Established 2010 May 2013 Volume 105 40 pages Monthly PRST STD POSTAGE PD # League City, TX Free The Right Publication for a Right-Minded Country www.thedamgoodtimes.com The Dam Good Times Keep In Touch... Like Us... ...Follow Us! May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 1
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Established 2010
May 2013 Volume 105 40 pages Monthly
PRST STD
POSTAGE PD
#
League City, TXFree
The Right Publication for a Right-Minded Country www.thedamgoodtimes.com
It’s your birthday! Treat yourself to some HOMEMADE icecream at Shuky-Deez! 202 N. Washington Ste 300, Livingston, TX 936.327.4144 (Pic:Crystal & Ceasar)
Coldspring UnitedMethodist Church SundayService is 8:30 am & 11 amSunday School is at 9:45 amYouth Group Wednesday at5:30 pm
Family Faith Church Pas-tors Jeff & Eileen HacklemanSundays in Coldspring @11:00 am www.familyfaith.ws
Christian Faith ChurchSunday Worship 10:30 am &Bible Study 7 pm Wednesday1040 Hwy 190 Oakhurst77359 936.377.4795
First United PentecostalSunday Worship 10:00 am &6:00 pm Bible StudyWednesday 7 pm Youth Gath-ering Fridays @ 7 pm On-Alaska, TX 936.646.4514
Methodist Church ofGoodrich Sunday School9:00 am, Worship 10:25amGoodrich, TX 936.365.2435
Lake Livingston LutheranChurch Sunday School &Bible Study 9:30 am, Wor-
ship 11:00 Hwy 190 & FM3152, On Alaska, TX936.646.5681
Lake Station BaptistChurch Sunday School 9:45am, Worship 11:00 am,Wednesday Bible Study 6:00pm Goodrich, TX936.365.2755
New Hope Missionary Bap-tist Church Sunday School9:45 am, Worship 11:00 am
The Universal EthicianChurch Beyond the end of FM135 in San Jacinto County Serv-ices are held on the Sabbath(Saturday) 1 hour before Sunsethttp://www.sunsetservices.org
St. Stephens CatholicChurch Point Blank, TX Mass-4:30 pm every Satur-day!
Laurel Hill MissionaryBaptist Church, Pastor PaulDawkins, Evergreen, TX 105 FM 945 N; 936.767.8497Sunday School @ 9:45,Church Service 10:50 am,Wednesday Night BibleStudy 6:00 pm
New Life ChurchPastor Dusty Kemp10800 Hamerly Blvd.Houston, TX 77043713.932.1479Worship Sunday 10:30 amPrayer Tues 7p Bible Study Wed 7p
"Break the old paern of present moment denial and pres-ent moment resistance. Make it your practice to withdraw at-
tention from past and future whenever they are not needed."(Oneness With All Life)
Washington, DC –
Today, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed
The Working Families
Flexibility Act, introduced
by Alabama Representa-
tive Martha Roby (R).
The bill amends the Fair
Labor Standards Act of
1938 to allow private-
sector employers to give
their employees the op-
tion of receiving overtime
pay in the form of com-
pensatory time off. Cur-
rent labor law only allows
this choice to be given to
public employees.
“A lot has changed
since 1938 and our labor
laws should change to
give parents the flexibility
they need to balance the
demands of work and
home,” said Congress-
man Kevin Brady, the fa-
ther of two young sons.
“If government workers
get more flexibility for
their families, why
shouldn’t other work-
ers?”
Under the measure,
participation by compa-
nies and workers is vol-
untary. Government
workers have enjoyed
this option for almost
thirty years.
“With all that parents
have to accomplish,
sometimes they need
more time during the
week to get to those
baseball games, doctor’s
appointments and par-
ent-teacher conferences.
This common-sense leg-
islation gives families the
freedom to do more to-
gether,” concluded
Brady.
House Votes to Give Families More Flexibility‘If government workers get more flexibility for their families, why
shouldn’t other workers?’ asks Brady
The San Jacinto
County Tourism Council
is celebrating National
Travel & Tourism Week
by hosting a networking
luncheon on Wednesday,
May 8, 2013. The event
will be held at the Cold-
spring Community Center
beginning at 11:30 am.
The luncheon is free and
all area businesses, or-
ganizations, and individu-
als that have an interest
in the promotion and sup-
port tourism are encour-
aged to attend.
Businesses are asked to
bring business cards, fly-
ers, pamphlets, etc., to
share with others attend-
ing.The SJC Tourism
Council is opening an of-fice in the ColdspringChamber office buildingduring the month of Mayand is in need of informa-tional materials for distri-
bution to callers inquiringof tourism interests inSan Jacinto County.Plans are for the tourismoffice to be open a cou-ple of days a week on al-ternating days in whichthe chamber office isopen. Partnering with thechamber and the plansfor the office building tobe open 5 days a weekwill certainly help to meetthe needs of visitors toSan Jacinto County.
“We at the TourismCouncil want to hearideas from those of you
in the community onways we can help pro-mote San JacintoCounty”, said presidentGayle Erwin. “A sloweconomy has had a“TRAVEL EFFECT” onmany businesses the lastfew years and theTourism Council as well abusiness owners wouldlike to see that change”.
Note: Our luncheons are usually every other month, the 3rd Tuesday, however, due to scheduling issues, the Board of Directors chose to move the luncheon to May 14th. Lunch is $15 and will be catered by Rayfield Jefferson. Please RSVP by Saturday, May 11th to [email protected] or call and/or leave a message at the Chamber office 936.653.2184
Coldspring Community Center
We will recognize & honor our COCISD & SISD
Scholarship Awardees
Coldspring / San Jacinto County Chamber of Commerce
invites you to our May 14th Luncheon Noon
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 6
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 7
For many business own-
ers, the Patient Protec-
tion and Affordable Care
Act, or PPACA, intro-
duces confusion into an
already complicated busi-
ness environment.
