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My First Netroots Nation Convention

TXadam — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:54:46 GMT

It was close, but I was lucky enough to go to the Netroots Nation convention last weekend! We did buy tickets to the convention a long time ago, but due to our financial situation, it looked like we weren't going to be able to go. Then someone sent us a nice gift of a hotel reservation. On Saturday, we got up at the crack of dawn, got ready, and left to go to the convention. I was becoming increasingly exited as we drove on through Austin, and saw the high buildings, the bustling traffic...

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Hurricane Dolly Coming to Texas

boadicea — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:03:05 GMT

Hurricane Dolly has hit the South Texas/Mexico Coast, according to NOAA, and she's getting stronger: The second hurricane of 2008 Atlantic storm season gathered strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The storm was now a Category 2 hurricane, the second level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. At 11 a.m. EDT, Dolly was about 30 miles east-northeast of the border town of Brownsville, Texas, where it was due to come ashore by mid-day. The storm was...

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Limits of the Progressive Blogosphere

JRBehrman — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:53:03 GMT

Netroots Nation (NN) was great fun, so much so that I have already signed up for next year in Pittsburgh. And, let me tell you, Pittsburgh is a really neat city in what could shortly be a solid blue state. Still, I am a dismal scientist - an economist - so ... In thinking about the future, I cannot help but recapitulate this progressive blogosphere's ... Failures of the past, ... Limits at present, and ... Possibilities for the future! Note: I rant about lawyers a lot, but the outstanding...

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Part III: Senator Cornyn's Love Fest With Big Money

Libby Shaw — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:07:05 GMT

It is all about the money folks. And big money at that. Part III unveils the relationship between and Senator John Cornyn, Stephen Payne, and Jack Abramoff. It will also provide a link to a source that will inform voters as to the players who donate the big bucks to Senator Cornyn. In Part I I made the claim that Republican lawmakers, especially those in Texas, are motivated by greed and greed alone. We learned in Part II in this diary series that this is particularly true...

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A Netroots Neophyte's View

refinish69 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:27:18 GMT

Conventions are not a new thing in my life but this was my first Netroots Nation. I missed Yearly Kos in Las Vegas and in Chicago but after the fabulous time I had this past week, I will try never to miss another one. Thursday after registering I immediately started running into local activists from Austin. Matt Glazer from Burnt Orange Report & Fran Vincent from Democracy for Texas. Glen Maxey, Laura Kolstad, and Matt Glazer cross posted @ Doing My Part For The Left's new...

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CALLING ALL PRECINCT CHAIRS, ACTIVISTS AND INTERESTED DEMOCRATS!!!

TexasEducation — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:17:47 GMT

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY FOR HOUSTON? Democracy for Houston is part of Democracy for America, an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the Democratic Party at all levels of government. They strive to educate and activate Democrats at the grassroots level, encouraging everyone to become active in the party. They believe that elections are won one precinct at a time. See their complete mission statement at www.democracyforhouston.org IS THIS JUST FOR PRECINCT CHAIRS? Absolutely...

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Potential For Flooding Related To Dolly In Rio Grande Valley Highlights Crumbling Infrastructure

Vince Leibowitz — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:04:41 GMT

Over at Capitol Annex, I've got a post up about the Rio Grande Valley becoming our nation's next New Orleans if Tropical Storm Dolly hits Texas just right and the levees holding the Rio Grande River back break. The terrors of crumbling infrastructure have become an all too familiar theme of the Bush Administration. Interestingly, though, Bush himself isn't the only one to blame. The Republican Congress--which we were stuck with for about a decade until we kicked them out of power in...

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TX-04-Give Melancon a Leg Up in Progressive Electorate Contest

boadicea — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:14:35 GMT

House candidate (and TK member) Glenn Melancon is in the finals of the Progressive Electorate's July fundraising contest. Go give him a boost.

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What matters most

mcblogger — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:17:29 GMT

This is a crosspost from McBlogger... sorry about the length, but there's just no way to do it in three grafs. Last week there was this in the WaPo regarding the criticism of a bailout by the Fed's of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At the end of the day, the question is not whether IT is right or wrong; The question is whether or not it will do the trick. As for Fannie and Freddie, nobody would be particularly happy if it became necessary for the Treasury to inject some fresh capital into the...

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Video from Noriega Party at Netroots Nation

boadicea — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:51:28 GMT

A stomping good time at Club DeVille, and a bunch of folks ready to turn Texas true blue again in 2008. Let's get to werk!

