Republicans vs. Democrats: A Culberson Town Hall Wrap Up

Pensions.  Health care.  Tax reform.  Immigration.  All of these issues affect us.  Not just 'you' us, but ALL of us.  Each individual has a story about how each one of these issues affects their lives.  Contrary to what Congress may tell you, there isn't any sweeping legislation that is a one size fits all solution, and I think going forward, legislators and the public need to remember that when we're considering what we're asking for.

Unfortunately, we live in the era of Big Government, and although it's not necessarily a new thing, it's still a thing.  They have this attitude of, "Anything the private sector can do, the public sector can do better."  This is not just an attitude of the federal government; it's a view held by Democrats and leftists alike.  That was never more evident at the John Culberson town hall.

The town hall was hosted at Spring Branch Middle School Auditorium and it was filled to capacity.  Seven hundred constituents flooded the town hall with questions to be asked and confrontations to be had with the Congressman.  The majority of the attendees were Democrats and there was a theme running through them all.  I'd love to tell you it was sweetness and light, but alas, that was not the case.

From the moment that they booed the opening prayer, and left out 'Under God' in the pledge, the mood had been decided. It was clear to me that the folks that were in attendance were out to control the entire town hall.  They were there to intimidate and to shout down and make their noise.  And that, they did.

I've got to say, I didn't blame the constituents for their frustrations, although they could have been much more civil about it.  I and others have felt similar frustrations with Congressman Culberson over the years. The only difference between myself and the Democrats is that going into any conversation or meeting, THEY would KNOW that they're going to disagree with the Congressman and that he's not going to represent their interests very well.

I think that the Congressman could have handled the crowd a bit better than he did.  Each time someone rose to ask a question, he often responded with "That's a very thoughtful and important question."  On the surface that might sound good, but it came across as very condescending.  The constituents recognized it and often followed those words with 'boos' and began chanting, "do your job'.  It was embarrassing.

I went there as an observer.  Full disclosure, I have been a long time skeptic and critic of the Congressman, but I went there really wanting to hear what he'd have to say.  There was one few thing he really stood strong for, like being against a single payer healthcare system which I was glad of.  Others, like something that he kept repeating, "Keep politics out of science and art.", that I wasn't so sure of.  Sounded good for the crowd he was in front of, I guess.

Another constituent was there, Mary Jane Smith, precinct chair and long time GOP activist, and this is what she had to say about the way the Congressman handled himself; " He was misinformed on several points. I was disappointed, although not surprised, when he said to the opposition that he was going to vote for same ole funding for National Institute of Health, (NIH), increased funding for education, public broadcasting, and was against Trump's decrease funding of the Dept of State."

The Republican constituency that lives in Congressional District 7 didn't show up for this town hall.  Hell, they didn't show up for the general election!  CD-7 went for Hillary!  I have news for them and for whomever is reading this, the Republican leaders, activists and voters had better not get comfortable over the next four years. The opposition is alive and well in even the most conceivably conservative areas in Harris county. The GOP still has to make OUR voices heard in the legislative process and the election process!  The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

John Culberson Hosts a Town Hall THIS Saturday, March 25, 2017

Congressvarmint. Congresscritter.  Tax dollar waster.  These are some of the names that I and others have come up with over the years for our congressmen.  I think I may have found a new favorite term of endearment for my very own congressman; 'porker of the month',  Unfortunately, I wasn't the one who coined the phrase, but when I did a Google search of Congressman Culberson this morning, the first thing that popped up was an article written by Citizens Against Government Waste.  The title?  "CAGW names Culberson, Rogers, and Rooney December 2016 Porker of the Month".  Love it.

Apparently he's done enough of NOTHING over the past sixteen years he's been in office for Congressional District 7 that he may face a serious Democratic challenger for his seat.  I base that claim on the fact that good old conservative congressional district 7 went for Hillary Clinton in the November general election.  So, guess what he's doing now?  Sending out fundraising emails with cries for help much like a modern day Paul Revere, only with much less courage, claiming in emails that his staff sends out, "The Democrats are coming!  The Democrats are coming!"

