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Medina was only allowed in this debate because they don't see her as a real threat.

I like her strict constitutionalist approach, but it'll take a lot more than today's state of affairs to gain footing.

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I wonder how bad teh drug question is going to hurt Medina

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Not as bad as not being able to say the US military is a good federal program.    

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Every state needs to flush the toilet on their career liars.

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I watched it all.
I like Medina. I agree with her more than any. However, RP likely will carry the day. The dems have some douchebag mayor of Houston. Don't think he has a chance.

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Medina was only allowed in this debate because they don't see her as a real threat.

I like her strict constitutionalist approach, but it'll take a lot more than today's state of affairs to gain footing.

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Actually Medina was allowed in the debate to call off a threatened protest of KERA by the Dallas Tea Party and Common Sense. She never really met the minimum qualifications for entering the debate on her own merits. Also, she apparently hasn't much of a clue as to the major limitations of the Texas governorship (ours is one of the weakest governorships in the union), she really doesn't understand that property taxes are local issues and not state issues, etc. She spoke well, but does have major misconceptions as to what a Texas governor can actually accomplish.

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Don't speak too soon.....

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_C8wQuv5H6n8/SYdlVAwiZxI/AAAAAAAAAHA/zwOZMyaAXbQ/s320/whitemlk.jpg

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Ms Medina wiped the floor with K Baily and R Perry,

if you missed the debates last night on KERA, you missed seeing the epitome of political hacks defending undefendable positions.

Ms Hutchinson and Mr Perry both Looked and played petty games, empty, non committal answers, and tap danceing around answers like a JR HIGH production of a "Chorus Line" Perry especially showing a level of arrogance generally offered by our Elitists in Washington DC, not by someone purported to be "one of the regular folks" and K Baily couldnt give a straight answer if some one had asked paper or plastic.

MS Medina was calm and cool, made her points, pounced on both the professional talking heads on several important points from property tax to the massive growth and 17 billion dollar debt we are looking at this year, created by Mr Perry and his cohorts. She showed herself to be knowledgeable, on top of the issues, anti big government, pro gun, anti big taxes, anti creation of the welfare state, strong on the border and getting it closed DOWN and planning and hopeing for a future for Texas, Texas's independance and Texas's eleveation head and shoulders above the other 49 states..

I am throwing my support behind Ms Medina for Governor of the Great State of Texas,  IF you haven't checked her out, please do so.

Medina for Texas/

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Thanks for the link, I donated $100. After watching the debate, my whole family is going to vote for Medina.

From Medina's website:
Protecting freedom requires that the people be well armed. Government cannot protect us from violence, we must defend ourselves. Texans must not compromise and must not surrender their right to keep and bear arms. We must not only nullify federal laws that threaten that right but encourage citizens to be, as Madison encouraged, “trained to arms, as that is the best and most natural defense of a free country.”

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Apparently so do you.

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Okay, here are some mathematical facts regarding the property tax blunder. First off, if you own property then obviously you pay property taxes. However, when you file your federal income tax return you should be writing off your paid property taxes, lowering your overall tax liability to the federal government, or increasing your return on your federal income tax refund. So in essence, through this dollar swap, the federal government vicariously ends up funding a huge portion of our state's school districts.

Now, let's replace the property tax funding of the schools with an increase in the state sales tax to replace this income. This burden will now be shared by all who purchase products, goods and services in our state. The problem here is that there is no legal way to write off the sales taxes, which will put the burden of funding squarely on the shoulders of the citizens of Texas, and lower the liability of the federal government. So you would basically be supporting a tax increase for all Texans and those who choose to do business here.

The effects on business would be even more dramatic. Businesses would have to participate in the increased sales tax as well for many of the products, goods and services they purchase. However, the result of this would most likely be a pass through cost, which again will affect the Texas consumer once again in higher prices when purchasing from Texas businesses. And for those businesses who participate in interstate commerce the Texas businesses would now be less competitive with businesses from other states, and those results would not be good for any of us!

So on this one idea alone it really sounds good on the surface. However, when you begin to look at the ramifications of such an idea it becomes apparent that the notion was very poorly thought out.

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Okay, here are some mathematical facts regarding the property tax blunder. First off, if you own property then obviously you pay property taxes. However, when you file your federal income tax return you should be writing off your paid property taxes, lowering your overall tax liability to the federal government, or increasing your return on your federal income tax refund. So in essence, through this dollar swap, the federal government vicariously ends up funding a huge portion of our state's school districts.

Now, let's replace the property tax funding of the schools with an increase in the state sales tax to replace this income. This burden will now be shared by all who purchase products, goods and services in our state. The problem here is that there is no legal way to write off the sales taxes, which will put the burden of funding squarely on the shoulders of the citizens of Texas, and lower the liability of the federal government. So you would basically be supporting a tax increase for all Texans and those who choose to do business here.

The effects on business would be even more dramatic. Businesses would have to participate in the increased sales tax as well for many of the products, goods and services they purchase. However, the result of this would most likely be a pass through cost, which again will affect the Texas consumer once again in higher prices when purchasing from Texas businesses. And for those businesses who participate in interstate commerce the Texas businesses would now be less competitive with businesses from other states, and those results would not be good for any of us!

So on this one idea alone it really sounds good on the surface. However, when you begin to look at the ramifications of such an idea it becomes apparent that the notion was very poorly thought out.

