Welcome To Texas Liberal
Texas Liberal is a blog of politics and political history.
My name is Neil Aquino. Here is my profile.
I can be reached at naa618@att.net.
Additional focuses of the blog are books, art, poetry, personal relationships and, also, sea life and marine mammals.
( The picture above is of the Houston Ship Channel. A narrow channel can lead to a wide sea.)
The signature post of this blog is the Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. This list is the best of it’s kind on the web.
Another good post is my reciting the words to the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts on Galveston Island, Texas as a ship passes behind.
I live in Houston, Texas and I do sometimes write about political issues in Houston and in Texas.
I also often write about my former hometown of Cincinnati, and about the great beach city of Galveston, Texas.
I define liberalism as a role for government in the economy to help make life more fair, and a broad acceptance of people regardless of who they are.
This is why it says “All People Matter” at the top of the blog.
A blog grows one reader at a time. If you like what you read here, please consider forwarding the link.
Texas Liberal began regular posting on July 25, 2006.
I also blog at the Houston Chronicle as one of eight featured political bloggers, and on Where’s The Outrage? which posts out of North Carolina.
Thanks for reading Texas Liberal.
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Texas Liberal 
I, too, am sweating the outcome of this election. We (our country) cannot withstand another four years of incompetency from Obama. Let’s all do something about it and vote sensibly as a nation this time. Obama has got to go.
Good, good post!!
CJ Yeoman, Writer/Editor/Communicator (713) 729-8442 (landline) (713) 515-8845 (cell)
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Neil….Neil…Neil…really? You didn’t watch the debate? The open forum for the top office of the free world, and you didn’t catch it? DVR it? The work of freedom is up to each of us…and you missed the opportunity to understand Mr. Romney…unfiltered and President Obama…without the media lens. Are you putting your head in the sand?
I think if you would have seen it you would have a different opinion about the man Mitt Romney is and possibly the republican party. The media is in the bag for Obama and if you don’t think so you are fooling yourself or being fooled by the press. The MEDIA is controlling the information. Those polls you allude to our so biased and untrustworthy – on either side of the campaign. They don’t paint an accurate picture and are easily EASILY open to tampering and subjectivity.
Mitt won the debate HANDS DOWN. Many people do not FEEL Mr. Obama did poorly, they KNOW he did poorly. He did POORLY. And now all the excuses are flying….Obama was not conditioned to the Mile HIgh City….Obama was over confident and unprepared….he was too busy being President and working hard to prepare….SOMEONE DRUGGED HIM!!! Excuses, excuses.
Why not face the truth. Romney is an intelligent man that has the answers for America’s problems. He rebutted Obama’s comments or criticisms one by one and sometimes in 3 part, direct and succinct answers. And he did it while looking Obama in the eye….when Obama would glance his way that is. Obama was left without a platform because Romney dispelled the political spin the Dems have put on Romney’s plans from the get go. He wiped the floor with Obama.
If it had been a boxing match, it would have been called in round one – by his corner. TKO.
If it had been a football game, the Dems would have been headed to the parking lot after the coin toss.
If it had been a horseshoe match, Obama would have shown up with a set of washers.
If it had been a foot race, Obama wouldn’t have even heard the starter’s pistol.
Neil, I hope you get a chance to see excerpts, if not the whole thing, so you can make up your own mind on this. The outcome was clear and I am sure it left some liberals scratching their heads. Some wondering why Obama didn’t fight harder (dropping the 47% video looming over Romney [which will get more play if he doesn’t because he knows Romney has an explanation for it and he will pop that bubble too]) and others wondering why they are standing against him.
Vick–I encourage you to get involved for the advancement of your beliefs.
CJ—I know you are always working hard.
Mike—Contrary to the Romney image of non-Romney folks freeloading, I was working. And you seem to forget that I’m not voting for Obama. I’m voting Green Party for Presidenthere in Texas. I had some free time this morning, but used it to catch up on the teams in the baseball playoffs and listen to an old C-Span program about a book of American art history. I did read some articles about the debate that were pretty much all favorable to Romney in terms of who did best last night. There is little chance I will vote for a man who thinks that 47% of the nation consists of freeloaders or who would take us back to pre-existing conditions shutting folks out of health insurance. I am though happy to provide folks with a forum to say what they wish. The debate was not a boxing match in full as you suggest. It was just one round. We’ll see what the next rounds bring.