Oh, yeah, they are.  And so are the Republicans.  After cosponsoring legislation to remove the ban on earmarks in December of last year and his lack of responsiveness to his current constituency, he's feeling the pressure.  Seems kind of ironic, though, don't you think, that the party of the opposition would be the voice that he's responding to? Well, you know what they say, there's only two ways to run for office, unopposed or scared.  I have a feeling Culberson is running scared.

To further prove that he IS running scared, he's finally hosting a town hall.  If you live in his Congressional District like I do, you will be allowed entrance.  Click on the link here to get all of the details, the do's and don'ts.  Apparently this time, there are quite a few of those.

So, what will his tagline be this time?  I guess you'll have to attend to find out....

Congress Has Never Met An Earmark They Didn't Like

Hello, my pretties!  Welcome back to TPC on the flip side of quite possibly the craziest election season EVAH!  I worked this election harder than I have ever worked one before.  I knocked on doors and phone banked and placed yard signs all throughout my precinct.  I was even able to recruit volunteers to work the election in my spare time.  Whew!

That said, I was thoroughly disappointed in the results of the county wide races here in Harris County.  We lost three very important positions, the utmost, in my opinion, was the Tax-Assessor Collector which was held by Republican incumbent Mike Sullivan.  Mike's office is in charge of keeping the voter rolls clean in Harris County and with the Democrats at the ready to steal elections, the fact that a Democrat won that seat makes it even easier for them to do so.

I know that I made no secret about not being a Trump supporter, however, I was personally thankful to see Hillary go down in flames.  With a Republican majority in Congress, we should be able to right the wrongs of an out of control leftist agenda, right?  Think again, kids.

I want to ask you a multiple choice question.  Not one week after the 2016 general election, Republicans in Congress are itching to:
a.)Reign in the federal government
b.)Repeal and replace Obamacare
c.)Repeal redundant laws and sunset government agencies
d.) Lift the ban on earmarks.
If you chose 'd', you're correct.  

Club for Growth doesn't think we should.  According to their president, David McIntosh, " “This is a test of whether Republicans are listening to the American people,” said Club for Growth president David McIntosh. “It’s been barely a week since voters sent a resounding rejection of Washington insider politics, and yet House Republicans are already on the verge of proving they’re tone deaf. Earmarks represent the worst of inside-the-beltway gamesmanship, by enticing Members to vote for big-government bills with the lure of getting tax dollars for big projects back in their districts. House Republicans banned earmarks in 2011, but some have been trying to get back their spending power ever since. Voters believed that Republicans would ‘drain the swamp,’ not redirect it for their own benefit."

Hmm, so you know me, I can't leave well enough alone, so I called Congressman Culberson's office to check with them the reason why they filed such a bill.  According to his office, "Line item appropriations would provide greater transparency and efficiency because the request would identify the congressperson and the project said money would be going financing."

Follow that with news that Speaker Ryan "...persuaded Republicans to postpone votes on bringing back legislative earmarks until 2017 after reminding members of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” of Washington."  So, we can breathe a sigh of relief, right?  Not so fast.  Read on down the article from thehill.com and find this: "But while the votes have been delayed for now, it’s far from certain that Republicans will keep the earmark ban in place when a public vote is held next year."

So, if you're of the mind that lifting the ban on earmarks is not a good idea, then feel free to contact your Congressman.  If you happen to think that by using this tactic that it will help expedite the freeing up federal dollars for special requests and you like that idea, then also feel free to call your Congressman.  John Culberson can be reached at 713-682-8828.  Let him know how you feel about the issue, because he represents YOU and that is YOUR money they're spending.


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James Lloyd: Conservative for Congress

From the news desk...

James Lloyd announces his run for Congressional District 7. 

Dear Fellow Conservative,

I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives representing Texas’s 7th Congressional District.

It’s time to hold Washington accountable for reckless government spending and a crippling $18 trillion national debt. We cannot afford career politicians who endanger our country’s financial stability and force future generations to pay the bill. If we keep electing the same people, nothing is going to change.

