Southwest
Mississippi Ground Report: November, 2011 Election Results
Thanks to Alert Hillbuzz Commenter Lady for submitting the following Ground Report:
“A quick ground “comment” from Mississippi. Last night, there were two interesting ballot initiatives passed by the citizens of Mississippi — a voter ID requirement (the dead and the scammers were hardest hit) and the eminent domain issue (Mississippi decided to keep the government from exercising eminent domain to purchase private property for non-public use — i.e. giving it to a business that wants to put a plant in a certain area).
Also being lost in the noise is the fact that Mississippi’s Senate remained in Republican control, the governor’s office remained in Republican control, and that Mississippi’s House of Representatives *may* have flipped out of the hands of the corrupt good-old-boy-Democrats to the Republicans (a few races are going to be challenged). If this is true, this is an enormous victory over gridlock, corruption, and wasteful spending. Plus, we might be able to rein in Attorney General Jim Hood (the only Democrat elected to statewide office).
All in all, it was a good night. We’ve still got a few people that need to be kicked out on the state and local level, but this is a great kickoff to the 2012 elections… 
“
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Texas Ground Report: What do people in the Lone Star State think of Obamacare and our illustrious current president?
Dear HillBuzz,
So, had to go down to Humble {silent ‘H’, pronounced “Umble”}, TX, today, running errands.
My karma must be in the positive zone – I locked the keys in the FodGuy’s go-to-work car, and the couple who parked beside me when I realized it had AAA – they called and said ‘they’ were locked out, so AAA came in one of their CUTE little roadside service vans & popped the lock, no muss, no fuss. Of course, the lady who’d called them & I had held quite a conversation at that point 
.
She works in medical records for an absolutely MASSIVE hospital system here – she’s one of those unsung admin types in hospitals, who try to ensure that the proper papers go in each record. But, HEY! Under Øbamacare, within 10 years, it’s all supposed to be ‘paperless’ – our medical histories will be available via “secured” nets {we all know how well THAT works – Pentagon/NSA/CIA hacking, anyone?} or on CDs {which I really don’t mind, as long as *I* am given a copy of everything, whether via thumbdrive or whatever, to incorporate into MY OWN copies of my records}. Like our pharmacist, she sees the days of what Americans have enjoyed re: healthcare as being things of the past.
Read the rest of this entry »
Texas Ground Report: What do people think of Rick Perry in Houston?
Dear HillBuzz,
OK, so here in the wilds NNE of Houston ………………………
A friend is facing foreclosure; he’d bought the house ~ 8-10 years ago, something like 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, because he was caring for 4-6 older, mentally-ill women who’s families didn’t have the resources/inclination to care for them, themselves. It’s on 6 acres, with two barns, entirely fenced. S., the owner, is gay – his former partner & he decided that their religious beliefs wouldn’t allow for their being together any longer, {they’ve been together, off & on, for over 20 years – S. was raised Pentecostal, I don’t know what H.’s religious upbringing consisted of}, so H. moved out. Comes financial hard times, and the ‘families’ suddenly remembered that, “hey, Gramma gets $1,600.00/mo – WE could use that”, so the older ladies were taken “back home” & S. was left with no residents/income. He’s 4 months behind on his mortgage payment {with no late fees, well over $1,500.00/mo}, never mind utilities, or any discretionary income. He started today at a restaurant {he’s been a restaurant manager before, but more that 15 years ago}, and will hopefully be able to keep his head financially above water until he manages to sell the property. God bless’im, he’s keeping cheerful – when I took the new car to show him, he couldn’t have been happier for me. We’re not in any position to assist right now, but I’m working on a couple of ideas.
We’ve new neighbors, father works peripherally in law enforcement, gang interdiction, son is 11 {mother took off when son was 1} – W. {father} is an arrogant supremacist – he’s AMAZED that anyone without a college degree is capable of <i>thinking</i>; he also looks down his nose at those of us who have served in the military, {similar to John Kerry’s attitude} – but what I find absolutely abhorrent about this man is his racism. One of his first complaints to me was about the “number of blacks” in Splendora. Ummmmm, just because Splendora was known for hosting KKK rallies some 20-30 years ago, this IS the 21st century – they can vote and everything! He actually had the gall to harangue a young black man visiting neighbors {who happen to be a mixed-race couple} – “What are you doing here?” – & seemed to expect me to applaud his diatribe. If I had been present, I’m afraid I would have made a mortal enemy of our new next door neighbor, ’cause I would have asked what business is it of his? The young man was causing NO problems, just walking around outdoors, only to be harassed for being black. I swear, I thought that kind of attitude had died off with my grandparents’ generation.
Now, I haven’t had sufficient conversations with him {God willing, that will NEVER happen} to find out if his antipathy pre-dates January 2009, or is a comparatively recent occurrence.
