Immigration Woes

http://rwalb.blogspot.com/2011/08/halt-act.html

     The immigration topic has always been a hot button topic for people. Wanting to pass tougher and tougher legislation against immigrants has yet to produce even a slow down in illegal immigration. I propose we should try something new, instead of making rules that prosecute the immigrant and cost the tax payer money, how about we stop creating a society that bankrupts another country. By legalizing drugs you would run the very people that ruin the Mexican economy out of business and then allow its citizens to at least get a foot hold on to repairing their own country. Instead of making our home undesirable how about we try to make their home more livable, an option that would save both countries billions of dollars.

Why oh Why

Urban Rail in Austin

     Once again the city of Austin is considering money that we do not have to spend on a project we do not need. I openly welcome any one to tell me why in a time when we are closing schools and shutting down government facilities why on earth we are considering spending 21 million dollars on a public transport system. I will tell you why, the same people who are the head of capitol metro are also our elected officials. It's high time to start cleaning house and get rid of these bums that are self serving  "insert bad word here." I am so tired of government only looking after there self interest and not the people. When are we going to learn that there is not an unlimited spending supply for our officials and there has to be a sensible stop somewhere. For those of you who object to my opinion I challenge you to show me even one year where the capitol metro bus system has shown a profit and sucked money out of the tax system.

Religion in Politics

Pushy Doctors

     I am glad to see that some of our states younger voters are not being fully influenced by the opinions of others and can take a stand against something. Regularly peoples religious beliefs shape how our government works. Mr.Whittington lays out a well reasoned and respectable argument for why the sonogram bill is not a good idea. Of course the objections to his ideas are not based on factual arguments but motivated by faith. I found that Mr. Whittington was objective in his argument and right to leave out any religious part from the view point.
     One thing that I would like to see covered is left out. How come when someone talks about God and it is a sin to have an abortion they assume that everyone that gets an abortion believes in their god or even a god. If you find in your religion that abortion is a sin than you are welcome to not have an abortion, just keep your personal relationship with God out of our public relationship with politics

Over Our Heads During A Drought

     It's hard for me to understand the way a politician thinks sometimes, actually all of the time. Once again our fearless leaders of Austin have taken a good look at our shrinking budget, inability to keep schools open, and layoffs of municipal workers and decided now would be a good time to build a BILLION dollar water treatment plant. When my parents taught me about money management, one of the things they told me was when the money gets tight you do without until your finances get back on track. Obviously this is a lesson that wasn't received well by our city leaders.
     In a report written by resource activist Paul Robbins called "Read It and Leak", Paul states that by diverting the funds from the water plant project to merely fixing all the broken and aging city water pipes that we currently have the city would save approximately four billion gallons a year. He also states that the current restriction on days you can water has been a success and that even when the policy is not in effect that water consumption remains lowered due to the lasting impression in the mind the policy tends to leave.
     If the prospect of saving the resources that we have doesn't directly speak to you and you think that spending the money in Austin to help stimulate jobs takes priority then maybe the financial aspect just might grab your attention. Before the plant has even been finished there has been a twenty five percent increase in Austinites bills. City council member Bill Spelman posted a report that indicates that in order to pay for the plant that isn't even needed,our water bills will continue to increase seventy percent over the next five years.
      The one glaring issue that is being overlooked is how is this plant going to save us water? In an area where it seems like water is a more precious resource than gold, you would think that conservation, updating current facilities, and emphasis on installation of low water landscapes should be the focus of our leaders. Well sadly it is not, but hopefully through public out cry and the works of men like Paul Robbins we can help stop the "Billion dollar mistake on the lake."

Bill Spelman report
Read It and Leak report with data

How hate speach only makes the author look dumb

Letters from Texas   
      It never surprises me how people mistake insults for intelligence. Trying to convey a political argument by merely poking fun at your opponent or insulting them lacks any merit and really any wit. Don't get me wrong I enjoy political satire as much as the next guy, in fact Louise Black happens to be one of my favorite comedians, however there is a time and place for this. It seems lately that instead of laying out a thoughtful argument,backed by reports,numbers, or even a well placed study, the dissenter justifies their position by stating that the opposing side is stupid, or immoral. I am reminded quite often of my two small children who lack the proper social skills and coping mechanisms to handle conflict, when an argument ensues it quickly breaks down into name calling,screaming, and insults.

     I propose an idea which is rarely seen by bloggers or politicians, if you have a disagreement prove that your point of view is correct with some sort of bias free data or study. Opt not to spiral down into the emotional worm hole of if you don't agree with me than you are too stupid to understand. Human nature is always to look for the problem in something else other than ourselves like some sort of ego saving flaw still stuck with our brains from the past. I once read and sadly agree that man as a race is the evil hateful beings that we are because it is easier to destroy than it is to create. Lets all take the time to promote our ideas instead of destroy the ideas of others.

Austin American Statesman: Centers would make voting more convenient

Dana DeBeauvoir the author of this article is missing the point. She states that besides the presidential elections, voter turn out in Texas is terrifyingly low and to remedy this we need voting centers. Apparently the large orange signs every where you look telling you where a voting station is, is far too confusing and hard to find. Also one might find the numerous signs stuck in front of schools, Home Depots and various other places that say "vote here" equally as confusing to understand where a person might locate a voting area. Dana thinks that the confusion of where to vote overwhelms people and because they may have to drive past a polling station to vote at the polling station where they are registered will persuade them to not vote at all. This is akin to saying because I have to drive past a Randalls to get to my preferred HEB shopping store that I may be so inclined to just not buy groceries at all. No Mrs. DeBeavoir, the problem lies not in the overwhelming task of a grown adult to use common sense and a map, or more likely GPS device, the problem is that most functioning adults simply do not care about politics and the greedy, liars who participate in it for a living. The people that are not voting are probably also the people who have the most common sense. On one side you have passionate but unrealistic college age kids who haven't had to face real world problems, feed a family or overcome true adversity, and on the other you have religious, fist pumping angry conservatives who are convinced that the world is coming to an end. That in its self does not leave you with a very wide voter base. You see most people go to work, take their kids to school,worry about how to pay the bills and as part of that growing process have learned when some one is full of bull or not. The problem is not a lack of polling station sites, the problem is the lack of someone to actually vote for. When politicians learn to quit playing to the fringes of the right and left to get votes and then just go back to business as usual then your voter turn out will increase. Until then making centralized voting stations to help people vote for the least scummy option will not increase turn out.

The odd man from East Texas

The odd man from East Texas