Congrats and thanks for a great primary

Congrats to Dr. Babin and Mr. Struesand for doing what it took to make it into the run-off. Thanks to those who had me as your second choice if your candidate didn’t make it into the runoff. I am sure you will someday have the opportunity to vote for me — just not in the foreseeable future as I will be absent from the political season for some time. I am being called in a different direction now.

Thanks to my campaign consultant, Dan Bledsoe, my right hand ground game guy and substitute speaker, Daniel Whitton, my Orange Country advisor, Glenn Perritt, and my treasurer, Joshua Jones, for being part of a team that refused to throw in the towel, even when the odds looked insurmountable. Thanks also to the many public and private supporters of my campaign, including Jeff LeBlanc of Liberty County, Kay LeBlanc, his wife, Missy Perritt of Orange County, Anna E Davis of Tyler County, Steve Warford, Keith Nielsen, Keith Strahan and Jerry Doyle of Harris County, Brenda Sims Erwin and Theresa Wait Grimes of Hardin County and the many others who supported me behind the scenes and for whom my public gratitude will never be great enough. Of course, last, but not least, I must thank my family, in particular my wife Monika, for putting up with the irritable political Chuck for way too many weeks!

My thanks also to the organizations that endorsed me, including the National, State and District Republican Liberty Caucus; the United Republicans of Harris County and the leadership of the Tri County Texas Tea Party LLC. For the sake of your organizations, I wish I had done better; your faith in me by granting me your endorsement will not be forgotten.

Although there are many winners today, and many more that came up short, I am of the firm belief that We the People need to work hard to raise the voter turnout beyond the pathetic less-than-7% that we saw this primary season in CD 36. Only then can we truly get the government of our choosing, not the choice of those currently in power. May God bless this great nation, and may God give our next Congressman the wisdom and the tools to right the ship of State before she capsizes in a sea of public indifference to the Constitution and to the perpetuation of the Republic that our founding fathers gave us to protect as our keepsake legacy of their struggles for freedom, self-governance and liberty.

Please read my future blogs at https://chuckmeyertx.wordpress.com/ and have a blessed respite from politics until the run-off election! Good night and God Bless.

Testimony before the Texas Senate Select Committee on Redistricting, held at the University of Houston, June 8, 2013

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Select Committee, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen:

 

My name is Chuck Meyer, I am from Lumberton, in Hardin County.  I am a lawyer with business and property interests in The Woodlands, Lumberton and Harris County. 

I am representing myself today, although I come here with a unique perspective, having been a candidate in 2010 for Congress in the 18th Congressional District, as an independent, write-in candidate, and in 2012 in the race for the Republican nomination for 36^th Congressional District, a seat that is occupied by Congressman Steve Stockman.  I am intimately familiar with the maps as they relate to Congressional races, particularly the map for CD 36.  I am tempted to ask that Congresswoman Jackson Lee and Congressman Stockman to be put into the same district, but in all seriousness, that is not why I am here today.

Even though I am a reformist who shares many of the beliefs as represented by the statement today by the representative of Harris County League of Women Voters, particularly with regard to not protecting incumbents through re-districting, and while I detest many of the problems with the gerrymandering that has resulted in the creation of a District 36^th that has combined very different 8 small counties that have little in common with a substantial piece of Southeast Harris County, a piece that comprises well over forty percent of the voters in that district, I reluctantly speak today in favor of all 4 SBs.

Why, when I am decidedly unhappy with all of the court-drawn maps and when I agree wholeheartedly with the witness, Ms. Owens and others that communities should not be separated, would I urge you to adopt court-drawn maps that are flawed from this reformist’s perspective?   One reason – I want the State stop spending money needlessly.  I want the State to minimize the amount of money that it will have to spend to provide the electorate with a set of maps that comports with the law for this next election cycle, and then use the money saved to work diligently to provide an improved set of maps for use in 2016 and beyond.  Let no one leave today without understanding that there is a high probability that at least some part of Section 5 will be thrown out by the Supreme Court, not as a result of case brought by the attorney general, but rather in the case out of Shelby County, Alabama.  Who knows how, if at all, that case will impact re-districting?   But until we know that decision, why bother even attempting to change the maps at this point in time, and risk delaying elections needlessly, again costing our State and counties money, needlessly. It is inefficient and a waste of time and money until we know the legal landscape.   Adopt the interim maps for the next election cycle, and then take on board the information you have received through these hearings, and after the Supreme Court delivers its decision in the Shelby county case, begin another special session if need be, working on maps for 2016.  As others have expressed, I want you to do your job and address the concerns of the people.   I just want you to do it efficiently, and save both time and money. 

Congressman Stockman, early in his term, said he would impeach Obama. Here are the Articles of Impeachment you need, served up on a silver platter by Townhall.com

Hey Rep. Stockman, here is a pre-prepared of Obama’s impeachable offenses. Pry yourself away from your tweeting, press releases and other activities and work to rid of this cancer on our nation:

(1) The Obama administration changed its Benghazi talking points 12 times, scrubbing politically unhelpful elements, and radically changing the best analysis of the intelligence community. The White House had previously denied presiding over anything but minor, cosmetic changes to the talking points.

(2) The IRS targeted conservative groups for extra harassment from 2010 to 2012, and top officials knew about it since at least 2011. No disciplinary action has been taken so far.

(3) The Obama Department of Health and Human Services is requesting “voluntary” donations from the healthcare companies over which it wields enormous power in order to help fund Obamacare’s implementation, perhaps in violation of the law.

(4) The Obama Justice Department secretly monitored dozens of Associated Press journalists’ work and personal phone records for purposes that remain unclear. This lasted for at least two months.

Read the entire article at:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/13/breaking-obama-justice-department-secretly-monitored-ap-reporters-phone-records-n1594033#

Is it time to upgrade to Representative 2.0? — A technologist’s look at the role of U.S. Rep.

