Once again, DMN endorses Sessions

In this climate of ethics investigations--first with Eddie Bernice Johnson, followed by an ongoing series about Rick Perry's tech fund donors--we were hoping Dallas Morning News would realize that it's time for a change in our district and endorse someone else. Glad we didn't make bets on it. True to form, the Dallas Morning News editorial board endorsed their favorite congressman Pete Sessions.

The editorial board supports its statement that Grier Raggio is "too far to the left" by citing the fact that he opposed the 2008 bailout--which was only supported by 25% of Americans--and that he wants to get out of Afghanistan, a position supported by 58% of Americans. Sounds like the Dallas Morning News is the one who's out of step.

And, of course, we learned recently from John Jay Myers' own letter to the editor that the board doesn't even bother interviewing Libertarians. They gave him the standard mention:

Libertarian John Jay Myers, 41, president of a promotional items wholesale firm, also is seeking this seat.

As always, Sessions Watch endorses Somebody Else for TX-32 and invites readers to either vote Democratic or Libertarian in 2010.

Dallas Morning News Shuts Out Libertarians

Readers of Sessions Watch have been following the Dallas Morning News' election recommendations, anxiously awaiting their annual endorsement of our congressman, wondering what lame excuse they'll give this year for supporting him.

The current pattern this year has to endorse either the Democrat or the Republican, then mention at the end that there's also a Libertarian in the race.

We Sessions Watchers took it for granted that all three candidates went through the same interview process, but apparently that is not the case.

A reader sends along this link to a letter to the editor written by TX-32 Libertarian candidate John Jay Myers, in which he says he was excluded from the interview process:

Is The Dallas Morning News a source of journalistic integrity, or is it just a shill for the establishment? I ask after learning of my exclusion from the interview when the newspaper chooses which candidates to recommend...

...A Dallas Morning News columnist recently wrote that Americans want to "decrease the size and scope of government, cut spending and taxes, balance the budget, reduce the federal debt, reduce the power of special interests and unions, repeal and replace the health care legislation, and decrease partisanship." I am the only candidate who will do any of this, and yet I am the only candidate in my race excluded from consideration...

At Sessions Watch, we don't make endorsements, of course, we just want somebody else representing us in Congress, someone who'll actually work for us instead of lobbyists and billionaires. We find it shameful and disheartening that the Dallas Morning News is abdicating its responsibility to keep the citizens of our district informed about all the choices in this year's election.

Pete Sessions Votes No to Helping 9/11 Responders

Today, the House passed H.R. 847: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. From Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – A bill to give up to $7.4 billion to workers sickened during the cleanup of World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11 attacks passed in the House on Wednesday after a passionate floor debate in which supporters said they were standing up for heroes.
"To the living victims of 9/11, we have good news: Help is on the way," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., a lead advocate for the bill.
New York lawmakers have been pushing for years for such a measure, which passed 268-160.

Pete Sessions voted no. See Roll number 550.

Pete Sessions votes no to small business lending

From Congress.org:

On Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment
09/23/2010
House Roll Call No. 539
111th Congress, 2nd Session

Passed: 237-187 (see complete tally)
The House concurred in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5297, to create the Small Business Lending Fund Program to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, by a yea-and-nay vote of 237 yeas to 187 nays, Roll No. 539.

Pete Sessions voted no. See Roll No. 539.

Pete Sessions chickens out over Log Cabin appearance

Last week, we learned that Pete Sessions and John Cornyn had accepted an invitation to speak at tonight's annual dinner of the Log Cabin Republicans. Sure, Sessions and Cornyn are against gay marriage and the idea of gays serving openly in the military, but they are both united in their support of the rights of gay people to give money to the Republican Party.

But today, Pete Sessions has gotten cold feet, according to Dallas Voice: Dallas Congressman Pete Sessions gets cold feet about tonight's Log Cabin dinner. Supposedly, he need to attend an urgent meeting of the GOP caucus. Dallas Voice says:

Well isn’t that a convenient excuse? We’re sure Sessions’ no-show has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, also slated to appear at the Log Cabin dinner, are being villified on right-wing websites for accepting the invitation.

...We called Sessions’ D.C. office to get further explanation about his decision to back out...But not surprisingly, Sessions spokeswoman Emily Davis mysteriously became unavailable after we identified ourselves as being from the gay paper, and she hasn’t gotten back to us.

Pete Sessions co-sponsors bill to change 14th Amendment

Sure, they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, but they just want to "tweak" it a bit, and get rid of birthright citizenship--a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. For those of you who wondered whether or not Pete Sessions is a co-sponsor, yes, he is. For a look at their editing of the Constitution, check their revisions to the Amendment at the Library of Congress. A list of co-sponsors is available at this Gov Track link: H.R. 1868: Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009

The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

Mitch McConnell is on record as wanting a "hearing" on the 14th Amendment, but not all conservatives agree, namely Lou Dobbs.

In the upcoming debates (unless Pete chickens out), listen for the latest right-wing fringe scare tactic: the "anchor baby" plot to take over America. :)

(And, if you submit a question, ask Pete if he'll considering "tweaking" the Second Amendment to exclude things like armor piercing bullets, since he's into changing the Constitution all of a sudden).

Pete Sessions votes "no" to oil drilling safety

On Friday, the House approved a bill to lift the ban on deep water drilling, while putting in place new regulations to prevent another disaster like the current oil spill in the Gulf. The bill passed 209-193, with Pete Sessions among those voting no. From Voice of America:

Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas argued against the legislation, saying it will stifle job growth and hurt the economy. "The Obama moratorium on deep water oil drilling has already cost tens of thousands of jobs," said Sessions. "And this bill will eliminate even more American energy jobs, making it harder and more expensive to produce both energy on and offshore. Additionally, this legislation will only further enhance our economic troubles in the Gulf region and throughout the nation."

Jim McGovern, the Democratic Party congressman from Massachusetts disagreed. "My friend talks about jobs. How many jobs have been lost because of this oil spill? How many fishermen are out of business, how many hotels and restaurants have lost business because of this terrible crisis? So this is a good bill, and it is a smart bill. And if you want to apologize to big oil go right ahead, but the American people are not on your side on this one," said McGovern.

Roll call information is available at the Library of Congress: Roll Number 513 and you can read the bill and follow its progress as it goes to the Senate at Gov Track.