Debt Ceiling and Republican Propaganda

 Under Joe Biden’s leadership employment has continued to increase with total nonfarm payroll employment rising by 253,000 in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment is down nationally to 3.5% and holding steady, while it is 4% here in Texas. All this good jobs news comes while interest rates keep rising due to the actions by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as they try to slow inflation.

It’s unfortunate that the Board of Governors has mis-diagnosed the cause of inflation as apparently they’ve been listening to the corporate media like the Washington Post instead of economists doing actual research. Had board studied the research by Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, they’d realize that only 8% of total inflation has been caused by increased wages while more than half has been going to increased corporate profits as can be seen by the record earnings reports from a slew of big names.

As reported by David Sirota of Level News: In March, UBS Chief Economist Paul Donovan released a revealing commentary concluding: “Recent inflation has been driven by an unusual expansion of profit margins.”

He explained: “Profit margin-led inflation is not caused by a supply-demand imbalance. Profit margin-led inflation is when some companies spin a story that convinces customers that price increases are ‘fair,’ when in fact they disguise profit margin expansion.”

Donovan noted that “widespread reports of rising agricultural prices allow supermarkets and restaurants to raise the price of food.” Other spinnable stories include “supply chain disruption (in fact global trade is at a record high), labor shortages (in fact wage costs are rising far less than prices), and in the most circular of arguments ‘general inflation,” he wrote.

Two weeks ago House Republicans voted to cut veterans’ services significantly and limit their health care. That’s just one aspect of Republican extortionate debt ceiling and budget cuts bill they passed 217-215, with all but four Republicans voting for it. Those four thought the cuts should have been deeper.

The bill is estimated to cut 22% of funding from the Veterans Administration which would mean the immediate loss of $2 billion in funding for veterans services, and 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits. The VA would lose 81,000 jobs. That would mean fewer employees to answer veterans’ phone calls, schedule health visits, process their disability claims, and provide other critical services.

Remember, Republicans claim they are the only ones who support our veterans. With supporters like that I’m afraid our veterans are better off in the hands of those awful Democrats. By the way the Department of Defense’s budget is the only one not affected by the Republican proposed cuts.

While we’re on the subject of the Department of Defense you should know that Senate Republicans are allowing a single member to block the confirmation of 184 Defense Department nominees over an abortion policy dispute. Not only is Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville blocking those nominees, he’s holding up pay raises for men and women in uniform, blocking key senior military leaders from taking their posts, and jeopardizing national security.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified that the obstruction is harming national security. The delay, according to Austin, has caused a “ripple effect in the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be.”

Tuberville’s block includes “five three-star officers” who were supposed to rotate to new jobs by summer, including “the commander of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, and the Pentagon’s representative on NATO’s military committee,” according to another senior defense official. 

Published in the Seguin Gazette - May 10, 2023

Republicans and Bogeymen vs. Guns

Once again Republicans in our state legislature are more interested in wasting time on scary topics like trans-gender kids, forcing their religion on our children, and banning school library books than actually protecting those children from very real gun violence.

SB 14 which recently passed the Senate and has been sent to the House was introduced by Senator Donna Campbell, who is an emergency room physician, prohibits treatments for gender dysphoria. The American Psychiatric Association describes gender dysphoria as psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity. Though gender dysphoria often begins in childhood, some people may not experience it until after puberty or much later. Rather than helping our children learn to be happy in their own bodies the Republican controlled Senate has made treating them a crime. 

Last Friday the Senate passed Senator Phil King’s SB 1515 which would, if passed by the House and signed by Gov. Abbott, require that every public elementary school classroom post a 16”x20” poster of the King James version of the Ten Commandments. That’s not the version that Lutherans or Catholics use. So right off the bat Republicans in the Senate have acted in a discriminatory manner even if you foolishly assume that all public school students are some variant of Christian. Given that Texas has a very diverse population that includes, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikh’s, and other faiths as well as those of no faith, this is a case of the majority shoving their religion down the throats of everyone else.

A couple of weeks ago the Senate passed SB 13, authored by half a dozen Republicans, this bill would ban books based on vague characteristics involving sexual identity and behavior. A Texas judge recently ruled against similar book bans in public libraries on First Amendment grounds. It would also require school districts to create committees of local citizens with the power to further restrict the reading material on public school campuses. 

Several bills were filed related to gun safety, and gun sales and in every instance those bills were filed by Democrats. SB 360 by Sarah Eckhardt and SB 1736 by Roland Gutierrez, along with several similar bills in the House all languish in committee without even a hearing. 