Insperity offers a power-
ful, competitive advan-
tage to our Workforce
Optimization clients by
providing stability during
this uncertain time. Over
our 27-year history, we’ve
helped thousands of
companies prosper by
managing their employee
administration and com-
pliance burdens so that
they can focus on growth.
What is Health Care Re-
form?
Health care reform actu-
ally consists of two laws
enacted in March 2010 —
the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act
(PPACA) and the Health
Care and Education Rec-
onciliation Act (HCERA).
Together, these laws
change the rules that
guide and control govern-
ment health programs, in-
dividual health coverage
and employer-sponsored
group health plans.
Although parts of health
care reform were initially
challenged as unconstitu-
tional, the U.S. Supreme
Court upheld the individ-
ual mandate requiring all
Americans to obtain
health insurance or pay a
penalty.
This means Health Care
Reform is here to stay.
Scheduled to be imple-
mented over an eight-
year period from 2010
through 2018, the Afford-
able Care Act is designed
to provide:
Greater access to cover-
age
Improved quality of cov-
erage
More affordable coverage
Insurance carrier ac-
countability
What Health Care Re-
form means for your
business:
For all employers, Health
Care Reform will be com-
plicated to understand.
For many, it will be diffi-
cult to comply with and
implement. But no matter
what size your company
may be, there are three
key areas of concern:
Complexity
Workforce demographics
will need to be thoroughly
understood in order to fa-
cilitate sound decision-
making regarding health
plan offerings. This will
require year(s)-long data
tracking from human re-
sources, payroll and ben-
efits administration
systems.
Cost
Such sweeping reform
doesn’t come cheap.
Health care premiums
are expected to rise be-
cause new taxes and
fees will impact insurance
carriers and health care
providers. Extreme price
volatility is expected up to
and throughout 2014.
Compliance
While regulations for
businesses with less than
50 employees have yet to
be defined, the guidelines
for larger companies are
clear. Businesses with 50
or more employees will
be subject to a host of
new requirements, includ-
ing the requirement to
provide health coverage
or face possible tax
penalties, as well as the
requirement to file reports
containing information
about their workforce and
health plan offerings.
What this means is that
business owners,
whether small or large,
can’t afford to wait to get
health care reform assis-
tance. More health care
reform regulations are
being issued every week.
And if you wait, you place
your company and your
employees at risk of in-
creased costs and tax
penalties.
How Insperity can help
We’ve led the HR and
benefits administration in-
dustry for almost 30
years. And ever since
Health Care Reform was
enacted in early 2010,
we’ve been studying and
monitoring the law to en-
sure that our Workforce
Optimization clients are
always prepared and al-
ways in compliance. We
are proud of the confi-
dence and stability we
provide to thousands of
America’s best busi-
nesses. And we’re ready
to help you.
Providing Certainty in Uncertain Times
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 7
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 8
Military Minutes
By Benedict D. LaRosa
1) Because high-ca-
pacity, military-style
firearms are designed for
conflict, and when I need
to protect myself and my
freedom, I want the most
reliable, durable, combat-
proven, highest-capacity
weapon available.
2) Because attempts
to infringe my right to own
and possess such arms
makes me suspicious of
the motive.
3) Because I distrust
people in government, as
they have consistently
proven themselves un-
trustworthy, attracting
people who prefer to rule
rather than to govern, to
be served rather than to
serve.
4) Because any type
of gun control among
peaceful people is a vio-
lent act which must be re-
sisted.
5) Because under the
Fast & Furious program,
this administration has fa-
cilitated the transfer of
the same type of
weapons illegally to Mexi-
can drug dealers, and
then used the violence at-
tributed to these weapons
as a pretext for more gun
control.
6) Because it makes
politicians and bureau-
crats nervous and cau-
tious, and I like nervous,
cautious public servants.
7) Because I prefer to
have those in govern-
ment fear me rather than
to fear them.
8) Because banning
such weapons from civil-
ian hands concentrates
power rather than dif-
fuses it, and concentrated
power is dangerous.
9) Because I refuse to
be a subject, and a dis-
armed or poorly armed
populace is no longer
sovereign.
10) Because a popu-
lace armed with the latest
small arms is a credible
threat to tyrannical gov-
ernment.
11) Because I may
have to enforce my rights
some day against an in-
vader, criminals, or a
tyrannical government.
12) Because only pris-
oners and slaves have
their needs determined
by government, and I’m
neither.
13) Because I operate
from rights, not privileges,
and my rights are not
subject to anyone’s vote.
14) Because crimi-
nals, disturbed people,
and would-be tyrants fear
us only as long as they
need to, and they need to
only as long as we are
armed with powerful-
enough weapons.
15) Because, since no
one may tell me not to
publish a book for fear
someone may libel an-
other, or not to purchase
a car because of possible
accidents, then no one
can tell me I can’t own a
certain type of weapon
because one like it may
be misused by someone
else.
16) Because I want a
better chance to defend
myself, my loved ones,
and anyone else I choose
from those who would
harm us.
17) Because I’m
alarmed that civil agen-
cies of the federal gov-
ernment are stockpiling
an unprecedented
amount of ammunition,
weapons, mine-resistant
armored vehicles, and
bulletproof traffic-stop
booths beyond any legiti-
mate need.
