Healthcare for all

http://www.texastribune.org/blogs/post/2010/mar/22/tribblog-abbott-explains-health-care-lawsuit/
The Texas Tribune has an article where Abbott explains the constitutional challenges to the Washington health care legislation just passed and signed by Obama which seeks to solve the health care crisis throughout the U.S.

UTMB-Galveston Now a Texas Medical Center Institution

This is posted on Ellen Cohen's Website. Originally the article is from:
http://texasmedicalcenter.org/root/en

“Remember, it’s not the Houston Medical Center, it’s the Texas Medical Center,” Wainerdi said. “It belongs to all of us.” -Read the article on texasmedicalcenter about the growing medical center. Ellen Cohen appreciates how important the medical industry is to Texas, and, Texas' working families.

RONDA WENDLER

"The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston this month became the 49th institution to be named a member of the Texas Medical Center in Houston."

-By RONDA WENDLER Texas Medical Center News

The official link to the University of Texas Medical Branch: http://www.utmb.edu/

"The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a component of the University of Texas System located in Galveston, Texas, United States, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Downtown Houston." -wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_Medical_Branch

UTMB Receives Strong Support from Legislature

"Between the Legislature’s appropriations and the other funding made possible by those appropriations — $450 million from FEMA, $130 million from insurance proceeds, $200 million from The Sealy & Smith Foundation and $50 million from the Social Service Block Grant Funds — UTMB will have approximately $1.4 billion available for restoration and expansion of facilities and services in coming years."

The 81st Texas Legislative session
Senate Bill 1 - $566.5 million in general revenue funding for UTMB, an increase of nearly $109 million over the previous biennium

The Supplemental Appropriations Bill (HB 4586) - makes funding available immediately, gives UTMB an additional $150 million to match FEMA’s $450 million for Ike-related mitigation and repairs.

House Bill 51— authorizes $150 million for a new hospital building on the campus that will restore UTMB’s inpatient capacity to pre-Ike levels.

The Sealy & Smith Foundation - $200 million grant.





-Jim

The Caucus Endorsements

Judge, 234th District Court: Tanner Garth
http://tannergarthforjudge.com/

Judge, 270th District Court: Lee Arellano
http://www.arellanoforjudge.com/
-"If I am fortunate enough to win the primary and general election I pledge to be a fair minded and even handed jurist, using all of my experiences to assure JUSTICE FOR ALL."

Judge, 308th Family District Court: Bruce Kessler
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kessler-for-Judge/277291366158?v=info
(The above link is to Facebook)
-"Bruce Kessler is the only candidate who is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, indicating special competence in the practice of Family Law."

Judge, 311th Family District Court: Deborah Wright
(I was not able to find a link that seemed appropriate)

Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Place 2: Denise Graves
(Sorry, I am still looking for a good link)

This link is to an article in The Baytown Sun. Apparently, there were four Democrats vying for the spot for justice of the peace on the primary ballot. Now, for all of the above endorsed positions, we are in a Democratic primary runoff. Hows that for photo-finish politics?

I was honored to attend The Caucus meeting where some of these endorsements took place. Some meeting time was set aside for advocacy. For instance, we are supposed to be returning our Census forms.

The meeting I went to was held the first Wednesday of March. And you are welcome there, even if you are not a member. Memberships to The Caucus are inexpensive. Even I can afford the dues. And they do so much for the GLBT Community.

It would be easy for anyone to become a member of The Caucus and help guide this organization forward. Its easy, and, its a great place to meet GLBT-friendly candidates face to face. Plus, as I like to tell my friends, non-profits are the best place to meet nice people because they are the ones who tend to care about the community. After all, they are volunteering.

Technically, they are non-partisan, but, there are a lot of Democrats and not too many of anyone else.

Go to the Democratic convention and join one of the resolutions committees. Help guide the Democratic leadership forward. It is called democracy for a reason. And we need you to be there.

James Legare

"The race for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, Place 2 will certainly go to a Democrat, as no Republican candidates filed to run. Voters at the Democratic primary contest will effectively choose the only candidate on the ballot come November. " - The Sentinel

Nile Bailey Copeland

The following was e-mailed to me:
ast night's election results were indeed mixed. We all knew this being an election that someone had to prevail. We just never knew how the numbers would fall.

Please take a moment and consider the amount of work all of these candidates have done, and the voters they have touched. Send a candidate a personal email or personal Facebook message, I guarantee that it will be well received.

