Texas

2011-03-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

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David Lee Hall

2011-02-12T21:53:00.000-08:00

Electrical Grid Vulnerable
Plano City Taxes
David Smith - Collin County Judge
Ed Kless - Texas Senate District 8
Marines are a Band of Brothers

USA Education Results
Education Choice Example
Answers To Questions
Smart Grid Scam
Texas Senate District 8 Announcement
Van Taylor - Texas House District 66
Boundary Change Effects
School Choice Reasons
School District Results
School District Despotism
Civil War - United States of America
Corruption - United States of America
Concerns - United States of America
Follow-up - United States of America
Comments - United States of America
United States of America
Responses to Answers for Dr. John Cooper
Tour the World in Downtown Plano at the PLANO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL!
Dr. John Cooper - Candidate for US Congress - Texas Economic Development
Texas Economic Development
Pass For Pay Selected Feedback
Pass For Pay
Texas Health Savings
You Are Invited
Electric Lines Underground
Big Investment Decision
Microbe Hydrogen Production
Starbucks Coffee Company
Methane Availability Generation
Propane Fuel Analysis
Propane Green Representative
Methane Adoption Comments, Answers, & Projections
Methane versus Hydrogen as Fuel
Methane Fuel Cell
War & Peace & Progress
Save Our System
Texas Economy Would Benefit by Abolishing Property Tax
Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable
Robert Canright Endorsement
Steve Navarre Endorsement
Lee Dunlap Campaign Answers
Phil Dyer Endorsement
Texas School Finance
Lee Dunlap Endorsement

Electrical Grid Vulnerable

2010-06-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

Electrical Grids all over the world (including across the USA) are vulnerable to numerous events which happen relatively often (as in Plano this winter for several days to a significant number of neighborhoods) including: Human Error, Inadequate Maintenance, Atmospheric Weather, Solar Flares, and Deliberate Destruction.

Smart Grid Proposals supposedly overcome these issues; however, this is logically impossible; since severed or downed lines, destroyed transformers, inoperable generators, software bugs, and numerous other failures can interrupt the smartest electrical grid.

The optimal solution is to provide off-grid options (Smart Generation Systems) including single consumer generators using natural gas which is less prone to interruption and natural gas can even be safely stored by each consumption site for added backup.

Additionally, this is a much more economical use of fuel (fuel cells 60% efficient - downhole muffled turbines 30% efficient) versus about 6% efficiency via the grid. Anyone who is concerned about our carbon footprint (not me but there are many who do have that concern) should help me push for Smart Generation Systems. This approach has the potential to reduce our carbon footprint by an order of magnitude (i.e. 10% of present) along with potential cost savings due to economies of scale in manufacturing, reasonable regulations, and as much as 90% less use of fuel without the electric utility mark-up.

Texas should move as soon as possible into Smart Generation Systems (off-grid) since this should be the future. Texas research grants, manufacturer incentives, and regulatory support should be provided to give private enterprise a clear path to develop these technologies. Please let me know your thoughts.

.

Plano City Taxes

2010-06-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From:    Phil Dyer phildyer@plano.gov

Date:     Thu, Jun 10, 2010

Subject: RE: David Smith - Collin County Judge

To:         David Hall

David: Thank you for the message, and I hope you are doing well.

Let me answer your question---and I hope that the response is not too long.

We have been working on the budget since I was elected in May of '09. There is no question that the budget of Plano has changed---permanently. The growth of the 80's, 90's, and 00's threw off a ton of fees/revenues that fed the city coffers. Well, the growth is over (although we still have a lot of commercial land remaining to be developed), and that source of revenue has diminished.

Our sales tax is down. It will improve when the economy improves, but it won't get back to the levels of 3 or 4 years ago. The new retail in Allen, Frisco, McKinney, etc. is impacting us just as Plano's retail growth in the 80's and 90's impacted Richardson and north Dallas (goodbye to Richardson Square Mall, and Prestonwood Mall). It is the natural progression/evolution as new areas develop.

Right now, commercial real estate valuations are down significantly, which has a strong impact on our ad valorem tax revenue. That will come back, but it may be a couple of years (or more).

So, we are in a bit of a perfect storm in which our largest sources of revenue are all being impacted.

We have cut $20 million out of the budget over the past 18 months, and we are working on more. We have eliminated over 150 positions in the city, permanently.

So, that is the bad news. Now a bit of good news.

We are AAA rated by the bond rating agencies---the highest rating a city can have. They don't give those ratings to cities who are on the verge of a fiscal train wreck. Our city services are second to none---we have nationally accredited departments throughout our city organization. We continue to win all kinds of awards for excellence and/or innovation.

Finally, the city tax burden to the residents of Plano is lower (in most cases far lower) than in our neighboring cities. I am not criticizing those cities. They are well governed and well managed, and they provide good services. I think that we can stand right with them based on our city services. Here is the city tax burden on owners of a $250,000 home in local cities:

Plano $ 977

Allen $1,388

Carrollton $1,236

Dallas $1,496

Frisco $1,162

McKinney $1,464

Richardson $1,438

Ft. Worth $1,710

Arlington $1,296

The percentage difference is consistent at all price levels. So, the more expensive a home, Plano becomes an even larger bargain.

Bottom line is that Plano is a bargain compared to other cities. We could raise our tax rate a lot, and still be cheaper than almost all of the cities shown above.

We are not a fiscal train wreck waiting to happen. We have challenges, but we are working on this every day (literally). People who say this about Plano simply have not done their research. I always welcome the opportunity to visit with people about this. They may still think that the city tax burden is too high, and I respect that position, but let's work with factual information, and then we can make progress.

I always appreciate the fact that you do the research and gather your information before you communicate.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do.

Regards,

Phil

Phil Dyer

From: David Hall

Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010

To: Phil Dyer

Subject: Fwd: David Smith - Collin County Judge

Phil,

I have received some feedback stating that "City of Plano is heading for a fiscal train wreck". I would like to respond properly. Please let me know if there is something I do not know or confirm that Plano is in good shape financially.

David

David Smith - Collin County Judge

2010-06-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

David Smith www.dms4collincounty.com is my recommendation for Collin County Judge because of numerous reasons including:

David Smith and I agree on 3 important matters:

Jail is not the proper place for Non-Violent Offenders, Mental Cases, and Homeless Persons
All non-emergency significant services should have at least 3 bidders before being awarded a contract
Currently voter approved infrastructure projects should move forward quickly while the cost is lower due to the economy

During Plano City Council service David Smith led in:

Reduced rate of spending increases during period of rapid growth
Lowered tax rate - 3 times coupled with strengthened city finances
Instituted city-wide tax rebate coupled with improved city services

David Smith has Demonstrated Competent Leadership - Public, Corporate and Military Service

Plano City Council - 3 Terms
Plano City Finance Committee - 6 Years
Manager at EDS
Church Leader
US Air Force - Engineering Service - after Engineering Degree from Vanderbilt University

Ed Kless - Texas Senate District 8

2010-06-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

http://electkless.com/2010/06/my-first-official-endorsement

After in person discussions, Ed Kless is my recommendation for Texas Senate District 8, and you should contact him if you have additional questions.

David Hall

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ed Kless
Date: Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Subject: Ed Kless for Texas Senate District 8
To: David Hall

Dear Mr. Hall,

I have been reading your weekly emails for a while. Since you state that you are considering supporting candidates other than Republicans, I hope you will consider endorsing me. I believe that you and I agree on many issues.

To illustrate this, have inserted my answer to the League of Women Voters for question 1 followed by your responses with my comments for questions 2-7. Although you and I definitely do not agree about everything, based on your writings, I suspect that you do not expect or demand that of anyone.

Thank you for your consideration.

In Liberty,
Ed Kless
Libertarian Candidate for Texas Senate – District 8
http://electkless.com
+1 972 836 9972

1. Please describe the education and experience that qualify you for the position of member of the Texas Senate/House of Representatives.

Ever since graduating magna cum laude from Pace University in New York, I have been working in one capacity or another to help make small businesses better. Within the past decade, I have begun studying economics, especially price theory, and believe that the lack of basic economic understanding drives most bad government policies. There are two words that all economists agree upon regardless of their political leaning, “Incentives matter.” Legislators motivated by the best of intentions have created perverse incentives that interfere with free market activities. Government is the problem in many cases, not the solution.

2. Texas ranks very low among states in percentage of persons with health insurance. What measures would you support for improving access to health care in Texas?

Texas Health Savings Accounts

Maintain database of IRS-qualified HSA expenses.

Enrollees establish HSA at insurance company or thrift.

Enrollees issued debit card.

Providers approve expenses for immediate payment on purchases of covered expense (insurance companies) or qualified expense for which there is adequate savings.

Public money issued as voucher which may be allocated as desired to either pay for insurance and/or be placed in the individual HSA account.

With this approach each individual will make the choice of how their money is spent based on their life situation.

2. I am in favor of large HSAs and catastrophic insurance. Insurance is a financial product and is meant for things we do not want. It is not intended to pay for the mundane. For example, car insurance does not pay for oil changes and gasoline and health insurance should not pay for every doctor visit and routine medical treatment. In addition, if we allow companies to include a heath dividend in policies for younger people, it would reduce the uninsured rates to a manageable level. Lastly, insurance should be allowed to be sold across state lines, this would increase competition.

3. How should Texas finance the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges?

User fees (tolls) collected via license plate numbers. * See Below

Should the gas tax be raised?

It should be eliminated in favor of a sales tax on vehicle fuel.

Should the gas tax be dedicated solely to road construction and maintenance?

If collected then yes.

Do you support increased construction of toll roads?

Yes, provided the tolls are only used for the road on which collected. *

* Also, the Texas law that requires parallel access roads for toll roads should be continued. This is a good law as it respects the poor, avoids coercion to pay the toll, and forces the toll road authority to maintain a high standard or lose business, unlike “Independent” School Districts.

3. I am OK with toll roads and agree the gas tax should be eliminated.

4. Do you consider Texas’ current per-student public school spending to be adequate and equitable? If not, what measures would you support to increase funding of public school education?

Adequate Not Equitable

Parents should have freedom of choice for their children's education. Currently Texas only supports “Independent” School Districts and charter schools. Parents should be free to choose a non-public school alternative and receive the state money for educating their children after their children demonstrate competency for core subjects by:

Student passes computer-based semester exam for each required course at an approved testing center.
Testing centers should be open at flexible times for students throughout the year with students being able to take any specific test for their semester grade level any time the testing center is open.

4. Vouchers, vouchers and vouchers! Senator Shapiro is on a committee figuring out how to raise more money to spend, I would work out a way to reduce the amount of money spent. Testing is a difficult issue as all tests are skewed and can be gamed; I would prefer more local control of the tests. Vouchers would allow parents to judge for themselves if their kids are learning. If they feel they are not, they will move them to a different school.

5. Texas is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the U.S. What changes would you support to Texas’ energy policies?

Encourage businesses to develop home electric generation systems, cost-effective geothermal heat pumps, and methane/propane powered vehicles with Texas Energy Incentives.

The electric grid is inefficient including: turbines convert about 33% of fuel to electricity; transmission lines lose about 66%; with inefficiencies in dynamos, transformers, and other equipment yields about 6% of fuel energy to homes.

Home generators using natural gas would be considerably more efficient: fuel cells 60%+ or turbines with buried mufflers for noise mitigation 33%+.

Geothermal heat pumps reduce energy required for HVAC.

Methane/propane vehicles could be filled at home and emit less pollutants.

5. I agree that all alternatives should be explored, but with no government help. There is already enough market incentive to develop these technologies if they are truly energy efficient. For example, I have no problem with T. Boone Pickens drilling for all the natural gas in the state of Texas, he just should not get any of our money to do it.

6. State hospitals that serve people with mental illness have reduced the number of available beds, yet the need for services is increasing. How do you propose that Texas provide for the care of those with severe mental illness?

Allow non-violent criminals to remain at home with an ankle tracking system to monitor their location at all times then use the money saved to help persons with mental illness.

6. OK, but I also believe if we reduced the tax burden, local charities would be better able to take care of these folks. Americans, especially Texans are a giving people, but when our tax burden is so high, we just can’t do everything we would like to do locally.

7. What other issues do you believe will be most pressing in the next session of the Texas Legislature, and what is your position on these issues?

Persuade the Federal Government to return the offshore land that belongs to Texas from 10 to 200 miles from shore. Offshore leasing is the second largest source of "Federal Revenue" after income taxes which I learned working as a consultant for the Minerals Management Service.

Some information from the following web addresses is applicable to the offshore income question:

http://www.mms.gov/aboutmms/OCSLA/ocslahistory.htm

http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/visual1.pdf

This change can be effected cooperating with other states or the courts.

Replace property taxes with higher sales taxes.

Bring pressure on Texas State Agencies to hire Texas based businesses starting with replacing Pearson for student end-of-course evaluation testing.

7. I like the idea of taking revenue back from the Feds. It is always better to keep the money closer to the source. I would also eliminate property taxes, but would not increase the sales tax. Government must get smaller.

Marines are a Band of Brothers

2010-02-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Recently, Congressman Jeb Hensarling personally endorsed Van Taylor for Texas House at a reception for some of Van's supporters including me. One of Van's friends from his time in the Marine Corps was also present. He was staying at Van's home for a final visit with Van's family prior to being deployed to Afghanistan.

Toward the end of the reception, this Marine and I were able to visit for a while. He and Van went through Infantry Officer Course, Sniper Officer Course, and Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course before serving in First Marine Regiment as platoon commanders together. He stated that he and Van became close friends even though there are some differences.

Van's friend explained that he is a Mustang (served as enlisted Marine then was commissioned) whereas Van was a college graduate. Also Van's friend is from New York City whereas Van is a lifelong Texan and he is older than Van since he spent time working up to sergeant in addition to getting his college degree whereas Van was graduated from Harvard after only 3 years. Regardless of their differences, Van and the Marine became close friends, and he would like to come to Texas when he retires from the Marine Corps to a great extent because of Van's influence.

While serving together in the Marine Corps, they recognized that they could depend on each other, share a common love for the USA, and care about people. Not surprisingly, those were some of the same attributes that Congressman Jeb Hensarling mentioned in his speech endorsing Van for State Representative. Congressman Hensarling also listed Van’s excellent conservative endorsements: Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Young Conservatives of Texas, and the Texas Alliance for Life. Van is also A rated with the NRA and Tea Approved by the North Texas Tea Party -- i.e Van is the true conservative in this race.

This Friday (February 26th) is the last day to vote early and next Tuesday March 2, 2010 is primary election day. If you have not voted yet then please accomplish that so your preferences will count. Also, please vote for Van who has waged a positive campaign of explaining his plans for improving Texas, reducing taxes, and looking out for our interests as he has done while serving us in the past.

.

USA Education Results

2010-01-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

The table below was assembled from the following sources:
http://www.nces.ed.gov/ _____ http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ _____ http://www.act.org/
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/act-sat-concordance-tables.pdf
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/cbs-2009-Table-3_Mean-SAT-CR-MATH-and-Writing-Scores-by-State.pdf

It is obvious from this table that spending more money with the current approaches does not yield better results.

For example: 3 of the biggest spenders have some of the lowest graduation rates / College Readiness Results: i.e. New York $13k - 67.4%, Alaska $12k - 66.5%, & Washington D.C. $11k - 65.4%; while, 6 States spending close to or below the National Average have over 80% graduation rates with relatively high College Readiness Results: i.e. Iowa $10k - 86.9%, Minnesota $9.5k - 86.2%, South Dakota $10k - 84.5%, Missouri $9k - 81%, Idaho $8k - 80.5, & Arkansas $10k - 80.4%.

Furthermore, the highest graduation rate of 87.5% would not be acceptable for a high achiever in any other pursuit, the 73.4% national graduation rate shows that we are not building an educated Nation, and the 11 failing states with under 70% graduation rates are bringing everyone down even more.

Freedom of Education Choice does work for instance in Sweden http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-mccleskey_17edi.State.Edition1.270ad18.html where practically everyone is graduated from high school. Currently only Independent School Districts and Charter School receive any State financial support. My suggestion for providing Freedom of Education Choice http://texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/2009/09/pass-for-pay.html would provide parents financial resources to make informed choices for their children's education if they wish while limiting State interference to evaluating results.

___________________________________________________ _College Bound Preparation Testing
__________________ $'s per Student _________ 2005–06 ______ S _ ---------------------------------------
____________________ Adjusted for _____ Averaged Freshman _ A _ Graduates__ SAT Score or __ % Above or
State _____________ Cost of Living _____ Graduation Rate __ T _ % Tested __ACT Equivalent _ (Below) Avg
--------------- ----------- ____ ------------ __- _------- _----------- _ ---------
Vermont _________ 15,139 __________ 82.3 ______ X __ 64% _____ 1036 ________ +2%
Wyoming _________ 14,126 __________ 76.1 ______ - __ 80% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
New Jersey ______ 13,238 __________ 84.8 ______ X __ 76% _____ 1009 ________ (1%)
New York ________ 13,064 __________ 67.4 ______ X __ 85% ______ 987 ________ (3%)
Maine ___________ 12,985 __________ 76.3 ______ X __ 90% ______ 935 ________ (8%)
Rhode Island ____ 12,478 __________ 77.8 ______ X __ 66% ______ 994 ________ (2%)
Alaska __________ 12,090 __________ 66.5 ______ X __ 46% _____ 1036 ________ +2%
Connecticut _____ 11,885 __________ 80.9 ______ X __ 83% _____ 1022 ________ +1%
Montana _________ 11,660 __________ 81.9 ______ - __ 56% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Massachusetts ___ 11,545 __________ 79.5 ______ X __ 84% _____ 1040 ________ +2%
Delaware ________ 11,426 __________ 76.3 ______ X __ 71% ______ 993 ________ (2%)
Pennsylvania ____ 11,252 __________ 83.5 ______ X __ 71% ______ 994 ________ (2%)
Washington D.C. _ 11,193 __________ 65.4 ______ X __ 79% ______ 917 _______ (10%)
New Hampshire ___ 11,169 __________ 81.1 ______ X __ 75% _____ 1046 ________ (3%)
West Virginia ___ 11,150 __________ 76.9 ______ - __ 64% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
Nebraska ________ 11,023 __________ 87.0 ______ - __ 72% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
North Dakota ____ 10,885 __________ 82.1 ______ - __ 81% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Wisconsin _______ 10,529 __________ 87.5 ______ - __ 67% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Hawaii __________ 10,426 __________ 75.5 ______ X __ 58% ______ 981 ________ (3%)
South Dakota ____ 10,223 __________ 84.5 ______ - __ 77% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Kansas __________ 10,216 __________ 77.6 ______ - __ 74% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Ohio ____________ 10,119 __________ 79.2 ______ - __ 65% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
Maryland ________ 10,088 __________ 79.9 ______ X __ 69% _____ 1002 ________ (1%)
Indiana _________ 10,053 __________ 73.3 ______ X __ 63% _____ 1003 ________ (1%)
Iowa _____________ 9,977 __________ 86.9 ______ - __ 60% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
National Averages_ 9,963 __________ 73.4 ______ X __ --- _____ 1016 _________ 0%
Michigan _________ 9,809 __________ 72.2 ______ - _ 100% ______ 950 ________ (6%)
Louisiana ________ 9,787 __________ 59.5 ______ - __ 88% ______ 950 ________ (6%)
Arkansas _________ 9,756 __________ 80.4 ______ - __ 74% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
New Mexico _______ 9,525 __________ 67.3 ______ - __ 63% ______ 950 ________ (6%)
Minnesota ________ 9,476 __________ 86.2 ______ - __ 69% _____ 1070 ________ +5%
Oregon ___________ 9,460 __________ 73.0 ______ X __ 52% _____ 1048 ________ +3%
Missouri _________ 9,146 __________ 81.0 ______ - __ 69% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
South Carolina ___ 9,008 __________ 61.0 ______ X __ 67% ______ 982 ________ (3%)
Illinois _________ 8,829 __________ 79.7 ______ - __ 98% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
Alabama __________ 8,769 __________ 66.2 ______ - __ 77% ______ 950 ________ (6%)
Georgia __________ 8,754 __________ 62.4 ______ X __ 71% ______ 981 ________ (3%)
Virginia _________ 8,725 __________ 74.5 ______ X __ 68% _____ 1023 ________ +1%
Kentucky _________ 8,681 __________ 77.2 ______ - __ 72% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
Mississippi ______ 8,635 __________ 63.5 ______ - __ 92% ______ 910 _______ (10%)
Colorado _________ 8,514 __________ 75.5 ______ - _ 100% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
Florida __________ 8,437 __________ 63.6 ______ X __ 59% ______ 995 ________ (2%)
Oklahoma _________ 8,255 __________ 77.8 ______ - __ 70% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
Idaho ____________ 8,034 __________ 80.5 ______ - __ 58% _____ 1030 ________ +1%
North Carolina ___ 7,835 __________ 71.8 ______ X __ 63% _____ 1006 ________ (1%)
Washington _______ 7,688 __________ 72.9 ______ X __ 53% _____ 1055 ________ +4%
Tennessee ________ 7,620 __________ 70.6 ______ - __ 88% ______ 990 ________ (3%)
California _______ 7,571 __________ 69.2 ______ X __ 49% _____ 1013 ________ (0%)
Texas ____________ 7,561 __________ 72.5 ______ X __ 51% ______ 992 ________ (2%)
Nevada ___________ 7,213 __________ 55.8 ______ X __ 42% _____ 1006 ________ (1%)
Arizona __________ 7,112 __________ 70.5 ______ X __ 26% _____ 1037 ________ +2%
Utah _____________ 5,964 __________ 78.6 ______ - __ 68% _____ 1030 ________ +1%

.

