What did he leave behind?

How did he change our party in South Texas?

What can we learn from his legacy?

I will start this discussion with a series of questions:

What if he had been a humble man who reached out to the average citizen?

What if he had been willing to mentor and develop a new generation of young, Hispanic and conservative grassroots leaders in South Texas?

What if he had kept his distance and independence from the Republican money machine in Congress when ethics questions came up?

What if he had been a strong and proactive voice against illegal immigration 14 years ago?

What if he had been a true national Hispanic Republican leader who could have influenced and brought in thousands of Latinos into the Republican Party?

What if Henry Bonilla could have been an authentic and vigorous advocate AGAINST pork barrel spending and Earmarks in Congress?

What if Henry Bonilla would have been willing to take a stand against his party when it was not in the right?

What if he would he would have been willing to defy President Bush and denounce the endless expansion of the Federal Government?

What if Henry Bonilla would have been willing to dump his long-time political advisors and consultants who led him to one of the embarrassing political losses in South Texas history?

The political legacy of Henry Bonilla is story of tragedy not because of what he became. The sadness lies in what he could have become for this party.

The party opened doors for him. He had the golden the key in his right hand. Without a doubt, he was in the saddle but his lack of vision and leadership led us to situation where we now have a Democrat leading the 23rd Congressional District. We are still shaking our heads at this magnificent blunder.

What are the big lessons?

Leadership does matter. 

The concept of fiscal conservatism is not something you put in your back pocket when you arrive in Washington.

Be humble and don’t forget where you came from.

The grassroots of this party cannot be ignored after you are wined and dined by the lobbyists in D.C.

You must respond to critics of your policies, especially those in your own party.

Our borders are borders. Our sovereignty is something real. It is not negotiable.

You work for us and not Lockheed Martin or Zachry.

How do we rebuild?

We rebuild brick by brick, day by day, starting today.

We have the talent, the ideas and the values that are needed in South Texas.

In the end, the political legacy of Henry Bonilla is a story of missed opportunities.

It is time to think big again.

We have what it takes.

Onward!
 

“People are often led to causes and often become committed to great ideas through persons who personify those ideas. They have to find the embodiment of the idea in flesh and blood in order to commit themselves to it.”

February 13, 1961

“We shall have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have moral and ethical principles we can applaud with an enthusiasm that enables us to rally support for them based on confidence and trust. We will have to demand high standards and give consistent, loyal support to those who merit it.”

June 11, 1967

Source: Martin Luther King, Jr. On Leadership By Donald T. Phillips
 

Sen. Cornyn presents the latest happenings on Capitol Hill and discusses the current state of our nation's economy at the Greater Houston Partnership luncheon. (3/21/2006 Photo courtesy of the Greater Houston Partnership)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

WASHINGTON—Building on his record as a strong advocate for open government, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, introduced two important amendments to the lobbying and ethics reform legislation under consideration by the Senate this week. Sen. Cornyn’s amendments are aimed at providing a longer public review process before legislation is voted on and providing additional information on the financial costs of any earmarks included in appropriations bills. The Senate is expected to vote on Sen. Cornyn’s amendments in the weeks ahead.

“I am a strong believer that when debating the important issue of ethics in government, sunlight is perhaps the best disinfectant of all,” Sen. Cornyn said today. “Our founders understood a free society could not exist without informed citizens and an open, accessible government. The more information that we can put in the hands of the American people about what Congress does on a daily basis, the stronger our democracy will be.”

Noting that an “astonishing” 64 bills were considered by the Senate on just the final day of the 109th Congress, Sen. Cornyn said, “Although a number of these bills are often non-controversial, others can include costs of millions of taxpayer dollars. At a minimum, Senators and the American public should have the time to do their due diligence and carefully scrutinize a bill before it is considered. That is both common sense and good government. I am hopeful that my colleagues will include these two amendments in this larger reform bill in the days ahead.”

Summary of Cornyn Transparency Amendments to “S. 1 – Legislative Transparency Act of 2007”

Transparency and Notice Before Proceeding Amendment--This amendment requires that there be notice and review by Senators and the general public before the Senate proceeds to a legislative matter or a measure. Specifically, it requires that a Senator give three days notice of intent to proceed and three days advance review of the legislative language in the Congressional Record prior to the Senate proceeding.  It further requires that legislation be publicly available in a searchable format for at least two days before proceeding to the measure. Finally, it also addresses the situation of substitute amendments by requiring that they also be made available in advance.