Last night, I heard from one candidate with regards to the party infighting that this was indeed the worst year for such and the candidate feared it had the potential to hurt us in November. In my humble opinion, the biggest danger is that it potentially polarized some of our voters and may continue to do so. As such, a voter said this morning they were so unhappy with the results that they will be getting voters to switch sides and cast a vote on the otherside (R). That comment has prompted me to send this email out... Please, if anyone reading this email is considering such tactics, please consider this:

These candidates, including myself, have worked long and hard for every vote we received and we are proud and honored for every vote, all the support, encouragement, and love from our friends, families, and colleagues but to hear voter(s) wanting to switch sides and vote or even donate to a Republican candidate is a huge disservice to every minute we have been in the car driving to events, talking with voters, speaking to groups, juggling our schedules for family, work and our campaigns, and working endless hours at the polls in the sun, rain, and wind with some of the best poll workers in the state.

Do not give up just because your candidate is not still in the race we have a lot of work ahead. Please remember, there are candidates going into a runoff who do not get a break. The "Political Groundhog Day" has deemed they will have at least 6 more weeks of hard campaigning. I do not hesitate for one second when I say that the Harris County needs more Democratic Judges! and that is a fact. However, we will never get there without your support. We need it more than ever and trust me you do not know how honored we are when we receive it from you.

Finally, with one election behind us, we have two hard elections ahead of us: the runoff and the General Election in November. We have more work ahead of us but lets have fun on the way. Now, I want to put every Democratic voter out there to the task of electing as many Democratic Judges as possible. I also put every Candidate to the task of staying active and helping organizations that have given so freely of there time and support to us.

Sincerely
Nile Bailey Copeland

Houston Area Stonewall Democrats

Houston Area Stonewall Democrats met tonight to consider endorsements in the Democratic Primary Runoff scheduled for April 13, 2010. HASD is proud to announce that 60 of its 73 previously endorsed candidates ( 82% ) either won their respective races or made it into the April runoff. The following candidates are endorsed by HASD in the Democratic Primary Runoff:

TANNER GARTH - Civil District Court 234

LEE ARELLANO - Civil District Court 270

BRUCE KESSLER - Family District Court 308

BRAD MORRIS - Family District Court 311

DON COFFEY - Justice of the Peace, Pct. 3, Place 2

In other club business, HASD elected officers for the coming year. The following members were elected unanimously:

PHILLIP MCNUTT - President

CHRISTOPHER PLATA - Vice President

DR. LARRY PONDER - Secretary

VIRG PARKS - Treasurer

NEW OFFICERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 8, 2010

Media Contact: Brad Pritchett
Director of Communications, HSYD
713-898-9734

HOUSTON STONEWALL YOUNG DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW OFFICERS

Houston, TX - This evening the Houston Stonewall Young Democrats (HSYD) elected a new executive committee to lead the organization through the next year.

Houston Stonewall Young Democrats hold elections each March for its executive committee.

The 2010 elections were held on Monday, March 08, 2010 at the Stag's Head Pub.

The following members were elected to represent the membership on the board:
Robert Shipman - President
Shaun Nelson - Vice President of Political Affairs
Hunter Cauble - Vice President of Community Affairs
Brittani Williams - Director of Membership
Brad Pritchett - Director of Communications
David Page - Secretary
Andrea Ward - Treasurer

"I am excited to work with the new board of HSYD to help continue building upon the successes we have had in past elections," said new President Robert Shipman, "We are ready to work hard for our endorsed candidates and help pro-equality Democrats make sweeping accomplishments in and around Houston."

The Houston Stonewall Young Democrats is a group of Houston-area young progressives, aged 14 to 40, whose focus is to educate the GLBT community about the issues affecting them, to mobilize the community to get out to vote on Election Day for fair-minded Democrats, and to fight for GLBT civil rights while leading the Democratic party to continue improving its record on issues important to the GLBT community.

Harris County Guidelines

Attached is a copy of the report prepared by Dr. Rea for delegate status in Senate 17. This process applies to each and every Senate District within Harris County and its guidelines must be used.

REMEMBER - Because it has been decided to use an open process, individuals who voted in the Democratic Primary on March 2, but did not attend their precinct convention, may still attend the Senatorial Convention, participate and run for delegate or alternate to the State Convention.

I was there and believe that some really good things are happening in the party.

All of the Senate District conventions will be open. If you voted in the Democratic Primary you can go to the senate district caucus and petition to be admitted to the precinct caucus and become a delegate to the state convention of the Texas Democratic Party. I explained it to the precinct chairs and am attaching it for your information.

It is an exciting time to be a Democrat in Harris County.

