DEFEATED: President Obama's Liberal Agenda vs. Local Conservatives

     Around the country, President Obama's protoges are seeking to extend his national win down into local politics. School boards, city councils and other local governments are facing 'overnight' takeovers of institutions where Conservatives and Republicans have spent years if not decades developing relationships with the electorate.
     Why? Why is this? Conservatives are demoralized. They have been left wondering what they worked for. The federal and often state level officials we put in place let us down and opened the door to Obama's dangerous experimentation with Socialism in America. Many are just not voting.
     But, we need not give up. We need to rally where Conservatives and Republicans have always been at their best; local grassroots politics. This letter goes to my conservative friends, local, state and nationwide. If you have a local election coming up like we do in my hometown of League City, Texas, then I hope and pray that you will help me wake up the conservative movement by getting out there, finding the most conservative candidates and voting.
     Here in League City early voting runs through May 5th, 7am to 7pm at our Johny Arolfo Civic Center (That's TODAY! For most of my neighbors reading this). Election day is Saturday, May 9th and polls will be at the regular municipal locations.
     League City Conservatives, please help begin the rally that returns our small government, fiscal and community conservative ideals back to government. Let's make sure the mock headline in the title of this blog post means Barak Obama's liberal foolishness is defeated and turned back rather than all our local conservative efforts.

Mick Phalen is a U.S. Veteran and a solid business conservative. His succesful career spans decades in financial management through some of the most challenging and profitable periods in our country's recent history. Even in retirement, Mick Phalen's leadership was key to turning around the finances and future of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Galveston County.
     His opponent, with fat campaign coffers full of out of town money, has been front and center in more scandals than any small town should have to deal with. Suspicion has surrounded everything from giving away and destroying a city bridge to dolling out city garbage collection contracts.
     Please support Mick Phalen to return a sense of community and normalcy back to League City government. (Select here to see Mick's website.)

Mike Lee, with a BBA in Finance from Sam Houston State University, brings more fiscal conservatism to the table. He worked for several years in the private sector before launching a successful company of his own, The Terra Bella Group. Mike Lee will bring a fantastic skill set to council, keeping city finances in the black while keeping our roads moving with plenty of "black top".
     His opponent, a Barack Obama presidential delegate, is still as out of step with League City conservative ideals as he has ever been. Rejected repeatedly for League City Mayor, this seems to be his "last hurrah" attempt at bringing President Obama's Chicago style politics to League City government.
     We have nothing to apologies for in being a city that overwhelmingly supports conservatives and we have everything in the world to be proud of when we turn out and vote for "our guy" Mike Lee.(Select here to see Mike's website.)

Phyllis Sanborn has served faithfully for her first term on council and is our best bet in moving the city forward and past the rancor injected by many of her colleagues past and present. Phyllis's integrity and sincere desire to serve her constituents has been evident throughout her term. Those who meet her personally recognize her veracity as she works to keep League City a wonderful place of "Friendly Folks and Shady Oaks".
(Select here for Phyllis' website)

     I truly hope that every conservative finds this blog post inspiring enough to get out and participate in their local process. Go make something happen, even if it's just one vote.


Sincerely,
Chris Stevens

This blog post is a personal political endorsement.
It has not been coordinated nor planned with any candidate nor their campaign.
No money was spent in preparing it or posting it. However had there been:
Political Ad, Paid for by Chris Stevens, League City, Texas

Right On Topic: Tax Funded Lobby Groups Ruled Illegal

Right On Topic: Tax Funded Lobby Groups Ruled Illegal

Illegal Alien Crack Down: Too Little Too Late?

From KCCI Channel 8 in Des Moines
Four Busloads Of Plant Workers Detained December 13, 2006

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- Four busloads of workers from a Marshalltown meatpacking plant were taken away by federal agents as part of an illegal immigration raid.

...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents rounded up illegal immigrants who are accused of obtaining jobs by stealing the identities and Social Security numbers of United States citizens.

From The Washington Times
Agents raid job sites for illegals December 13, 2006

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents armed with civil search warrants raided Swift & Co. meat processing plants in six states yesterday in a massive crackdown on an identity theft scheme that has victimized large numbers of U.S. citizens and lawful residents.

...

"The company was not charged in today's action," said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who heads ICE. "Today's action is against the individuals who have stolen identities of U.S. citizens and who are here working illegally."

