This time, however, no funny Hardball clips. Apparently, Cornyn didn’t have any entertaining slip-ups but here are the “highlights” (according to his pr folks) of his intervew with Wolf Blitzer today.
On progress in Iraq
BLITZER: How worried are you about the current situation in Iraq unraveling?
CORNYN: Well, I’m very concerned. And that’s why I think we need to continue to make sure that we leave Iraq in a condition that it can govern and defend itself.
I was last there in January, and very encouraged by the progress on the military front. The Iraqis are stepping up, taking more responsibility, paying more of the bills. And about two-thirds of the benchmarks, on the political side, that Congress set in 2007 have now been met.
And finally, I would say the initiative that the prime minister — that President Maliki took in Basra, recently, without American support, except in follow-up, the initiative he took against the Shiite militias, criminals and gangs, I thought was encouraging.
So we need to see more of that, and need the Iraqis to stand up so we can stand down and bring our folks home….
On the economic Stimulus Package
BLITZER: How important is a second economic stimulus package, Senator Cornyn?
CORNYN: Well, I think we need to be careful here. We need to do what we can. And of course, contrary to what Senator Schumer has said, we just passed a stimulus package on a bipartisan basis.
What concerns me is that it resulted in $150 billion added to the national deficit. And we need to be careful and make sure what we do is targeted in a way that will actually help people who need it the most.
I’m glad to hear Senator Durbin talk about the cost of gasoline and the cost of health care. We have frankly done nothing in Congress recently to deal with either of those issues which, even in places where the economy is doing relatively well, like here in Texas, those are areas where people are really feeling the pinch. And I think we would do well to target some of our efforts on bringing down the price of gasoline and making health care more affordable.
BLITZER: What about extended unemployment benefits, Senator Cornyn?
CORNYN: Well, you know, unemployment in Texas is about 4.1 percent. It’s almost a full employment economy, it’s 5.1 percent nationally. We need to help I think people with job training and help them get back into the economy if they’re having a hard time.
But I don’t think spending a lot of extra money and adding to the debt — I mean, everything I hear coming from my friends on the other side of the aisle is let’s have the federal government spend more money. And that money comes from your pocket and mine. And I think we ought to be careful.
I’ve been checking out some of the moola raised for our congressional candidates who will be up for re-election in November and there are some tight, unexpected money races. There are, of course, also some landslides.
On Tuesday, we Travis County voters will get a chance to choose a guaranteed new D.A. for the first time in 30 years. Another first—that D.A. will be a woman. The race goes great with this political season’s “change” theme, but one thing that is a lovable constant-dirty dueling via our t.v. airwaves.
Mindy Montford has been bringing in big lobbying bucks and has the support of our law enforcement. With that dough, she’s leading a guerrilla t.v. campaign with ads touting tough change and good relationships with police and deputies. However, she’s even pulling at my heartstrings with her stance on animal cruelty:
Rosemary Lehmberg isn’t backing down though…and for those of you who thought decades in the D.A.’s office would have made her a stick in the mud-think again:
In case you were getting convention hungry and ready for another chaotic representation of democracy, the county convention is next Saturday and here is the Travis County info for those of you who plan on attending:
Democrats:
Sign-in begins at 7:00 a.m.
Convention convenes at 10:00 a.m.
Expect the County Convention to last until at least 7:00p.m. \
PLACE: Travis County Exposition Center, Luedecke Arena, 7311 Decker Lane
#37 Colony Park bus runs to the Expo Ctr about every 30 minutes for most of the day on Saturdays
Concession stand open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Because of the thousands of delegates and alternates that we are expecting, TCDP strongly suggests that you arrive EARLY to sign in. In years past, the TCDP has always mailed a courtesy postcard to all who were elected Delegates and Alternates out of their Precinct Conventions advising them of the County Convention. However, this year is different; we simply cannot mail out courtesy postcards. This is due to the sheer volume of people. HOWEVER, the TCDP will be contacting all the Precinct Convention Delegation Chairs, our current Travis County Democratic Precinct Chairs, local campaign organizers for the two Presidential campaigns and will also be sending out alerts via our E-Newsletter list.