Education Choice Examples

2010-01-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/2009/09/pass-for-pay.html

The link above is my suggestion for implementing Texas School Choice.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7080790/German-homeschoolers-granted-political-asylum-in-US.html

Published: 12:46AM GMT 27 Jan 2010

German homeschoolers granted political asylum in US

A German couple who fled to America so they could homeschool their children have been granted political asylum by a US immigration judge.

The decision, announced Tuesday in Memphis, clears the way for Uwe Romeike, his wife and five children to stay in Tennessee, where they have been living since 2008. German state constitutions require children to attend public or private schools, and parents can face fines or prison time if they do not comply.

Mr Romeike, an evangelical Christian, said he believes the German curriculum is "against Christian values". Mike Donnelly, a lawyer with the Home School Legal Defence Association advocacy group, said he hoped the ruling will influence public opinion in German

www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-mccleskey_17edi.State.Edition1.270ad18.html

Clayton McCleskey: An education system more American than America's
04:18 PM CST on Friday, January 15, 2010

BÅSTAD, Sweden – While Texas is struggling to lift sagging standards in its public education system, Sweden's schools are rockin' and rollin'.

But Sweden's approach to education is culturally all-American. The Swedish model encourages competition and empowers individuals to take responsibility for their own education.

Ironically, in contrast to our sky-is-the-limit mentality, Swedish culture stresses lagom, which roughly translates as "just enough" or "moderation." The Swedes focus on the collective good and equality. Americans are ruggedly individualistic and savor competition.

However our one-size-fits-all public education system leaves students in Dallas with less choice and opportunity than their counterparts in Stockholm. That needs to change.

The Swedish model is built on two pillars of choice: a voucher system at both the primary and secondary levels and varied high school tracks.

Let's start with the voucher program. If a public school isn't meeting a student's needs, he or she can leave. Students have the option to switch to another public school or they can leave the public system altogether and opt for a private school, explained Fredric Skälstad, political adviser to the Swedish minister of education.

The government attaches money to each student, which then follows him wherever he goes. Students with special needs – such as those from non-Swedish-speaking backgrounds – receive extra money.

If a public school isn't up to snuff, students leave. And they take their money with them.

In an interview released by the Pacific Research Institute, Stockholm County governor and former education minister Per Unckel explained: "Choice is for everyone, whatever income you have. The right of the kid is to get a good education. If the public sector cannot offer it, he or she should have the right to go somewhere else."

Skälstad told me that when Sweden introduced the voucher system in the early '90s, it was controversial. But it's now widely popular, and the results have shown rising standards across the board.

The program has also helped desegregate schools in cities with large immigrant populations, such as Stockholm.

"It's a way for the high achievers to get out of the environment that is holding them back," Skälstad said.

"You can change your situation. You do not just go to a certain school because a bureaucrat drew a line on a map. This is a way for everyone to be able to make something out of themselves."

The second pillar of choice piggy-backs off the voucher system to allow high schoolers to choose from a smorgasbord of high school programs centered on three paths: college preparatory, vocational and a more remedial track.

So, Swedish students go to schools they like and are able to follow their interests and passions. A prime example of this is the Apelryd high school here in this small town on Sweden's southeastern coast. It's a private school specializing in music, fashion and design, sports and culinary arts. The facilities are top-notch and rival the best private schools in Dallas.

But the voucher system means that students here can attend such state-of-the-art private schools without having to pay tuition.

Cecilia Weidrup – the school's guidance counselor – raved about Apelryd, calling it a "very special place." She told me the teachers and students love it, a statement supported by the smiles on the faces of pupils and instructors alike.

Last fall, I visited a high school near the Arctic Circle that trains students to be pilots, and I was struck by how motivated students were. That's probably because they all chose to be there. In Sweden, it's like every high school is a magnet school, offering specialized programs to recruit students, since schools compete with each other.

The U.S. has the best higher education system in the world in great part because universities compete for survival. But when it comes to primary and secondary education, we have public schools run by slow-moving bureaucracies that face little competition. Our schools frequently fail to meet student needs, whether they want to go to college or become a mechanic.

Passionately egalitarian Sweden uses vouchers to ensure that all students have an opportunity to achieve. But in the U.S., we deny students control over their education and often lock them into under-performing schools where they are unable to follow their dreams.

That seems pretty un-American to me.

Some may question whether the Swedish model could work in the U.S. But Lance Izumi, senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, argued that such doubts are misguided. "There isn't anything that discounts the Swedish model as something the U.S. can't look at," he said.

After all, isn't it strange that Sweden has a more American education system than we do?

Clayton M. McCleskey is a Points staff writer based in Germany, where he is a Fulbright journalism scholar. His e-mail address is cmccleskey@dallasnews.com

Answers To Questions

2010-01-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

Why are you no longer scheduled to be on the March 2, 2010 ballot for Texas State Senator District 8?

The other person on the ballot hired some lawyers to protest my candidacy. Unfortunately, I did not withdraw from Precinct Chairman in writing within the time allowed which was earlier than the filing date. Therefore, I will be on the ballot unopposed for Precinct Chairman even though I had originally been removed from the ballot for that position.

1. Please describe the education and experience that qualify you for the position of member of the Texas Senate.

I am a member of McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, have been married to the same woman for 38 years, we have 3 children & 8 grandchildren, I served as an officer in the Marine Corps 1972-1976 with final rank of Captain, am an alumnus of Abilene Christian University and Price Waterhouse Big 4 CPA Firm, worked in Petroleum Industry / Management Consulting / Texas Public Education, served as a Republican Party Precinct Chairman & Publicity Director for the Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable, and have posted ideas weekly online with public feedback for over two years.

2. Texas ranks very low among states in percentage of persons with health insurance. What measures would you support for improving access to health care in Texas?

Texas Health Savings Accounts

Maintain database of IRS-qualified HSA expenses.

Enrollees establish HSA at insurance company or thrift.

Enrollees issued debit card.

Providers approve expenses for immediate payment on purchases of covered expense (insurance companies) or qualified expense for which there is adequate savings.

Public money issued as voucher which may be allocated as desired to either pay for insurance and/or be placed in the individual HSA account.

With this approach each individual will make the choice of how their money is spent based on their life situation.

3. How should Texas finance the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges?

User fees (tolls) collected via license plate numbers. * See Below

Should the gas tax be raised?

It should be eliminated in favor of a sales tax on vehicle fuel.

Should the gas tax be dedicated solely to road construction and maintenance?

If collected then yes.

Do you support increased construction of toll roads?

Yes, provided the tolls are only used for the road on which collected. *

* Also, the Texas law that requires parallel access roads for toll roads should be continued. This is a good law as it respects the poor, avoids coercion to pay the toll, and forces the toll road authority to maintain a high standard or lose business, unlike “Independent” School Districts.

4. Do you consider Texas’ current per-student public school spending to be adequate and equitable? If not, what measures would you support to increase funding of public school education?

Adequate Not Equitable

Parents should have freedom of choice for their children's education. Currently Texas only supports “Independent” School Districts and charter schools. Parents should be free to choose a non-public school alternative and receive the state money for educating their children after their children demonstrate competency for core subjects by:

Student passes computer-based semester exam for each required course at an
approved testing center.

Testing centers should be open at flexible times for students throughout the year with students being able to take any specific test for their semester grade level any time the testing center is open.

5. Texas is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the U.S. What changes would you support to Texas’ energy policies?

Encourage businesses to develop home electric generation systems, cost-effective geothermal heat pumps, and methane/propane powered vehicles with Texas Energy Incentives.

The electric grid is inefficient including: turbines convert about 33% of fuel to electricity; transmission lines lose about 66%; with inefficiencies in dynamos, transformers, and other equipment yields about 6% of fuel energy to homes.

Home generators using natural gas would be considerably more efficient: fuel cells 60%+ or turbines with buried mufflers for noise mitigation 33%+.

Geothermal heat pumps reduce energy required for HVAC.

Methane/propane vehicles could be filled at home and emit less pollutants.

6. State hospitals that serve people with mental illness have reduced the number of available beds, yet the need for services is increasing. How do you propose that Texas provide for the care of those with severe mental illness?

Allow non-violent criminals to remain at home with an ankle tracking system to monitor their location at all times then use the money saved to help persons with mental illness.

7. What other issues do you believe will be most pressing in the next session of the Texas Legislature, and what is your position on these issues?

Persuade the Federal Government to return the offshore land that belongs to Texas from 10 to 200 miles from shore. Offshore leasing is the second largest source of "Federal Revenue" after income taxes which I learned working as a consultant for the Minerals Management Service.

Some information from the following web addresses is applicable to the offshore income question:

http://www.mms.gov/aboutmms/OCSLA/ocslahistory.htm

http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/visual1.pdf

This change can be effected cooperating with other states or the courts.

Replace property taxes with higher sales taxes.

Bring pressure on Texas State Agencies to hire Texas based businesses starting with replacing Pearson for student end-of-course evaluation testing.

Smart Grid Scam

2010-01-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

Mr. Hall,

I must tell you that I did not see where you were going with your articles about methane/natural gas. I finally understood that there is huge energy gain if we transport natural gas to homes and generate electricity at a home instead of using centralized power plants and transmitting electricity. I did not realize the power loss in the lines was so large.

Once I knew there are unrealized savings in the power distribution scheme, I wondered why General Electric was pushing a "Smart Grid." GE must know the savings they can get by optimizing the current system are puny. Why would the power companies go along with such a puny plan, I wondered. So I looked closely and discovered that the Smart Grid is a scheme meant to extract more money from us, not to make improvements in the power grid.

What I discovered is that the Smart Grid will allow power companies to turn off some of our appliances when they want. They will be able to turn off the heat to electric clothes dryers, to turn off water heaters, and to turn off our stoves and ovens if they are electric. But we will have to buy new "Smart Appliances" that the power companies can control. So GE will sell us more appliances! And the power companies plan to increase our electric rates unless we buy the Smart Appliances.

Instead of maintaining or improving the electric grid to meet demand, the power companies plan to cut our power. Instead of cutting all the power and leaving us in the dark, they will cut our appliance use. This is third world thinking. It's in the 3rd world where there are power outages. The lack of spending on infrastructure that has led to collapsing bridges is being extended to our power grid.

The facts have all been published. Clear explanations have not been provided in the press, but the details have been published. I only needed the context of your articles about methane to lead me to the critical analysis of Smart Grid and discover the Smart Grid is a scam.

I would not have looked closely at the Smart Grid if it were not for your articles about Methane. Thank you. You are doing us a real service with your provocative articles.

Texas Senate District 8 Announcement

2010-01-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

God willing, my name will be on the Republican Primary Ballot for the Texas Senate this election cycle, I will win the Primary, and then be voted in during the General Election.

The things I would like to accomplish serving in the Texas Senate include the following:
Meet publicly at least quarterly with groups of Constituents to receive input while continuing to publish weekly emails offering information, requesting input, and providing a forum.
Persuade the Federal Government to return the offshore land that belongs to Texas further out to 200 miles rather than the current 10 mile limit since offshore leasing is the second largest source of "Federal Revenue" after income taxes.
Work with other Texas Law Makers to eliminate property taxes.
Introduce legislation to improve health care for Texans starting with Public School Teachers.
Help Texas give back more control to Parents of their Children's Education through various reforms including the Texas Education Agency.
Bring pressure on Texas State Agencies to hire Texas based businesses.
Encourage Texas businesses to develop home electric generation systems, cost-effective geothermal heat pumps, and methane/propane powered vehicles with Texas Energy Incentives.

I am a member of McDermott Road Church of Christ in Plano, have been married to the same woman for 38 years, we have 3 children & 8 grandchildren, I served as an officer in the Marine Corps 1972-1976 with final rank of Captain, am an alumnus of Abilene Christian University and Price Waterhouse Big 4 CPA Firm, worked in Petroleum Industry / Management Consulting / Texas Public Education, and am a Republican Party Precinct Chairman & Publicity Director for the Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable.

There is additional information about me, my beliefs, and suggested approaches at http://www.dhall-planoisd.blogspot.com/ and http://www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/. Also, I am willing to correspond, meet, and speak based on your requests. Please let me know your thoughts.

David Lee Hall

Van Taylor - Texas House District 66

2009-12-29T09:17:00.000-08:00

Van Taylor is my choice for Texas House District 66. He will be on the Republican Primary Ballot, God willing he will serve this next term in the Texas House, and I know he will serve well. Van lives in Plano with his wife and 3 daughters, is a Marine like me, led a reconnaissance Platoon in Iraq (which is one of the tougher combat assignments), cares about people, is working to increase the employment opportunities in Plano as part of his business efforts, and plans the same for his service as State Representative.

You can reach Van at Van Taylor . He wants to address your concerns. Therefore, please let him know your thoughts.

I look forward to hearing more from Van about things he believes Texas State Government should do to improve life for Texans, the DFW area, and Plano.

Boundary Change Effects

2009-12-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

The paragraph below is from School Choice Reasons which prompted various feedback including the string following:

According to http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121709dnplboundaries.414ffdb.html the Plano ISD Board made a unanimous decision on school boundary changes in a series of closed door meetings that were not open to the public but had less than a quorum present. Several years ago, the Texas Attorney General's Staff taught a course for Economic Development Board Members in which I was a student. At that training session I asked specifically about holding closed meetings with less than a quorum in each meeting to discuss difficult issues. The strong response to my question was that this is illegal because it has the cumulative effect of a quorum; however, the Dallas Morning News stated that what was done is within the letter of the law; therefore, it is possible at that training session there was some misunderstanding, miscommunication, or the law may have changed due to court rulings. This type of thing is why we need School Choice.

About the quorum, they may have had a proxy from those that were not
present.

The issue is that any Board Meeting(s) to discuss Plano ISD issues that has a quorum present must be open to the public including with sufficient public notice. However, if a quorum is not present for a meeting then it does not have to be public.

According to http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121709dnplboundaries.414ffdb.html there was a series of private meetings without a quorum present to discuss the Boundary Issues.

My understanding based on the course I attended presented by the Texas Attorney General is that this has the same effect as a single meeting with a quorum; therefore, those meetings should have been open to the public. I don't plan to pursue this any further, because there is no apparent benefit, but anyone affected has the right to bring this issue to the attention of the Texas Attorney General.

I see your point. I have no issue with the changes, however I can see this process being a problem if the issue was more serious. Thank you for shining attention to this matter.-

For some people these changes were a major issue. Ask any Plano Realtor, they will tell you that school boundaries affect property values, and for people with children in Plano ISD that suffer the changes this issue is very serious. This type of thing is why we need School Choice.

School Choice Reasons

2009-12-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

According to http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/121709dnplboundaries.414ffdb.html the Plano ISD Board made a unanimous decision on school boundary changes in a series of closed door meetings that were not open to the public but had less than a quorum present. Several years ago, the Texas Attorney General's Staff taught a course for Economic Development Board Members in which I was a student. At that training session I asked specifically about holding closed meetings with less than a quorum in each meeting to discuss difficult issues. The strong response to my question was that this is illegal because it has the cumulative effect of a quorum; however, the Dallas Morning News stated that what was done is within the letter of the law; therefore, it is possible at that training session there was some misunderstanding, miscommunication, or the law may have changed due to court rulings. This type of thing is why we need School Choice.

Below are other notes about Plano ISD with my reaction inserted below each:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robert Canright recanright@gmail.com
Date: Dec 8,
2009 10:27 PM
Subject: 5th circuit court
To: David Lee Hall dhall.texas@gmail.com

David,

Because you are interested in education I thought you'd find this story of some interest.
I called my daughter in Lubbock during the Big 12 Championship to talk football and she asked me what was going on in Plano. She said many people were coming to her and saying things like, "Lauren, I'm so sorry to hear that the Plano schools are anti-Christian. It must have been horrible being a Christian and going to school in Plano." She asked me why kids from all over Texas suddenly think Plano schools persecute Christians.

I googled around a bit and found this article:
http://www.wfaa.com/home/Court-sides-with-district-in-Plano-candy-cane-suit-78395167.html
"Court sides with district in Plano candy cane suit"
by ASSOCIATED PRESS - Posted on December 3, 2009

You'll remember that years ago the Plano ISD took candy from children at Christmas because it was deemed to be Christian candy. There were also pencils confiscated that had this message: "Jesus is the reason for the season". So now the Plano ISD has won its case in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but lost its reputation around the state of Texas.

Instead of having a school district respected around the state for academic excellence, we are now perceived as persecuting Christians. This is a perfect example of how one can lose by winning. The PISD won in court, but has lost in public opinion.

I think the PISD Board of Trustees should never had let things get so out of hand. What do you think?

Robert

This is another example of why there should be school choice. Most people would not want our tax dollars spent on these frivilous lawsuits. However, because there is no school choice then we are saddled with needless expenditures like the example above.

David:

Some people have suggested that you may have data sources to which you can provide links where I might secure valid statistics on the percentage of children of K-12 age in Plano that are home-schooled. I would sure appreciate receiving any links you might have.

Thanks,

Anyone who knows the information requested above please let me know. PISD has information on the number of students that have withdrawn to homeschool; however, you will have to complete a freedom of information request to obtain that information; and furthermore, if someone never enrolls then they will obviously not be counted. Another related issue is that a big part of the discrepency between the TEA dropout numbers and the actual numbers are homeschooled students; however, many or probably most of those students are simply dropouts that use homeschool as a way for them and PISD to avoid truancy court; therefore, I think the actual percentage of homeschooled students is not available from any source.

.

School District Results

2009-12-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Various responses were received to School District Despotism. The ones below summarize the concerns most often expressed. Please let me know your thoughts.

You mentioned " Plano ISD is the highest" in regards to the amount of money spent per student by school districts. What's the number? I did not see any statistics? Where can someone find these numbers?

The statistics for the costs of direct instruction are presented at http://texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/2009/04/robert-canright-endorsement.html. Robert Canright got this information from the Texas Education Agency website http://www.tea.state.tx.us/. There is information about graduation rates at http://planoblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/06/study-says-plano-isds-class-of.html.

David – I think you are advocating anarchy – with every person choosing to do what he or she wants and no one making any decisions for the “corporate body of people”. I have lived in a foreign country that required some of this individual decision making and believe me, it was not very effective nor efficient. Democracy is based on an educated an electorate that hopefully acts for the benefit of the country, state, school district, etc. Sometimes what is best for the individual is not best for the group.

