Plastic Bags

First off, I feel that you made a strong argument overall. However, you need to work on following up on your opening statements and not making so many assumptions when it comes to preferences and lifestyle. In the opening paragraph you asked about those who want to take the “middle ground”, but then never elaborated on what this middle ground would be. Try harder to make sure you cover all of your points made in your thesis. Also, you tended to make assumptions about the general public’s thoughts and actions, solely based off of your own opinions, so try not to generalize the public in your arguments, not everyone thinks the same way. I also don’t believe that your argument for convenience is backed up enough by factual evidence to be valid. You tend to be quite choppy and repetitive in your writing, work on assembling a smoother flow to your blog post. Other than that, I think your blog is very strong.

Dealing with the Border

Are you okay with the amount of illegal immigrants trying to slip into the United States through Texas? How easy is it for cartels to smuggle drugs across our border?

A big problem in Texas right now is the struggle to keep the 1,200 mile border with Mexico protected and secure. Governor Perry’s recent announcement that he was deploying 1,000 National Guard troops to the border has generated widespread attention. I think Mr. Perry and state officials are doing the right thing to defend the border by the show of force even though it is costly because it is a necessary effort to stop the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas. This will prevent criminal aliens from filling up Texas jails unrelated to their immigration status. This has resulted in tens of thousands of arrests and tens of millions of dollars of drug seizures. Mr. Perry says “my citizens’ safety is what is foremost here.”

Many people and programs believe that patrolling the border is the federal government’s job and not the state’s. I agree with these people however, I think it is fair for the state government to step in if the issue is becoming severe and action needs to be taken. Texas has spent a lot of money on border security relative to the other states that share a border with Mexico but that is understandable due to the fact that the border Texas shares with Mexico is bigger than the others all put together. If people say that the federal government should be in charge of the border problem then they should do their job and take action or pay back the Texas state government for the actions they have already taken for them. Texas government is acting instead of the federal government because communities are at risk and we cannot afford to wait any longer. Officials with the state’s top law enforcement agency, the Department of Public Safety, say dozens of killings, assaults, shootings and kidnappings in Texas have been directly related to Mexican drug cartels. “There can be no national security without border security”.

Commentary and Constructive Criticism

While the toll roads and taxes may be expensive, how do you expect to fund an infrastructure reform comparable to San Francisco? These toll roads can help to indicate the recent population increase in Austin through the traffic influx. These are the only holes I see in your logic, which is otherwise strong and direct. The fact that you boycott the toll road is reason enough for me to believe that you have a strong opinion regarding this subject matter and that you know what you are talking about. You could use more real life examples of Austinites being frustrated with this toll. Overall this editorial conveys your point. One thing you should do is consider the opponents point of view when constructing an opinionated piece such as this and prove their possible arguments wrong with strong facts and examples.

Metro Rails

Have you noticed how traffic in Austin has gotten progressively worse over the last few years? Wouldn’t it be easier if we had a cheap form of public transportation that could transport people all over the city and lighten the traffic load substantially?

Cities like New York, London, and Chicago have fantastic subway systems that are extremely effective in controlling their traffic flow. Smaller cities that have grown significantly over the past few years are starting to lean toward the use of metro transit rails. These trains can easily and cheaply transport people all across town, from their neighborhoods to the central business district. If Austin were to have a metro rail system, travel time, costs, and traffic would all decrease, making Austinites content. This would also effectively reduce pollution considering how many gas-guzzling vehicles would be off the road. It may cost the government a lot to install these rail systems, however, I am willing to bet that many commuters would happily fund this project due to the complaints of traffic in the city.

In 2011, there was a rail built from Austin to Leander. During this project the Austin government was able to demonstrate how to obtain voter approval for a new rail system, how to build that system with a tight budget, and adjust schedules to maximize ridership potential. Austin is clearly capable of handling an assignment such as a city wide rail connecting the downtown area to neighborhoods across the developing urban area. Who wouldn’t want to avoid parking downtown or sitting in traffic on Mopac? I’m all for a metro rail system that covers the whole city.  

Perry's Future

Texas Monthly posted a blog last week concerning Rick Perry’s recent fundraising which leads the author, Paul Burka, to believe that Perry will not run for reelection. Burka is the dean of Capitol press corps, and has spearheaded the Texas Monthly political coverage for over 40 years. A frequent guest on many national news programs such as MSNBC, Fox, NBC, and CNN, Burka is a credible source who is well respected nation-wide.

Paul Burka considers due to the lack of fundraising by Governor Rick Perry’s party, he will not run again in the upcoming election. In the 2010 election, Perry spent over $41 million on his campaign. This year he has only raised $3.554 million with $6.028 million on hand leaving Burka to conclude that the prospect of Perry running for reelection in November is out of the picture. Burka also believes that Perry could be “vulnerable to a strong Republican like Greg Abbott”, thus risking his perfect record in Texas elections. Having said this, Perry still does have two fundraising periods before the 2014 general election giving him a lot of time to raise more money if he chooses to do so. Burka still believes that if Perry were to run for his fourth term, he would have gathered more funds by this point.

In my opinion, I strongly agree with Burka. The statistics presented in the blog lead me to believe that at this point in time Perry should have collected more money for his campaign, considering how much he spent in previous elections. Unless he was to gather upwards of $35 million in the next two fundraising periods, there is not a strong indication that Perry is even considering running for reelection.

Free Speech Issue

The Dallas Morning News issued an editorial yesterday regarding freedom of speech and whether or not pictures on a license plate are protected under those laws. The author is 5th Circuit Judge, Jerry E. Smith who was the only dissenting vote to not allow a confederate flag on a license plate under free speech laws. He is a credible source because he is a judge and reviewed the case. The target audience of this editorial is Texas citizens and tax payers.  

Jerry E. Smith believes that the federal court was wrong in not letting Texas ban the Confederate flag picture from specialized license plates. Even though the first amendment depicts that Americans have the freedom of speech and can have any viewpoint they want, Smith believes that the license plate is state property and not open to free speech requirements, unlike the rest of the car that could have any emblem or symbols displayed. Since the license plates are manufactured by the state of Texas, Smith thinks a picture in support of people who wanted to separate from the United States of America should not be allowed. People have the right to do as they wish with pictures of the Confederate flag but having the state manufacture them is wrong in the eyes of Smith. It is pointed out that there are other licenses plates with emblems honoring veterans from other wars but Smith voted against the other judges because the Confederate veterans were fighting against our country and not for it.

I am on the side of Jerry E. Smith when it comes to letting the state ban the Confederate flag picture from license plates because license plates are paid for by taxpayers. The emblem is highly offensive to many people and taxpayers are paying for this to be on license plates when they in no way want to be a part of a picture supporting slavery. I don't think license plates should have the Confederate flag emblem on it because it makes people feel like Texas is supporting the Confederate views.

Border Struggles

The article I read from KEYE-TV news points out some major problems going on at the southern border of Texas that are not being fixed. Large numbers of children are showing up at the border without their parents. The Border Patrol are trying to discharge them as fast as possible but they can't do this faster than the kids are coming in. Republicans such as Senator John McCain are upset because once the children get into America they are staying here on the tax payers dime.

I think this article is worth reading because a big problem in society for people is not being able to find jobs easily and a reason for this is due to so much immigration to the United States. In this case it is illegal immigration and it is not being stopped or dealt with at the Texas border.