By Faith Chatham - December 23,
Sometimes we just simply need to tune out the clutter which sucks the air out of the room. When opening a social media wall or turning on the television fills up the space with despicable human excrement, it is beneficial to switch dimensions.
We can do that by focusing on friends and family, getting immersed in holiday chaos, or puttering in a garden. Seeing pet video's posted on Facebook is a relief these days.
I'm enjoying sitting in my sister's living room looking at her Christmas Tree and letting her serve me hot chocolate.
We are discussing making Bread Pudding for Christmas Dinner and Quiche for Christmas Eve Brunch. I've recommended drinking the rum instead of using it in pudding. This is a great break from continually hearing about the shut-down, realizing that children are sleeping under mylar blankest without toys or cherished, trusted adults to hold and comfort them this Christmas, that the Donald thinks his warped ways are progress and some in this nation are warped enough to agree with him.
This year I am especially appreciative of the efforts of the ACLU and other organizations who are working tirelessly to relieve some of the unnecessary suffering inflicted by our government on the innocent and upon the vulnerable.
It is comforting to sit with my sister and look at her Christmas Tree and remember the people who nurtured and protected us. I know we have battles to wage next year. We have women and children to rescue, politicians to support, and some to oppose. It will not be a year when we can sit passively, trusting that all will be well with our state, nation or the world if we leave things to others or to happenstance.
Tonight, it is necessary to switch dimensions for a few hours and enjoy the moment, even though I realize that many in this world are so threatened and frightened that they have little opportunity to enjoy anything. I will fight for them with all my might once I tune-out for a few hours the bombardment of the despot who sucks the air out of space where he neither belongs nor understands, nor values. Soon, by some means, we will be free of him. Until then, we persevere, we resist, we write, we share, we verify, we study, we research, and we value those who are discounted and sorely abused.
Faith's Christmas Eve Leek Quiche
1 stalk of Leeks cut up
salt and pepper to taste
2 pads of butter
1/8 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
6 eggs beaten throughly
1 pie crust
Saute leeks in butter
Add to beaten eggs
Add grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese, salt and parsley to the beaten eggs.
Pour into prepared pie crust.
Bake in heated 350 degree oven until the eggs are done and the pie crust is lightly brown.
Taste good served warn or chilled.
Faith's Leeks and Potato Casserole
1 stalk of Leeks, cut up
Five potatoes, sliced thin long wise
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 teaspooon to 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Salt to taste
Crushed black pepper to taste.
Wash and salt the sliced potatoes.
Mix them in a casserole dish with the sliced leeks
Sprinkle in the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Pour in one can of evaporated milk
Sprinkle one layer of shredded cheddar cheese on top of the casserole
Bake in a 350 degree oven until the potatoes are soft (about 30 to 40 minutes).
When the cheese on top melts, take out of oven and cover with a second layer of cheddar cheese and sprinkle lightly with crushed black pepper. Return to oven and bake until layer of cheese on top melts.
By Carolyn Chatham - Wise Woman Press.net September 11, 2018
WHY I WRITE, PURPOSE, ACTIVISM How to
make sense of the tsunami of information that bombards us daily, hourly, minute
by minute. The serfs knew only what they were told by their masters. The
ordinary person of the middle ages knew only what the church told him. The
renaissance and then the age of reason opened the valve of knowledge to many
more people. Knowledge had value. It was something not everyone could have. It
gave a person status and power.
Now
technology has far outstripped our ability to create meaning from information.
Unless we have a matrix by which to decipher, organize, and evaluate
information, it is not only useless, it is crippling. If a little information
is, as the saying goes, a dangerous thing, too much information is a
debilitating thing. Knowing a little, but not enough can lead to the wrong
conclusions and actions. Being inundated with too much information can lead to
paralysis, or to feeding any belief we need to feed, or to wrong action.We can easily find the stories that nurture our paradigms, that "prove" our points, regardless of the validity of our paradigms.
How do we learn to filter,evaluate,accept, or reject information based on reliability and accuracy rather than emotion? Are we able or willing to learn that way, or is the average person incapable of rejecting emotion and comfort over logic and fact?
Some people find their filters by choosing Fox News. Some listen to Alex Jones. Some listen to their church leaders or preachers. Some search out sources that are more reliable, that attempt to be fact based.
Recently Tom Heger and I were discussing politics. He told me the story of two men, one a farmer, the other a "progressive." The progressive was trying to convince the farmer we meed more regulations. The progressive laid out his reasoning layer after layer, but the farmer maintained that regulations are bad. Finally the progressive said,"And it killed the cows." Then the farmer agreed.
We have to get to the cows in our political conversations. Everybody has a cow. We have to know what it is to move the argument past the road block.
