Chad’s Morning Brief: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott Warns Election Observers, State Demographics, & More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of October 24, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11 am.
1. Abbott Warns Election Observers (link)
The Texas Attorney General has warned the international election observers about Texas elections. In short, don't mess with us.
International observers will descend on Texas to monitor the Nov. 6 general election, and the attorney general wants them to understand a clear message: We will be watching you.
In a letter to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, a division of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Attorney General Greg Abbott firmly stated that foreign observers have no business inside local polling places.
“While it remains unclear exactly what your monitoring is intended to achieve, or precisely what tactics you will use to achieve the proposed monitoring, OSCE has stated publicly that it will visit polling stations on Election Day as part of its monitoring plan,” he wrote.
According to the letter, the organization met in April with groups that oppose voter ID legislation in Texas, including Project Vote, which tried unsuccessfully through legal challenges to halt five provisions that also affect voter registration in Texas. The voter ID bill is not in effect, however, after being stricken down by the Department of Justice and a federal court this year. Abbott has said he plans to appeal the case.
“The Texas Election Code governs anyone who participates in Texas elections — including representatives of the OSCE,” Abbott wrote. “The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place. It may be a criminal offense for OSCE’s representatives to maintain a presence within 100 feet of a polling place’s entrance. Failure to comply with these requirements could subject the OSCE’s representatives to criminal prosecution for violating state law.”
I'm glad Abbott and the State of Texas is taking this position. There is no reason for Texas or U.S. elections to be monitored. It's actually insulting that they will be. However this does play into Obama's hands in case he loses the Presidential election.
Thoughts?
2. Future of Texas (link)
Will Texas remain prosperous or will it be drug into poverty? The future of Texas depends on Texas' fastest growing population group and education. According to MySA:
Whether Texas prospers or gets pulled down by poverty hinges on educating the state's fastest-growing population: Hispanics, demographer Steve Murdock said Tuesday during opening testimony of a school funding lawsuit.
By 2050, Texas will be home for 12 million non-Hispanic whites and 31 million Hispanics, Murdock said. Hispanic children will make up nearly two-thirds of the state's public school enrollment while the percentage of white children, now about 30 percent, will have dropped to 15.5 percent, said Murdock, Texas' first official state demographer.
For Hispanic families, just like any other family, it all starts at home. Parents and family must value education otherwise the students will not care or value education.
3. Was it a Terrorist Attack? (link)
Should the attack on Fort Hood be labeled an act of terrorism? A growing number of people are saying yes.
Sen. Lindsey Graham added his voice Tuesday to those calling for the Department of Defense to formally classify the Fort Hood shooting as terrorism, saying that classifying it "workplace violence" is "not fair" to the victims or their families.
The Republican senator was responding to a push by victims for the U.S. government to change its description of the rampage that left 13 dead. Such a change would make those who sustained injuries eligible for certain benefits and awards, like the Purple Heart.
A group called the Coalition of Fort Hood Heroes recently released a 14-minute Web video making their case -- those behind the video called on viewers to engage Congress in pressuring the Obama administration.
"Based upon what we already know, this episode fits squarely into the realm of an act of terrorism," Graham said in a written statement Tuesday. "I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate to challenge this characterization by the Pentagon and push for an accurate description of the tragic incident that took place at Fort Hood. It was terrorism and it should be described that way.
"The difference in characterization between workplace violence and an act of terrorism is meaningful, in a variety of ways, to the victims and their families," he said.
The Defense Department so far has resisted the push to designate it as terrorism, apparently reluctant to make any changes while suspect Nidal Hasan faces court martial.
"The Department of Defense is committed to the integrity of the ongoing court martial proceedings of (Hasan) and for that reason will not at this time further characterize the incident that occurred at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009," Pentagon spokesman George Little said. "Major Hassan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder. As with all pending (court martial) matters, the accused is innocent until proven guilty."
Thoughts?
4. October Surprises
Reports are, Donald Trump and Gloria Allred are both ready to unleash their own October surprises on Wednesday. A move that I'm pretty sure both campaigns wish would not happen. According to RadarOnline:
Famed civil rights attorney Gloria Allred will be in a Boston area courtroom Wednesday in an attempt to unseal the sworn testimony given by Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, in a prior court case, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.
"The Boston Globe is headed to court tomorrow morning for an emergency hearing in an attempt to obtain a court order to unseal the sworn testimony given by Mitt Romney in a prior court case and to lift a gag order so that the parties can speak about Romney. Gloria Allred will be in court representing one of the parties in the case," a source close to the situation tells RadarOnline.com.
What about Donald Trump? Well for Trump it might be all about divorce.
Donald Trump is to claim that he has unearthed divorce papers of Michelle Obama and the President, according to a respected financial pundit with links to the tycoon.
It is alleged that the eccentric real estate mogul will claim that the documents show the First Lady and the President were at one point in their two decades of marriage seriously considering splitting up.
Trump set the hare running on Monday by claiming that he was set to make an announcement on Wednesday that would be ‘bordering on gigantic' and that it would ‘possibly’ change the Presidential race.
Trump probably isn't the one who should be criticizing others for what happens in their marriage. I personally don't care if the Obama's thought about splitting up. That is their business. I bet the Romney campaign feels the same way.
Other Top Stories:
These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11 am on NewsTalk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard online in our podcast section after the show at kfyo.com.
More From News/Talk 95.1 & 790 KFYO