Earmark Transparency and Baseline Amendment--This amendment requires greater specificity with respect to the actual cost of earmarks and creates a baseline for future analysis, review and rule making. Specifically, it requires that in addition to the underlying bill/substitute’s language requiring a list of earmarks and the Senators requesting them, that there be included the following: a list of each earmark, limited tax benefit or tariff benefit in the bill, joint resolution, report, conference report, or statement of managers along with: its specific budget, contract or other spending authority or revenue impact; an identification of the Member of Members who proposed it;  an explanation ”general Welfare” of the United States of America; the total number of earmarks, limited tax benefits or tariff benefits in the bill, joint resolution, report, conference report, or statement of managers; and a calculation of the total budget, contract or other spending authority or revenue impact of all the congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits or tariff benefits in the bill, joint resolution, report, conference report, or statement of managers.
 

Congressman Smith visits the University of Texas campus in Austin.

January 10, 2007

Washington, D.C. – Republican congressional leaders today announced that Congressman Lamar Smith (TX-21) will serve on the Judiciary, Homeland Security and Science Committees. In addition, Congressman Smith was chosen to serve as his party’s leader on the Judiciary Committee.   

“I will use my position on these committees to advance legislation that makes our country safer, creates jobs, and improves our schools,” said Congressman Smith. “The people of the 21st District have a voice on these committees.”

Congressman Smith is the first Texan to be named Republican Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee. In this new role, Smith will serve as a spokesman for the Republican Caucus and will help shape the party’s policy on issues before the committee. The committee is made up of 17 Republicans and 23 Democrats. He will oversee a staff of 25.    

Congressman Smith has been a member of the House Judiciary Committee since 1987. He has served as Chairman of three of the committee’s five subcommittees: Intellectual Property, Crime and Immigration. Former Judiciary committee leaders include Daniel Webster and James Buchanan, who went on to become President.

“The five subcommittees that make up the House Judiciary Committee have jurisdiction over court procedures, intellectual property, crime, the Constitution, immigration, bankruptcy, antitrust, and administrative law,” explained Congressman Smith. “The committee’s jurisdiction reaches into every aspect of society, from the economy to our constitutional rights.”

The House Homeland Security Committee initiates laws that govern the war on terror. 

The House Science and Technology Committee has jurisdiction over America’s space program, energy and environmental research.

Committee assignments are chosen by the House Republican Conference and by the House Republican Steering Committee, which consists of 33 Representatives from across the country, including elected House Republican leaders.

"I look forward to debating and passing legislation that is good for our nation and benefits the American people,” concluded Smith.
 

You are going after them!!  I haven't even heard much movement at City Hall for term limit changes (or at least any movement to vote on it).  With the 2007 Bond package, the city council is in no mood to put any charter amendments on the ballot and put the bonds at risk.

Anything like term limit changes will have to come from the grassroots, that is a petition/initiative effort. There are those folks out there advocating for 3 two-year terms and no lifetime ban.

While I agree with term limits, from a long range planning point of view the Council with its limits is in no position to do any long range planning. I think they need more time, good or bad. They can do all the good in the world with basic city services (in theory), but fail at the "big picture," that is looking down the road.

With our growth projections we need a council engaged. Are we sending bad people home after 2 or 4 years? Yes. Are we losing good people too soon? Yes. We do know the voters will send them home after one term if they are doing a crappy job (e.g. the 2005 election; not that the new ones are any better).
 

As Father of our Current Term Limits, I wish to extend mega thanks to the many thousands of San Antonio Citizens who joined me in imposing Term Limits on the San Antonio Mayor & Council People, and for helping save taxpayers $1.1 billion dollars.

I also thank you for the drubbing, three years ago, of Term Limit Expansion, which was defeated by our grassroots resistance.

The current Mayor, Phil Hardberger, has a goal. It is the destruction of Term Limits as we know them, and for longer terms to permit a return to the glory days of excessive and oppressive spending that existed under former Mayor Henry Cisneros. 

Remember his record and check the City Budgets from 1980 through 1989, and you will find that average budget increase 1980/1986 was 32.2%; and after my Failed Spending CAP Petition in 1986, which scared him, his average budget increase for the full period 1980/1989 dropped to a still outlandish 20.0% per year. His record was the reason for my later Successful Term Limits. 

Here is information extracted from the City's own budget records.   

