A Prairie Dog Just Can’t Do A Man’s Job

I want you to know I laughed until I nearly cried when I watched this video over at Blue19th.

Randy Neugebauer as an illiterate prairie dog is just too funny on a Tuesday afternoon.

As Madeline Kahn (playing Martha Mitchell) said in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, “Unbelievable! I was screamin’!”

Go watch it for yourself. It’s a bit long, but worth it. A donation to Robert Ricketts…a few bucks; picturing Randy Neugebauer as an obese prairie dog with boobs…priceless.

Ben Barnes Interviewed

Evan over at Perry Versus World has up the first part of an interview he has done with Ben Barnes.

I like this tidbit by Barnes:

I don’t think the forefathers ever had any idea that politics would cost this much as it does. And I think that you’ve raised a very valid point about people have to raise money continuously. To get re-elected they got to raise money again, start campaigning again. But if I got to choose between people not having to campaign at all and not going home and staying in Washington 360 days of the year to come home for 5 to ride in the Christmas parade. If I’ve got to choose between that and campaigning all the time, I’d rather have someone campaign all the time.

And, evidently Evan at PvTW has garnered quite a bit of fame, because I understand from the interview that Barnes requested to be interviewed by him after he saw some clips.

Wow.

At any rate, Evan asks some good questions, so check it out.

Now Isn’t That Special?

In an exercise in total futility, Texas Governor Rick Perry today called a special election in two Texas legislative districts and Tom DeLay’s old house district—for November 7.

His motives in calling the special election in Congressional District 22 are no doubt purely political—but could backfire badly. The reason for the special elections in the other district (Vilma Luna’s vacated HD 33 and Frank Madla’s vacated SD 19) was simply to create a cover scent to hide the rank odor of partisanship seeping from the election called in CD 22.

What’s all this boil down to?

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State’s Website The Best

The Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University has ranked Texas’ “official government portal” the best of all the fifty states’ websites.

(I’m sure that Texas’ Republicans were so pleased. After all, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindall is a Brown alum, as are Ken Star and Mary Chapin Carpenter).

Anyway, it’s the best because:

Researchers there evaluated the sites of all 50 states. They also analyzed 1,503 additional sites for various electronic features, including online publications, language translation, disability access, privacy policies, security and the number of online services.

[...]

TexasOnline.com also has audio and video clips on the majority of its Web sites and a Spanish version of nearly every page, the study noted.

Needless to say, I’ve not seen those video clips, unless they are the ones of the Lege. And, you can bet the Gene Seaman faux erection isn’t on there.

Lean Back…Lean Back…Lean Lampson

“Ok…who threw up on my map of the United States?”

Seriously, while the map at left does look suspiciously like a two year old with intestinal parasites got sick on a map of the United States, this particular map is actually CQPolitics’s map of how they project the various U.S. House races around the country to pan out.

I tell you this because CQ has finally (at long last) decided that Congressional District 22 “leans Democratic.”

No, seriously. I’m telling the truth. The geniuses at CQ finally decided that a former Congressman with a $2-million warchest running against a Libertarian and a write-in candidate has a better shot at winning the race than the other two.

CD 28: ‘True Democrat’ Will Give Cuellar A Run For His Money

After all the speculation about who—if anyone—would step up and challenge Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) in the newly reconfigured Congressional District 28, voters in the district will have a choice between Cuellar and a self-styled ‘true Democrat,’ Frank Enriquez, a McAllen attorney.

Last night, I had the chance to interview Frank Enriquez (D-McAllen) and talk to him a bit about his candidacy and why he is running. Here is some of that interview.

On Why He Is Running
Enriquez says he felt ‘compelled to run’ because America needs to change its course as a nation:

I felt compelled to run this campaign because I think the message had to be brought out that Mr. Cuellar and his Republican friends have the nation on a course that needs to change. I don’t think there is anyone happy with three dollar a gallon gas and high interest rates.

We can all remember not too long ago when Democrats were in charge and Democratic officials had interest rates much lower than the sky-high interest rates we had now, and that we had cheaper gas prices, too.

I never thought I’d say this, but Mr. Cuellar and his Republican friends are a ’spend-spend’ party. We have all of these problems plus the war in Iraq.

Our nation wants a new course. We realize that when Democratic principals are in place, there are less budget deficits, lower interest rates, and you get lower gass prices.

Enriquez also bills himself as a ‘true Democrat,’ and says he believes in the principals of the Democratic Party while his opponent, Cuellar, sides with the Republicans:

I am running as a Democrat because I believe in Democratic Party principals and my opponent, with his Republican friends, votes with the Republicans so many times you can’t tell the difference. I believe the people of this district need to know that they have the choice of a true Democrat. [Cuellar] is a Democrat that votes with the Republicans and is a Republican by another name. They need to have a clear choice.

I while back, I believe he [Cuellar] came out in the paper and said he had no loyalty to the Democratic Party or any other party. There is something to be said about party loyalty, for people to know where you stand and what to expect.

On The War In Iraq
Enriquez has a brother in the service now, another brother who was in the first Gulf War, his father served in Korea, and he served in South East Asia. He feels strongly that we need “clear cut objectives and goals” with regard to the war:

I though the President has already said, ‘the war is over.’ But, our boys are still there. We need some serious and clear cut objectives and goals that we need to meet to bring out boys home.

Border Issues

CD-28, which covers much of the Texas-Mexico border, is a district in which border security issues will be a major touchstone this fall. Enriquez favors a path to citizenship, is against a physical barrier, and wants practical solutions:

You have a situation [on border security] where governors—Republican governors [Perry and California's Arnold Schwartznneger]—write a letter to the Republicans in charge and tell them it is time to do something practical. That says a lot.

