Republicans again found to unconstitutionally under fund public education, it's time to do better

Once again the system Texas uses to fund public schools was found to violate the state's constitution by not providing enough money to school districts and failing to distribute it fairly. The situation is so bad even the conservative SCUC ISD Board of Trustees approved suing the state over the unjust funding formula.

What’s worse is that the same judge, John Dietz, found the system unconstitutional well before the last legislative session was over and yet state our Representative John Kuempel and state Senator Donna Campbell voted for it anyway.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott who as Attorney General is defending the state has again lost in court. Senators Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte, now running for governor and lieutenant governor, both worked hard to overcome resistance to adequately funding public education in the legislature.

On November 4th we’ll elect our state leaders, I’ll be voting for people who have shown they believe in public education and are willing to work hard to invest in our kids futures. I hope you will too.

Greg Abbott isn’t confident he can win on the issues

Most of the analysis of Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott’s withdrawal from the only statewide televised debate talks about it in horse race terms. The various talking heads say it’s a smart move because it removes a chance for Democratic candidate Wendy Davis to get statewide exposure and possibly close the increasingly tight gap. Unfortunately I haven’t heard any analyst talk about what the citizens of Texas lose by not getting the opportunity to hear from both candidates on the issues.

Abbott’s withdrawal is called smart by Republicans and cowardly by Democrats but it’s really a disservice to the people of Texas. We should be exposed to both candidates and their ideas on how to best service our state. We should hear from them in their own words and not some script read for a 30 second television spot.

The real problem here is Greg Abbott isn’t confident he can win on the issues so he’d rather play it safe and hide until the election is over.

GOP Violating Ethics and Possibly Campaign Finance Law

In Florida the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) created a website that gave the appearance of backing Democrat Alex Sink for Congress and took contributions from people who thought they were supporting her with the intention of providing those funds to her adversary. Rather than campaign on ideas and policy leading Republicans have stooped so low as to lie about their identity and intentions in order to steal money from people who disagree with them.

15 Democratic candidates in other states have also been targeted by the same corrupt Republican ploy. Lest you believe this corrupt operation is just a few rogue individuals you should know that Daniel Scarpinato, the NRCC's press secretary told CNN “we are very proud of this program.” Scarpinato says the sites have been so successful that the NRCC plans to build more of them in the 2014 election cycle. While here in Texas an as yet unidentified group is making robo-calls using a woman’s voice claiming to be Sen. Wendy Davis.

While the GOP, aka God’s Own Party, claims to be the only party of morals, law and order, party leaders are violating simple ethics and possibly campaign finance law. Rather than campaign on ideas and policies the morally bankrupt leadership of the Republican Party is willing to violate ethical standards to win elections. That should tell you something about the moral quality of their ideas and policies.

Failure to Expand Medicaid in Texas hurts all Texans

The failure of Gov. Perry and Sen. Campbell to expand Medicaid in Texas does a shameful disservice to Texans whether or not they currently have health insurance. Obviously those without health insurance suffer most directly. Those with insurance are also affected by the higher cost imposed when people visit the emergency room for problems that could have been treated in a doctor’s office for one third the price according to the Texas Medical Association. Those uncompensated emergency room visits are subsidized through higher bills from hospitals and higher property taxes.

Expanding Medicaid would create $19.6 million in direct economic activity in Guadalupe County alone, according to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which is enough to pay 290 additional Registered Nurses and 107 additional Doctors. Imagine how adding nearly 400 high paying jobs would affect businesses large and small in just one county. What would be the impact of adding nearly $7 billion a year to the Texas economy?

We’ve already paid the taxes to make this happen and because Gov. Perry and Sen. Campbell refused to accept that money other states will be using our tax dollars to improve the lives of their citizens and their economies.

We need new leadership in Senate District 25 and in Texas that’s why I’m excited that Dan Boone is running for state senate and Wendy Davis is running for governor. They won’t let our tax dollars go to other states and leave our hard working people to fend for themselves.