Thank God for this and some of the other high profile crackdowns but what America needs are high VOLUME arrests, prosecutions and deportations on a regular basis.

It is a serious problem that the employer is not being investigated also. That is a worrisome indicator that this could just be window dressing.
________________________________________________

In League City, Texas, many day laborers can be found waiting for work at the "Little Chief" on Main Street and other locations. The one that gripes many citizens the worst is across the street from the local police station!

How many of these workers are legal? Very few, speculating by the fact that getting employment for a day this way pays less than many other opportunities.

Identity theft, welfare services, rent assistance, anchor baby’s, educating children, traffic infrastructure, low rate of auto insurance compliance and many other burdens associated with illegal aliens are crushing America's local, state and national economies.

What can we do about it? Legally? Ethically?
_______________________________________________


Finally, here are a few photos courtesy of www.illegalaliens.us .




Tom Tancredo points to the stated fine for crossin the U.S. border illegaly, a seldom collected $5000.

An unidentified military group crossing the US-Mexico Border.

A group of illegal aliens in US Border Patrol custody.

Your Ideas Are Usually The Best

Here's a simple request. Where ever you live, be that Galveston County or beyond. Open your eyes and see what is happening around you. Then think, take a deep breath and come here and post a list of changes that you see in your government that could save money. These can be city, MUD, county, state, federal or other.

Always had a gripe? Here's your chance to put out for he whole world to see.

Budget Corrections for Galveston County

On Wednesday, the campaign released a long list of possible budget improvements by line item.

Shrinking the budget of an organization isn't easy. It requires discipline and careful planning. It can be a painful experience. If it is not done however, families having to pay higher tax bills on their homes and properties are the ones who get to experience the pain.

Take a look at our budget corrections for Galveston County by clicking here.

Then come back and post your comments.

I’ll Stand With President Bush Any Day

I am a little sick and tired of Republican cutting and running from President Bush. He is doing an incredible job. The troops are getting the things done in Iraq that needed to be done. The economy is brimming along. We just had a huge drop in the trade deficit. Unemployment is down. Minority home ownership and earning gaps are at an all time low, not because of some goofy Democrat wealth redistribution program but because Bush's policies have laid an equal playing field out and people of all colors and backrounds picked up the ball and ran with it.

You’re never going to agree with anyone 100%. I may wish that the president would draw a harder line as a conservative but I stand with the President and I have no intentions of backing down no matter what any poll says.

These are great times to be an American. This is a great time to be a Republican. And this is a wonderful time to be an unabashed supporter of President George W Bush.

Palm Trees and Fountains Galore But NO Security Cameras

Apparently we can dole out $300,000 for fountains and hundreds of thousands more for landscaping and palm trees but we just couldn't find the cash for parking lot security cameras in our $145,000,000 budget so far.

I am not confirmed on this but I am told there is not one single parking lot security camera? Any of you insiders out there feel free to confirm or disprove this one.

Nothing a little more Galveston County G.O. debt won't fix...

When ¾ Of A Million Dollars is Supplemental

I just learned that Commissioners Court has had to approve a $705,000 supplemental budget increase for insurance costs due to the new Justice Center.

For those newcomers, the justice center was originally conceived as a $77,000,000 project. By the time Judge Yarbrough had it put on the ballot it was an $85,100,000 project with a 10% contingency for a total of $93,100,000. The project has now overspent to about $145,000,000.

The worst part is that surprises like this little insurance doozy keep rolling in. As I understand it, the first round of “changes and redesigns” due to the Architects inexperience. Now these architects just happen to be among Jim Yarbrough’s LARGEST contributors.

As I have always said, I respect Jim and I believe he wants to serve the County. I just feel he has totally lost touch with working families and what it costs them to bear these incredible tax burdens. I also feel he is far too predisposed to use and allocate county resources in a way that is beneficial to himself, his party and his campaign... It’s just not right.

Don't Blame Me!

Okay before I start this post let me say this.
Don’t just read and go on, add your own 2 cents.
I'm getting plenty of hits but most people just won’t leave a comment.

So LOOK, there it is at the bottom of the post,
“click here to add your comment”.

This can be done anonymously or by name.

Your input is valuable – it’s your county!

Now... on with the post.