Ex: a convict professes innocence but is convicted by a jury. Laws (passed by elected officials) require that he be restrained from mingling with the public. What is best for that individual (to go free) is probably not best for the community (assuming his guilt is valid).

If the current public school systems were effective then I would agree with you. However, the results speak for themselves. Below is a table showing the graduation rates for various entities.

Entity / Graduation Rate

USA / 69%

New Jersey / 82%
Texas / 65%
Nevada / 47%

http://planoblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/06/study-says-plano-isds-class-of.html

Plano / 78%

Allen / 95%

We already have language anarchy which is causing problems as follows:

We grant drivers' licenses to people who cannot communicate in English so those people cause major problems when there is an accident, are stopped for a traffic violation, or need directions.
We provide voting in foreign languages to people who cannot communicate in English which begs the question of how they got their USA citizenship.
We allow students to move to the next grade in school even though their English is not adequate for their grade level by providing them language assistance instead of English instruction. The people hurt the most by this approach are Hispanics and other minorities that have very high dropout rates. Whereas, Asians who insist on their young people learning English very well have the lowest dropout rate.

Allowing people to make educational choices is more like allowing people to purchase various types of apples. No government official (in the USA) specifies how many, what type, or where apples will be produced or purchased. But many types of apples are readily available here from numerous sources; whereas, in nations (which I have visited) where apples are controlled there are shortages, a lack of varieties, and high prices.

Furthermore, the technology I am proposing for testing students (Pass For Pay) has been used for many years on college entrance, academic achievement, and professional certification exams. Allowing families to make educational choices will have the same results as the freedom we enjoy in choosing apples. Our current educational system has the same effects as is experienced in nations that limit apple choices.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robert Canright recanright@gmail.com
Date: Dec 4, 2009 9:34 PM
Subject: Re: School Campus Choice
To: David Hall dhall.planoisd@gmail.com
The public schools have been an un-fixable mess for decades.
The Nation at Risk report came out in 1983 & the schools are still a mess.
We need freedom of choice in education.
Why do we have freedom of choice for killing babies in the womb but not freedom of choice in schools?
This is lunacy!
Robert
.

School District Despotism

2009-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

School District Despotism is exemplified by the current campus boundary changes being dictated by Plano ISD. Something as important as which campus a student will attend should not be left to school administrations, elected boards, or even registered voters. Parents should be allowed to select campuses for their children.

Furthermore, the amount of money spent per student by school districts (Plano ISD is the highest in this area) would be more effective if parents were allowed to make decisions on the entity (or entities) to provide their children's education. There are other Government Economic Despotism's that take our money, then decide how it will be spent, and often disallow other choices. There some things that are natural limited choices which are necessary, but when there are good options for allowing people to make their own choices, then people should be allowed to make their own choices with the money allocated.

Too often, natural limited choices eventually no longer make sense because of improved technologies, but the programs continue because of vested interests. Examples of this include: school districts, higher education, post office, health insurance, drug prescriptions, health providers, and communications (AT&T was broken up but regulations keep vestiges of this monopoly going). The coming emails will address some of these examples beginning with school districts.

One response to the information above is inserted below:

Hello David, I was just talking to a Plano mom who has a soon to be a junior high student. She told me that a parent can request their school of choice, although it can be difficult to get the school you choose for your child. They are in the middle of the boundary dispute.

My understanding is also that a parent can choose; however, there is a $50 fee, the student can be sent back if there is any discipline required, there is a one year UIL ineligibility (no participation on inter-school competition - e.g. sports, band, choir, debate, etc.), the school of choice does not increase size based on requests for enrollment, and siblings are not automatically allowed to enroll. Therefore, the choice is not exactly free, open, or welcome.

An obvious question is "what is wrong with those restrictions" and the answers are inserted below.

Fee - Requiring a fee makes changing schools out of the reach of lower income families.

Discipline - There is the potential for school leaders to incite discipline problems to remove students with low scores on the TAKS (standardized test used, I believe wrongly, to evaluate teachers, campuses, and districts).

UIL - University Interscholastic League rules prohibit students from participation in inter-school competitions for one year after transferring to prevent schools from recruiting talented students. This one year wait is onerous for students that only have a short time in school, want to enjoy participating, and risk losing the potential benefits of participation including possible scholarships which again impacts low income families the most.

Enlargement - Campuses people desire should be expanded, campuses people do not want to attend should be reduced in size, and campuses that do not serve well should be either shut down, outsourced, and ceded to a different district.

Siblings - Not allowing an entire family to attend the same campus is a burden which again impacts low income students the most.

Civil War - United States of America

2009-11-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

Some affirmation plus numerous comments were made concerning certain information in Corruption - United States of America including the following:

David,

Thanks for the updates. I find the entire issue both disconcerting and
alarming. For all those conspiracy theorists out there I would think it is a lot
easier to control and amass one government previously that were three of them.
The cultural difference too would be an issue. Canada has language
issues similar to us and unless you also demand a single unifying language, you
won't have a strong nation that is a melting pot, but a mixed salad of confusion
and problems further weakening a nation.

Thanks,

The fact is that NAFTA has been around for a while. NAFTA is a big step toward unification, but with the European Union approach, instead of a uniquely American approach. Also, it does not help the average American and many businesses are not able to move into Mexico or Canada from the USA.

Americans are reluctant to travel through Mexico because of well founded safety concerns. There are many Americans that would like to open businesses in Mexico, retire to Mexico, or vacation away from the main resorts. All of those things are problems for us. One Nation with Canada and Mexico as states would open opportunities for the people of all 3 Nations while giving the People of those Nations input on their National government.

I agree with you on the importance of good communications. Having a single language for the USA is important right now even without any merger. There are simple ways to move to one language.

I proposed one approach for moving to a single language for the USA while running for Plano ISD School Board http://dhall-planoisd.blogspot.com/2008/06/focus-on-english.html. Basically it is to require students lacking standard American (English) proficiency, regardless of background, to work on that alone before moving on to other subjects. Furthermore, we are doing students a disservice by not requiring them to learn English. This is one of the reasons for the high dropout rate. I'm not certain how we moved into the approach of not requiring English but it needs to be changed.

Additionally, there is no reason to provide voting in Spanish or any other language. We need to encourage everyone to learn English but especially our own citizens. Many other Nations require English as part of the basic curriculum so much more should we do the same.

The Civil War was decided mostly based on the larger population, greater
industrialization, and the superior Navy of the North rather than the "greater
unity, more adaptiveness, and superior technology" that you stated.

The 3 additional factors in the comment above have merit. Also, this comment does not mention "superior people" as one of the reasons for victory. So it confirms the main purpose of my list of factors to make the point that "inferior people" was not one of the reasons that Native Americans or the Southern Confederacy lost their wars.

Genetic Adam and Eve never met because genetic Eve lived 63,000 years prior
to genetic Adam (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/999030.stm) instead of being husband and wife as protrayed in the Bible.

According to the Bible, all men after the Flood are the descendants of Noah (thus he is "genetic Adam"), and Noah was born over 1,600 years after Eve, but Noah had 3 sons who married women from various backgrounds. Therefore, the Bible and Science agree that genetic Eve was born many years before genetic Adam (Noah). Although the timescales are different, the order is the same in that Noah lived much later than Eve, and the percentage time difference is in the same range. Finally, the point is that all people have a shared ancestry which is true according to the Bible and Science, and although there are some differences in people, there is no such thing as superior or inferior people.

I liked the comment that called you nuts because I thought your merger idea was nutty until you raised so many good points that I realized your idea is not nutty. Even though it seems far-fetched, its not as crazy as what Congress has done this last year or two.

I do now worry that American imperialists who like invading other countries might look at Mexico in a new light. It would be a lot easier to invade and conquer Mexico than Iran or Iraq. Mexico has oil and would be easier to exploit than Iraq.

I can imagine our imperialists wanting to invade Mexico as a humanitarian gesture. Let's be careful about making designs on Mexico.

Inviting Mexico and Canada to become States is neighborly, logical, and necessary.

Hi David,
Thanks once again for the opportunity to comment. US, Mexico, Canada unification is I think unrealistic. For starters I think it obvious that there are serious dysfunctional elements with the Mexican government, and the Canadian government would need to make a substantial shift away from socialism. Heck, the government even censors news media in Canada. I won't take time to go into all of the reasons I could think of for now, unification is certainly not a realistic idea.
I do not accept the fact that we are not controlling our borders as any justification for moving on this idea. That problem has a very simple fix and with a law that is already on the books. It is the Federal training certification that allows local, county, and state law enforcement personnel to arrest and detain suspect illegals for the Immigration Service to deal with. There are very few areas that participate in that program now and some that have dropped out. I do feel that with this one issue, local
participation could make a profound difference very quickly. ICE would be quickly overwhelmed and the problem would be brought into the light of day for all to see. This would also take away the excuse that local authorities use to avoid dealing with them unless they are serious felons.

All very good points. Although, the application of border control by local authorities is inherently inconsistent. Furthermore, the fact is that unification is moving forward right now without input from us or the citizens of Canada or Mexico. NAFTA is controlled by career government employees from all 3 Nations. Not fully integrating simply empowers the government instead of us.

Corruption - United States of America

2009-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

Affirmations and concerns about corruption on both sides of the borders have been raised about the proposal to invite Mexico and Canada to become states United States of America, Comments - United States of America, Follow-up - United States of America, and Concerns - United States of America including the following:

Although I am seeing this idea for the first time, I think it is a fascinating question--a good one for student debates and adult discussions. I would think that ultimately this really may come to pass. chances are, not in my lifetime.

Thank you!

David,

This is about the most hare-brained thing I have read in a very long time. Especially the following paragraph:

Mexico will change if it becomes part of the USA. Fair elections, rule of
law, and increased opportunities will work wonders as people accomplish
improvements. To see the difference, look at Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada that were all previously part of Mexico. Americans will move into Mexico (and Canada) in great numbers once there is the USA protection, laws, and opportunities which is also part of what changed those 7 states.

You must understand that the Americans who settled the Western US a hundred and fifty years ago were of a far different breed than the Americans of today. Those people tamed the west because they were as hard as the land itself, and brooked no opposition to their established ways, and sense of "manifest destiny". They felt superior in every way to the indigenous peoples they encountered, and subjugated them (and the land) with total ruthlessness. It took a brutality of mind and muscle unseen in today's Americans to accomplish what was done in the Western US back then.

It cannot, and will not be done by the soft, dependent people who call themselves Americans in the 21st century.You have also got to know that there is absolutely no political will amongst the American people to merge with our neighbors. Especially with Mexico. As a people, we are on the verge of losing all that we hold dear in America, through the rising tyranny in Washington DC.

If there's something worth talking about, it's how we're going to wrest control of our nation's government from the leftist agents who've taken it over.

best regards,

My ancestors were some of those people that settled what is now the western USA including Texas, but I also have at least one ancestor that was a Native American, and going back far enough we all have the same 2 ancestors (this is true whether you want Biblical or scientific proof). The advantages the settlers had 150 years ago were greater unity, more adaptiveness, and superior technology. The same generation that formed Texas, forced Sam Houston out of office when he opposed secession from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War against states that had greater unity, more adaptiveness, and superior technology. The USA Civil War resulted in almost half of all American combatant war deaths of all our wars combined and counting civilian deaths is still more costly than all of our other wars combined.

Every generation has its challenges, accomplishments, and mistakes. Historical views change over time, and even with changes there is no consensus, except that it is good to study history to gain perspective on the present. Each generation must do the best possible based on their current situation, knowledge, and technology. Our current situation is that we are not doing well at controlling our land borders with Mexico (1,952 miles) and Canada (5,525 miles); and there is significant trade with both Mexico and Canada that is hampered by the controls in place; therefore, there is agreement that the current system needs improvement.

Bringing Mexico and Canada under the USA umbrella is happening regardless of the wishes of the people of these 3 Nations due to our co-location in North America, dependence on each other, and long borders. Mexico's problems will increasingly spill over into the USA, Canada's immigration policies will increasingly affect the USA, and the USA will continue to attract immigrants from both Mexico and Canada. We should take control of our destiny, opportunities, and economies by merging rather than allowing career government employees in the 3 Nations to determine how this will happen.

The culture of corruption might be so deep in Mexico that it would take 200
years to perhaps make a difference in it. It might be corrupt till doomsday.
We cannot fix our own ghettos. We cannot fix Iraq or Afghanistan, so how can we imagine we can fix Mexico?
Wall Street is beyond the reach of American Law. Mexico will be beyond the Law too.

The situation for the residents of our ghettos are much better than in most other nations including the opportunities for improvement. Living in poverty is not desirable, but given a choice, I would pick poverty in the USA over any other Nation. I have traveled to every State in the USA as well as many locations outside of the USA so my views are based on some experience as well as information from other people and various sources. There are things being done to make improvements in the USA, and the situation now is much improved over the past, but there is much more we could do to make improvements which I believe will eventually happen.

There are no plans (that I know of) for us to inhabit Afghanistan. Having Americans in Texas caused Mexico to begin changing, starting with independence from Spain, and eventually resulting in the separation of Texas. Americans in Mexico with USA support this time will be even more change agents.

Wall Street has been corrupt since colonial times (part of the reason the British stayed there during the Revolution). Considerable capital moved to New York City from the other 12 States based on a tip to investors by Alexander Hamilton in George Washington's Administration which helped Wall Street become a strong financial center. However, its control of USA commerce, thought, and politics has been diminishing since the capitol was moved to Washington DC and that trend continues to this day.

Many of the things we want to improve (and complain about) in the USA work quite well compared to other nations. That is no reason to stop improving; our areas needing improvement are no reason to back off of our expansion; and expansion could help us improve.
.

Concerns - United States of America

2009-11-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Additional concerns have been raised about the proposal to invite Mexico and Canada to become states United States of America, Comments - United States of America, and Follow-up - United States of America including:

David, I really like you, but this idea is nuts!

The person who wrote the note immediately above and I met to discuss various concerns. Particularly, how people will be taught American language, laws, and approaches. The idea that we both agreed would work well is to pay retired Americans to move to various areas to work as teachers regardless of their career as long as they met certain basic criteria (this is also a good idea for the USA). Also, we agreed that it is better to integrate than to have problems that spill over into our Nation.

It would be dangerous to give Mexico that much control {95 congressional representatives - out of 435 seats - 22% of House}.

Why try to be "fair"?

We should not give representational seating to Mexico in the House.

Corruption is bad enough.

The house would be wildly corrupt with that much Mexican representation.

The proper term for representation is influence rather than control. Furthermore, there would only be 4 seats total for Mexico and Canada together in the Senate which will only be a total 8% change with 4% of that being for Mexico. Even the increased representation in the Senate could be offset if Texas broke into 5 states (as it has the option) giving it 8 additional Senators and this could also give Texas 4 additional House seats depending on how the lines are drawn. Finally, this is preferable to handing control over to bureaucrats, as is being done in the EU, and is the direction we are headed out of necessity.

Being "fair" is part of the "Golden Rule" that Christians are commanded to follow, most people agree is right, and Jesus is quoted as saying in Luke 6:31 (New International Version) "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

Mexico will change if it becomes part of the USA. Fair elections, rule of law, and increased opportunities will work wonders as people accomplish improvements. To see the difference, look at Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada that were all previously part of Mexico. Americans will move into Mexico (and Canada) in great numbers once there is the USA protection, laws, and opportunities which is also part of what changed those 7 states.

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Follow-up - United States of America

2009-10-31T11:02:00.000-07:00

Additional comments, questions, and concerns continue to come in about United States of America and Comments - United States of America including the following:

This topic of discussion has been very interesting and intriguing. However, one note to consider, especially to those to advocate economic integration, is that Mexicans will also be subjected to American labor laws. This would require American companies to increase salaries and cut profit. One of the key drivers of NAFTA is the cheaper labor in Mexico that has encouraged development in the region by American companies. Take the cheaper labor away, and American companies may relocate abroad, dismantling all potential economic gain. Furthermore, goods from Mexico would become more expensive and consumer demand in the United States and Canada would decline.

Many companies looking for lower labor costs have already left Mexico. This has caused economic problems along both sides of our southern border. This also pushes more people in Mexico to move north although most prefer to stay close to home, family, and friends. Labor costs in Canada are also lower than in the USA for comparable work. This fact is part of the reason so many Canadians have moved into the USA.

Mexico and Canada as well as the USA must improve productivity to stay competitive. Productivity increases come from well educated populations, with opportunities (and incentives) for advancement, and the freedom to think (and act) creatively. Having a larger United States of America will increase productivity.

Also, there will be great efficiencies realized when the land borders become shorter, everyone and everything can move longer distances without interruption, and infrastructure projects are on a larger scale. Investment money will flow into Mexico, Canada, and the USA like never before because of the increased share of the world market, protection of USA (including rule of law), and the prospects for advancement. Finally, there will eventually be an equalization of wages between the USA, Canada, and Mexico because of increasing mobility so it is better to have a higher value for that equalization.

I see the North America Union has been discussed before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Union
Some are against it http://www.stopthenorthamericanunion.com/ They are afraid our liberties will be diluted.
If Canada & Mexico simply become 2 more states, we are safer. But how many in the US House of Representatives will they get?

If the approach described in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Union is taken (similar to the EU) then our liberties will be further surrendered to bureaucrats without much benefit to the people of the USA, Canada, or Mexico. I am convinced the EU model is the way we are headed if something is not done to change the course being taken. There are good reasons to merge but not in the way we are heading.

Keeping the number of respresentatives at 435 (which I believe is best) then the numbers for the top 7 states will be: Mexico 95, California 38, Canada 30, Texas 27, New York 23, Florida 21, and Illinois 13.

On the electoral college to elect our President the numbers will be 2 more for each State to total 490 so the percentages for the top 7 States would be: Mexico 19%, California 8%, Canada 6%, Texas 6%, New York 5%, Florida 4%, and Illinois 3% for a total of 50%. The top 7 States now have 43% of the electoral college.
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Comments - United States of America

2009-10-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Selected responses to United States of America are inserted below with my comments following each comment:

Great idea! How do we broadcast the idea/concepts to gain popular support? I appreciate your creative thinking.
I wish we could discuss the proposal at a meeting with reflective thinkers. It is definitely a solution to a seemingly intractable problem.

All responses are appreciated but of course positive reinforcement is great. Forwarding emails related to this subject, requesting feedback, and discussing this with others will yield results. A live meeting is a great idea, after we discuss this online for a while, then we can work on a series of meetings.

David! I have delayed my response to your email since the thought of compromising our American lifestyle/values was so fundamentally alien to me. However, the futility of continuing our current policy regarding illegal immigrants, border safety and the drug problem, forces one to rethink prior judgments. While the idea of uniting the countries involved is now appealing to me, the process of standardizing the laws, language and all the other items that make up a culture is monumental. Remember, that the folks that would be making these decisions are the same folks who have created our current situation.

I am now convinced the drug problem is getting worse each year. Legalizing drugs would have an immediate increase in usage, but could be reversed over a period of years just as the program to alleviate the cigarette smoking problem has succeeded. My belief that uniting these three countries into one nation would be at first a major problem. But one that could eventually would be a significant enhancement for each
country.

Before any movement of this magnitude could be developed, we first must clean out our own house. Our Federal Governent is corrupt to the bone. The US Congress is a disgrace to every thinking American. Until we can restore some degree of integrity in our government, the idea of consolidating Mexico, America and Canada must be put on hold.

It just could be that the American people are now in the mood to listen to a well
thought program to change our way of "doing business".

I enjoy your emails! Please keep me on your list..

As you will see below, not everyone is as open to Unification, but the obvious solution will become more apparent with time. Also, corruption has been with us since the beginning of time, and the beginning of the USA, for instance Alexander Hamilton telling his New York City friends that he had convinced George Washington to pay the 13 States' war debts so they could buy those war bonds for pennies on the dollar. Furthermore, taking on expansions has never been at a good time, Alaska during the Civil War, Texas under the threat of war (Abraham Lincoln was very opposed to this expansion), and the Louisiana Purchase when there were many problems within the current territories not to mention how to assimilate the significant French population which is really still not complete.

Not till we fix our mess with our new administration. We would need to work with the metric. Why do you think they {Mexico & Canada} want to become like us?

