It's Time for A Little Bit of Everything

Here's what's on my mind.

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How come nobody has a good update from Pastor Brown and his folks on just how close they are to gathering all the signatures needed to recall their three targets? 

I guess they could be staying silent because it's not going well.  Then again, they may be silent because it's going very well and they don't want to tip off their targets. 

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Jaime O. Perez has declared he'd like to run for congress. However, he is not a republican in any way, shape or form.  He's been banned from the local democrat party for various reasons - none other being his lifestyle choices and he's now latched on to the lethargic, pathetic and useless El Paso Republican party.

I laugh at the idea that Representative Dee Margo is going to have to share a stage with Jaime O. during his almost impossible battle to save his seat next year.  I think sitting next to Besco could be the only thing worse. 

My buddy Jaime has done a good job making hay with the whole debacle that is Jaime O. and the republican party and I don't blame him for it.  If Besco went over to the democrat party I'd be claiming that he's clearly always been a liberal for years even though there's a lot of evidence to refute that claim.  There's nothing more exciting for Jaime and his friends than being able to pawn-off a party pariah on their enemy!

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My buddy Jim Tolbert and his friends (the Greenies) are still trying their hardest to get the Transmountain project stopped.  God love 'em, they're going about it in the right way - through the correct process.  I think Tolbert's leadership is precisely why this issue is being carried foward in the manner that it is and in the end will be why something happens in their favor... although I'm not sure what yet.

Tolbert, a smart guy with an interesting personal history worth asking him about, is what the Greenies have needed for quite some time.  Tolbert tends to keep the spotlight off of himself when engaging in "activism," which is a welcome departure from the normal Greenie narrative that is squarely focused on garnering attention for the individual and not the cause. 

He's organizing a petition to do what Pastor Brown did - only there are no evil fornicators involved... to my knowledge.  You can read Tolbert's introduction of the plan/item/petition HERE.

What's going to happen here is a little role reversal for some El Pasoans.   There are those who don't think the city council's over-turning the "will of the voters" on the gay issue was a bad thing.  How will they feel when council basically ignores the "will of the voters" on the transmountain issue? 

All of a sudden the argument they used to protect the gays is going to be used against them to ignore their request to stop the Transmountain project.  And believe me, the votes on council are stacked against Tolbert and his fellow Greenies.

This will be interesting if not completely futile on the Greenies part.  No matter what - some alliance is going to be crushed and it will have ramifications in the next election.

Maybe I didn't explain this well enough, just email me or comment if you want more info.

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Looks like the city is getting some much needed advice on business opportunities and Rep. Susie Byrd has a novel idea.

I hear some consultant came in from out of town and told the City of El Paso that their Economic Development department was about as useful as the entire EPISD School Board.  The reports I have heard and subsequently followed up by Marty "I Should Know Better" Schladen in th El Paso Times indicate that the consultant laid down the "wish in one hand and shit in the other" premise to describe our complete waste of tax dollars trying to "create jobs." 

I'm sure he's trying to tell them in the nicest possible way something the rest of us already know - governments of any size do not create jobs byinvolving themselves in the process at any level. They create jobs when they stay out of the process as much as possible.  Hell, they create jobs when they refuse to meet!  Especially in El Paso where they hammer business like it's their mission directed by God himself/herself.

Rep. Byrd was quoted in the paper as asking if we should invest the money in parks - and she is right.  You can't beat nice parks.  I have come to that conclusion.  You can't keep your neighbor from painting his house pink and putting a ten foot chain-link fence in front of it, but you can make sure your tax dollars at least give you a nice play to take the kids.  One acre of nice park cancels out one pink house or house with cars parked in the yard (on the rocks or grass or dirt). 

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Don't think the press has an agenda?  Click HERE.  Watch the video even if you hate Jon Stewart - he makes a very good point and he calls out all the networks including Fox for ignoring a very important candidate. 

Remember, just because you watch the news - doesn't mean you are informed.  How often to do you read something you didn't know on this blog?  Just imagine that I don't cover one half of one percent of what's going on in your city that you never hear in the news and then think about what you don't hear about nation wide.  Pretty spooky, huh?

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You have to kind of like Tim Pawlenty.  I know what you're saying "I do?"  Yes, you do. 

