Refuse the Juice

I have a Hispanic last name - I am El Paso

The EP Times was a place I was actively trying to shop my writing up until I read the blog by some asshole named Chis Lopez who works for them now.

Read his idiotic blog post HERE.

The EP Times wants to be "The Paper" in town and they've got some idiot from Colorado and California trying to tell us about our community.  What moron at the Times hired some Hispanic who is less Hispanic than me to write for them?  He expresses wonder at a common Texas election practice like he's a Muslim  experiencing his first Catholic Christmas.

What a bunch of morons.  Let's sell more papers by hiring people who have familiar sounding names, but no actual connection to El Paso. We know the difference.

Idiots... Stupid idiots.

What would happen if...

Say the anti-PSB crowd wins their ballot initiative and the fees get moved to the City Council's jurisdiction.  And let's say that Ortega, Byrd, Cook and Acosta win.  Let's say Castro loses. 

That leaves only Quintana and Holguin in the pocket of the anti-PSB crowd.  Lilly, Byrd, Acosta, Melina's replacement, Cook, Ortega and O'Rourke.  Basically a 7-2 split on council if you count the mayor. 

So... The anti-PSB crowd claims that the majority of council right now are "tax and spenders."  If they win their initiative they will have put the fees they were bitching about into the hands of a tax and spend council who in their opinion just raise taxes higher and higher.  By winning, they're losing!!!

In two years they'll probably lose Rachel Quintana in that election.  I'm sure Lilly will either win her race or decide not to run and be replaced by someone who would vote similar to how she votes.  O'Rourke isn't running again, but I'm sure he'll have a replacement that is similar to him as well.  So the anti-PSB crowd will have an 8-1 deficit in 2011. 

They really screwed up big.  It's a small victory in battle, but a huge loss in the war.  Their taxes and our taxes now stand to increase significantly!  If you listen to them. 

I do know that the city can only assess taxes based on property value in most cases.  So look for any change they make to be based on the CAD's appraisal of your home.  At least with the PSB it was a set rate for homeowners and to change that rate they would have to go to Austin and plead their case with the state.  If the power comes under city council they can raise every month if they feel like it and they don't have to answer to anyone!

I don't think the anti-PSB crowd was thinking when they went forward with this.  They have the potential of really screwing themselves on this whole issue.  Actually - they have the potential of screwing us. 

I'll be interested to see how things shake out.

A Little of this and a Little of that

Representative Melina Castro tried to present the Mayor with a check for the disputed sum of money she owes the city for legal fees.  The municipal clerk had to take the check instead. 

The whole thing went down in a moment of confusion as they were calling for public comment, but had skipped some kind of ceremony honoring a bunch of different people.  The drama wasn't as great as we all had hoped.

I wonder who the check was made out to. 

I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on where the money came from.  I do this because for years people have been claiming she doesn't live in her district, yet no one has proven anything.  I am suspect of those types of allegations made against her because nobody seems to offer up any hard evidence.

Having said that, we can still comment on her actions recorded by the cameras and notes from council meetings.  That's always fair game.

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An EP Times editorial today scratched the surface of our problems of representation in Austin.  You can find that piece HERE.

We do have some clearly insane megalomaniacs representing us.  They must take credit for everything, which leads no one actually achieving anything.  That leads to whining and bitching after the session that we were screwed because we didn't get anything. 

Their behavior pretty much means we all suffer. Not to say they are all bad, because we have one or two who are good. They just can't do much from their position. Besides, if they did try to do something the others would immediately block their move in an effort to keep someone else claiming any kind of victory.

Lucky us.

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Any guess as to what the turn out for the election is going to be?  I wouldn't know.  I voted last week so I know at least they'll be one ballot to count. 

I suppose the fight between stupid and crooked in District Three will put some more votes than usual in the ballot box.  The drama involved might just lead to some civic activity.  It's a losing situation no matter what. 

Emma Acosta has landed squarely back on my shit list for voting for an ordinance that would have resulted in millions of dollars of lawsuits against the city. That would have cost YOU the taxpayer money.  She voted the way she did because she didn't like me.  How dumb is that?  Carrying out a personal vendetta against a blogger at the expense of the taxpayer is not the best use of one's office.