$5.9 billion was spent by the City of San Antonio in the decade ending in 1990 under the leadership of Mayor Henry Cisneros & Lila Cockrell. If their spending had grown in step with population and inflation (CPI), they would have spent approximately $3.6 billion. They overcharged us $2.3 billion! This is the unenviable record of the "Pre-Term Limits Crowd!"    

In the decade ending 2001, spending by the City of San Antonio was approximately $9.1 billion. If their spending had grown in step with population and inflation (CPI) growth, they would have spent about $10.2 billion. Because of the stigma of Term Limits and other restrictions imposed on City Hall by CA Stubbs and An Army of Frugal Citizens, THE CITIZENS OF SAN ANTONIO WERE SAVED APPROXIMATELY $1.1 BILLION!

Let us be clear here! For the first time since 1980, after Term Limits the City of San Antonio spending was more nearly in line with taxpayers’ ability to support that spending. Accordingly, their spending was less than what it could have been.

This was the improved record of the Post Term Limits record under the leadership of Mayor's, Cockrell, Wolff, and Thornton.

But, a word of caution is in order. Under Peak, Garza, and now Hardberger a radical upward spike in budgets is now suggestive of a return to the arrogance and extravagance of The Cisneros Years. 

We have heard plenty of muttering and growling from the Post Term Limits crowd that they need more time to plan and implement their programs. Literally translated, this means more time to plan and implement programs that would have spent rather than saved $1.1 billion dollars. We have been double-crossed by Top Business, Top Media, Top Political, and Other Leaders whose devotion and allegiance lies in extracting the maximum from taxpayers to fulfill their wild and Extravagant Pharaoh Type Programs.

And there you have it folks!

We are certainly more appreciative of the record of the Post-Term Limits Crowd than that of their predecessors.

I am ashamed of this Mayor, Council, Chamber Of Commerce, Big Money Fat Cats and Local Educators and Media who don't Give A Tinker’s Damn about The Will Of The People. 

In so many words we are being told, "Go To Hell, we know what is best for you, but we will have to take more of your money."

WE THE PEOPLE INTENTIONALLY TIED THEIR HANDS, AND IT SAVED US $1.1 BILLION DOLLARS.

NOW, ALL WE ASK IS THAT THEY KEEP THEIR COTTON PICKING GRUBBY HANDS OUT OF OUR POCKETS, AND THEY CAN BEST DO THAT BY LEAVING OUR TERM LIMITS ALONE!

Foot Note: You Fat Cat Big Money Gurus, according to The Washington-based National Taxpayers Union, tell us that 25% of the cost of everything we buy from business is for the payment of business taxes.  Yep!  And this Fat Cat Crowd wants Term Limits Abolished or at least watered down. 
 

Remember May 15!

San Antonio takes a stand on term limits.

By Patrick Basham

Reports of the death of term limits are greatly exaggerated. On May 15, San Antonio voters provided a vivid demonstration that, contrary to recent national media coverage, term limits are very much alive.

Seventeen thousand local politicians in 2,900 cities, counties, and towns throughout 40 states are now subject to term limits. In 1991, San Antonio voters imposed on their city-council members a lifetime limit of two two-year terms in office, the strictest term-limit rule of any major metropolitan area in the nation.

The voters sought a more competitive political apparatus and wanted to return accountability to a system dominated by career politicians and lobbyists. Mostly, they sought an end to the huge spending and double-digit annual tax-rate increases that had become the political class's specialty.

But term limits' opponents never rested in their attempt to roll back the political clock. In 1996, a federal court dismissed a legal challenge and upheld San Antonio's lifetime term limits on city council members. The conundrum for the political establishment was that the term limitation could only be changed through the ballot box.

Three months ago, San Antonio council members voted unanimously to weaken term limits through a referendum. Proposition 1 sought to expand the term limit to three consecutive three-year terms and lift the lifetime ban, thereby enabling council members to run again after sitting out a single term. Mayor Ed Garza admitted that this year's campaign to relax the limit was simply the first step along the path to completely repealing term limits.

During the spring campaign, San Antonio's most powerful interest groups campaigned hard against term limits. Special-interest lobbyists, business groups, labor unions, major city contractors, and the city's daily newspaper linked arms in an anti-term-limits coalition. A veteran political consultant choreographed the slick campaign that sought to "reeducate" voters about term limits' alleged drawbacks.

