Link to article here.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run for re-election in 2010
Thursday, April 17, 2008
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. and CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
Gov. Rick Perry told The Dallas Morning News on Thursday that he would seek re-election as governor in 2010.

During a break in a Republican Governors Association forum being held in Grapevine, Mr. Perry said that he would like to return for a third full term as governor.

When asked whether the gubernatorial field would include Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and himself, Mr. Perry responded , “I don’t know about them, but it will be Perry in 2010.”

“I don’t know about the other two. You need to ask them.”

Mrs. Hutchison appeared unaffected by the governor’s statement. She has earlier said that her decision to run for governor would not be swayed this time by other candidates in the race.

“I am encouraged by the growing number of Texans asking me to return home to run for governor to provide leadership for our state,” she said in a statement Thursday.

“It is too early to make an announcement about the 2010 race. Right now I remain committed to serving the people of Texas in the United States Senate and helping our Republican candidates win crucial elections this fall.”

Mr. Dewhurst also said he would weigh his options later.

“My focus is on the 2009 legislative session and continuing to build on our successes over the past five years. Whatever I decide to do after that will be based on what’s best for Texas,” he said.

Since winning re-election with just 39 percent of the vote in a four-way field in 2006, Mr. Perry has held out the possibility of seeking an unprecedented third four-year term. But his statement Thursday is his most definitive yet that he would do so, though much could change in the two-and-a-half years until the next gubernatorial election.

Mr. Perry will soon become the longest-serving governor in Texas history. He took over for George W. Bush when Mr. Bush resigned in late 2000 to become president. The state has no term limits for governor.

Last year, Mr. Perry had expressed doubt as to whether he wanted another term, saying he would look at doing other things.

It has been speculated that Mr. Perry was positioning himself to be a vice presidential candidate, but he said Thursday that he would not accept such an offer from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party’s all-but-certain nominee.

Longtime Republican consultant Bill Miller said the governor’s remark not only tips his hand, but tips the political balance.

“Most politicians who have been around awhile understand that when you become a lame duck, you really lose leverage and you lose your ability to get some things done, particularly hard things,” Mr. Miller said.

Eight months before a legislative session, it might be wise to strengthen your clout with lawmakers by letting them know you intend to be in the executive office for awhile, Mr. Miller said. “It’s the nature of politics.”

As for Mr. Perry’s election chances, Mr. Miller said he expects the governor will meet formidable competition in the 2010 GOP primary. And being the longest serving governor means you are not just battle-tested, but battle-scarred as well, he said.

“He’s got the most recent election and his polling numbers indicate it will not be an easy task for him to be reelected,” Mr. Miller said.

But it would be foolish to underestimate Rick Perry, he said. “The fact is that he’s never lost a political race and he’s had many, many of them.”

Democratic Party chief Boyd Richie suggested Mr. Perry has a lot to run on, including several school funding crises, the Texas Youth Commission sexual abuse scandal, soaring college tuitions, sprouting toll ways and more than 1 million children lacking health insurance.

“That’s the record of Rick Perry and the Republican politicians who masquerade as our leaders while serving the interests of special interest contributors and cronies. Texas Democrats look forward to 2010,” Mr. Richie said.

Mr. Perry also said Thursday that he thought Tom Craddick would win re-election as House speaker. Mr. Craddick, embattled over his leadership style and his declaration that he had absolute authority in running the House last year, is expected to face several challengers for the job, even if Republicans maintain their thin majority in the House.

Link to article here. Also, read more here.

The article states: “Ethanol production has also diverted corn from dinner tables and into fuel tanks.” Our failure to secure energy independence is literally taking food out of our mouths.

So let me get this straight, while the world goes hungry, our government still pays farmers NOT to produce food, and our farmers are selling/sending U.S. produced food overseas leaving less for their fellow Americans here at home? Something is clearly wrong here. Government has lost its mind or they’re engaging in a sinister scheme to squeeze the poor and middle class into a third world standard of living. Whether by design or by default, the people of this country had better wake-up and DEMAND change before it’s too late!

Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years
Monday April 14, 4:10 pm ET
By Ellen Simon, AP Business Writer
Food Costs Rising at Fast Clip, Squeezing Poor, Forcing Food Vendors to Explain Higher Prices

NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics.He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors — dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar.