Also, everybody has a paradigm. Sometimes it's just about having a paradigm that is so different from our own that discussion is fruitless. We don't have to love the fascists, but it's good to understand them and know one when we meet one.
When selecting our reading materials, choosing the channel on our TV, clicking on stories, we need to be aware of our own cows and paradigms and choose fact over emotion. Thought, then speech, then action.
I will be the arrow straight and true
that pierces your enemy
through and through
So long as you know the arrow flies
only as true
as the archer's eyes
I will be your arrow straight and sure
so notch me now
and let me soar
Published in Those Bones that Float About, 2018
Carolyn publishes political and social commentary, literary reviews and poetry on WISE WOMAN PRESS.net
By Faith Chatham December 13, 2018
Jan McDowell has managed to move the Texas 24th Congressional District from solid red to a toss-up in 4 years! Jan had no political experience and little support when she ran against Marchant in 2016. She showed up and told people face-to-face why she was running. She learned. She impressed people with her intelligence, reason, and what is commonly referred to in Texas as "common sense."
Jan is not your typical extroverted egoistical political candidate. She is a CPA by profession. In 2018 in a three-way General Election she got 125,231 (47.54%) of the vote to GOP incumbent Marchant's 133,317 votes (50.61%) . In her previous run in 2016, she was unopposed in the Democratic Primary. In 2018 she had three male opponents in the Democratic Primary and avoided a run-off by securing 52.47% of the Democratic Primary votes (14,628 votes out of a total of 27,878 Democratic Primary voters). Turn-out wasn't all that stellar for the Republicans in District 24 in 2018 either. Despite a contested primary, only 40,735 Republicans voted and 25.59% of them voted against their GOP incumbent.
When we drill down and look at prior years, there has been a steady gain in the number of Democratic Primary in Texas’ US 24th District. In the 2014 Democratic Primary there were. 8,247 votes cast. That year 34,265 Republicans voted in the Primary. The Democratic nominee in 2014 in the 24th District was Patrick McGeherty who received 46,548 votes (32.31%) in the General Election to Marchant's 93,712 (75.04% of the in 2014 General Election vote).
In 2016 (McDowell's first race) she ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary and got 27,803 votes. Marchant ran unopposed in the Republican Primary and got 67,412 votes. He had a strong advantage: He was a multi-term Republican Incumbent running in a Congressional District gerrymandered to be a safe Republican District. He entered the General Election with twice as many voters identified who preferred his political party than his first-time Democratic opponent. He had money and she had very little. In a four-way General Election, McDowell with Green Party Kevin McCormick and Libertarian Mike Knolls reduced Marchant's percentage to 56.18%. Jan gained 7.01% over the Democratic percentage of General Election votes cast in 2014.
2016 was a presidential year. There was increase of 61,842 more people who voted Democratic in the 2016 General Election in the district than who voted Democratic in the 2014 General Election. Republican turnout increased by 61,133 votes in the 2016 General Election over the number of voters for Marchant in the 2014 General Election. The increase in those voting Democratic between 2014 and 2016 was over double whereas the increase in Republican voters was about 25%.
In her second run, Jan McDowell entered with experience. She knew how to run a bare-bones campaign and how to stretch her campaign dollars. She had volunteers who were faithful and experienced. She knew the "lay of the land." Marchant got 21,528 fewer votes in the 2018 General Election than he got in 2016. Jan McDowell got 16,389 more votes in the 2018 General Election than she received in 2016. Only 8,086 more voters chose the multi-term incumbent Republican than voted for his Democratic challenger in the 2018 General Election. In a district which previously had been classified as SAFELY REPUBLICAN. Kenny Marchant only won with 50.61% of the vote in 2018.
The Cook's Political 2020 forecast announced that they are now classifying two Texas Congressional Districts as Swing or “Toss Up” for 2020. They have moved Texas' US 24th District for 2020 into the"Toss-up" category along with US 23. Jan McDowell and her supporters have transformed the 24th into Texas' second swing district for 2020. It is probable that the DNC, which relies heavily on Cook’s data, will classify it as a Red to Blue District. It is probable that this will make the 24th an entirely different ballpark in 2020. Before, Jan McDowell was not seen as a threat to the GOP controlled seat. Now they see blood in the water and will either circle around to replace Marchant in the Primary or to support him with massive outside support to protect the seat in the General.
Jan McDowell has announced that she is running for Congress in the 24th District again in 2020. She needs to begin building a war chest. She will need several hundred thousand dollars in her account in December 2019. She prefers individual contributions from small donors. This race is a good one for progressives to target. If we jump in and give a small amount monthly during the months leading up to when she files to run in December 2019, our contribution will probably be painless on our end but cumulatively, can make a significant difference in helping her position herself to fight a much harder fight than has ever been waged in the 24th.
