Tag: Mike McCaul

Research 2000 for Daily Kos (10/20-22, likely voters):

Larry Joe Doherty (D): 42

Mike McCaul (R): 46

(MoE: ±5%)

Texas is a long-term project for the Democrats, and districts like TX-10 are leading the way: it’s one of the fastest-growing districts in the country, and most of the growth is non-white. If this poll is any indication, though, we might be on the verge of seeing some good results right away.

Mike McCaul was already publicly sweating the early voting patterns in Harris and Travis Counties (this R+13 district stretches wormlike across hundreds of miles to link Houston and Austin suburbs). This poll can’t be helping him feel any better, as it’s slightly better than recent Doherty internals. Between McCaul never having faced a full-on challenge before, Doherty’s money and name recognition (he’s a former TV judge), changes in the district, and the size of the Dem wave (McCain leads only 48-41 in the district, down from Bush’s 62-38 edge), here’s one more upset waiting to happen.

The candidate filing period opened today – and Dan was there to make it official, saying he hoped to signal his understanding of how eager Central Texas voters are to get started on changing Washington.

“I’m in this race to win this race,” Dan said.

Dan’s newspaper column on Iraq earns praise

Last Saturday, the Austin American-Statesman published Dan’s latest column on the “mournful legacy” of his opponent’s allies in the Bush-Cheney administration.

“The sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our nation has come and gone, the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has come and gone, the White House surge in Iraq has come and gone, and soon another holiday season will have come and gone, too,” Dan wrote in the piece. “As these milestones pass, we are no closer to getting it right… Enough is enough.”

Dan lays out a smart strategy for immediately ending U.S. involvement in Iraq’s civil war through a three-pronged approach to “redefine our mission, reduce our troop levels, and reinvigorate U.S. diplomacy around the world.” Click here to read the whole column – and to see why Dan’s campaign is gaining national momentum.

Pocket change for positive change

Dan’s ongoing donation program, Ten for Dan, is a unique opportunity for you and 10 of your friends to make a difference. A simple contribution of $10.10 from each of you can make the difference. It will help us keep our TV spot on the air – and bring positive change to Washington.

Click here to give $10.10 – pocket change for positive change.

And click here to see Dan’s TV spot.

The Federal Communications Commission is moving ahead with plans to help big media get bigger.  A rally happening right now in front of FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C., is designed to slow the rush toward even more consolidation.

My opponent should break his silence on this important issue and explain whether he is working for the Texas taxpayers who own the public airwaves or Clear Channel, his family’s mega-media company.

Call McCaul at 202-225-2401 and remind him who owns the public airwaves.

It’s World Series week, and Congressman Mike McCaul is about to get another chance to improve his batting average when a measure providing uninsured Texas kids the kind of health insurance program he enjoys comes up again for debate.

So far, he’s batting 0-2.

First, he voted against the bi-partisan SCHIP bill that would have extended coverage to nearly 1.4 million Texas children whose parents work hard and earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance.  Then, he remained in lockstep with the Bush-Cheney administration and voted against overriding the President’s veto.

Forty-four Republicans joined the Democratic majority in voting to override last week and guarantee access to affordable health care for the children of parents who are working hard and playing by the rules.  They ignored the misinformation spread by the White House and did the right thing.

But not Mr. McCaul.  So here are some facts to help him do the right thing, too:

• More than 90 percent of those families covered by SCHIP earn less than $41,000 a year and can’t afford the average $12,000 annual premiums to cover their children.
• McCaul and his fellow ideologues claim the SCHIP proposal would cover families earning $83,000 a year.  But they’re wrong — and they know it.  No state, including Texas, can cover higher-income families without approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which President Bush controls.
• SCHIP is a fiscally responsible plan that saves local taxpayers money by guaranteeing access to health care at the doctor's office, not the emergency room.
• SCHIP isn’t a step toward the kind of government-run health care McCaul and his cronies enjoy. Under the proposal, states are free to provide health coverage any way they choose — and most of them, including Texas, choose to use private insurers to deliver coverage.
• SCHIP is aimed directly at those who need it. States earn bonuses for enrolling those most in need and lose federal matching funds if they don't cover the poorest children — and it phases out coverage for those few adults who are currently enrolled.

The issue isn’t going away.  More than 80 percent of Americans favor the measure Mr. McCaul has voted against — twice.  The question now is whether he will be independent enough next time to swing for the fences or continue to look to the bench for instructions on what to do.

My opponent once more failed to do the right thing today.

He again put his loyalty to the Bush-Cheney administration ahead of his obligation to the families who pay for his own health care with their taxes but can’t afford the same rights for their own children.

Central Texans were looking for more leadership and less followership in Washington, D.C. today, because with more uninsured children than any other state, we had more to lose. We didn’t get that leadership today.

It’s time for a fresh start in a new direction.

The U.S. House Thursday is scheduled to vote on whether to override the President’s controversial veto of the bi-partisan State Children’s Health Insurance Program.  Rep. Mike McCaul should vote to provide more than 1.4 million uninsured Texas children the health care they need.

Unfortunately, McCaul voted against uninsured kids and for insurance industry special interests the first round.  Will he find the moral courage to do the right thing today?  Will he finally make Texas priorities his priorities?

