VOTE! ::: Our Endorsements Listed

VOTE STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC

We need public officials working for us who understand how hard it can be to pay your bills every month, and how expensive it can be to see a doctor and get a prescription filled. We have all heard of the schemes to privatize Social Security in the chaos and greed of Wall Street stock markets, and to turn Medicare into a voucher program where the insurance companies call the shots, all while the wealthiest Americans get more and bigger tax breaks.

This November 2, we are standing with candidates who fight for seniors and working families. We are proud to endorse the candidates below, who will represent TEXAS, you, and your family in these tough economic times. We strongly encourage you to get out and vote November 2, or cast your vote early if you can, and to support these pro-working family candidates.

We have endorsed these candidates

STATEWIDE:

Bill White - Governor

Linda Chavez-Thompson - Lt. Governor

Hector Uribe - Attorney General

Hank Gilbert - Land Commissioner

Blake Bailey - Texas Supreme Court

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

John Lingenfelder – Dist. 3

Tom Berry – Dist. 5

Rep. Al Green – Dist. 9

Ted Ankrum – Dist. 10

Rep. Ruben Hinojosa – Dist. 15

Rep. Silvestre Reyes – Dist. 16

Rep. Chet Edwards – Dist. 17

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee Dist. 18

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez – Dist. 20

Lainey Melnick – Dist. 21

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez – Dist. 23

Rep. Lloyd Doggett – Dist. 25

Rep. Neil Durrance – Dist. 26

Rep. Solomon Ortiz – Dist. 27

Rep. Henry Cuellar – Dist. 28

Rep. Gene Green – Dist. 29

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson – Dist. 30

To see just how current members of Congress have voted to support you and your family, click on the link below, then point at your state and click again. You will see how every member of your state delegation voted on issues vital to you and your family: HERE

Thank you for supporting the candidates who have fought to:

Protect Social Security from privatization, raising the retirement age and benefit cuts

Pass a $250 Social Security payment in place of a 2010 COLA

Help lower drug costs and close the Medicare Part D doughnut hole

End Medicare co-pays and deductibles for life-saving screenings and tests

Help early retirees afford health insurance

Create a way for middle-class families to get long-term care for a loved one.

Thanks again for your support.

Remember to vote on November 2.

Cognitive Dissonance: A Republican Affliction

Where Republicans are concerned, I am not entirely certain how to regard them.  Obviously, they are utterly out of tune and, for the most part, unwitting dupes of huge international corporations with no loyalties other than to their own unrestrained growth and unregulated profiteering.

Maybe it's ignorance that causes otherwise, seemingly, rational human beings to forsake logic and take such outlandish positions or do so many deplorable things as do Republicans.  Ignorance?  Well maybe.  But, with the amount of real information available and easily accessible, mere ignorance does not quiet fit the description.  Well then, maybe willful ignorance?  You know, that's when someone refuses to allow facts, logic or reason to alter their mindset.  But, what I think best describes it is "cognitive dissonance".  That's when one knows the facts but just doesn't get it!  You know the type, someone who, for years, has been beating themselves on the noggin with a ball-peen hammer in expectation of curing a headache and who never succumbs to the obvious knowledge that they are the source of their own pain.  See!  Cognitive dissonance.

Either that, or the bozos are all, each and every damned one of them, dumber than a gunny sack filled with wet Neches river mud and muck!

But Shane you say, surely that doesn't apply to all Republicans, and, by the way, surely you must have some Republican friends.

To which, grinning my very best spider to the fly "gotcha" smirk, I reply.  Yes it does, and no I don't!

Certainly I know some Republicans, and even socialize with them on rare occasions, and can't help but regard some as acquaintances, but friends?  Hell no!  You see my friends don't try to cripple Medicare and undo health reform at the behest of Drug Oligarchs and Insurance Tsars.  My friends don't engage in race and gay baiting.  My friends don't try to vilify the President and undermine the will of the majority.  My friends try to build unity between all people rather than working to keep them apart and angry, afraid and mistrustful.  My friends don't try to force their narrow religious views upon society as a whole, and certainly recognize that religious expression can take many legitimate forms.

