Boo! for Proposition 2

During this year's election Austinites will be voting on many propositions for the city and state and it's a good idea to know exactly what you will be voting for. Doing a little bit of research I found out that Proposition 2 is not one that we want to get approved. In this proposition it is aimed primarily at the Domain in North Austin. The Domain was built under an agreement whereby the city rebates some of the mall's sales and property taxes back to the owners if they meet development, sales and hiring targets. With this agreement brought a good amount of increased tax revenues and even spurred new development around the area. If this proposition is passed it would terminate the agreement and eliminate a successful tool to attract development in our city. I strongly recommend voting no on this proposition because too much tax money would be put into these lawsuits and it would be very damaging to the Domain and other projects using the same sort of agreement. Proposition 2 should not be passed because it would force the city to break its word with the Domain, guarantee expensive lawsuits and would get rid of a useful tool for bringing businesses and jobs to Austin. I believe the city should honor its original agreement with the properties and shut down this effort to change how it works. So when you go and cast your vote on November 4th be sure you know what your really voting on and think to yourself whether or not this proposition is worthy of your vote.

A Small Breeze for Perry

As I was looking through the Austin American Statesman I found this article named "Selby: Ike puts wind in Perry's sails," and it seemed funny to me. Governor Perry has called for the kind of national aid that Katrina was given and he says he is doing everything he can to help reconstruct the Texas coast. The reason why I thought this article seemed funny was because the author of it, Selby, is acting like just because Perry is showing some decent leadership in the hurricanes aftermath, he thinks Perry will win a third term as Texas Governor. Now in my opinion Perry would have to get real lucky to be nominated again because if you remember the 2006 election Perry won with only 40% of the vote and I know some one will run against him and changes will be made. It's pretty obvious that Selby is targeting the Republican base in order to shine some good light on Perry. Selby is an American Statesman Staff, but his logic in thinking that he has already secured the 2010 election is just plain wrong. There is still two years till that election and there is no way it is already decided. Right now there is still a lot to be done on the coast and it is moving way to slow. Perry needs to make sure that we get those people taken care of and get a move on with the reconstruction so that those people can return to their lives. If Perry can turn things around and get the job done I might change my mind about him, but until he makes some changes I'll be waiting for someone to come along to challenge him.

Poor Perry

I found an article in the Austin American Statesman that really caught my eye called, “Poor Rick Perry: He’s stuck in a great big house with a swimming pool.” In this article about Governor Rick Perry, columnist John Kelso is pretty angry about how our governor compared himself to the victims of Hurricane Ike just because he had to spend some time away from his mansion. Kelso talks about how Perry had to be moved out of the Governor’s Mansion into a million dollar back up home which includes a swimming pool. It’s obvious that Kelso is pretty upset about Perry’s comments about how he can relate to the hurricane victims because he has no idea what those victims are really going through. This makes me pretty angry too because Rick Perry has it real easy compared to actual people who have lost their homes and other things that are valuable to them. Perry complains about the inconvenience of having to temporarily move and be out of his regular mansion. There are many people who can’t even return to Galveston because there is no electricity and there is also the worry that when they return they won’t even have a house anymore. For Perry to even compare himself with these evacuees is naïve and just plain wrong. To add just one more thing that really bothers me about this article is that our state is paying for Governor Perry’s rent on this temporary house and the monthly rent is just about 10,000 dollars. I’m glad that Kelso wrote this article because I like to know when tax dollars are going to people who don’t need it and who definitely don’t deserve it.