Every day in Texas nearly 4 people are murdered and nearly 6 people are injured by someone using a gun. Every day 1 Texas child dies by gun violence. Texas Republicans like to say they don’t want to be California but people are a lot safer there since we’ve got a 65% higher rate of gun violence. It’s not just Texas, all 12 states with the highest rates of gun violence are controlled by Republicans. 

Republicans in our legislature continue to promote solutions to make believe issues in order to distract from the fact that they are unwilling to actually address real problems. Conservatives are easily motivated by fear, that’s why Republicans need a bogeyman. Trans-gender kids are the current one but there have been and will be others. As long as Texas continues to have a dismal voter turnout we will continue to be governed by opportunists using fear to drive their voters.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 26, 2023

Republicans Subverting Our Democracy

Texas Republicans aren’t satisfied that their gerrymandering and other anti-democracy activities have put a lead thumb on the scales of every election. Now they’re working on putting an entire lead hand on the scale. In the last few weeks they’ve advanced several bills through committee that if passed by both House and Senate will further subvert our democracy. One such bill is SB 990 which repeals the highly popular countywide voting program that allows any voter registered in a county to vote at any polling place in that county. Some of us like this option because we can go to a less crowded polling place, some like it because they can more easily get to a polling place on the way going to or from work. I well remember the years ago being at a polling place when voters were turned away because back then you had to vote at the one polling site in your precinct and if you went to the wrong you had to stand in line all over again at the right one. Some folks didn’t even know what precinct they were and got so frustrated they just didn’t vote. Now Republicans are all for going back to the old way just to stir up confusion and suppress the vote. Only Republicans like a representative of the Republican Party of Texas and another from the State Republican Executive committee testified for the bill in committee, good government groups and election administrators uniformly testified against it.

When the Senate scheduled hearings on several other anti-democracy bills they provided less than 48 hours notice, making it very hard, if not impossible for interested parties to arrange to attend and testify. Possibly the most dangerous is SB 1993 which would give the Texas Secretary of State the ability to overturn election results in Harris County without requiring any proof that claims of problems actually occurred. You can tell the legislature is working to hide their intentions because they don’t name any counties in the bill, instead it sets a threshold for population that only Harris county meets.

SB 823 and its House companion HB 2020 would allow the Secretary of State to get rid of election administrators without cause. If there is no cause like illegal or unethical behavior removal would only make sense for partisan control. 

SB 220 and its House companion HB 549 would create partisan-controlled election law enforcement division. Actual cases of voter fraud are a very rare occurrence in Texas and currently investigated by the Texas Rangers and the Attorney General. This new office is part of a coordinated effort already seen in states like Florida to intimidate and scare voters away from the ballot box with the threat of criminal prosecution for inadvertent mistakes.

SB 1070 and its House companion HB 2809 would create a path for Texas to leave ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center), the cost-saving and effective bipartisan and multi-state voter list maintenance tool that has saved tons of money and made cleaning voter rolls both efficient and accurate. The only reason to do this is to provide the opportunity to purge eligible voters from the rolls from behind a partisan smokescreen.

SB 1933 would make it easier to allow sham election audits like the one Arizona held in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The state already has plenty of power to review elections if there is evidence of impropriety, more power is unneeded and dangerous to assign.

All of these bills make it harder to vote or easier for those in power to steal future elections.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 19, 2023

Greg Abbott Panders to Violent Right with Daniel Perry Pardon Announcement

 The last few months have seen a high number of outrageous legislative and executive actions taken in Texas, Florida, and other states by the radical right wing neo-fascists in control. Most recently our governor, Greg Abbott, has publicly stated that he will pardon convicted murderer Daniel Perry as soon as the paperwork hits his desk. Perry is the man who in 2020 drove his car into a group of peaceful protesters and proceeded to gun down Garrett Foster. Black Lives Matter protesters were on the streets of Austin for days legally and peacefully protesting when Perry ran a red light and drove into the crowd then pulled a gun and shot Foster. The 12 member jury unanimously convicted Perry after learning that he had made numerous social media posts discussing ideas on how to create a situation in which he could shoot a protester and then claim self-defense. The judge hasn’t even sentenced Perry, nor has an appeal been filed yet. Legal experts including a former criminal court judge and a law professor say Abbott’s actions are unprecedented. Abbott is a former Texas Supreme Court justice and knows that his actions are legally wrong.

