B and B

Texas Land Commissioner's 'Big Lie'

DriveDemocracy and Capitol Annex have plenty of info on the latest happenings with the impending sell-off of important Texas state park lands in the Big Bend area.  Predictably, our Republican-led government is trying to disguise its actions with distortions and half-truths.  Glenn Smith at DriveDemocracy writes:

Land Commission Jerry Patterson wants to sell part of Black Gap Wildlife Area, a state treasure. Now he’s lying to reporters, Gary Scharrer [of the San Antonio Express-News] for instance. He sent the same lie to bloggers and others who wrote about this critical issue.

Here’s Patterson’s lie. Because the wild and scenic river front has been transferred to the General Land Office to sell, it is no long part of Black Gap. By this deception, so long as a state park is first deeded to the GLO, the state could sell all 120 state parks and claim they are not selling state parks.

For the record, the land Patterson wants to sell has always been part of Black Gap. It’s along the federally designated Wild and Scenic River, the Rio Grande.

Patterson’s deception is not an insignificant lie. It is a Big Lie. He’ll say with a straight face he’s not selling public park land, when he is. He has no shame.

How much longer will they be allowed to get away with this?

Perry's parks sell-off already underway?

Eddie at The Red State here in San Antonio points to a post a DriveDemocracy that informs us that Rick Perry's sell-off of Texas state park land may have already begun:

Parks & Wildlife transferred 12,000 acres of the Black Gap Wildlife Area in Big Bend to the General Land Office so it can be sold.

This land is some of the most beautiful and important in our state. It includes Rio Grande River canyons considered among the wildest in America. A portion of the Rio Grande that runs through Black Gap has been designated a Wild and Scenic river by the federal government. And Perry’s going to sell it.

A quick Google News search turned up this confirmation from an Austin news station's web site:

The GLO says the land is not for sale but would "consider any offers brought to them."

That doesn't sound like 'not for sale' to me, unfortunately.

That same article points out this quote from our not-so-esteemed governor:

"If you've got a park somewhere that no one's using, that could bring in a substantial amount of money to operate parks that people are truly using, then I think it makes sense to have that debate."

This is what our governor thinks of our magnificent parks:  cut their budgets; slash their operating hours; claim they aren't used; then sell 'em off.

DriveDemocracy has some further ideas:

Parks make money for Texas. They bring jobs. They boost local economies. We ask that Governor Perry use a portion of the Texas Enterprise Fund, flush with tens of millions of dollars, to bail out our state park system.

Rather than use the Enterprise Fund to make millionaires out of Washington D.C. lobbyists and Tom DeLay cronies, the money ought to be invested in our state land for the benefit of all Texans.

We’re talking about the soul of Texas. By selling our land and closing state parks, we are denying future generations what our parents and grandparents left to us. That is a disgrace.

Texans are organizing to stop the plundering. In Fort Worth, citizens are fighting the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake to private developers.

We have produced a brief film about Black Gap – “God’s Country: For Sale” – that we will make available to organizers and activists throughout the state. The film tells the story of one place. But it’s a story that’s relevant to all our public land.

It's pretty clear Perry would never follow the suggestion to use the Enterprise Fund, or any other fund, to bail out our state parks.  He's had six years.

But Texans can vote for new leaders in November.  It's our only hope for any change on this, and many other, important public concerns.

Rumor and innuendo in Connecticut

Whatever difference Democrats have over the Senate primary in Connecticut between Joe Lieberman and political neophyte Ned Lamont, it is irresponsible to be passing along rumor and innuendo as if it were another other than rumor and innuendo.  The latest attack against Lieberman is that he actively sought the Republican nomination for Senate in addition to the Democratic nomination.  The evidence?  Speculation by some anonymous "Connecticut Democrat" who apparently spoke to Time columnist Joe Klein, who, while nominally left of center, is well known for attacking Democrats. 

What in the world do supposedly respectable journalist/bloggers such as Jonathan Chait of The New Republic and aspiring alleged respectable journalist/blogger Ezra Klein of The American Prospect think they are doing by passing this baseless rumor along? 

Chait says this quote pulled out of thin air from who knows who is "not completely implausible, but pretty hard to believe."  Still, he wishes that "more reporters dig into this," even though there is absolutely no evidence suggesting this could be true.  Ezra Klein seems completely taken in, essentially assuming the truth of this baseless slur since it appears to fit his misguided stereotype of Lieberman's behavior, and piling on.

Whatever one feels about the merits of Lieberman versus Lamont, this behavior by these two journalists should be an embarrassment.

Unfortunately, I have seen similar baseless smears made against Lieberman for years by misguided progressives, dating from long before the war in Iraq was even on the horizon.  So while many of Lieberman's actions as a Senator in recent years have left a lot to be desired, and his campaign in this primary race appears to have been pathetically bad to this point, and his decision to potentially run as an independent should he lose the primary is bizarre, I remain very suspicious of the anti-Lieberman campaign.  Especially since I have heard little to no pro-Lamont talk coming out of the anti-Lieberman camp. 

Who is this Lamont guy anyway?

