Your destination is on your right...Recalculating...

As a new resident to the city of Austin, I would like to point out something that has been plaguing me for quite some time. For some strange reason several of our major streets seem to have a multitude of names for the same street. Take for example, here in Round Rock, University Blvd is also known as Chandler Rd., also known as RR 1431 and as Whitestone. FM 1825 is also known as Pecan Street in Pflugerville. Co Rd 119 is also known as 79, also known as Palm Valley, also known as FM 1660 which turns into Co Rd 175 and then becomes Sam Bass Rd.  How is this helping our tourist economy with this kind of mess? What’s even more inconvenient is the fact that this city has decided to use toll roads in lieu of building a proper loop. I’ve never lived in a city this large that doesn’t have a proper loop that completely covers the circumference of its borders.

I believe with a loop circling the city of Austin should be constructed with a portion of the funds generated from the Texas Title and Registration or the Texas Lotto. Even with the Texas Lotto, 63% goes to the winner as the cash prize, 25% goes to the Foundation School Fund, 5% goes to the Retailer Commision, 5% goes to the lotto administration, and 2% goes to State Programs.  A larger percentage could be taken from the retailer commission to go toward the roads that allows said consumer to arrive at his store to enable that shopper to purchase goods from his business.

First, this would create jobs required to build the actual highway. Second, it would alleviate some of the traffic from I-35 and perhaps even decrease some of the accidents that happen so frequently. Third, it would create ease in getting to and around this city so that more dollars are circulating here at home. Many people have resorting to online shopping from everything from clothing to groceries, simply to avoid the hassle of driving to a brick and mortar store to purchase goods, find parking, pay for said parking all the while spending upward of $3.75 a gallon to do so. It would be worth it for broach this topic and develop plans to unify our streets and neighborhoods and keep our dollars spent here at home here in Texas.  

Liberty....or Death??

In the article Happy Texas Independence Day! by Jonathon McClellan, a proud honorary Texan and a conservative activist residing in Austin who has worked on political campaigns as well as local state officials. He admits he is biased toward those he has worked for and it shows as evidence in this article; a blatant advertisement for the campaign for Ted Cruz for Senator. The intended audience is clearly for his fellow Texas Republicans.

As referenced in our textbook, the two most important ideologies to the Texan Creed are individualism and liberty. And Ted Cruz is basing his campaign on the latter of the two, liberty. The slogan for his campaign is “Stand for Liberty with a Strong Conservative Fighter”.  The article begins with a short recap of the events of March 1836 when 52 men with modest possessions and little organization gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas to officially create their own nation.

He goes on to paint a picture describing the men with Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis and the men in the Alamo who were battling against the Mexican Army and General Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna, who reportedly campaigned on a platform of change and liberty but didn’t delivery on those promises. He draws close similarities between his own ideals on liberty and that of Lt. Col. Travis by including quotes from the Victory or Death letter, “I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character to come to our aid, with all dispatch…”

The blog certainly draws at the strings of pride in every Texan. Pride in what our ancestors endured for us. Yet his article shows no supporting evidence as to why he should be our new symbol of liberty. What makes him so important that he should compare himself to William Barrett Travis who died defending Texas? I completely support the idea for Texas pride. However, there is absolutely no facts or even claims as to why we should support him in his race for Senator. In order for this article to be more effective there should be some substantial evidence reflecting why he would be a good candidate for Senator. 

The San Antonio Express editorial, Dems, GOP debate school funds, by Gary Scharrer discusses the debate between the democrats and the GOP over school funding. Since Texas seems to be recovering from the recession it seems logical that state leaders would not continue with more budget cuts.  However, apparently Gov. Perry opposed having a special session to address school funding. Republican leaders would prefer instead use the budget surplus, if there even is one, to be used for unfunded Medicaid expenses and unexpected costs. The author’s intended for his work to be read by fellow Democrats, asking that the GOP seats be changed out. He provides some interesting points and backs them up with valid solutions.

This is where I have to agree with Gary and disagree with the GOP. I fail to understand why so much funding should go to the uninsured. Taking your 5 year old to the doctor every time they have sniffle doesn’t seem justified when school programs are being slashed and more teachers are cut every year, so that those that were paying for their own healthcare now cannot. Hence, you’ve thus dug the hole deeper and created even more families that will be applying for your free Medicaid.  Seems counter-intuitive to spend those dollars on Medicaid.

State legislature cut school funding for public schools by $2 billion dollars and its expected that another $2 billion will be cut again next year. Rep. Sylvester Turner (D) doesn’t understand why those funds cant be restored if the economy is improving and neither can I.  All in all public education will be down $6 billion by the start of the next session. These cuts seem unlikely to change unless the powers that be are no longer in power.  According to Jim Pitts (R) from Waxahachie doesn’t foresee his fellow GOP politicians holding a special session to cease to stop more budget cuts.  In the end there’s got to be another way. Something must be done before there is no solution. Either a special session must be held to re-distribute budge surplusses, qualifications for Medicaid recipients need to be evaluated or a change out the people who hold those seats in the Capitol. 

Occupy Austin's eviction from City Hall was timely

It was Saturday afternoon when we were driving through downtown Austin. As a new resident I always like to see park and take a walk through just so I can say I’ve been there and feel more like a local. We saw the tents and people sleeping on the sidewalk and I asked if they were in line to buy Van Halen tickets perhaps. My fiancée advised me this was actually the Occupy Austin aka Occupy Wall Street. To me it just seemed as if that’s about all they were doing… occupying the street.

I came home to google more information so I could find out just what was the point for Occupy Austin. According to this article, http://www.statesman.com/opinion/occupy-austins-eviction-from-city-hall-was-timely-2155182.html found on the website for the Austin American Statesman, the protesters were removed from City Hall on 2/3/12. The article explains that the Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York in September 2011. Apparently the entire point of it all was to put a spot light on income inequality. The protesters were supposed to represent the 99% of Americans that are not rich. They also said that they were being denied their ability to voice their opinions through free speech.

However, they are indeed free to speak their mind without sleeping on the south plaza’s steps every night for weeks at a time. Yes, it makes sense that homelessness is an important issue that needs to be addressed. However, it cost the city an additional $800,000 for police patrol and sanitation. Not to mention the amount of money nearby businesses lost from patrons avoiding the area because of the protesting. The most important issue in the article is not just in regards to Occupy Austin but the bigger picture, voting. 

People who complain about policies usually don’t understand the issues at hand. In this era, we have more access to information than ever before. If there’s something we don’t understand, Google is just a few clicks away. Just like the protestors, instead of just occupying space, we too should become organized, informed and actually turn out for voting day. There will be a city council meeting on February 16, 2012. Will you be there?