I don't think they want to become like us anymore than Texas wants to become like any other State. However, economic, security, and efficiency issues are as important for our neighbors as they are for us. This would be an approach to improve all of those issues while improving their input on those same issues by allowing them representation in our National Government. For us, there will be greater opportunities for movement, growth, and improvement by extending our control over the territories with long shared borders with us. Currently, it is much easier for people, businesses, and goods to flow into the USA from Canada and Mexico than it is to go the other way; so this would eliminate that inequity; and this will bring many more opportunities for the People of all 3 Nations.

On the surface it sounds like a positive idea – The realization of such a plan would result in huge conflicts, and would in essence work toward the destruction of the US instead of the uplifting of the other countries.

The fact that Mexico & Canada share such long borders with us ties our destinies together. It is better to work together which will minimize conflicts. Also, there are already many conflicts that could be resolved with unification.

Is this some kind of joke? Is this serious (Canada a “state” with 10 provinces and 3 territories; and Mexico with all its corruption)?

My thought(s) is that each of these three nations would remain sovereign with its own borders and languages (Quebec), especially our U.S.

Canada has less population and a lower GDP than California. Mexico would come under USA law, enforcement, and requirements. What I don't want to see is something like the European Union where unelected bureaucrats completely control everything. We are moving toward unification in order to compete so my proposal is to make it happen in the best manner for all 3 Nations.

I don't think the idea is that "crazy", actually the logistics and getting everybody on board will be the greatest challenge.

Unification would certainly not be easy but nothing of value is easy.

Pretty interesting. & far too sensible to ever gain traction... i think the stuff in your "adjustments" paragraph alone would be enough to put the idea to rest for at least a century. throw in good old US bigotry and mexico is out. [we don't seem to mind canadians do we?] sidebar: there is plenty of evidence that NAFTA & CAFTA are really about securing corporate water rights, or more properly "ownership"; water being the next "oil". but that's just my bizarre take. thanks & good luck [please keep my thoughts anonymous] but would be glad to hear from you again anytime...

Most people from Mexico & Canada that want to be in the USA are already here. We are the ones that have trouble moving into Mexico or Canada. This limits the opportunities for people in all 3 Nations.

Not only do you completely fail to grasp the unique values our forefathers founded this country upon, but also show a total disregard for the national sovereignty, traditions and cultural values of our neighbors to the North and South.
There is no movement afoot in either country to have anything to do with us, much less lose their independent national sovereignty. Either that, or you are suggesting that the United States lose its unique identity and merge our values with those of our neighbors. The underlying assumption that nationalism is outdated and world citizenship is good is completely false.

I have been reading your emails for a while now, trying to decide where exactly you are coming from. Although you are not as blatantly wrong as the progressives and liberals, you are clearly infected with most of the false underlying beliefs they are. Please remove me from your mailing list.

Mexico & Canada both benefit greatly from trade with us, we provide employment in our territory for many of the citizens of both Nations, and we already provide protection for both Nations. Becoming part of the same nation is for mutual protection, economic gain, and increased efficiencies. The culture of Texas is very unique even with the huge number of immigrants from other parts of the USA and world. It is doubtful that will change in Texas, so I suspect that none of the 3 Nations would lose their character but instead it will enhance our cultures.

The Mexicans would love it, but Canada would never go for it. I doubt very many
Canadians would consider lowering themselves to becoming Americans.

Many Canadians become Americans every year simply because there are more opportunities in the USA and some just want a milder climate.

It would take 50 years to make this happen, and by then Canada may be out of
business anyway with their population drop.

The population of both Canada & Mexico would go up with unification because of USA citizens moving both North & South and back migration to homes because of increased opportunities.

I don’t think that nationalistic tendencies in {all 3 of} these countries would allow this kind of merger.

The definition of the USA is based on the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and subsequent (and preceding) laws. This structure works well to provide "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" within our States and Territories. Allowances for various differences have been incorporated, modified, or terminated as necessary in moving from 13 colonies to the current 50 States plus various territories so adding 2 more states is certainly feasible.

Are you suggesting allowing Canada and Mexico to become states ahead of
Washington DC and Puerto Rico?

Neither Washington D.C. nor Puerto Rico should be granted statehood.

I think that before we'll ever see a State called Mexico, the US and Mexico will need to further integrate in the other areas you elaborated on. For example, the European Union has been integrating for 50 years and still isn't one country with one leader, one foreign policy, one economy, or one currency. In fact, right now as we speak they're still debating an EU constitution and the position of the EU President.Canada may be a different story. That would be a much easier process, especially if Quebec were to leave Canada. However, seeing both of those countries as US states seem a long way off, especially now that the US is seeing a drastic decline in the economy and foreign policy dominance.

My thought is that we should not follow the EU approach, because it is not working well, and we already have a constitution that can accommodate 2 new states. Also, if you look at the numbers, Mexico has about the same GDP as California, Canada has an even lower GDP with less population than California.

Most Mexicans would be more than happy to begin speaking American (English) as well as adopting other approaches necessary for integration. The upper class would be the issue; however, if the offer is made with obvious advantages; then there will be big political problems for the upper class with not moving forward. Mexicans will be elated to be liberated without leaving their families, friends, and familiar settings behind.

Quebec is less inclined to merge. However, most of Quebec's territory and natural resources belong to Native American Nations that existed before there was a Quebec. The Native Americans will certainly have the right to join the USA separate from Quebec which is what has kept Quebec in Canada.

The time required to complete a merger is not clear but could go very quickly with motivated parties. The USA economy and foreign policy position would be improved by merging. There will be only one USA with one President, Senate, House, Supreme Court, Military, National Government, and People living in 52 states plus the territories. Also, this will require the National Government to step back from the intrusiveness that has been steadily growing since our beginning.

The opportunities for us are that we could move into Mexico and Canada for business, recreation, and retirement. Currently that is difficult for us which limits the economy of all 3 nations.

United States of America

2009-10-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

A good friend from outside the USA recently gave me a copy of "The WEALTH and POVERTY of NATIONS" by David S. Landes. It got me thinking about things we could do to improve our freedoms and security including physical, economic, and social. One approach for consideration is to invite Mexico and Canada to become states of the USA.

Our current borders with both Mexico and Canada are so long that it is not cost-effective to completely control them. The flow of people is into the USA from both the North and South, for obvious reasons, including some of the information in the table above (i.e. economic improvement migration). If Mexico and Canada were states then we Americans would be free to help develop the overall economy of North America instead of just within our current territory.

Obviously, there would have to be some adjustments to common standards for everyone including: laws (USA Constitution), language (American - formerly called English), measurement (Metric System), human / property / freedom rights (including transfer of oil & mineral rights to surface land owners), and infrastructure standards (e.g. electricity, water, transportation, building, safety). Mexico and Canada would each begin electing 2 senators plus representatives based on population. Naturalized (not native) citizenship should be granted to current citizens of Mexico and Canada then children born after unification would be native citizens.

This proposal is something that has been moving forward because of natural forces. The North America Free Trade Agreement is a bureaucratic, inefficient, and ineffective attempt to accomplish the economic goals while protecting the government employment of all 3 Nations. Better to begin making this happen with the full involvement of everyone affected by these trends in a more holistic, humane, and efficient manner.

Please let me know your thoughts.

David Lee Hall

dhall.texas@gmail.com

Responses to Answers for Dr. John Cooper

2009-10-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Selected responses to Dr. John Cooper - Candidate for US Congress - Texas Economic Development are inserted below with my comments under each.

Please remove me from your email list. I am a strong supporter of
Congressman Ralph Hall. No one can match his record. His district also
solidly supports him. Therefore, my suggestion is that if you truly want
to make a difference and be effective, get behind Congressman Hall’s campaign
for re-election. Thank you.

Is this for The Who's Next? Project? http://www.klif.com/Events/TheWhosNextProject/tabid/675/Default.aspx

It is apparent from the number of emails in support that Congressman Ralph Hall is well liked in his district; however, term limits are needed; and Ralph Hall has been in Congress continuously since 1980.

How about drilling off the coast of California and Florida. Louisiana
{and Texas} should not bear the burden while other states are
ignored. Oil spills are not that common. Certainly, I realize that
the beaches are not at all the same; however, there is oil down there and it
belongs to us without its having to be imported.

California and Florida would be more open to drilling if those states got all of the royalties from those operations which now goes to the Federal Government.

To me the most important issue is our dependence on foreign oil with the
related national security and economic threats that are a result of wealth
transfer to hostile nations. I do not feel that air pollution from automobiles
is a major crushing issue and automotive technology, efficiency and
emission control, have made dramatic strides. In order to reduce prices the
demand must fall. While conversion of a major portion of the transportation
segment to natural gas could have an impact, how practical is this, and at what
cost?

Various equivalent approaches should be made available for consumer choice then the market will make the decision on the best mix of approaches.

I think you are proposing the generation of energy as close as possible to the point of consumption, but I think that generating electricity at the point of consumption has several problems:
- Lack of efficiencies of scale. Loss of energy distributing the electricity is more than offset by the large scale production. I don't think this is true for wind and other small scale energy production points, but there are other reasons to have those types of production in spite of their inherent inefficiencies.
- Lack of controls. As much as none of us care for government, there is a
need when the consequences have effect on everyone.
- Reliability. Actually our electric grid is very reliable. 99% would mean 3 24 hour days per year without electricity. My experience at home, work, and church tell me that actual outages are probably about 10 minutes per year, which were probably all localized, so the actual reliability is quite high.
- Simplicity. Electricity is so easy to obtain and use that sometimes we
take it for granted like the air we breath. Just move into a house or apartment, call the electric company and poof, you are in business. Reverting back to inspections of generating equipment, testing, failover planning etc required to 'roll your own' would be a huge drain of people's time. People need to
work, shop, go to school, not twiddle around with home power plants.

I have also heard about efficiencies of larger scale. But it does not seem to be holding up in real life applications e.g. http://cleantechnica.com/2008/06/26/electricity-generation-efficiency-its-not-about-the-technology/.

In fact, there are inherent inefficiencies of larger scale. Please let me know if you have any corrections to the table below. I am open to changing what I believe to be true but need to see an analysis.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ---------------- Efficiency -----------------
. . . . . . . . Engine . . Generator . . Transmission . . Overall . . .
Plant . . . Turbine . . . . . . 33% . . . . . . . . 33% . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11% . . .
Home . . Fuel Cell . . . . . 66% . . . . . . . 100% . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66% . . .

The Soviet Union implemented a centralized approach for generating hot water believing that people should not worry with hot water heaters, centralized generation is more efficient, and giving people options is not appropriate. The legacy of that approach, which persists to this very day, is a chronic lack of hot water for most Russians. If possible, we are better off doing things for ourselves or at least making our own decisions about how things are provided at our homes unless there is an overriding community need like safety, health, or property rights infringement (e.g. noise, pollution, appearance).

Tour the World in Downtown Plano at the PLANO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL!

2009-09-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

WELCOME!

Come join us for the 5th Annual Plano International Festival

www.planointernationalfestival.org

Saturday, October 10, 2009

11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Haggard Park, downtown Plano

Free Admission and parking!

Enjoy ethnic food, multicultural music and dance performances, cultural displays, children's activities and much more! There's something for everyone! Want to learn more?

See photos, watch a video, and read about past events

Come tour the world in downtown Plano!
We’re proud to announce that the Plano International Festival has been awarded the Environmental Star of Excellence Award from the City of Plano for our 2008 program of green initiatives.

Learn More

Want to get involved?

We are actively looking for sponsors, participants and volunteers. Just visit the link above contact us at info@planointernationalfestival.org.

Dr. John Cooper - Candidate for US Congress - Texas Economic Development

2009-09-30T21:50:00.000-07:00

On 9/25/09, Dr. John Cooper <jcooper@johncooperuscongress.com> wrote:

David,

I think you are talking about alternative energy sources for which I will
support.

My first priority is to get our current energy prices down while seeking
alternative energy sources to meet our energy needs in the future.

I'm not familiar with Artificial Islands, send me some info. (Would
artificial island be like going off the coast Texas and building Islands to
build businesses and communities in the future?)

There is one thing that I want everyone to know is that whatever I support,
it must be Constitutional (supported by our Constitution).

John
http://www.johncooperuscongress.com/

*************************************************************

From: David Hall
Subject: Texas Economic Development
To: jcooper@johncooperuscongress.com

John,

Thank you for your note concerning Texas Economic Development. My energy proposals are for the efficient use of our existing resources. Specifically, our current electric grid is very inefficient and somewhat unreliable, burning coal or natural gas then transmitting it to homes. I propose continuing to deliver natural gas (including from coal and alternative energy sources) via the existing network then it can be efficiently converted to electricity where it is used.

Also, our existing gasoline powered vehicles can be easily converted to use natural gas. Then a compressor at each home can fill us up each evening and natural gas would also be available at existing gasoline dispensing facilities. This would be cleaner for our air, reduce our dependence on imported oil, and allow Texas to lead the way in Energy.

Texas should subsidize the design, development, and manufacturing infrastructure for Texas Economic Development including: Robotics, Methane (Natural Gas) Economy, Gas-Electric Vehicles, Superconductors, and Artificial Islands.

Texas has a 10 mile offshore domain instead of the 2 mile limit for other states (except Florida has a 10 mile limit in the Gulf), and I believe Texas should push for the full distance of the USA national limit, because we were given this as part of ceding parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma when Texas became a state. However, if extending our limit is not workable, we can still extend our limit by building islands, then the 10 miles will be from the new islands instead of the existing ones.

Every offshore platform is a potential island, first by growing sea life on expanded platforms, and also by capturing the silt that is so apparent in the Gulf from rivers' runoff from the Mississippi to the Rio Grand. I have not completely researched all of this, and I know there is much more to be determined, so I will write a complete note on Artificial Islands later.

David Lee Hall
.

Texas Economic Development

2009-09-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Texas should support businesses in the next waves of the world economy including:

Robotics War & Peace & Progress
Home natural gas (methane) electric generators Methane Adoption Comments, Answers, & Projections
Hybrid natural gas - electric vehicles Methane Fuel Cell
Energy Capture, Transformation, & Transmission Methane Availability / Generation
High temperature superconductors Big Investment Decision
Any other business that makes economic, environmental, and social sense http://texasascendant.blogspot.com/2009/09/industrialization-in-texas-italian.html.
Artificial Islands (future article in development)

Please let me know your thoughts.
.

Pass For Pay Selected Feedback

2009-09-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Representative feedback on Pass For Pay from a variety of viewpoints is inserted below without any comments from me.

We are 100% for the whole idea.

Our kids are grown but if they were still in school, we would be hopping up and down for joy if something like this was put into place. This is exactly what we need - what our kids need. We are 100% for the whole idea.

There are other less measurable things gained by the education system.

That makes the assumption that the book knowledge that a student gains is all that education tax dollars buy. For children that cannot fit into a regular school structure that would be a useful tool but it should be an exception. There are other less measurable things gained by the education system.
Even getting beat up by the school yard bully is an element of education that testing doesn't measure, just as an extreme example. A few others; children that get free meals that otherwise wouldn't, employment of teachers, janitors, principals, etc.
Most school districts are the largest employers in city, and it is a pay for work and value delivered system, not a welfare system. After wars end, some of the most effective money spent in putting a country back together is starting schools. It gives the children needed structure, frees their parents to work, gets them at least a meal a day.

Your idea is even better ...

From: Robert Canright Plano Parents

Date: Sep 16, 2009 10:07 PM

Subject: Re: Pass For Pay

I believe you have found a practical improvement to the school vouchers suggested by Milton Friedman. Here is a link to a WikiPedia article about Friedman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman

In summary, he received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. The volunteer army was one of his suggestions that has been good for our children (he helped get rid of the draft). School vouchers are another of his suggestions. He started the Milton Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice:
http://www.friedmanfoundation.org/

He raised good points and if we paid attention better our children would benefit.

Your idea is even better because it is related to results and would add home schooling as an option.

Robert Canright Plano Parents

Terrible.

Terrible. Paying a family for completing steps in primary education, which should be a general expectation of society, is a terrible practice. Being paid to learn is for individuals recruited into top-tier PhD programs; its presumed that their research will further world knowledge and possibly create advances in technology that will benefit industry and education.
My tax dollars are already mismanaged ($1mil+ budget shortfall in my town's school district); the last thing I want to do is, in effect, pay the 5th grader down the street
for going to school.

If we need to find uses for public funds, put the money into teacher salaries. That's if we have the funds to spend at all.

It's a bad idea.

Thanks for asking my opinion, even though I have not had an opinion {on your emails} in a long time. This is something that I don't have completely worked out in my mind but I do have some opinions that I have thought about.

First, I think the more the govt gives, the more control they have. The less they are involved in my child's education the better! It is not worth any money to me.

If a child has to pass an exam, what about mentally challenged or physically challenged children. Are they out? How will it be decided what level test they will take, especially home schooled children?

My son had a friend who never has passed the TAKS test and therefore never got a diploma. I think the testing idea is a miserable failure in his case. I also saw a friend's child not score well and was humiliated in front of the whole class for not passing to the next grade because of a test (TAKS).

One of my daughters has friends in college who fret over calling their parents because they dread the conversation about grades. These parents unknowingly have pushed the student to a point of them not wanting a relationship with the parent because of the pressure of grades.

How would parents of low scoring students treat these children? I watch some parents of children in public that are very mean and awful in the interaction with their children. If you attach a dollar amount to their child that is a recipe for trouble!

Where will these testing centers be and who will pay for them? Some students do not test well in an unfamiliar setting.

My idea: "It's a bad idea".

I think that you are on the right course here

I think that you are on the right course here but please don't lose sight of one big component. I would rephrase the way I present the proposal to:
"Parents should be paid [by] State and other public funds for the education of their children"

To me, this somehow infers that the State has money to pay out. It does not have any money of its own. It only has money that it has taken from someone, in this case for the purpose of giving it to someone else, and I would want to make sure that this reality is not forgotten. Granted, I think even the most ardent Libertarians can compromise on public school education to some degree. But, if you are married, have two children, and only make $30K per year total family income, you won't have the option of paying $8K a year to send your children to private school.
But, you do hit a point. Regardless, if we are going to publicly fund education, and we are a free society, then we should get to choose how and where that education takes place. Education is the one life path that can change lives. Government funding for food, shelter, clothing or the like can certainly make a difference day to day, and it can be argued that charity should not be the work of government, but education can change history.
Abraham Lincoln is very good example of that, and as a society we do not want, and cannot afford, to inhibit the opportunity for any child that has the talent and intellect, from getting the best possible education. This does however have to be done by choice, not by edict.

So, I agree with your premise, and I have proposed this in public meetings and with political party groups attended by government representatives. There are some that would support this.
A very simple concept. The state of Texas, spends say, $6,700.00 per year on average for each student and let the parents be responsible for the rest. After all, the "school" is not responsible for the children, the parents are.
The only detail to be debated is how the payments are to be disbursed to avoid fraud. Parents MUST carry full responsibility for seeing the payments are made to the "school". No pay, no play must be strictly adhered to, just as laws exist that require you to pay for any service you contract for with any company. Home schoolers would take the same exams to meet the same standards. This would be a competitive environment but it would likely raise the achievement levels on average across the entire state, or country for that matter. Parents may then begin to realize that more emphasis and time would be better spent on school work.
Yes, this would dramatically change the education system, but education would be the better for it. There would be more and smaller schools. Less consolidation and some chaos would ensue and I am sure that the concept of tenure would go right out the window. Teachers would have to compete for work, as the rest of us do, and would likely have to get better as a result. Gee, sorry about that, there are no guarantees in life. That makes it all better.
But, specialty programs would begin to develop a new crop of the best physicists, mathematicians, scientists, and chemists, such as this country has not seen in decades.