Chris Bell takes on the state park crisis -- and much more

Just a few days after I wonder what Democratic candidate for governor Chris Bell's stance is on the crisis with our state park system, Bell comes through in a big way.

Via Off the Kuff, I discovered that Bell has decided to make environmental issues a major issue in his campaign, and today put out a summary of his "Healthy Texas" positions in a press conference and at his web site.

There's a lot of good stuff in there.  And he makes it clear that Gov. Rick Perry's neglect of state parks and other aspects of our shared environment, will not continue under a Governor Chris Bell:

Either Rick Perry doesn't get it or he doesn't care. Over the past six years, his failed policies have brought about the trifecta of dirtier air, dirtier water and dirtier land. The children of Texas are now more likely to be sick and less likely to have health care. 10 million people per year visit Texas State Parks, yet Perry’s response is to cut their budget by 10 percent and close 18 parks.6 Once again, Rick Perry has led Texas in the race to the bottom of our nation’s air and water pollution and turned his back on our open spaces.

Governing is about setting priorities, and Rick Perry’s only priority is giving big polluters and campaign contributors a free pass. He even went so far as to make a deal with polluters to allow the weakening of oversight on coal plant pollution in the state. Rick Perry then filled his campaign coffers with contributions from these same energy companies, turning a blind eye as pregnant women and unborn children are now exposed to unhealthy levels of mercury.7

Rick Perry’s culture of corruption has wrested control of Texas lands and waterways from local residents and left them with skyrocketing utility rates and medical bills. He has sold the health and heritage of Texas to the highest bidder.

The scars from this culture of corruption can be seen across the face of Texas; in acres of farm land paved over for toll roads; in city parks choked with smog and school children sick with asthma; in rivers being dammed and lakes running dry; in state parks closing down and coal plants going up; in rising temperatures and skyrocketing utility prices.

Part of his plan to protect Texas' environment includes:

Develop a dependable source of funding for acquisition, maintenance, and management of Texas state & local parks to meet growing habitat preservation and recreation needs. Rep. Hilderbran's sports tax [see here for more info] is a good start.

Great for Chris Bell.  And great news for the huge number of Texans who care about our state's parks and environment.

Gov. Perry takes on the Texas state park crisis

What better way to get back into regular blogging than to talk yet again about our wonderful state parks in Texas and their tremendous neglect by our state government?  Actually, a better way would be to talk about our wonderful state parks in Texas and how, at long last, our state government has woken up to the problem and is addressing it post haste.

Sadly, being a member of the reality-based community, I'm going to have to do the former.

Something I missed over the last few months while paying attention to more personal matters is that our governor, the Republican Rick Perry, has asked all state governments to slash their budgets by 10%.  All of them.  Even ones, like Texas Parks and Wildlife, whose budget had already been raided over the years to the point of starvation.

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday (emphasis mine):

To comply with a recent budgeting request by Perry, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department may recommend the closure of 18 parks and historical sites, further cuts in administrative staff, the shutdown of a regional center and nearly $4 million in cuts for local parks, said agency director Robert Cook.

“I’m not [saying] this because I want to scare anybody — but these are some of the things we’re seriously looking at,” said Cook, speaking Friday before a special committee examining the department’s ongoing budget woes.

...

Cook said one alternative would be the shutdown of “big money losers” for the parks system. He noted that list would include such popular and historically significant attractions as the San Jacinto Battleground near Houston and the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City. “And those aren’t good options — any of them,” he said. ``I’ve got to look somewhere else.”

A spokeswoman for Perry said the governor opposes the shutdown of historical sites, but that the agency should consider options for those parks that receive few visitors. She also said that it makes sense from a budgeting standpoint for all agency directors to look for ways to trim fat.

“The governor has an excellent relation with Parks and Wildlife [and] the governor does have a concern about the adequacy of funding for the parks department,” said spokeswoman Kathy Walt.

But the agency needs to submit its budget request and go through the process of looking at its priorities, she said.

During Perry’s tenure, state spending on parks has gone down while state spending overall has gone up.

Perry didn't invent this problem, but he has contributed to it over the last six years via his neglect, and now is proposing to make it even worse, even to the point of suggesting selling off some state park lands.

Because of this typical example of Perry-style leadership, there are no fewer than three major candidates vying to oust Perry in the general election this November: independent Kinky Friedman, Republican-turned-independent Carole Keeton Stayhorn, and Democrat Chris Bell.

Being a Democrat myself, I'm looking to Bell to provide some leadership on this issue.  Unfortunately, his website reveals no apparent interest in this subject -- at least none that I can find.  Fortunately, there is still time to change that and help bring this issue before the voters.

Heed the words of this recent editorial from the Victoria Advocate (emphasis mine):

We encourage Perry's opponents ... to make this a major issue in their campaigns to unseat the incumbent.

We also want to know specifically which state parks the governor would sell off. We then want to see him travel to the parts of the state where those parks are located to argue that their sale is good for Texas. Given the popularity of state parks and the pride people feel in the ones near where they live, Perry might not find warm welcomes.