The owner of Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies in Brooklyn said he didn’t want customers thinking he was “jacking up prices because I have a unique product.”

“I have to justify it,” he said.

The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it’s getting worse. That’s putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.

U.S. food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as much as 4.5 percent.

Higher prices for food and energy are again expected to play a leading role in pushing the government’s consumer price index higher for March.

Analysts are forecasting that Wednesday’s Department of Labor report will show the Consumer Price Index rose at a 4 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, up from last year’s overall rise of 2.8 percent.

For the U.S. poor, any increase in food costs sets up an either-or equation: Give something up to pay for food.

“I was talking to people who make $9 an hour, talking about how they might save $5 a week,” said Kathleen DiChiara, president and CEO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. “They really felt they couldn’t. That was before. Now, they have to.”

For some, that means adding an extra cup of water to their soup, watering down their milk, or giving their children soda because it’s cheaper than milk, DiChiara said.

U.S. households still spend a smaller chunk of their expenses for foods than in any other country — 7.2 percent in 2006, according to the USDA. By contrast, the figure was 22 percent in Poland and more than 40 percent in Egypt and Vietnam.

In Bangladesh, economists estimate 30 million of the country’s 150 million people could be going hungry. Haiti’s prime minister was ousted over the weekend following food riots there.

Still, the higher U.S. prices seem eye-popping after years of low inflation. Eggs cost 25 percent more in February than they did a year ago, according to the USDA. Milk and other dairy products jumped 13 percent, chicken and other poultry nearly 7 percent.

USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag explained the jumps in a recent presentation to the Food Marketing Institute, starting with the factors everyone knows about: sharply higher commodity costs for wheat, corn, soybeans and milk, plus higher energy and transportation costs.

The other reasons are more complex. Rapid economic growth in China and India has increased demand for meat there, and exports of U.S. products, such as corn, have set records as the weak dollar has made them cheaper. That’s lowered the supply of corn available for sale in the U.S., raising prices here. Ethanol production has also diverted corn from dinner tables and into fuel tanks.

Soybean prices have gone up as farmers switched more of their acreage to corn. Drought in Australia has even affected the price of bread, as it led to tighter global wheat supplies.

The jump has left people in the food business to do their own explaining. Twin Cafe Caterers in lower Manhattan posted a letter on its deli cooler: “Due to the huge increase of the gas, the electricity, the water and all the other utilities, we had to raise the prices a little bit.” It went on to say that all its food prices have risen, too.

Wonder Bagels, in Jersey City, N.J., posted a letter from its wheat supplier, A. Oliveri & Sons, saying the recent situation was unprecedented.

“The major mills across the country are using words like ‘rationing’ and ‘shortages’ if things continue,” it said. “We will sweat out the summer together, hoping there will be some flour left to purchase at any price.”

The letter called for an immediate halt to exports and a change in farm policy, “stop paying farmers NOT to grow crops.” A new farm bill, stalled in Congress, would expand farm subsidies if it passes, however.

For some Americans, the resulting increases might be barely perceptible. The Cheesecake Factory raised prices by 1.5 percent at the end of February, Applebee’s by 3 percent.

But for the poorest U.S. families, the higher costs may mean going hungry. A family of four is eligible for a maximum $542 a month in food stamps, which never lasted the whole month before, Food Bank of New Jersey’s DiChiara said.

“Now food stamps go fewer and fewer days of the month,” she said.

The Food Bank recently got a letter of its own from a key vendor. Its grim message: Sorry, but the prices they charge the Food Bank would be increasing 20 percent, due to food inflation.

________________________________

Link to article here.

Food Crisis: The Maze Behind Maize
By Austin Bay
04-16-08
I enjoy baking, and “scratch” cornbread is my favorite kitchen oeuvre. I use stone-ground corn meal, and the product is gluten-free — nix on the cup of wheat flour you’ll find in many recipes.

My cornbread hobby isn’t the only reason I watch the price of corn. Gauging Mexican political stability is another. Corn (maize, as the Mexicans correctly call it) feeds Mexico. When corn prices rise, Mexico’s poor must spend more to buy their staple.

