Austin

Greetings from the Great City of Austin in the Great State of Texas in the Good Old U S of A on this, our Independence Day.  Just spent three hours under the 105 degree Texas sun (in addition to walking back and forth to the capital...about 2 miles in each direction).  Before I collapse from Heat Stroke, let me share a few observations:

Attendance: Roughly 3000.  Substantially lower than the April tea party @ the Capitol.  Then again, at the April party the temperature was 75.

Crowd: Mostly folks in their 50's and 60's.  Some families with children.  All in all, an older crowd than April.  About 30% Ron Paul types, 50% more traditional GOPer, 20% assorted other.

Signs: Generally quite clever.  Personal favorites: any of the several that referred to Waxman/Markey as "Crap and Trade."

Sleeper GOP Gubernatorial Candidate: Debra Medina.  I might be biased because I met her today (also briefly met Sen. Cornyn and Gov. Perry) AND got to talk to her a bit.  She's a down the line, SERIOUS, conservative.  Like the message, concerned about viability.  I told her I intend to re-elect the incumbent, but that if she could prove herself a viable candidate in BOTH the primary AND general, I'd consider giving her my vote.

Most Embarrassing Moment for a Speaker: Sen. John Cornyn being greeted by a loud chorus of Boos as he took the stage due to his vote on TARP.

Most Embarrassing Moment for the Ron Paul supporters: Continuing to Boo Senator Cornyn after he acknowledged their concerns and moved on to Porkulus/Crap and Trade/Obamacare where he's firmly on our side.

Best Speaker, Runner Up: Wanye Allyn Root.  The 2008 LIbertarian Party Vice Presidential Nominee gave the crowd an inspiring speech on the value of limited government with a whole lotta quotes from Goldwater and Reagan thrown in.  Gets brownie points in my book for his rousing (by libertarian standards) defense of President Bush's overspending and bailouts being several orders of magnitude less bad than President Obama's overspending and bailouts.

Best Speaker, Overall: Governor Perry.  No one else even came close.  Whatever his alleged flaws, Governor Perry has done A TON over this past decade to have left us the strongest economy in the country right now.

In many ways, the attitude of people in Texas towards Governor Perry right now reminds me of the attitude in NYC of people towards Rudy in July 2001.  The man's gotten so much right that his citizens now take these things for granted.

All in all, an Afternoon well spent!

I hope this helps.

That is all.

Cahnman out.

Greetings all.

The drive-by's are out to make Governor Perry look nuts for his speech at today's morning tea party in Austin.  I just saw an Olbermann segment on the topic.  They're taking Governor Perry so far out of context, it's almost cute.

While the drive by's are trying to portray Governor Perry as some sort of seccessionist nut, the fact is he spoke mostly about how Texas has Low taxes, a Stable Regulatory climate, an educated workforce, Tort Reform, and is the #1 exporter in the United States.  Don't let the drive by's fool you.

I can't find the full speech anywhere, so I'll leave you with this YouTube of the Governor

Update: Here's the full speech.

I hope this helps.

That is all.

Cahnman out.

Overheard in line at Starbucks (of all places):

Why are Republicans so obsessed with Prosperity?  Broad based prosperity is bad for the planet.  I don't want prosperity.

I regret keeping my mouth shut.

In perusing our scandelously awful local paper, we learn how tin cup urbanism will come to Austin in President Elect Obama's trillion dollar pork program:

It asks for $1.5 million to create 15 jobs to replace light bulbs with more efficient ones across the city.

Let me get this straight: We're going to spend $1.5 million to hire 15 people to CHANGE LIGHTBULBS!!!

$1.5 million/15 = $100,000 per person hired.  Apparently, Austin's Wizards of Smart think this is a good use of taxpayer money.  I've heard of paying people to dig holes and fill them, but this is just silly.

Mugatu Indeed.

I can't believe they pulled this off.  This is major league bad news.  For all intents and purposes, the Democrat Party now controls the Texas House of Representatives.

Conservative Stalwart Tom Craddick has lost his seat to San Antonio Pro Abortion RINO Joe Straus.  The Good News is that we still hold the Governor's Mansion and the State Senate (and a technical, if not practical, 76-74 majority in the state house).  Thus, I nominate the Texas House of Representatives to be part of Flip4.org.

This is a serious wake up call.

Christmas greetings from New York City!!!  I'm up here visiting friends and family.  At the same time, I have a few observations on the hidden cost of govt. in my original hometown vs. my adopted hometown.

Cost of Airport Taxi:

Austin -- $35 for 20 miles

NYC -- $60 for 15 miles

Cost of "Cheap" Beer in Dive Bar:

Austin -- $1 for Lone Star

NYC -- $5 for PBR

Cost of Breakfast in Diner:

Austin -- $7

NYC -- $15