We do have to do something practical.

When you have a situation where one Republican has to write to other Republicans and say ‘do something practical,’ something sure is wrong in Congress. All of those things want to be straightend out.
We need a plan so that employers will know the border patrol or Homeland Security isn’t going to come in and take all of their workforce that might result in the closure of their business. People who are willing to work and willing to pay taxes and abide by our laws are the kind of people we would want as citizens, I think.

We need practical policies, not cities setting their own immigration policies. That results in protests in the streets.

I see no problem with some course that will allow them some legal status when they get through it.

Also, we do need better border security. We need more manpower on the bridges to make sure the U.S. is secure byt by the same token that commerce keeps going quickly.

Local Issues

Additionally, Enriquez is concerned about problems that face the region on a non-national scale, and points to points to hurricane preparedness as an especially important initiative:

This is the one year anniversiary of Hurricane Katrina, and we’ve got another hurricane coming toward Florida, but this is a hurricane prone area also.

If we get the right kind of hurricane down in the Rio Grande Valley, the leeves we have will not hold. They will break. If they break, the McAllen airport will be under six feet of water. We need federal money to do this.

Enriquez points out that U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), who represents some of the region now but was put back into a more Central Texas district by the federal courts, has made significant inroads toward getting financial assistance for the Valley for disaster preparedness.

Enriquez says he wants to continue that work and finish the job.

He also noted that the Valley is still an agriculture-rich area, and that it is presently in a severe drought.

These counties shoud be decleared disaster areas where federal assistance can be given. This is one of the worst droughts in history.

Asked to sum up his candidacy in a few words, Enriquez replied:

The candidacy of Frank Enriquez is that of a true Democrat.

Enriquez emphasized that he’ll be working all of the district and that he has a network of contacts throughout the district from Laredo to San Antonio. His parents and grandparents are from Laredo, and he attended high school and law school and maintains an office of his law practice in San Antonio. One member of Lloyd Doggett’s Valley staff has already joined his campaign and he says he’s got a campaign staff up and running and will have a website up soon.

Naugebauer: Having Trouble ‘Understanding The Logic’

If there is a secret school that Congressmen go to after they are elected to teach them what not to do (especially in an election year), then this should be in the top 10:

Do not announce that any military base in your district will be closed or suffer from job losses as a result of changes in an election year.

Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock) is suffering from a bit of that right now:

Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene could lose an estimated 150 jobs as the Air Force streamlines operations, a West Texas congressman said.

The Air Force is considering moving a B-1 Bomber engine repair center from Dyess, which is about 85 miles northwest of San Angelo, said U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock.

”From a quality standpoint and from a logistics standpoint, I’m having trouble understanding the logic for the Air Force to consider making that change,” said Neugebauer, who represents the 19th District.

I’m having trouble, from a quality and logistics standpoint, understanding what the hell Congressman Neugebauer is talking about.

He’s a sitting Congressman and the U.S. Air Force wants to leave 150 people in his district jobless. A sitting Congressman doesn’t tell the media he “doesn’t understand” the logic of the military’s decision, he should outright condemn it.

Instead, he’s just kind of wishy-washy and whiny (from a logical, logistics standpoint, of course).

That quote doesn’t really show Congressional leadership. Let’s be honest. Do you want your Congressman to whine or, for lack of a better term, to kick ass and take names when it comes to issues like jobs in your district?

Everyone knows the answer to that: you want him to kick ass and take names.

Instead, he goes on to offer this gem:

”I think that’s why it makes perfect sense to keep the engine facility at Dyess because obviously when you need an engine, you don’t need to be having to ship it across the country,” Neugebauer said.

Oh, sure. It makes sense; it makes perfect sense. But BRAC could care less and, furthermore, when has the U.S. Military been famous for making logistical supply decisions?

Instead, Neugebauer should be talking about the impact this will have on the community, his constituants, etc. Trying to give the military a geography lesson will get him nowhere.

Then, Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon), whom I refer to as Texas’ Forgotten Congressman (because most people in Texas think “Congressman Thornberry” is some kind of dessert  like “Watergate Salad“) does no better:

”I think we will see a fair amount of exploration about moving this program or that program in the aftermath of BRAC,” said U.S. Rep. Thornberry, R-Clarendon. ”It just sets off a kind of domino reshuffling or at least examination of other options.”

First off, if he was trying to explain what happens in the aftermath of the announcement of BRAC recommendations, he did a piss por job. And, since everything in government sets off some kind of domino effect, he’s given us no stunning revalations.

He too should be in attack-dog mode about keeping these jobs in his district, not sounding like some retired single star general of the U.S. Army’s Division of Paper Clips and Staples whom you’d see as a talking head on Fox.

Honestly, Congressman. Your constituants didn’t elect you to tell them how government works; they elected you to make government work.

Making government work, in this case, would involve actually doing something about the potential closure.

CD 22, 23, 21: More Entertaining Than Fantasy Football

These days, the only thing I get more emails about than Fantasy Football (somehow, I got on some Yahoo! spam list) is CD 22.

EVERYONE (especially those anonomous tipsters) seems to have something to say about the candidates in CDs 22, 21 and 23. Everything from “so-and-so is a heroin addict” to “Oh. My. God. Did you SEE what Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was wearing the other day? Eck!” has crossed through my inbox in the past few days. I barely know where to begin.

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Shane Sklar Interview Coming

I’ve been quite busy today, but I’ve got a Shane Sklar interview that will be up later today along with some other posts. Bear with me!

CD 23: The Perfect Storm?

There are those who say that CD 23 will not be won by a Democrat this cycle, but that this cycle will crash enough gates and bloody Henry Bonillia (R-San Antonio) enough to make it more than just a possibility next cycle.

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