The Mexican government knows corn’s price is politically sensitive. In January 2007, StrategyPage.com published the following short commentary: “Mexican authorities are concerned that a rise in the price of tortillas will lead to civil unrest. The price of tortillas rose 10 to 14 percent in 2006. The cause: international demand for corn.” Mexico planned to import “duty free” several hundred thousand tons of corn to stabilize prices.

Corn prices continue to climb, this month hitting an all-time high of six dollars a bushel, up 30 percent since then end of 2007. Take the all-time high, however, with a dose of mathematics. The Iowa Corn Growers Association argues that the $3.20 a bushel of 1981 would be around eight bucks today.

Prices have increased for numerous, complex and often opaquely connected reasons, but producing ethanol “biofuel” (an alleged “green” alternative to gasoline) certainly contributes to the rising demand for corn.

Ethanol is, or at least, was, “good for America” and a “renewable fuel” that will help end America’s oil addiction. In 2007, the U.S. Congress mandated a “five-fold increase” in bio-fuel production; the bill touted ethanol but also promoted research and development of non-food crop biofuels. However, corn’s price spike has generated the sound bite, “Stop burning food.”

Ethanol is an easy target for the sensationalists. The pun is more accurate than the accusation: A maze of interrelated factors affect the price of maize and most other foodstuffs.

The growing economies of India and China require energy, and demand from these two Asian giants as well as sustained demand from other advanced economies has spurred a long-term rise in oil prices. Higher oil prices bump food prices; it takes energy to raise and transport food.

“Middle class” Indians and Chinese also buy more foods. Lousy weather (in Australia as well as the United States), crop rotation and, in the case of the world’s No. 1 food producer, the United States, fewer acres under cultivation (likely culprit: suburbs) also factor in higher food prices.

So the “world food crisis” sprouting bold headlines this week isn’t so much sudden as it is vexingly systemic.

Recognizing the problem, however, doesn’t feed empty stomachs. Food riots have erupted in Bangladesh, Egypt, Senegal and Ethiopia. Last week, hungry Haitians, rioting over the price of rice, toppled their prime minister.

America is by far the world’s leading food donor. President George W. Bush has made an additional $200 million in food aid available for “Africa and elsewhere” in order to feed starving people.

Emergency aid is the right short-term response to what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls a “rapidly escalating crisis of food availability.”

But what about the long term? Beware the calls for “structural changes” if that means mandates from bureaucrats. “Smart guy” mandates brought us subsidized ethanol. Large-scale alternative energy that diminishes reliance on oil? That’s a truly systemic solution, but for three decades environmentalist fear-mongers in the United States have stymied the development of nuclear energy, a proven large-scale alternative energy source.

Applying human creativity is also a “structural change.” “Algal fuel” — algae producing biofuel, or methane — is experimental but promising; it sounds sci-fi, but genetically engineered algae might someday produce first-rate fuel.

Genetically modified crops (they already exist, the gift of genetic research) dramatically increase land yields, but they have been tagged as “Franken-foods.” Their fear-inciting critics forget modern corn is hybridized maize.

Austin Bay Austin Bay is author of three novels. His third novel, The Wrong Side of Brightness, was published by Putnam/Jove in June 2003. He has also co-authored four non-fiction books, to include A Quick and Dirty Guide to War: Third Edition (with James Dunnigan, Morrow, 1996). best buy in san francisco test

Link to article here.

At this point, you don’t have to be an economist to connect the dots and realize that toll roads with gas prices this high and rising with no end in sight, are NOT sustainable, will go belly-up, and will require a massive taxpayer bailout like Bear Stearns! TxDOT’s own studies show toll roads aren’t financially viable if gas hits $3 a gallon, yet they continue to promote this plan they already know is a financial house of cards.