After nearly 30 years in elected office, John Culberson has become part of the problem. He lives in Virginia and is out-of-touch with our district. He fails to live up to his promises—consistently voting to increase the size of government, grow the national debt, and satisfy special interests that bankroll his campaigns. It’s time to replace complacency with courageous conservatism.

I am running to solve problems in Washington, not pass the buck. I know what it takes to drive economic growth and keep America safe. As an energy attorney, I worked on the region’s largest oil and gas projects and understand the detrimental impact of ineffective government policies and excessive regulation. I served on the national security staff at the White House and witnessed firsthand the threats that confront our nation and how we must respond.

I bring the fighting spirit of the grassroots. I have served in leadership roles in the conservative movement for over 15 years and have worked to inspire a new generation of conservatives in Texas. Now more than ever, we need new leaders to advance the conservative cause and stand up for traditional values.

I am a proud seventh-generation Texan and lifelong resident of the district. I am committed to strengthening our community, from serving veterans as a volunteer attorney to helping grow the congregation at my church. In contrast to our current representative, I will continue to live in our district and focus squarely on the issues impacting our community and the future of our country.

Please join me and support the campaign by visiting LloydforCongress.com. Together, we can hold Washington accountable with new conservative leadership.

Thank you,

So Who Does Congressman Culberson Represent; Constituents or Colleagues?

"Working in Congress is like standing under Niagara Falls"-John Culberson (R) Texas said repeatedly during a town hall meeting on September 22, 2014

Really?  Sounds like a problem to me.  The button on the pants of the federal government has officially shot off into the atmosphere as the bloat and the sheer girth of government has increased to sizes previously unknown.  Houston, we have a problem.

Thankfully we have John Culberson fearlessly representing the good folks of Congressional District 7!  Um, scratch that.  Thankfully we have John Culberson representing the good folks of Congressional District 7!    Nope, wouldn't even go that far.  I think we can boil it down to 'we have John Culberson representing the good folks of Congressional District 7'.

I am not new to blogging about my Congressional Representative, Congressman Culberson.  I have written about him numerous times regarding his voting record, his lack of town hall meetings and about some follow up conversations that we've had about those posts.  Yet here we are once again talking about a town hall that he held here in Houston, this past Monday night.  Except this time, I made it interesting and I hijacked the town hall meeting.

The most recent blog I posted I titled Is John Culberson a Jeffersonian Republican...Or Not?  was about his voting record and his low scores with some of the top freedom groups, groups like Heritage Action, Eagle Forum and Freedomworks.  His score was the lowest with Freedomworks, a 53% rating, which is technically an 'F'.  So in order to make a point, I made copies of his Freedomworks score card and handed them out to the people who were attending the town hall.  Heck, I even handed one to the Congressman himself.  Yeah, I don't think he saw that coming.  Neither did his staff, because when the Congressman showed up, one of his staffers stuck her head out the door and said to him, "We need to talk!".

I could go on and on about the different questions that were lobbed in the direction of the Congressman that evening, but I won't.  I'll spare you and get straight to the point.  I was able to ask him a question about his self-proclaimed Jeffersonian-Republican affiliation and how he reconciles that ideology with all of the votes he's cast to increase or maintain spending on a wide range of programs.  He immediately reached inside his jacket for the Freedomworks Score Card I'd handed him and proceeded to go down the list to explain why he voted for each one.  After hearing his responses, I am personally not satisfied with the idea that there isn't anyone else out there to better represent the voters of CD-7, and here's why.  Each of the reasons he gave for a vote he'd cast were  boiled down to the fact that he'd listened to another Congressman or colleague that he trusted.  

Okay, I guess we all might run our options by another person for their opinion, but ultimately the choice we make is our responsibility.  Same with a vote that's cast; shouldn't the Congressman or Congresswoman be required to stand on his or her own to answer for the consequences?  I mean, have they forgotten the magnitude of their actions and the fact that they are spending our children's and grand children's money?  I think accountability is key to the relationship between a congresscritter and his or her constituents and I for one will not let up until I am heard.  

Is John Culberson A Jeffersonian-Republican...Or Not?

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie down the second with chains of the constitution so the second will not become legalized versions of the first."-Thomas Jefferson.