18) Because, like in-
surance, it is better to
have them and not need
them, than to need them
and not have them.
19) Because I alone
will determine what
weapons are essential for
my own defense.
20) Because banning
or registering them is be-
yond the lawful authority
of government.
21) Because I feel
safer possessing them.
22) Because only fools
limit their firepower.
23) Because of the
ever-present potential for
lawlessness following
riots, as happened in Los
Angeles in 1993, and nat-
ural disasters, as in New
Orleans following Hurri-
cane Katrina (2005) and
along the New Jersey–
New York coast in the af-
termath of Hurricane
Sandy (2012).
24) Because they are
more dependable than
calling 911.
25) Because govern-
ment has often proved it-
self unreliable in an
emergency, or danger-
ous, as at Ruby Ridge in
1992 and Waco in 1993.
26) Because unless I
possess such arms, I am
outgunned by Mexican
drug smugglers and other
gang members armed
with the latest weaponry.
See #5 above.
27) Because I don’t
know what perils the fu-
ture will bring.
28) Because they
deter criminal behavior
better than anti-gun slo-
gans, laws, signs, or
lesser arms.
29) Because if police
need such weapons to
defend us, so do we as
the first ones at the scene
of a crime.
30) Because I may
have to confront more See Military Weapons Pg 10
Why I Want High-Capacity, Military-Style Weapons
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 8
Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Blvd Houston, TX 77030 713-791-1414 | 800-553-2278
Last week, the
Michael E. DeBakey VA
Medical Center (MED-
VAMC) reached the mile-
stone of enrolling 8,000
participants in the Million
Veteran Program (MVP):
A Partnership with Veter-
ans, and is leading the
nation in enrollment ef-
forts. The MEDVAMC is
one of 49 VA medical
centers serving as an en-
rollment site for this na-
tional, voluntary research
program conducted by
the Department of Veter-
ans Affairs, Office of Re-
search & Development.
The knowledge gained
will help better under-
stand how genes affect
Veterans’ health and ill-
ness, with the ultimate
goal of transforming
health care.
“MVP is a truly historic
effort, in terms of both VA
research and medical re-
search in general,” said
Adam C. Walmus,
M.H.A., M.A., F.A.C.H.E.,
MEDVAMC director. “Vet-
erans nationwide are
helping to create a data-
base that has the poten-
tial to help millions
around the country – Vet-
eran and non-Veteran
alike. They are continuing
to serve the nation well
beyond the time they
stopped wearing the uni-
form.”
MVP provides re-
searchers with a rich re-
source of genetic, health,
lifestyle, and military-ex-
posure data collected
from questionnaires,
medical records, and ge-
netic analyses. By com-
bining this information
into a single database,
MVP promises to ad-
vance knowledge about
the complex links be-
tween genes and health.
Authorized researchers
are able to use MVP data
to help answer important
questions on a wide
range of health conditions
affecting Veterans, from
military-related conditions
such as post-traumatic
stress and traumatic
brain injury, to common
chronic illnesses such as
diabetes and heart dis-
ease.
Participants are asked
to complete a one-time
study visit (approximately
20 minutes in length) to
provide a blood sample
for genetic
analysis.
Participation
also includes
filling out
health sur-
veys, allow-
ing on-going
access to
medical
records, and
agreeing to
future con-
tact. Veteran
participation
does not af-
fect access to VA health
care or benefits.
“This milestone has
come about thanks to our
Veteran participants and
lots of hard work and
dedication on the part of
our researchers and the
MVP team,” said Rayan
Al Jurdi, M.D., a MED-
VAMC psychiatrist, co-pri-
mary investigator of the
MVP in Houston, and an
associate professor at
Baylor College of Medi-
cine. “That is why the
Michael E. DeBakey VA
Medical Center won the
title MVP of the MVP for
highest overall enrollment
nationwide in this re-
search effort.”
"We wish to congratu-
late the Michael E. De-
Bakey VA Medical Center
and the local MVP team
for their outstanding per-
formance in reaching this
milestone,” said
See Veterans Pg 31
Houston Million Veteran Program
reaches 8,000th VeteranHouston VA Enrolls its 8,000th Veteran in Mil-
Cynthia Thibodeaux is the owner of Cynthia’s Station. Cynthia has studied abroad in France and bringsthe most innovative techniques in Haute Coiffure right hereto Houston, TX! Cynthia has been a practicing stylist forover 20 years and graduated top in her class. Cynthia haspracticed at the most prestigious salons in Houston beforebranching out on her own. Cynthia takes into account eachindividual face shape, hair texture and more when she consults with her clients on anything from hair color to dramatic hair style changes. Live in Houston? Looking for anew stylist or a new look? Look no further!
Just Country Opening Soon! Stop by and check on our progress!We’re next to Frank’s Liquor on the
“No maer how long your journey appears to be,there is never more than this: one step, one breath,one moment - Now." (Findhorn Retreat: StillnessAmidst The World)
May Specials at Skin TrendsDr. Monsalvez is now taking appointments
for Laser Hair Removal for May 16th & 23rd.We are also offering great package pricing forthe month of May! Don't miss out! Be readyfor SUMMER!
Also those seeking treatment plan options,Skin Trends is offering a great package price onTherapeutic Facials and Chemical Peel Pack-ages: 3 for $180 for the month of May. Packagescan be combined with these 2 great services.
Keep in mind Dr. Monsalvez offers manylaser services for treatment of spider veins, faciallaser peels and collagen enhancement treatmentsto regain your youthful appearance.