Only one group, the Homeowner Taxpayer Association, actively opposed the term-limits revision. The largely volunteer campaign possessed little money, but it did possess a passionate desire not to hand the keys to the public purse back to those proven to be poor fiscal custodians.

The anti-term-limits coalition spent $325,000. The coalition's average contribution of $4,577 was $1,000 dollars greater than the entire amount spent by the pro-term-limit campaign. A 100-to-1 spending-ratio advantage ensured that the debate was strongly skewed in favor of Proposition 1's passage.

The anti-term-limits campaign enjoyed all of the advantages that money can buy: political consultants, TV and radio commercials, direct-mail literature, billboards, professional phone banks, and door-to-door canvassing. The pro-term-limits campaign was limited to a website and some hand-delivered literature.

Yet, on May 15, voters overwhelmingly backed the current term-limit regime. How could this happen? Councilman Chip Haass provides an explanation: He attributes the support for term limits to "blue-collar people" unable "to understand fully how things work at City Hall." Is there a better example of the elitist condescension that permeates the professional political class?

More logically, Richard Gambitta, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio (USTA), says the result "shows voters view the current checks on the City Council as positive." Contrary to the political establishment's forecast, local government has been headed in the right direction. According to research conducted by USTA's Arturo Vega and John Bretting, overall levels of political efficacy have increased under term limits.

Most residents view their term-limited council as a vast improvement upon its careerist predecessor. For example, under term limits there hasn't been a tax-rate increase for eleven years. Contrast this state of affairs with the fiscal abyss the city hovered over in the 1980s, when the careerists, led by Mayor Henry Cisneros, ran the show.

Term limits reward real-world experience over back-room experience. They have reformed local government in San Antonio and around the nation by replacing professional politicians with citizen legislators who participate in local government out of a sense of civic duty. The detractors are wrong: Local term limits are changing our country's political culture and paving the way to real reform.

— Patrick Basham is senior fellow in the Center for Representative Democracy at the Cato Institute, and the author of "Defining Democracy Down: Explaining the Campaign to Repeal Term Limits."

*   *   *

Courtesy of Bob Martin, Homeowner Taxpayer Association
 

Dear Friend,

Greetings! I have been called by God to run for the position of Mayor of San Antonio. I am humbled by this call and want to do everything I can to honor the experience as an opportunity to glorify God. My guide is the Word of God. My strength and direction will come through prayer.  These are the values by which I live my life. Together, let’s glorify God in San Antonio!

You are cordially invited to attend a fundraiser dinner Thursday, January 25, at 6:30 PM, at my restaurant, Joseph’s Storehouse Restaurant and Bakery at 3420 N. St. Mary’s.  Music will be provided and we will enjoy a fun time together! Please contact Ms. Jean Yates at 674-5400 today! Space is limited, so you will want to be sure to RSVP for this very important event before January 22!

God bless you! We look forward to hearing from you today!!!!

Patrick J. McCurdy    

Mayoral Candidate                      (please cut along dotted line and return lower portion)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

____ Yes, I will attend. I would like to purchase a total of _____ dinners at $30 each.

____ No, I will not be attending. However, I would like to contribute to your campaign. Enclosed is my best gift at this time for $_________________.

Note: The price of dinners purchased is considered a political contribution. Donors must be U.S. citizens. Mayoral candidates may not accept more than $1,000 per donor (but not per household), nor may cash donations exceed $100 per donor during the election cycle. Corporate checks are prohibited. (per San Antonio Campaign Finance Laws)

San Antonio Municipal Ethics Commission requires the following for all political contributions:

______________________________      ______________________________________

Name                                                 Employer

______________________________      ______________________________________

Street address                                    Occupation

_______________________    _____      _____________     ______________________

City                                     State        Zip Code              Phone Number

Please mail checks payable to:  McCurdy Campaign
                                                   9707 Five Forks
                                                   San Antonio TX 78245
Pol Adv pd by Patrick McCurdy

3420 N. St Mary’s  ▪  San Antonio TX  78212  ▪  (210) 638-8453
 

1) Students at Memorial Elementary show off the dictionaries donated to them by the New Braunfels Republican Women.

2) DaGin Stewart, New Braunfels Republican Women Literacy Chair, provides a dictionary to Lone Star Elementary third grader Austin Berquist. 

As part of our Caring for America program, the New Braunfels Republican Women recently delivered 720 dictionaries to area third graders.  NBRW  participates in The Dictionary Project, a non-profit organization started in South Carolina.  The goal of The Dictionary Project is to provide a personal dictionary to third grade students to aid them in becoming good writers, active readers and creative thinkers.  