That doesn't mean Lozano is any less on my shit list.  He's appeared to have embraced the corrupt side of El Paso politics since leaving City Council to run for County Commissioner.  He's now just a festering ball of potential corruption just waiting to be investigated.  That's what happens when you pick the friends he has chosen to run with.

We're never going to get anyone in that district who is capable to run.  That district runs on intimidation and political cronyism.  The citizens are desperate and give their loyalties to the better liar of the pack every single time.  Many are so poor and helpless they can't see past their own very serious problems to properly investigate the losers asking for their votes.

A little redistricting could help out a whole lot.

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President Obama ate a burger in Arlington, VA yesterday.  I'm glad the President looked about as awkward as one could look ordering a burger.  If he looked too comfortable he would have lost his credibility on the obesity issue.  God knows under the new social medicine plan food choice will be eliminated due to the the cost of treating fat people.  Down with the fatties! 

I love freedom.

Open Letter to Judge Cobos

Dear Judge Cobos,

I’ll keep this short and simple.  You just promise to do the same with any upcoming plea deals if things happen to go that way for you.

Looks like you and Chef Boyardee (Jaime O. Perez) have been at it again.   Your old nemesis, David Crowder, dug up the bodies again.  If I were you, I’d take his shovel away or stop burying the bodies.  Just send him a fax whenever you are going to start sending money from your PAC to candidates and fail to file the info with the Texas Ethics Commission – it will save both of you time. 

Speaking of time… You couldn’t really comment on the matter because you were too busy with the “swine flu.”  You were obviously too busy to read the memo where the feds asked that we call it the “H1N1 virus.” You’re in enough trouble, you don’t need to slander pigs while you’re at it.  

You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a little curious as to what you are doing in relation to the H1N1 pandemic.  Let me be the first to nominate Alex Lozano as our county “flu Czar” during these difficult times.  I have a recurring dream where he addresses the entire nation as our representative here in El Paso.  You can make that dream come true for all of us.  Make it happen. 

I can tell you one thing; money in its cash form has a lot of germs on it.  Thank God we know that you’ve been alleged to handle your cash in your office bathroom close to a sink.  I knew you were a thinking man.

There I go, getting off track being worried about your health again.  I digress.

I can assume from the article written by your buddy Crowder that you’re starting your global domination effort in Horizon, Texas.  Did you even consider Fabens?  What about Socorro or Canutillo?  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Tornillo has canceled their annual “Judge Cobos Appreciation Day” parade and carnival.  Apparently they are pretty mad.

To be honest with you, I’m not sure Horizon is ready for a big city judge like you to take over things in that little town.  They got a McDonalds and a Burger King last year and your presence now may be a little too much excitement for them to handle all at one time.

I know a little place like Horizon seems like a good step for anyone with their sights on global domination, but they really surprised both you and I with their attention to paper work.  Looks like a couple of candidates who couldn’t remember taking money from your PAC did remember to report that money on their campaign finance reports.  Too bad your crew over at the PAC couldn’t keep up with the rigorous details of paper work like your candidates did in Horizon.  Looks like your global domination plans are in jeopardy over a lack of attention to detail.  It will be a hell of a story to tell the grandkids someday, though.

I really wanted to focus just on Horizon here, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about this whole Alex Lozano situation that’s brewing.  Please read on if you can spare the time from saving us from the H1N1 virus.

When you handed Lozano that little gem about Councilwoman Acosta I bet you thought he’d follow directions to keep your nose clean.  You thought wrong.  Trusting him is the same thing as giving a fat kid the keys to your candy closet for safe keeping. 

I can’t believe the kind of people you surround yourself with.  If they aren’t turncoats they’re incompetent.  What kind of political machine is that?  You can’t put all your eggs in an Alex Lozano basket and expect to have something to eat later. 

I don’t know where you do your recruiting, but you need to change something.  I’d offer to help, but I’m too busy trying to get Councilwoman Quintana to hire me as her assistant.

I wish you luck on your future global domination efforts.  Remember that in this situation the pen was mightier than the sword.  Although if you were to run around with a sword on your hip telling people what to do I’d probably vote for you if I was allowed to call you “Napoleon.”

Love

David Karlsruher (not a member of the news media)