Donations as small as $5, $10, or $25 a month given through ACT BLUE monthly for the next 24 months helps us equip Jan McDowell to fight off the Republican donors who want to hold onto the 24th District seat. She has demonstrated her ability to campaign and win the support of the voters in the district and she has demonstrated her ability to manage a campaign organization and to leverage the dollars donors give her. Let’s start now and target the 24th District by supporting Jan McDowell with a monthly contribution through ACT BLUE.
Checks can be mailed to Jan McDowell for Congress P.O. Box 110303 Carrollton, TX 75011 E-mail: Jan@JanMcDowell.com
By Faith Chatham - Dec. 10, 2018
I read that Trump is quietly reducing HIV research. We have faced Republican controlled Congress transferring funding from Ebola research and treatment programs. I wonder how much less suffering we would have in this country if right wing religious zealots who lack the brain cells to understand the Bibles they thump had not controlled this nation's political rhetoric and succeeded in blocking stem cell research and treatment for three decades! Other countries (many with much smaller GNP's) are far ahead of us in treating spinal cord, bone, respiratory and other chronic illnesses with stem cells than we are. If stem cell research had been able to proceed, we would probably be less dependent upon big pharma! Instead of having to be on medication regularly, many individuals would probably have had their bodies regenerate damaged cells and much less time would have been lost from work and school and community service and recreation.
Too many treatments and cures which have YEARS of success in other countries are still classified as experimental in the USA. This nation is currently living in a contemporary dark-ages from politically motivated denial and ignorance.
One of the more costly diseases to treat is diabetes. Some forms have been demonstrated to be CURED by a specific form of stomach bypass surgery if performed within a specific number of years of diagnosis. However, in the USA that is not an approved treatment for diabetes here even though it is available and proven in most European countries. Over time the cost for insulin - not to mention amputation - is much greater than the surgery but most Americans cannot afford the cost of the surgery without assistance from insurance.
I have a friend whose husband works for the state of PA which "self-insures." She has had to have two partial amputation on her toes which could have been avoided if her insurance company had approved the stomach by-pass. They tried to scrape together enough money for her to go on "medical tourism" within the time-frame for a cure to get the by-pass but were not able to afford it.
Americans should not have to attempt to travel to other countries to get quality appropriate medical care. Politicians influenced by America's equivalent of the Taliban (mid-western evangelical pastors) should not dictate what scientific /medical procedure works and is appropriate for Americans throughout the country. Ironically, many of those who label themselves pro-life, fight the hardest to prevent treatments which save and extend life and enhance the quality of life by actually assisting bodies to heal.
We look back on the Spanish inquisition and shake our heads. We should be looking at the realities impacting lives right here in our own families and circles of friends!
Fear of change and fear of the unknown is understandable. Imposing outdated practices when there is sufficient evidence of success is not prudent. It is cruel and unnecessary punishment. In contemporary American medicine, it is practiced too frequently and is much too costly.
When new legislators are sworn-in in January 2019, Congress and most State Legislatures will be more balanced.
In the US House - 436 members
Was 240 Republicans
Was 195 Democrats -
Was 45 Seat Republican Majority with GOP Speaker and House Committee Chairs
Now 200 Republicans
Now 235 Democrats -
Now 35 Democratic Majority with DEM Speaker and House Committee Chairs
Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House.
US Senate - 100 Members
Was 51 Republicans
Was 49 Democrats
Was 4 Seat GOP Majority
Now 53 Republicans
Now 47 Democrats -
Now 6 Seat GOP Majority
State Legislatures
Was 31 Republican Majority
Was 14 Democratic Majority
Was 4 Split with 1 Non- Partisan
Now 30 Republican Majority
Now 18 Democratic Majority
Now 1 Split with 1 Non-Partisan
Governors
Was 34 Republican Majority
Was 16 Democratic Majority -
Was 8 more GOP Majority than Dem
Now 27 Republican Majority
Now 23 Democratic Majority (Flipped 4 from GOP to Dem)
At least 100 of the US Congressional seats will be filled by women for the first time in American History. A record number of Democratic women will advance to Chair House Committees and the Speaker of the House is a woman.
The majority of seats flipped from red to blue were flipped by women candidates.
Women demonstrated that first time female candidates can raise sufficient money to finance viable campaigns against Republican incumbents.
In Texas before the 2018 Mid-terms we had 3 women in the US House
(1 White Republican and 2 Black Democrats)
In January 2019 Texas will have 6 women Congress
(2 Latina Democratic Women, 2 Black Democratic Women, 1 White Democratic Woman and 1 White Republican Woman.)
Also, with the US House Democratic Majority, US Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson advnces to Chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology.
