The Chron E-Board endorsed Sen. Rodney Ellis for Commissioners Court yesterday over Interim Commissioner Gene Locke. I don’t have a problem with that. The E-Board in their pro Rodney take called Gene an insider and kind of held that against him. I got news for the E-Board. Both Gene and Rodney are what I would call the ultimate insiders and I don’t even need to ‘splain that and I don’t think anyone would argue with me on this.
A couple or so weeks ago an individual I respect told me that a Rodney supporter was trying to make the case for Rodney by labeling Gene as an insider – DUH! Really? Oh, well.
By the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being an insider.
Here is part of the Chron’s take:
The only other challenger who comes close is Locke, a former Houston city attorney who was appointed to the position by County Judge Ed Emmett. Locke has worked as an attorney for the county and already has a deep knowledge of how county government functions and all the personalities at play. However, this insider perspective means that he’d be unlikely to shake up the status quo of the board’s under-the-radar activities. For example, when he met with the Chronicle editorial board, Locke rejected claims that responsibility for recent flooding rests with the Harris County Flood Control District. Does this show that Locke is too close to county government to see the big picture?
By going with Ellis, the chairs would appoint someone willing to harness the budget, authority and bully pulpit of the position to aggressively push an agenda for criminal justice reform and all-around responsiveness in county government. A state senator since 1990 and a former city councilman, Ellis has demonstrated himself capable of leveraging political prowess, outsider expertise and media attention to successfully push a Democratic agenda in a state controlled by Republicans. Unlike many other longtime politicos, his years in elected office have done more to sharpen his skills than dull his dedication. Ellis has already drawn the ire of longtime Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack in a fight over incarceration rates – a healthy disagreement on a board that often seems all too willing to keep its activities out of public light.
Choosing Ellis may lose Democrats some power in the state Senate, but it will finally give them some real strength on Commissioners Court, even if the process itself isn’t particularly democratic.
Here is the entire take: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/recommendations/article/For-Commissioners-Court-8311101.php.
I think I was the only fella on twitter who didn’t tweet something after the Cavs won last night. I was too busy watching the celebrating on the flat screen and checking out all the tweets on twitter.
Who leads MLB in stolen bases this morning?
The Trib has a piece on the Laredo banker making the case for NAFTA to Donald Trump at a fundraiser in San Antonio this past Friday. Hey, if U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan can’t change Trump’s evil ways, you think a border banker can? Here is from the Trib:
At a private fundraiser in San Antonio, one of the hosts — Laredo banker Dennis Nixon — prodded Trump on immigration and trade while introducing the real estate mogul, who wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and dismantle some trade agreements.
“Mr. Trump, we must support trade, but I agree we need fair trade,” Nixon said, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by the Texas Tribune. “And here in South Texas, NAFTA meets the definition,” Nixon added, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement that Trump has railed against throughout his campaign.
In the lead-up to the fundraiser, much attention centered on Nixon, the CEO of IBC Bank and a longtime proponent of policies that seem to put him at odds with Trump. Hours before the event, a letter surfaced in which an IBC bank executive argued that Nixon has always stood up to fellow Republicans when he disagrees with them and that he would not treat Trump any differently.
At the fundraiser, Nixon agreed with Trump that the U.S. immigration is “broken” and that it needs to be fixed to “spur America’s need for workers.” But he seemed to differ with Trump on where the federal government’s priorities should be in fixing it.
“Mr. Trump, it might surprise you to learn that the federal government already spends more on border security than all of the federal law enforcement combined,” Nixon said. “I’ll repeat that: more than all of the federal law enforcement combined.”
Nixon added: “I think that number alone should cause someone to rethink our strategy. As it’s often said, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.”
As he took the stage, Trump seemed to acknowledge Nixon’s remarks while thanking Nixon and another host of the fundraiser, San Antonio developer Gene Powell.
“He worked on that,” Trump said of Nixon and his speech. “It wasn’t like a little quickie. He worked on that. That’s why he’s such a success.”
Attendees confirmed that Nixon — and perhaps others — sought to use the event to get Trump to see their side of some of the issues he has talked about on the campaign trail.
“These were pro-NAFTA people that were putting on the event for him,” said George Rodriguez, a local Tea Party activist. “There was definitely an effort to try to get him to change his strong stance on NAFTA and immigration.”
If Nixon’s remarks had any impact on Trump, he was not showing it hours later at a rally in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. He attacked Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, for signing NAFTA into law, calling it “maybe the worst economic development transaction ever signed in the history of our country.”
Here is the entire Trib piece:
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/18/at-fundraiser-trump-is-prodded-on-immigration-trad/.
Trump got this far trashing NAFTA. I don’t think he is going to shift his position.
I don’t think anyone is going to miss the Donald Trump campaign manager who just got fired.
Jonathan Villar who played for the ‘Stros last season and is now with the Brewers leads MLB with 25 stolen bases of course. Villar is also batting .297. If he were still a ‘Stro, his .297 batting average would be the second highest on the team.
We won another series and are two games under .500 but are now eleven out. Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and the Angels are in for three.
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