Ron
Nominations Committee Process Report for SD 17
March 20, 2010
Ronald B. Rea, Ph.D., Co-Chair of At-Large Nominations for SD 17

1. The 2010 convention will be an open convention. Anyone who voted in the Democratic Primary on March 2 may sign in and be seated as either a Delegate or Alternate whether or not they were selected as a Delegate or Alternate at the Precinct Convention, unless the precinct already has its full entitlement and provided that the Precinct Caucus votes to add them to the caucus. For each delegate there is one alternate slot allocated to the precinct.

2. After transitioning Alternates to Delegate status at the initial precinct caucus to fill all of the Delegate positions to which the precinct is entitled, the precincts will be able to add delegates and alternates from persons signing in who were not selected as either a delegate or alternate at the precinct convention on March 2. Provided the full number of delegates to which the precinct is entitled is not present at the time the Temporary Chair convenes the Convention, the precinct may caucus to add delegates until the entire precinct allocation is reached. Persons signing in at the SD convention who were not elected delegates or alternates at the precinct convention may be added by a precinct caucus. The precinct caucus secretary (or chair) will submit a report to the Credentials Committee asking that the caucus elects be added to the convention roll and receive credentials permitting them to vote on matters brought before the convention.

3. If the precinct elects its full allotted number of delegates and alternates, persons who sign in at the convention who are not elected as a delegate or alternate to the convention, may still submit their request to be a delegate or alternate to the state convention to the At-large nominations committee. Forms will be provided in each precinct packet to record the delegates and alternates elected at the precinct caucus. In addition the precinct packet will include forms for persons not selected as either a delegate or alternate at the precinct caucus to petition the Nominations Committee to be nominated as a delegate or alternate to the state convention.

4. Each precinct or paired precinct is entitled to a delegate. The number of delegates to which each precinct is entitled is determined by dividing the number of votes that the precinct cast for the Democratic Party candidate for Governor in 2006 by 180. Precincts that did not cast at least 180 will be paired with other precincts so that each paired precinct may select delegates and alternates by the same formula.

5. The excess number of votes over 180 that each precinct cast for the Democratic Candidate for Governor are allocated to an at-large pool and totaled so that the SD may receive the total number of Delegates to which it is entitled. The excess number of votes from the precincts is divided by 180 with the sum being the number is the number of delegates that the nomination committee will select to assure balance in the delegation.

6. To determine the profile of the at-large delegates, a tally is made by the nominations committee for each of the fairness attributes to be considered in balancing the delegation. The fairness attributes that are considered are:
Age 35 years or younger
Ethnicity
GLBT status
Disability status
Gender

7. The Nominations Committee makes its report to the Convention. The convention may elect to approve the report or may entertain nominations from the convention. In making nominations from the floor to replace a delegate, the persons making the nomination must specify by name which of the delegates nominated by the nomination committee is to be replaced by the person being nominated from the floor.

8. Upon completion of the process of nominations from the floor, the entire delegation must vote to ratify the delegation.

9. The convention must elect the delegation chair.

Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month so here is Herstory of this SDEC.
Chair Boyd Richie made it clear in his opening remarks that 2010 is about Texas , not Washington DC . We need to carry this message to all Texans. “Obama has nothing to do with the cronyism in Austin ….or skyrocketing utility costs in Texas .” This is a fight for Texas . “Pelosi didn’t orchestrate the Trans Texas Corridor.”

The Resolutions Committee Report was the focal, female and fun part of the meeting. The fun? A resolution to encourage the entertainment industry in TX. “Why shouldn’t Westerns be filmed in TX?” declared Dr Teal to a lot of amusement. “Why should there be a movie about Huntsville with pointy mountains in the distance?”

The female? A resolution that Texas Democratic Women will be honored at our 2010 Convention. Chair Boyd Richie noted that he is a member of Texas Democratic Women.

The focal? The resolution to allow Democrats to distance themselves from the self named “LaRouche Democrats.” There was much discussion centering on inclusion. Donald Bankston made it very clear that we should not have to endorse or support anyone who campaigned on an impeach Obama platform. “We don’t have Republicans, KKK or Nazi’s” was applauded.

Driving Texas on a gorgeous spring day leads the mind to wondering. First to mind - all the wonders of living in Texas . Next the wonder of the future compared with other states. That led to wondering about the 2010 election and census. Redistricting has long term consequences. Longer than 10 years. When we vote, we are messin’ with Texas . It’s no small hill of beans we are divvying up. It IS our hill of beans.

So in March (Women’s History Month) when you see the bluebonnets, remember Texas is not just those hardy masculine images that come immediately to mind. Texas needs us to take care of her. Please explain to all you meet that the spring Census and fall Vote matter.