I share that with you because the person I'm writing about espouses on his website to BE a Jeffersonian-Republican.  This is a direct quote from his website, "As a fiscally conservative “Jeffersonian Republican,” Congressman John Culberson is committed to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of limited government, individual liberty, and states’ rights. Simply put, John Culberson believes in “Letting Texans Run Texas.” 

All of that sounds really good, doesn't it?  Well, friends, as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.  Let's look at some of the voting action on the part of our fair Congressman Culberson.

I'm a Freedomworks follower and they have a Scorecard that they use to keep up with all of the House and Senate members voting records, both good and bad.  So, here's the first vote on the list in which Congressman Culberson voted against the Freedomworks recommendations.


On H.R. 3457-Omnibus Appropriations for Fiscal year 2014,  Culberson was a 'yea' vote.  This bill funded the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2014. It spends $45 billion more than the budget caps established in 2011, and perpetuates a vast amount of wasteful spending from previous years. Lawmakers were also given almost no time to read this 1,500 page spending bill.  Reminds me of Democrat Jeff Conyers and his quote about actually reading a bill before passing it.  "What good is it to read a bill that's 1,000 pages when you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you've read the bill?"  Sounds like it might be more than just a Conyers philosophy. 

On the FARM Bill, Culberson was also a 'yea' vote.   This final version of the Farm Bill, reconciled between the House and Senate, actually undoes some of the already modest reforms to crop insurance and food stamps that were previously in the bill. This five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill will spend nearly a trillion dollars over ten years, and remains loaded with corporate welfare and special carve-outs for well-connected agricultural corporations.

His Jeffersonian-Republican framework could be destroyed within the guise of the FARM bill.  Think about it; it expanded government, it spends more money, a trillion over ten years and keeps people on the government dole through food stamps, which is ultimately about the dependency on a hand out.

How about the amendment to House Resolution 4870, to cut Transportation and HUD spending by 1%?  Surely a Jeffersonian Republican would want to cut spending.  Sorry to say, not this time.  He voted NOT to cut spending.

I'll share one more key vote with you and it is on the Highway and Transportation Funding Act.  This bill bails out the nearly depleted Highway Trust Fund through May of 2015, using revenue gimmicks to supposedly offset most of the cost. The Highway Trust fund desperately needs reform instead of merely continuing to receive periodic taxpayer bailouts.  Congressman Culberson was a 'yea' vote on this one, too.  Read my lips, "No more bailouts!"  

Okay, since I've been playing bad cop all this time, maybe it's time for a little good cop.  One of the votes that he got right was to restrict agencies from accessing U.S. citizens' communications metadata.  I guess he felt compelled to do that after he voted for the patriot act, not once, but twice.

These are only four of the votes that earned him a 50% rating on the Freedomworks Scorecard.  To be fair, I went and checked out some of the other really well known scorecards, Eagle Forum and Heritage Action.  He rated a 75% with Eagle Forum and a 68% with heritage Action.  All three scorecards report on much of the same bills, with the exception of a few.  Both Heritage Action and Eagle Forum reported on a bill that Freedomworks did not, which was a bill to establish the Commission to study the potential creation of a National Women's History Museum, a bill that BOTH organizations recommended voting against.  John Culberson voted FOR the bill and it passed.

There's just one more bill I'd like to draw your attention to that he voted against that blows his Jeffersonian-Republican thought process out of the water; a bill to reform the Federal Sugar Program.  From Heritage Action's Website:

Amendment #98 offered by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) reforms the Federal sugar program: 1) repeals unnecessary trade restrictions; 2) eliminates higher price support levels; 3) reforms domestic supply restrictions to provide more flexibility to USDA; and 4) provides flexibility to USDA in administering quotas.

Heritage Action Position

In 2006, the Department of Commerce found that for every job “saved” by the program, the sugar program kills three manufacturing jobs. Despite claims that it is “zero cost” to taxpayers, the current sugar program distorts prices for sugar products for consumers. It also inflates sugar prices by capping the amount that manufacturers and consumers in the U.S. can import from foreign producers.

