tony's blog

Bureaucrats Should Make Like a Tree ...

Submitted by tony on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 08:18.

 From the Urban Forestry Files:

The Statesman is Reporting that the City of Austin has picked an Oak at the Heart Hospital of Austin and a Persimmon in Pease Park as its 2008 winners for "Tree of the Year."  Thats right folks, Tree of the Year!  And you didn't even know there was a contest?

Truth in Reporting: School Tax Increases

Submitted by tony on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 13:14.

 By Tony McDonald

Crossposted from www.TexianOnline.com

 

Sometimes I wish the news would report the real truth -- so I edited this article on Texas tax increases to give you a glimpse at the truth in this matter.
 
More school districts ask voters to raise tax rates
 
A growing number of Texas school districts are asking voters to agree to tax rate increases this year to cover ^their big-fat administrative budgets, using excuses such as  employee raises, greater fuel costs and rising utility bills.
 
School boards in Austin and Corpus Christi made the decision this week ^when they got the job  to seek property tax hikes. In the Houston area, the Alief, Humble and North Forest boards are considering following suit.
 

Are They Mad!? Have today's conservatives lost touch on foreign policy?

Submitted by tony on Mon, 08/11/2008 - 20:16.

 

Are they Mad!?
Have today's conservatives lost touch on foreign policy?
 
by: Tony McDonald
Vice Chairman
Young Conservatives of Texas
**cross-posted from www.TexianOnline.com**
 
Traveling home today I had the radio tuned to the Mark Levin show. (My radio dial rarely deviates from XM’s ‘America Right’ channel – go figure.) Levin puts on what would be considered a pretty edgy, conservative talk show. Of course, the topic of the day was Putin, Russia, and the invasion of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
 
Call after call I listened to armchair saber-rattler Levin banter back and forth with his equally war-hungry callers on the various ways the United States should come to Georgia’s aide. Levin favored shipping arms to the Georgians – various callers suggested more drastic measures such as a “Berlin Air-lift” type event. (I’m not sure what the caller wanted us to air-lift in -- maybe cheap Chinese stuff that Walmart can’t get rid of.) 
 
The same question reentered my mind after each tirade: “Are these people Mad!?”

French Fashion Show Tops Spring Branch ISD's Wasteful Spending

Submitted by tony on Thu, 07/10/2008 - 16:12.

 

Conservatives in Texas often talk about how wasteful our government school system can be, yet we rarely find a gem as perfectly flawed as two stories that appeared recently in the Houston Chronicle. On May 1, the Chronicle breathlessly reported “Spring Branch ISD facing insolvency” – you can almost hear the exclamation points. A month and a half later, the paper glowingly reported “Spring Branch ISD; Free summer camp focused on France.” A free French summer camp, while facing insolvency?