and dump scheme, and the degree to which ERS board member Bill Ceverha is responsible for this massive loss.
Sincerely,
Lon Burnam
State Representative
District 90
The Honorable Greg Abbott
Texas Attorney General
300 W. 15th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Dear General Abbott:
I am writing to ask that you immediately launch an investigation into the peculiar circumstances surrounding the Texas Employee's Retirement System [ERS'] purchase of 80,000 shares of stock in Kinetic Concepts, Inc., [stock symbol KCI] , a medical device company founded and owned by James Leininger. Last week, a San Antonio jury ruled against Leininger's KCI in a high-profile patent infringement lawsuit. As a result, the stock lost over 40% of its value last friday, August 4.
Texas employees and retirees are faced with a seven-figure loss while Mr. Leininger has lined his pockets with nearly $100 million from selling off KCI stock. Mr. Leininger cashed out at the top while Texas employees and retirees lost millions. This is wrong. You need to immediately determine if Texas employees and retirees were the victims of a massive pump and dump scheme, and what role [if any] ERS board member, Bill Ceverha, played in this multi-million dollar loss.
According to his own ethics filings, Ceverha is a paid lobbyist of Leininger's Texans for Educational Excellence.
After Mr. Leininger took KCI public, and sold millions of dollars worth of shares, ERS initiated a substantial position in KCI. On June 18, 2005, shortly after KCI went public, ERS purchased 15,000 shares of KCI at $58.94 per share. The purchase cleared on June 21, 2005. On July 26, 2005, ERS purchased another 15,000 shares at $59.93 per share. The purchase cleared on July 29, 2005. Due to the pending patent litigation, which was public information at the time of these purchases, the stock tumbled soon thereafter.
Despite the stock dropping precipitiously, ERS doubled down and substantially increased their position in KCI, buying an additional 50,000 shares of KCI at $35.12 on October 28, 2005. The purchase cleared on November 2, 2005. Last week, the market reacted to KCI losing its patent infringement lawsuit by knocking the stock down 40%, to less than $25.00 per share.
...as I mentioned earlier, ERS board member Bill Ceverha is a paid lobbyist for a Leininger funded entity called Texans for Educational Excellence. Mr. Ceverha's lobby registration forms for the past three years show this. This raises numerous questions which I believe you need to investigate. For instance, why did ERS take such a big position in a stock owned and controlled by a man for whom one of ERS' board members lobbies?....
As you know, Mr. Ceverha is no stranger to legal controversy. A state district judge found the lobbyist and treasurer for Tom DeLay's TRMPAC liable for breaking state election law. He was ordered to pay a six-figure judgement for his role in hiding illegal political contributions. More recently, Mr. Ceverha has been in the news after trying to hide a $100,000 gift from Bob Perry. Is Mr. Ceverha hiding anything with regard to ERS' ill-advised purchase of 80,000 shares in a company founded and owned by one of his lobby clients?
Texans deserve to know what role Mr. Ceverha played in this purchase that has resulted in a seven-figure loss for Texas employees and retirees. Did Mr. Ceverha ever suggest to the small cap manager at ERS that KCI would be a good investment? What conversations or communications did Mr. Ceverha have with anyone in the investments department regarding ERS' purchase of 80,000 shares of Mr. Leininger's company? These questions need to be thoroughly investigated so state employees and retirees have a full understanding regarding why they lost so much in these transactions....Why would ERS put millions of dollars into such a risky company that just happened to be founded by a Republican kingmaker?
Given the peculiar circumstances surrounding ERS' risky purchase of 80,000 shares of KCI, I hope that you will immediately launch an investigation. Mr. Leininger built his wealth by cashing out of KCI stock at the top. Unfortunately, given the jury verdict against KCI last week, Texas employees and retirees lost money at a time when pensions - and pensioners - are already suffering.
I call on you to immediately determine if the Texas employees and retirees were the victims of a massive pump and dump scheme, and the degree to which ERS board member Bill Ceverha is responsible for this massive loss.
Sincerely,
Lon Burnam
State Representative
District 90
Senator Whitmire Opposes New Texas Prisons
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has announced that it is nearing its capacity to house state prisoners. Michelle Lyons, a TDCJ spokeswoman, said, "Right now, we're 97.4% full, and 97.5% is considered our optimal operational capacity." The Texas prison system now houses 152,000 prisoners, and plans are being made to ask for two new units to be built. If built, the two new units would raise prison capacity to 155,000.
However, Senator John Whitmire of Houston, who heads the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, is opposed to building any new prisons. Senator Whitmire says, "There are always going to be those who say we need to keep building prisons so we can keep people locked up for longer periods of time, but we need to be smarter about the way we use the space we have before we start building more prisons." Senator Whitmire believes at least 5,000 beds could be freed up if we concentrated on rehabilitation for drug and alcohol users instead of incarceration. He said, "I'm not talking about anything that's soft on crime. I'm talking about being tough - and smart. The way we're going, you have repeat DWI offenders in maximum security cells with murderers, rapists and child molesters. It would be a heck of a lot better if we could get them out of those cells and into treatment programs so that they wouldn't be a danger to society when they got out." The senator intends to push to get more money for drug & alcohol treatment programs, when the legislature convenes next January.
Spokesmen for Governor Perry said the governor has not made up his mind about building new prisons.
Senator Whitmire is correct about this issue. Texas already has more people incarcerated than most countries do. We do not need to build more prisons. We can't even keep the ones we already have staffed adequately. Here in Texas, we need to get out of the mindset that everything can be solved by incarcerating someone.
We need our prison space for violent criminals and career criminals. Drug and alcohol addiction should not be considered a crime, but a medical problem, that can be dealt with more effectively with rehabilitation. Sending a person to prison should be the final option, not the first option.
However, Senator John Whitmire of Houston, who heads the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, is opposed to building any new prisons. Senator Whitmire says, "There are always going to be those who say we need to keep building prisons so we can keep people locked up for longer periods of time, but we need to be smarter about the way we use the space we have before we start building more prisons." Senator Whitmire believes at least 5,000 beds could be freed up if we concentrated on rehabilitation for drug and alcohol users instead of incarceration. He said, "I'm not talking about anything that's soft on crime. I'm talking about being tough - and smart. The way we're going, you have repeat DWI offenders in maximum security cells with murderers, rapists and child molesters. It would be a heck of a lot better if we could get them out of those cells and into treatment programs so that they wouldn't be a danger to society when they got out." The senator intends to push to get more money for drug & alcohol treatment programs, when the legislature convenes next January.
Spokesmen for Governor Perry said the governor has not made up his mind about building new prisons.
Senator Whitmire is correct about this issue. Texas already has more people incarcerated than most countries do. We do not need to build more prisons. We can't even keep the ones we already have staffed adequately. Here in Texas, we need to get out of the mindset that everything can be solved by incarcerating someone.
We need our prison space for violent criminals and career criminals. Drug and alcohol addiction should not be considered a crime, but a medical problem, that can be dealt with more effectively with rehabilitation. Sending a person to prison should be the final option, not the first option.
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