FINAL BLOG POST

I decided to respond to Jordan Call's blog about arming college kids with guns. 

I have to say, i completely agree here. I'm fully supportive of the second amendment, but this trend towards making sure everyone is armed every single moment of the day with the most badass weapons possible is going to have major unintended consequences. 

Can you imagine stressed out college kids in class now having to guess if their classmate is a good guy with a gun, or bad guy with a gun? every time someone walks in with a weapon? While taking notes/paying attention to what the professor is saying? 

Leave it to our campus police to keep us safe. I would much rather trust them than some hungover kid bringing his AR-15 to showoff how much of a tough guy he thinks he is. 

P.S Good luck on your academic career!

SOCIAL CONSERVATISM OR FISICAL CONSERVATISM?

Texas has a reputation for being a big conservative state. In terms of population, more here hold conservative viewpoints than many other states in the union. But do voters here really care about slashing taxes on business, deregulation, cutting welfare benefits and so on? or are they motivated to vote because of something else?

I'm here to theorize that most conservatives in Texas are social/cultural conservatives and they vote with the team (political party) that champions those social/cultural conservative viewpoints. I'm not saying people vote exclusively because of social/cultural conservative issues, but I believe it's the main factor that motivates many. Being a strong social conservative still wins the hearts and minds (and votes) of the majority of Texans than being someone who simply runs on the platform of cutting taxes and regulation. Just ask our good friend Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (who is currently positioning himself to do exactly that)

Texas used to vote exclusively Democratic during the days Democrats were the socially conservative party, but starting in the 1970s, the GOP began taking the mantle. Hence, Texas became a state that voted almost exclusively Republican in the coming decades.

In an alternate universe, if the Democratic party today suddenly started becoming a socially conservative party, I believe Texas would go blue in a heartbeat (as it was before the 1970s)

This is just my opinion and observation. Comments are welcome! Feel free to agree or disagree.

COMMENTRY

Interesting analysis. There are so many unknowns in the proposal and I myself am having second thoughts. I voted yes because this city is in desperate need for some infrastructure that can accommodate its fast growth. But after learning more about prop 1, I don't think it will be doing much to address Austin's traffic. It's a sad situation.

OPINION: BRING UBER/LYFT BACK

I have a love and hate relationship with regulations. I think some regulations that help working people are good and some regulations are pretty unnecessary. I don't subscribe to the belief that regulations are inherently bad and lead to a stagnation in growth, but when Austin voters passed proposition 1 earlier this year, I thought it was one of the biggest mistakes this city has ever made at the ballot box.

We all like to party and we need a safe and reliable ride back home from  sixth street. Taxies are abysmally unreliable and some drivers are just incredibly rude, not to mention pricey if your destination is too far.

Why do we need Uber/Lyft back? The biggest reason should be safety. Drunk driving accidents went down during the two years when ridesharing was available in Austin. Shouldn't that be enough for the city council to re-consider the unnecessary background checks?

I'm hoping the next Texas legislative session takes care of this because Austin needs reliable transportation. I'm usually not a fan of a lot of things that the state legislature does, but I am hopeful that Republicans at the capital will make things right yet again for this great city.

POLITICAL CALCULATION

Lizz Burr writes a critical and thorny piece for the Burnt Orange Report about Texas officials making political calculations in the wake of the release of the infamous Trump tapes. Earlier this month, The Washington Post released a video from an unaired segment from Access Hollywood in which Mr. Trump is caught on hot mic talking about making unwanted advances towards women. Many perceived it as him bragging about sexual assault.

Burr, who is especially critical of Gov. Gregg Abbott, finds an issue in the fact that the Governor had to wait a full day to condemn his party's presidential nominee. Burr further asserts that the Governor was waiting to see which way the political winds were blowing and how severe the fallout to his party was from the damaging tapes.

Burr uses the word "sweetment" to describe Abbot's condemnation and further criticizes the Governor for still sticking with Mr. Trump. As of this writing, Governor Abbot still plans to vote for the Republican nominee this November. 

This piece is clearly intended for a more left-leaning audience. Personally, I find Burr to be jumping to conclusions and being a little unfair to the Governor. I'm not a fan of Greg Abbott, but I don't find fault in the fact that he waited a full day before he expressed condemnation. 

I do, however, find it amusing that so many politicians nationally and locally had to wait so long to revoke their endorsements from Mr. Trump. There is already a treasure trove of evidence that he is unfit to be president. Many politicians who are finally distancing themselves from Mr. Trump were still 100% with him when he spoke of Mexico sending rapists and criminals, John McCain not being a war hero and proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States. 

But the last straw was when he was offensive towards 53% of all voters (women) that finally, many GOP politicians around the country and some in Texas (Will Hurd) decided that endorsing him would politically backfire (especially if they're running in a swing district).

This is another example of politicians examining what's politically convenient for them, rather than what's good for the entire nation as a whole. 

ENERGY POLICIES

It feels like this has been the longest election of our lifetime. In between all the personal insults, email scandals and conspiracy theories that have taken over headlines, the issues that affect everyday Americans, and especially Texans have been sidelined. So what do we (as Texans) focus on? 

Michael E. Webber from the statesman  makes an argument that (if we can filter out the back and forth nastiness), we should focus on the candidate's stance on energy policies.  Webber's article highlights the importance of the fact that energy is vital to the economy of the lone star state. Trillions of dollars will be spent here in the coming decades that will create jobs in fields like oil and gas, decarbonization, infrastructure upkeep, renewable energy and electricity grid upgrades. 

Webber endorses Clinton's plan to let the dying coal industry faze out. He argues that coal is a thing of the past  and that Clinton's plan would benefit the oil and national gas industry far more than Donald Trump's. The Republican nominee's stance is mostly intended to protecting coal, which is not only an ancient source of energy but also something that contributes to the environment in negative ways. 

I like the argument that the author makes. Presidential candidates stance on energy policies directly affect how many good paying jobs will be created in Texas in the coming years. As a state where oil and agriculture are critical, we should be paying more attention to where candidates stand on energy policies than the back and forth rhetoric that dominates the narrative in the media. 

A PURPLE TEXAS?

"Is Texas already a swing state?"

Just asking that question gives many in the Texas Republican party chills down their spine.

Democrats and Liberals have long dreamed about turning the Lone Star state blue and gaining a definite foothold in the electoral college. If Texas goes blue, it's almost impossible to imagine a scenario where we would ever see a Republican in the White House again.

Clare Foran examines this in her article for the Atlantic. Observing the latest surveys from the lone star state (which show a much closer race compared to the 2012 election) Foran speaks to several Republican and Democratic officials throughout the state to see how they feel.

Republicans still believe it is a pipe dream that Texas would ever go to the Democratic column. Mitt Romney won the lone star state by 16% in 2012 and Republicans still, have a stronghold in the legislature and statewide offices.

Foran also speaks to some Democrats who are cautiously optimistic. It's been known for a while now that the demographics in Texas are rapidly changing. The growing number of Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans are adding more voters to the Democratic coalition.

I think this article is worth reading if you are interested in learning about demographic trends affecting election results. This is not only a Texas phenomenon, but several other red states like Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina are showing the same trend.

Personally, I don't think Texas will go Democratic this year. I think the Republican tradition here is still strong. However, it definitely looks like the results will be much closer than it was in 2012.