Skin Trends wishes all MOMS a veryHappy Mother's Day! Don't forget to pampermom with a relaxing service or gift from Skin Trends!
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 15
Houston, Texas - The
2nd Annual Springboard
South Music Festival
(SSMF) is pleased to an-
nounce it will be held Fri-
day, June 21 through
Sunday, June 23 at
Warehouse Live. Headlin-
ing artists confirmed for
the Urban Music lineup
on the festival's opening
night include Grammy-
nominated Rap/ Hip-Hop
legend Paul Wall as well
as Slim Thug. Independ-
ent artists on the bill who
will perform alongside the
featured artists include
Elle Gie, Miss Myi and
Soulfruit. More artists will
be announced soon filling
out a lineup that is slated
to include Pop, Rock,
Country, Latin, Singer-
Songwriter, Metal, Gospel
and Jazz genres.* The
event is a follow up to last
year's successful inaugu-
ral festival.
With more than 90
shows from 54 artists on
three stages, SSMF pro-
vides the general public
with live music while
mentoring and educating
the next great generation
of independent artists so
that they can move to the
next level. SSMF is
geared to "springboard"
today's talent and will
oversee 10 one-on-one
mentoring sessions for
the 26 official Spring-
board South artists cho-
sen to participate as well
as give them an opportu-
nity to present music to a
panel of music supervi-
sors. In addition to there
will be "emerging artists"
and "young performer"
slots to help build the
Springboard South artists
of the future.
The festival will pres-
ent these panels and
one-on-one sessions on
Thursday, June 20. Local
music business mentors
scheduled to provide indi-
vidualized advice to
artists are: legal experts
Al Staehely and Ricky
Anderson; social media
pioneers Nancy Byron
and Madalyn Sklar; music
licensing professional
Barry Coffing; producer
Preston Middleton; and
publicist, Ami Blackwell
as well as 20 other music
business experts.
"We are very excited
about the second install-
ment of Springboard
South where we will be
showcasing an incredibly
diverse group of artists in
almost every genre,"
stated Barry Coffing,
founder and creator. "We
are featuring great local
talent as well as other in-
dependent artists from
the south who will be
sharing the stage with
well-known artists to cre-
ate an event that should
be nothing short of amaz-
ing. I can't thank all of the
music business profes-
sionals and headlining
artists enough for donat-
ing their time and wisdom
to help this next genera-
tion of great artists."
This year's activities
will also serve as the
launch of the festival's
non-profit initiative Sus-
tainable Artists. Created
to help artists achieve a
balance between artistic
focus and economic real-
ity, this organization will
empower artists by in-
creasing their education,
networking and business
skills in order for them,
and the art they create, to
be self-sufficient. To
achieve their goals, Sus-
tainable Artists will as-
semble and utilize
resources from govern-
ment agencies, business
professionals, other non-
profit organizations and
educational Institutions.
In addition, SSMF will
benefit Fireseeds, an in-
terfaith organization that
finds and shares diverse
information and re-
sources to develop coop-
erative partnerships to
cultivate a global network
of independent, growth-
oriented community proj-
ects providing physical,
economic, and spiritual
aid.
Marketing, PR and
distribution efforts are
being provided by Hous-
ton's Voice, a community-
driven, local video and
interactive media network
dedicated to supporting
the creative efforts of the
personalities, businesses
and organizations that
make this city great. The
group is currently plan-
ning a red carpet/net-
working event for artists,
industry professionals
and media.
Additional sponsors
include WeGet Music,
UTN - The Urban Televi-
sion Network and Bose
Corporation's Live Music
Team.
General Admission
tickets for the Spring-
board South Music Festi-
val are $24.95 and are
available now online
through Front Gate Tick-
ets by visiting ware-
houselive.frontgatetickets
.com.
Warehouse Live is lo-
cated at 813 St Emanuel
Street, Houston, Texas
77003 and can be con-
tacted by phone at (713)
225-5483.
For more information,
and to stay up to date on
the latest news and per-
formances, please visit
http://www.springboard-
south.com.
2nd Annual Springboard South Music Festival Announces June Dates, Early Lineup
Warehouse Live to Host National Acts, One-On-One Music Business Mentoring
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 16
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 16
Do you love history?
Well, we’d love to have
your assistance! We
want to share the amaz-
ing history of the San
Jacinto County Old Jail
Museum with the public
and we need volunteers!
We are seeking adult
volunteers to give only
three hours of their time
on a rotating basis.
There are two shifts:
10am - 1pm and 1pm-
4pm on the 2nd or 4th
Saturday of each month.
Volunteers may occa-
sionally be asked to give
tours on additional days.
Training will be provided.
Our jail has provided
education and entertain-
ment for years, not to
mention it’s the best site
in the county for the Hal-
lowee Hay-Rides! Chil-
dren from all over our
area love to visit our
jail...as well as adults!
Interested parties should
contact either Barbara
Shelton at 713-628-2402
or Brenda Wiggins at
936-577-4204.
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 17
Historical SJC Jail Museum Needs a Few Good Volunteers!
ker or barter your acceptSee Twisted Christians pg 27
“Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who
terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized and twisted version of
Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation’s armed forces.”
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 22
Washington, DC – The
Internal Revenue Service
is telling its employees to
be prepared for the
agency to shut down for
at least five Fridays be-
tween May and August.
IRS Acting Commissioner
Steve Miller sent a memo
to employees stating that
every worker would be
furloughed for at least five
days and the dates cho-
sen so far are May 24
(the Friday before Memo-
rial Day), June 14 (Flag
Day), July 5, July 22 and
Aug. 30 (the Friday be-
fore Labor Day) with two
additional days possible
in August or September.
