Drinking and Driving is MADD Crazy

In response to: Pro is to Con as Progress is to Congress; Blog 7

    I do agree that this issue will bring up many other problems, with the "deferred adjudication and treatment". On the other hand there is a great positive, the possibility of saving 200 people a year, that sounds like a good decision to make. On the MADD website, it states that there is more than 30 other states that already have this bill passed. It also has data based on the Texas Drunk Driving records through out the past years, and those numbers are scary, besides the possible downfall that this bill might make, I think it should pass solely based on the data shown, but its worth looking into more.

The Jury's Out

   There are those story's where someone goes to jail and years later evidence comes up that proves their innocence, or a person was framed and wrongly accused, so in these cases what happens? Well, a KXAN article discusses this issue through a case regarding Michael Morton.
   After spending 25 years in prison for his wife's murder, Michael Morton was set free in 2011 due to evidence that showed he was not the murderer. The prosecutor at that time was Ken Anderson, who now is the Judge for Williamson County, faces a court of inquiry for withholding evidence in the case that could of helped Morton in court.
   As a result of this case, Senator Rodney Ellis introduced two bills. One, Bill 89 that will be heard in the 2013 session and would "create a Texas Innocence Commission to examine post-conviction exoneration" that already has been created in ten other states. This commission will be composed of many people including judiciary, people from the two Houses, and lawyers. Two, "Automatic Disclosure Bill, which would create a statewide standard for disclosure in criminal cases."
   I think this bill should be passed, and should have been passed a long time ago, North Carolina passed this bill in 2002/2006. Morton is not the only person that has been wrongfully accused, Morton spent 25 years for a crime he did not commit and there are others like him that have been sent to jail before forensic science could look at important evidence and match fingerprints and blood that could have saved them in court.I think in this case it is especially wrong because the evidence was there it just wasn't presented in court. Ellis mentioned this but I think this issue should be highlighted a little more. Evidence that could show that
"someone is innocent or clearly could exonerate someone" should be shared with the rest of the court. 

College Funding

In regards to The Texan Bugle commentary on  "College Funding...", I found this article pretty interesting, you would think that when it comes to money and funding from the state of Texas , especially when it involves the Constitution, that piece of paper that states the system of fundamental laws and principles that signs the functions, and limits of a government or institution, they would really focus on important things.

Mostly people ascertain about all the funding that is provided for planned parenthood and voter ID regulations etc. But when it comes down to something that I think a lot of people, including people in Texas believe is something important and a right to have the government seem to have trouble understanding how or how much funding they should "provide".

I previously wrote a blog about the Texas school Financial Lawsuit that began in October and is still on going. This shows how people in Texas, people directly from the schools, are getting agitated on how this issue is being dealt with.
I think an issue like this should have been dealt with much earlier. With Texas' astonishing growth in population this issue should be re-reviews through out the years, so that the Texas Legislature does indeed provide enough for all grades of education. Hopefully the governor and the Texas Legislature can sort things out and if they can provide adequately.

Six for the Money

      As of October 22, 2012 our school finance system is on trial, which involves more than two thirds of Texas's school districts and many of its charter schools, due to its weak financial structure. Throughout the years Texas's school funding system has been put to question a number of times. It is currently facing 6 lawsuits, which entails complaints from many school associations and coalitions directed to the financial issues in the school systems and covers three major topics; "efficiency, adequacy, and meaningful discretion".
    The way Texas distributes the money to districts is based on a formula which contains regional cost of living expenses, the districts number of bilingual, low  income and special education students, as well as, yearly raised property taxes and other factors. Unfortunately, this formula is based on estimates that haven't been updated in several years, thus creating a major factor on why our schools may be failing.
    In court, there might be some conflicts on how they want to approach certain topics, but all in all, they together will state the same argument of how the state has "failed to adequately fund our public education".
     Obviously something is wrong with Texas's school system if schools are forming together against it, and I agree, we've seen schools that have shut down due to low testing scores, and teachers who have been let go. Billions of dollars have been reduced from our funding for public education, while simultaneously raising school standards. By raising the standards and including harder testing, such as STAARS, and having huge budget cuts we're failing our students. With the tremendous population growth in Texas updating the information we use to determine the amount of funds given to the school districts could be a start to providing able funds. This trial is expected to end in January, i guess we have to wait until then to see if there will be any improvements.

Just a Walk in the Park

     "Who Doesn't Like Parks?" askes Charles Kuffner on an Off the Kuff post, while he discusses the issues on a proposed plan for parks that's being put to vote on this upcoming ballot. This plan or bond will expand Houston's parks with bike trails and other upgrades. Proposition B asks voters to use a "borrowed" $166 million for this project, but not through increased taxes, which will be payed through property tax collections. "While the measure calls for $166 million in taxpayer spending, it actually would cost $291 million to pay back with interest, according to one city estimate".
     Although this may be a smart investment for Houston, tax payers won't see as an important issue compared to other important items which needs their money.    
     In the article Kuffner argues that this is a perfect time for such a proposition, not only will it benefit the city but the city will only borrow what is necessary. He also states that the Republican party is against this plan, and states that taxes aren't being raised for this positive act. Kuffner speaks to Houston residences, as well as, an inform ate for tax payers and voters.Voters and tax-payers might want to listen to what he has to say not just because the issue affects their parks, but he himself is a Houston resident, not to mention his blog 'Off the Kuff' has been well known for a long time.

The Alternative for Inmates and Tax-Payers

An American Statesman article by the Editorial board, discusses the current issues with the medical care that is provided to prison inmates.  The board argues that the option of medical paroles should be granted to prisoners, who don’t pose any threat and need a sufficient amount of medical attention, due to the amount of funding necessary for inmate care.

The “Texans Deserve Relief from Prison Health Care Costs” article speaks about the overwhelming cost that is weighed upon tax-payers, making this directed to the taxpaying population. The Board also speaks about people who agree or disagree to the do the crime, do the time belief, making them the intended audience as well. The fact that this article is published by the Statesman’s editorial board makes this article credible.  This article is filled with facts, numbers and talk about “prison inmates older than 55 are only 8 percent of the prison population but account for 30 percent of the state’s…health care budget.” Other references were added from other articles, as well as remarks from an inmate (Donald Rash). 

One thing that wasn't discussed in great detail was the health care quality that these prisoners are provided with. If tax payers are paying for extra or unnecessary things, maybe we should cut down on certain things which will cut down costs on tax payers. But overall, I would say that I agree with the author, most of these inmates post no threat due to their conditions. On average, it costs $130/day to house an inmate, and that's not including any other extra costs like health care. I can see how releasing some inmates could ultimately save money for Texas' taxpayers.

A Red State Slowly Going Green

The Texas Tribune reported last week, after Austin's approval of a zero-waste plan passed in 2008, that Dallas will also start to recycling most of its garbage. The city adopted this plan on August 22nd, which states that Dallas will reclaim 84 percent of it's trash. Another city that might get on board is Houston, which has already improved on it's recycling programs. 
Some possible issues that were talked about in this article were the amount of finances that would be needed to provide adequate programs for different residences, such as businesses and apartments, and bans for certain products. Another question was the possibility for the incineration of trash, which for now seems to be out of the picture.
With a total of 2.2 million tons of waste a year and an expected population growth of 40 percent in the next ten years, its a good thing Dallas agreed to this plan. Maybe other greatly populated cities, other than Houston, will see the benefits of this plan and slowly remove Texas carbon footprint.