There’s an economic perfect storm brewing, and those involved in sticking it to the taxpayers aren’t going to fair well when we’re already seeing rioting in the streets over food prices (driven up by ethanol production and higher transportation costs, ie – gas prices) in parts of the world. The elites want a global economy, now they’ve got one. How long before Americans have to hit the streets in protest? When we’re starving? We have a government derelict in its duty with regards to energy independence and trade policy that is allowing the cost of living to rise so high so fast we’ll become a third world nation if the people don’t put a stop to it!
Crude oil at new high just above $114; gas also at a record
Tuesday, April 15
By Adam Schreck, AP Business Writer

Crude oil prices reach a new high above $114; gas prices also reach a record at the pump NEW YORK (AP) — Energy traders rewrote the record books again Tuesday, pushing oil futures past $114 a barrel as gasoline and diesel prices struck new highs of their own at the pump.Light, sweet crude for May delivery jumped as high as $114.08 a barrel shortly after regular trading ended on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is nearly $2 above an intraday high set last week.

Concerns about insufficient global supply, stoked by a high-profile report by the International Energy Agency that said Russian oil production dropped this year for the first time in a decade, was largely responsible for the surge. Oil prices rose as high as $113.99 a barrel during the regular session before settling at $113.79, up $2.03 from Monday’s record close of $111.76 a barrel.

“In an emotionally driven market like we’ve got now, it just doesn’t take much in the way of a headline to prompt a psychological response,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Ill.

Prices at the pump also charged ahead. Retail gasoline prices rose to a new average national record of $3.386, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices were highest in California, where mid-range and higher grades are now averaging more than $4 a gallon.

Diesel prices at the pump jumped to $4.119 a gallon, also a record, setting the stage for even higher prices on food and other goods transported by truck, ship and rail.

Prices are widely expected to keep rising as summer approaches. Gasoline futures jumped by nearly 6 cents to finish at a settlement record of $2.881. That is less than a nickel below the all-time intraday high for the benchmark contract that was set as Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005.

“Unfortunately, we do expect the price of gasoline, and probably diesel as well, are going to escalate as long as the price of oil keeps moving higher,” said Geoff Sundstrom, a fuel price analyst for AAA.

Oil’s recent run above $100 a barrel has been largely attributed to a steadily depreciating dollar, because the weakness prompts investors to seek a safe haven in hard commodities such as oil and gold. The greenback strengthened marginally against the euro Tuesday afternoon, but still remains near all-time lows against the 15-nation currency.

The oil report from the IEA — the Paris-based energy watchdog for industrialized countries — said Russia, the world’s biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, averaged 10 million barrels per day from January through March, down 1 percent from 2007. That is the first time production has failed to exceed previous-year figures since 1998.

Artyom Konchin, an analyst with Russian investment bank Aton Capital, attributed Russia’s oil supply lull to high taxes and insufficient reinvestment into infrastructure.

“It’s not that we don’t have enough oil,” he said. “We just don’t have enough capital going into developing the fields.”

Crude prices were also supported by reports of a number of supply disruptions.

Attracting the most attention was the closure of Mexico’s three main oil-exporting ports on the Gulf Coast because of bad weather starting Sunday. Only one of the ports remained closed Tuesday, according to Mexico’s Communications and Transportation Department.

The department issued a bulletin Tuesday morning that the Pacific oil port of Salina Cruz also had been closed because of strong wind and high waves, although that terminal is not a major supplier for the U.S.

“It just shows you how fragile the oil markets are,” Sundstrom said.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures surged by 7.1 cents to settle at $3.2739 gallon, while natural gas futures spiked 15.2 cents to settle at $10.212 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, May Brent crude rose $1.47 to settle at $111.31 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Associated Press Writers George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, Gillian Wong in Singapore, and Jessica Bernstein-Wax in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Link to article here.

Texas: Gas Tax Dollars Spent to Build Park
Texas Department of Transportation that claims it has no money for roads uses $20 million in gas tax funds to build a park.
April 15, 2008
The Newspaper.com

The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation announced yesterday that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) would hand over $20 million in gas tax funds to help build a 5.2 acre park near downtown Dallas. The $67 million park is intended to serve as a model public-private partnership with a restaurant, a children’s playground and a dog park. It will have no roads.

“The park… will connect Uptown, Downtown and the Arts District, and is expected to become a regional attraction,” the foundation explained in a statement.

TxDOT on several occasions has made the claim that the agency is “out of money” and therefore has no choice but to convert existing freeways into toll roads (view TxDOT plan). In February, the state’s top two legislative leaders called for an audit of TxDOT’s finances after the agency admitted that it had misstated its finances by more than $1 billion, helping to create the impression that it was out of money.