“Rather than stagger-
ing the furlough days so
that someone at the IRS
is always there to assist
taxpayers every working
day, the President has
once again decided to in-
flict the maximum amount
of pain on Americans via
the modest sequester
cuts he came up with last
year,” stated Congress-
man Kevin Brady of
Texas, a senior Republi-
can member of the House
Ways and Means Com-
mittee, which has over-
sight of the IRS. During
these days, all public-IRS
operations will be shut
down, including toll-free
numbers, and local Tax-
payer Assistance Cen-
ters. "When small
business owners have
questions about payroll
taxes or a family is won-
dering where their refund
check is, someone needs
to be on the other end
of the telephone to an-
swer those questions.”
While some taxpay-
ers may be hoping this
means fewer audits,
Brady noted that acting
IRS Commissioner Miller
testified in the House ear-
lier this month that he ex-
pects collection of tax
revenues to drop consid-
erably and taxpayer calls
to go unanswered.
“Sadly, this is more politi-
cal stunting from this
White House, which re-
fuses to believe this
bloated federal govern-
ment can take even a two
cent cut in spending. Tell
that to families who
haven’t seen their income
increase, though their tax
burdens at the local, state
and federal levels cer-
tainly have.”
Washington- Texas Con-
gressman Kevin Brady
has teamed up with a bi-
partisan group of over 45
lawmakers to force the
Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration (FAA) to uphold its
responsibility for operat-
ing local contract air traf-
fic control towers.
The Air Traffic Control
Tower Funding Restora-
tion Act reverses the
FAA’s political decision to
close 149 contract tow-
ers, including Conroe’s
Lone Star Airport. The
money to keep the tow-
ers open will be trans-
ferred from unused
funding sitting idle in
other accounts within the
agency.
"This measure has
one simple goal--- to
force the FAA to stop
playing politics with our
local airports and to put a
priority on air safety,”
said Brady. "We didn’t
have to dig very far to
find idle funds from years
past that would be better
spent on the local tow-
ers.”
Under the modest se-
quester savings, the FAA
was told to cut 5% from a
budget which has in-
creased 40% since 2001.
Instead of cutting waste,
the FAA chose to close
contract towers and send
air traffic controllers
home on furloughs.
Obama’s IRS Furloughs Designed to
Inconvenience TaxpayersBrady asks, ‘Who will be there for the taxpayers?’
Brady Acts to Prioritize Funding
for Local Airport TowersNew House Bill to "force the FAA to stop
playing politics” with Local Airports
Washington, D.C. – Rep-
resentative Kevin Brady
(R-TX), Chairman of the
Joint Economic Commit-
tee, commented on
today’s report from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) that the economy
created an additional
176,000 private sector
jobs in April and that the
unemployment rate de-
clined by 0.1 percentage
point to 7.5%.
“Today’s jobs report
clearly exceeded the ex-
pectations of most eco-
nomic forecasters. Let’s
hope this is the beginning
of a trend. Even with
today’s report this recov-
ery has still produced 4.1
million fewer private sec-
tor jobs than the average
of other post-World War II
recoveries,” Brady said.
Brady continued, “Even
the White House admits
America’s unemployment
rate may not return to its
pre-recession level for
another decade. Clearly
the anemic economic
growth of this recovery -
particularly the lack of
strong business invest-
ment in buildings, equip-
ment and software – isn’t
sufficient to accelerate
private sector job growth.”
Brady cautioned that
today’s report “May turn
into another false signal
that the labor market is
improving. We’ve seen
this before. I hope what
some have referred to as
green shoots in the past
don’t turn out to be an-
other crop of weeds.”
Better than Expected Jobs Report, but Jobs Gap Remains at Over 4 Million
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 23
Last Month’s Answers
Crossword PuzzleAcross
1. Limited in
size or scope
6. Zeal
10. Desiccated
14. Kind of fairy
15. Stem of a
tree
16. Impersonate
17. Assumed
name
18. Item of
footwear
19. Compass di-
rection
20. Withstand
22. Nocturnal in-
sect
24. Litigate
25. Helot
27. Blandish
29. Relating to
heraldry
33. Epoch
34. Precipitation
35. Similar or
related
37. Three note
major or minor
chord
41. Lodge
42. Large inter-
nal organ
44. Singing pair
45. Mix up or
confuse
48. Rend
49. Portable
shelter
50. Fuss
52. Embellish
54. Evil spirit
(folklore)
58. Uncommon
59. Frozen
water
60. Utter
62. Pale
66. Disposed of
to a purchaser
68. Quality of
voice
70. Near
71. Large
woody plant
72. Tournament
for amateurs
and profession-
als
73. Tightly
twisted cotton
thread
74. Afresh
75. Tall woody
perennial grass
76. Organic
compound
Down
1. Box lightly
2. 1,760 yards
3. Center point
of rotation
4. Communica-
tion channel
5. Smaller in
size, amount
or value
6. Flow out
7. Textile ma-
chine for
weaving yarn
8. Remote in
manner
9. Stinging plant
10. Simian
11. Cook with
dry heat
12. Publish
13. Discourage
21. Test
23. Male red
deer
26. Holy person
28. Mariner
29. Song for
solo voice
30. Currency of
South Africa
31. Psyche
32. Ashen
36. Not at any
time
38. Notion
39. Female rela-
tive
40. Shower with
love
43. Summarize
briefly
46. Circuit
47. Redact
49. Latticework
51. Public
speaker
53. Seer
54. Panorama
55. Fruit of the
oak
56. Noisy ri-
otous fight
57. Run off se-
cretly to
marry
61. Leg joint
63. Geographi-
cally
disoriented
64. Small island
65. Cervid
67. Condensa-
tion
69. Finish
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 24
The U.S. economy hit
a new milestone in the
first quarter of 2013: An-
nual output of goods and
services eclipsed $16 tril-
lion. The 2.5% growth
pace in GDP through
March seems like a wild
night on the town after
the 0.4% slog at the end
of 2012.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that this
recovery is still half the
pace of the normal ex-
pansion. The Joint Eco-
nomic Committee reports
that if the economy had
grown at the typical pace
coming out of recession,
at this stage GDP would
be closer to $17.4 trillion.
