Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Thank you to the 450 Democratic and progressive women who came to the capitol in Austin on April 9th to make Blue Ribbon Lobby Day a great success. This was the first time in a decade that women organized at the capitol to have their voices heard and it was truly an amazing day! We are very excited for 2015 Blue Ribbon Lobby Day and hope to have twice the number of women come to Austin proudly wearing blue. GNI was very happy to be a part of it :)

As an intern who had never lobbied at the capitol before, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised – all of the Blue Ribbon organizers were so helpful.  The legislators and legislative aides that I personally spoke with were very accommodating and friendly.  I even went to my district’s capitol office to advocate for women’s issues.  I visited roughly 50 offices and was so excited when I saw blue ribbons pinned to the legislators’ shirts to show their support.  That was very encouraging!

A few highlights of my day were having Sarah Weddington come to the capitol as our key note speaker, photographing Blue Ribbon participants in the Senate gallery and enjoying happy hour with all of the wonderful women and men who made this day possible.

Please make sure to get out tomorrow and cast your ballot in the 2012 Democratic primary. It is imperative to ensure we have a good turnout, so spread the word and go vote!

Congratulations to Leslie Tisdale, one of our interns, for being elected University Democrats Spring 2012 Vice President – successor to current UDems VP, Cameron Miculka, also one of our interns.

We are so proud of you both!

As hopefully most of you know, today is Election Day. For a primer on what the national media is watching, I strongly recommend Washington Post’s The Fix blog. Though the attention will be on Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio and others, I’m watching a few other races:

1. The big one in Texas, Proposition 8, which will do much to preserve Texas’ dwindling water supply. Proposed by State Senator (and GNI client) Kirk Watson, I think Prop 8 goes up big. Here’s the Senator’s description. My prediction: Passes big.

2. The much-publicized Mississippi Proposition 26, which would define personhood at conception. Besides the obvious assault on women’s freedoms, Prop. 26 brings up an interesting slew of legal questions. For example, if a State can define personhood, why can’t they define it more broadly than the time it begins? For example, can a State say chimpanzees are people? Or that African-Americans aren’t? My prediction: Passes big, immediately enjoined by the Federal courts.

 
3. For the election law geek in me, I’m following Maine’s Proposition 1 (not to be confused with 2009′s Prop 1, which banned gay marriage there). Until this summer, Maine was one of nine states plus the District of Columbia that allowed voters to register to vote on Election Day. According to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, same day registration boosts turnout 5-7%, especially among low-propensity voting groups like low-income, young, and racial minorities. In June, Republicans inthe Legislature repealed same day registration, citing voter fraud. This is the same set up scare tactics that have led to election law changes in Indiana, Arizona, Texas, and more. Now supporters of same day registration (and, IMHO, fair elections), have put Prop 1 on the ballot to reinstate it. Anecdotally, I was in Maine last week and every street corner was covered in pro- and anti-Prop 1 signs. My prediction: Passes small.

[For those following the other big news of the day, Activision/Infinity Ward's release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, my initial reaction is that it's as fun as MW2, but not so much different that I'm really floored. I would have liked more improvement.]

First, let me say that I am not an economics expert. I did not excel at economics in college (though I did better than Rick Perry) but have tried to learn as much as I can since. With that caveat, I’ve noticed a number of recent proposals that don’t make a lot of sense to me: tax incentives to hire the unemployed. Let me be very clear, I strongly support tax incentives to encourage hiring. Government action is the only way we can turn around the economy. But I don’t understand the value of hiring an unemployed worker, as opposed to a worker who already has a job.

[Buried in this article from NPR is a reference to the newest of these hire-the-unemployed proposals, in this case targeted at unemployed vets. Here's the IRS article about two other similar tax credits.]

Here’s my problem. Let’s say GNI Strategies is looking to hire a new staffer. GNI has the choice between applicant A, who is unemployed, and applicant B, who is currently employed at company X but looking for a change. With these tax credits, assuming the two applicants are of similar quality, GNI will naturally hire applicant A. Without these tax credits, let’s assume GNI chooses to hire applicant B instead. Well company X now has an opening and will hire someone (possibly applicant A) to fill B’s position. Either way, one more unemployed person now has a job (which, I assume, is the goal of the tax credit in the first place – to encourage hiring). Why should GNI get a tax credit in the first example but not in the second? Either way, they’re creating one new job.

Am I missing something?

I just discovered this new product from Google, What do you love? Found at www.wdyl.com, it is an aggregator of all of Google’s tools. As Mashable put it, “It’s a simple search box, similar to the one on Google’s homepage, but it returns results from more than 20 different Google services, including Google Translate, Trends, YouTube, Maps and Groups.” I don’t see any actual practical value of the service, but – like so many of Google’s products – it’s just so cool! Here’s the first page of what I got when I searched for the Red Sox (something that I love):

Full search results after the jump.

In an update to his now-Austin tradition Concert Under the Stars, Sen. Watson announce that he will be collecting non-perishable items and canned goods to supply local area food banks who have been hard hit by the recent fires.

“I’ll be collecting non-perishable food items for groups to aid those devastated by the recent Central Texas fires. Please bring whatever you can on Thursday night and be generous to those Central Texans who’ve lost so much in these fires.”

For all those in Austin this Thursday, Sept. 15th, stop by Sen. Watson’s Concert Under the Stars for a night of R&B with legend Mavis Staples and donate to help families affected by the fires in Bastrop. For more information visit Sen. Watson’s concert page.

Do you live in Central Texas and need to get registered to vote? Are you a Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar available to help register others to vote? Travis County is hosting four events over the next six weeks and they need volunteers to help register. These are also great opportunities to register to vote for the first time or to change your registration if you’ve moved or changed your name since the last election. Email Cheryl Reese at the Travis County Tax Office to volunteer or for more information. You can also email Ms. Reese to find out how to become a Deputy Registrar. Here are the locations:

1. Health & Lifestyle Expo

Thursday, September 15, 7:30AM to 3:00PM

Palmer Event Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.

Free Parking

2. Sheriff’s Extravaganza

Saturday, October 1, 11:00AM to 4:00PM

11:00AM to 4:00PM

Wells Branch MUD, 3000 Shoreline Dr.

Free parking

3. Skill Point Alliance (High School Students)

Thursday, October 6, 8:30AM to 1:30PM

Palmer Event Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.

Parking $7

4. HopeFest 2011

Saturday, October 22, 9:30AM to 3:00PM

Reagan High School, 7104 Berkman Dr.

Free Parking