Want your child to play sports? Pay for it. I know Plano tried to do this and found much resistance but it was a great idea, and I speak from some experience. My wife and I have both coach for our local school system before we moved to Texas. We were lay coaches, not school staff. My wife was good enough that the school system actually found or created an "aide" position for her so she could coach above grades 7 and 8 without protests from the local Union. Parents actually went to the school board to get her the Junior Varsity position the Teacher Union prevented that. (Another stupid concept as the student athletes are the ones that suffer.) I digress.
My point of pay for play here, is that ANY coach, and ANY school, and most knowledgeable parents, will tell you or admit, that if your child has the potential to be a top tier athlete, they MUST go to a "Club" sports program. That is where the best athletes are, that is where the best coaches are, and that is where the college scouts are, with some exceptions of course. Boys sports are not dominated by club sports at the high school level to extent of girls sports, but they still are at the younger ages. Girls volleyball and softball are heavily influenced at the club level. Completely paid for by the parents. No $20M football stadiums either.
Schools should educate. Sports programs, which both of my children, and their parents, participated continually in, should be paid for, at least to some extent, by the parents, not the school budget. I do not consider most, band, theater, 4H, etc, totally separate from the school curriculum, and many expenses are already paid be parents whose children participate in these type programs.
But, parents would have the option of sending their children to facilities where those programs exist, and by default, they would become more independent from the "school" administration, and budget, through choice of participation. Or perhaps over time, facilities might demand more fees for participation to maintain facilities. It would better the participants because they must make an effort, choose to be there, and more would be expected.

Pass For Pay

2009-09-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Parents should be paid State and other public funds for the education of their children (which they may distribute as they wish), regardless of the delivery method, including public, private, online, home school, and/or some combination of methods. The only conditions prior to full payment to parents for completed semester of education should be:

(1) the student pass a computer-based semester exam at an approved testing center for each required course,

(2) the testing centers should be open at flexible times for students throughout the year with students being able to take any specific test any time the testing center is open, and

(3) semester course tests will be administered for the next semester only after all required courses' tests for the preceding semester are passed by the student.

Please let me know your thoughts.
.

Texas Health Savings

2009-09-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

There is concern that current health care legislative wrangling is precluding the Health Savings Account option. The article is inserted below and available online at www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18369. Texas should establish a Health Savings Account (HSA) program that would work as follows:

1. Texas establishes and maintains a database of IRS approved (qualified) HSA expenses.

2. Texans who enroll may establish their HSA at a insurance company, cooperative, bank, credit union, or self insurance program.

3. Texans who enroll will be issued a debit card through their provider.

4. Providers will approve expenses for immediate payment as long as the purchase is either a covered expense (only for insurance companies or cooperatives with no savings required) or qualified expense for which there is adequate savings.

5. Any public money will be issued as a voucher which may be allocated as desired to either pay for insurance and/or be placed in the individual HSA account.

With this approach each individual will make the choice of how their money is spent. Afterall, whether a person earns the money or the money is spent for their care, it is their money, so they should be able to decide how it is spent. This will allow everyone to make health care decisions based on their life situation.

David Lee Hall

National Center for Policy Analysis

Daily Policy Digest

Health Issues

August 26, 2009

HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS: REAL REFORM

They're not at the center of the great debate over what the president and his allies call the "reform" of American health care. Nor are they even at the periphery. But health savings accounts (HSAs) are still alive and growing. Not only that, they seem to be working as planned, says Investor's Business Daily (IBD).

This should be big news, but it's something you'll probably read only here. There are several reasons for that, says IBD:

One is that the number of Americans covered by HSAs and associated high-deductible health insurance policies is still small, though growing; it hit 8 million earlier this year, industry figures show, but that's still less than 5 percent of the insured non-elderly population.

Another reason is that the Republican Party, which put HSAs on the map when it controlled Congress, is now preoccupied with stopping the Democrats' health agenda rather than aggressively putting forth one of its own, so HSAs don't have a champion.

Finally, the Democrats never liked the high-deductible plans and the savings accounts that reward patients who make price-conscious decisions about their care; their bias is toward plans that cover just about everything with little or no co-payment.

In fact, the reform schemes pushed by Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress would almost surely mean the end of HSAs, says IBD. Even without well-funded government coverage to compete with private insurers, the proposed insurance "exchange" at the heart of the Democratic plans would require something similar, a top-of-the-line private plan, from its participants.

It would have no place for cheap, basic plans that -- like true insurance -- cover just the big costs and require policyholders to pay out-of-pocket for routine care and drugs. And if the exchange doesn't kill HSAs, Congress could do the job by axing the tax-deductibility of HSA contributions.

Source: Editorial, "HSAs: Real Reform," Investor's Business Daily, August 26, 2009.

For text:
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=504371

For more on Health Issues:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16

Celebrate Our World

2009-08-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

Dan Robertson - President, Collin County Association of REALTORS

Remarks at Celebrate Our World Reception - August 27, 2009 You Are Invited

Thank you all for inviting me. Diversity is a subject that has always been of great interest to me.

You see I grew up in the south and I have heard a lot of negative things about other races and cultures. I remember things that my Dad used to say, my grandfather too - and o’ boy what came out of my great grandmother’s mouth was, at times, terrible. I don’t like talking about the behavior of my family on this subject because they were good God-fearing people. In retrospect, they didn’t know any better. It was simply passed down to them from their parents.

I think things are getting better, although we still have a good ways to go. It was probably the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s that made me start thinking. I made the conscious decision not to pass this attitude on to my children. They didn’t hear it from me. And their kids are not hearing that awful talk from them.

I think I am going to write a book…. before the old timers are gone. The title will be “What Do You Remember Said” or something like that.

My background is selling residential real estate in Plano and surrounding areas. I got into the real estate business in 1985 after a 20-year career with an oil company. During the last 25 years as a real estate agent/broker I have helped a lot of people buy and sell houses in Plano and the surrounding area. I now teach agents how to succeed in the real estate business.

I am also working on a program in conjunction with the National Association of REALTORS® to bring Diversity Training to our local Real Estate Agents. My wife and I with other family members also operate a small residential Property Management Company called Park One Properties.

I have witnessed firsthand and, I like to think at least in a very small way, participated in the growth of Plano and surrounding areas helping people relocate.

In terms of diversity, I think I have worked with just about every group you can imagine to buy and sell houses…. the young, the old, the handicapped, the rich, the poor, the educated and uneducated. I think I have helped people of almost every race and culture relocate.

So here’s what have I learned.

First, I have learned that in many ways we are all basically alike. We all care about our families and one another. We all want to be accepted and loved. We all want to be respected and be good citizens.

Second, I have learned that in some ways we are all NOT alike. We can be different in our beliefs, our customs, our attitudes, our values, and our habits.

But here is the BIG thing I have learned.

Not only are there differences between cultures there are just as many differences of people within a culture. Even within a culture there can be differences in beliefs, customs, attitudes, etc.

So what does this mean to me and my work? It’s simple. It is important that we make the same effort to learn and understand other cultures just as we do our own.

According to some fairly recent statistics the cultural / race mix in Plano is about 70% White, 13% Asian, 11% Hispanic and 6% Black. By 2050 it is projected to be 50/50--white and non-white.

Now I am going to tell you something that I strongly believe.

“There is a huge need to encourage growth in cultural diversity in our city.”

How many of you agree? How many disagree? Do you think there are people NOT in this room that do not agree with this statement?

And here lies our challenge and our opportunity.

There are some that will say cultural diversity will decrease the economic value of our communities.

I strongly disagree!

And I disagree because I know we are a part of a “World Economy”. Just look at the tag on the shirt or blouse you are wearing, or the car you are driving or the computer you just bought. It is highly likely it was made in another country.

Yes, most of us agree that diversity is a humanitarian issue, but do we agree that it is an economic issue?

The “World Economy” concept alone tells me that there is a strong economic need for cultural diversity in our city. It has become clear to me that cultural diversity adds economic value and character to our city.

Again this is our challenge and our opportunity.

Folks the truth is we are all in the same boat and we need to be rowing together.

It is essential that we open our minds to better understand one another and our differences.

It is essential that we seek the truth about one another and not stoop to perpetuating stereotypes about our fellow man.

It is important for us to learn that when a person of a certain culture scratches his or her head it could be a sign of embarrassment. Yet in another culture, scratching one’s head means their head just itches.

Did you know that in some cultures looking down when speaking to a superior is a sign of respect, while in another culture it is a sign of weakness?

And the differences go on and on.

So what does all this have to do with housing in Plano? Everything!!! Again, we need cultural diversity in Plano in order for us to continue to grow and prosper. We need people of many cultures in our great city to feel welcome and wanted. We need people from all over the world to continue to relocate to Plano and we need to encourage it. It is the right thing to do and it is good for the economic health of our city.

This is my main message and I really feel like I am preaching to the choir…

Please indulge me in one last comment since real estate is a subject near and dear to me. It really has nothing to do with cultural diversity. It has everything to do with Real Estate and our city’s value.

It is important that we encourage all property owners and tenants in Plano keep their houses and yards in good repair.

Think about it. If a house and yard are not in good condition the value of the property goes down. Not only does the property value go down, but also the value of the neighbor’s house goes down. If your neighbor’s house and yard are not in good repair the entire neighborhood suffers. When house values go down so do taxes collected. When taxes collected goes down so do city services. And the downward spiral continues.

I ask for your help to get the word out as to the importance of keeping our city beautiful and in good repair, even though it is beginning to age. I use this forum to mention this simply because it is an opportunity to encourage you to raise the awareness of others. The older we get the more maintenance we need. And I am living testament to this. Our continued diligence will continue to enhance the value of our city, and attract people and businesses from all over the world to come here and live.

Bottom line…Plano is a great place to raise a family.

So that my story and my message. I am glad I was invited because I was not really aware of this group and the valuable work you do. It falls right into my belief that I have developed over the years from being on the streets selling real estate and growing up in tumultuous times.

Thank you so much for having me.

*******
Dan Robertson can be contacted through his web sites: www.realestatetrainingandtechnology.com / www.parkoneproperties.com
Or at: Dan@ParkOneProperties.com or 972-948-2860
.

You Are Invited

2009-08-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Plano International Festival Corp.
Contact: Linda Adler, VP, Publicity, PIFC
214-244-9560, Linda-adler@hotmail.com

EFFECTS OF CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS
FOCUS OF PANEL DISCUSSION AT UPCOMING RECEPTION
Hosted by Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable MCOR and

the Plano International Festival http://www.planointernationalfestival.org/
Thursday, August 27, 2009 6:00pm – 8:00pm
The Center for American and International Law, 5201 Democracy Drive, Plano 75024

[August 11, 2009; Plano, TX] In anticipation of the largest cultural festival in Plano, the Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable (MCOR) has partnered with the Plano International Festival to host MCOR’s third annual Celebrate Our World Reception on Thursday August 27, 2009, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., at the Center for American and International Law, 5201 Democracy Drive, Plano 75024. MCOR invites corporate leaders, government officials and community leadership to come together to celebrate Plano’s diversity as well as explore how leadership can work together to support community unity in Plano.

The reception includes a brief panel discussion on how changing demographics in Plano are affecting voting patterns, city planning and other important areas; a review of MCOR’s mission, recent successes and vision for the future; as well as an open forum where key leadership can gather and converse in an informal setting. The supporting sponsor is H-E-B, who for the last three years has supported Plano’s multicultural efforts. The MCOR reception was founded as a private event to precede the Plano International Festival.

The Plano International Festival was conceived by (MCOR) in 2005 to showcase and celebrate the many cultures represented by the people of Plano. It is designed to promote awareness of cultural diversity and facilitate communication between all cultural groups in the community. It also serves to advance Plano’s visibility and standing as an international city. The Plano International Festival is sponsored by the Plano International Festival Corporation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

MCOR’s mission is to partner with Plano City Council and the citizens of Plano to encourage understanding of and participation in the government process and the needs and desires of its diverse citizens.

Email Contact: info@PlanoInternationalFestival.org
Website: http://www.planointernationalfestival.org/

Electric Lines Underground

2009-08-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

A typical set of objections from last week's email Big Investment Decision is as follows:

After {hurricane} Ike there was a big push to go underground electric in Houston. It has pretty much died off due to one big problem - maintenance. Underground electrical is more reliable than above ground although a little more expensive, until it comes to resolving failures then reliability numbers fall off the chart because it takes so long to find and resolve underground electrical problems and it is so disruptive. The other problem that has an impact on reliability is visibility. Underground is truly out of sight, out of mind. Not many people mess with wires overhead because they know where they are. Underground is another matter. Every guy with a shovel or backhoe and every minor flood becomes a reliability risk that overhead wires don't have. Except for very high value applications, overhead electrical is still the way to go although not as aesthetically pleasing.

The reason underground lines are not better designed, built, and maintained is that current regulations www.puc.state.tx.us/rules/subrules/electric/25.192/25.192.doc base payments on all approved costs plus a profit margin:

Transmission cost of service. The transmission cost of service for each TSP shall be based on the expenses in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) expense accounts 560-573 (or accounts with similar contents or amounts functionalized to the transmission function) plus the depreciation, federal income tax, and other associated taxes, and the commission-allowed rate of return based on FERC plant accounts 350-359 (or accounts with similar contents or amounts functionalized to the transmission function), less accumulated depreciation and accumulated deferred federal income taxes, as applicable.

Since there is no competition, there is no incentive to minimize costs, and in fact there is an incentive to keep costs high since payments are based on "Transmission cost of service." The definitions of the accounts 350-359 and 560-573 are listed immediately below and at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/acct-matts/usofa.asp. However, I have not been able to find the reimbursement marginal rates for each of these categories (i.e. the mark-up on each cost).

3. Transmission Plant
350 Land and land rights. 351 [Reserved] 352 Structures and improvements. 353 Station equipment. 354 Towers and fixtures. 355 Poles and fixtures. 356 Overhead conductors and devices. 357 Underground conduit. 358 Underground conductors and devices. 359 Roads and trails. 359.1 Asset retirement costs for transmission plant.

560 Operation supervision and engineering. 561.1 Load dispatch—Reliability. 561.2 Load dispatch—Monitor and operate transmission system. 561.3 Load dispatch—Transmission service and scheduling. 561.4 Scheduling, system control and dispatch services. 561.5 Reliability planning and standards development. 561.6 Transmission service studies. 561.7 Generation interconnection studies. 561.8 Reliability planning and standards development services. 562 Station expenses (Major only). 563 Overhead line expense (Major only). 564 Underground line expenses (Major only). 565 Transmission of electricity by others (Major only). 566 Miscellaneous transmission expenses (Major only). 567 Rents. 567.1 Operation supplies and expenses (Nonmajor only).

Maintenance 568 Maintenance supervision and engineering (Major only). 569 Maintenance of structures (Major only). 569.1 Maintenance of computer hardware. 569.2 Maintenance of computer software. 569.3 Maintenance of communication equipment. 569.4 Maintenance of miscellaneous regional transmission plant. 570 Maintenance of station equipment (Major only). 571 Maintenance of overhead lines (Major only). 572 Maintenance of underground lines (Major only). 573 Maintenance of miscellaneous transmission plant (Major only).

It appears that the only solution is to provide customers alternatives like generating electricity from sunlight and/or natural gas at their residences. Then all parties in this will have incentives to keep costs low. These alternatives are coming, but regulators need to assure easy integration into the current grid, and planning needs to be accelerated for these coming technologies.
-

Big Investment Decision

2009-08-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

A recent article in the Daily Yonder (inserted below) about electric transmission line construction plans is very informative. This is an opportunity to bring many different interests together. The cost per mile to build these electric power lines with current technology using copper or aluminum cables is estimated to be somewhere between $2 million and $30 million per mile depending on various factors (including who is doing the estimating) which is significant at both ends of the range.

With the current technology, power lines cost less to build above ground with copper or aluminum cables; however, the same capacity can be built underground with superconductor cables for about 25% more per mile. This upfront cost difference for superconductor cables will come down as the number of miles goes up, the environmental impact will be significantly reduced, and the electricity delivered will increase substantially since there is no line loss with superconductors.

These issues are important to all of us since whatever approach is taken will eventually be part of our electric bills, taxes, and overall societal costs. Furthermore, electric transmission lines built underground are less likely to be interrupted, leave the land above ground for other uses, and improve aesthetics. Therefore, this significant infrastructure, which will last many decades due to the upfront costs, needs to be considered carefully before committing to a particular technology and existing electric transmission lines need to be evaluated for replacement.

David Lee Hall
325-660-9401
http://www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/

http://www.dailyyonder.com/power-line-frenzy-hits-rural-america/2009/06/29/2202

Power Line Frenzy Hits Rural America

BioFuels and Energy

06/29/2009

To get power from wind turbines to customers in the cities will require thousands of miles of new transmission lines. Wind is the easy part. Building the lines is tougher.

By Bill Bishop

Tens of thousands of miles of new transmission lines are being planned. They'll cross somebody's land.

My wife’s family has operated a ranch in West Texas for going on five generations, ever since an adventurous New Yorker sailed to Galveston in the 1870s, bought some sheep and settled, finally, west of the fort in San Angelo. The land isn’t pristine. It’s been grazed and sections have been punched by companies looking for oil and gas. But the ranch is an amazing piece of West Texas landscape.

The ranches are about to be criss-crossed by two high-voltage electric transmission lines to be built by a public power agency, the Lower Colorado River Authority. Our cousins aren’t happy. But there’s not a lot they can do except to try to steer the mammoth towers away from the ranch house and the motts of live oaks that thrive in the draws.

The LCRA lines near San Angelo are part of what some describe as a high-voltage “superhighway” being built across the country. There are tens of thousands of miles of new transmission lines planned or under construction, most traversing ranch and farm land. Some estimate that the country will spend up to $200 billion dollars building out a new electric grid. Most of that money will be spent in rural America, as new transmission lines are strung to connect the wind turbines on the Plains to the cities.

“The wind is the easy part, much easier than the transmission,” said Shelley Sahling-Zart, a vice president of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Electric System. Finding the billions needed for new transmission lines will be difficult. And many of the people standing in the way of this new “superhighway” of high tension lines and giant erector sets of pylons and steel will put up a fuss. Bureau of Land Management The SunZia transmission line will cut 460 miles across New Mexico and Arizona

They are already resisting. Last week, some 400 landowners in rural Central Texas showed up for a Saturday night meeting to protest a new transmission line that would require a 20-mile long, 160-foot wide trail to be clearcut through ranch land near the Lampasas River.

"This would be an ecological disaster,” said Lynn Eyberg, president of Save the Lampasas, a citizens group. “It would damage hunting and fishing in the area and seriously impact the livelihood of a lot of the landowners." The Eybergs (Lynn and Doug) have a ranch in Oakalla, Texas, and two of the three proposed routes will cut through their property. One route would cut close to the river. Another would "march one mile across the top of our property," Eyberg says.

The news is filled with these conflicts between landowners and those who are building the new transmission lines. Two hundred people in Livermore, California, turned out last month to protest a 600-mile transmission line that would run through the farms and vineyards of Alameda County. Similar protests have cropped up elsewhere in California and in New York.

The oldest story in the country is that rural America pays the largest price for producing the power used in the cities. But the massive investment in transmission lines now underway is immensely complicated. The construction of new lines and the lease payments they bring will benefit some rural residents, while others see it as unmitigated destruction.

Landowner is pitted again landowner, environmentalist against environmentalist and region against region:

• Millions of dollars in wind energy projects are being held up because there isn’t the transmission capacity to move the electricity into the cities. Ledyard King and Larry Bivins report in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that up to 300,000 megawatts of wind projects are on hold because of insufficient transmission capacity. "It's a huge problem for future development," said Steve Wegman, executive director of the South Dakota Wind Energy Association. "It's like sitting on 1 million bushels of corn and having no way to move it out of there other than a five-gallon bucket." Transmission capacity is the “glass ceiling for renewable energy development right now,” said one wind energy advocate.

• The argument for spending billions of dollars for new transmission lines comes from environmentalists who want to replace coal-fired power plants with wind power. They describe new electric lines as “green power superhighways.” Other environmentalists say this is a “green oxymoron,” that there is nothing more environmentally destructive than clear-cuts and power lines overlording plains, pastures and wilderness.

• Finally, there is regional disagreement over the need to build new transmission lines. Western states see a clear need for new lines. Eastern states aren’t so sure. Wavy...(just a figment) Powerlines cut across the High Plains of Colorado.

