What about liens. They may not be able to kick you to the curb under that system, but you are still "renting" your property from the state. With the exception of a couple of successful suits based on the common law, every Texan pays taxes based on the assessor's valuation, sometimes on land owned for generations.RPB wrote: I have an issue with that too, and it is simpler to solve than her proposed give rich benefits while increasing burdens on less fortunate.
One solution would simply be to add a Constitutional Amendment or law that exempts property from being confiscated .... much like Credit Card creditors etc can't take your property for non-payment.
The question has been raised about Medina's qualifications. From the Texas Constitution, Article IV, Section 4:
I don't see a military pre-requisite, nor do I see there is an educational or experience credential. The ideal being anyone the people want can be elected providing they meet this criteria. Is electing someone on ideals wrong?SEC. 4. The governor shall be installed on the first Tuesday after the organization of the Legislature, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and shall hold his office for the term of two years, or until his successor shall be duly installed. He shall be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in this State at least five years immediately preceding his election.
(em added)Charles wrote:I'm voting for Rick Perry because I want Rick Perry as Governor. I find it interesting when people with opposing views and who support unelectable candidates resort to the erroneous claims that voting for [fill in the blank] is voting for "the lesser of two evils."
Charles I hold the utmost respect for you and can not quantify the appreciation I have for this venue and your hard work with the legislature. I have gone back over the thread and do not see the "insults" you alluded to, maybe I'm oblivious, but I do see passion in my own and others' responses and you are no exception. Passion is good IMHO.
I must take exception though when what is arguably a grass roots candidate is called "fringe" and "unelectable". Fringe because of what? A desire to restore a minimal and constitutional government apart from the "business as usual"? Unelectable, why? Because she is not entrenched, polished or funded by huge contributions?
I also take exception to the opinion we should vote for somebody, based on an endorsement on a single issue. As I said earlier, we have a perfect storm, we have an attitude (which I share) that the government has run amok on all levels AND we have people stepping up that, though untried, have specific beliefs and ideas that can heal this cancer. We can chose to chip away through the usual channels or we can work to rebuild in line with what the founders had in mind. We can chose to work with in the convention or become unconventional.
A note about Rick Perry:
I have sat at his feet and heard him speak. I like him. He was military and a pilot, cool points. He is without a doubt an advocate for CHL and even has said in response to the question of metal detectors at the capitol, "CHL in the hands of our citizens is all the security we need." or words to that effect. He is also pro life with exceptions for rape and incest and has repeatedly signed legislation friendly to home educators. My property taxes lowered under his watch. But...
HPV
He did mandate the HPV vaccine, a product pushed by Merck that has dubious efficacy and has proven dangerous (even deadly) for some. Appeals to conscientious objection does not mitigate the blatant disregard for parents' rights to make health care choices for their children. I know from personal experience the option is:
1) Not accepted by all schools, churches etc.
2) Is a complicated process that has to renewed every two years AND
3) Flags you for harassment by ERs, physicians and other agencies through ImmTrac.
Anytime a "health" measure is instituted by executive order, the right to choice is curtailed (notice I didn't say eliminated) and the vendor benefits. I thank God that both sides of the house and senate heard the people and overwhelmingly killed the measure.
Imminent Domain
I do not believe anyone can debate on a reasonable level the Governor's support for taking land to further pet projects like the "corridor". He appointed commissions that were unaccountable to voters that allowed public ROWs to be re-purposed as tollways. Anyone who has had the pleasure of mailing in "checks" that covered the toll plus "fees" knows that foreign (and I don't mean Oklahoma) interests profit and will continue to profit from the contracts to build and manage these tollways. There are more but less obvious examples of imminent domain being used beyond its intent at best, abused at worst.
Home Education
I appreciate the Governor's willingness to sign legislation that lifts burdens on home educators. But as a home educator there is a fly in the ointment. Governor Perry has known of discriminate treatment by UIL, Corporate reward programs for students/educators and admissions standards in colleges and universities including A&M.
The state law for admissions is simply that a student pass their entrance examinations. A HS diploma or even GED is not necessary, this is good. However, many schools demand higher test scores and tuition for home schooled studentrs that have a diploma that is not "accredited" or heaven forbid none at all. UIL excludes home schooled students almost universally. There are corporate reward programs that operate in Texas that benefit educators and students, the home educated is excluded of course.
The governor has received several entreaties from home school organizations and families to take a leadership role in correcting this inequality. I can not think of a single home school family that would take money from the government or welcome their involvement in our lives. But we would appreciate a level playing field.
The Irony is that the federal government has shown more proactive approaches with home school days and lock ins at NASA recruiting bonuses in the services, etc.
Concluding:
The declaration of independence lists fundamental truths, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
I am an absolute advocate for the sanctity of life, especially the innocent. The trauma of that life's creation (rape and incest) does not diminish the value of the growing life in the womb (and yes I have faced this in close proximity) so allowing for destruction of life that is created under those circumstances is to deprive that person of the unalienable right to life.
The right to keep and bear arms is an absolute right and necessary to the preservation of liberty. The will to sacrifice all is the vanguard of liberty. I enjoy the CHL but the requirement of a CHL before I can arm AND carry is an infringement. We may disagree on the best course to an absolute RKBA but it is an infringement as a requirement.
The pursuit of happiness starts with my right to steward the children God lent me as I see fit. To chose not to let them feed an out of control pharmaceutical machine by repeatedly assaulting their formative immune systems with dangerous vaccines of dubious efficacy. Are all pharmaceutical creations bad? I could not assert that, but I should be able to make decisions in the best interest of my family and raise them without subjecting them to state sanctioned indoctrination. Then there is being able to expand and grow, to obtain property.
So here it is:
Life: Perry - A Medina-A+
Liberty: Perry - A Medina - A+
Pursuit of Happiness: Perry - C+ to B- Medina - A+
Could I deal with Perry? Yes. But as long as I have a vote, I will vote according to my conscience and as long as I live in the United States of America I will not marginalize a candidate based on marketability. I'm done , if and when the other campaigns deem my inquiry worthy of a response, Ill post those and my thoughts.