Abbott didn’t attend Perry’s trial so he hasn’t seen the testimony yet he has already instructed the Board of Pardons and Paroles to investigate the case as he intends to issue a pardon. Since the governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles his instructions and public statements make it clear what is expected of them. This is a travesty of justice. Worse it is dangerous as it encourages other white men to attack protestors or anyone else they disagree with on the assumption that they’ll be protected by the government. This sort of behavior by a high government official is what you expect in places like El Salvador and Uganda where the rule of law is given short shrift by those in power.

Between Gov. Abbott’s outrageous statements and the pronouncements of far right talking heads like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson it’s as if the right can’t see how their own rhetoric and actions are reminiscent of Italy in the 1920’s when fascist dictator Mussolini became Prime Minister on a nationalist platform. There are also elements of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in the calls for violence against other peaceful members of our society. It’s a frightening time to live in this country. The governor is playing politics by pandering to gun cult and white nationalist voters as he prepares to run for president in 2024 and endangering the public to do it.

Our governor isn’t the only Texas elected official pandering to white nationalists, there’s also state representative Bryan Slaton out of Greenville who filed HB 2889 which if passed would provide property tax discounts of 10% for each child living with their married parents. So a family with 10 children would pay no property taxes. That might seem innocuous at first but consider that the bill disallows that discount if either parent has ever been divorced. Slaton is pandering to Christian conservatives who push against the availability of divorce. Those are the same voters most likely to be White Christian nationalists who also don’t recognize our constitution’s express separation of church and state.

Republicans like Abbott and Slaton keep raising the stakes so they can stand out from the crowd of right wing extremists.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 12, 2023

Biden's First Term Achievements

I often discuss the bad policies of Republicans but seldom talk about the good things Democrats do. To at least partially correct my failing I’ll point out just of few of the many things that President Biden has been at least partially responsible for and for which we should all be thankful.

As you may recall when Joe Biden took office in January 2021 the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging and our economy was a wreck with many businesses shuttered and Americans out of work. Soon after taking office, congress passed and the President signed the American Rescue Plan which changed the course of the pandemic and jumpstarted our economic recovery. That legislation funded our successful vaccination campaign, safely re-opened schools for in-person learning, and helped 200,000 child care providers keep their doors open, while delivering financial relief to American families.

In August 2022 Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act which is a historic achievement that lowers costs for families, combats the climate crisis, reduces the deficit, and finally makes the largest corporations pay their fair share. Never before has Medicare been allowed to negotiate the price of certain high-cost drugs. Because of that bill a month’s supply of insulin for seniors is capped at $35 and Medicare beneficiaries pay $0 out of pocket for recommended adult vaccines. In addition seniors’ out of pocket expenses at the pharmacy will be capped at $2,000 a year.

Thanks to President Biden’s economic plan, 2021 and 2022 were the two strongest years of job growth in history. Nearly 11 million jobs have been created since President Biden took office, including 750,000 manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, and a record number of small businesses have started since President Biden took office. Black Americans and Hispanic Americans have near record low unemployment rates and people with disabilities are also experiencing record low unemployment.

As a result of historic legislation President Biden has signed into law, there is a manufacturing boom taking hold across America: in two years, companies have announced nearly $300 billion in manufacturing investments in the United States. These investments are ensuring the technologies of the future are made in America, and bringing back supply chains from overseas. Numerous rechargeable battery and semi-conductor factories have been announced as a result of the CHIPS Act. These new plants are creating good-paying jobs, including union jobs and jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, meaning that prosperity will be shared widely.

Under Joe Biden’s leadership the U.S. is positioned to achieve our ambitious climate goals of cutting our emissions in half by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The President has taken executive action and signed legislation to develop clean energy at home, accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, and reduce pollution that endangers overburdened communities. And, the President is lowering energy costs for families, creating good paying jobs, and ensuring America leads the global clean energy economy. The President also protected more lands and waters in his first year than any President since John F. Kennedy.

It’s unfortunate that Republicans took control of the House this January as they have will slowed down or stopped any further achievements this term. There is much more that our current president has achieved in just the first two years of his term and I’ll likely point them out in a future column.

Published in the Seguin Gazette April 5, 2023

Lobby Trip to Austin - Education Budget

 

Every two years the Texas state legislature meets address the needs of the citizens by passing legislation and budgets for the next two years. Budgeting state funds is always a contentious affair, especially education funding. A couple of friends and I went to Austin a two weeks ago to speak to our state representative John Kuempel and our state senator Donna Campbell in support of increasing state funding for public education and against private school vouchers.

