Politex

Candidates forum was a little light on candidates

Seventeen people is not a big crowd, but the turnout of candidates for a forum Tuesday night was even worse. Only two were there.

It was a Tarrant County League of Women Voters candidates’ forum for Texas House District 99 and Congressional District 12. Two Democratic challengers showed up, but the Libertarian candidates and both incumbent Republicans did not.

State Rep. Charlie Geren and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger were no-shows. Robin Chester, the Libertarian candidate running for Geren’s seat, and Shiloh Sidney Shambaugh, the Libertarian candidate for Granger’s seat, also did not appear.

Only Sheila Ford, Geren’s Democratic challenger, and Tracey Smith, the Democratic candidate for Granger’s seat, were there.

Ford talked about making more health care available to people who need it and pushing energy companies to be more accommodating and attentive to residents when laying gas pipelines. She said she is against toll roads and called the Trans Texas Corridor “a waste of our precious land.”

Smith talked in very general terms about ending the war in Iraq, making health care more available and sending jobs overseas. He said he would not have voted for the financial bailout package that died Monday in the U.S. House. “The government is a lousy business manager,” he said.

Local singer records song for Sarah Palin (with video)

We're closing in on five weeks to election day. The YouTube tributes and attacks will likely start picking up steam pretty fast. Here's one from a Tyler musician Karen Wylie extolling the virtues of Sarah Palin. If you find some election video gold, send them our way. (Please, nothing too lewd. We're a family newspaper here.)

-Eva-Marie Ayala

Financial mess and Hurricane Ike may hurt voter turnout

Everyone is predicting record turnout for the upcoming election but some recent catastrophic events could muck things up.

Several states are grappling with how to handle the thousands of voters who faced foreclosure on their homes and have since moved. Some fear that those people may have trouble voting because they remain registered under their old address.

Tarrant County Elections Administrator Steve Raborn says voters with outdated registration info will still be able to vote, but it won't be as easy.

Meanwhile, a coalition of groups are calling on Gov. Perry to extend the voter registration deadline in 29 counties because of the general chaos in that part of the state due to Hurricane Ike.

-Aman Batheja

Marchant Weighs In

"On September 29, 2008, I voted against the Paulson Plan to address the crisis in our nation’s economy," said Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell. "The process that led to consideration of this legislation was hurried and closed to alternative ideas from conservative members of Congress."

"I was uncomfortable voting for a bill that left the American taxpayers at considerable risk. When dealing with a crisis like this, the process needs to be open and transparent. This process was not open, punished the taxpayer, and rewarded those that were responsible for the crisis. I remain committed to working with my colleagues to pass a free-market alternative that protects the taxpayer and allows our economy to not only survive, but thrive."

Marchant said he heard from almost 2,000 constituents across the 24th district – "many for the first time." "The resounding message sent to me," he said, "was to slow down and work on a free-market solution that protects the taxpayer."

-- Maria Recio

Speaker blames GOP but Majority of Texas Dems Bolt Bailout

In the post-mortems of the bailout bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blamed Republicans for not delivering more members and House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, blamed Pelosi for giving a partisan speech during the debate that cost the bailout 12 GOP votes.

BUT, there were EIGHT Democratic members from Texas who did not support the bail-out, either. Only five of the 13 U.S. House Democrats from Texas voted in favor of the bailout.

The eight who did not support the package: Reps. Henry Cuellar, Al Green, Gene Green, Nick Lampson, Lloyd Doggett, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Solomon Ortiz and Ciro Rodriguez.

"The solutions to the financial crisis need to focus on the people who are victims of it, not the executives on Wall Street who are responsible for it," said Lampson. "Sticking the bill to bailout Wall Street risk takers on people who have worked all their lives responsibly to provide for their families is outrageous."

-- Maria Recio

Barton voted NO

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, a leader in the opposition to the original Treasury Department bailout bill, made no bones about why the compromise bill was still not good enough for him.

“I voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 because it violated the views and the interests of the Texans who sent me here to represent their views and their interests," said Barton. 

“I’m a conservative.  I know that more freedom and more opportunity built America, not more government, more spending and more debt.   Most of the people of the 6^th Congressional District of Texas know that even better than I do because they live it every day.  Today I was asked to bend my beliefs, forget my promises and ignore my people, and I said no.  My fellow Republicans joined me voting against this massive bailout by a 2 to 1 margin."

“This was no easy vote," Barton continued. "The compromise bill wasn’t all bad, but in its final version, it failed to give taxpayers the protection they deserve.  Republicans worked very hard to improve the bailout plan by including more taxpayer protections than previous plans and eliminating the money grab by liberal social welfare programs.  There are other things we can do to fix this financial crisis – things that won’t cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Ideas we could pursue include forcing the people being bailed out to bear a majority of the costs, eliminating the capital gains tax for three years to encourage economic growth and suspending mandatory mark to market accounting rules.

-- Maria Recio

Burgess says why he voted NO

"My vote today was a vote to protect the American people, which is job one in the Constitution and a responsibility I take very seriously," said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewsivlle. "I cannot in good conscience support a bill that exposes taxpayers to more debt, higher taxes, and untold risk.  Rewarding such reckless behavior is hazardous."

"Senator McCain and House leaders, however, do deserve tremendous credit for moving the original proposal toward one that puts the interests of regular Americans ahead of Wall Street.  This is the point at which we should start discussing the alternative solutions that are out there."

"Ninety-nine percent of the North Texans who have contacted my office have expressed disgust for any proposal that uses $700 billion in taxpayer funds to backstop our financial markets.  I couldn’t agree more."

- Maria Recio

Hensarling says why he voted NO

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, was a leader in opposition to the $700 billion bailout.

"I have made clear from the beginning that the Paulson plan had fundamental flaws that were unacceptable to the American people, and should not have been the only alternative considered by this Congress," said Hensarling in a statement.

“Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are the governing majority, and they have a responsibility to work with us to solve this problem.  Inaction is not an option, and House conservatives stand ready to work for as long as it takes to do this right.   There are alternatives that the Republican Study Committee and others have offered that must now be discussed and considered as we work to solve this crisis in a way that the American people support.”

-- Maria Recio

Granger Votes Yes

Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, voted "Yes," one of only 65 House Republicans -- and only one of four Texas Republicans -- to support the $700 billion bailout bill. While calls and e-mails to Granger's office were overwhelmingly against the package, Granger, as a member of the House GOP leadership, would have had a hard time defying her leaders.

"I voted 'yes' because I felt like it was our responsibility to change the way things are looking (in the markets.) I hope I'm wrong on this one," said Granger in an interview. In what she said was the toughest vote of her 12 year House career, Granger said, "You have to vote your conscience and that's what I did."

"I didn't like the bill but I thought it was better than voting 'no,'" said Granger. She credited the bipartisan negotiators with improving the bill.

What now?

"I don't know what happens now," she said. LIke other Republicans, she scoffed at Democrats' blaming the GOP. "The Democrats are in the majority  and it's absurd for them to say Republicans had to pass this bill." The other GOP lawmakers from Texas who voted for the bill were Pete Sessions of Dallas. Lamar Smith of San Antonio and Kevin Brady of The Woodlands.

Granger heads back to Texas today but is ready to return to work on a substitute.

As expected, the other members representing Tarrant County voted against the bill: Reps. Michael Burgess, Joe Barton and Kenny Marchant.

- Maria Recio

Ron Paul weighs in

The former Republican presidential candidate and current Texas congressman offered this:

You’re Going To Destroy A Worldwide Economy! Ron Paul

September 29, 2008 C-SPAN

-- John Gravois