Houston Democrats

Rick covered a variety of topics during his talk. I have done my best to touch on them all, but feel free to add any comments after the post.

Rick laments missing Democrats:

Rick opened with the fact that six Democrats failed to vote on Menendez's $1.2 billion measure that would have given $1,000 in benefits to teachers, and school employees, including custodians, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers. Those who were missing included Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner of Houston; Appropriations Vice Chairwoman Vilma Luna of Corpus Christi; Business & Industry Chairwoman Helen Giddings of Dallas; General Investigating & Ethics Committee Chairman Kevin Bailey of Houston; and Rules and Resolutions Chairman Al Edwards, also of Houston.

Rick's comments on Republicans:

Rick then remarked about the fact that Bush supposedly ran on the "uniter, not a divider" platform in his first election, which as we all can see has turned out just great. He stated that Bush ran on a platform to make DC more like Austin, but what's happened is that Austin looks more like DC.

Another of Rick's comments was that Republicans have trouble making a longterm commitment because it's hard to make a dead Republican vote.

Rick on neighborhood development:

Rick then described that in the near north end of Houston that former industrial land is being developed. The developers want subsidies and a new road at a cost of $6 million to develop the property. Of course this funding is likely to come in the form of tax payer subsidies. Rick said that as a condition of using taxpayer money that there should be affordable housing mixed in with market housing.

He noted that this is one of the main factors to social stratification today. Rick calls it ruthless economic segregation, but it's not always apparent. He says that the price signs that advertise for new neighborhoods are indicators of this stratification. The fact is that "220s" want to live in the suburbs, but the "250s" don't want to live with the "220s," and the "300s and up" don't want to live with the "250s," and no one wants to live near apartments. Rick also commented that the really wealthy live in Houston, where property values have soared.

Rick reminisced about the layout of his King William District neighborhoods in San Antonio (this was before it became really sought after property). In his neighborhood there was a mix of classes, where on the street in front of his house there was a $400,000 3-lot mansion, and on the street behind his house there was a $35,000 one-bedroom cottage. This arrangement resulted from the fact that the mansions all had small houses for servants to live nearby. The City of San Antonio has a law that prevents any of the historical houses from being torn down. Consequently, there was a mix of rich and poor that is not often found today in most neighborhoods. Rick said it was hard to live in the neighborhood without knowing the poor who lived in Section 8 housing and the rich, like Charles Butt of HEB grocery chain. He came to know that there are some nice rich people and some awful rich people as well as some nice poor people and some awful poor people.

Rick also remarked on the loss of "family values," which he refered to as a young couple buying a house near their parents, something that doesn't happen in the suburbs. He also noted that the rich will live near the poor if the design is right.

Rick on religion:

Rick noted that religion is being mixed more and more frequently with politics today. He referenced Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which reflects the current debate about religion and politics. Rick noted that Lincoln was concerned about the influence of religion on government. Lincoln believed that the nation should be put under God's judgement rather than actively recruiting God for political purposes.

Then the topic shifted to Hagey, an evangelical Christian pastor of a church in San Antonio. The San Antonio Express News calculated his income at more than $1 million per year. Many church members wrote in in outrage. The reply was that God wants Hagey to be rich and for all of us to be rich.

The National Catholic Reporter did a piece on Catholic Pentecostalism that described a case of a baby suffering from leukemia. The preacher was praying over the baby and one of the family relations asked what was going on, and the preacher responded that he didn't really know but that someone nearby was lacking in faith.

Rick says there is a new nationl religion: God wants you to be rich. If you are not rich, you are not with God. Basically, the right wing would like to do away with CHIP, Medicaid, and the school fund. Instead religion says we should worship markets.

Markets aren't all bad, but Rick cautioned that we should consider how to make markets do what they do well and to tame them so they do. The rich say we do not have to do anything to manage markets. The poor just have to get with God, and that will solve their problems. Rick noted that at one time it was the blacks who were not believed to be with God, now it's the poor.

Essentially, the right wing has stollen the identity of Chritianity and turned it against the "non-believers." Rick asked how is it that God wants us to have a 3-5% revenue cap?

Rick on news media:

Rick noted how the main sources for news and information have steadily declined through mergers. He said that San Antonio had three newspapers until the 1970s, then two until the early 1990s, and now just one. Rick also said that the "forces" driving news outlets to consolidate have not stopped.

In the past the newsprint media has depended upon a low subscription price, mass marketing, and advertising to cover most of the operating costs. The main problem is that many advertisers have found that they can more effectively target certain groups through other technologies (internet, cable, digital tv, etc.) instead of a broad-sheet format. Newspapers have lots of columns that appeal to many different audiences, which makes it inefficient to target specific types of groups. In fact, a service for marketers is being developed for digital cable that monitors the types of shows one watches, and then based on those shows, specific ads will be shown. For example, if you watch home improvement programs, you might see an ad for Home Depot, but someone else would see specific ads targeted to their shows instead.

Rick on Democrats vs. Republicans:

Rick says it is a matter of time before Democrats become competitive again. He mentioned that Larry Veselka said that Republicans have become as arrogant and out of touch as Democrats were in Texas, and you can easily see it in Washington, DC.

Rick said that many see him as anti-Republican, but he says that's because there just haven't been enough Democrats to beat up on. However, he cites the narrow margins by which judges win as an indicator of change. Rick said that when the Democrats regain power to "never forget the blood lust of Irishmen."

Rick's other news:

Rick also mentioned that Tim Fleck from the Houston Press has joined the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board, so keep watch for his editorial pieces.

Next HCDP Brown Bag Lunch (Tuesday, June 14):

Rebecca White the Senior Vice President of Community Services for Planned Parenthood will speak next month at the HCDP Brown Bag Lunch. She will give a recap of the 2005 legislative session. As Gerry Birnberg said, "She will spend 30 seconds telling us everything good that the Legislature has done, and spend the rest of the time on the rest."

The next HCDP Brown Bag Lunch will be at noon on Tuesday, June 14 at the HCDP Headquarters.