Human Trafficking: New Laws

In Miss Abbey’s blog, she addresses the new law passed against Human Trafficking in this past 82nd session. The article she provides shows that legislators adopted new laws. The article states that “Under the new law, human traffickers face tougher criminal penalties and young trafficking victims are afforded additional protections.”

In August 2010, the Governor’s Office awarded the Office of the Attorney General and the Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force a $291,000 grant to fund a financial analyst, a peace officer and a prosecutor to assist with the identification, investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases statewide.

I would also have to agree with Abbey’s strong stance on this subject. It is a shame that it has taken such crimes and innocent lives to have to face the fear of such a under stated subject. This is not something we hear about on the daily news, so it is never addressed or focused on. For a moment, I have to give thanks to the Governor’s Office for granting funds to the appropriate offices to continue their research. I am glad to see that one of the biggest issues is being recognized. It is time to clean up the streets and like I always say… Welcome to Texas.

Perry clarifies gay marriage statement

Recently, New York passed a law allowing same-sex marriages in their state and during a speech Governor Rick Perry was faced with a question where he responded with its “fine with me.” The critics had a field day with his response because of his strong religious stance. In this Link, Gov. Rick Perry clarifies his gay comment response by stating he "probably needed to add a few words after that 'it's fine with me,' and that it's fine with me that a state is using their sovereign rights to decide an issue," Also he followed up with "Obviously, gay marriage is not fine with me. My stance hasn't changed."

According to the headlines, many critics did not welcome the statement that Governor Rick Perry pitched out and question his conservative credentials as a potential presidential candidate. Although, Governor Perry has not fully committed or announced that he will run for president. He definitely left a sour taste in many critics mouth after his opinionated comment.

 Religion and politics are a sensitive subject to many folks and in this situation discussions about same-sex marriages and abortion talks are borderline awkward. Although Perry has a right to his opinion, I think we live in world where everyone strives to be equal and I do not believe by singling out groups is the way to handle these types of issues. Of course, Rick Perry had to go and “clarify” his original statement. But we live in a place where politics thrive on the voting polls, so they will say and do whatever it takes to win both side. However in this situation he lost.

As one critic states "We must destroy states' rights in order to protect states' rights. Makes perfect sense to me..." or not.

No Texan can be proud of the $5 billion dollar education cuts?

As a result of the 82nd Texas Legislature’s actions, the funding for public schools will decline in the upcoming biennium. To quote Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, he states “No Texan can be proud of this.” Texas has faced a $15 billion dollar shortfall and the legislatures chose to cut $5 billion of those dollars from the Texas school systems. These proposals would eliminate 9,600 state jobs over the next biennium. “`'It's a catastrophe. No financial aid for kids to go to college. No pre-kindergarten for kids to learn their numbers and their letters. Health and human services slashed,” said Rep. Pete Gallego. To read more about the $5 billion dollar cuts, go to this link .

In the ‘Texan’s Point of View’ blog, found at this Link she points out that “Education shouldn't be a burden on the economy because the children in our education system are our future.” I agree that education should not be a burden on the economy, however during the recession that Texas is faced with we are affected by what I like to refer to as the ‘Domino affect.’ If the legislature did not cut from the school systems, then they would have to cut from more state positions, which they are already doing, however daily business has to keep going in order to bring in the revenue for the education systems.

Not to confuse the reader on this subject, but schools K-12 are funded by what is known as the Permanent School Fund (PSF). This is through revenue generated from state-owned managed lands. Now if we were to cut the jobs of those people bringing in the revenue for the PSF, then either way the school systems would not be funded and would fail either way. They are also funded through grants and if you would like to read more about the facts and insights on Texas schools you can go to this Link. During this time, the state of Texas must look at our future and move forward with what we are handed and rebuild. It is a perfect opportunity for our state to take advantage of our shortfall and fix things that are broken.

Texan’s POV makes many valid arguments about the disappointment in the legislatives choices on school cuts; however the realistic approach is that Texas is facing an economic catastrophe and everything comes full circle. So let’s take advantage of what we have not lost and build off that. This could either be a band aid approach or could be to our advantage long term.

Get in the Game – Is Rick Perry trying to redeem himself?

Austin is a rapidly growing city and ‘allegedly’ Governor Rick Perry is expanding the job market gearing towards gaming cites that could potentially bring over 300 jobs to the Austin area. EA Sports is the developer behind such popular titles as "Madden NFL," "NCAA Football," and "FIFA Soccer."

Governor Perry says “"Texas in general — Austin in particular — has this young and talented and hip population that understands the gaming culture and wants to be a part of it, and that's why it's really awesome to have a company like EA that is committed to the long haul here now, expanding its presence in Texas."

The video game cites that are locally here in Texas employs about 4,000 people. According to the article Touting EA's Austin expansion  they claim that “The expansion establishes EA as by far the largest gaming company in Austin, as it will grow to more than 700 people.”

Although this is a step in the right direction for our economy, I definitely view this as Rick Perry slapping his name across something so he can gain credit for himself. Who’s to say that EA Sports has not been shopping around to see where they could expand their gaming cites at? Texas has always been geared towards sports, especially football, baseball and basketball.

In the editorial Perry Helps State Score More Jobs the article points out that “Perry was a huge cheerleader for those cuts that slashed $4 billion from public schools and $1 billion from higher education. That approach runs counter to another business-friendly principle that recognizes that education is the single best investment a state can make in its future.”

