David Ortez

CBO Score On Health Care Bill Released: Boosts Democrats' Hopes Of Passing Reform - Comprehensive health care reform will cost the federal government $940 billion over a ten-year period, but will increase revenue and cut other costs by a greater amount, leading to a reduction of $138 billion in the federal deficit over the same period, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, a Democratic source tells HuffPost. It will cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the second ten year period.  Read More »

Fact check: Premiums would rise under Obama plan - Premiums are likely to keep going up even if the health care bill passes, experts say. If cost controls work as advertised, annual increases would level off with time. But don't look for a rollback. Instead, the main reason premiums would be more affordable is that new government tax credits would help cover the cost for millions of people.

The Associated Press has a nice hit piece on the proposed benefits of the Obama Health Care Reform bill. Even upon reading and comprehending the article one can easily see that semantics are the root support of this flawed piece.  Read More »

In an op-ed titled, “Why I voted against encouraging people to complete Census form,” Congressman Ron Paul of Lake Jackson justifies why he voted “No” on a Congressional resolution intended to encourage participation in the 2010 census.

Paul claims that the census “has grown far beyond what the framers of our Constitution intended.” He notes, “The invasive nature of the current census raises serious questions about how and why government will use the collected information.”  Read More »

Click here to read my Houston Press article!

As I talk to friends and family about the upcoming Texas election where we have a chance to finally send that damn Aggie in Longhorn land packing … it dawned on me that Bill White will need to approach this race on the aggressive side and make King Perry defend every action for the past ten years.

For example, the budget … the economy is a land mine of an issue when it comes to politics for Democrats because one bad move and “boom” you have undermined your cause. Republicans are crafty and keen on distorting your words.

One shortcoming on White’s resume would have to be the City of Houston budget. It is not because he is at fault of the financial constraints we face … it is that he did not do enough to alienate himself from the problem to rid himself of any blame.  Read More »

In what seemed like a blink of an eye and **flash** we have now concluded the March Primary here in Texas. The following is the list of winners on the Democratic ticket who will challenge the Republican nominees this November. Only a handful of races were not decided and those my friends are destined for runoff treatment.

FEDERAL

U.S. House District 18 – Sheila Jackson Lee

U.S. House District 22 – Kesha Rogers

STATE

Governor – Bill White

Lieutenant Governor – Linda Chavez-Thompson

Land Commissioner – Hector Uribe

Agriculture Commissioner – Hank Gilbert

State House District 27 – Ron Reynolds

State House District 146 – Borris Miles

DISTRICT

Judge, 113th District – Christina Bryan

Judge, 157th District – Shawn Thierry  Read More »

My recommendations after the jump!  Read More »

Click here to read my Houston Press article!

Click Here to Read my Houston Press Article!

The tragic events that occurred yesterday in Austin, Texas are saddening but not surprising in a nation where everyday demagogues like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh or Alex Jones are allowed to stir up paranoia.

Joe Stack, the domestic terrorist that decided to attack innocent Federal employees with his small plane is the most recent casualty that folks in the TEA Party have taken up and declared a hero.

I was having a discussion with a friend about the TEA Party and what it meant to the political landscape of America. My friend was curious why the TEA Party was doing a bad marketing job of integrating folks other than Anglos to their cause.

Keith Olbermann brought up this point the other day where he asked TEA Party members to explain why they lacked people of color.  Read More »