Beto O'Rourak's Senate Campaign in Texas demonstrated that a Democratic candidate can raise more funds than an incumbent Republican without accepting PAC donations.
Lupe Valdez, in her first run for a statewide office in Texas, competing with less than 1/50ieth of the funds of the GOP incumbent,. and only fraction of the funds spent by any of the four previous Democratic nominees for Governor in Texas yet received more votes than any Democratic Nominee for Governor in the history of Texas.
Valdez raised much less than Wendy Davis ('14) or Bill White ('10) ) but received 1,693,109 more votes than the 2014 Democratic candidate for Texas Governor and 1,422,310 more votes than Bill White in 2010.. Her race demonstrates that sexual orientation and gender is not a "deal breaker" to the 3,528,705 Texans who voted for Lupe Valdez for Governor in 2018.
In 2010 with a 37.53% voter Turn-out in Texas, former Houston Mayor Bill White (Dem) lost to Republican Incumbent Rick Perry by 631,086 votes.
In 2014 with a Voter Turn-out of 33.64%, Wendy Davis (Dem) lost to GOP Incumbent Greg Abbott by 960,951 votes.
In 2018 with a Voter Turn-out of 52.60% and a much smaller war chest than either of her two Democratic Nominee predecessors or the GOP Incumbent, Lupe Valdez lost to GOP Incumbent Greg Abbott by 1,109,877 votes. Abbott got 55.83% to Valdez's 42.47%. Valdez increased the percent of Democratic votes for Governor in the General election points over '14 and points over '10.
Other Democratic first-time candidates running for statewide offices in Texas also narrowed the gap between historic GOP/Dem turn-out.
There was not much movement between the margins for Texas' Comptroller for Public Accounts when comparing the percentage of votes cast for female first time candidate Joi Chevalier who got got 43.36% to GOP incumbent Glen Hagar's 58.21%.. (Hagar won with 58.38% in 2014 against Mike Collier).
.
Democrats got a 10% bump in 2018 over the 2014 race for Agriculture Commissioner in Texas. Retired USAF officer/combat pilot, Democratic challenger Kim Olson got 46.38% to GOP Incumbent Sid Miller's 51.38%. In 2014, the Democratic nominee Jim Hogan only got 36,84% to Republican Sid Miller's 58.60%. This year Kim Olson demonstrated that 10% more of the Texans who voted chose a woman over the previous male Democratic Agriculture Commissioner candidates (1,065,053 more votes for Olson in 2018 than for her male Democratic predecessor.
In accessing the results of the 2018 Mid-terms, seeing the increase in turn-out, increase in nuber of women and minority candidates, and the increase in donor giving to first-time Democratic challengers running for seats occupied by GOP incumbents, there is evidence that 2018 is most likely a water-shed year. Considerable political infrastructure has been built in areas which have been neglected or shunned by Democratic candidates and donors.
.The running tally of seats flipped nationally from Red to Blue during the 2018 Mid-term Election: 40+ US House seats flipped
7 Gov seats flipped
7 new state leg majorities
5 Republican super majorities in state legislatures broken this cycle
4 AG seats flipped
4 State Treasurer seats flipped
2 SOS seats flipped
2 Senate seats flipped
380 state legislative seats flipped this cycle with some run-offs pending.
The recount is complete and Joanna has conceded to the incumbent. Ms. Cattanch ran an exceptional campaign in a predominately Republican district. She has succeeded in showing that this seat is competitive. In 2016 Terry Meza was very close to flipping a DFW Metroplex Texas House seat from a GOP Incumbent. On January 8th, 2019 she will be sworn into office as that district's State Representative. Terry is a good role model for Joanna. Perhaps we will see Ms. Cattanach sworn into office in January 2021!
Press Release by Cattanach for State Representative Campaign:
"We have officially filed paperwork with the Secretary of State requesting a recount. As of Tuesday, the vote differential in this race is 221 as compared to 440 on Election Night. That amounts to 0.28 percentage difference. Recounts are not automatic in Texas and require a payment based on number of precincts and other fees.
We have—as part of the process—continued watching the count because every vote does matter! Our volunteer poll watchers have stayed in the Elections Office around the clock to make sure the count is transparent and fair. Because the unofficial election counting has included provisional, military and absentee ballots, we are only now able to request an official recount.
Thank you to those who’ve served as poll watchers! We will need more so please send an email if you are available to serve to: info@joannafortexas.com
We are also accepting contributions to the recount effort online or via mail to: 6333 E. Mockingbird Ln. Suite 147-537
Dallas, Texas 75214.
Thank you for your support and encouragement! Let’s keep going.
Team Joanna"
-- show them the composition of the 116th US Congress.
Of the 102 Women in the US House,
only 19 are Republicans.
