Bursting their bubble

As soon as the Rolling Stone article hit the street, the standard responses from the industry started rolling in. 

We've seen it before. 

What's different about this "news"?  The Rolling Stone chose to answer back.  Point by point.  Read the entire article.  The closing is not to be missed.  Bravo.

Keep on rockin'.

The company entirely dodges the article’s central point: that Chesapeake is highly-leveraged firm operated by a corporate gambler who engaged in complex scheme to profit off the illusion that America has a virtually unlimited supply of cheap natural gas.
But when it came time to answer more substantial questions, all traces of transparency vanished. A quick example: I asked Chesapeake three times to provide me with a statistic for the total volume of dirty flowback water the company handled in the Marcellus Shale region last year. I got no answer.

Even more disturbing, when I asked McClendon directly if he or his company had contributed any money to presidential candidates or their PACs during the current campaign, he said flatly that they had not. This was curious to me, because McClendon has a long history of making campaign donations, and often encourages others in the industry to give to PACs as a way to make sure their voices are heard.   So I asked him again in email a few days later: The answer was still "no." A week later, a researcher at Rolling Stone discovered that Chesapeake had indeed contributed $250,000 to Rick Perry's campaign last fall. When I asked Kehs about this, he admitted it was true. Apparently McClendon operates in a world where a quarter million dollar campaign contribution can just slip one’s mind. 

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There's a change...

Seems someone swiped money from a politician.  Talk about a switch.

Read about Betsy Price's missing campaign money in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"Evidently, someone stole the account information and then created their own debit cards and a check," she said.

One debit card transaction was for $346.37 at a Walmart in Abilene; the other debit card transaction was for $291.50 at a Walmart in Oklahoma City, according to a Fort Worth police report.

Price said investigators have asked Wal-Mart for surveillance video to try to identify the offender or offenders.

The fraudulent check for $300.94 was passed at a Lowe's in Fort Worth, the report said.

The former Tarrant County tax assessor-collector said account theft can happen to anybody and pledged to monitor her campaign account more closely.

On her last campaign finance report, Price had $14,538.81 in her account on June 30, the last day of the reporting period.

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Abominable Politicians

Letter in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks volumes. Let's get some people like this in office and get rid of the career politicians. 

Remember, if nothing is ever done, it just gets worse.  Yes, worse...

It is both sad and abominable that the people we send to Washington to run our government can't seem to focus on anything but the next election. If they can't put politics and personal gain aside and work together to get our country out of the mess it's in, they don't need to be there.

In addition, if they proved their worth by concentrating on and actually working to solve the problems facing this great country of ours, they wouldn't have to worry about being re-elected. That would be an entirely new concept.

We are sorely tired of constant electioneering.

-- Viola Smith, North Richland Hills

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Open Letter to Fort Worth Candidates

And Haltom City candidates, and North Richland Hills candidates, etc..

This may be our favorite letter we have ever received.  Sounds like we have a new contributor.  Welcome aboard Mr. Haltom City Voter.  The pay sucks, but you'll sleep better at night than the politicians do.

Dear Mysterious Media Moguls of the Star Telegraph,

First, let me thank you for your effort to bring a fresh perceptive of the community news to the people of the Tarrant County. I know it is a challenging effort and you are to be commended for your diligence and vision.

This is of course election season and the media is full of endorsement letters for this candidate and that candidate. Our mail box should be filled with letters telling us the value of each of the people on the ballot. It is not. The web sites of the candidates should give us real insight to the thinking and positions of the candidates on issues of public concern. They do not. Time and again I see the same fluff repackaged.

Candidate A has three children and five grandchildren, goes to the big church on the corner, wants better economic development in the city, and less government. Candidate B has four children, four grandchildren and a dog named Frisky. He is a deacon at big church on the hill. He wants better economic development in the city, and less government. Since I am a dog lover ,I guess I should vote for Candidate B, although I like the look of the church on the corner a lot more. Give me a break!

There should be a law against including inane material in campaigns. I really don’t want to hear about your family, your church and most of the do-nothing organizations which you have blessed with your attendance. Then there is the endorsements, here I will confess to making several myself over the years. The endorsement tells me nothing other than someone thinks this candidate is a kind and gentle soul with good moral character. I can safely say that each candidate for every office will have supporters who can mimic the same lines. Truth is, for the most part, candidates are good moral people, gentle and kind; at least before their first term in office.

To the candidates I say:

I am interested in how you fought for the little guy against an unjust system. I am interested in how you defended the environment against exploitative corporations. I would delight in hearing how you spearheaded the efforts to uncover government waste and corruption. I want to hear that you have a position, any position. It’s okay if we disagree on an issue. At least I can see that you have the will to stand-up for your convictions. I think the candidates should send out a complete list of contributors with each mailing and include the same in their web sites. Don’t make me go looking for it. Be up front. Let me know who you are listening to, who your corporate friends are. The law requires that you tell the public where your campaign funds come from. Be proud of your contributors. Be honest with the voters. Don’t send me a four color portrait of your All-American family , I have one of my own, thank you.

The candidate that gets my vote will be financially supported be the community, not out of town, out of state corporations looking for favors in the coming term.

The candidate that gets my vote will have real drive for a better community with a plan to accomplish it.

Generations of Americas have fought to maintain the privilege of the vote ,at least the candidates can make the effort to earn it!

Haltom City Voter

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