My friends do not view single working moms and dads, older Americans, the unemployed, and working families as leeches simply because they make use of the various social and economic safety nets we've put into place to offset the disparities of wealth created by a perniciously competitive economic system.  My friends do not try to rip asunder those safety nets in the spurious name of economic responsibility.

See, that's why I have no Republican friends.  The bastards are out to get me and I am not about to extend any sense of friendship to them.

Do those descriptions fit all Republicans?  Well, let me put it this way.  You bring to me one registered Republican in support of protecting Social Security as it is right now, preserving and improving Medicare, and extending unemployment benefits with free job retaining and relocation support to the unemployed and I will shake that new friend's hand in Nieman Marcus's window on Christmas Eve.

Fight Back - Don't Lose Your Vote

Protection Available for Those Who Experience Problems While Voting

Ten years have passed since the "hanging chad" problem in Florida, and since then a majority of states across the nation have overhauled their voting methods in hopes of simplifying the process and making it more accurate.

One of the most pronounced changes has been the move away from lever and paper voting in favor of optical and electric voting methods. However, limited funds for voting equipment and rapidly aging voting machines in some areas are an indication that the country is not immune from problems re-emerging. In addition, voter suppression occurred recently when a front group called "Latinos for Reform," run by a major donor to former President George W. Bush, was caught running television ads in Nevada telling Hispanic voters NOT to vote on November 2nd as a way of protesting. The ads are now off the air.

The following resources focus on election protection. They are produced by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, who have set up a national hotline for any voting problems: 1-866-Our-Vote.

For information on fundamental voting rights and commonly asked questions, go to http://www.866ourvote.org/elections-101.

For pages with state-specific laws and pdf's with more detailed information on your state's election laws, click on http://www.866ourvote.org/state.

In addition, for information on the voting rights of the disabled from the National Disability Rights Network, go to http://bit.ly/bokzr8.

"Voters can go the polls with peace of mind, knowing that the system has improved," said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans. "However, if you do experience a problem, help is available. Don't go home without casting your ballot."

What It Will Take For White To Win

Texas Democrats have some very harsh truths to face as they head into the final week of the elections.  The Texas Lyceum Poll (the most reliable of all the polls) puts Perry ahead of White by 5% percentage points.  Now, given that there is always a margin of error of 2 - 3 percentage points, White could be closer or further than the original number projects.

Perry has virtually all the Republicans and conservatives ready to vote for him, while, White has done an outstanding job of solidifying the traditional Democratic base, and winning over a majority of younger and independent voters.  There is no doubt that White will show better than any Democrat in a very, very long time. But, here's the rub. The undecided pool is only 3% and that is an extremely small segment from which White can draw to overtake Perry.

Undecideds at this point in a politcal campaign are usually uneducated, uninterested, and uninvolved and are more easily swayed by emotion and buzz words than reason or logic.  Perry wins on that score.

In order to win, White is going to have to find voters missed by the polls.  The campaigns of Hector Uribe and Linda Chavez-Thompson in South Texas and "The Valley" combined with Hank Gilbert's focus on rural voters might be the source of those votes.  Those demographics generally are under represented in the polls and could be the "sleepers" that would propel White into the Governor's mansion (or trailer).

Even so, the key to those votes lie with the strength of grassroots activists to mobilize and deliver voter turn-out on election day.  There is one more week of early voting and reports are that the Democratic precincts are witnessing strong turn-out.  It waits to be seen if that energy will be there in the form of car-pooling, phone-banking, and card-pushing come election day.

Without it, Democrats will mollify themselves with, "At least we have something to build on, and then proceed to turn on themselves gnawing and tearing away like gut-shot wolves!"

VOTE! They Don't Want You To!

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