Joy Demark, sdec for sd 7
13043 Taylorcrest
Houston, TX 77079
713-467-3056
713-302-0987

State Convention

The State Convention is June 24 - 26 in Corpus Christi

“What it means when the last bookstore closes...”

The following was e-mailed to me: (James Legare);

In the spirit of National Women’s History Month, Latinovations would like to acknowledge the great accomplishments of Latina women and thank Linda Chavez-Thompson for her contribution.

Laredo, Texas, with a population of 250,000 now has the distinction of being the largest city in the nation without a bookstore. B. Dalton’s bookstore shut its doors for good on January 16th. Put another tombstone in the predominantly Hispanic south side of San Antonio now that Waldenbooks has left, leaving no bookstore for miles.
We’re not looking for pity here in Texas, but we are waiting for Republican leaders to recognize that this is an economic crisis of our own making.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, by the year 2014, 2 million jobs will be created in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
A bookstore would sure come in handy.

But despite the bragging of Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst that Texas is creating jobs, the reality is one out of three students are walking out of our high schools without a diploma. Among Latinos, it’s one out of two.
But dropouts are just a symptom of a broken system — a system that has already failed our children before they’ve even entered the first grade. Parenting Magazine, not your typical political reading I realize, recently spelled out the epidemic that is the early literacy crisis:
“While a child growing up in a middle class neighborhood will own an average of 13 books at any given time, low-income communities average about one book for every 300 children.”

By the way, not only do Hispanics now make up over 50% of public school students from kindergarten through second grade in Texas, but one out of every two Hispanic children lives in poverty.

So if the Republican leadership doesn’t want to listen to a lifelong labor organizer and the daughter of a cotton sharecropper, they should at least listen to their own advisors. Steve Murdock, the former state demographer and Bush appointee, warned years ago that, “our fates are intertwined and related. How well our non-Anglo citizens do in Texas is how well Texas will do.” (Amen.) Murdock explains that because educational attainment is faltering, average wages in 2040 will be lower in constant dollars than wages in the year 2000.

For those who don’t know my story, I was forced to quit school in the ninth grade to help support my family in the cotton fields of West Texas. It’s ugly work. So when I got a chance to work as a bilingual secretary for the local labor union, I took it. Twenty-eight years later, I was the first woman of color to serve as the Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO. After a lifetime of working to lift wages up for working families, I’m not going to sit idly by as Republican neglect of education — from pre-K to college — drives wages down.

I realize Texans are known for their big talk. But the outside world needs to know there is some truth to the Texas myth. Because when you’re born in the Lone Star State, you just grow up believing the sky is the limit. It’s true for this daughter of a cotton sharecropper. And in today’s economy, it can still hold true for any Texas child with a book in their hand.

Linda Chavez-Thompson is the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor of Texas. In a career devoted to fighting for better wages for working families, Chavez-Thompson served twelve years as Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, the first woman and the first person of color to serve in that position. President Bill Clinton appointed Chavez-Thompson to serve on his Race Advisory Board, as well as on the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. The daughter of a cotton sharecropper, Chavez-Thompson has devoted her campaign to increasing economic opportunities through education. To find out more, or to support her campaign, visit www.electchavezthompson.com.

La Plaza


--
Saludos,
La Lisa Hernandez
361.558.5068 mobile
Lalisahernandez@gmail.com

...And that was it. I will add my opinion:
The Democratic Party is the one viable party for improving the lives of the residents of the GLBT Community in Texas.

I would hate to live in a city with no bookstores of any kind.

2010 convention

1. The 2010 convention will be an open convention. Anyone who voted in the Democratic Primary on March 2 may sign in and be seated as either a Delegate or Alternate whether or not they were selected as a Delegate or Alternate at the Precinct Convention, unless the precinct already has its full entitlement and provided that the Precinct Caucus votes to add them to the caucus. For each delegate there is one alternate slot allocated to the precinct.

2. After transitioning Alternates to Delegate status at the initial precinct caucus to fill all of the Delegate positions to which the precinct is entitled, the precincts will be able to add delegates and alternates from persons signing in who were not selected as either a delegate or alternate at the precinct convention on March 2. Provided the full number of delegates to which the precinct is entitled is not present at the time the Temporary Chair convenes the Convention, the precinct may caucus to add delegates until the entire precinct allocation is reached. Persons signing in at the SD convention who were not elected delegates or alternates at the precinct convention may be added by a precinct caucus. The precinct caucus secretary (or chair) will submit a report to the Credentials Committee asking that the caucus elects be added to the convention roll and receive credentials permitting them to vote on matters brought before the convention.