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I agree with you on this, but not everyone can itemize.  Believe it or not, there are still some people whose property taxes do not exceed their standard deduction.



Uh, you are wrong.  It was back in 2008...er, 2009...I'll have to look again, but anyway a DEMOCRAT controlled congress made permanent the sales tax deduction for states like Texas.
Aside from that though, here's a novel idea:  Make public schools charge tuition for their services!  Then we'll really see how well these teachers can teach and the administrators how well they can get stuff done.  The shitty schools will go under, as they deserve to.  The good schools will prosper, parents will flock to them, they'll get overloaded, raise tuition to high levels and parents will still flock to them.  Other schools that are not as expensive but are still good will also prosper from the parents who cannot afford the high prices but want something in the middle.

My god!  A free market system for schools?!  It just might actually work.  Oh wait....such a system did once before in this country!!  

So let me counter the traditional arguments that are used for this approach.

The rich will just prosper under such a system by sending their kids wherever they want since they won't be in the public system anymore.
I've got news for you, the rich already do this.  They usually send their kids to expensive private schools.  Hell they even send them to expensive private schools out of state!

The poor will never be able to afford a basic education for their children if schools are forced to charge tuition.
Bullshit.  Have you seen the response of this state and this nation in the last few days?  What about after Hurricane Katrina?  What about after 9/11?  What about after that tsunami in the Indian ocean a few years back?  The point is this country is the most generous nation on the entire planet.  We help each other out and we can help ourselves too.  There will always be schools available for those that don't have enough money and they won't be the worst schools imaginable either.  Our country is filled with generous people, companies, charities and foundations whose mission is to help those in need.  


I'll also point out that by relying on sales taxes we finally force these fucking illegal aliens to pony up their share.  Oh they can't?!  Good, get the fuck outta here!




Wait a minute...let's sort this out a second.   You sell Widget X for $100.  Texas has a 25% sales tax now, so that's $125.  I don't understand the problem?  The receipt will clearly show the widget costing $100, the sales tax is an additional $25.  Most businesses, when purchasing a product for resale, don't pay sales tax.  It's the end consumer, whether it's a person or an organization, whatever, who pays that sales tax.  

As for out of state sales, so what?  Out of state sales are still exempt from the sales tax.  So you sell Widget X to some guy in Florida - his total cost is $100.  Maybe I'm not following but this seems simple enough to me.



25% sales tax is pretty damn high I agree, but I think a lot of folks when they hear about Medina's plans seem to forget that she actually wants to cut the size of government dramatically.  It's become obese and ridiculously inefficient.  

Let's also keep in mind one thing everyone:  You're never going to get a perfect candidate who reflects your beliefs 100%.  On top of that, the proposals their campaigns run on take time to actually implement and still have to follow due process for creating new law or repealing BS.  A lot of times the end result is very different than the original idea.  But I think it's pretty damn hard to find a candidate who actually espouses many of the ideals a lot of arfcommers have:  actually owning your property.  Can you imagine that for just a minute?  News headlines all across the country once the legislature and the governor worked it out - NO MORE PROPERTY TAX IN THE STATE OF TEXAS!   Fuck...people and companies all over this country would be coming here in droves and our economy would take off like the nuke powered Project Orion rocket would have.

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Ofcourse Medina looks good with no track record, it's all lip service, talk is cheap.  Newbies talk big until they get the job, then fuck us over like every single politician before them.

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Wow. You must be a poor college student and not paid taxes in the last 3 years. The shear lack of knowledge in your posts are amazing. First, it is the state government that defines the taxing structure. They also set minimums and to some extent maximums for property tax percentages. It is then the local governments that define the worth of your property and collect the tax. There can be additional taxes due to bonds but those have to get voter approval. If the state government does away with property tax, there is nothing the local governments can do about it.

Second, I get "money back" on what I pay in property tax ONLY if I do an itemized deduction. And even then, I am only getting back a percentage based on my effective tax rate. For me, that is 28%. For the last couple of years, you could ALSO deduct STATE SALES TAX from the your Federal income tax. This year my standard deductions will be higher than my itemized deduction so I will get ZERO back on the $8k that I give to the county plus the additional $3k or so I spend in State Sales Tax each year.  

Third, businesses already pay SALES TAX on everything they consume. I bought a box of paper at Sam's Club for my business and paid the 8.25% just like everyone else.  

Finally, in my case I would be MUCH better off paying an additional 2% on everything I buy than being held hostage for the $8k I have to pay every year for my house. Let's do the math, I would have to buy $400k in goods for this NOT to be a good for me. The people that would potentially bitch would be the folks living in apartments who currently do not pay property tax (or at least directly. If the apartment did not have to pay property taxes, then their rent should conceivably be cheaper).

Wait a minute...let's sort this out a second.   You sell Widget X for $100.  Texas has a 25% sales tax now, so that's $125.  I don't understand the problem?  The receipt will clearly show the widget costing $100, the sales tax is an additional $25.  Most businesses, when purchasing a product for resale, don't pay sales tax.  It's the end consumer, whether it's a person or an organization, whatever, who pays that sales tax.  

As for out of state sales, so what?  Out of state sales are still exempt from the sales tax.  So you sell Widget X to some guy in Florida - his total cost is $100.  Maybe I'm not following but this seems simple enough to me.