David Sassoon writes that Eastern states fear that spending billions on moving wind power from the West to the East will make the system less reliable and will forestall alternative energy development on their side of the Mississippi River. Eleven governors of states along the eastern seaboard wrote: "While we support the development of wind resources for the United States wherever they exist, this ratepayer funded revenue-guarantee for land-based wind and other generation sources in the Great Plains would have significant, negative consequences for our region."

State and federal authorities are working through the conflicts that the transmission-line boom is creating. In mid-June, federal and state officials in the West signed an agreement pledging to work together on protecting wildlife corridors used by migratory animals such as pronghorn, caribou, mule deer and elk.

"By making wildlife protection an integrated part of our clean energy effort, we will tap the West's renewable energy resources more quickly and in a more responsible way," Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar said. "This agreement will accelerate renewable energy projects and new transmission lines and the jobs those projects will create."

Meanwhile, Congress may give the federal government the power to override state decisions about transmission line routing. Last week a Senate committee passed legislation that “would give the federal government authority to override state objections to expanding electricity transmission lines,” according to a Reuters report. The energy bill passed by the House contains funding for new transmission lines.

The Pew Center for Climate Change calculates that if wind power is to provide 20% of the nation’s power by 2030, as much as $4 billion a year will have to be used to build new transmission lines, a 50% increase over what is currently spent. Adding these expenses to the cost of wind raises the price of this renewable resource by 15 percent.

Pew figures these new transmission lines cost between $2 and $4 million per mile. And until they’re built, the potential for wind energy will be stymied.

Microbe Hydrogen Production

2009-07-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

Numerous readers responded with input, ideas, and concerns to Methane Availability / Generation and the comment from a reader that hydrogen might also be generated by microbes. The reader that suggested hydrogen might also be generated by microbes evidently had a good insight http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=110648, http://www.microbialcellfactories.com/content/4/1/36, and many more. Therefore, with the current technologies, various fuels and/or fuel stocks (including hydrogen and methane) can be generated by microbes from combinations of air, water, waste, trash, compost, sunlight, and/or minimal electrical input.

Another reader asked:

"Why not stick with gasoline and diesel if Exxon and others are able to
make it renewable from algae?"

Internal combustion engines produce harmful compounds including carbon-monoxide, nitrogen compounds, and particulates. Lighter hydro-carbons like methane and propane as well as hydrogen produce much less of these pollutants in internal combustion engines. Furthermore, hydrogen and methane can be used in fuel cells which are much cleaner, quieter, and more efficient.

"Why go to methane as an intermediate solution rather than going directly
to hydrogen?"

Current technology does not provide an efficient method for transporting hydrogen. Methane on the other hand is currently routed to homes via pipelines (CNG - compressed natural gas) and further compressed for use in numerous fleet vehicles fuel tanks (LNG - liquid natural gas). Furthermore, there are vast supplies of methane, other fuels can be efficiently converted to methane (e.g. coal, oil, and oil shales) and methane can also be renewable via various methods.

However, multiple energy transportation approaches should be researched (e.g. electrical super conductors, hydrogen, methane, propane, butane, ethanol, gasoline, diesel) along with multiple energy sources, and efficiencies. Then the optimal approaches will be found which will probably be some combination of those along with something(s) no one expects.

Starbucks Coffee Company

2009-07-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

I recently received an email that I first saw 18 months ago about Starbucks written by a Marine. The email caught my eye because I served in the Marine Corps 1972-1976, and we like Starbucks, so there was a concern. As shown below, Starbucks appears to be a good corporate citizen of the USA, so we continue to be their customer.

Semper Fi!

David Lee Hall
http://www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Customer Relations <info@starbucks.com>
Date: Jan 28, 2008 2:04 PM
Subject: Response from Starbucks Coffee Company - Case # 5071414
To: David Hall <dhall.texas@gmail.com>

Hello David,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Starbucks regarding coffee donations to those serving in our armed forces.

You may have heard a rumor concerning Starbucks lack of military personnel support. This is not true. In 2004, we replied to an e-mail circulating on the internet that contained misinformation about the Company. Starbucks contacted its author, a Marine Sergeant, who subsequently sent an e-mail to his original distribution list correcting his mistake, the text of which is:

"Dear Readers,

Almost 5 months ago I sent an e-mail to you my faithful friends. I did a wrong thing that needs to be cleared up. I heard by word of mouth about how Starbucks said they didn't support the war and all. I was having enough of that kind of talk and didn't do my research properly like I should have. This is not true. Starbucks supports men and women in uniform. They have personally contacted me and I have been sent many copies of their company's policy on this issue. So I apologize for this quick and wrong letter that I sent out to you.

Now I ask that you all pass this email around to everyone you passed the last one to.

Thank you very much for understanding about this.

Howard C. Wright
Sgt USMC
1st Force Rcon Co
1st Plt PLT RTO

dated: August 17, 2004"

Starbucks, our customers, and our partners (employees) respect the efforts of the U.S. men and women who serve their country in the military. Starbucks and its partners (employees) have consistently demonstrated their support of military personnel in a number of ways.

A few examples of their generosity include:

· Each week Starbucks partners (employees) receive one free pound of coffee. On an individual, grass roots level, many partners (employees) in the U. S. have collected their free coffee and shipped thousands of pounds of Starbucks coffee overseas.
· Partners in our Atascadero, California store sent their personal weekly allotment of coffee to troops in Afghanistan so they would be able to enjoy a little taste of home.
· Our customer relations department in Seattle donated hundreds of pounds of coffee to the sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier.

On Sept. 21, 2006, Starbucks was honored with the Freedom Award during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Freedom Award, the highest award bestowed by the Department of Defense in recognition of an employer, was created in 1996 by President Bill Clinton and Secretary of Defense William Perry to publicly recognize American employers who provide exceptional support to their employees who voluntarily serve the nation in the National Guard and Reserve.

Starbucks employs approximately 90 U.S. partners (employees) who serve in the military and are currently on active duty. In support of their efforts, Starbucks provides a supplement to make up the difference between their military pay and their pay level at Starbucks before they went on leave. The partner (employee) can continue health coverage, and family health coverage, if enrolled, for up to 18 months. Partners (employees) are guaranteed a position upon return from active duty, except in rare circumstances, as permitted under the Federal Military Leave Laws; additionally, tenure at Starbucks is also kept while on active duty.

To enhance our U.S. partners' (employees) efforts in support of U.S. military troops, Starbucks is honored to extend our relationship with the American Red Cross in order to provide more coffee to relief efforts during times of conflict. On multiple occasions, Starbucks has donated a total of more than 100,000 lbs of coffee to the American Red Cross for distribution to those troops serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

Additionally confirmation that this is an inaccurate rumor can be found at:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Nov2004/n11092004_2004110908.html
http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/starbucks2.htm
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/starbucks-iraq.htm
http://www.amillionthanks.org/
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBUrbanMyths.shtml#starbucks
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/rumor.asp

Thank you again for writing. We ask you to accept our deepest appreciation to servicemen and women and we hope that you will remain a valued Starbucks customer. If you have any additional feedback or would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact us at (800) 235-2883 or email us at info@starbucks.com.

Sincerely,

Shawn H.
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company

If you would like to share your thoughts about your experience with Starbucks Customer Contact Center, please click on the link below to participate in a short survey. Your comments will be used to ensure that any future experiences with Starbucks Customer Contact Center meet your highest expectations.

http://www.starbuckscontactcenter.com/star_ccc_index.asp?group=CR&template=CR051

----Original Message----
From: David Hall
Sent: Jan 28 2008 8:22AM
To: Customer Relations
Subject: corporate social responsibility

Message:
My family and I frequent Starbucks at home and when we travel. We like your products, services, and locations. However, is the email below correct?

Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for their support of their business, but Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee. So as not to offend Starbucks, maybe we should not support them by buying any of their products! I feel we should get this out in the open. I know this war might not be very popular with some folks, but that doesn't mean we don't support the boys on the ground fighting street -to-street and house-to-house. If you feel the same as I do then pass this along, or you can discard it and no one will never know. Thanks very much for your support. I know you'll all be there again when I deploy once more. Semper Fidelis. Sgt. Howard C. Wright 1st Force Recon Co 1st Plt PLT Also, don't forget that when the Twin Trade Towers were hit the fire fighters and rescue workers went to Starbucks because it was close by for water for the survivors and workers and Starbucks CHARGED them!
=================================
Powered by Onyx Software.
Please do not remove the following text as it helps us to serve you better.
[[--6442878.6804993--]]

Methane Availability / Generation

2009-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Comments were made that the equations from last week Propane Fuel Analysis do not include the fact that burning any fuel in air will generate compounds of nitrogen combined with oxygen. The person who sent me the equations was only concerned about the carbon footprint of different fuels. Yes, burning anything in air (which is mostly nitrogen) will produce some nitrogen compounds; however, the heavier fuels (e.g. butane, gasoline, and diesel) require greater pressure and heat to ignite explosively; which then generates more carbon-monoxide, nitrogen compounds, and particulates as well as a higher percentage of carbon-dioxide. Thus the need for fuel cell development (in addition to hydrogen, methane is an option), but there are advantages to methane and propane even in internal combustion engines, which prompted the comment below:

Methane/natural gas is a nice fuel, but we use MORE of it that we could possibly
sustain. It may be fine for a year or two, but in ten years, it will be an
extremely high IMPORT percentage product, and ten years after that, the world
will have used nearly all of it up.

Methane (natural gas) produced from natural reservoirs is the least costly approach. However, there are many other sources including: landfills, sewer processing, animal waste disposal, coal gasification (either in the ground or at a facility), oil shale, ocean bottom, enhanced petroleum recovery, or by processing vegetation. Furthermore, the methane from ungulates (e.g. cattle) is actually produced by microbes; therefore, electric power could be converted efficiently to light used to grow microscopic algae; then other microbes could be utilized to generate methane. Many innovative approaches will be developed to generate methane as it becomes more valuable (see press release below).

Another comment sent is that methane must be compressed for pipeline transportation; and this is true; however, the energy required is insignificant compared to the energy in the methane transported, which does not diminish significantly for very long distances. Whereas, electricity loses 66% of its energy just for transportation. However, there is an option to significantly improve electricity transmission efficiency, thus reduce fuel requirements, and simultaneously save scenic places. This is to use "high temperature" (still lower than freezing) superconductors http://www.htspeerreview.com/2007/agenda.html instead of conventional materials like copper. This requires low temperatures (although not supercooled), protection from the elements (underground which preserves scenery), and is already implemented in certain downtown areas.

ExxonMobil to Launch Biofuels Program
Focus is on Development of Advanced Biofuels from Photosynthetic Algae
Alliance Developed with Leading Genomics Innovator, Synthetic Genomics Inc.

Press Release
Source: Exxon Mobil Corporation
On Tuesday July 14, 2009, 6:00 am EDT

Exxon mobil corp.
IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM - News) announced today an alliance with leading biotech company, Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI), to research and develop next generation biofuels from photosynthetic algae.

“This investment comes after several years of planning and study and is an important addition to ExxonMobil’s ongoing efforts to advance breakthrough technologies to help meet the world’s energy challenges,” said Dr. Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.

“Meeting the world’s growing energy demands will require a multitude of technologies and energy sources. We believe that biofuel produced by algae could be a meaningful part of the solution in the future if our efforts result in an economically viable, low net carbon emission transportation fuel.”

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company has entered into a research and development alliance with SGI, a privately held company focused on developing genomic-driven solutions and founded by genome pioneer, Dr. J. Craig Venter, to develop advanced biofuels from photosynthetic algae that are compatible with today’s gasoline and diesel fuels.

Under the program, if research and development milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million, which includes $300 million in internal costs and potentially more than $300 million to SGI.

“While significant work and years of research and development still must be completed, if successful, algae-based fuels could help meet the world’s growing demand for transportation fuel while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Michael Dolan, senior vice president of ExxonMobil. “Our new algae biofuels program complements ExxonMobil’s ongoing efforts to reduce emissions in our operations and by consumers of our products, through both efficiency improvements and technology breakthroughs.”

ExxonMobil has invested more than $1.5 billion over the past five years on activities that improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives include technologies to improve automobile efficiency, such as tire liners that keep tires inflated longer, advanced fuel-economy engine oil and light-weight automobile plastics. As well, the company is researching enhanced engine efficiency, has developed an improved lithium battery separator film for hybrid electric cars, and sponsors breakthrough research into ways to improve solar energy, biofuels and carbon capture and storage.

“The real challenge to creating a viable next generation biofuel is the ability to produce it in large volumes which will require significant advances in both science and engineering,” said Venter, CEO of SGI. "The alliance between SGI and ExxonMobil will bring together the complementary capabilities and expertise of both companies to develop innovative solutions that could lead to the large scale production of biofuel from algae.”

ExxonMobil’s engineering and scientific expertise will be utilized throughout the program, from the development of systems to increase the scale of algae production through the manufacturing of finished fuels.

Added Jacobs: “After considerable study, we have determined that the potential advantages and benefits of biofuel from algae could be significant. Among other advantages, readily available sunlight and carbon dioxide used to grow the photosynthetic algae could provide greenhouse gas mitigation benefits. Growing algae does not rely on fresh water and arable land otherwise used for food production. And lastly, algae have the potential to produce large volumes of oils that can be processed in existing refineries to manufacture fuels that are compatible with existing transportation technology and infrastructure.”

About ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of resources, is the largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products, and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world. For more information, visit http://www.exxonmobil.com/.

About Synthetic Genomics Inc.
SGI, a privately held company founded in 2005, is dedicated to developing and commercializing genomic-driven solutions to address global energy and environment challenges. Advances in synthetic genomics present limitless applications in a variety of product areas including: energy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main research and business programs are focused on major bioenergy areas: designing advanced biofuels with superior properties compared to ethanol and biodiesel; harnessing photosynthetic organisms to produce value added products directly from sunlight and carbon dioxide; developing new biological solutions to increase production and/or recovery rates of subsurface hydrocarbons and developing high-yielding, more disease resistant and economic feedstocks. For more information, go to http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: Business plans and expectations discussed in this release are forward-looking statements. Actual future results, including program plans, expenditures and schedules, and the development and commercialization of new technology and biofuels could differ materially due to changes in market conditions; regulatory developments; technological developments; technical or operating factors; the outcome of commercial negotiations; and other factors discussed under the heading "Factors Affecting Future Results" in the "Investors" section of our website (http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AlFNa8nLx7kS0WB1t9ZyXrPjba9_/SIG=1558t5spg/**http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.exxonmobil.com&esheet=6004848&lan=en_US&anchor=www.exxonmobil.com&index=11) and in Item 1A of our most recent Form 10-K.

NOTE TO EDITORS:
Dr. Jacobs and Dr. Venter will be available to answer questions from media on a conference call today at 10 a.m. EDT. Dial in details are as follows:

Company Name: Exxon Mobil Corporation
Date/Time: July 14, 2009, 10:00 AM ET
Participant Number: +1-888-819-8002 (Toll free)
Participant Passcode: 3031406
Contact:
ExxonMobilMedia Relations, +1-972-444-1107

Propane Fuel Analysis

2009-07-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your comments, encouragement, and other input. Below is one set of information provided in response to last week's note Propane Green Representative . Please continue to provide your input.

"Not so green.

Propane is C3H8 which, when burnt, yields 3 CO2 and 4 H2O for a ratio of
75%.

It's better by a smidgen that octane, C8H18 yielding 8 CO2 and 9 H2O for
89%.

But it's far worse than methane CH4 yielding 1 CO2 to 2 H2O for only
33%!

(And, of course, pure hydrogen H2 yielding 0 CO2 and 1 H2O for
0%!!)

(Or wind for 0% as well.)"

Yes, methane has a much smaller carbon footprint than propane, the carbon footpint of propane is only marginally smaller than octane (natural gasoline), and hydrogen has no carbon footprint. The Pickens proposal for propane (and methane) is that they can replace gasoline in piston engines without the need for emissions controls for carbon-monoxide, other problem gases (other than carbon-dioxide), and particulates (little pieces of solid carbon and carbon compounds). In fact, conventional automobiles running on propane or methane could be built much simpler for lower cost than gasoline engines. Fleets running on propane or methane have much longer lives since the engines run much cleaner. The major drawback to methane is that not all regions of the USA have gas pipelines, which is why propane was presented, since it is easier to liquefy for transportation than methane.

The momentum of existing infrastructure, education, and interests have kept propane and/or methane from being adopted. For the environment, a relatively quick, inexpensive, and well understood approach is to move away from gasoline and diesel to methane and propane with existing technologies. Additionally, methane is renewable, continuously being generated by various natural processes, can be generated from coal, oil shale, existing petroleum reservoirs, and any organic material (including plastic).

Furthermore, methane tranportation via pipeline is practically 100% efficient whereas the electric grid is 33% efficient at best. Therefore, generating methane with alternative energy sources makes more sense than generating electricity or if electricty is integral to the alternative then methane should be generated for efficient transport then utilized at the location where the energy is applied. This process will be carbon neutral, efficient, and therefore lower cost.

Propane Green Representative

2009-06-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

T. Boone Pickens has some very good points in the article below. However, another Texan that sells propane and propane accessories full time would be more effective at selling propane as a green fuel. Texas as a State should start advertising on this issue to protect our own interests i.e. over 200,000 jobs. While doing this advertising, business relocation / tourism / investments in Texas could also be promoted. Please let me know your thoughts.

David Lee Hall
dhall.texas@gmail.com

Daily Policy Digest
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18139

Energy Issues
June 26, 2009

PROPANE AND THE PICKENS PLAN

Washington has been in vigorous discussions about alternative fuels (solar, wind, geo-thermal and bio-methane) and their role in our nation's energy portfolio. But there is another domestic fuel that is part of the alternative fuel mix that has not been as widely discussed -- propane, says T. Boone Pickens, Texas oilman and creator of the Pickens Plan.

Propane is largely produced as a byproduct of natural gas, and over 97 percent of the propane used in America is produced on American soil. And since propane is a portable fuel, it can help replace gasoline in some of the worst polluting engines -- the small engines used for garden equipment, lawnmowers and generators, says Pickens:

These small gasoline-powered engines release more harmful air emissions per
hour of use than the typical automobile; some cities restrict their use during
smog alerts.

New propane-powered alternatives are coming to market that will meet
federal air-quality standards, permitting their continued use even during
periods of heavy smog.

Propane is also an excellent replacement for home heating oil; price spikes
during the past few winters have caused Northeast homeowners to become
"household hedge fund managers" making an annual bet on what the price of
heating oil will be.

Moreover, propane produces 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than
home heating oil and no particulate emissions, making the argument for switching
even stronger.

All of that is why propane fits into the Pickens Plan so well. The increased use of this clean, domestic fuel is helping us make a dent in our dependence on foreign oil, says Pickens.

We are still importing more than two-thirds of the oil we use. In May, that cost approximately $21.6 billion. Increasing our use of propane and natural gas as fuel means less dependence on foreign oil, says Pickens.

Source: T. Boone Pickens, "Propane and the Pickens Plan," Huffington Post, June 23, 2009.

For text:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t-boone-pickens/propane-and-the-pickens-p_b_219724.html

For more on Energy Issues:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=22

Methane Adoption Comments, Answers, & Projections

2009-06-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your comments (indented) on Methane versus Hydrogen as Fuel including:

"Hydrogen is difficult to store, but no one (except those who need it for
refrigeration) suggests liquefying it or keeping it under pressure.
Instead, it can be adsorbed into metallic sponges that hold almost one atom of hydrogen per atom of metal and release it in a controlled manner. The disadvantage is the weight of the sponge."

Most Texas homes, schools, and businesses have methane (commonly called natural gas*) delivered via a utility (90+% efficient transmission from source to each consumer) in addition to the electricity grid (at best 33% efficient transmission from source to each consumer).