People for Efficient Transportation founder Sal Costello questioned TxDOT’s motives in spending gas tax funds on the project.

“I’m all for parks, but why is money from our transportation budget paying for a park?” Costello asked. “And why would TxDOT give $20 million to a foundation full of special interests instead of the city to do the job?”

Costello pointed out that the foundation’s board and steering committee include key employees of companies that stand to profit from the agency’s toll road plans that are in need of public relations support. JP Morgan is part of the team that intends to build the Trans Texas Corridor toll road. Carter and Burgess, a Fort Worth-based engineering consultant is heavily involved in tolling projects in the state. Both companies have seats on the foundation steering committee.

The park is scheduled to open in late 2011.

Link to article here.

3 TxDOT employees face bribery charges
04/10/2008
Express-News
BROWNSVILLE — Three Texas Department of Transportation workers in the Rio Grande Valley were arrested Thursday on federal charges of accepting bribes for road-sweeping contracts.

Cresenciano “Chano” Falcon, 56, of Edinburg, a district maintenance administrator, and highway inspectors Ray Llanes, 50, of San Benito, and Noe Beltran, 42, of San Juan, took between $200 and $2,000 in cash to steer work to a certain contractor, according to an indictment unsealed just before the arrests.

Falcon is accused of accepting $2,000 and Llanes and Beltran $200 each for contracts said to be worth at least $5,000.

Beltran and Falcon are free on bail following an initial court appearance. Llanes’ initial court appearance is scheduled for today.

Link to article here.

In a total slap in the face to Texas farmers and ranchers, Rick Perry feigns fond memories of growing up in cotton fields and learning hard work on a farm. Well, that memory is clearly faded and jaded since being parked in the Governor’s mansion. Perry VETOED eminent domain protection for farmers whose land and livelihood are about to be gobbled up by Perry’s legacy-building project, the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC). In the biggest land grab in Texas history, Perry is presiding over and demanding that TxDOT steal 580,000 acres of private property for a pittance in the name of “public use” and hand it over to a foreign corporation for PROFIT! He knows he’s responsible for the policy that will forcibly take these same heritage farmers’ land that has been in their families for 100+ years and give it to a Spanish company. Spare us the platitudes about how you “value” farmers, Governor Perry. We don’t buy it!

Then, Todd Staples isn’t any better. He chaired the committee that voted the Senate version of the TTC bill to the floor for a vote and he voted FOR the TTC in both cases. Then when he ran for Agriculture Commissioner and needed the votes of the farmers and ranchers he betrayed, Staples tried to claim he’s now against it. Convenient!

Gov. Perry Honors Texas Ranchers
NBC News, Dallas/Associated Press
April 8, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry praised longtime farm and ranching families Friday as people who feed the world with the work of their hands. “Your land is more than your livelihood, it is your life. And we salute you for your unyielding grip on it,” Perry said in prepared remarks at the Texas Department of Agriculture’s family land heritage ceremony.The tribute honors Texas farms and ranches that have been owned and operated by the same family for a century or more.

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and the Texas Department of Agriculture recognized 102 farms and ranches at the 33rd annual ceremony, held in the Texas House chamber at the Capitol.

“For more than a century these families have made agriculture a way of life, establishing Texas as a nationwide leader in an ever-demanding agricultural industry,” Staples said.

Fourteen farms and ranches were honored for having been in operation at least 150 years. They are located in Burnet, Collin, Colorado, Ellis, Fannin, Jim Hogg, Lampasas, Panola, Parker, Waller, Williamson and Zapata counties.

Perry talked of growing up in the cotton fields of West Texas, where he said he “learned the value of hard work, and earned a master’s degree in patience, waiting for rain that never came exactly when we wanted it.”

Texas has 230,000 farms and ranches covering more than 130 million acres, he said.

Perry said he is perhaps most fond of his time spent in agriculture, as a farmer and as agriculture commissioner.

As commissioner, he said, he always looked forward to the annual family land heritage celebration. Since 1974, the state has honored some 4,300 farms and ranches in 233 counties for maintaining their heritage and agricultural production for 100 years or more.