Commenting on... a... Commentary?

For blog assignment number eight I commented on Coach Buggs' great commentary on the criminal charges brought up against governor Rick Perry from August 2014.

I agree with you that 109 years without parole is quite a bit excessive a punishment for pressuring someone to resign from their job. At the same time I do believe Perry was trying to sway the legislature in the republican's direction a little more. That is to be expected though. Most of the people funding his presidential campaign are no doubt republican. When you are running for the presidency, you are going to want to do stuff to please your campaign funders. I dislike Perry, but that doesn't make it right to sentence him to life in prison. One can only take punishment so far.

Texas Wants to be the Leader in Space... Again.

Nov 28, The Texas Tribune released an article titled "In Texas, a NewKind of Space Race Emerges"

           

            SpaceX is a company name that many people today know about.  SpaceX is trying to achieve something that mankind has yearned for since the discovery of the heavenly bodies themselves. Space colonization.  Currently SpaceX is trying to build a launch pad in Brownsville Texas so that later they can send colonist to Mars. Texas officials waved several million dollars of incentives in SpaceX's face in hopes of the launch pad being build in Brownsville.

           

            As soon as the Texas showed the money, many opinions began to pop up. Many Texans supported the idea, especially the people of Brownsville. With more than 30 percent of Brownsville's population in poverty, SpaceX's launch pad is just what Brownsville needs to boom again. “It’s going to take us to a whole different level in the state of Texas,” said Gilberto Salinas, the executive vice president of the Brownsville Economic Development Council. Texas has always been aiming for space superiority since the Kennedy administration. It would seem that Texas still wants to keep that lead even without NASA.

           

            On the other hand there are many people who do not look forward to SpaceX's intrusion.  Some Texas officials state that giving SpaceX millions for a launch pad is the same as throwing the money away.  “That’s kind of the rub for us, not just that they put all their eggs in one basket, but that they spent so much money” stated Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation. While Paul does have a point of Texas pouring a lot of money into a single business. It can also be said that the tourism alone can well be worth a couple of million.

              

Corrupted Government, Is it needed or not? - Part 1

  Many Texans realize that their government is corrupted, but why not fix it? Many will say that it is unavoidable and/or needed, while others will say it should be fixed and do nothing about it themselves. In that regard, which forms of corruption is tolerable and which ones should be put to rest? In order to determine which ones should stay, and which should go let us take a look at a few of the more blunt issues.

  In session voting is by law limited to one vote per representative. If a representative is found voting for somebody else in the session than they are to be punished. Makes sense, the same applies for normal citizens as well. If we are found voting for anyone other than ourselves than we are punished. As for legislators, the same rules apply while taking a vote in session, yet they all break it.

  Most Americans realize that most of the time representatives don't show up for most votes until the end of the session. Even so, we accept that since we can just vote someone else in if our representative doesn't show up enough. The ones that do show up will vote for the ones that do not show up regardless of party! The corrupt part is that they are the ones that decide what the punishment for breaking that LAW. So in the end your opinion, your vote, rides on who can press the most buttons in a short period of time. This law needs to be enforced otherwise there is no point in have representatives.

  Another governmental corruption allows representatives to tell the scribes to change the content of their speech. This means that if legislators said something controversial to what they are suppose to represent in order to help themselves in a vote or other circumstances. They can legally change the records in order to hide their lies and mistakes. The legislators say this helps to clear up any misunderstandings they made in their speech. Records are meant to record what ACTUALLY happened, not what you wanted to happen. This needs to be fixed so that our government documents are true instead of propaganda.    

How to Visit a Jail

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/


About Scott Henson
A former journalist turned opposition researcher/political consultant, public policy researcher and blogger.

•   Henson talks about how prisons in Texas are eliminating face-to-face visits. Texas jails are replacing the normal face-to-face visits with video camera voice chats instead. According to Henson, the reason for this switch is because of a contract with Dallas-based Securus Technologies to only allow video-based visitation. There are many who stand against these decisions in the state. One being Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, stating, “It is very important that we do not profit on the backs of inmates in the jail”. Garcia, along with Judge Clay Jenkins, and other local leaders and activists helped to end a contract with Securus. 10 counties in Texas have already eliminated face-to-face visits, with many more considering the option, despite the effect it would have on the inmates.

•   I believe Henson did a great job on commuting the problems and issues that our local state prisons are facing. The only real complaint that I would have about his approach is if he was truly doing an informative blog, to back off the bias statements. He states the information clearly and from what i can deter, honestly, but he is attacking the video-based system too much. Where as he supports the face-to-face argument a bit too strongly. A truly informative blog would not be biased to fit the opinions of one side or the other. It should state it's facts clear and steady so as to present the most information possible. I feel that I am not getting enough information from this blog to form my own opinions on the matter. Therefor creating distant between the reader and the author.     

Denying Medicaid

http://www.dogcanyon.org/2012/07/09/perry-texans-will-pay-to-deny-health-care-to-millions-of-texans/

About Glenn W. Smith

Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” 

   




     In this article Glenn W. Smith attacks governor Rick Perry's decision to not participate in the federal Medicaid expansion. Smith talks about how Perry's choice will harm millions of American's lives in both short term and long term effects. Smith attempts to persuade his audience by stating that Perry does not care about the people, that he only cares about his political success against Obama.

     While I agree that it is not right to deny so many Americans the financial help they need. A country cannot survive by supporting its people, the people must support their country. I do not support most of Rick Perry's political choices, but i do believe that Medicaid is draining the country more than it is helping.

     I feel that Smith does a poor job of putting his point across. He spends too much time attacking Rick Perry instead of strengthening his initial argument. This leads to weak arguments such as accusing Rick Perry of being inhumane by not helping others. Shortly afterwards Smith talks about how bad it is for Texas to help other people just because they are in another state, despite living in the same country. Smith's article attacks the points that most Texans already acknowledge, instead of giving us insight on more important matters that are left in the dark.