Commenting on a colleague’s work

I posted my comment for stage six assignment on Texas Politics blog by Tri Nguyen. I personally found stage 5 challenging since we were to write an original editorial or commentary and I happened to find my personal think tank to be on empty, without any place to refill for miles. I did what I could with it. I read Tri's and liked how he was basically open and honest with his views and the article came across as very genuine to me. I had this to say on his page:

"This is a good blog Tri and I for one can certainly relate to what you’re saying and where you’re coming from. I haven’t been in Austin my whole life but it’ll be seventeen years this summer and I certainly have seen the changes around town and watched the city grow. Austin in the 90s was certainly different then Austin at the turn of the millennium and that is even vastly different then the Austin, TX we have and love today. The restaurants and venues we have now are all very much different and more retro with a lot of hipster places having sprouted all over town. Austin has certainly become a mini metropolitan city and I for one like the way it is going, I can relate when you say you don’t see yourself leaving anytime soon.

I think you’re right though when it comes to budgeting, job security, health care costs and life certainty and security, not much of the important stuff has changed at all, especially post the .com bust of the early 2000s.

I like the solutions you’re offering, they seem thought out and I see the logic in what you’re saying. I like the notion of allowing citizens to vote on how exactly our government spends our taxes dollars, that would be nice. I personally would vote on making sure those in government weren’t using tax payer dollars foolishly and on frivolous things and that they don’t personally have any golden parachutes. They should be held accountable if they are the ones driving the direction of the ship. If our society is failing, they should be feeling it the hardest.

Anyway, great stuff, great points and opinions and an over all enjoyable article to read. Two thumbs up!"

Texas State Government and Economy: Blogged

     This commentary piece of mine is my original and brief synapses of Texas State Government. I am blogging the facts and simple general information for the reader's pleasure.

So Texas Government happens to be much like our national government for the United States but only on a smaller and more localized scale. Much like the US National Government, Texas Government divides power into three separate branches, the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislative.

The Legislative branch is bicameral like the national government, meaning it is divided into two separate chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. So it is just like a 'mini me' version in mimicking the grand scale. It is very important to note however that the term Congress cannot be used to describe the state legislature, as it is used to describe the nation’s legislative branch. The Texas Executive branch is head by the state Governor, who holds executive powers and the state Judiciary system is structured into separate court systems. The roots of the Texas state Government also happens be much like the roots of the United States. Both were bread out of revolution.

The roots of Texas Politics and Government can be found in the early settlers of Texas and the type of society and government that they created. The state's politics have The Texan Creed at it's foundation, which consists of a set of ideas that identify Texans and provide the basis for their politics and which are then filtered through the two primary political parties, Republican and Democrat. Texas has become primarily a Republican dominated state.

To top off the similarities and my basic point that, politics is still politics and the state just has a shrunken down version of the national government, Texas also has a state Constitution. This however has been changed several times, with the current version having been amended over 400 times. Unlike our national Constitution, the Texas State Constitution happens to hold less weight and significance and has been under much scrutiny to be changed yet again. The debates are endless.

As far as our grand land here, Texas is a very proud state. It is huge in size with a land mass area of 267,339 square miles and it is larger then most nations and has various types of landforms such as mountains, plains, hills and plateaus. According to the 2010 Census Data, the population of Texas is over 25 million residents, making it the second most populous state in the nation.

Much of the current political topics in discussion today here in Texas, is the economy. Much like the nation, jobs are on people's minds and their ability to be able to work and pursue happiness. My state economy fact is: The Texas economy is very diverse, being both nationalized and globalized. The fact that the state has weighed such an importance on economic diversity, has allowed many of its cities to become the fastest growing in the nation, cities like Austin, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Our Texas Governor, Rick Perry, has been consistent with going on record stating that the economic growth in Texas has been substantial, with the state continuously creating new jobs. That sounds like a very political statement in my opinion and has some truth. Yet news reports are constantly stating that the state's budget cut plans due to the economy are currently threatening many fields, including education and teachers in Texas are looking at a grim prospective future here in the state.

That’s the politics. People have the power to vote and it is in their hands to get out there and elect representation who is actually concerned with the preservation of society for everyone. Be sure to get registered to vote and fight for your future and get proper representation. It almost feels to me, that as soon as politicians get elected into office, they feel like they have already made it and no longer care about the good of society and are only looking out for themselves and self preservation. Maybe that is harsh and outlandish but I don’t remotely understand how, 'they' can even consider cutting into education? That is the most important resource we can get. The United States used to have more college graduates then any other nation in the world and we now rank ninth. China is prospected to be the economic super power of the future, all the while our politicians seemed to me, only concerned with their current situation and lifestyle and are not looking at the future for everyone. Well I hope that's not the case.

The government has the power to make changes through legislation by proposing bills, to do things such as raise Taxes on things that are sold to generate revenue. I say raise taxes! Raise taxes on things that can be deemed harmful. Things like Tobacco products and cigarettes. Cigarette packets can have taxes raised to something like fifteen dollars for a single pack. Junk food such as soda could be taxed to bring in more money. Obesity is already a problem with our nation and here in Texas it's no different. If people want to eat junk food and get over weight, let them pay tax for it. Heck why not? Better then cutting education, right?? Things like Booze and alcoholic beverages, these have long been sources of many problems in society, raise their tax so that they can also bring in money, says I.

That’s my two cents and commentary with Texas state politics and today’s current event, blogged.