PLEASE don't blame me for our Republican Governor, our Republican Lt. Governor, our Republican controlled State Senate and our Republican controlled State House being able to work together to pass the LARGEST package of new taxes ever to hit the great State of Texas while FAILING to get property tax caps to protect us all from escalating appraisals. The Governor and Lt. Governor are both honorable men who believe “in principle” in smaller government... but there is some kind of disconnect.

They really don’t understand that poll numbers are falling, not because we aren’t doing enough but rather because we are acting just like Democrat leaders and officials in the way we’re spending and taxing. They are apparently getting there input from newspapers and the massive Government Spending Lobbies who understand nothing but spend, spend, spend. I guess it’s rubbing off on the Republicans.

That is NOT what THIS Republican is all about.

Republican leaders and legislatures need to wake up and get in touch with their constituents! So what do people want in order to fix school finance? Most people seem to want SCHOOLS fixed, not just “school finance”.

Here's what I'm hearing out there.

“Cut admin to the bone then get a saw! Pay teachers a large chunk of what you just saved."

"Scale back sports programs so they’re not so distracting. (Everyone knows the benefits of sports programs but when overdone they are VERY counter productive.) Absolutely NEVER pay the coaches above the upper midrange of academic teachers – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER."

"Enough with most of those “fuzzy feel good” classes too. If we didn’t have so much of that stuff there would be plenty of time for reading, writing and arithmetic. Of course a kid needs a self esteem boost at times. When I was growing up though, I got self esteem training from the teachers who had enough of it on their own to share it as they went!"

These are the basics! Let’s get back to them.

Until then, I’ll keep fighting waste and spending on the county level.

Saving Dollars, Wasting Millions (But What About The Deputies?)

I submitted the following letter to the editor today, 4/2/06, to GuidryNews.com , The Galveston Daily News and The Post. I hope they will all print it right away because the Justice Center is opening today or tomorrow. People have a right to know what kind of malfeasance is surrounding the thing. People also should be irate that we are treating our Sheriff's deputies so badly while we pour out the opulence on the elected officials.

The banter about $100,000 for jury pay raises from $7 to $40 a day was
somewhat galling. The justice center project is $50,000,000 over budget
($144,000,000 - $93,600,000 = $50,400,000). Yet Judge Yarbrough still
couldn’t find the restraint to say no to $300,000 fountains on the taxpayer’s
nickel.

Wondering where the extra $50,000,000 comes from?
Most of it is the county equivalent of living off credit cards, general
obligation (GO) debt. I have not been able to ascertain what our total GO
debt has spiraled to but, like an overextended family, no doubt it will soon
begin to affect the county’s credit rating.

The REAL raises needed
in this county are for the 400 or so Sheriff’s Deputies. They are
struggling, underpaid and underfunded, often buying equipment, decals etc. that
the county SHOULD be paying for. This $50,000,000 in overspending could
have funded $3000 dollar pay raises for these deputies for the next 50
years.

Everyone knows I didn’t campaign for the current Sheriff but
he and his deputies DESERVE the tools and pay to perform their jobs confidently!

Check my website http://www.yourtaxcut.com/ and find the spending
cuts we need to cut taxes AND give raises to the deputies.

The Tie Between Illegal Aliens and High Taxes

Taxes are too high!

But to be fair the gluttonous overspending of incumbent County Judge Jim Yarbrough is not the only reason.

Another problem is that there is a huge illegal alien population in Texas and Galveston County.

Personally, I grew up dirt poor and I have a deep compassion for anyone trying to escape poverty through hard work and challenging adversity head on. However, having this massive illegal subeconomy is choking our governmental welfare services, our health care system, our healthcare welfare services, our school system and many other portions of our economy and society which are designed for citizens and legal residents.

One thing that will help to recapture some of the illegal wages is for the state to shift part of the current burden of property taxes to sales taxes. Another is to tax all money wires going out of the country (i.e transfers back to Mexico, El Salvador or Costa Rica).

As County Judge I would try to work with the Sheriff, local, state and federal law enforcement and social services groups to try to increase enforcement of the law and mitigation of the extreme costs that illegal aliens are burdening our systems with. Also I would lobby Democrats as well as my fellow Republicans in Austin and Washington to try to find their spine in dealing with border security.

We cannot continue rewarding illegal behavior. If you have suggestions on how our local county or the State can deal with this problem please post below.

Thanks,
Chris