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Patrick Beach Shows His Ass and Frank Zipp Puts it On the Front Page

boadicea — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:48:37 GMT

From Thurs through Sun of last week, about 2000 attendees, came to Austin for the Netroots Nation convention. They not only brought their money to our hotels, bars, and restaurants, they helped staff a voter registration drive as a pre-convention event, and organized a huge effort, Netroots for the Troops, to put together care packages for the soldiers our nation has sent to Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate armor or even sufficient supplies of toothpaste or sundries. With them came lots...

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Senator Cornyn's Love Fest with Big Money Part II

Libby Shaw — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:45:10 GMT

Part I disclosed John Cornyn's voting patterns and revealed the Senator's loyalty to the interests and profits of big business and special interests. Part II discusses the profound influence lobbyists, especially those who operate on the international scene, hold on the White House, Vice President Cheney and other Republican members of Congress. One lobbyist in particular may have engaged in outright bribery in his influence pedaling schemes. Part III will reveal the ties...

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Monday Round Up

lightseeker — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The Texas Cloverleaf asks if John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison want more HIV in the global pandemic? Our TX Senators were 2 of the 16 votes against the latest HIV/AIDS bill in the Senate this week that passed overwhelmingly. WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on Diana Maldonado's great fundraising numbers in Diana Maldonado Has Almost 4 to 1 COH Advantage In HD-52. More below the fold.... WhosPlayin at WhosPlayin steped outside of his comfort zone a bit and commented on the Fannie and...

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The Race for Seventeen (Part 1)...

liberaltexan — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:54:24 GMT

The Texas House of Representatives District 17 is on the western edge of the Brazos Valley and the eastern edge of the Texas hill country. The district encompasses the counties of Colorado, Fayette, Bastrop, Lee, Burleson, and a curious part of Brazos. It is a rural area populated with towns like La Grange, Bastrop, Giddings, and Caldwell. It is the countryside that Aggies and Longhorns drive through to watch the Lone Star Showdown at Kyle Field or Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium. However,...

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Political Junkie Open Thread

sccs — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:05:24 GMT

I'm not really here. My head is still spinning from a great weekend at Netroots Nation, and I'm still not slowing down. I have a meeting at 5 tonight with True Blue 10, where we'll pick up our continuing goal to elect Democrats whose districts touch Congressional District 10 (in addition to TX-10 itself, with Larry Joe Doherty) Larry Joe was on the panel "Bloggers & the New Green Economy" Saturday. I'm sorry to say I missed it, as I was caught up in the excitement of building care...

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NN08: Liveblogging Ask the Speaker

boadicea — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:07:46 GMT

Lloyd Doggett is speaking now. Namechecking Gingrich and Delay to enthusiastic hisses.

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Party Tonight: TexasKaos After Party 7-10PM

jimmyjackearl — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:41:21 GMT

Just a warning, if you do not attend we will be expecting a note from your parents on Monday morning. Texas Kaos Presents Netroots Nation after party and art exhibit hosted by Bay6 Gallery and Studios, Saturday July 19th 7:00PM to 10:00PM. 5305 Bolm Rd Bay6 Austin TX. As the Netroots Nation conference winds to a close Saturday evening, we invite you to join us and Bloggers from across the nation at Bay6 Studios to 'Kick Back and Kick it Up before We Kick 'Em Out!' Sponsored and hosted...

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The Love Fest Between Senator Cornyn and Big Money, Part I

Libby Shaw — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:50:20 GMT

I have a serious problem with the abject and appalling under performance of U.S. Senator John Cornyn and his failure to stand up for the interests and needs of his constituents, i.e. we the voters. John Cornyn's voting history clearly demonstrates that he neither cares nor is he concerned about serving those is supposed to represent in Washington, D.C. A brief overview of John Cornyn's recent voting record gives us a glimpse into the ideology that drives our U.S. Senator. John Cornyn...

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A Request from Al Gore

TXsharon — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:34:08 GMT

Take the pledge: We Can Solve It "Once again, we have an opportunity to take a giant leap for humankind." I don't remember a time in our country when so many things seemed to be going so wrong simultaneously. Our economy is in terrible shape and getting worse, gasoline prices are increasing dramatically, and so are electricity rates. Jobs are being outsourced. Home mortgages are in trouble. Banks, automobile companies and other institutions we depend upon are under growing pressure....

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It's the Stupid Economy

TexasEducation — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:09:09 GMT

I laughed my a$$ off! "To achieve your best, get in over your head and rise to the top." - Dr. Richard Tapia Professor of Computational Mathematics, Rice University

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