I think this is because too many women, especially Republican women, are content to keep on making the coffee while the men make the decisions. Democratic women make coffee too, but we decide what brand to buy and insist on having a fair shot at chairing the meeting.
Granted, there are Republican women who are elected officials. However, there are more Democratic Women in higher offices than Republicans.
It is not easy to get men to share power,
even with other men.
White men, especially White Republican men vote for women much more rarely than White Democratic men, Latino men or Black men.
Women help keep men in power. Over 50% of the US population is female but women have less than 20% representation in the 115th Congress and slightly under 25% in the 116th Congress which will be seated in January 2019.
Republican women are more likely to vote for a man than for a woman.
The numbers tell it loud and clear.
If you are female, and you want to serve in the US HOUSE or SENATE, you are five times more likely not to be elected if you run as a Republican than if you are a Democrat.
Republicans elect women to serve in honorary positions where they make few decisions. For example,most of the Republican electors in the 2016 Texas Electoral College were women. They were bound electors pledged to support the Republican Convention's choice of candidates. Republicans are generous in electing women to the electoral college because they send them as bound electors -- not in positions to actually make decisions.
Republicans like having tokens. They like having a few Blacks and Latinos in the crowd. It makes the party It looks more inclusive if they have a person of color immediately behind the candidate for photo ops.
Even women corporate CEOs rarely win the nomination of the Republican party for President, Senate or US House of Representatives.They are more likely to be chosen as a Vice-Presidential running mate than for positions with greater immediate power.
Again, the numbers tell it all.
The Republican party has never
nominated a woman for president.
Out of 25 GOP controlled US House seats in the Texas delegation and 2 Senatorial Seats, the Republicans have only one woman in the Texas delegation in the 114th and 115th Congress. Texas has been really slow to elect women to Congress. Most Congressional seats are gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
In the history of Texas, only one Texas woman has ever been elected to the Senate, and she won with strong independent and cross-over partisan support.
Currently, neither of the Republican senators from Texas is female.
Democrats controlled only 11 Congressional seats in 2014 and 2016, but three of the Democratic U.S. Representatives are female.
Following the 2018 mid-term election, the number of women in the Texas Federal delegation doubled. None of the new Congresswomen from Texas are Republican.
Texas Republicans did not add any women or persons of color into their federal delegation. Republicans lost two congressional seats: one to a Democratic woman (Lizzie Fletcher - US TX 7) and one to a Black Democratic man (Colin Allred - US TX 32).
Two of the 11 Democratic Congressional seats vacated by the resignation of Democratic Congressmen will be filled in the 116th Congress by former El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar and former Texas State Senator Sylvia Garcia, the first Latinas to serve in the US Congress.
Ideology aside, there is a vast difference between the parties. A mere photo of the Republican Federal Delegation from Texas and of the Democratic Federal Delegation from Texas clearly shows that Republican voters are much less inclusive than Democratic voters.
Nationwide, that same reality is reflected in the composition of the 115th and the 116th US Congress.
If there were no difference, we would have many more women in the US House and Senate.
If Republican women were as likely to be elected as Democratic women, this year, instead of approaching 25% female in the US House, we would be approaching 40%.
Republican women need to wake up.
You can continue playing the little woman who is the worker bee while letting the boys make the decisions for you, or you can think for yourself and step into roles where you forge your own destiny. Until you do, your daughters are bound to old tyrannies, and those who are forging our own paths are obstructed by the decisions of men you enable and propel into power.
The biggest obstacle in America today
is not Donald Trump.
It is that too many women
underestimate our own worth,
decision making ability and competence.
We settle for too little.. As long as one woman works and votes against her own self interest, we are all hindered in our journey. We may think that labels such as liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican or Independent are the great divide. I think the bigger divide is between those who are daring to swim for our lives and those who stand on the shore yelling that women have no business being in the water.
For Action Alerts join the alert Texas Citizen network on FB. Tell your activist friends about this network. It is moderated by Faith Chatham and will be the primary site where she posts action alerts in 2019. It is a site for action on women's issues, health care, the environment, government corruption, etc.
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Austin, TX— This evening, ABC13 Houston reported that the Texas Secretary of State and election administrators knew about voting machine malfunctions for years and refused to do anything about it.
The malfunction can lead to straight-ticket Democratic voters casting a ballot for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz if they don’t review and correct their ballot before pressing the red cast button.
Highlights:
Ft. Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham said, “he’s talked to the Secretary of State more than once about the problem. It has not been fixed aside from signs provided by the Secretary of State to warn voters to check their selections.”
