David Ortez

Perhaps, Rick Perry has learned a thing or two about being a career politician. His Washington style political approach puts some long time congress-members to shame.

Texas Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Bill White has pounced on some of the shenanigans that Perry has involved himself in. The White campaign notes, "Rick Perry recently asked reporters to use a dictionary to look up the definition of the phrase ‘act of god. Perhaps they should also look up the definition of kickback."

Oh snap! Them are some fighting words! It seems that Perry may have use the Texas Enterprise Fund to provide "kickbacks" to friends and supports ergo Peter M. Holt of Caterpillar Inc.

I love Texas! I love it so much that I am willing to put up with King Perry but that patience is deteriorating fast.

A clear example of how Perry is hurtful to Texans but in particular Hispanics regardless of political affiliation is to observe how his policies affect Texas.

The Houston Chronicle reports:

“If the American Dream is upward economic mobility and arrival in the middle class, the grim statistics show only a small percentage of Texas’ Hispanics are on the road to success.

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.”

Late last week, it was reported that the Houston Dynamo are entertaining moving their proposed new stadium just south of 610 West Loop right across the street from The Galleria.

The new plans caused more uproar than the health care debate when folks led by Mayor Cindy Siegel of Bellaire City dissented. Folks that wanted the stadium in downtown Houston were equally as pissed at the idea.

It interesting the wording that Siegel used to express her concerns of the stadium proposal. Siegel states, “A stadium would be the final blow to what has been a neighborhood trying to reclaim its quality of life for decade.”

She went on to add that the Bellaire City Council would hold a closed session to discuss “how can we best protect that neighborhood.”

Longtime anti-black activist Dave Wilson, who once led a successful effort to amend the city charter to deny benefits to black city employees, said he has sent out 35,000 fliers opposing the mayoral candidacy of Gene Locke in part because of his race.

The front of the flier has a 2004 photo of Locke being sworn into office as city controller while his wife looks on, accompanied by the headline: “Is this the image Houston wants to portray?” On the back is written, “Just because Gene Locke is black doesn’t make him qualified to be mayor of Houston.”

Wilson also challenges Locke’s record as controller, saying he failed to alert the city to a $1.5 billion operational deficit.

Locke’s campaign manager said, “In terms of the only real issue facing the city the flier addresses, that claim has already been met with a blunt rebuttal by Mayor Bill White.”

Bill White has been quiet … too quiet if you ask me but today he came out of the rock he has been hiding under (ergo his Senate Campaign Race) and stepped up to the plate to set the record straight.

In a mailer sent out to potential voters by the Peter Brown campaign … it alleged that Parker “twice missed legally required deadlines for preparing the city’s official financial reports.”

Gene Locke must have gotten the latest memo that shows him behind Annise Parker and Peter Brown even though he has managed to out raise them both and get more endorsements than all of the candidates combined … but he is stuck at the bottom just shy of being humiliated by Roy Morales.

Then, I got word of his latest television advert and I was excited … finally we will get to see some good stuff. If, Locke was going negative on the radio and chipping away at Peter Brown … accusing him of buying votes … I could only imagine the havoc his new ad would bring.

Today is the big day in which folks will begin to cast their ballots and decide who will lead Houston for at least the next 2 years but most likely the next 6 if history proves to be any indicator on how our system works.

The most recent Houston Chronicle/Zogby poll does not look pretty for Gene Locke. No matter how many endorsements he gets or that he is the defacto Democratic Party candidate … times are hard for the former City Attorney turned Andres Kurth partner.

Bradley Olson of the Houston Chronicle has a touching piece on Houston Mayoral candidate Gene Locke. It reflects on Locke’s modest beginnings and helps to enlighten potential voters of his unfamiliar background.

I will note parts of the story that I found interesting. The first would have to be how Locke decided to become a lawyer.