AND even if you were not elected a Delegate or Alternate, the County Convention is open to the public; no charge. Anyone is welcome to attend. But only Delegates and Alternates can participate.
Parking at the Expo Center is $5, which is less than the $7 that the Palmer Events Center charged in 2006.
Republicans:
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Registration begins — 7:30 am
Call to Order — 9:00 am
Delco Activity Center
The convention will accomplish two things:
Select as many as 164 delegates and 164 alternate delegates to represent Senatorial District 14 at the Republican State Convention in Houston on June 12, 13, & 14.
Adopt a Party Platform for what Republicans in Senatorial District 14 stand for. This Platform will be forwarded to the Resolutions Committee at the State Convention for consideration.
Four thousand men and women have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I hear that, I think about all the wonderful people I met in Afghanistan who are serving…moms, dads, young kids just out of high school.
I can’t speak for those who continue sending troops overseas but I can speak for the soldiers I met. While in Kabul, those serving told me what keeps them going are the children–children who were given so little in life and yet find happiness in the smallest gestures of kindness. Gestures like the offer of food or water. Here are some of the children I met on my trip…when I saw the soldiers I was traveling with interact with these kids, I also saw the bond between people who face death everyday: some by choice, others by birth.
My heart goes out to all of the families who have lost someone they loved, to all those who continue to serve and to all of the Afghans who have suffered so much for decades.
Actually, this would be a shot in the cellulite. Governor Perry is throwing his support, or rather your support, behind a drug that is meant to prevent people from getting obese.
Perry put $250 thousand of your enterprise fund tax dollars towards the drug, which is being researched by Halsa Pharmaceuticals. The drug is supposed to cut body fat and, hopefully, cut Texas’s soaring obesity rates. I like it already–the only bad news, it won’t be on the market for ten more years.
You can watch the story KXAN reporter Matt Flener did on it here.
Everyone is out to make a quick buck this political season. “America’s Love Doctor” now has a book out about staying together through these trying political times. If you and your mate are on different ends of the political spectrum, here are some quick tips:
Try changing up the way you normally argue about hot button topics or what news channel to watch - new communication skills are the key to better relationships!
When you begin to communicate in a positive, workable way, your relationship with your lover, kids, and friends will begin move in a positive direction and become more pleasant.
Having your point of view understood and then VALIDATED creates a truce between the sexes and builds Dr. Olson’s Three C’s of love: Chemistry, Compatibility and Commitment.
Rep. Dawnna Dukes, now that she doesn’t have to fight for her house seat, is wagging her finger at the Austin City Council over their decision regarding Villa Muse (for those of you out of staters who might be reading, it is a huge studio complex for entertainment production in Austin).
Here are a few excerpts of the 2 page, single-spaced letter.
“The Villa Muse multimedia, entertainment production, post-production facilities and residential development would have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Central Austin area, especially Eastern Travis County.”
The aerial view of “what would have been…”
“Having an Austin native, Jay Podolnick, and other Austinites who truly love their city behind the creation of the project would have been the icing on the cake. We have already encouraged “big chain” conglomerates like the Domain to build in the Austin region through financial incentives. Why not work with home grown projects like Villa Muse as well?”
She goes on to say the Council’s decision to give a tax break to Villa Muse will ensure they will take their business to a more accomodating region of the state.
If you want want to make friends with or question your new District Attorney, the time to do it is tomorrow. The ACLU of Central Texas and Texas Moratorium Network are holding a public forum at Gene’s Po Boys (an entirely appropriate place to discuss the death penalty and such) at 6pm.
My mom came to visit for Thanksgiving and I made her join me on air for a cooking demonstration. I wish you could have smelled the studio, it was just like home!
$526,854
The aerial view of “what would have been…”