Local schools receiving dictionaries were Lone Star Elementary, Curtis Wubbena,

principal; Carl Schurz Elementary, Merry White, principal;  Memorial Elementary,

Kathy Kenney, principal; and Frazier Elementary, Betsy Nash, Principal.  DaGin Stewart, Literacy Chair, Sami Devillier, Jeanie Goodwin, and Susan Sonier, 2006 president, visited with the third graders and stressed the club's interest in their education. Both students and teachers were excited to receive the dictionaries.   

New Braunfels Republican Women meet the third Monday of each month. 

For more information call Gayna Wommack at 629-5922, or visit our website

at http://www.nbrw.org.
 

Now anyone interested in legislation going through the statehouse in Texas can search for free on LgDb.com. The full text of the bill is there, along with easy links to sponsors and more. If users want the security of knowing they are looking at the official state version of the bill, there's a link to that, too, on each bill's page on LgDb.com. This means that anyone can search on LgDb.com rather than search on the state's page, and still see the text of the bill from the state, and then quickly find similar bills in other states, or contact information for bill sponsors.

That's all free. For the professional there's much more. Lobbyists can set up bill sheets, adding just the bills they want and letting LgDb update the status of each bill. LgDb Pro subscribers can also set up stakeholder groups, dramatically improving communication among Legislative Advisory Committees. LgDb Pro subscribers can also choose the option of displaying their bill sheet on their own web page, so that associations and membership groups can keep members informed all the time, rather than with a monthly newsletter.

"I'm very excited to have the Texas information available on our site," said Scott Yates, founder and president of LgDb.com.  " I founded this site because I thought it was crazy that you can find all of Clint Eastwood's movies in a couple of clicks, but it's hard to find much out about bills. And for lobbyists, the technology for how they do their job hasn't changed much since the fax machine, until now."

 For more information, visit http://www.LgDb.com/about

--

Dana Hunter

LgDb, USA's Best Legislative Database 

dhunter@LgDb.com
 

Alamo RMA Press Releases are available at http://www.AlamoRMA.org

(SAN ANTONIO) – December 19, 2006 – The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (Alamo RMA) has brought together 14 individuals representing businesses, residents and community leaders that live and work along the Bandera Road corridor to act as a community advisory panel for the Alamo RMA’s study of Bandera Road.

The Bandera Road Study will examine and recommend strategies for efficiently and effectively addressing mobility issues in the corridor. The Bandera Road Study area consists of the portion of road known as Bandera Road or State Highway 16 (SH 16) and is approximately 6.5 miles in length and situated between Loop 410 West and Loop 1604 West.

The Bandera Road Community Working Group is intended to provide diverse representation of the communities and related interests impacted by the Bandera Road Study. The group will facilitate the exchange of information, concerns and ideas between interest groups and the study team relative to

the twenty-one proposed alternatives currently under evaluation by the Alamo RMA.

The responsibilities of the Community Working Group are to:

• Be a voice of the community related to project development issues relevant along the Bandera Road corridor

• Work together with design, transportation, and environmental professionals to develop short-term and sustainable long-term mobility solutions that are sensitive to transportation, environmental and social needs

• Create a genuine opportunity for exchange that encourages consensus among stakeholders along the Bandera Road corridor and the Alamo RMA

Members of the Bandera Road Community Working Group include:

• Dr. Ronald Green          • Mr. Phillip Manea

• Mr. Al Uvietta                • Mrs. Marcy Meffert

• Dr. Pete Lopez              • Mrs. Minnie Abrego-Sanchez

• Mr. Robert Lopez           • Mr. Jimmy Hasslocher

• Ms. Margaret Tovar        • Mr. Gene Logan

• Ms. Amy Karns             • Mr. Pete Castillo

• Mr. Herman Murray        • Mr. Greg Trimble

To view maps of the Bandera Road project visit www.AlamoRMA.org/BanderaRd.html.

About the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority

The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority (Alamo RMA) is charged with significantly accelerating needed transportation projects within Bexar County. The Alamo RMA works in conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), the San Antonio - Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and other agencies to provide a tolled lane network as a part of the solution to the overall transportation challenge facing this region.
 