On top of that, W. seems to believe that women should be knocking down his door. Facially, imagine, if you will, the country folks from Deliverance, but able to speak fairly coherently. As far as body type, envision two tires stacked one atop the other – in between is his waist. Plus, he “chaws” & spits wherever he happens to aim – mostly where *I* have to mow.
Of course, the son is learning at Daddy’s knee; I’m working on a artsy project outside {very time-consuming, as it’s my first effort} – T. {son} is aching for a maternal figure, other than his paternal grandmother – he comes over, sneaking around trying to startle me {I get very focused on my work}, playing with the cats & the Progeny’s dog, snarking about the time it’s taking me on my project, demanding to know who he saw me with, etc. Hackles get a LITTLE raised at that. The other evening, I don’t know how we got on the subject, but T. made the statement that it would be ‘shameful’ to have to ask a Japanese person for anything. I asked him why, got the patented adolescent vacuous stare & shrug. I asked what about Chinese people? Korean people? Cambodian people? Filipino people? I informed him that, from my birth, there was a lady I knew as my ‘Chinese Grandmother’ {Esther was always the consummate lady – and she & her husband, Choi, doted on their little ’round-eyed’ granddaughter}. I told him we have very dear friends from Korea originally. Haven’t told either father or son about a friend back in the Tidewater area of Virginia, who referred to herself as the Progeny’s “Nubian Mama”.
For the most part, in our little area of the community, people are scraping by – food stamp use is on the increase, as are applications for medical assistance/housing assistance/utility payments. On a medical note, neighbor on the other side, NICE man, was just discovered to have a ‘man’s fist-sized tumor’ in his lung; it had already metastasized to his esophagus/larynx, to the point where the docs wouldn’t put a scope down his throat, for fear of causing him to bleed out. If we weren’t not inundated with illegals tying up our hospitals/doctors/specialists, it’s more than possible that B.’s cancer would have been found sooner, in time to treat it. Now, there’s only palliative/pain control care as an option. He’s 45. And before anyone brings it up, NO, Øbamacare would NOT have helped him, it would have made it worse, because the hospital doors would have been opened even further to illegals.
In the little grocery store here in town, prices are going up at a tremendous rate {we shop there vs. WalMart because they carry what we want, their meats are great, and as with most small towns, we’ve gotten to know them and they’ve gotten to know us}. One young lady at the local store is constantly asked about her brother {he used to work there, too}, as he enlisted in the Army & is now over in Afghanistan – NO word among the troops on when Øbama will deign bring them all home.
Luckily, our Congressional representative is Kevin Brady, who along with Ted Poe {in the next Congressional district} are fighting tooth & nail against Teh Won’s extravagances.
Rick Perry is OK as a governor, but I haven’t spoken with a lot of people who view him as “Presidential” – now, if it comes down to a choice between Perry & four more years of Øbama, there’s no question that many {blacks as well as whites, here} will vote for Perry.
Well, that’s about all for now.
Semper Fi’
DM
Utah Ground Report: Did hopeychange ever come to the beehive state?
Dear HillBuzz,
Well, this is a Ground Report. And you don’t get much more “On The Ground” than by looking into what’s going on in your own family and your own household. I wanted to give all the HillBuzzers a glimpse into how Obama’s Era of HopeyChangey has affect my family’s life (and I highly doubt that this is limited to my own family) -
My family owns a ranching business here in western Utah and they’ve been self-employed since they were married. Also, my parents had a lot of money tied up in real estate over the past fifteen years and they figured once all their real estate ventures were done, they could put that money away toward retirement. Just as they were about to get out of real estate and sock their money away and enjoy their ranch and their grandchildren, the housing bubble burst and most of the business went down the tubes. We were able to salvage some of it, but it ruined my parents’ credit and our family lost a lot of money.
Arizona Ground Report
(Moderator’s Note: Thank you to Hillbuzz reader Kimberlie for this! Please use the “Contact Us” in the navigation menu above to send in your Ground Reports. We would especially love to get reports from campaign events.)
Dear Hillbuzz,
I went to a political focus group last weekend moderated by Dr. Frank Luntz (the
pollster often featured on Fox News). I was in the Conservative/Republican group
(they wisely kept each political group separate), and it was very interesting.
About 10% of these people were overly aggressive, even to Dr. Luntz. Unless you
were a “purist” (or Ron Paul supporter) they didn’t want to listen to a thing you
had to say. They were the types who are pushing for a 3rd party candidate just so
they can “send a message” to the GOP. I argued the fact that this would only assure
a liberal/Dem win, and they honestly did not care! They wanted candidates to be
EXACTLY how they wanted them to be or they would “throw them out”.