Okay, so I saw the debate and must say that I disagree with the above opinions.
Former Governor Romney did not make any gross mistakes, he again flip flopped on most of what he has been saying the past few months, and he expressed a couple of things that were consistent with his past “views.” For example, he is “for” education and supports families as they try to educate their families. He will do this by handing everything over to the states. Unfortunately, we are all well-aware that the economic crisis is national such that the states are suffering as well. He explained that block grants, subject to the state legislators and governors, would be given to the states in order that they can take care of (or not take care of) health, education, and welfare of their citizenry. He again side-stepped exactly what his health care plan is (“too complicated to explain”). And was he ever demonstrating his endless compassion for the middle class?!! Why every opportunity. He cares he cares he cares…if he says it enough, he is hoping the middle class may just believe him.
President Obama reiterated his point that he took over ‘traumatic’ messes, economic and military, handed to him by an inept Republican presidency, a two term embarrassment. Of course, he stated his case with much more tact. He explained, and provided evidences, that a depression was averted and economic recovery is on a steady upswing. In addition, the wars are coming to an end, and the budget should see some relief from endless war. Of course, I think he should be shouting from the mountain tops that “I killed Bin Laden!” but he apparently has more grace and tact than I. I still can’t figure out why more of our very patriotic Republicans can’t wrap there head around this point. Oh well. He is clearly concerned that the middle class grow in number in order to reduce the poverty that has been growing for the last twenty plus years. He sees education and access to health care as two very important ways to move in this direction.
So my opinion? A draw. Wish Governor Romney would check his daily journal occasionally to improve his consistency. It would help I think.
BTW Neil, I found your site because I might be moving to Texas. I was searching for some liberals so I wouldn’t feel so lonely. Nice blog.
emjem -If Obama had spoken as well as Romney had and Romney would have slept through the debate as Obama had, everyone would be going nuts over how OBAMA put the smackdown on Romney. Polls would be up and the election all but over. Can you agree the media is in the bag for the president? Please don’t tell me you think differently than that.
Romney didn’t make any gross mistakes???…that’s what you have to say about a man who was on point with every topic, well-spoken, knowledgeable and in control the entire time? I find that hard to believe. The KOOL AID may not taste as great coming back up, but get rid of it – its poison. You sound like you know your stuff so I welcome you to the blog (which i stumbled on a few months back) and to the great state of Texas if you decide to join us. BTW – conservatives are good people too.
Since you seemed informed – do you think Romney flip-flopped or do you think you may be hearing from him – his words unfiltered, unedited and in context – for the very first time? He believes in reducing the federal government and giving those controls to the states as you know. He will incent the states to adapt the proper measures to insure every citizen gets affordable care – plus, we as Texans have a stronger voice in our State capitol than we ever will in Washington. We need to push our state officials to do the right thing or elect those that will. We don’t need 2500 pages of added regulation and expense to get there. Romney explained, very simply, that he has a goal to insure we all get affordable care. How will he get there? He wants to get all the smartest individuals together (Dems/Rep/Indies) and devise a plan that everyone gets behind. This vs. creating an enormous plan with Reed and Pelosi and cramming it down the american public’s throat under the guise of helping the poor and downtrodden. LET’S PASS IT AND SEE WHAT’S IN THERE…remember that? Obamacare should be repealed on the basis of it being unconstitutional – and a waste of tax payer time and money.
If that’s not enought – Check out the fundamentals of Romney’s plan:
http://www.mittromney.com/issues/health-care
Also, when you get to Texas, you will find we are taking care of more than just our citizens – and that is a huge issue that is costing us MILLIONS.
Do you not believe that Romney cares about the middle class? It seems you don’t. I think he did a very good job of speaking his heart and YES, he cares! I think he cares about the middle, the upper the lower and all of those in between. The man has been a success at everything he has done. He doesn’t need this presidency to stroke his ego or stack his bank account. The man, and his running mate Ryan, both care about this nation and the people living in it. They are both willing to subject themselves to this process and then the jobs of caring for the free world, on behalf of us. I don’t think you should criticize genuine concern for our well-being. Maybe its been so long since you have seen it you may not recognize it.