You can help by calling Rep. McCaul’s Capitol Hill office at 202-225-2401 and asking him to vote for nearly 1.5 million eligible children of working parents who deserve the same health insurance taxpayers give him.

Last week, Rep. McCaul was quick to hand out a congressional certificate of recognition to an Austin woman honored as one of 18 child care providers across the country at the first annual National

Child Care Provider Awards.  She deserved it. Now it’s time for McCaul to recognize that uninsured Texas kids deserve his attention, too.

Call McCaul today and tell him to vote to override the Bush-Cheney veto.

The junior Congressman From Clear Channel has been notably silent during the uproar over rightwing talk show host Rush Limbaugh’s attack on U.S. troops who oppose the White House’s misadventure in Iraq as “phony soldiers.”

Now Rep. McCaul’s brother-in-law, the CEO of the company that broadcast Limbaugh’s diatribe, is defending the indefensible.

“It would be unfair for me to assume his statements were intended to personally indict combat soldiers,” said Mr. Clear Channel, as quoted in part by Fox News.

http://www.foxnews.c…

It’s time for Mike McCaul to come out of hiding and tell us whether he stands with Rush Limbaugh and his in-laws — which include the Chairman, the CEO, and the President of Clear Channel — or with the brave men and women who are defending Limbaugh’s right to broadcast such irresponsible statements.

Sincerely,

Dan Grant

http://www.dangrantf…

One day after voting against extending the same kind of taxpayer-funded health care he himself enjoys to more than four million eligible American children who have no insurance at all, Mike McCaul has found a cause he can support — condemning the free expression of opinion by a group of citizens during an important national debate.

The testimony to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus about the civil war in Iraq and what the U.S. should do about it was notable for at least two reasons:

  * The aimlessness of the White House’s policy
  * The absence of one of that policy’s chief cheerleaders, Mike McCaul

That is, until now. Mr. McCaul has finally roused himself long enough to participate in a shallow charade that does nothing to make us safer, bring our troops home, or make up for rubberstamping the Bush-Cheney administration’s misadventure in Iraq.

I served as a civilian in Iraq. I watched all kinds of men and women from all walks of life work their hearts out to try to fix this disaster. And while Mr. McCaul engaged in this pointless theatre, some of those people may have died. Shame on him.

Sincerely,

Dan Grant

http://www.dangrantf…

The Children’s Health Insurance Program is that rarest of government creations — a joint federal-state effort that actually works to reduce the number of uninsured children in our country. No wonder Congressional leaders are trying to expand it — and the White House is trying to dismantle it.

The question for us is this: will our Congressman join the bi-partisan effort to strengthen CHIP? Or will he stick with the short-sighted ideological opposition of the Bush Administration and leave millions of children without health insurance?

A decade ago, then-Texas Governor George W. Bush dragged his feet while other states rushed to create CHIP programs and draw down federal matching funds. He preferred costlier private insurance plans that offered less coverage. He still does.

Where does Congressman Mike McCaul stand? Contact him today and tell him you support the bi-partisan plan to authorize $35 billion in new CHIP funding over the next five years — which is what we’ll spend (officially) in Iraq over the next three months. And the CHIP funds will actually do some good, covering an additional 3.2 million children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance.

DC office: 202-225-2401
Email: http://www.house.gov…

It’s really very simple: If a criminal has the right to see a lawyer, a child should have the right to see a doctor.

Sincerely,
Dan Grant

If you want a Congressman who will support proven programs like CHIP, please click here to donate today.

Let me first say, I have never met Dan Grant nor do I live in TX-10, but I am a young Texas Democrat who regularly commutes from TX-22 (Friendswood/Houston) to TX-26 (Denton/Fort Worth) for college.

I was just checking the FEC records because, well, I was bored and I noticed the numbers for the Texans who have filed their reports thus far. According to said reports, Democratic challenger for TX-10, Dan Grant, performed admirably.

Q2 2007
Amount Raised: $72,765.08
COH: $134,482.52
Debts: $0
http://query.nictusa…

For a district hovering somewhere in our third tier, $72.7 thousand is not too shabby. However the real amazing part is when this is compared to the Republican incumbent, Mike McCaul.

Q2 2007
Amount Raised: $131,384.58
COH: $133,387.41
Debts: $171,652.23
http://query.nictusa…

Ignoring the outstanding debt McCaul’s campaign has ramped up, Grant still has more cash. If McCaul were to pay off all of his debt today he’d be $38,624.82 in the hole. This is an amazing advantage Grant has raised over McCaul and I hope the DCCC takes notice.

It is important to note that Grant does have a democratic challenge ahead of him. Larry Joe Doehrty (sp?) who is known for his tv court room drama, Texas Justice, is in the democratic primary as well. While I am personally rooting for Grant due to his efforts in reaching out to blogs, he has posted here on swingstate several times before, it is important that we support whomever wins the democratic nomination next year especially since McCaul won with a pathetic 55% last year.

If you would like to learn more about Dan Grant please visit his website:
http://www.dangrantf…

I’m sure donations would also be welcome to keep his momentum going:
http://www.actblue.c…

P.S. While I like commenting (have been for almost 2 years), this is my first diary. How’d I do?