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Archive for the ‘Dream Act’ Category

It is hard to keep a secret in politics.  I figured by now we would know Guv Dude’s future plans that he is revealing this Monday in San Antonio.

Check out CNN and Dude here.

Name the former ‘Stros skipper born on the Fourth of July?  HINT:  His record managing the ‘Stros was 254-232 including a NL Manager of the Year Award. 

A Happy Birthday to Malia Obama today!

Seventy-four years ago today Lou Gehrig called himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

Commentary will check out the Hot Dog Eating Contest later on today on ESPN2.

Commentary also suggests you go to the Chron editorial page and check out the Declaration of Independence in its entirety.  It is still a good read.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said yesterday that they had not endorsed the Senate passed immigration reform bill.  That’s probably a good thing since I’m hearing more Latino groups have a problem with the measure in its current form.  It is more walls and more of the militarization of the border.

Former ‘Stros skipper Hal Lanier is celebrating his 71st BD today of course!

Chris Carter and his solo dinger and his three-run dinger was all we needed last night.

Some folks will be heading to the  Freedom Festival this afternoon and some will be heading to The Yard just after noon and some will do both.

Oh yeah, we declared our independence 237 years ago today.

 

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It looks like the Dome will get to hang around.

Check this out from the Chron.

I am sure we will get more specific details in the coming days and weeks.  It sounds like nobody wanted to tear the Dome down so they are just going to clean it up and hope that some folks will want to rent it for events.  We will see.

A lot of folks are saying a lot of nice things about James Gandolfini today.  I was shocked when My Best Friend texted me with the news.  I am still stunned. 

The ‘Stros signed number one draft pick Mark Appel yesterday.  Appel went to Stanford.   Name the ‘Stro who also attended Stanford who saw limited action in two games of the 2005 World Serious? 

This should not surprise any of us.  This is the kind of red meat his base loves.  Check this from the Chron:

In a radio interview with Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz warned that the Gang of Eight immigration plan would prompt a flood of illegal immigration — 20 million or 30 million undocumented workers within the next  decade or two.

When asked by the conservative commentator why Democrats support the Gang of Eight bill, the freshman Republican from Houston said that it is pure politics and that it is a way to create more Democratic voters.

As for the Republican support of the bill, Sen. Cruz said that a lot of the reasoning is political as well. After 2012, many of the political consultants advised that that the way to do better with Hispanic votes is for Republicans to embrace amnesty. Cruz called that political argument “complete nonsense” and said that Washington consultants want “Republicans give up our principles and become Democrats” when it comes to immigration, abortion, and gay marriage.

Here is the entire rant.

The H-Town City Council voted yesterday to give seniors a little property tax relief.  That’s politics!

The Big Jolly fella doesn’t think too much about the initiative to add a penny to our property taxes and put it into early childhood education programs.  He makes some interesting points about how the program will be handled.

Check out Big Jolly.

Eric Bruntlett of course saw limited action in Games Two and Three of the 2005 World Serious.

We should have won last night – period.  We should have scored more than one run.

 

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In what inning do they play “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway?

You learn something every day.  I didn’t know bombs could be made using pressure cookers.

Lisa Falkenberg has a must read column today that you can only check out if you subscribe.  It is about marathoners.  Great job Lisa Falkenberg!

Meanwhile the immigration bill was unveiled yesterday and here are some reactions in the SA Express News:

Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have endorsed the Senate bipartisan bill, while voicing concern that border security goals not be used to block progress on citizenship plans for people in the country illegally.

“I’m hopeful that the trigger mechanisms are created in good faith and that they are not an attempt to further move the goal post,” said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine.

Still, Rep. Joaquín Castro, D-San Antonio, and other Democrats said the bill “makes clear Congress is willing to deal with immigration reform with a reasonable plan.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin said: “Finally, there is hope that families can stay together and ‘Dreamers’ can succeed.”

Alicia Torres, however, could not bring herself to match his enthusiasm. The 27-year-old from San Antonio immigrated to the country illegally with her parents and nine siblings two decades ago. And while she is likely to qualify for the bill’s five-year fast-track to citizenship for immigrants whose families brought them into the country as minors, she worried its 13-year path for all others and emphasis on labor-based rather than family-based visas showed a shifting priority for the country.