Men are hard headed and exceed in being the sex with the ego that won't stop.  Guys are never lost, they are never wrong and they sure as hell can't take the hint that the party is over.  How many of you have a story corresponding to the claims in the second sentence?  Every single one of you. 

Once you put a man in a position to be a politician, all of those traits are made worse by a factor of 100.  That's why I was absolutely astounded by Pawlenty dropping out once he saw the writing on the wall after the Iowa Ames straw poll.  Wow... He got it.  He admitted his defeat (which isn't a defeat in politics and that's another story for another post) and went on with his life. 

Now I like the guy.  He knows when to quit and that's something most male politicians have no grasp of. Look at Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman - they aren't going anywhere and they seem to be the only ones in the United States who don't see that.  It really says something about a man who can focus/unfocus his attention to something when it is needed. 

Maybe they made a mistake?

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Texas has added only "McJobs" says the naysayers out there.  Well, that's not true, but it's partly true.  However, there's more to this than just the "McJobs" debate.  Who really is responsible for Texas' job growth?  I'll tell you.

First of all, the lack of an income tax, deregulation and a fantastic real estate market have attracted people to Texas for decades.  Add in business friendly local governments and a state legislature that hardly ever meets and you've got a good recipe for jobs.  Oh, did I mention a proximity to Mexico where many businesses still have manufacturing plants?  Sorry I missed that, that should have been first.

The fact is that Governor Rick Perry has little or nothing to do with the job growth in Texas.  A Texas Governor is a figurehead at best.  The heavy lifting is done down the line from governor and any student of Texas government would know that.  It seems that many in the national media are not students of Texas government, now doesn't it?

As for "McJobs," they are perfect indicators of job growth in the higher income career sectors.  If everybody works at McDonald's, then nobody can afford McDonald's.  The simple fact is that for every management level guy hired in a city, you're going to need three or four people in "McJobs" in that city to support him.  He's going to eat fast food, need dry cleaning and help finding water hoses at Home Depot.

You can't have executive level jobs without "McJobs" being created to serve them.  And you can't have a single "McJob" without the employment of higher level workers to patronize the business they work for.  The bottom line - there always be "McJobs" and they will grow at a three to one or four to one rate in comparison to higher level jobs.

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Is that all I have?  I think so. 

Comments

[Old Fart]

Hey David K, another real interesting point:

* "What's going to happen here is a little role reversal for some El Pasoans. There are those who don't think the city council's over-turning the "will of the voters" on the gay issue was a bad thing. How will they feel when council basically ignores the "will of the voters" on the transmountain issue?"

* "All of a sudden the argument they used to protect the gays is going to be used against them to ignore their request to stop the Transmountain project. And believe me, the votes on council are stacked against Tolbert and his fellow Greenies."

[Texaswoman]

Sorry but I've been telling them for a decade and a half that their Economic Development efforts were lacking focus,misdirected, underfunded and producing zero results. The only difference is I didn't charge them tens of thousands of dollars for something that was as obvious as are Mountains are.

[dot]

I've never been a huge Perry fan, but.... the national media is really screwing up by not understanding the difference between ripping on Rick Perry and ripping on Texans. Long story short, when you rip on Texas and Texans (and Aggies) we will all stand up and defend our state. IMHO, Texas is successful because we limit the ability of our legislature to really screw things up - not that they don't try (Shapleigh has been pushing that income tax for years.)

The DNC's attempts over the weekend to knock down Perry by claiming the Texas economy isn't really that great and owed it's success to Obama's policies was nothing short of hilarious. Check out the Political Math blog for the numbers: http://www.politicalmathblog.com/?p=1590 By the time the weekend was over, the DNC had alienated Texans, Aggies, rural Americans, Tea Partiers and the military - not a good move.

More interesting, Perry seems to be feeding into American's desire to hear blunt honesty from their leaders. The euphemisms and misleading rhetoric have worn thin (think jobs "saved or created"). Obama has made a huge mistake in launching into class warfare in this day and age. Americans tend to view themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" rather than permanently downtrodden serfs.

All in all, the 2012 election cycle is going to be very interesting to say the least.

[Diana]

JOP needs to go away. His dirty baggage and not his sexual orientation are bogging him down.

Texaswoman is correct. Kathy Dodson leaving is the best thing to happen to Economic Development. They need to clean house and get people who actually work to earn their big salaries.

I do not agree with Tolbert, but I do respect him. The rest of the group has eaten way too many Grape Nuts.