What does PBS stand for?

We thought it was 'public'...

After the exchange in the Dallas Observer between KERA and John Jay Myers, one has to wonder.

John Jay Myers, Texas' Libertarian Senate Hopeful, Barred from KERA's Debate.

DFW Media can't count

How many candidates are running? Why did they not mention them all?

Read: Hey DFW Media! There's a Libertarian in the  race!

Ron Paul and Water...

A former Tarrant Regional Water District board candidate, Adrian Murray, wrote a post that went viral.  So viral in fact, it ended up on the Ron Paul website.

We didn't see that one coming.  Neither did Adrian.

You learn something new every day.  Well, you should.

Mayors Everywhere

Are YOU listening?

Read the recent article for the Dallas Monthly on what Libertarians want from the new mayor.

Change "Libertarians" to citizens and change "Dallas" to Fort Worth.  Remember, it's all interchangable. 
So are the Mayors.

What do YOU want from YOUR Mayor?

I was asked by the Dallas Monthly News to write a short article on what I might like to see from the new Mayor, many people like me have sat on the side lines with their investment money because we can never be sure what our government is going to do, for instance, I have seen a recent resurgence in the Deep Ellum area and think now is the time to invest, so I bought a restaurant and bar there called The Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge, but if at the same time the city works with its influential friends to prop up another area, that could actually harm me. Meaning I would have been better off staying on the side lines, not creating 30 jobs and not giving people another great place to eat.

This is what is so important for people to understand, government needs to stay out of business, it makes for a shaky, unfair playing field, and though many might say "but look how great The House of Blues is doing!" they don't understand that in order for the House of Blues to make it with government subsidies, places like Trees, and The Granada suffer. By what right does the city have to pick winners and losers in business? I can only hope that they don't play favorites, and let Deep Ellum revive as it as has been doing on its own lately.

That being said, I wanted to include a reaction from my great friend Jordan Wagnon, who has his masters in City Politics:

"What would Libertarians want from him? First we would want an end to the sweetheart deals at City Hall. "Public-private partnerships" and "bringing business and jobs to Dallas" sound great, but in practice the Council just funnels the city's resources away from the many into the pockets of a few. We hope Mayor Rawlings understands that every tax deal makes the rest of us shoulder a heavier burden, and every subsidy or TIF project forces businesses that already create jobs and earn their own way to go up against government backed competitors. The best thing the new mayor could do for the economy would be to fight against the rigged system so the people of Dallas can decide for themselves where resources are needed most.

In addition, we hope he shares our commitment to the personal freedoms that Americans cherish but the City Council seems to hate. The smoking ban, teen curfew, and window sign restrictions are recent ordinances that have no place in a free country. These measures do not make anyone safer, except for incumbents, who can say they did something about violence and theft by making criminals out of peaceful property owners or juveniles who dare to venture into public during the daytime. So Mayor Rawlings has a simple choice - he can embrace the idea that Dallas government exists to serve and protect freedom, or he can embrace the coercion and favoritism now imposed on us by City Hall. We will support him whenever he chooses freedom."

John Jay Myers & Jordan Wagnon of the Libertarian Party of Dallas County.

They get it...

Do YOU?

The FW Weekly does another bang up job at putting it together.  Kudos to Dan McGraw!  And to all the people quoted in the article, wanting to learn more and DO something!

Don't miss the article.  It's got some good information on TRIP (Trinity River Improvement Partnership) and the local Tea Party, 912.  The Weekly gets it right by talking to many different folks with many different opinions.  Too bad our other "news" outlets only say what their told.

Enough already...GO VOTE!

"We keep hearing from city leaders how [Fort Worth] hasn't been affected as much as other cities by the national economic downturn" she said. "But then we can't afford basic city services like building better roads and keeping pools open. I guess I just want to find out how we got in this mess. I guess I'm here because I want to learn more."

He started coming to meetings earlier this year because "I would read the paper and watch the news at home, and I found myself having a fit," he said. "I wanted to see what I could do, to learn more about all the issues and not just sit at home and complain.
 
"The TRV is a big waste of money when we don't even have money to fix our roads. Granger puts her son in charge of it at a very high salary. This is mis-spending at its worst."
 
In Fort Worth ... no one has questioned authority in the past," he said. "We just did not get involved. The more I keep my eyes open and the more I see, the more I need to get involved.
 
TRIP and the 912ers have become close allies as they fight what they both consider crazy spending on a project that they believe is not needed and favors private development interests through the use of eminent domain. TRIP backs a plan that would spend about $60 million to improve river access near downtown, but members want the private marketplace alone to determine what kind of development happens along the river.
 
 "I am a member of both groups because no one represents the taxpayers anymore, and that has to change," she said.
 
"The TRV project is a perfect example of that," she said. "They want to spend more than $900 million of federal and state and local tax money, and voters haven't had any say in the matter. And believe me, the federal money is drying up because of the ban on earmark spending, and you know the burden is going to shift to local money.

THE PEOPLE

Two letters to the Editor in today's Star-Telegram that speak volumes.  Read them.  And VOTE.

Vote the incumbents out


The only way to really change our government is to vote all the incumbents out of office. The career politicians are bought and paid for by big business, insurance, drug companies and banks and Wall Street.

They only care about getting re-elected. Our country is in the mess it is in because they want it that way. They don't care about the American people.

Only Congress has the power to change things and unless we get all the existing bums out of power we will never get our country back in the hands of the people.

Give each new elected official one term to change and represent the people or vote them out the next election.

-- Donald "Jack" Cornelissen, Bedford

This could be the most important election of your lifetime. You have the opportunity to replace what I believe is the most corrupt Congress in the history of our country.

Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or whatever; it makes no difference. They passed legislation that now puts us $1.3 trillion in debt.

Our young men are getting killed daily in two wars we cannot win because we have no leadership. Remember, President Obama can do nothing without the OK and funding from Congress. Send all these traitors home! Vote!

-- Philip E. Orr Jr., North Richland Hills

STOP THIEF!

More interesting stuff on The Whited Sepulchre.

Don't miss it!

When your City Council says they are going use your money to build a hotel, or favor one small business over another, you need to scream “Stop stealing my stuff!”


When your State government declares eminent domain over your land so they can build roads, and then sell the land to a foreign company so it can put tolls on the roads you paid for, howl like a lunatic “Stop stealing my stuff!”

When your Federal government sends billions of dollars in foreign aid to other countries when our country is broke, or spends trillions on wars that benefit oil companies, or wants to put government in control of the entire health care industry, or when they take all the money out of the economy before a recession and give it to banks, or engage in preferential treatment of the car companies they just took over, then you should scream from roof tops “Stop stealing my stuff!”