Don't Mess With Texas --- Austin Tea Party

By Robbie Cooper | 04/15/09

Had a great time at the first of two Austin tax day tea parties (was unable to get to the second, and reportedly larger, tea party). There were at least 2K very fed up tax paying Austinites (in other words, no Liberals) at City Hall today to peaceably assemble and petition our government for a redress of grievances. And we had a lot of grievances. Too much spending. Too many taxes. Too much government. Too little accountability to the tax... read more »

Rep. Elliot Naishtat (D-TX49): Wasting Texas Tax Dollars and Our Time

By Robbie Cooper | 03/19/09

TAKE ACTION: If you support the death penalty in Texas, please call your state representative today and ask them to oppose HJR 24 and HB 877. _________ Texas State Representative Elliott Naishtat (D - District 49) has authored HJR 24, which proposes a constitutional amendment relating to a moratorium on the execution of persons convicted of capital offenses. Mr. Naishat is rabidly anti-death penalty, while 3 out of 4 Texans (74... read more »

Second Amendment Bills in the Texas 81st Legislature

By Robbie Cooper | 03/18/09

The 81st session of the Texas Legislature is under way at the Capitol here in Austin. And it’s going to be an exceptionally busy session too. On the House side, a total of 4697 bills were filed, up 18% from the 2007 session, in which 3,977 made it to the clerk’s office (via Elise Hu). On the Senate side, Senators filed 2,447 bills, up 26% from last session’s 1,944. That’s a grand total of 7,144, bills for a combined chamber increase of... read more »

Texas 81st Legislature --- SB 506: Lane Splitting for Motorcycles

By Robbie Cooper | 03/17/09

ACTION ALERT: If you have a vested interest in lane splitting for motorcycles in Texas, SB 506 is scheduled for a public hearing tomorrow (March 18) by the Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security at the capitol building. If you cannot go to the public hearing tomorrow, call your state senator and tell them you want them to support this bill --- a bill, by the way, which costs the state and tax payers nothing to... read more »

Karl Thomas-Musselman: Noriega and Strama's Campaign Wants to "Destroy Republican Party"?

By Robbie Cooper | 10/27/08

I really want to believe that State Representative Rick Noriega is a decent, honorable man. I give him this benefit of the doubt almost entirely because he is a Lt. Col. in the Texas Army National Guard.Which makes some of the tactics from his campaign hard to stomach.Like this: Noriega's official Online Campaign Director, Karl Thomas Musselman, left an interesting comment at the angry and unhinged Liberal blog site Daily Kos:This election is... read more »

Mexico to Help Stop Cubans from Illegally Entering US via Mexico

By Robbie Cooper | 10/22/08

Mexico signed an agreement with the United States to restrict the main route Cubans use to illegally enter the United States (via Texas) via Mexico. Mexico's past reluctance to halt the practice has led to tensions with Cuba. More than 11,000 Cubans slipped into the US via Mexico last year, according to US authorities. You know what I would prefer? If Mexico would do something to prevent Mexicans from entering the United States illegally via... read more »

Texas Senate Race -- PBS Debate

By Robbie Cooper | 10/09/08

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Incumbent), State Representative Rick Noriega (D), and Libertarian Yvonne Adams-Schick faced off tonight in Houston for the first debate amongst these three candidates who are running for Sen. John Cornyn's US Senate seat.A few general observations about the debate:Texas should be proud and honored that we have three outstanding candidates for this Senate seat. All three candidates performed very well tonight and all seemed... read more »

Immigrants Now Required to Prove Legal Status to Get IDs in Texas

By Robbie Cooper | 10/09/08

As of October 1, all immigrants living in Texas must now prove they are in the United States legally to obtain a drivers license or identification card.Previously, immigrants seeking these types of legal identification cards merely needed to prove their identity, and not their legal status.Additionally, the licenses and ID cards that are issued to legal immigrants will be visually different than those issued to US citizens:After documents... read more »

Travis County Commissioners Thumb Noses at Tax Payers

By Robbie Cooper | 09/23/08

Travis County (Austin) is planning to raise our taxes in 2008-2009. Despite the exceptionally tough economic times, they think it's OK to increase the burden on Travis County tax payers: The county's main responsibilities are managing the criminal justice system, running the jails, paving and maintaining roads, and keeping parks groomed. The county's Planning and Budget Office had proposed a budget with virtually no new spending. But during... read more »

Rep. John Culberson's Hurricane Advice

By Robbie Cooper | 09/13/08

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) was the first member of Congress to use Twitter live from the House Floor as a way to inform his constituents of what was happening as it happened in Congress.He continues to be one of the most active and entertaining Twitter feeds to follow (@JohnCulberson).During an interview this afternoon on MSNBC regarding Hurricane Ike and how it affected his district (Rep. Culberson represents north and west Houston), he... read more »