“Sam Taylor, at the Texas Secretary of State’s office, tells 13 Investigates the problem is “user error” and not something their office could fix. Taylor suggests a vendor could or should handle any upgrades, but the state has not asked vendors to do so.”Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued the following statement:
“The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that you have one. And the Texas Secretary of State’s office has one. This is not a new problem, their office knew about potential flaws in their voting machines and chose to ignore them for years.
“Instead of owning up to their mistake, Texas’ Republican government blamed voters and did nothing.
“The Texas Democratic Party demands the Texas Secretary of State take responsibility for their failures and immediately take action to inform voters to double-check their ballots.”
Actions the Texas Secretary of State could take right now to inform voters:
Launch a statewide public service announcement to inform voters on broadcast and cable television in multiple languages.
Launch a comprehensive voter information program in multiple languages through radio, digital, and print advertisements.
Train poll workers to verbally remind voters to double-check their ballot.
Post additional signs reminding voters to check their ballots before submitting.
As of June 2018, Texas ranks 21st highest (out of 51) in UNEMPLOYMENT. Under Abbott and the GOP controlled Texas Legislature, the annual growth in GDP (5 year increase) has not trickled down to the middle class. Growth in GDP can mask the overall wealth of the average Texan because GDP can reflect wealth which flows through Texas companies to out-of-state or international stock holders. EMPLOYMENT FIGURES reflects wealth actually in the accounts of residents which is available for housing, food, clothing, education, recreation. These are the expenditures which fuel the local economy. Under Abbott, higher percentage of Texans are unemployed than in 30 of the nation's other states. Since Texas is one of the states with the greatest population, 4% of Texans is a much greater number of unemployed people than in any of the other states with higher rates of unemployment.
BOTTOM LINE: Under Greg Abbott's watch, more people in Texas are unemployed than in most other places in the United States. The growth in wealth in Texas is channeled into the bank accounts of a relatively few people instead of being spread out throughout the population. Despite a 1.9% increase in job creation, the majority of new jobs are either not full-time or at pay rates high enough to rank as "living wage pay rates".
I love how they fight for us with all they've got during session and then don't leave anything on the field during GOTV crunch time fighting to help other women win seats in the Texas Leg.
Currently in the Texas Legislature:
AND SOME OF THOSE WOMEN INCUMBENTS ARE REPUBLICANS).
That is 19% of the Texas House and 25.8% of the Texas Senate to represent women who make up 52% of the Texas Population.
In the US House and Senate Texas women are even more under represented. Here is a graphic which shows where we stand on the Federal side. We didn't gain a single seat in 2016!
YEP, THAT IS RIGHT. 2016 and 2018 have identical statistics. We did not gain one seat in 2016.
Therefore, we must vote in 2018 like our lives depend on it BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES!
On the Federal side, Texas has two Democratic US Congresswomen (Eddie Bernice Johnson and Sheila Jackson Lee) and one Republican (Kay Granger) out of 36 members of Congress and two senators.
When we go to court, there are probably going to be Republican men hearing our cases.
Gals,we have to stop putting these men in charge of everything without sending enough women to temper what cliff's they decided to drive us over!
Looking at the importance of the campaigns of Lupe Valdez, Kim Olson and Joi Chevalier this year:
Electing Lupe, Kim and Joi would put women into
4 out of 9of the statewide non-judicial offices.
Electing one would give women a 22% representation,
Electing twoof the three will raise it to a 33% representation.
Electing all three (if the current Railroad commissioner is re-elected) will give 52% of Texas' population 44% representation on our non-judicial statewide offices.
I applaud Rep. Celia Israel, Gina Hinojosa and Donna Howard for putting everything they have out there to make this happen. They are traveling the state helping other women GOTV in towns outside their district. Lupe, Kim and Joi are traveling over 4,700 miles in 10 days during this last GOTV crunch to meet citizens in 50 towns!
Each of us needs to stop being shy about talking to neighbors and strangers about how important this election is.
If you need an icebreaker, use a PINK WAVE Button.
THE POLITICAL TAKE OVER OF TEXAS spilled over into an alliance between those who financed the hit ads in the 2002-2006 election cycles which led to redistricting (gerrymandering) in Texas which solidified Republican control of the state wide offices and judiciary and solid Republican pro gun majorities in both the Texas Legislature and Texas' US delegation to Congress Gregg Abbott has strong ties to the gun advocate groups who fronted as the Law Enforcement Alliance to run hit ads against his Democratic Opponent in the 2002 Attorney General's race.
That has morphed into a take-over of the NRA by right wing political operatives with an agenda much more far-reaching than gun safety. Despite solid evidence that the NRA aligned itself with Russian government sponsored gun rights money interest who funneled (money laundered) millions of Russian rubles into the US Presidential and many US Congressional races in 2016, Greg Abbott refuses to distance himself from the corrupted (actually treasonous) NRA!