3. If the precinct elects its full allotted number of delegates and alternates, persons who sign in at the convention who are not elected as a delegate or alternate to the convention, may still submit their request to be a delegate or alternate to the state convention to the At-large nominations committee. Forms will be provided in each precinct packet to record the delegates and alternates elected at the precinct caucus. In addition the precinct packet will include forms for persons not selected as either a delegate or alternate at the precinct caucus to petition the Nominations Committee to be nominated as a delegate or alternate to the state convention.

4. Each precinct or paired precinct is entitled to a delegate. The number of delegates to which each precinct is entitled is determined by dividing the number of votes that the precinct cast for the Democratic Party candidate for Governor in 2006 by 180. Precincts that did not cast at least 180 will be paired with other precincts so that each paired precinct may select delegates and alternates by the same formula.

5. The excess number of votes over 180 that each precinct cast for the Democratic Candidate for Governor are allocated to an at-large pool and totaled so that the SD may receive the total number of Delegates to which it is entitled. The excess number of votes from the precincts is divided by 180 with the sum being the number is the number of delegates that the nomination committee will select to assure balance in the delegation.

6. To determine the profile of the at-large delegates, a tally is made by the nominations committee for each of the fairness attributes to be considered in balancing the delegation. The fairness attributes that are considered are:

Age 35 years or younger

Ethnicity

GLBT status

Disability status

Gender

7. The Nominations Committee makes its report to the Convention. The convention may elect to approve the report or may entertain nominations from the convention. In making nominations from the floor to replace a delegate, the persons making the nomination must specify by name which of the delegates nominated by the nomination committee is to be replaced by the person being nominated from the floor.

8. Upon completion of the process of nominations from the floor, the entire delegation must vote to ratify the delegation.

9. The convention must elect the delegation chair.

Bill White and Prop 2

”These are the kind of politics that remind one of baying at the moon.” -unknown.

Rick Perry, Republican, is running for a third-consecutive four-year term as governor of Texas. He assumed office when George W. Bush resigned before his presidential inauguration. (George Bush leaving was a great blessing, but, our dire problems in Texas continue, read on.) Rick Perry is now the darling of the Tea-Party and State Sovereignty Movement. His enthusiastic embrace of these groups was to provide the much needed margin, a little over 1%, necessary to beat his challenger in the Republican primary, Kay Bailey Hutchison (a more moderate Republican who also has a poor record on LGBT issues.).

"We can't afford 14 years of one person appointing every state board, agency and commission." -Kay Bailey Hutchison, also "To make a political point, we turned down half a billion in federal money, sacrificed it to other states, and now we're borrowing three times as much and sticking Texas businesses with the tab" -Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Rick Perry turned down federal money from the stimulus package (from Washington D.C.) that would have extended unemployment benefits; sacrificing the needs of those who are struggling financially in order to pander to the social conservatives. He will hang the future of Texas on a whimsical argument with an ambitious interpretation of the 10th amendment.

Bill White, who supports civil unions instead of marriage for same-sex couples, has won the Democratic nomination for the governor's race. He spoke out against Prop 2 in front of GLBT advocacy groups. Prop 2 banned same sex marriage and civil unions.

Read the Dallas Voice: dallasvoice.com/

Census 2010

It is critically important for members of the GLBT community to return their Census so that we may be counted. It only comes once every 10 years. Don't cheat Houston out of Federal funds that it would otherwise receive. Mail it in.

Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus

“The Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus (TSDC) will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the officially recognized LGBT Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party at the Texas Democratic Convention, which will be held at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi on June 24-26. We invite all LGBT Democrats and allies to begin making preparations now to join us in Corpus Christi!" - texasstonewalldemocrats.org

Link: http://www.texasstonewalldemocrats.org/

The informed citizen is our best defense. -unknown.

HGLBT Pac

I went to the HGLBT Pac meeting 3-3-2010 and got to vote for which judges the Caucus would endorse for the 270th civil district court seat, and the 311th family district court seat.

Roberts Rules of Order were followed, as they always are at these meetings, impeccably. Kris Banks ran the meeting, the current president of HGLBT PAC.

Yesterday, I went to a small caucus convention for the democratic party after voting in the primaries and I get to go to the precinct convention for my precinct. A resolution I brought from the Equality web site passed after I read it. These are progressives.

Jolanda Jones, Houston City Council at large position 5, (at the HGLBT Caucus meeting) told of how she is trying to help a trans-gender person on her staff who is being harassed for using the ladies room. There may be an executive order from Annise Parker as a policy decision. Joland Jones is a tall, black, stylish, beautiful woman who speaks her mind -and has been endorsed by the caucus again and again. And she keeps winning.