The Noise Machine (06/24/10)

Goooooaaaaalllll!!!!!


Houston City Council passes budget, cuts pretty much everything but their own operating budgets. It's good to be the king (or queen). Oh, that's right, it's all about constituent services. (So says Houston's sexiest blogger.) (Thanks to Slampo {would you start blogging again already?!?} for the nickname.)


According to HouBlog, Director of Public Works and Engineering for the City of Houston, Michael Marcotte, has tended his resignation. Nothing, yet from ChronBlog, which tells us that the official press release has yet to be issued. (You know it's true.)


Of course off-shore drilling is not going to resume any time soon. The smart companies are already inking deals with foreign companies.



Harris County Commissioners Court doesn't like Toll Roads. Somehow their rejection of the unpopular arteries are going to be held up by dumbsmart-growth proponents as the harbinger of some car-centric regional apocalypse. The answer, of course, being bicycles and for everyone to move from their outside the loop homes inside the loop to tenement housing, thus forcing the poor and undesirable to move to the suburbs where they suddenly have a difficult time getting in town. (I said it: smart-growth is anti-poor.)


"I question the ethics of the current Ag Commish says the Democratic Ag Commish with a felony conviction on his record. (That doesn't make Gilbert's claims untrue, but they certainly have a pot/kettle feel to them don't they?)


"A 3.4 Trillion Dollar gas tax". Get used to that refrain, because it's going to be repeated ad-nauseum until November. (And it's true, Obama even admitted as much in the campaign. The idea that you can crack down on carbon to transfer wealth to Al Gore and his investors without punishing the poor & middle class is laughable.)


It's a good thing ethics issues and legal problems are limited to the Republican party. Oh...wait.


Rep. Joe Barton may have foot-in-mouth syndrome, but at least he doesn't tweet in third person. That would be grounds for a recall. (Third-person self-references ranking only slightly behind the royal we in terms of "really annoying things politicians say".)


Why do I just not care what Sarah Palin is doing?


Much ado about a party whose candidates are not going to crack the 3% barrier in most races.


First they came for the rich, and I said nothing because I don't consider myself rich. Then they came for the middle class, and I....Wait....WTF???? (All responses in this blurb are fictional and are not intended to reflect any member of the InterLeft currently blogging or blockquoting.)


And finally.....


Bill White fires his "moon-shot" for education. (Free education in return for service commitments, where have we seen this before?) If White is planning on distancing himself from the Obama administration he's sure going about it in a funny way.