“It just reinforces the same ‘good immigrant’—’bad immigrant’ stereotypes,” she said. “They’re OK with immigrants coming here to leave their sweat and hard work, but they’re not interested in families fully integrating together into the citizen community.”

Here is the entire piece.

I want to wait and see what Latino groups say.

The Chron E-Board has a take today on the Dome.  Here is the main part:

The University of Southern California knows something, but they’re not sharing. According to the Sports and Convention Corporation Executive Director Willie Loston, the corporation will vote whether to approve a non-disclosure agreement so that USC will share its super-secret plan for the Dome. A mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a climate-controlled stadium.

Whatever happens today, Loston says the Sports and Convention Corporation will also vote on setting a timeline to have Dome proposals ready for the Harris County Commissioners Court’s capital improvement plans meeting in June.

We’ve seen too many Dome dreamers high on ideas but short on cash. With a recovering economy, Houston now has the opportunity to do something worthy of the Eighth Wonder of the World. County Judge Ed Emmett is talking optimistically about a bond vote in the November elections, and we may finally see a future for the Dome beyond a reminder of past grandeur.

This whole process feels a bit like diligent students ramping up before finals, with a slow and steady studying turning into cram sessions. But are voters being left out of the discussion? As county-created agencies consider secret dealings, a commissioners court that was all too willing to kick the can down the road now could be all too quick to make a decision without proper public input. While a bond election likely will be necessary to fund any Dome plan, an up or down vote on the county’s decision is hardly a choice at all. Given that each commissioner represents around a million people while lacking the public spotlight afforded a legislator or city council member, it is questionable how well the county can translate the will of the people into a ballot choice.

Here is all of it.

Here is from Chron.com:

A team of scientists, including Texas A&M researchers, believe 2-million-year-old skeletal remains may be a new type of species that played a role in human evolution.

I wonder if Guv Dude will now go to war with his alma mater.

Let’s be thankful that A&M doesn’t come under the jurisdiction of the Texas State Board of Education.  Whew!

Here is the entire story.

Commentary likes the Big Puma but sometimes I don’t agree with his takes.  He doesn’t like Wrigley Field and this is what he said yesterday:

If they’re looking for a guy to push the button when they blow the place up, I’ll do it,” Berkman said Monday to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Chicago’s one of the worst places in baseball … really for anything,” he said.

I don’t think anyone ought to be talking about blowing up anything these days. I’m glad he wasn’t asked about Fenway.

“Sweet Caroline” is played in the middle of the eighth inning of course at Fenway.

“Sweet Caroline” was played last night at Yankee Stadium.

It was also played in Oakland.

The ‘Stros lost again to the A’s last night and we’re 4-10.

 

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If you go to the website of the Harris County Tax Assessor Collector, you will notice that my pal Mike Sullivan is now in charge over there.  I wish him the best and I hope he doesn’t meddle in the business of the City of H-Town.  I just want him to do his job. 

So I guess we have us a new City Council Member from District E.  That would be Dave Martin.  Good luck Council Member Martin.

In 1977, the Yankees went 100-62 and won the World Serious.  Name their 1977 skipper?

2013 looks to be interesting and it started off last night as the U.S. House came on board to avert the cliff (whatever that means) even though it looked messy most of the day.  It is going to be messy over the next few months on fiscal matters.

I’m looking forward to the debate on immigration reform and The DREAM Act.

The Texas Legislature gets going next week.

H-Town City Council candidates start officially campaigning next month.

Next week we find out of if Baggy and B-G-O make the Hall of Fame.

I forgot.  The SD6 Special is going on.

Early Voting in the SD6 Special begins next Wednesday, January 9.  Here are the Early Vote locations:

 

Harris County Administration Bldg., First Floor

1001 Preston

77002

 

Holy Name Catholic Church – Gym

1912 Marion St.

77009

 

Ripley House

4410 Navigation

77011

 

H.C.C.S. Southeast College, Learning Hub – Bldg. D

6815 Rustic

77087

 

Galena Park Library

1500 Keene St.

Galena Park, 77547

 

Hardy Senior Center

11901 West Hardy Road

77076

 

Baytown Community Center

2407 Market Street

Baytown, 77520

 

Here is the ballot order for the SD6 Special:

Reyes

Olmos

Bray

Alvarado

Martinez

Garcia

Delgado

Selva

 

Billy Martin of course was the Yankees skipper when they beat LA in six in the 1977 World Serious.

