Community Matters

(Community Matters) he’s back –

The taxpayers bailed out the elite; now it’s the elite’s turn to return the favor. Massive cuts to the safety net combined with scant sacrifice from those at the top is wrong ethically and politically.

What haunts the Obama administration is what still haunts the country: the stunning lack of accountability for the greed and misdeeds that brought America to its gravest financial crisis since the Great Depression. There has been no legal, moral, or financial reckoning for the most powerful wrongdoers. Nor have there been meaningful reforms that might prevent a repeat catastrophe. Time may heal most wounds, but not these. Chronic unemployment remains a constant, painful reminder of the havoc inflicted on the bust’s innocent victims.

(Community Matters)

update: ughh. As I mentioned to KT – I didn’t intend for this conversation to go anti-anyone. Hoping to have a pro-Castro conversation. I’ve supported Lloyd in the past for his many contributions. I’m supporting Joaquin in the future for his vision, energy, given the demographics of the new district and the future of our state.

KT Musselman commented that State Rep Castro didn’t vote for or against Texas DOMA.

My response: I agree Joaquin’s choosing to not vote on the DOMA bill in 2005* sucks. Maybe he and the others who abstained felt courageous by not voting yes for LGBT discrimination. Some probably even saw it as a bold vote for an early term*, 20-something representative from a mostly Hispanic & Catholic district a decade ago. I’m appreciative Joaquin didn’t vote for DOMA like our progressive darlings at the time Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Yesterday at Aspen Ideas Festival

“I think that the president will be reelected – I’ve always thought so. [heavy applause] I think, first of all, he can talk about what he DID do. He took steps which avoided a depression. He saved the automobile industry — by not just bailing them out, but by requiring a serious restructuring. … When he took office, we had 2 percent of the global market for the electric batteries that will power the next generation of all-electric cars and hybrid vehicles. And on Jan. 1 of this year, we had 20 percent of the global market. …

Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Political hypocrisy around the debt ceiling makes me tired.  Absolutely, Washington better fix the unsustainable deficit – balance the damn budget guys – this is bullshit.

And, the 14th amendment of the US Constitution makes it clear that this country will honor its debts and obligations. There is no debate about whether we will do so. We’ve made it clear – get to work Congress and pass a balanced budget as you are required.  There is no  congressional approval required to honor our debts and for you guys to hide behind.

Let’s move on with fixing this economy, creating jobs and reducing the deficit through spending cuts, closing tax loopholes, suspending the Bush tax cuts, and investing in infrastructure in ways that’ll create real jobs today.

(Community Matters) President Obama’s administration and the Dept of Justice have stepped up their fight against DOMA – here

Metroweekly: In describing why heightened scrutiny applies to classifications based on sexual orientation, for example, the DOJ’s lawyers — in describing how “gays and lesbians have been subject to a history of discrimination” — write, “The federal government has played a significant and regrettable role in the history of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals. . . .

Today’s filing does more than acknowledge the federal government’s role in discrimination, going on to detail specific instances of anti-gay and anti-lesbian discrimination, including the 1950 Senate resolution seeking an “investigation” into “homosexuals and other sexual perverts” in government employement and President Dwight Eisenhower’s executive order adding “sexual perversion” as a ground for “possible dismissal from government service,” in the brief’s words. It also details the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Service in investigations seeking information about government employees suspected of such “perversion.”

Rather than relying simply on the “unconstitutional” argument, the DOJ’s taking the time, energy and political risk of spelling out the States’ history of homophobia, and why it’s wrong, which clearly shows that Attorney General Eric Holder and company are fully prepared to go to the mat on this one.

(Community Matters)  Steven and I are excited about the next generation of Texas’  leaders, our next national leaders.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time with State Rep Joaquin Castro this week. I already knew his brother, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro but am just getting to know Joaquin. Wow – twin 36 year olds raised in San Antonio’s Hispanic west side – Stanford undergrads and Harvard Law School. Raised by a mom who was always active in helping her neighbors, they’ve inherited her commitment to neighbors and community and have transformed it to political leadership. Both are rising stars nationally.

Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Continuing on our quest to really know liquors, distillers and regional nuances, Graham Reynolds and I eventually had a bourbon night; though we didn’t know where we’d land when we launched.

Continue reading →

(Community Matters) The last grant from the Entrepreneurs Foundation/Austin Ventures HelpHaiti fund was a $163k matching grant to Concern Worldwide/Fonkoze to restore livelihoods through income generation activities in the Tabarre camp – a defined community of 500 families.  A study carried out by Concern Worldwide and Fonkoze in the Tabarre Issa Camp and in the surroundings in October 2010, revealed that 90% of residents were  involved in petty trading before the earthquake and around 45% of them lost their entire equipment or inventories required to generate incomes. They have since depended on agency aid and support from relatives. Very few people had restarted income generation activities due to the lack of capital and being unable to undertake appropriate actions.  Today we received a progress report which includes:

320 beneficiaries were initially selected by the team to participate in the entrepreneurship /microfinance program. The community reduced the list to 250 beneficiaries, rejecting 70 beneficiaries who did not meet the criteria as originally presented by the team. Continue reading →

(Community Matters)

For Immediate Release                                                             June 29, 2011

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AT RECEPTION OBSERVING LGBT PRIDE MONTH

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  Welcome to the White House.  (Applause.)

Nothing ruins a good party like a long speech from a politician.  (Laughter.)  So I’m going to make a short set of remarks here.  I appreciate all of you being here.  I have learned a lesson:  Don’t follow Potomac Fever — (laughter) — because they sounded pretty good.

We’ve got community leaders here.  We’ve got grassroots organizers.  We’ve got some incredible young people who are just doing great work all across the country -– folks who are standing up against discrimination, and for the rights of parents and children and partners and students —

Continue reading →

(Community Matters)

Happy Birthday, Joe

our favorite former Senator & dear friend

(Community Matters) Congratulations to our good friend, Judge Robert Pitman – will be first openly gay US Attorney *

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release: June 28, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Kenneth Magidson, Sarah Ruth Saldaña, Robert Lee Pitman, and John Malcolm Bales to serve as United States Attorneys.

“These nominees have proven to be tenacious and diligent in their pursuit of justice and I am honored to nominate them to serve their fellow Americans as U.S. Attorneys,” President Obama said. “They will be distinguished public servants.”

Continue reading →