Relevant links and information are included below.

• What: World premiere of Not Evil Just Wrong
• When: Sunday, 7:00 PM Central Time; panel discussion with Andrew Breitbart, John Fund, Prof. Richard Lindzen, and Prof. Don Roberts Emeritus to immediately follow.
• Where: One of hundreds of premiere sites across the country (and thousands around the world)

Live Streams:

• http://www.ustream.tv/channel/not-evil-just-wrong
• http://bighollywood.breitbart.com
• http://action.afa.net

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Fewer than 50 hours from the 8 pm EDT Sunday launch of Not Evil Just Wrong — set to be the world’s largest simultaneous film premiere party in history — the documentary’s co-creators today announced options for people across the globe to watch it FREE over the internet. Live links follow.

In addition to the thousands of individual DVD/theatrical premiere parties being hosted across the nation (map available here), the documentary will also be streamed live over the Internet — accessed for free by anyone who visits the site. Not Evil Just Wrong will also be available on several Internet domains to ensure bandwidth sufficient to handle the expected massive interest in the documentary.

The popular website Big Hollywood (http://bighollywood.breitbart.com) has announced its intention to live-stream the documentary over its site, as has the American Family Association (http://action.afa.net). Other options are expected to follow.

Read the rest of this entry »

What to Bring to the Polls

Aside from a voter registration certificate, a voter may present one of the following documents: a driver’s license, a picture identification of any kind, a birth certificate, a U.S. Citizenship or Naturalization certificate, a U.S passport, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. First time voters who registered by mail and did not provide their driver’s license number or identification number will need to provide another form of identification other than their voter registration certificate.

EARLY VOTING BEGINS MONDAY, OCTOBER 19^TH

November 3^rd Joint Election – Early Voting Schedule

Remember to tell your friends that when you vote during early voting you may vote at any of the early voting locations.  On Election Day you must vote at your precinct’s polling location.  You can find all the locations from our website www.HarrisVotes.com when you click on the ‘Early Voting Schedule’ link.  See the attached early voting posters, available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Voting locations after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Ronald D. Rotunda and J. Peter Pham
Friday, October 16, 2009

People can, and undoubtedly will, argue for some time about whether President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile, though, there’s a simpler and more immediate question: Does the Constitution allow him to accept the award?

Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, clearly stipulates: “And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.”

The award of the peace prize to a sitting president is not unprecedented. But Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson received the honor for their past actions: Roosevelt’s efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War, and Wilson’s work in establishing the League of Nations. Obama’s award is different. It is intended to affect future action. As a member of the Nobel Committee explained, the prize should encourage Obama to meet his goal of nuclear disarmament. It raises important legal questions for the second time in less than 10 months — questions not discussed, much less adequately addressed anywhere else. Read the rest of this entry »

The fine folks at Empower Texans have done the leg work analyzing the propositions for the upcoming November 3rd Texas Constitutional vote. Below are their recommendations.

Source: Empower Texans

We encourage all Texans to participate in the constitutional election of November 3. There are a great many resources you can utilize in learning more about the amendments being proposed, including organizations such as the Free Market Foundation and the Texas Assocation of Business.

What follows are our recommendations.

Propositions to Support

Stopping Eminent Domain Abuse

Proposition 11 – Vote Yes!
“The constitutional amendment to prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property for public use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the State, a political subdivision of the State, the public at large, or entities granted the power of eminent domain under law or for the elimination of urban blight on a particular parcel of property, but not for certain economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to limit the legislature’s authority to grant the power of eminent domain to an entity.”

Why it’s good: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v New London decision allowed local governmental entities to take private property for the purpose of economic development, unless the states’ constitutions contain a provision to the contrary. This amendment would add restrictions on the use of eminent domain in Texas, and prohibit legislators from weakening the restrictions without voter approval. Further, it would add important protections against eminent domain abuse by specifically stating the legitimate purposes for eminent domain. Finally, governmental entities taking land through eminent domain would required to use it for a definable public purpose.

Reforming Property Taxes

Proposition 2 – Vote Yes!
“The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the ad valorem taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead.”

Why it’s good When appraisal districts determines the value of property for tax purposes, the district can right now base it on what the property would be worth if it were used for a more valuable purpose. Therefore, many homeowners have seen appraisals rise substantially, not because the value of the homes increased, but because the land was deemed more valuable as a different use. Texas already prohibits agricultural land and timber land from being appraised based on other possible uses, but no similar protection exists for homeowners. (Video link) Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Campaign for Liberty

Washington D.C., October 13, 2009 – In an unannounced move, the Administration has authorized the deployment of 15,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. This deployment is in addition to the 21,000 troops previously announced by President Obama in March of this year.  The move will bring the total amount of U.S. forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq to levels greater than the peak of the Iraq surge.

“Candidate Obama ran a campaign highly critical of Bush administration foreign policy and promised to bring troops home from overseas. But President Obama seems to be working from the same playbook as the Bush Administration, and his campaign promises seem to be ringing empty,” said John Tate, President of Campaign for Liberty. “Instead of winding things down, this president seems intent on increasing our involvement in this and other foreign adventures.”