Dr. Luntz told these people that he just interviewed a group of swing voters, and
they felt exactly the opposite, and that an unwillingness to listen or take other’s
views into account was alienating swing, moderate and independent voters. He told
them all the shouting and name calling was not helping their cause, and if they
wanted people to consider their argument, they needed to bring the volume down and
actually LISTEN to other points of view. He told several of them that they were
scary and they were prime examples of why the Tea Party has been getting higher
“unfavorable” ratings lately in national polls.
Things got really heated when he told them that the research he’s done indicates
that R’s will win the House and Senate, but Obama will win the WH again. When
someone challenged him about this, he replied “Dude, this is what I DO! I’ve been
to Ohio 6 times this year, how many times have you been there? I’ve been to Florida
8 times. I’ve talked to people on the ground in every battle state, and they are
extremely worried about the R’s Medicare plan.”
We asked what we could do to counter the Dems misinformation, and he said to get
organized and get out to the seniors in retirement homes, active living communities,
etc and educate them. For the most part, they only watch the MSM and are unaware
that the media has a political agenda. They truly believe what the Dems are
peddling about Republicans pushing grandma off a cliff.
After he said that, the meeting started wrapping up and some of the people were
clearly depressed about the thought of Obama winning a 2nd term. I got into my
Hillbuzz mode and chastised them for being Eeyores. I told them to get out and DO
what Dr. Luntz said and take action, not sit around whining about how “all is lost”.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know what Dr. Luntz said. He is a very conservative
guy who is very politically astute, and I think we should consider his advice and
start to mobilize and take action. I looked through the descriptions of HB Action
Items, and I’m not sure which color this action item would fall under…maybe we need
another color for “Community Organizing”. I suggest using pink, as a poke in the
eye to Code Pink!
If you have any questions about what I experienced at the focus group last week,
please let me know.
Kimberlie
Nevada Ground Report: How are the teachers’ unions ruining that state?
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Dear HillBuzz,
I am currently training to become a teacher here in Southern Nevada and I feel I must make some points. I don’t have problems with school teachers who do their job and have respect for their students. I’ve met many of them and I believe they are working for the right reasons. If I ultimately become a teacher, I won’t be like the idiots in Wisconsin.
Being that it’s sponsored by the local school district, politics inevitably becomes a part of the training. I have heard professors/instructors directly and indirectly bash Sharron Angle, Jim Gibbons and Brian Sandoval throughout the last year in the middle of a few lectures. The professors complain about funding and pay cuts, despite being given gobs of money for vain green projects, identity politics studies, bad sports teams and barely teaching at all (*cough* Dina Titus *cough*). One of the professors in my college moaned about budget cuts towards public employee pay in Nevada as ”being taxes on 10% of Nevadans” and that every Nevadan should have their taxes raised instead. I’m sure there will be protests here. The Dems still have legislative majorities, but no longer the 2/3′s needed to override the Republican Governor.
Aside from trying to get rid of Harry Reid, our state is failing at other things. I believe Nevada is behind in education, because the university system is focusing on training teachers how to be social engineers. The administrators are mostly teachers who didn’t want to do all of the paperwork and planning that teachers must do, but get more pay. We have taxpayer funded lobbyists and a diversity department which are both useless leeches in our educational cesspool. Also, the new superintendent is some crook from Colorado.
As for the big issues in education, some professors can’t come up with any opinion on No Child Left Behind. They hate it (probably because of Bush), yet love it and talk about the transparency and accountability it provides (cliche, I know). They support total inclusion all the way for special ed students and are big on multiculturalism/pc. There is a consensus among the academic elite here that educational power standards should be left to the feds instead of the states. The expensive and non-refundable textbooks are pretty biased. The book, “Behavior Management: Applications for Teachers” cites socialist shrink BF Skinner as one of the greats in behavior science. The book even pushes for increased government funding for social welfare programs in one of it’s later chapters.
This seems pretty relevant to the issue of public education and what’s going on in Wisconsin. There’s something for everyone here and I hope people get involved in their own ways, in their home states, however they can to do something about this.
-Adam R., Las Vegas, NV
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Obama’s quest for an Internet kill switch continues (so he could silence all dissent)
Dear HillBuzz,
With all the news reports out of Egypt amid the chaos, is the report of internet cut off so that messages and news cannot get out over what is taking place on the streets. Obama has said that he does not want any interruptions to cell phones and internet. And yet here at home, we have regulators appointed by Obama trying to create a ‘reason’ to give executive authority for him to do just that, here. The ‘kill switch’ has been a hot topic since Iran’s elections. We are seeing this administration running roughshod over several areas of our lives.
Thanks to Trevor Loudon’s site out of New Zealand, they have researched a way for us to prepare in case anything like the ‘kill switch’ is implemented here. I will link it below. http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2011/02/when-government-switches-off-internet.html
Keep on top of these guys (the administration) as things start rolling along. They will become more desperate as WE THE PEOPLE fight back from their over-reach.
Paula in Oklahoma
