Texas

Happy Holidays and I hope you have a safe New Year's celebration. Do not drink if you intend to drive but most importantly enjoy your night. From your friends at David Ortez!

It seems that tin-foil wearing conspiracy theorist will have a field day telling everyone how we are on the path to a Big Brother state and how can I blame them?

The Houston Chronicle shed light into “a state-funded Web site that allows people to monitor footage from surveillance cameras along the Texas border.”

The website went live about 1 month ago and boasts over 21,000 “virtual deputies” while getting over 5 million hits. The program allows anyone with an Internet connection and time to kill ... the ability to monitor 13 cameras for suspicious activity along the southern Texas border with Mexico.  Read More »

When I heard that Barack Obama was meeting with the Governors of the United States, I was ecstatic. Finally, we were getting the ball rolling about stimulating the economy. Obama was meeting with the Governors to discuss about federal aid aimed at the state level.

My only problem was that two Governors did not participate in the meeting. And no, it was not Sarah Palin … she actually showed up. To my disgrace, one of the Governors that did not show up was no other then Rick Perry of my home state of Texas. Editor's Note: It cannot be confirmed that Rick Perry did or did not attend the event thus we shall assume that he did attend.
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I am a native Texan and as long as I can remember, Texas has been red … at times deep purple when President Bush was on the ballot. It looks like times may be a changing.

I have entertained this concept in several posts before. I recommend checking out “Why Texas will Lean Left, Examining How Texas Voted or A Bluer America?” for my input on the idea.  Read More »

For the first time in 8 years, the United States leaned to the Democrats in a decisive fashion. Concerns of a one party rule did not deter Americans from giving Democrats power in the House, Senate and Executive branch.

Although Barack Obama did not have an Electoral Landslide it was still an impressive win … perhaps more like an Electoral Mudslide. After crunching the numbers and reviewing the way Americans voted there was an overwhelming shift and it was blue.

The New York Times released an interactive map that compares the 2008 election to the one in 2004 and one stark difference is how blue America has become.  Read More »

The Hispanic turned out in record numbers and voted for Democrats but in particular Barack Obama in large numbers. At times it was high as 75% in some counties. Nonetheless, when it comes to politics in our state, Hispanics will play a bigger role in the future.

I was reviewing the county breakdown of how Texas voted. The image on the left represents all the counties that Barack Obama won in blue. The image on the right indicates how Democrats won in the House races. Notice a trend?

Texas is mighty blue in the South and pretty red up North. This trend will continue and I will not be shocked when everything up to Austin (being the Northern highest point) will vote blue. These are the key areas that Democrats should continue to work in and chip at to reclaim Texas. The major urban areas of Texas went overwhelming to Barack Obama.  Read More »

Obama is a Muslim according to 23% of Texans polled by the University of Texas. That is close to 1 in 4 people that have the wrong facts on the first African-American presidential candidate.

Think about … if you conjure up three other friends in your head, one of you believes he is a Muslim. That is a pretty high number at this late in the campaign season.

Richard Dunham reports, “The Texas numbers are unusual because most national polls show that just 5 to 10 percent of Americans still believe Obama is a Muslim.”

It seems no matter what Barack Obama does, there will be a small minority that has their facts wrong. That group seems to be giving John McCain and John Cornyn an edge this election season.  Read More »

I was extremely surprised but happy to read today that the Houston Chronicle has endorsed Rick Noriega for the U.S. Senate seat. Never has a Hispanic held a Senate seat from Texas and Noriega is poised to be the first if he can defeat incumbent Republican John Cornyn.

The Houston Chronicle claims:

"It will be especially important for Texans to have a strong, respected voice inside the expected Democratic majority in the Senate. Rick Noriega offers such a voice, with a distinctive Lone Star tone and perspective.

He is committed to bringing the message that the nation will need new domestic oil and gas supplies as it builds a bridge to greater energy independence and increased reliance on alternative energy sources.  Read More »

I found these interesting Barack Obama related stories and had to share them with you.

U. of Texas ends fight over dorm-room Obama signs - Facing a free-speech uproar, the University of Texas backed down Thursday from punishing two students who refused to remove political signs from their dormitory window.

That is refreshing to hear. I am glad that UT President Powers addressed this issue in the best manner. I am also glad that these young men stood up for their freedom of speech right. Who said that young people were apathetic to voting?  Read More »

I am looking for and trying to follow any stories of voting irregularities that may be occurring this election. Early voting just began this week and machines are already up to their shenanigans that created a circus of the 2000 election.

There are machines that are flipping votes from Barack Obama to John McCain. I read about it in the Houston Chronicle and thought it was an isolated case but now I am starting to think that it may not be.

The Houston Chronicle reports that, “County Clerk Beverly Kaufman's office was informed early Monday that some of the first voters had cast straight-ticket Democratic ballots only to discover that the machines had recorded their presidential vote as Republican.”  Read More »