My pal Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Chron filled out his MLB Hall of Fame ballot and he voted for Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines, Lee Smith and Sammy Sosa.

 

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The Texas Sunset Commission is recommending that locals shouldn’t be appointing their own Port Commissioners.  I don’t know about that.  That’s not a good idea.  Here is from the Chron:

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett responded that the proposal "doesn’t make sense."

"I think this caught a lot of people by surprise," Emmett said. "I mean, you have people who claim to be conservative Republicans suddenly proposing taking away local control of a port."

Here is the entire piece.

Nats skipper Davey Johnson won NL Skipper of the Year honors.  When was the last time a skipper from the Nats franchise won skipper of the year?

The President told folks yesterday in a meeting that immigration reform would be a major priority next year.  Si se puede!

Check out the story here.

KCOH is changing its format – bummer.  They’re going to a religious programming that targets Latino souls.  Here is from the Chron:

The station for decades has billed itself as the city’s only talk-oriented station focusing on issues of interest to African-Americans.

With its disappearance, (talk show host Ralph) Cooper said, "You lose a piece of this city that helped make Houston what it is."

This is going to kind of impact how you reach African American voters.  I don’t know about that. 

Here is the entire Chron story.

There are only about 17 radio stations locally that target the Latino audience.  Hey, if the market is there, what can I say?

Nats/Expos skipper Felipe Alou of course won the NL Skipper of the Year Award in 1994 with a 74-40 record and no playoff spot because of the strike.

The General finally got around to putting the Texans at the top of his power rankings.  Here is what he had to say:

“They’ve still got 10 more games to play.”

That would mean their season ends on Sunday, February 3, in NOLA – yikes! 

Sir Paul will be at The Yard tonight.

 

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It looks like Karl Rove wants to take on the Tea Baggers.  Check this from the Washington Post:

Where until now it battled only in general elections and against Democrats, Crossroads is considering whether to start picking sides in Republican primaries. The idea would be to boost the candidate it deems most electable and avoid nominating the kind of flawed and extreme ones who cost the party what should otherwise have been easy Senate wins in Florida, Missouri and Indiana.

That is not an easy task these days.  Tea Baggers have a lot of experience whupping up on GOP establishment candidates. 

I’m going to try not to put too much energy into the general and the biographer but I did hear some talking head complain how and where could the CIA Director – well, you know.  Duh!   That’s why they have safe houses!

Commentary is adamantly opposed to GOP voter suppression efforts like Voter I.D. and making up lists of fake dead voter.  I’m willing to compromise though.   Let’s kick off the Lone Star State voter rolls the 25,000 plus that have signed the Texas secession petition that has been sent to The White House.  I’m OK with that.

Of our soon to be AL West teams, who do we have the best record against?

Quote of the Day comes from Karen Hughes, 43’s former close advisor:

"And if another Republican man says anything about rape other than it is a horrific, violent crime, I want to personally cut out his tongue.  The college-age daughters of many of my friends voted for Obama because they were completely turned off by Neanderthal comments like the suggestion of ‘legitimate rape.’"

Keep the Laguiole handy , Karen.

The ‘Stros are 6-3 against the Mariners for a .667 winning percentage of course.

Nada from The Yard.

 

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A few GOP members of congress and some GOP talking heads are in big time denial when they refer to last Tuesday’s results as a status quo election.  You gotta be kidding!

A president was reelected with a 7.9% unemployment rate.  The GOP only got 27% of the Latino vote (23% according to Latino Decisions), about a third of the Asian American vote, and around 5% of the African American vote.  Three states voted for marriage equality.  Two states voted to legalize pot.  The President racked up 332 electors.  At the beginning of the year, the betting was Dems would lose the Senate but on E-Day we picked up two seats.  None of this sounds like status quo to me.

Oh yeah, I forgot – Karl Rove spent $300 mil and got nada.

Name the skippers who are tied for the most World Serious rings in MLB history as skippers?

Commentary is proud of the fact that I was the first to start talking about Dems needing to engage Latino vote in the Lone Star State.  That was over a decade and a half ago.  Now it seems that everyone is talking about it.   Here is from a story I got off of the Star Telegram:

Political experts and Hispanic leaders say that for Texas Democrats to pull off a transition from red to blue, the party must mobilize Hispanic voters, using the same kind of ground game that the president’s campaign workers did in Tuesday’s election.

