In 2011, Gov.Rick Perry signed a bill that required drillers to show what chemicals and the
amounts they use while fracking making Texas the first state to do so. The real
question is why were the drillers hiding this information in the first place?
Even
though fracking is considered a cheaper and cleaner source of electricity than
coal it could cause big potential dangers environmentally. Texas should ban fracking because it
can cause more problems that may have an outcome that is hard to fix. In the news article, “Natural gas “fracking”boom in South Texas,” Actor Mark Ruffalo asked "Where did we get to a
point, when we are even considering, there's even a debate, not to wait, and
test, and make sure that what we are doing is safe?" After reading this question and looking at the
cons I don’t see why fracking is used. If not done properly fracking can
contaminate our water and by contaminating I mean you could literally set your
faucet water on fire. Fracking also uses large amounts of water, it has been
linked to earthquakes and it leaks more emissions than coal.
So is it really
worth it? I believe not with water being very important to us covering about 70
percent of the earth and composing most of our body how could we even think to
endanger it. What we really need to do is try and stop ourselves from relying
so much on nonrenewable resources. We are harming our home and instead of
trying to find newer and safer ways to run ourselves we continue to find ways
to suck all the life out of it.
On Thursday
July 19th, 2012 Paul Burka posted an editorial on his blog, Burka Blog, about Obama’s recent
declaration of Texas future as a swing state. In the article, “Politicio: InAustin, Obama predicts Texas will be a swing state,” it talks about Texas’
future as a dominate Republican state. The article is directed towards the
Texas population, mainly Republicans to decide whether Obama’s statement could
become true. Burka’s claim is stated towards the end where he flip flops from
agreeing with Obama’s prediction that Texas is “destined” to change, but he
then disagreed with the time frame stating the change will not occur till “2020.”
After reading this article it seems Democrats still have a fighting chance. In the
article, the author had very acceptable proof to back up his claims. He had
interviewed party chairman Steve Munisteri in a previous column and got his
opinion towards the whole situation. Munisteri brought up demographics as a
clear win for Democrats. He also brought up the fact that with the rising
number of Hispanics and the absent relationship between them and Republicans
that this could make or break Republican’s hold on Texas.
After reading more facts presented and also
doing a little research on Munisteri I
was persuaded to agree with both the author’s claims. I believe demographics are
exactly what may change Republicans dominance over Texas. I also agreed with
the author’s statement about how it might take a while because for one, like stated
in the article, Texan Hispanics don’t vote and most have the values of a
Republican which may take Democrats a while to change. Secondly, Steve
Munisteri is trying to make a relationship
with Hispanics which could keep the Republican train moving and keep the
Democratic party chasing after.
An editorial posted on July 9, 2012 from the Dallas News
elaborated on why Rick Perry’s response towards changes to Texas health care
was not an excellent one. The editorial, “Rick Perry’s predictable call on health care”, addresses the Texas population to contemplate on why the decision
may have caused significant problems for Texas. From the very first paragraph
of the article the author offers his claim as a disagreement with Perry stating
that “we are the worst in the nation” in regards to health care and that is why
we need to change our system.
Before I began to read this article I was a little hesitant to
agree with this whole new health care system only because I had not read up on
it. In the article, it lays out a fact that “one out of every four residents
has no health insurance” which was outstanding to read. When health care is so
substantial how can a person be denied of it? Reading on the author brings
logical evidence forward including how eligibility standards are preventing
working people from getting health insurance. If citizens are working why deny
them of health insurance only because of their income? I mean taxpayers are
already paying for the uninsured as stated in the article. The author added
many more pro health care statements to the fire and concluded the article with
what could be the stats of coverage for the Texas population.
As for me I couldn’t help myself to change my mind and agree
with this article. It made me read more into this situation and even though
there are some flaws it could be a really good change for Texas. Perry just shut
it up so quickly. It seems like he just needs to get off his high horse and
notice the people he’s stepping on, for it seems like he doesn’t see the fear
in those uninsured who have to live without care.
Austin AmericanStatesman posted an article about the weakness of Democratic dominance over
Texas. The article focused on reasons why Democrats are not stepping up to the
plate even though they have plenty of resources. Many ideas were shown one being
that because Democrats are outnumbered in the state they have a lack of authority.
Another reason was that there is a depleted image of the party. So after reading the question
came to mind, are the Democrats losing their spark and pushing themselves under
the rug? Others believe that is not the case and that the future looks bright
even though it might be a long road ahead. This article informs readers on some
interesting ideas about where Texas Democrats are and how there might be solutions
in the future that will bring them back to fight.