On to Obama. So Obama reiterated his POINT about taking over in a bad economy and having a war to deal with. SURPRISE SURPRISE! We know. We were there too. It’s more of an excuse than a point and it has been rhythmically beaten into the public’s head again and again. Obama “inherited” a bad situation, told us he would make it better, and then made it twice as bad. So we give him 4 more years to try again? Ridiculous.
Reagan took over an equally bad situation when he took office after Carter – why didn’t we hear that POINT coming from him? Maybe because his idea to shrink the government worked while Obama’s extension of government controls hasn’t. When Reagan took over he “inherited” an economy that was in the dirt, unemployment was the lowest since the Great Depression (even lower than anything we have seen during Obama’s term), inflation was at an all time high and the effects of Vietnam and the Cold War were still looming. Yet we began to see a turnaround in the middle of his first term – not just a blip of an upswing – if there even is one now. EVEN AFTER OBAMA SPENT CLOSE TO A BILLION DOLLARS! How can he continue to POINT his finger at others when he has been in complete control for the past 4 years. He has done a poor job and its time for him to go.
Don’t worry about the BIN LADEN issue either. He will be shouting that from the roof tops soon enough – with full tact and grace I am sure. I also feel the video of the event will be leaked or released weeks before the election…right on queue. Don’t be mistaken. Republicans respect the fact that Obama was not afraid to act on the opportunity to find and eliminate OSAMA. That doesn’t make the economy better. That doesn’t hire more teachers. That doesn’t create more jobs. That doesn’t improve healthcare or make it more affordable. 1 out of 5 is a horrible track record wouldn’t you agree? If I voted for him, I would admit I was wrong. Some people just can’t do it.
Neil..the 47% referred to those who were in the bag for Obama no matter what. Some will vote because they are dependent on welfare and believe he will give them more, some because they are lost in the ideology of a “different” person in power and some just because he has black skin. Romney has already admitted the comment was wrong and not well stated. Obama won’t give him a chance to explain it on the national stage I am sure. Neil, you are actually part of the Romney 53% that he needs to reach in order to win this election. You can obviously vote for whoever you want to, but I would implore you to listen to Romney and what he plans to do. Put down the art history and step away from the baseball play offs just for a bit. These next 30 days are going to be important for us all to consider the outcome of OUR actions during the election.
Romney’s plan is to give the state’s back the control of health care regulation, cutting out the federal government and all the fees, taxes and subsidies that go with it. I would add cutting the CORRUPTION that will go with it as well. He will incent the states to adapt the same form of health care that Massachusetts did that forbids denial of insurance based on pre-existing conditions – same as Obama’s plan, just not as many added controls. Obamacare will harm more people than it will protect because regulation does not occur in a vacuum. It will impact the quality of our care and the strength of our system. Good doctors do not like it and will not endure it. We will lose our brightest and most ambitious purveyors of care and will be left with a POSTAL SYSTEM quality of care.
I want to add that I also like your forum Neil. I tried to comment on Woodgates blog, but he must feel the need to moderate his boards and keep out messages left by those with views differing from his own. Thanks for letting us converge here. I think its a healthy format.
“Obama “inherited” a bad situation, told us he would make it better, and then made it twice as bad. So we give him 4 more years to try again? Ridiculous. Reagan took over an equally bad situation when he took office after Carter – why didn’t we hear that POINT coming from him? Maybe because his idea to shrink the government worked while Obama’s extension of government controls hasn’t.”
My thoughts exactly, and very well written comment. Way to go Mike!
This country is doomed to continue to wallow around in this mess until we get some intelligence in the White House. With the money Obama spent on using the presidential aircraft for personal pleasure, and all the logistical expenses that go along with it, we could have fed in entire nation. Obama, park the plane and do what you were hired to do (until you are voted out, that is!)
Thanks Vick. I don’t usually get compliments in this blog. If I strike a chord or start making sense, the comment thread goes quiet.