The last time you installed a piece of software, did you install the first version to hit the market, or did you install a version that was the most recent in the development chain?  In the cell phone world, would we ever buy anything less than the most current generation model?  How many of us drive a Model T, an Edsel or even your father’s Oldsmobile these days, because “it performs the basic functions that I need?”   Why is it that we demand the latest and greatest from our consumer products, yet we are satisfied with the same, tired politicians that do not look or act much different than those of the 1990’s, or even the 1890’s? Which leads me to a further question:  when are we going to upgrade the app of U.S. Representative from 1.0 to 2.0?

“What’s wrong with my Representative 1.0?” you say.  “He votes the right way on every issue I care about.”  True, but don’t you want a Representative with greater capabilities than the basic model that came out last century?  “What other features do I need,” you ask?  How about an upgrade that provides the following features:

1. A Member who isn’t worried about re-election, and who votes in a manner to represent the district and its constituents, not lobbyists, corporations, labor unions or other special interests;
2. A Member who votes by conscience, not polls, and who doesn’t simply vote against a bill to raise his score with a particular group, whether that group is a conservative, liberal or libertarian, just so that he can raise money from that group for next election;
3. A Member who actually engages in principled debate on the floor of Congress and who does not engage in empty, sound-bite rhetoric through press releases that play well with the home crowd, but do nothing to move the ball down the field in the direction the voters want it to move;
4. A Member who actively participates in the committee to which the Member is assigned, and is willing to exercise the committee’s oversight authority to investigate the excesses and wrongs of the current administration, be it Democrat or Republican;
5. A Member who has the credibility to convince others in Congress, particular in his party, his caucus and his State, to see the issues before the Congress in the same principled manner as he does, and to vote with him on key legislation that affects the daily lives of his constituents; and
6. A Member who is not captive by the DC beltway and who spends time visiting every city, town, village and hamlet within his district to make sure that his constituents are well informed and well served by the person they elected.

If we were able to replace the 435 Members of Congress with version 2.0 Representatives, maybe we could stave off the huge development expense to upgrade to Government 2.0.  We really should, however, consider at least one minor upgrade to install Government version 1.1.  This is the only version that includes the term limit feature, a feature that makes the upgrade to Representative 2.0 easier to implement.

_____________________________

Chuck Meyer spends most of his waking hours in Lumberton, Texas, and is a frequent commentator on governance matters.  He has a slew of ideas on how to reform Congress.  He is a partner in FisherBroyles LLP, a “Law Firm 2.0®” law firm.  He is the former Chief Legal Officer of Research In Motion (now BlackBerry®), and, in 2012, he was a candidate for U.S. Representative in the Republican Primary for CD 36.  The views presented reflect his principles, and not necessarily the views of his law firm, his former employers, his wife, his family or his friends.

Chuck Meyer

PO BOX 8381

Lumberton, TX 77657

Steve and Sheila, Part II

It appears that our two local Congressional polar opposite bookend representatives have something else in common:  Support for the Iranian democracy movement and its refugees.  I just have 3 questions:

‎1.  What good does it to support Iranian democracy movements in word unless we are willing to back it up by force?
2.  What is the justification, Constitutionally, for meddling in the affairs of other countries?
3.  If we are willing to back it up by force, and it is somehow found to be within the Constitution, how do we pay for it when we can’t support the bloated government spending we now have?

Until these three questions can be answered, we should stop and think about statements like these, and determine if it is really in our national interest to proceed.  Yes, stop and think.  Oh, sorry, we are talking about Sheila and Steve.  Nevermind.

 

 

 

http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2013/03/sheila-jackson-lee-and-steve-stockman-among-texans-supporting-camp-hurriya-refugees/?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=newsmail&utm_campaign=NewsMailDaily+NewsLetter

Is Steve Stockman becoming the GOP’s Sheila Jackson Lee?

Politically, the US Representatives from the 36^th and the 18^th Congressional District are absolute opposites.   Yet, Congressman Stockman and Congresswoman Jackson Lee have much in common, it seems.

Take the state of the Union address, for example.   Many of us can’t wait to see Sheila in the front row, with a fresh double crown weave and the brightest dress in her wardrobe that the cameras will not be able to miss.  It is a pity that the crown of the Queen of self-promotion may lose a little bit of luster and the Queen a little camera time to her Republican alter ego, Sideshow King Steve Stockman.   Yes, this State of the Union, the circus with have at least two rings under the big top, uh make that the Capitol dome, when Steve’s guest, Ted Nugent, takes his place in the House Gallery.

Which brings me to another similarity – remember how surprised we were when the Congresswoman wanted Californian Michael Jackson honored by a Congressional Proclamation?   Yes, Michael Jackson the presumed pedophile?  Well, not to be outdone, we have Michigander Ted Nugent being honored with a seat in the House Gallery by the Congressman from TX 36th.  And Ted Nugent is not simply an alleged pedophile.  No, Mr. Nugent’s career has included a song that should be every pedophile’s ring tone, “Jail Bait.”  But wait, there’s more.  Mr. Nugent doesn’t just talk the talk (or sing the song) he walks the walk.  Check out his VH1 interview where he talks about how he likes underage girls.  Or stand in awe at his agreement with the parents of a 17 year old girl to become her legal guardian instead of her husband because the age difference was too great. This particular antic was rated #63 on Spin magazine’s “100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock” list.  Now that is quality publicity!

I am sure both Michael Jackson and Ted Nugent have done wonderful things for the Texas 18^th and Texas 36^th Congressional Districts that merit honoring them.  Could someone please tell me, though, as I am having a hard time placing them in the honorable category?

 

Chuck Meyer

Lumberton, TX