In following a protocol similar to former President Bush’s Defense department, President Obama did not mention plans to deploy the additional troops during his initial declaration of troop increases.  These increases, as it turns out, are part of a larger plan to reach a 68,000 troop force by the end of the year.  All this comes as the administration continues to weigh whether to deploy the 40,000 troops requested by the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Source: CBS News

President Obama’s plan to remake the nation’s health care system is one step closer to reality after the pivotal Senate Finance Committee approved sweeping legislation Tuesday requiring nearly all Americans to purchase insurance and ushering in a host of other changes to the nation’s $2.5 trillion medical system.

The committee approved the measure by a vote of 14 to 9, with all Democrats supporting it, along with one Republican – Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine.

“Ours is a balanced plan that can pass the Senate,” Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Tuesday before the vote. “Our bill should win the support of Republicans and Democrats alike… My colleagues, this is our opportunity to make history.”

Baucus ultimately failed at winning any more than one Republican vote, even after marathon negotiating sessions.

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) called the vote another step toward the “flawed solution… of more spending, more government and more taxes.”

Snowe cautioned that her vote for the committee bill did not indicate she would support the Democrats’ final plans.

“I [support the committee bill] with reservations because I share my Republican colleagues’ trepidation about what will transpire on the Senate floor” and later on in the legislative process, Snowe said. Still, she said she would vote for the measure because “when history calls, history calls.” Read the rest of this entry »

Nationally recognized urban economist Randal O’Toole will be the lunch speaker for Houston Property Rights Association (HPRA) on
Friday, October 23. Mark your calendars.

The event will be in the ballroom of the Courtyard Restaurant, noon to 2 PM
1885 St. James Place, October 23, 2009.
We will charge $20 for this event, more than our usual $16.

Mr. O’Toole is an Oregon resident and a Senior Fellow with the Cato Institute best known for his criticisms of light rail and urban planning,
most notably the Smart Growth theory of planning, and his defense of automobile use. Lately he has been pointing out the foolishness of high speed rail.

[Some background on our speaker: Mr. O'Toole began his economics career as a conventional environmentalist but his work led him to re-examine his assumptions. Though he moved into the free market camp he has not lost his preference to use bicycles and mass transit rather than autos. He is also a rail fan who enjoys searching out and photographing trains and who helped restore one of the largest locomotives made in the US, the "City of Portland."]

http://www.cato.org/people/otoole.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randal_O’Toole
His blog: http://ti.org/antiplanner/

by Randal O’Toole

This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle on January 19, 2008.

Houston is the freest major city in America, with no zoning and only moderate government intrusions into how property owners use their land. This freedom has made Houston the most affordable major city in America, with housing costs that are less than half of most other major urban areas. This freedom has also created an innovative and growth-friendly environment that is creating tens of thousands of new jobs each year.

Despite these benefits, the recent controversy over the Bissonnet/Ashby high rise has inspired local planning advocates to call for an increased amount of government planning of land in Houston.

Proposals have ranged from a “general plan” for the entire city “based on citizen vision, values and goals” to a variety of ordinances that appear to be aimed at limiting dense developments.

Though planners may have the best of intentions, such planning is likely to lead to higher living costs, more traffic congestion and dramatically reduced job growth.

We can see this by looking at other cities with zoning and planning.

In a sense, American cities have engaged in a controlled experiment with planning, with Houston and a few other cities doing very little, many other cities doing some planning and some cities doing highly restrictive planning.

Advocates of planning say that it will make cities more livable, but the results of many experiments across the country show just the opposite.

Cities with strong planning authority, such as Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif., almost invariably have the least affordable housing, the fastest growing traffic congestion and growing taxes and/or declining urban services. In the long run, these problems tend to suppress urban growth and job creation.

The national real estate firm Coldwell Banker reports that, in 2007, a Houston family could buy a four-bedroom, two-and-one-half bath, 2,200-square foot home for $170,000. The same house would cost more than twice that much in Portland and more than eight times as much in San Jose. Read the rest of this entry »

The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself.

Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.

Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to “strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to “reset” relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.

East-West relations are little better than they were six months ago, and any change is probably due largely to the global economic downturn; and America’s vaunted determination to re-engage with the Muslim world has failed to make any concrete progress towards ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Read the rest of this entry »

On September 26, 2009, Tina Benkiser, now former Chair of the TX GOP, announced her resignation to join the re-election campaign of Texas Governor Rick Perry as senior advisor. According to the announcement made on Rick Perry’s website, her new role in the campaign was chosen because “she will be an important voice in promoting our message of fiscal responsibility and limited government.”

Perhaps, but it is more likely that Benkiser was tapped because of her significant, yet waning, influence with TXGOP leadership and strong Evangelical support. Since 2003, Benkiser enjoyed success in flooding the TX GOP with Social Conservatives. Now, Benkiser’s new role in the Perry campaign indicates a direct appeal to Evangelical Christians. Benkiser, an evangelical herself, has energized the social conservative base during her tenure with the Texas GOP, but her success in this arena alarmed many party faithful since evangelicals have been portrayed as being myopically concerned with social issues while tolerating fiscal and civic mismanagement.

Additionally, during the 2008 primaries, Benkiser, along with many GOP leaders, alienated the party’s liberty movement. She was accused of repeatedly breaking TX GOP rules to block their attempts at party reform through a genuine return to principles outlined in the platform. This even elicited a “fair convention” mini-movement, complete with shirts that bore the expression, “The GOP Rules! Let’s follow them”.

A Fresh Start for the RPT

Enrique Rangler, A-J Austin bureau chief, believes Benkiser’s move out is just what the GOP needs to begin rebuilding. He may be right. Read the rest of this entry »