Grassroots groups have found their way onto the “hit list” of the U.S. Senate. In Senate Bill 1, Section 220, grassroots organizations informing the public of the government’s activities would be subject to hyper-regulation and endless bureaucratic reports and red tape. The American Family Association (AFA) has an analysis of Sec. 220 here:

The AFA said this about the bill: “To put it bluntly, members of Congress are tired of getting your e-mails and phone calls, and Senate Bill 1(Section 220) is designed to keep information from you that might inspire you to call or write your senator.”

Let’s not confuse the good aspects of SB 1 aimed at much-needed lobbying reform. There is a VAST difference between high paid lobbyists who wine and dine our legislators asking for special interest legislation that benefit a special few, and grassroots citizens who simply inform the public of what their government is doing and the possible impacts on citizens’ lives. SB 1, Sec. 220 is an assault on free speech and open and transparent government. It’s also an affront to our right to redress our government for grievances and our right to have a say in our own representation.

TAKE ACTION

Call Senator John Cornyn at (210) 224-7485 and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison at (210) 340-2885. 

Senators Bennett and McConnell have already introduced an amendment to SB 1 that would strip Sec. 220 from the bill. When you call, ask them how they plan to vote on the Bennett Amendment. Ask our senators to vote FOR the Bennett Amendment (amendment 20). Organizations should not have to register with Congress in order to ask citizens to contact their elected officials.

Please forward this information to your friends and family. It is vitally important that they know what members of the Senate are trying to do.

Vickrey-Johnson’s inherent conflict of interest:

In Joe Solis’ last South Texas Republican newsletter, he mentions the Greater Chamber’s support for extending term limits. Well, Greater Chamber Chairman Brenda Vickrey-Johnson’s speech also outlines the Chamber’s clear support of TxDOT and our tolling authority’s (RMA’s) version of toll roads. No surprise there since her company, Vickrey & Associates, makes millions off TxDOT contracts (like Contract Number: 15-6XXP1019 for $1 million). If one’s wearing such shoes, why not ask for a flurry of new roads and ask the taxpayers for more of their hard-earned money for a HUGE public bond to help one’s own private company land more contracts for those roads?

She’s also on the Board of Joe Krier’s San Antonio Mobility Coalition (SAMCo), which is actively lobbying for toll roads and represents more than 70 companies tied to road building and financing. It’s always profitable to shed a little sunshine on what these folks stand to PERSONALLY gain from promoting an agenda so clearly against what the public wants.

Another Senator speaks out against TxDOT’s version of tolling

ROAD KILLER

State’s game? Highway extortion

Harris County is getting held up on toll road funding

By STATE SEN. JON LINDSAY

Houston Chronicle

Jan. 6, 2007

Question: When is it more appropriate to call a proposal “highway extortion” rather than “highway robbery”?

Answer: When the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) negotiates with the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA) and makes demands such as TxDOT is now making on how new toll roads will be built in Harris County.

TxDOT wants the county to pay TxDOT $1.234 billion for the right to use or cross the state’s right of way for the construction of possibly three new toll ways. The county will then be responsible for all other right of way and construction costs. When the project is completed and tolls are being collected, 8 percent of the gross tolls will be paid to the state.

Read the rest of the article here
 

Last week I told my readers all about my newfound sources of gossip and juicy tidbits. It is now, we Republicrats, not just me the Republicrat. It is working overtime. Apparently, undisclosed Democrats are ratting out the Party at all levels. Even the elected officials to include judges are making snide remarks about this person or that person or whatever.

So what is the latest rumor? I hear by word of mouth that the hottest buzz is that the Democratic Party Executive Director Madeleine Dewar is now the official spokesperson for the Party. I guess Carla Vela, the Chair, has to have Madeleine speak for her now, since Carla isn’t too good about showing up to Democratic events. 

Actually I preferred Carla doing the talking rather that Madeleine even though we are still reeling over Carla’s comparison of the roundup of undocumented workers to the rounding up of the Jews in Nazi Germany. I hear that Madeleine brags about claiming she is the official defender of the local Democrats and obviously, she is not doing a very good job according to my many sources.

Last week in her weak defense of Carla she said, “Yes, I have taken over operation of party headquarters. That is the job of the Executive Director. But, that is not the party. The party is run by the CEC and Carla. All I do is see to it the office is open and that the day-to-day operations are taken care of.”

Word is out that Madeleine has taken control of more that just the day-to-day operations. Now when you see Carla, you know that Madeleine is not too far behind making derogatory comments. One of my informers (squealers) who occasionally attend the Northeast Democrats said that Madeleine was recently poking fun of other Democrats lifestyles. I am trying to figure that one out.

