Thursday, May 3, 2012

Having Your Torta and Eating It Too: Reyes, Bridges, Agents, Rhetoric, The Status Quo, and No Evidence Of Any Alternative Solutions From The Man Who's Been In Charge Of This Issue All Along











While reading this morning's edition of the El Paso Times I was left muttering, yet again: whoever it is that is in charge of helping Congressman Reyes with his message while on the campaign trail, really needs to step it up. Congressman Reyes needed some help last night after another blunder boiled over yesterday with the comments he made at a community meeting that was organized by the Ysleta Independent School District regarding the prospect of a new international bridge being built near Yarbrough Dr. in El Paso, Texas.  Here's what the Congressman said and what the El Paso Times reported this morning:

"They don't want you to know the facts," said Reyes, an eight-term Democrat running for re-election. "And as long as I'm your representative, I'm going to block the effort to get a presidential permit."


. . .  Former city Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who is trying to unseat Reyes in the primary, has said a new bridge is necessary to protect and increase international trade.

 . . . Without it, [O'Rourke] says . . .  El Paso stands to lose thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.

. . . But Reyes has said the bridge is not needed. Instead, he says the problem is a lack of customs agents.

. . . Both candidates agree that staffing should be the first priority.

"There are plans in place to find alternative solutions," Reyes said. "We shouldn't have to move one single family to create another congested corridor that we don't have staffing for."

Wow, let's walk through this syllogism:

[1]   El Paso stands to lose millions of dollars in trade and thousands of jobs if it does not improve access to trade and travel between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, according to Congressman Reyes' challenger, and former El Paso City Councilman, Beto O'Rourke--quite frankly, it's awful right now.

[2]   But Reyes says that the solution is not a new bridge; but rather, more customs agents at the bridges we currently use.

[3]   Except that Reyes--who has been in Congress for 8 terms (almost 15 years)--has not been able to secure funding for more customs agents at the bridges that are currently being used in El Paso and which have been understaffed for more than 10 years--despite the tremendous number of connections in Washington D.C., Congressman Reyes says he has, and the extraordinary seniority he enjoys in Congress as an 8 term Congressman who has been the Chairman of at least two major Congressional Committees (Veterans Affairs and Intelligence), and who has recently received the endorsements of Presidents Clinton and Obama.

[4]  Despite the lack of a solid plan of action to solve this crisis or a viable alternative solution, if re-elected, Reyes says that he will continue to block any effort to build another bridge in this area.


[5]  And with regard to the immediate international trade and commerce crisis at our international ports of entry in El Paso,  Reyes has--at the very least--told us to rest assured, because there are, "plans in place to find alternative solutions."

Point 5 of the last part of the syllogism is the worst part of Congressman Reyes' response to this issue. Having "plans in place" to "find alternative solutions" could be anything; such as:

[1]  Planning to think about solving this issue over coffee tomorrow morning; or

[2]  Planning to use the internet to Google key phrases about this issue; or

[3]  Planning to ask your mom about it when she gets home this evening; or

[4]  Planning to ask his staff about what their opinions are about finding alternative solutions to this issue while enjoying lunch with them at Chicos Tacos this weekend; or



[5]  Planning to read the newspaper about this issue this Sunday after a great game of golf.

My point is that having "plans in place" to "find alternative solutions" is extraordinarily and intentionally vague, because the Congressman knows himself that he does not have a solution for this issue, but has to come out saying something. It's empty rhetoric, not a plan of action. Geeez, whoever is feeding the Congressman these talking points is doing an awful job.



When you are an incumbent in a tough election, and choose to take up a controversial issue that could have been solved during your term, you aren't going to win your race with a harsh criticism about the change your opponent is allegedly offering, while offering absolutely no evidence of your own efforts to successful solve the problem you've chosen to criticize your opponent about wanting to solve about that issue during his campaign against you for the office you currently hold.  

The reality here is that Congressman Reyes is the problem--that's why the community surrounding Yarbrough Dr. is having to have a meeting about the prospect of their lives being disrupted indefinitely; because Congressman Reyes didn't solve this issue during his 8 terms in office in the first place while he was in office--but is still asking you to trust him today to solve this issue, next year, the 9th term around.

To view the El Paso Times article referenced in this blog please go here:
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_20536720/reyes-orourke-at-odds-bridge

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

House District #75 Candidate Hector Enriquez's Shameless Whispering Campaign: An Old-Skool Shout-Out to Compa-Style Politics As Usual In The Valley

















Feel free to chalk up Candidate for Texas House District #75 Hector Enriquez's strategy for winning his race as yet another shameless play from the pages of the typical El Paso County Democratic Party establishment, good 'ol boy, compa-style political handbook.

Earlier this month Mr. Enriquez coupled an aggressive whispering campaign dragged along the dusty roads of House District #75 with a desparate flurry of messy tweets and messages strewn over facebook, twitter, and the blog sphere in a shameful effort to sway the valley against his opponent, Mary Gonzalez, by attempting to call her gender, youth, sexual orientation, and decision to pursue an undergraduate and graduate education out of town, into question.

Hector Enriquez knows he can't beat Mary Gonzalez on credentials, experience, or on the issues, so a profligate negative campaign about Mary Gonzalez's intimate life has been thrust into the center of his strategy for swaying voters in the valley toward his campaign's direction with the best lie he's probably ever told anyone in his life:

A young, well-educated, gay woman, who was born and raised in the valley and finished college with a graduate degree and an extensive amount of leadership experience and academic credentials throughout her career is the wrong choice for House District #75; because she's young, she's a woman, she left town for her education, and she's gay.

Since when was running conservative on a hetero-chauvinistic Republican-style platform the ticket for winning a seat in the Democratic Stronghold of Texas?

Quite frankly, I don't know what's more offensive for the lower valley of El Paso, and the surrounding communities of San Elizario, Soccorro, Tornillo, and Horizon about the way Hector Enriquez is running his campaign:

[1] The idea that Hector Enriquez thinks that the lower valley and surrounding communities in House District #75 would buy into a campaign that suggests that women, people who are gay, or young people who leave town to earn an undergraduate or graduate degree are not qualified for and should not run for office in that district, or

[2] The idea that the lower valley of El Paso and surrounding communities are not sophisticated enough to elect the most qualified candidate for State Representative based on the the candidates' experience, education, leadership skills, and proven ability to get the job done.

Hector Enriquez's smear campaign against Mary Gonzalez is typical among traditional establishment politicians in El Paso County; preying on and exploiting the perceived prejudices they hope the people of El Paso County have against people who are different--such as people who are not Hispanic, or who are women, or who are gay, or who are young and are running for office. 


Shame on them and shame on Hector Enriquez for thinking he can win a race for State Representative in District 75 this way. El Paso County can and should put a stop to bigoted politicians who use unethically offensive tactics such as these to win races. El Paso County deserves better. 

For a glimpse at some of Hector Enriquez's tweets and messages check out Jaime Abeytia's Lionstarblog here:  http://www.thelionstarblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/enriquez-touts-dem-record-more-gay.html