Again, this increases the role of government in the private sector, kills jobs and no pun intended, artificially inflates the price of sugar.  What was that about letting Texans run Texas?  I fail to see how any of the votes I've listed here and others he's cast over his tenure as a Congressman line up with his own ideology. 

Time for a Culberson Birthday Bash, No Time for a Town Hall During August Recess

Happy August recess, Congress!  You know it's that time of year again, Congress is on a 'break' from work, that time of year when they finally have a chance to spend time with their constituents and discuss their voting record.  Wait, what?  What that should read is that Congress will be coming home to fill their coffers with more campaign donations by doling out more empty promises.

That is sadly the case more often than not, and it is the case for my Congressman, John Culberson.  If you've been reading any of my posts over the past few years, you know I'm not shy when it comes to sharing Congressman Culberson's voting record, since I have done so several times.  Now, what has me most upset is so far I have yet to hear of a town hall meeting to be scheduled for his constituents.  What I did get was an invite to a birthday party...wait for it...for HIM.  It gets better, I promise.  In order to attend this birthday bash, as it's called, you have to PAY to get in.  Really?  We live in a bass ackward kind of country when you have to PAY to see your very own congresscritter.

It is supposed to be a really well attended event and it's held every year and we only have to pay $25 to get in.  I don't care!  I don't care how exciting the party might be, or how good the cake is (there's a Marie Antoinette joke in there somewhere, I just know it). There's something wrong with this picture.

I have reached out to his office twice now, once to him personally on his Twitter feed and once in an email to his assistant, to no avail.  Just today, however, I got an invitation to a Meet and Greet for the Congressman.  What do you think of when you hear the words 'Meet and Greet'?  Right, fundraiser.  You can draw whatever conclusion you like, but to me that says that you and I are not important enough to meet with unless we have some money to contribute.

So, what do we want?  A town hall!  When do we want it?  NOW!  Call his office and demand a town hall.  You can reach him at his Memorial Office here in Houston at 713-682-8828 or at culberson.house.gov and go to the contact form.

Lawmakers need to remember who they work for!  It's We The People who employ them, not the other way around.  Remind him who he represents and who he reports to!

Versions of the Truth

I don't know about you, but I like for people to tell me the truth; the honest truth.  I don't want your version of the truth.  Ever since my last blog post about Representative John Culberson's voting record on some key spending bills called Just The Facts, Chicken!, my attention has been focused on him to see what he's going to do next; if he's going to reign in his spending habits, or continue to push us over the fiscal cliff.  Unfortunately, I don't have good news.

Earlier in the week, on Thursday, to be exact, there was a continuing resolution that was voted on by the House of Representatives called H.R. 933; a resolution that will fully fund Obamacare.  According to Yvonne Larsen, a contributing blogger for Big Jolly Politics, who states in her blog, All But One! that: "With the exception of Representative Louis Gohmert (TX-01), every single Republican from the Texas delegation of the U. S House of Representatives voted to fund Obamacare. They even broke their own rules to do it."  Huh.  Interesting.

So, I go to Representative Culberson's Facebook page and lo and behold there is a blog post by one of their staffers about that very CR, titled The Truth About Obamacare and Continuing Resolution.  They seemed to have been getting phone calls about why Congressman Culberson would have voted to fund Obamacare.  Heck, according to his legislative staffer, he'd already vote to repeal Obamacare something like thirty-four or thirty-five times!  So why not vote to fund it?  He'd kept one part of the promise to REPEAL it.  He never mentioned not funding it.

My next step in investigating this was to call his office directly.  I felt like there was something I was missing and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.  So here is in short the phone conversation I had with their staffer: She said that there were essentially 12 appropriations bills all combined into one bill. One of the agencies that was to be funded was the Labor and HHS which funds things like WIC and is the agency that funds Obamacare. They voted to fund all of these things together, so that's where the confusion comes in. She assured me that every year, these agencies have been funded at lower levels, therefore only leaving enough money to fund WIC and NOT Obamacare.  Okay, that may make sense, but this reason that they voted for it makes my blood boil.  They voted for it in part, from my understanding is  that if they had voted no that the bill wouldn't have gone anywhere in the Senate anyway.  SO WHAT?!?  Take a stand!  Vote 'no'!   