That would be like her attacking people for the way they dress. For those who have seen her, she is not exactly a fashion plate, unless you consider ugly looking shoes that a clown might wear in a circus! Perhaps an occasional change of clothing or even a handy iron might do wonders. 

Don’t you just love these gems of rumor, innuendo and trash talking? It makes for a good gossip column. And, no one has ever denied that we deal in gossip, innuendo, the juicer the better. While it is gossip, it is still inherently true.

Before I leave the articulate and well-coiffed Madeleine behind and move on to more important subjects, what is with her consistent insistence that I am a man? She said last week, “This is a man with an agenda and that agenda is to discredit the Bexar County Democratic Party Chair and the Bexar County Democratic Party.”

How does she read into that? There is no motive by moi, to discredit the Party Chair or the Bexar County Democratic Party. Carla discredits herself by her leadership style. Let’s be honest, we currently have a dysfunctional Party Chair who started her administration on the right foot and the right intentions, but in the process lost sight of her goal and her vision of where the Party should be nearly a year after she took office.

Carla’s biggest character flaw from many Democrat’s perspectives is putting her faith in so-called “True Democrats” who are continually on power trips that undermine the Party and the Chair due to their incompetence and lack of ability, social graces and fortitude to move the Democratic Party successfully into the 21st Century.

Granted no one can do that by him or herself, not even Carla, but at least surround yourself with Democrats who have an inkling or a clue on how to move forward. Shouting from the housetops, “I am a Liberal and proud of it,” ain’t enough to cut the mustard.

Obviously, Madeleine can’t distinguish between the differences between a man’s perspective and a woman’s. Rather than poke fun at some people’s lifestyles, she needs to be looking inward and do some soul searching.  Amen.

Moving on to the other side, it looks like Texas is stuck with another four years of the mean-spirited & vindictive Speaker of the House, Tom Craddick. Can you say, tyrant without the physical violence? I am not comparing him to the Nazi’s like someone we know, but he does seem to favor some of the characteristics of a recently deposed villain. Thank God, Democrats aren’t the only ones who sometimes don’t have a clue. 

Here is a guy who is reported to be a very religious Catholic and he acts that way? What an insult to good God-fearing Catholics who attempt to live righteously and treat others with respect. What a role model. Maybe he needs to pray to Saint “Tom Delay” for guidance! Wait a minute isn’t that what got him into trouble in the first place?

Now we wait to see what kind of candidates will run for the San Antonio City Council. They are already lining up. Looks like some races will sizzle while others fizzle for lack of interest. Districts 7 & 8 look like they are the early favorites for the sizzle, while District 1 & 6 are more likely to resemble the fizzle and the rest somewhere in between.

That is a happy thought. Well I am sure we will hear more from our official Democratic spokeswoman soon. I can hardly wait. Until that enlightening experience happens, that’s the moderate view; I AM the Republicrat PLUS.
 

How true. 

None of the judges had any complaints and I’ve personally spoken to a number who have made it a point to compliment the job Carla is doing.  If you care to know, Carla was very ill all New Year’s weekend. Is she supposed to go to swearing in ceremonies and pass her flu to everyone else? Carla attends more functions than anyone else in Bexar County and that is in addition to a full time job, her regular Party functions and many evenings with other party duties.

Kind of makes your claim rather specious, no?

By the way, just when did Carla claim the Party was responsible for six judge’s success? The Party did make a difference this year, but she has never claimed the Party as THE reason for anyone’s success.

As for me, I attend very few functions of that nature. It isn’t that I don’t want to, it is that I put in a full week and have other commitments with a few of the Democratic clubs I belong to and support as well as my role as SD 26 Committeewoman. It is a rare week that I don’t spend 50+ hours on Party pursuits. During the entire time I worked on John Courage’s campaign I only attended maybe three fundraisers. I have some health issues and I choose to use my time in less public ways.

Finally the “Word” about bringing three Democratic State Senators to the BCDW meeting next Monday is also incorrect as is the topic. She will be at the meeting to talk about the role of the Democratic Party in Bexar County and three SDEC Committeewomen will discuss the role of the SDEC. The 2006 election is over. We have been concentrating on 2008 since December and that’s where we will be spending our time and energies.

 Again, I invite you to attend some of these functions and come down to headquarters to volunteer and see what really is going on.

 Peace, Love and Serenity,

Madeleine Dewar