Furthermore, the generation of electricity is less efficient than a fuel cell due to the limitations of engines although dynamo generators can have up to 90% efficiency. Therefore, electricity delivered over the grid will (at best) yield 18% of the fuel energy (60% X 90%X 33%) versus (at least) 45% yield (90% X 50%) of the same fuel delivered via a methane (natural gas) utility then converted to electricity via a fuel cell (and fuel cells are becoming ever more efficient).

The technology to store methane in a vehicle fuel container has been around a long time, is already being used in various applications with internal combustion engines designed to use gasoline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas, and is better for the environment than gasoline.

Additionally, coal gasification along with other methods of generating methane (including recycling) are much more efficient than burning coal to generate electricity http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/gasification/index.html, and methane drawn from or prevented from entering the atmosphere then used as fuel will reduce the greenhouse effect by 95% for that particular amount because methane has 20 times the greenhouse effect of carbon-dioxide for the same amount of gas.

*Natural gas produced from a well is normally a mixture of methane with other hydrocarbons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkane#Linear_alkanes which are extracted for various uses before the methane is transported to customers.

"Hydrogen DOES have to be generated, but water electrolysis is the obvious choice, since the by-product is oxygen which freshens the atmosphere. Any energy source will do for the production."

Methane is also easily generated from other energy sources, is captured as a by-product of other processes, recycled from landfills / sewer systems / animal waste processing, might help with enhanced petroleum recovery, and can be taken directly from areas with high concentrations like the air close to swamps (i.e. wetlands), permafrost, or the ocean bottom.

"However, I wouldn't worry about depleting ozone. Hydrogen already exists in the stratosphere by the photolysis of water. Indeed, that may have been the original source of oxygen on the planet, leading to its utilization by lifeforms eventually. The hydrogen in the stratosphere escapes the atmosphere quickly because it is the lightest element known. Indeed, that escape is what permitted oxygen to build up in the early atmosphere (after all the free iron had been rusted)."

After some research, I agree with the statements in the paragraph immediately above.

"Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Indeed the methane clatherates (ocean bottom) and the methane locked up in permafrost will bring about a catastrophic warming if they are ever released. We need to pray that the current global warming can be turned around before the permafrost melts. Otherwise, we are toast...no two ways about it."

Compared to carbon-dioxide, methane is 20 times more effective as a greenhouse gas, and water 2 times as effective. However, water is much more abundant than any other greenhouse gas, and accounts for most global warming, which is part of the system that keeps the Earth habitable http://www.skepticalscience.com/water-vapor-greenhouse-gas.htm. Furthermore, if methane becomes more valuable (or even subsidized because of its benefits to the environment, economy, and consumers), then businesses will become very creative in capturing it from all possible sources.

"You should read the full article at http://www.american.com/archive/2009/june/emissions-control-myths-and-realities which came out the day after you sent your last email and has some interesting information like the three paragraphs below:

Diplomats from the world's major greenhouse-gas emitters met recently at the State Department to discuss a potential U.N. agreement to fight global warming. Commenting on a lack of attention paid by the Bush administration to the urgent need to address global warming, U.S. special envoy for climate change Todd Stern said, "They were not fundamentally looking for an international agreement."

Perhaps that is because international efforts have not succeeded thus far. Gwyn Prins of the London School of Economics and Steve Rayner of Oxford University say the Kyoto Protocol, “as an instrument for achieving emissions reductions, has failed ... It has produced no demonstrable reductions in emissions or even in anticipated emissions growth."

Meanwhile, the United States is having better luck at controlling its emissions, without the multi-billion-dollar mandates of Kyoto. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), carbon-dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels increased 0.7 percent in the United States from 2000 to 2006, far below the worldwide increase of 21.6 percent. During the same period, emissions grew 4.9 percent in Europe, 37.6 percent in the Middle East, and 52.3 percent in Asia. Major developing nations saw big increases. India, Malaysia, and China’s emissions increased 27.7 percent, 45.8 percent, and 103 percent, respectively.

I am confident that increasing methane use will reduce pollution (and greenhouse emissions) while increasing efficiency to improve our economy. Whether or not one believes that CO2 is the cause for global warming, moving to the hydrogen economy is not practical at this time, but increasing methane use as a fuel will move us toward both reduced CO2 emissions and improving the economy.

"It's a very smart idea: methane gas to supply methane fuel cells at homes to convert methane to electricity."

The first attempts on this development to my knowledge are by the state of Alaska to help their many remote communities http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/cem/ine/aetdl/projects/

"You did not mention the Earth's magnetic field which changes over time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal, impacts
many aspects of our lives including climate http://solarb.msfc.nasa.gov/science/space_weather/impacts/climate.html, and has raised some concerns already http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_Anomaly."

Thank you for pointing out that I did not include Earth's magnetic field in the list of things that affect our climate. Also, I was not aware of the South Atlantic Anomaly or that some scientists think this might be the beginning of a magnetic pole reversal. Any additional information from any aspect is appreciated.

"I agree that the state of Texas should be involved in sponsoring development of methane based fuel cells. The energy companies will not develop smart alternatives to gasoline because they make big profits from high gas prices."The US Government sponsored deveopment of the computer industry, including the internet. Government sponsorship can work well. But the U.S. government won't buck Exxon or Haliburton, so Texas must look out for the citizens of Texas."

In addition to helping consumers, the environment, and our economy; Exxon, Haliburton, and all of the petroleum industry will benefit from going to a methane economy. Petroleum companies typically have at least one division named "Oil & Gas Exploration & Production". Natural gas technology is required for oil production, because normally oil & gas are found together in formations with gas on the top, oil in the middle, and salt water on the bottom.
.

Methane versus Hydrogen as Fuel

2009-06-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Suggestion:

Texas should encourage the development of its own auto industry of electric cars
since those are simpler.

Recommendation:

Texas encouraging the development of its own electric auto industry is a good idea. The first step is to encourage the development of fuel cells that use methane (CH4 - 1 carbon atom bonded to 4 hydrogen atoms). In addition to methane being the primary component of natural gas, which is very abundant in Texas, methane is also a renewable energy resource (land fills, sewer systems, & animal waste processing), and can be obtained from coal gasification which is cleaner than simply burning coal. Furthermore, the infrastructure for methane transportation is already in place so that filling up could be accomplished at home. Other applications of an efficient methane fuel cell would include battery replacement, on-site electric generation at homes / schools / businesses, and reduction or elimination of reliance on the grid which is unreliable, expensive, and inefficient.

Question:

Why are you recommending methane which contains carbon instead of
hydrogen, when everyone is concerned about global warming, which
we know is caused by burning carbon-based fuels including hydrocarbons like
methane?

Problems with hydrogen as a fuel include:

Hydrogen released into the atmosphere could deplete the ozone layer since hydrogen (the lightest element) will go straight into the upper atmosphere where it will interact strongly with ozone (3 oxygen atoms instead of the normal 2 atom form).
Hydrogen is more difficult to store since the liquid form must be very cold and under high pressure.
Hydrogen must be generated from some other energy source.

Advantages of methane include:

Methane production, transportation, and utilization technologies are already in place.
Methane fuel cell development is underway with promising results.
Methane is renewable, abundant, and part of natural processes (like milk production).

Global warming is currently occuring, but there have been warmer periods in recorded history, and the warm periods were better for people:

Warm period from the year 9000 BCE to 5000 BCE (known as the Halocene optimum)
Cold period from 5000 BCE to 1 CE (Stone Age to Bronze Age then ends during Iron Age)
Warm period from the years 1 to about 240 (known as the Roman Warming)
Cold period from 240 to 800 (the Dark Ages)
Warming (the Medieval Optimum) from 800 to 1400
Little Ice Age from 1400 to about 1920
Warming from 1920 to Present

Although there is concern about our "carbon footprint", carbon-dioxide is a poor green house gas, which is evident at night in arid areas where the day versus night time temperatures continue to be significantly different except when there is a high moisture day or clouds in the air (dihydrogen-monoxide click for details or water is an excellent Greenhouse Gas click for details). As documented in wikipedia:

Water {Dihydrogen-Monoxide} accounts for the largest percentage of the
greenhouse effect between 66% and 85%

Therefore, I am considering establishing a Dihydrogen-Monoxide Credits (DMC) program so that areas with higher concentrations can pay me to move their problem to areas with lower concentrations.

This is even more clear on Mars which has a 95% carbon-dioxide atmosphere, but very cold nights, and Mars terraforming proposals require producing green house gases in order to warm the climate http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Terraforming_Mars.

Incidentally, global warming is also occuring on Mars http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html, but it appears to be part of the natural cycles of the Sun, which affects the Earth in similar ways.

Furthermore, the climate of Earth is also affected by its own movements http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles as well as many other factors including ocean currents, rivers, lakes, volcanoes, cosmic rays from outside our solar system, land locations / elevations / composition which are all changing (human blame yet to be assigned http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html), space dust, meteors, comets, vegetation, agriculture, buildings, roads, and reservoirs. So blaming our global warming on carbon-dioxide emissions seems unreasonable unless you are selling carbon credits http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/, making science fiction movies, or trying to force economic contraction.

Methane Fuel Cell

2009-06-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Numerous people responded to the recent email titled Save Our System including:

Our auto industry is vital to our national security.

Yes, and foreign owned companies with factories within our territory are part of that security, then if we require that capacity they are under our physical control. Also, decentralizing the auto industry improves our security. The auto industry was originally geographically centralized due to the lack of transportation alternatives about 100 years ago in the USA.

Texas should enocurage the development of its own auto industry of electric cars since those are simpler.

Texas encouraging the development of its own electric auto industry is a good idea. My suggestion is to begin with advancing the development of methane (CH4 - 1 carbon atom bonded to 4 hydrogen atoms) fuel cells. In addition to methane being the primary component of natural gas, which is very abundant in Texas, methane is also a renewable energy resource (land fills, sewer systems, & animal waste processing), and can be obtained from coal gasification which is cleaner than simply burning coal. Furthermore, the infrastructure for methane transportation is already in place so that filling up could be accomplished at home. Other applications of an efficient methane fuel cell would include battery replacement, on-site electric generation at homes / schools / businesses, and reduction or elimination of reliance on the grid which is unreliable, expensive, and inefficient.

in addition to regional banks, credit unions have not required to be bailed out, and they provide the same services as banks to individuals (and some also serve small businesses)

Yes, credit unions are an alternative for individuals and small businesses.

Why mention Ford since it did not accept any bailout money?

Ford is still part of the problem in league with the UAW.

These problems started years ago with a lack of strong Auto Managements.

The auto management did what was reasonable at least from a short-term perspective.

All of the USA auto manufacturing was in the same state with the same union protected by that state, the companies were protected from foreign competition by our National government, and the foreign competitors were destroyed in war. Therefore, accommodating the UAW did not affect their profits for many years.

There was competition, but not on employees, because the UAW was free to shut down any business. Accommodating the UAW kept our auto industry from innovating, the bailout only propagates this, and Ford simply continues to be part of the problem because of its alliance with the UAW.

They gave away the store but don't forget the retired non union members are getting hit with this problem.

Everyone forgets them and those non union retirees were given the same or better retirement health packages.

There is more than enough second guess blame to go to both Unions and Management.:

Yes, this is a big problem for everyone, but the solution is for the USA companies to become competitive. They cannot do this when they are not free to change. The UAW is against change, Ford supports the UAW, and the UAW supports Ford politically.

The only solution to break this cycle is for consumers to vote with their money. This will make a political solution not only acceptable but also necessary.

I appreciate your input. I am open to changing my mind, letting everyone know about that change, and promoting a different approach. Please let me know your thoughts.

.

War & Peace & Progress

2009-06-06T06:07:00.000-07:00

Technology for peaceful purposes has always progressed quickly during wars. For instance, metallurgy (Bronze & Iron Ages) brought advances out of the Stone Age as a result of arms races; food preservation advances include toast (Greeks), various cheeses (Romans), and canning (France during Napoleonic wars); and modern technology like chemistry (dynamite by the Nobel who established the peace prize), powered transportation (WWI & WWII & Cold War), and electronics / computers / communications (WWII & Cold War). Application of technological advances have reduced the American causalities since the Civil War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_casualties_of_war#Wars_ranked_by_total_deaths.
.

However, every casualty is a tragedy that ripples through our Society, incurs ongoing costs, and causes political upheaval. Because of the political repercussions, our Military is spending significant resources developing robotic systems to further reduce casualty rates, and this is the next wave of technology that will shape our future. Robotic technology is at the equivalent level now that powered transportation was at the end of WWI.
.

Texas recently committed a very small amount ($250k) to robotic research http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=9634. However, we need to move forward to catch this wave before it passes us by http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/. Things we could do to help our Region, State, and Nation move forward on this important emerging technology include: increase robotics education http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/39305, encourage our universities to move into robotic related fields like is being done by the University of Texas at Dallas http://www.wpafb.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123145891, entice robotic firms to relocate to Texas, provide incentives for Texas venture capital, and recruit robotists from all over the world.

Save Our System

2009-05-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday (05/28/2009), I found out that the UAW severance amounts are being increased from $75k to over $100k with bailout money. We have been told that the UAW companies (Ford, Chrysler, and GM), AIG, and certain banks "are too big to fail"; therefore, the solution is to help them become small enough to fail. Patriotic Americans need to stop being customers, investors in, or lenders to any organizations that "are too big to fail".

Specific actions should include:

Do not buy a Ford, Chrysler, or GM vehicle

Do not take an existing vehicle to a Ford, Chrysler, or GM dealership for maintenance or trade-in

When buying another vehicle try to make it an American made free market company (e.g. Toyota and Honda)

Begin patronizing financial institutions that have not taken any bailout money particularly smaller ones including credit unions (some even serve small businesses)

As much as possible, move insurance policies out of AIG and its affiliates

Sell any investments or bonds in those organizations that "are too big to fail"

Send an email to your elected representatives stating that you are taking the above actions

Please let me know your thoughts.

Texas Economy Would Benefit by Abolishing Property Tax

2009-05-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

My research shows that in Texas property taxes are very regressive with family incomes lower than $35k per year paying almost 3% of their income in school taxes alone but family incomes over $35k on average pay 1.6% of their income.

Additionally, Texas state sales taxes are not collected on unprepared food estimated to be about $500 per month for $28k income families, or rent estimated to be $725 per month for $28k income families, which leaves about $1,108 per month for a family making $28k per year (these were the same numbers I used for the property tax analysis).

Assuming the entire available amount ($1,108) is taxed at 8.5% then the monthly cost is $94 which is 4% of their income. Using the same approach for a family with $84k per year, mortgage payment of $1,329, and the same $500 per month of unprepared food; then the amount is 6.3%.

........ Tax Type ........ Yearly Income % ............. Characteristics ....................

................................... $28k __ $84k ___ Impact ___ Application __ Enforcement _

School Property ........ 3.0% ...... 1.6% ..... Regressive ... Complicated ..... Subjective .....

Sales @ 8.5% ............. 4.0% ...... 6.3% ..... Progressive ...... Simple ........... Objective ......

Furthermore, as explained below in an article taken from Texas Insider On The Record, the Texas Economy would benefit by abolishing property taxes.

David Lee Hall

Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable

2009-05-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

The Plano Multi-Cultural Outreach Roundtable (MCOR - www.planomcor.org) is an all volunteer organization that promotes cultural educational activities. Additionally, an article from Texas Insider explains why MCOR - www.planomcor.org is also an Economic Stimulus. This is in addition to being culturally enriching and helping our good neighbors from outside the USA that have chosen to live in Plano. The conclusion of that article states:

There’s a strong case that we need both more skilled and unskilled immigrants. In “The Venturesome Economy,” Columbia business professor Amar Bhidé showed that wherever technology is developed, it’s the creative application of innovation that builds great businesses. The Web was conceived in a lab in Switzerland, but it matured in Silicon Valley. Mr. Bhidé argues that immigrants at all levels, including as “venturesome consumers,” are an important reason the U.S. retains a strong lead in innovation, even as the lead in advanced technology and science has eroded.

At a time when our financial-capital markets are still reeling from the credit bust, the human-capital market remains open for business. Fewer workers will be lured to the U.S. during a recession, but the ones who come will speed recovery. There are costs to immigration, especially in border states with generous welfare programs, but the overall benefit is akin to the advantages of free trade in goods and services.

In contrast to the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when manufacturing secrets drove competitive advantage, today’s information technologies thrive as innovators share new ideas and make businesses out of them. Much of this activity is being done by foreigners who want to become economically successful Americans. This makes more open immigration one of the few stimulus packages Washington can deliver with confidence that it would help.

The USA, Texas, and Plano need to continue being societies that enthusiastically welcome Immigrants. This is needed so that our businesses can continue to attract people that will help us progress economically, culturally, and harmoniously. Plano's MCOR helps make this a great place to live, work, and play.

Robert Canright Endorsement

2009-04-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

After endorsing Steve Navarre for Trustee Place 6 last week, I received numerous responses that encouraged me to also endorse Robert Canright for Trustee Place 7, like the email excerpts in italics inserted below:

Since you are endorsing Steve Navarre, have you seen this article: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/041209dnmetemails.3cd76a6.html and do you know if Robert Canright is having similar problems with Plano ISD?

I sure don't care to see Missy Bender get re-elected. She has been a disappointment to say the very least. At one time I thought she was behind parental rights, but she proved too weak to stand up and protect those rights when the time came to vote.

I was floored with the recent article in the DMN regarding non-punishment for cheaters and kids who turn in their work late.

This article is imperative to read http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/tv/stories/wfaa090408_wz_planograding.b4c30aec.html.The article outlines PISD's 'Alternative Grading' program. Do the kids these days really need another step to unaccountability? Many of us moved here because we knew the Plano schools were among the best in Texas. Our property taxes prove it!
As stated in the article they believe they need to be creative in retaining the children that are not graduating. Well, by all means PISD, shoot for mediocrity and adhere to the non-performers!
You will see from the video report that DISD is very interested in adopting this from PISD. WOW! We are setting the standards for DISD?!
Why not just give these kids a degree and be done with it! Don't all of our children deserve better?

When this came out in the Dallas Morning News last month PISD denied the validity of the article. It turns out PISD was working on this initiative. When I called PISD today they admitted the article was true. They advised me to email askpisd@pisd.edu and someone would contact me.

I didn't put this in my earlier email but yesterday they totally were disrespectful of me. Dissing me to just do the askpisd@pisd.edu was a complete cop out. {omitted} I don't have time for these people that don't keep in mind that THEY WORK FOR US!

Pretty impressive responses. I think this race has the possibility to be an “upset”.

Robert's campaign speech, responses to questions, and analyses (charts inserted above) speak for themselves. The charts show that Plano spends the most but has one of the worst records; whereas Allen spends the least and has the best results. This was also an issue last year when the Dallas Morning News showed that Plano has a dropout rate of 21.2% http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/040608dnmetgradrates.2f633e0.html; then I suggested that Plano adopt the Allen ISD approach http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/stories/DN-north_dropout_21edi.ART.North.Edition1.b3251a.html; however, in response, Missy Bender stated that Plano does not need to consider Allen's approaches that yield outstanding results compared to Plano's lower effectiveness http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/stories/DN-north_bender_29edi.ART.North.Edition1.4da7a4a.html.

Early voting begins April 27nd, so please vote early to avoid any hitches in making your vote count, and vote for Robert Canright.

David Lee Hall

http://www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/

Robert Canright’s OPENING STATEMENT for the Plano Homeowners Council, April 9, 2009

At this moment Robert Canright is at Plano Senior High School, watching his daughter’s class present a senior project.

His daughter has gone through all 12 grades in Plano, so Robert knows there are problems in the elementary school curriculum. As so many parents in Plano have done, Robert has provided tutoring for his children to compensate for these problems.

Not everyone in Plano provides private tutoring for their children. There is a “tutoring divide” between the haves and the have-nots in Plano. The have-nots fall behind in elementary school and never catch up. Plano is perfect for the cream-of-the-crop students, but short-changes the average student.

Robert has provided charts for you from TEA data proving Plano has a serious problem: Allen, Frisco, and Richardson all provide the average student a better education for a lower cost than Plano.

Robert says the budget problems and poor school performance prove the Plano ISD board is mismanaging our schools. The board needs new blood, and Robert can provide the good judgment that is missing on the board.