This year in Texas there is a sane, gun totting actual law enforcement professional challenging Greg Abbott for Governor. Lupe Valdez is much more closely aligned with the original mission of the NRA (when it actually used membership dues to educate people on gun safety and to get gun owners to lock up their weapons to keep them out of the hands of children) than Greg Abbott, whose entanglement with the NRA is most probably tied to his addiction to their generous monetary support of him.
Valdez does not have her hands and never has had her hands in the pockets of the NRA or any gun lobby like Greg Abbotf does (and has since 2002). She is always armed and supports gun ownership but unlike Greg Abbott, sees gun violence as a problem which must be address by strict background checks, keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and those with histories of violence.
Valdez says: "People who do not settle their disputes without violence have no business being armed." Abbott says everyone has the right to buy any arm they want. Valdez (a retired Captain of a US National Guard Tank Battalion) says: "Some guns are designed for military use - to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. They have no business in civilian use on our streets."
Texans have a clear choice this year. It is between a sane, solid "unbought and unbossed" former law enforcement administrator and an opportunist who uses sound bites to create the illusion which are contrary to what he actually does or promotes.
We need a governor who will face the tough realities of Texas instead of the "pay to play" Abbott whose appointees are usually his campaign donors or former lobbyists who are agents of his campaign donors. Lupe Valdez is the sane choice for Texans this year for Governor.
Article 4: Section 7 of the Texas Constitution names the Governor as COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF MILITARY FORCES. "He shall be Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the State, except when they are called into actual service of the United States. He shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions."
Lupe Valdez - Retired Military officer served as Captain in the US National Guard leading a tank battalion. She also has 17 years of Federal Service as a civilian in addition to being the former Sheriff of Dallas County. She was :
Inspector for the General Services Administration (GSA)
Senior Federal Agent, working undercover in Latin America on drug interdiction and money laundering.
Valdez was elected Sheriff of Dallas County in 2004 and re-elected three times:
She was the first Democrat to be elected county wide in Dallas County in decades.
The only woman or person of color ever to serve as Sheriff of Dallas County.
She was re-elected 3 times before retiring in Dec. 2017 to run for Governor of Texas.
Valdez inherited a department which was out of compliance for jail overcrowding, being understaffed and unsanitary. She had to persuade the County Commissioners and citizens to appropriate funds and seek grants necessary for substantial improvements at the jail. She was not able to solve all of the problems immediately, but once she got the jail into compliance, she kept it that way.She implemented community policing, placing people of color and women in supervisory roles, and redeployed officers so that they more closely represented the people in the neighborhoods. She told her officers: "The first time someone meets you shouldn't be when you are arresting them. Get out there and meet people doing community service."
Valdez says: "Most people in the jail have not been convicted of anything. Even those who have should be treated with respect."
Valdez is accustomed to standing out in the crowd. She was the only Latina Sheriff in the USA and oversaw the 7th largest Sheriff's department in the USA.
The daughter of migrant farm workers, Lupe Valdez worked three jobs to pay her way through college. She prioritizes education and seeks to give all people in Texas a pathway upward. "I am where I am because this state gave me the opportunity to get an education, to work and to serve. I want everyone to have the opportunities that I've had." She say that "I've got mine, too bad about yours!" is an attitude that too many elected official have which for sake of the people of this state should to stop!
Most of Lupe Valdez’ adult life has been in uniform. She enlisted in the US National Guard as a young woman, and rose to the rank of Captain over a mostly male tank battalion before entering Federal Service. Photo from LupeValdez.com
Valdez faces incumbent Greg Abbott in the General Election. Abbott has a war chest, rich with special interest money acquired during decades as a state official, which is 51 times bigger than Valdez's. Abbott continues to raise money and is channeling millions into the campaign coffers of other Republicans (especially those allied with Donald Trump and the Freedom Caucus.
Abbott, a darling of the gun lobby, and Valdez disagree on gun laws. Valdez, who is always armed and has been continually in a profession where being armed is requirement, favors concealed carry. Unlike Abbott, who rose to power through the support of the gun lobby, Valdez sees gun violence as a threat to civil society. Abbott seeks no restraints on gun ownership.
Shootings in schools have the attention of both candidates. Abbott held a highly publicized town hall on School Violence after a recent massacre at a central Texas school. His solution is arming teachers, a proposal very unpopular with most classroom teachers who have concerns about being able to secure a firearm in a classroom of children or teenagers.
Valdez opposes arming teachers.
She says: “We must provide security for the schools. It is the teachers job to teach and our job to keep them safe.” Valdez is emphatic: “Those who cannot settle disputes without violence, have no business carrying a gun.”
Long before the NRA endorsed Abbott for Governor, he forged an alliance with the gun lobby.