And:

"They were in all the key states and it was critical that they turn out," said Valerie Martinez-Ebers, professor of political science at the University of North Texas and an editor of the American Political Science Review.

So-called Dreamers, undocumented children who were brought to the United States by their parents illegally, played a key role in that movement, Martinez-Ebers said.

Here is the entire piece.

Run “Latino vote” through your local search engine these days and you’ll pull up stories about the Latino vote riding in like the cavalry and saving some states for The President – cool.  Now you see some GOP leaders starting to talk about The DREAM Act and a pathway too citizenship.  Si se puede?

Here is one more story from the Chron yesterday on the Latino vote and the Lone Star State.

Dems need to invest and start working.

Commentary hardly spends anytime talking about college sports because those guys don’t get paid anything.  You have to hand it to the Aggies and their huge win over the Crimson Tide.  I think they have adjusted quite well to life in the SEC.

Commentary isn’t going to spend time on the general and his biographer. What is the point? 

I’ll tell you what, there aren’t going to be very many Thanksgiving Dinners in H-Town next week starting at 11:30 am – that’s for sure.

The late greats Joe McCarthy (Yankees – 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941 and 1943) and Casey Stengel (Yankees – 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956 and 1958) have seven World Serious rings apiece of course.

I don’t have anything from The Yard.

 

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My old pal Jay Root of the Tribune has a story about the election in the Lone Star State and here is a part:

“Someone is going to have to come down here and invest significant money on turning out the Latino population. It’s going to take about $25 million,’’ (Democratic Fort Bend County Commissioner Richard) Morrison said. “Until they do that we’re just going to be in the same spot.’’

It would certainly be a smart investment for Dems.

The Chron E-Board today gives a shout out to Harris County and H-Town voters.  They made a boo-boo though.   Check this:

Democratic candidates Barbara Gardner and Julia Maldonado even won their races for the 14th Court of Appeals, bringing some necessary political and legal diversity to that judicial body.

I guess the E-Board didn’t check the results on Secretary of State’s website.

Here is the entire shout out.

Who is the first ‘Stro pitcher to ever throw a no-no?

The Texas Association of Business (TAB) wants the state to shore up its infrastructure to attract new business growth and to pay for it wants us to pay a monthly water meter fee and an increase in motor vehicle registration fees – huh!  Just stick it to the folks! 

Check out the story here.

The Latino vote continues to get good run all across the country for helping The President get four more years.

Talk about a dud, here is from a CBS piece:

As evidence of the Romney campaign’s sincere belief that the former Massachusetts governor would emerge victorious on Tuesday night, the Boston Globe reported Thursday that it had planned to fete Romney’s election with an eight-minute display of fireworks over Boston Harbor.

Sorry, Mitt!

George P. Bush filed a designation of treasurer so he can start raising money and run for something in the Lone Star State.  Of course, he is going to have to run through Tea Bagger land.  It will be interesting to see how he does it.

In the HCC bonds race, there was a 22.8% drop off. For HISD it was 18.9% and for METRO it was 21.6%.

Don Nottebart of course threw the first ever no-no against the Phillies in 1963.

The team released the spring training schedule yesterday – yawn.

 

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The majority of Dem judges won in Harris County a couple of days ago.  I guess that is good.  We also lost a number of Dem judges a couple of days ago.  That is not good.

Here in Harris County in 2008, Dems won the early vote and the GOP won Election Day.  This year the GOP won the early vote and Dems won Election Day.  It looks like this year the GOP had a better turnout effort than the Dems.

I think it is kind of silly for anyone to think Harris County is blue.  It may be trending that way but we have a lot of work to do.

In the old days, the MLB used to have a 154 game season.  When did they switch to the 162 game season?

On E-Day The DREAMers owned GOP arse.  Just look at Nevada, Colorado, and Florida.  If the GOP keeps hate alive and keeps bashing paperless folks, they will get what they deserve – nada!  No se puede!   The GOP can’t win it with just angry white dudes.

The GOP needs to step up to the table and get on the right side of The DREAMers and immigration reform or else!

I like this from an article in HuffPo:

"The billionaire donors I hear are livid," one Republican operative told The Huffington Post. "There is some holy hell to pay. Karl Rove has a lot of explaining to do … I don’t know how you tell your donors that we spent $390 million and got nothing."