This $1.4 trillion growth
deficit is roughly the size
of the combined annual
production of Michigan,
Ohio and Pennsylvania in
2011.
Consumer spending
drove about 90% of the
GDP growth in the quar-
ter with an assist from a
long-delayed but robust
housing recovery (12.6%
in the last quarter on top
of 12.1% growth in 2012).
One disappointment was
the humdrum 2.1% pace
of business spending on
plant, machinery and
computers. Business
spending is one of the
best predictors of future
hiring and wage in-
creases, so this suggests
continued tough times for
workers ahead.
The national income
data, also released on
Friday, explain a lot about
the initial impact of the
tax increases that hit in
January. By the middle of
last year, the White
House made it known
that it would insist on let-
ting the Bush era tax cuts
on dividends, capital
gains and personal in-
come rise for individuals
earning more than
$200,000. The health-
care law also raised pay-
roll taxes by another
0.9% on higher income
earners, on top of the
two-percentage-point in-
crease that hit all wage
earners.
The result seems to
have been one of the
largest shifts in the timing
of income in American
history. From the third to
the fourth quarter of
2012, personal income
soared by $262 billion de-
spite anemic 0.4% GDP
growth. Then in the first
three months of 2013 in-
comes fell $109 billion.
Some of the first quar-
ter's decline in personal
income (about $30 billion)
was due to the expiration
of the payroll tax holiday
in January. But individu-
als and businesses
clearly accelerated in-
come into 2012 to evade
the higher tax rates arriv-
ing in 2013.
This effect is evident
in reported dividend in-
come. That figure rose to
$862 billion in 2012's
fourth quarter as many
corporations cut special
dividends at the end of
the year to pay the expir-
ing 15% dividend tax
rate. In the first three
months of this year, divi-
dends fell to $740 billion
even as the tax rate rose
to 23.8%. Those who
claim that taxes don't af-
fect behavior should ex-
plain that one.
The dividend and per-
sonal income windfall
from late last year may
partly explain the healthy
increase in consumer
spending in January and
February despite the big
payroll-tax increase. Con-
sumer spending wasn't
as robust in March, and
the longer-term worry is
that higher tax rates on
business and investment
income will dampen eco-
nomic activity and fund-
ing for new enterprises.
It's been 15 quarters
since the economy hit its
recession trough in June
2009. The growth rate (on
an annual basis) has
since averaged 2.1%, or
half the 4.4% average
rate of the past nine re-
coveries. The Reagan ex-
pansion averaged 5.3%
through the same 15
quarters, according to the
Joint Economic Commit-
tee. The current expan-
sion's subpar growth
performance explains
why unemployment re-
mains so stubbornly high
and median household
incomes after inflation are
nearly $3,000 below
where they were when
the recession ended.
The White House was
quick to blame the spend-
ing sequester for deter-
ring faster growth. Chief
White House economist
Alan Krueger warned that
the sequester's "arbitrary
and unnecessary cuts to
government services will
be a headwind in the
months to come, and will
cut key investments in
the nation's future com-
petitiveness."
The reality is that gov-
ernment spending did de-
cline by 4.1% in the
quarter, and this shaved
0.8% off a GDP calcula-
tion that counts govern-
ment spending as a plus
no matter what it is spent
on. But 75% of those fed-
eral cuts were in defense,
which the White House
wants to cut. When de-
fense spending fell during
the 1990s, GDP still rose
at a faster pace because
private growth was so
much stronger.
What we are experi-
encing now is not some
"austerity" shock but a
slow downward adjust-
ment in government
spending to a still high
22.7% of GDP from the
unprecedented high of
President's Obama's first
term average of 24%.
Those spending levels
weren't sustainable, un-
less you want to send
federal debt as a share of
GDP even higher than
the 76.6% it is expected
to reach this year.
We are now in year
five of what has been one
of the great experiments
in Keynesian economic
policy. We were told that
See Deficit Page 27
The Growth Deficit
A modest first-quarter rebound, but not enough to lift the middle class
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 25
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 26
Sent in By Penny Uselton
--- In case you haven't
heard about this guy be-
fore, his name will stick in
your mind!
The new Maine Gov-
ernor, Paul LePage is
making New Jersey 's
Chris Christie look like an
enabler. He isn't afraid to
say what he thinks. Judg-
ing by the comments,
every time he opens his
mouth, his popularity
goes up.
He brought down the
house at his inauguration
when he shook his fist to-
ward the media box and
said, "You're on notice!
I've inherited a financially
troubled State to run. Ob-
serve...cover what we
do...but don't whine if I
don't waste time respond-
ing to your every whim
just for your amusement."
During his campaign
for Governor, he was talk-
ing to commercial fisher-
men who are struggling
because of federal fish-
eries rules. They com-
plained that 0bama
brought his family to Bar
Harbor and Acadia Na-
tional Park for a long
Labor Day holiday and
found time to meet with
union leaders, but would-
n't talk to the fishermen.