Let’s get real here… In order for Perry to redeem himself, his publicist needs to get his name in the headlines on a more positive approach. Especially since he is considering moving forward in the presidential campaign. It does not look good when every headline is about budget cuts, funding issues, job losses and educational cuts. But unfortunately those are the real issues at stake these days.

The state employees who are losing there jobs day in and day out will not qualify in the position of contracted gaming positions. So, what about those people? What about state jobs? Things are going to get bad before they get better, so I say “GET IN THE GAME” Perry. Because in the game, Rick Perry vs. Texas citizens, Texas citizens are winning by a landslide and there is absolutely no way the supporters will be on your side if you so choose to run as a presidential candidate. Good luck in the fourth quarter.

Rick Perry – Ring Leader of a Texas Freak Show?

As main stream media sites begin to inform the Texas citizens about the states budget crisis and the big changes that the legislative session presents to Texas, we will soon have a circus on our hands. Just think of the Texas Capitol like a giant tent with the ring leader, Rick Perry and his followers juggling the Texas revenue in hopes for a standing ovation!

In the blog “Mini Texas Round up” by Karl-Thomas Musselman he/she addresses the major issues that Texas faces. Musselman nails it right on the head when he/she states “The only question left is how bad does it have to get before we have that discussion?”

Honestly, I could not agree more with the blog written by Musselman. We have a Texas size problem on our hands and there is no way all these circus animals are going to fix these issues with their attempt at “magic.” The citizens of Texas need answer, we need to logistically see who, what, where and why these choices are being made. For example: How will terminating 100 + jobs in the Texas Education Association fix our budget crisis? You can read more about those state job cuts here TEA Lay offs . Now all of those state employees do not have jobs, so they will be required to file for unemployment, which will be pulled from our taxes, which will reflect on foreclosures, etc.. Everything comes full circle and by cutting jobs versus finding a more positive solution like cutting dollar amounts else where or asking higher paid officials if they would take a cut for 3 months off their million dollar salaries would save us dollar by dollar this chaos that our legislatures have started.

As Musselman states in his/her blog “We have a revenue problem.  It would be great if one party would start saying that.” You are preaching to the choir and although many people are turning their heads on this issue, there are others who follow these types of issues daily and with fear we wait and watch as our circus turns more into a freak show.

Rick Perry: A Walking ATM

As rumors circle throughout the State of Texas about Rick Perry’s possible commitment to run for the Presidential election. Many sources decide to preach about the good, the bad and the ugly. In the article “Could the Perry money machine still thrive under federal rules?” by Jason Embry – a commentary with the Austin American Statesman decided to highlight the struggles that Governor Rick Perry could face financially with his possible upcoming presidential campaign. The State of Texas currently has a “no limit” donor contribution cap. This means that any contacts or direct connections to Gov. Rick Perry can contribution thousands to millions of dollars towards his campaigns here in the Great State of Texas.

However, Jason Embry points out that if he chooses to be in the “Presidential Races or any other federal election, an individual donor can only give a candidate $2,500 for the primary and $2,500 for the general election.” Although many fans or critiques may think this could put a limit against Gov. Rick Perry’s funds, they are incorrect. Jason Embry wrote this article to get his voice out to those who are not on the Perry Band Wagon and wanted to put it in the Texas locals minds that Rick Perry is full of … money. Jason Embry recognizes the ‘round about ways’ in his article showing that no matter what might get in Perry’s way, he would still be able to collect those big bucks.

Embry’s closing statement was “It just won't be as easy or as direct as in Texas, where the system is custom-made for wealthy donors who want politicians to notice them.” I strongly agree with his arguments that he makes, especially the key points on how the wealthy will be able to get around the system by their connections across the map. I find it frustrating to read about the wealthy and those who can dish their money out to support their local fan club of a Governor who in my opinion is only concerned about keeping the rich – rich and the poor – poor. This article sets up the local citizen to think for a moment that rich and fame could possibly hold back a presidential candidate, but then recognizes the reality of the situation. I suppose this will all come down to that one question many of  us ask ourselves “can money buy you happiness?” Along with many questions that the Texas citizens have, this will also remain one answer we will all have to wait and find out.

Special Session comes to an end... What does that mean for you?

The 82^nd legislative special session has finally come to the end of their game. The Texas Legislator faced many struggles this session due to the ultimate recession that our economy is facing. The committees had to come together to focus their efforts on how they were going to minimize budget cuts to services and supports due to the upcoming budget shortfall. The state basically has to come up with an estimated $27 billion dollars over the next biennium (meaning the next two fiscal years). The governor contacted state agencies across the board to help allocate some of this money by budget cuts. Budget cuts pertained to the states overall ability to conduct daily business along with those who were terminated. This was not an easy session because there was going to be a ton of disappointment from the public. Who would have ever imagined that the state would single handling cut the one thing that holds our future, which is school education? Now what do the Texas people gain from this? The Texas people are appalled by the decision, from first hand experience I witnessed students, teachers, parents and supporters march down congress to the foot of the capitol to protest this decision. Texas simply is moving in hopes of the right direction, but the cost is high and we are giving up a lot to gain more for our future. I found that in the article The End Game: Special Session Wraps Up Today summarizes the major topics that went through the house during the 82^nd Legislative session. I highly recommend following up to see if any bills that were passed or not passed affect you or your surroundings in anyways, but none the less we will all be affected by the budget cuts.