Our first meeting was with John Kuempel. My friends took the lead on urging his support for raising teacher pay and increasing state funding for retired teachers. Kuempel was quite receptive and said he fully understood as his wife had been a public school teacher until recently and he had a very clear idea of what they do and what they deserve. I then brought up our concerns about private school vouchers and the use of tax payer money supporting religious schools. Representative Kuempel told us he was firmly against such legislation this term just as he has been in every other session of the legislature as it doesn’t make any sense for his district. He also said that he is speaking with his colleagues in the House advocating against any such bill. Needless to say we thanked him for his support and encouraged him to keep it up.

Once we made our way through the capitol building to Senator Campbell’s office we met with her staff member specializing in public education, a woman around 30. As we spoke with her about our interest in a strong public education system we learned that has two young children in Austin ISD schools and is therefore also interested in quality education. She explained that while Sen. Campbell wants to see teacher pay increased she’s unwilling to support just increasing state funding to bring the percentage of school district budgets provided by state funds back to the historical average of 50% from the current low of 41%. She told us that the senator feels that school districts can’t be trusted to spend the money on teacher salaries so instead she’ll support some form of narrowly constructed bill that forces districts to only use the money on teacher pay.

I then asked her how that reconciled with the philosophy of local control and the assumption that local school boards knew best the needs of their districts. Her defense was that school board elections are low turnout affairs and that often leads to boards which make poor decisions that aren’t truly representative of the people in the district. Rather than continue to argue this point I moved on to our view on spending taxpayer money on private school vouchers. The staff member said that Sen. Campbell is a strong supporter of vouchers and has been since first being elected as are many of her constituents. I told her that we believed that taxpayer funds should only be spent on public schools as there would be no transparency on how those funds were spent since private and religious schools don’t have publicly elected boards and aren’t required to make their budgets publicly available. We were told that Sen. Campbell didn’t share that concern.

I also brought up that private and religious schools aren’t required to meet the same standards as public schools with regard to curriculum or having students take the STAAR tests. I reminded her that private and religious schools don’t get graded by the state and are required to address poor performance like public schools are. We closed by asking that she relay our views to the Senator.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 22, 2023

More Republican Crazy Legislation

A few weeks ago in this column I wrote about some of the Republican bills filed in various states including here in Texas that really aren’t good for the country. Since then several more have surfaced; it’s almost like some of these legislators heard about what was being proposed and said hold my beer as they vie to file even more extremist bills.

In South Carolina H.B. 3549 by state Rep. Rob Harris (R-Spartanburg County) would define any unborn child, at any stage of development from the moment of fertilization, as a “person.” The bill also makes clear that all penalties for crimes against a “person” apply and since South Carolina has the death penalty that punishment can be applied to a mother who feels the need to control her own body and the doctor who performs the procedure. In addition the bill specifically says the “law of parties” applies so other members of the medical staff, the receptionist, and the friend who drove the woman to the appointment can all be charged with murder and suffer the death penalty upon conviction. As usual with Republicans Harris doesn’t understand the constitution’s stance on separation of church and state as he  justifies the legislation with religious belief as shown in this passage from its text "The General Assembly finds the following: Acknowledging the sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God...". Don’t think that Rep. Harris is a lone crackpot as the bill currently has gained 17 other sponsors over the last few weeks.

Then there’s Florida where Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur filed SB 1316 just over a week ago. His bill would require bloggers who write about state officials to disclose who is paying them and how much. "If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register" with the appropriate office within five days of the post, the legislation says. The bill says blog “does not include the website of a newspaper or other similar publication." The executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Bruce Brown says "When a bill this plainly unconstitutional is introduced it's essential that journalists explain to the public why it runs afoul of the First Amendment.” Brown further explained "Our system of free expression rejected the British tradition of licensing printers because we recognized that it was the essence of self-rule to have complete freedom to criticize the public officials who act in our name. The registration regime proposed here would encumber that and deny Floridians their right to hear from a variety of voices about the conduct of their elected leaders." It never ceases to amaze me that Republicans pretend to be defenders of the constitution but in reality only care about their recent interpretation of the Second Amendment.

Texas Republicans certainly don’t want to be outdone so a slew of them in both House and Senate filed bills to prevent any governmental or business entity in the state from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. Should S.B. 1177 filed by Senator Bob Hall pass neither public nor private schools could require students to have been vaccinated for COVID-19. Hall also filed S.B. 308 which would prohibit any public accommodation, meaning restaurant, hotel, bakery, etc. from so much as separating vaccinated customers from un-vaccinated customers. Senator Lois Kolkorst filed S.B. 1026 which prohibits employers from requiring their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Representative Jeff Leach filed HB 3475 and several other Republicans filed all filed similar bills.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 8, 2023