Rove even suffered the indignity of being insulted on Twitter by the blustery Donald Trump, who had attended Romney’s election night party here on Tuesday night, but left early after it was clear that Obama had won a second term.

"Congrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money," Trump tweeted, inaccurately.

And Mitt Romney:  at least he can take comfort in the fact that he doesn’t have to be a severely flip flopper anymore because nobody is paying attention to him these days. 

There are a ton of stories today on the GOP and what they have to do.  Their Tea Bagger brand didn’t work on Tuesday so they need to think about that.  They don’t do so hot with folks of color and women.  So they also need to think about that.  All that Planned Parenthood bashing didn’t get them squat.

In 1961 the AL went to the 162 game season and the NL followed in 1962 of course.

I don’t have anything from The Yard.

 

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I was out in Northwest Harris County this morning before the polls opened and there were lines forming.

Name the ‘Stros that had dingers in the 2005 World Serious? 

For today’s take, I think it is appropriate on this E-Day to put in an op-ed that ran in yesterday’s HuffPo that MariGirl help put together. The op-ed is authored by Cristina Jiménez, Managing Director of United We Dream.  Here goes:

The influence of immigrant youth leaders, also known as DREAMers, was felt in June with the announcement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and will be felt again on election day. DACA, announced by the Obama Administration on June 15, allows a specific group of undocumented youth to live without fear of deportation for 2 years, and to fully contribute to America. This policy came as a result of years of hard work by DREAMers, their allies and their families. For 2 years DREAMers led a grassroots campaign to stop the administration from deporting them and won relief. While this may seem like the only victory they have achieved, it is not. They have also won the hearts and minds of Latino voters. The victory of DACA is directly responsible for the increased enthusiasm by Latino voters.

Both Democrat and Republican talking heads have made deferred action and the protection of DREAMers the number one talking point when it comes issues that matter to Latino voters. Accomplishing this feat wasn’t easy. Under President Obama’s tenure, DREAMers saw an alarming increase in cases of DREAMers being detained and shuffled into deportation proceedings. As immigrant youth leaders, we came together and created campaigns to stop these deportations, while pointing out to the nation and the administration that the immigration policies they were enforcing were failing spectacularly.

Every day, we saw stories of undocumented youth and their families being detained and put into deportation proceedings and the Latino community took notice. Immigration is a key filter issue for Latino families. Jobs, health care and the economy are important but immigration is what will get you into our living room to discuss those issues. It didn’t take long for Latino leaders to hold the Obama Administration’s feet to the fire. There were just too many injustices happening and our community was not going to stand on the sidelines while families were being separated. The Latino vote was up for grabs and it wasn’t very happy with President Obama.

When the announcement was made, we celebrated. It was as a step in the right direction but our work continues. Our mothers and fathers, tios and tias, are still being detained and deported. And while deferred action was one step in the right path, some states still refuse to grant those of us who have been approved for deferred action driver’s licenses. Immigration — particularly as it affects us young, law-abiding, hardworking, aspiring citizens — resonates more and more with Americans, not just Latinos. We still need a permanent solution, and it remains our top priority.

Latino voters are critical in determining who will win the White House and control Congress. That is why DREAMErs have intensified their voter education and mobilizing efforts is states like Arizona, Colorado and Florida.

That work is already paying off — in Arizona, where SB 1070 is law, 60 percent of Latinos are more motivated to vote this year than four years ago. In Colorado, 69 percent of Latinos were "very enthusiastic" about voting in two weeks. In Virginia, an astonishing 73 percent of Latinos expressed similar levels of enthusiasm about voting this year. And in Florida, possibly the most swing state this past decade, 53 percent of Latinos stated that deferred action made them "more enthusiastic" about voting for President Obama.

Regardless of the election results for president and congressional races, we will continue to push for permanent solutions that provide a path to citizenship for our families, ending enforcement policies that have broken up so many families, and focusing on action at the state level, so aspiring citizens can be granted licenses and benefit from in-state tuition at state universities.

Nice job MariGirl!  If the Latino vote helps turn this election, give major credit to Cristina, MariGirl, United We Dream, and DREAMers  all across the U.S. of A.

Morgan Ensberg, Mike Lamb, and Jason Lane of course had dingers in the 2005 World Serious.

It is just about all over but the crying so go vote and vote for outstanding candidates like Traci Jensen.

Former MLBer and four-time All Star Dennis Martinez is now bullpen coach for the ‘Stros. 

 

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