LePage replied, "I'd tell
him to go to hell and get
out of my State." The
Lame Stream Media cru-
cified LePage, but he
jumped 6 points in the
pre-election poll.
The Martin Luther
King incident was a politi-
cal sandbag, which
brought him National ex-
posure. The 'lame stream'
media crucified him, but
word on the street is very
positive. The NAACP
specifically asked LeP-
age to spend MLK Day
visiting black inmates at
the Maine State Prison.
He told them that he
would meet with ALL in-
mates, regardless of
race, if he were to visit
the prison. The NAACP
balked and then put out a
news release claiming
falsely that he refused to
participate in any MLK
events. He read it in the
paper for the 1st time the
next morning while being
driven to an event and
went ballistic because
none of the reporters had
called him for comment
before running the
NAACP release.
He arrived at that
event & said in front of a
TV camera, "If they want
to play the race card on
me they can kiss my
ass", and he reminded
them that he has an
adopted black son from
Jamaica and that he at-
tended the local MLK
Breakfast every year that
he was mayor of Water-
ville. (He started his
morning there on MLK
Day.)
He then stated that
there's a right way and a
wrong way to meet with
the Governor, and he put
all special interests on
notice that press re-
leases, media leaks, and
all demonstrations would
prove to be the wrong
way. He said any other
group, which acted like
the NAACP could expect
to be at the bottom of the
Governor's priority list!
He then did the follow-
ing, and judging from
local radio talk show
callers, his popularity in-
creased even more: The
State employees union
complained because he
waited until 3 P.M. before
closing State offices and
facilities and sending
non-emergency person-
nel home during the last
blizzard. The prior Gover-
nor would often close of-
fices for the day with just
a forecast before the first
flakes. (Each time the
State closes for snow, it
costs the taxpayers about
$1 million in wages for no
work in return.)
LePage was CEO of
the Marden's chain of dis-
count family bargain retail
stores before election as
governor. He noted that
State employees getting
off work early could still
find lots of retail stores
open to shop. So, he put
the State employees on
notice by announcing: "If
Marden's is open, Maine
is open!"
He told State employ-
ees: "We live in Maine in
the winter, for heaven's
sake, and should know
how to drive in it. Other-
wise, apply for a State job
in Florida !"
Governor LePage
symbolizes what America
needs; Refreshing politi-
cians who aren't self-
serving and who exhibit
common sense.
THE LAW IS THE LAW!
I really love this one.
HERE IS WHAT Gover-
nor LaPage said,
"THE LAW IS THE
LAW So "if" the US gov-
ernment determines that
it is against the law for
the words "under God" to
be on our money, then,
so be it.
And "if" that same gov-
ernment decides that the
"Ten Commandments"
are not to be used in or
on a government installa-
tion, then, so be it.
I say, "so be it," be-
cause I would like to be a
law abiding US citizen
I say, "so be it," be-
cause I would like to think
that smarter people than I
are in positions to make
good decisions.
I would like to think
that those people have
the American public's
best interests at heart.
BUT, he said, "YOU
KNOW WHAT ELSE I'D
LIKE?
Since we can't pray to
God, can't Trust in God
and cannot post His
Commandments in Gov-
ernment buildings, I don't
believe Government
(Federal, State and
Local) and its employees
should participate in
Easter and Christmas
celebrations which honor
the God that our govern-
ment is eliminating from
many facets of American
life.
I'd like my mail deliv-
ered on Christmas, Good
Friday, Thanksgiving &
Easter. After all, it's just
another day.
I'd like the" US
Supreme Court to be in
session on Christmas,
Good Friday, Thanksgiv-
ing & Easter as well as
Sundays." After all, it's
just another day.
I'd like the Senate and
the House of Representa-
tives to not have to worry
about getting home for
the "Christmas Break."
After all it's just another
day.
I'm thinking a lot of my
taxpayer dollars could be
saved, if all government
offices & services would
work on Christmas, Good
Friday & Easter. It
shouldn't cost any over-
time since those would
be just like any other day
of the week to a govern-
ment that is trying to be
"politically correct."
In fact....I think our
government should work
on Sundays (initially set
aside for worshipping
God....) because, after
all, our government says
that it should be just an-
other day...."
Meet Maine 's New Governor
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 26
Deficit
if Congress would
spend
$830 billion more tem-
porarily, and the Fed-
eral Reserve would
unleash monetary pol-
icy, a recovery would
begin and rapid growth
would resume. Larry
Summers, Alan
Krueger, Jared Bern-
stein and their allies on
Wall Street got their pol-
icy wishes. Their econ-
omy has delivered
mediocre growth and
declining middle-class
incomes—though we
will concede that the
wealthy have done well
as the stock market has
recovered.
So now the same
Keynesians say the
spending blowout was-
n't large or long
enough, taxes still
aren't high enough, and
monetary policy hasn't
been easy enough.
What this economy re-
ally needs is a statute
of limitations on intellec-
tual denial.
A version of this arti-
cle appeared April 27,
2013, on page A12 in
the U.S. edition of The
Wall Street Journal,
with the headline: The
Growth Deficit.
Twisted Christians
ance of their putrid the-
ology, then they crave
for your universal si-
lence in the face of their
rapacious reign of theo-
cratic terror. Indeed,
they ceaselessly lust,
ache, and pine for you
to do absolutely nothing
to thwart their oppres-
sion. Comply, my
friends, and you be-
come as monstrously
savage as are they. I
beg you, do not feed
these hideous monsters
with your stoic lethargy,
callousness and neu-
trality. Do not lubricate
the path of their racism,
bigotry, and prejudice.