Yvonne Larsen raised another question after I shared this information with her.  Why were they in such a hurry to pass the bill?  They didn't even allow for the seventy-two hour wait time that they promised.  No, they were in such a hurry, they voted after the bill was only posted for forty-seven hours.  Sounds a little fishy to me.

On a side note, while having a conversation with this staffer, who was very helpful, by the way, I told her some things that I thought she needed to hear.  I let her know, nicely that Republicans are bad at messaging; that this information they posted about the CR was done in reaction to the response of the constituents, not as a proactive measure.  Then again, if we had known about it, we probably would have called and told him to vote no.  She assured me that they are very active on social media and do try to get their message out.  Culberson is known for his 'cut spending and reduce government waste' stance, so I asked her what have they eliminated.  She couldn't name any specific program or agency right off the top of her head.  Go figure.

Not to get preachy here, but the Bible says something about a person's word, ya know, when you give someone your 'word' that you are or aren't going to do something.  Above all, my brothers, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned-James 5:12.  Unfortunately, it doesn't say anything about the things you didn't mention that you might do or the things you didn't promise.  We usually just get some version of the truth.

Why I'm supporting Bill Tofte for U.S. Congress

Hello, friends!  It's The Political Chicken here!  I am somewhat new to the arena of politics and I'm coming out of my 'shell' of sorts.  I have recently discovered a few things about myself, and one of those things is that I love to write.  So, here I am, ready to share my opinion with the cyber-world which is already full of other opinions.  I mean, what's one more blog among millions of others, right?  I may not always write about politics, but it's May and in Texas, it's primary season, so, here we go.  

I am usually a chicken, I don't like to try new things, or for that matter, new representatives.  But, you know what they say, a sure sign of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.  Well, I'm tired of being insane!  We as a country are in debt way past our eyeballs, and the current Congress just seems to either not notice the debt or not care, and they continue to spend and regulate the American people into oblivion.  Well, I've had enough.  I know that lots of other regular folks have, too.  That brings me to discuss with you my choice for U.S. Congress in CD 7.  Bill Tofte, who is a business man and a constitutional Republican, has decided to throw his hat into the ring to be the new member of the House of Representatives to represent CD 7.  He is passionate about liberty and preserving our rights as Americans.  Bill is also a tea party guy.  He is taking his stand for the defense and restoration of the Constitution. He will never compromise his conservative principles. He will never weaken in the face of special interests or legislative power brokering. He will fight for freedom and liberty at all costs.   

Now, I'm a tea party gal.   I love the tea party movement and how it has empowered folks like myself, who normally wouldn't even think twice about politics to get involved.  I also love how it has evolved, too.  It's not about just waving signs and flags in the middle of town squares across America anymore.  It's about taking the people from the town squares and putting them into positions in state house races, school board races and mud board positions.  Come out from under that rock you've been living under and take a look around!  The stakes are higher now than they have ever been before and we NEED an involved citizenry!  We need folks like Bill Tofte and other conservative citizens to step up and run for offices like these.   

Bill is NOT a politician.  He has never run for office before.  So?  That's fine with me.  That just means that he is still honest and true to his word and hasn't been corrupted by the promise of power and money from some special interest groups.  Some people, who I consider part of the Republican 'good ole boy' network will say things like, we need someone with experience!  Bill doesn't have any experience!  Experience at what?  Racking up debt and mortgaging our children's and grand children's futures?  I don't think I want that kind of experience going back to Washington and representing me and my family.

They also may say things to me like, he's not the incumbent!  How dare you support a challenger to the incumbent!  You're so....so....anti-incumbent!  No, I'm not.  I just think that if we want better representation, we need to consider sending someone who isn't a 'good ole boy'.

Now, I realize that lots of politicians and candidates have attached the tea party moniker to their name to be accepted among tea party groups.  Well, honey, just like fried chicken, I can smell a phoney a mile away!  Rest assured, Bill Tofte is the real deal!  Vote for Bill Tofte, U.S. Congress 2012!