Latinos For Texas Blog

WAY TO GO JOHN COURAGE and TEAM COURAGE!

my dear dear friend Sen. Russ Feingold sent me a personal email to say:

I am excited to announce that you have chosen John Courage to be our first Progressive Patriot. John is a terrific candidate running in the Texas 21st. He’s running to protect social security from privatization, to bring affordable health care to all Americans, and to make our country a leader in alternative energy. He’s a veteran who wants to bring our troops home safely, and a teacher who will work to improve public education. I’m proud to call John Courage a Progressive Patriot, and based on your recommendation we will contribute $5,000 to his campaign for Congress. You can find out more about John at his website, http://www.courageforcongress.org.

by the way, you can meet John Courage and his team at two events:
in San Antonio and in Austin

enjoy,
mario

Alfred Stanley writes to say:

I’m looking for some volunteers for the Nick Lampson fund-raiser on Thursday, December 15 from 5-7 PM at the home of Garry Mauro. Former Congressman Lampson is the Democrat running against Tom DeLay. Admission is free for those who volunteer, so if you are interested or you know someone who’d volunteer, e-mail me or call me at 512-474-4738.

SHIFTS:
3 PM - 4:30 PM Pick up food, beverage, ice, etc (must have car): 2 people
4:30 PM - 6 PM Work front table or serve drinks/tend food: 5 people
6 PM - 7:30 PM Work front table or serve drinks/tend food/ help with cleanup: 5 people

prior to or following your shift, you’re free to enjoy the fund-raiser as a guest, visit with Nick, etc.

The event will take place at the home of Garry & Cristina Mauro, 2208 Townes Lane. To get there, take Windsor Road West of MoPac; take your third right after passing under MoPac onto Dormarion; take your third left off Dormarion onto Townes Lane. The Mauro’s home is on the right.

Early shift (food beverage pickup): please call for specific instructions on where to go/what to get. You may need to come by my home, 1409 Hardouin first. To get to 1409 Hardouin from Lamar go West on 24th Street up the hill, as you near the top of the hill, take your first right on Harris Blvd (hard to see sign); from Harris take your second right which is Hardouin.

ABOUT NICK LAMPSON: Nick served in Congress for eight years until redistricting forced him into a district where he’d never represented half the people. But Tom DeLay, in his arrogance, took in some of Nick’s old district. Nick has now moved into that part of the old district and is running against DeLay. Nick’s family has roots in that district going back three generations to when both sets of grandparents owned farms there.

Thank you for considering this or forwarding to others who might consider!

Alfred Stanley
astanley@astanley.com
512-474-4738

It’s basically official. Corzine picks Rep. Bob Menendez as Democrat to run against Kean in New Jersey.

Deuteronomy 15: 10-12:
Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

Keep this in mind during the holiday season while the radical Christian conservatives try to make a war over the holidays.

It seems DOJ staff thought the Delay’s plan was “retrogressive” and diluted the chance for districts to elect a representative of their choice. Why do they hate Freedom? Does President Bush know?

from Washington Post (via Mydd)

Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay (R) violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo obtained by The Washington Post. But senior officials overruled them and approved the plan.

The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department’s voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.

“The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect,” the memo concluded.

The memo also found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options.

[…]

Mark Posner, a longtime Justice Department lawyer who now teaches law at American University, said it was “highly unusual” for political appointees to overrule a unanimous finding such as the one in the Texas case.

“In this kind of situation, where everybody agrees at least on the staff level . . . that is a very, very strong case,” Posner said. “The fact that everybody agreed that there were reductions in minority voting strength, and that they were significant, raises a lot of questions as to why it was” approved, he said.

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