Robert Canright’s CLOSING STATEMENT for the Plano Homeowners Council

Ladies and gentlemen, Robert Canright says the purpose of the board of trustees is to represent the citizens of Plano by overseeing the Superintendent and his administration. Robert’s analysis of school performance proves the schools are mismanaged. The board makes excuses for poor performance and denies there is a problem. The board is representing the Superintendent, not the people. The board is failing in its duties and the incumbent must be replaced.

Robert sees difficult times ahead for our children and suggests his Texas Ascendant Campaign could lead to a better future for our children.

Robert’s charts prove he cannot be hoodwinked by the Superintendent. Robert will provide the oversight missing from today’s board. Robert’s Texas Ascendant Campaign demonstrates he is a man of vision. Robert will provide the strategic thinking needed to guide the district through a challenging future.

Vote to give your children a better education. Vote for Robert Canright

Responses in bold from Robert Canright, PISD Candidate, Place 7

1. Will you vote to post the check register online including date, number, payee, amount, and option to view the check stub (list of line items being paid by the check)?

Non-payroll checks issued by the Plano ISD definitely need to be available for review by the public online. I agree that invoices or purchase orders paid by check also need to be linked to the check and be available for online review. Furthermore, there needs to be a link from each check to a section of the budget and enough description to make clear what has been purchased. Additionally, there needs to be comments section by the public linked to the check and appropriate responses by the administration. We need complete and full disclosure.

Our State Legislature is failing the people of Texas. Perhaps it is time for the people of Texas to make their own proposals for the school tax problem, perform the financial analysis, debate the issue on a state-wide basis, and have a state-wide referendum. I would not presume to know the best answer, but experience shows our legislature is incapable of solving difficult problems. I have an open mind and I believe we need objective analysis, free of political ideology.

3. Do you think that it is acceptable to continue running a deficit?

Running a deficit is unacceptable. Repeated deficits are a symptom of mismanagement.

4. Assuming NO to 3 above then are you in favor of increasing taxes, cutting costs, and then which of each.

Cutting costs is always a good idea, but we must be careful about what gets cut and who gets hurt by the cuts. Property taxes might be complicated in falling economy. If property values are being assessed downward, then taxes paid by homeowners might be decreasing while the tax rate is unchanged. So when we talk about increasing taxes, are we talking about increasing tax rates in order to maintain the aggregate revenue raised by property taxes? Or are we talking about raising the tax rate to increase the aggregate revenue from property taxes beyond the aggregate revenue that preceded the economic downturn that started in 2008? And can we address the problem of citizens facing property taxes while they are unemployed? A fair solution that hurts no one will be difficult, but should be a goal.

5. Are you in favor of more, less, or the same amount of outsourcing?

Outsourcing is always something worth considering, but we need to also consider if the outsourcing is actually a decrease in services. If the outsourcing is actually a decrease in services, we can consider decreasing the services we already provide instead of outsourcing in order to reduce layoffs. If we do not intend to reduce services when we outsource, do we have contracts written clearly enough to maintain the level of service and quality? And can we outsource without a conflict of interest? Everything done to reduce costs must be done carefully in order to maintain quality of service and minimize the harm to our employees. For example, if the outsourcing saves money only by paying lower salaries, would employees whose jobs are to be cut be willing to take that pay cut in order to save their jobs? If outsourcing saves money by charging a lower overhead cost, what could PISD do to reduce its overhead to be competitive with a private company?

Outsourcing is competition for our staff and administration. They must have a chance to compete fairly instead of being callously thrown overboard.

6. Assuming you are in favor of outsourcing then what are good options?

The PISD must take an objective and fair assessment of outsourcing, without unwarranted prejudgments.

7. Are you in favor of curfews during certain hours of the day and/or night for unaccompanied minors?

Communities first need to determine if there is a reason to consider daytime curfews. I have not yet heard that Plano needs such a curfew, but perhaps we do. Some parts of town have more trouble than other parts of town. This is not directly a school board issue, but it could contribute to reduced truancy and dropouts, so it could indirectly benefit our children’s education.

Steve Navarre Endorsement

2009-04-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

Steve Navarre is my choice for Plano ISD Place 6 {steve@idvote4steve.org, www.idvote4steve.org, blogs.idvote4steve.org, twitter.com/IdVote4Steve}. He is an interested Dad bringing his major enterprise consulting acumen, experiences, and success to bear on the current Plano ISD opportunities. Steve is a voice for change which is needed at this time.

Steve spoke at both candidate forums that I attended yesterday (April 9th). The Plano Rotary (which meets at the Southfork Hotel at noon on Thursdays) yesterday hosted all of the Plano School Board candidates, so they will host the City Council Candidates on April 23rd, and this forum is open to the public with an excellent buffet lunch for only $15. The evening forum yesterday for all Plano Candidates organized by the Plano Homeowners Council (http://phcplanotx.com) at Reflections on Spring Creek was also excellent, with food provided by sponsors, a large group of interested home owner association leaders interacting with candidates, and at least 3 different press publications represented.

Early voting begins April 27nd, so please vote early to avoid any hitches in making your vote count, and consider Steve's platform and answers to questions inserted below.

David Lee Hall

www.dhall-planoisd.blogspot.com

Steve Navarre Platform:

Accountability - With Plano ISD facing its third year of multi-million dollar budget deficits, fiscal accountability is one of Steve’s top priorities. Accountability must include all areas of education – from administrators at the campus level and teachers in the classroom, to student’s individual performance and parental involvement.

Communication - Plano ISD needs to improve communications at every level from school board meetings to local campuses. Steve believes that by increasing communications, Plano ISD will provide focused, consistent, and quality attention that will also decrease the divide often felt between administrators, teachers, and parents.

Transparency - Steve is committed to bringing fiscal transparency to Plano ISD. With a $17 million budget deficit, it is important for taxpayers to know whether their tax dollars are being spent wisely. Like Collin County, Plano ISD should put its check register online for review. Beyond financial transparency, Steve is dedicated to increasing visibility into operations and classroom instruction at all levels within the district.

Steve's Goals:

· Balance the $17 million budget deficit through reduced spending

· Raise state ratings beyond "Acceptable"

· Increase all aspects of district communications

· Increase fiscal transparency by supporting an online check register

Steve helps companies “do more with less” and we need to take that approach here in Plano.

Steve’s plan to balance and maintain a balanced budget:

· Immediately stop all discretionary spending

· Bring in independent auditors to evaluate every aspect of the district and how tax money is spent.

· Do a cost benefit analysis of outsourcing non-educational departments such as transportation, facility maintenance, janitorial services, human resources, FANS and some IT services.

· Freeze executive administrative staff pay raises until the budget is balanced.

Steve is against:

· Raising taxes

· Laying off teachers

· Increasing classroom sizes

Steve Navarre believes strongly that better education and stronger schools are built on accountability, communication and transparency. He will apply these principles to every educational and fiscal decision to make Plano schools the educational opportunity we have come to expect.

Steve Navarre Answers to Questions:

1. Will you vote to post the check register online including date, number, payee, amount, and option to view the check stub (list of line items being paid by the check)?

Yes, it a major part of my campaign platform.

2. Do you favor replacing some of our property taxes with sales taxes (City) and PISD do you favor replacing some of property taxes with a statewide sales tax to be allocated based on the number of students? -- i.e. if elected will you personally lobby Austin to help make those changes?

I believe that property taxes are regressive and affect those that struggle to own a home the worst. Sales taxes that exempt medication, food and other necessities is the fairest way to collect taxes for schools. I will personally lobby for property tax reform in Austin and will add that I will do it on my dime, not use taxpayer money to lobby in Austin.

3. Do you think that it is acceptable to continue running a deficit?

No. This lack of fiscal responsibility by a few people affects all of us.

4. Assuming NO to 3 above then are you in favor of increasing taxes, cutting costs, and then which of each.

My plan to balance and maintain a balanced budget is as follows:

· Immediately stop all discretionary spending

· Bring in independent auditors to evaluate every aspect of the district and how tax money is spent.

· Do a cost benefit analysis of outsourcing non-educational departments such as transportation, facility maintenance, janitorial services, human resources, food and nutritional services and some IT services.

· Freeze executive administrative staff pay raises until the budget is balanced.

My platform is against:

· Raising taxes

· Laying off teachers

· Increasing classroom sizes

5. Are you in favor of more, less, or the same amount of outsourcing?

More outsourcing where it makes financial and operational sense.

6. Assuming you are in favor of outsourcing then what are good options?

City - Engineering, Planning, Inspections, Legal, Security, Parks, Recreation Centers, Pest Control, Information Systems, Others?

School - Management of Selected Campuses, Varsity Athletics, Facilities, Planning, Transportation, Information Systems, Others?

After doing a cost benefit analysis of outsourcing non-educational departments such as transportation, facility maintenance, janitorial services, human resources, food and nutritional services and some IT services. No non-educational services would be off-limits to the audit.

7. Are you in favor of curfews during certain hours of the day and/or night for unaccompanied minors?

No, I am against any law that is passed that makes it a crime for you to be a person regardless of age. There are already laws already in place that address those that do not attend school during the day. At night although I do not want my children running around, it should on the parents, not the police unless those children are committing a real crime.

Lee Dunlap Campaign Answers - Affirmation of Endorsement & Taxes Analyses / Comparison

2009-04-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

Lee Dunlap Campaign Answers

Because of my previous endorsement, a number of people asked me to request Lee Dunlap (http://www.leedunlap.com/) to respond to the same questions answered by Phil Dyer last week. Lee graciously took the time to answer those questions and his responses are inserted below. His answers demonstrate that he is a true compassionate conservative who balances fiscal responsibility with concerns for people.

Affirmation of Endorsement

Therefore, Lee Dunlap continues to be my choice for Plano City Council Place 8. He has a vision for continuously improving Plano, brings up ways to improve our fiscal situation without cutting anything by collecting fees from other entities requiring Plano's expertise, and supports posting the Plano City Check Register online. A good opportunity to visit with Lee and other Plano Candidates is this coming Thursday, April 9 – 7:15 pm Plano Homeowners Council (http://phcplanotx.com/) at Reflections on Spring Creek.

Taxes Analyses / Comparison

Comparing Property Taxes to Sales Taxes is something I have taken on because many people tell me it is generally believed that property taxes are progressive (higher income people pay a higher percentage of their income) and sales taxes are regressive (lower income people pay a higher percentage of their income).

My research shows that in Texas property taxes are very regressive with family incomes lower than $35k per year paying almost 3% of their income in school taxes alone but family incomes over $35k on average pay 1.6% of their income. Additionally, Texas state sales taxes are not collected on unprepared food estimated to be about $500 per month for $28k income families, or rent estimated to be $725 per month for $28k income families, which leaves about $1,108 per month for a family making $28k per year (these were the same numbers I used for the property tax analysis). Assuming the entire available amount ($1,108) is taxed at 8.5% then the monthly cost is $94 which is 4% of their income. Using the same approach for a family with $84k per year, mortgage payment of $1,329, and the same $500 per month of unprepared food; then the amount is 6.3%.

These analyses for Texas make some reasonable assumptions based on Census, Tax, and other databases available through the internet. A summary chart is inserted below just above Lee's answers. I would enjoy discussing this topic with anyone or any organization holding to different conclusions.

David Lee Hall
http://www.texas-ideas-progress.blogspot.com/

... TAX ...... YEARLY INCOME . CHARACTERISTICS ...
.. TYPE ........... $28k ... $84k ..... Impact ... Application ... Enforcement .
School Property... 3.0% ..... 1.6% ... Regressive ... Complicated ...... Subjective ...
Sales @ 8.5%........ 4.0% ..... 6.3% .. Progressive ..... Simple ............. Objective ...

Responses in bold below are provided by Lee Dunlap candidate for re-election to Plano City Council Place 8.

1. Will you vote to post the check register online including date, number, payee, amount, and option to view the check stub (list of line items being paid by the check)?

I certainly support open and transparent government. Technology can and does enhance the options available for ready accessibility to information and can be used to help the public "hear", or in this case see, the facts.

2. Do you favor replacing some of our property taxes with sales taxes (City) and PISD do you favor replacing some of property taxes with a statewide sales tax to be allocated based on the number of students? -- i.e. if elected will you personally lobby Austin to help make those changes?

I am assuming that the idea is to find a way to transfer more of the tax burden to those with more disposable income. If so, I find this to be an interesting subject for further discussion.

3. Do you think that it is acceptable to continue running a deficit?

The city does not and cannot run a deficit.

4. Assuming NO to 3 above then are you in favor of increasing taxes, cutting costs, and then which of each.

The council is in the process right now of evaluating cost cutting options from top to bottom. There will be programs and services that will be eliminated while others will be delayed or reduced in scope. There is never a good time to raise taxes and now is certainly one the worst. Therefore, I remain focused on finding improved efficiencies, eliminating out dated programs, and generally "tightening belts."

5. Are you in favor of more, less, or the same amount of outsourcing?

I have often asked and continue to ask the city staff to investigate the possibility of outsourcing programs and services. We have generally found that outsourcing makes the city services less satisfying and eventually more expensive. In fact, our city has been providing services to other cities as they have outsourced to Plano some of the services they would be providing.

6. Assuming you are in favor of outsourcing then what are good options?
City - Engineering, Planning, Inspections, Legal, Security, Parks, Recreation Centers, Pest Control, Information Systems, Others?

These are all good suggestions as some of these departments are already outsourcing regularly or when they have projects requiring unique expertise. Interestingly, you have also listed some of the city departments being used by other municipalities as their outsource service provider.

School - Management of Selected Campuses, Varsity Athletics, Facilities, Planning, Transportation, Information Systems, Others?

7. Are you in favor of curfews during certain hours of the day and/or night for unaccompanied minors?

I am always willing to listen to concerns brought to us by the residents, businesses, and guests of Plano.

I welcome any further questions or discussion on any of the above topics. Thanks to all who take the time to read these questions and responses.

Lee Dunlap
Candidate for Re-Election
Plano City Council Place 8
972-758-9290

Mayoral Candidate Phil Dyer Answers Questions & My Analysis of Property Tax by Income Level

2009-03-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Phil Dyer (email: phil@phildyer.org & website: http://www.phildyer.org/) will get my vote for Plano Mayor, his answers to my questions are inserted below, and I appreciate his clear answers. Additionally, Phil is a tireless public servant to Plano that should be very helpful in facilitating Plano's Economic Development, understands the importance to Plano of all its diverse population, and will be an excellent representative of Plano.

Please consider Phil's answers inserted below and vote for him. A good opportunity to visit with Phil and other Plano Candidates is Thursday, April 9 – 7:15 pm Plano Homeowners Council (http://phcplanotx.com/) at Reflections on Spring Creek. Early voting begins April 27nd, so please vote early to avoid any hitches in making your vote count.

After an analysis using Census Bureau / Texas Tax / Other Online Sources, it appears that households making less than $35k per year pay school property taxes as a pass through via rents (not including other costs or that rents are not tax deductible) of about 3% of their incomes; whereas, households over $35k per year, who are normally home owners, pay school property taxes of about 1.6% of their incomes which are tax deductible but still increase other costs and depress home values. Anyone that would like to dig through this property tax analysis is welcome to email me for further details. God willing, I will complete a similar analysis of sales taxes by next Saturday. Please let me know your thoughts.

David Lee Hall

dhall.texas@gmail.com

Mayoral Candidate Phil Dyer Answers to Questions

1. Will you vote to post the check register online including date, number, payee, amount, and option to view the check stub (list of line items being paid by the check)? YES.

2. Do you favor replacing some of our property taxes with sales taxes (City) and PISD do you favor replacing some of property taxes with a statewide sales tax to be allocated based on the number of students? -- i.e. if elected will you personally lobby Austin to help make those changes? I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN REPLACING THE CURRENT INCOME TAX SYSTEM WITH A SALES (CONSUMPTION) TAX. I HAVE NOT LOOKED AT THE DETAILS OF REPLACING AD VALOREM TAXES WITH A SALES TAX, BUT WOULD BE OPEN TO DISCUSS THE CONCEPT.

3. Do you think that it is acceptable to continue running a deficit? THE CITY CANNOT LEGALLY RUN A DEFICIT, SO THAT IS NOT AN ISSUE. I AM AGAINST DEFICITS (OTHER THAN A TRUE EMERGENCY) AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.

4. Assuming NO to 3 above then are you in favor of increasing taxes, cutting costs, and then which of each. CUTTING COSTS IS OBVIOUSLY PREFERABLE TO RAISING TAXES, BUT INCREASING TAXES NEEDS TO BE PART OF A FULL, HONEST DISCUSSION.

5. Are you in favor of more, less, or the same amount of outsourcing? I AM IN FAVOR OF LOOKING AT OUTSOURCING ANYTHING THAT MAKES SENSE ECONOMICALLY AND DELIVERS THE SERVICE WE EXPECT.

6. Assuming you are in favor of outsourcing then what are good options?
City - Engineering, Planning, Inspections, Legal, Security, Parks, Recreation Centers, Pest Control, Information Systems, Others? YES, I WOULD BE OPEN TO THOSE FUNCTIONS AND ANY OTHERS THAT MAKE SENSE.
School - Management of Selected Campuses, Varsity Athletics, Facilities, Planning, Transportation, Information Systems, Others?

7. Are you in favor of curfews during certain hours of the day and/or night for unaccompanied minors? I WOULD CERTAINLY BE OPEN TO THAT DISCUSSION.

Texas School Finance - Robin Hood Alternative

2009-03-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

About 1% of Texas sales taxes would pay about 10% of the total cost (tuition) on average for Texas public school students. However, no sales taxes are allocated to public education. Currently students are paid for with a combination of local property taxes, State & Federal money, and local taxes transferred between districts.

My suggestion based on input from various people is for a 2.5% sales tax as the base amount for Texas students then the balance would be paid by the existing means except that property taxes would be eliminated until voted in by school boards and citizens. None of the property taxes would be redistributed except when a student enrolls in a different district or charter school while still a resident of the local district. Specific suggestions are as follows:

1. Raise sales taxes 2.5% to provide approximately 25% of the average tuition (cost) for every Texas public school student.

2. Eliminate all current school property taxes except for bond payments.

3. Allow school boards to vote in up to a limited amount in property taxes and require a school board vote every year to continue those taxes.

4. Allow local voters to approve up to a limited amount in property taxes separate from any amount approved by the school board and require voter re-approval at every election that involves anything for the local school district like trustee and bond elections.

5. Have amounts 1 & 3 (but not 4) follow a student that enrolls in a different district or charter school.

This approach establishes a base level for all Texas students, allows local communities to adjust based on the cost of living, and puts property taxes back into local control.

In Texas (possibly not in other states) property taxes are regressive (lower income people pay higher percentage of their income due to this tax); whereas, sales taxes are progressive; and incidentally, the state lottery (although not considered a tax) takes advantage of those least able to pay it.

State sales taxes are not applied to staples; therefore, a family buying milk/bread/other similar items does not pay state sales tax; whereas, property taxes have homestead exemptions which are not allowed for rental property causing higher costs to lower income people. Also, property taxes ripple through our economy as higher costs for everything including the staples that are exempted from sales taxes, rents, and fuel.

Thank you for your input.

David Lee Hall

dhall.texas@gmail.com

Lee Dunlap Endorsement

2009-03-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Lee Dunlap is my choice for Plano City Council Place 8. In addition to the basic functions of city government (safety, transportation, and sanitation), Lee's contributions include many areas that further enhance our Plano quality of life, these programs support our economy, and enhance our property values. Additional areas I believe Lee supports include:

1. Neighborhoods - parks, pedestrian/bike paths, beautification, infrastructure, associations, and infill development

2. People - libraries, recreation centers, minorities, immigrants, and native Texans like me

3. Arts - symphony, ballet, and facilities

Making draconian cuts because of small deficits would be a false savings. Instead, we should make investments while costs are low to enhance our future. Lee has that vision for a continuously improving Plano, supports posting the Plano City Check Register online, and listens to citizens including cost saving suggestions.

David Lee Hall
dhall.texas@gmail.com