Abbott’s history with the gun lobby dates back to 2002 when the gun lobby used a law enforcement front group to quietly help elect Abbott as Texas attorney general. Frank Smyth wrote in 2017: Back then, Democrats still held a majority in the Texas state house and in the Texas delegation to Congress. It was a time when the gun lobby was learning how to reach out to other right-leaning groups, forging alliances that predated both the Tea Party and the Trump campaign. It was the beginning of a redistricting or “gerrymandering” process that has since helped bring the Republican party in Texas and other states to unprecedented political power.
...But ever since he ran for his first Texas legislative seat more than twenty years ago, Abbott has been a steady advocate for expanding Texans’ access to guns. He has earned a100 percent approval ratingfrom the National Rifle Association, and is proud of it.
Valdez is also an advocate for private gun ownership, however, unlike Abbott, she has no ties to the gun lobby. She favors stronger background checks, keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, domestic abusers and other persons with a history of violence.
She says that ‘some weapons are designed for military combat, designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Those weapons have no business on our streets.’
Valdez lives simply and her campaign reflects her down-to-earth basic lifestyle. She has driven herself, usually with one staffer, from town to town in her pickup truck this year, being on the road constantly since January when she declared for Governor.
Valdez greets citizens at a campaign stop in Round Rock, Texas Friday afternoon, Oct. 20, 2018. Photo by Linda Brooks
Now she has embarked on a 4700 mile but trip for to make almost 50 campaign stops in ten days this month. She is on bus with other statewide Democratic Nominees (Mike Collier for Lt. Gov,., Kim Olson for Agriculture Commissioner, Joi Chevalier for Comptroller, Justin Nelson for Attorney General and other). When that ends, she will head out again to meet citizens in other towns where they live. They are keeping in touch with supporters through the twitter hashtag: #FairShotTour
Some view Valdez’s campaign with wistful nostalgia. A daughter of San Antonio, this is the Tri-centennial celebration year of the founding of Lupe’s home town. One of her campaign buttons reflects her historic race as the first Latina woman to run for Governor in the history of Texas. A win in 2018 for this San Antonio native would is seen by many as another millestone to celebrate for the Alamo City. It is also the anniversary of Democratic women being granted the right to vote in the Texas Primary. She is the first Latina to win the nomination for Governor in the history of Texas. In the state’s history, only two women have been governor. Ann Richards was the only one who was not the first lady who assumed office after her husband.
Valdez is a native of San Antonio and is running for Governor during the Tri-centennial year of her birthplace.
The polls reflect Abbott’s stronger name recognition and financial might. However, Valdez has always been viewed as an underdog who had little or no chance of winning, yet she has never lost an election. The Dallas Morning New always discounted her, sometimes vehemently opposing her, but the majority of voters have always chosen her. She was shocked when she won her first race as Sheriff and honored all three times she was re-elected.
She was seen as one of the least likely to win of the 9 candidates for Governor in 2018 Democratic Primary, yet came within 2 points of avoiding a run-off. She beat the son of former Governor Mark White, a candidate whose income from his tech businesses gave him many more financial resources than Vadez in the run-off, after coming in first against 8 men in the Primary..
She has not gotten as much press as Beto O’rourak and did not start the campaign with a Congressional war chest. However, she resonates with “ordinary people” she meets on the campaign trail because she comes from a Texas “working stock” family and understand what it means to not have health insurance when a family member is ill or how hard it is to struggle to work multiple jobs to provide for your family or to pay you way through college. She is a problem solver who looks for ways to improve things for the people she meets. She is plain spoken, down-to-earth, and compassionate. She is a problem-solver who focuses on making things better for the people she meets.
Whatever the outcome November 6th, she has elevated the public rhetoric from the divisive pettiness of Abbott’s previous campaign, shifting the focus to public school finance reform, affordable health care, solving the state’s maternal and infant mortality crisis which is more dire than in any other part of the developed world, and giving all citizens a fair shot at providing for their families. She balances the need to protect our borders with our responsibility to be humane and not separate children from their parents or unfairly vilify border communities which have lower crime statistics than many communities in the state’s interior as “crime ridden communities.”
Lupe Valdez, as governor, would be a breath of fresh air in a state whose legislative agenda has stalled on wedge issue bathroom bills and drastic cuts to public school financing. Lupe Valdez brings strength and common sense to every office she holds. Unlike Abbott who pushed through Campus Carry legislation during a time when school shooting was escalating, Valdez is the voice for balance — respecting the rights of law abiding citizens while calling for policies to curtail the proliferation of arms in the hands of criminals, the mentally ill and those with histories of violence.
As importantly, she would put an end to Abbott’s practice of “Pay to Play Politics” where most political appointees are campaign donors or their agents.