Doing so directly threat-
ens the national secu-
rity of our beautiful
nation.
God help us now
when someone with
such visceral hatred of
conservative Chris-
tians—literally tens of
millions of Americans—
who says sharing this
gospel is “spiritual rape”
is helping develop poli-
cies for how to deal with
Christians in the mili-
tary.
Weinstein says
those guilty of this “trea-
son” must be “pun-
ished.” Under federal
law, the penalty for trea-
son is death. And the
Obama administration
is sitting down to talk
with this man to craft
new policies for “reli-
gious tolerance” in our
military.
By Elise Viebeck
Republicans intro-
duced a bill Friday in re-
sponse to allegations that
top congressional officials
are seeking to exempt
Capitol Hill from Oba-
maCare's health insur-
ance exchanges.
The measure from
Ways and Means Com-
mittee Chairman Dave
Camp (R-Mich.) would re-
quire that all federal em-
ployees — including the
president, vice president
and Cabinet members —
purchase coverage
through the market-
places.
"If the ObamaCare ex-
changes are good
enough for the hardwork-
ing Americans and small
businesses the law
claims to help, then they
should be good enough
for the president, vice
president, Congress, and
federal employees,"
Camp spokeswoman
Sarah Swinehart said in a
statement.
"While the majority of
Americans oppose this
law, we can all agree that
it is only fair that our
elected officials follow the
same rules as everyone
else," she said.
Republicans spent
Thursday hammering De-
mocrats after Politico re-
ported that top leaders
were engaged in talks to
exempt themselves and
their staffs from using the
exchanges as mandated
by law.
Democrats flatly de-
nied the allegations and
said they would not sup-
port an exemption if it
were proposed.
“There are not now,
have never been, nor will
there ever be any discus-
sions about exempting
members of Congress or
congressional staff from
Affordable Care Act provi-
sions that apply to any
employees of any other
public or private employer
offering healthcare,” said
Adam Jentleson,
spokesman for Senate
Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-Nev.).
Camp's bill would
amend the Affordable
Care Act to require that
all federal employees ex-
cept active-duty military
and postal workers buy
coverage on the ex-
changes. The require-
ment currently applies
only to Congress and its
staff.
The bill was co-spon-
sored by Ways and
Means Health subcom-
mittee Chairman Kevin
Brady (R-Texas) and
Reps. Sam Johnson (R-
Texas), Devin Nunes (R-
Calif.), Charles Boustany
(R-La.), and Aaron
Schock (R-Ill.).
GOP Bill Hits Alleged ObamaCare
Exemption Talks
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 27
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 27
"All vets are mentally ill and government should
prevent them from owning firearms." Dianne Feinstein
Rebuttle: "Frankly, I don't know what it is about California, but we seem to have a
strange urge to elect really obnoxious women to high office.
I'm not bragging, you understand, but no other state, including Maine, even
comes close. When it comes to sending left-wing dingbatsto Washington, we're
Number One. There's no getting around the fact that the last time anyone saw the
likes of Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, and Nancy Pelosi, they
were stirring a cauldron when the curtain went up on 'Macbeth'. The four of them
are like jackasses who happen to possess the gift of blab. You don't know if you
should condemn them for their stupidity or simply marvel at their ability to form
words."
- - Columnist Burt Prelutsky, Los Angeles Times
Washington, D.C. –
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-
TX), Chairman of the
Joint Economic Commit-
tee, commented on
today’s report from the
Bureau of Economic
Analysis that real gross
domestic product (GDP)
increased at an annual
rate of 2.5% during the
1st-quarter 2013.
“Growth in the first
quarter was weaker than
expected in large part
because of a decline in
the growth rate of busi-
ness investment in new
buildings, equipment,
and software. Without
strong business invest-
ment, millions of Ameri-
cans will remain
unemployed,” Brady
said.
“The good news is
that our economy grew
at an annual rate of
2.5% during the 1st-
quarter of this year. The
bad news is that even at
this rate, the economy
may never get back to
the growth of an average
recovery. In fact, we
would end the decade
with an even larger
growth gap than we al-
ready have,” Brady said.
“Even with the econ-
omy growing at an an-
nual rate of 2.5% in the
first quarter, the growth
gap in real GDP com-
pared to other post-
World War II recoveries
stands at $1.2 trillion.
The annualized growth
rate during this recovery
remains an anemic 2.1%
over 15 quarters com-
pared with the average
of 4.4% during other re-
coveries over the same
period.”
Brady noted that,
“The bounce back in
today’s report also re-
flects an artificially de-
pressed fourth quarter
report driven by a shift of
defense spending from
the fourth quarter into
third quarter of 2012.
Without that shift,
today’s report would
have shown real GDP in-
creasing by only 1.9%.”
An analysis* by the
Joint Economic Commit-
tee staff found that ab-
sent the shift of those
expenditures, third quar-
ter 2012 real GDP would
have grown at a rate of
2.5% instead of the re-
ported 3.1% and fourth
quarter 2012 real GDP
would have grown at a
rate of 1.6% instead of
the reported 0.4%.
“If we want to get
Americans back to work,
we must get government
out of the way of our free
enterprise system. We
must put our fiscal
house in order by reduc-
ing federal spending rel-
ative to the size of the
economy and getting the
Federal Reserve out of
the business of allocat-
ing credit. We must
enact pro-growth tax re-
form and eliminate un-
necessary regulations
that hamper innovation
and job creation,” Brady
concluded.
Washington, D.C. –
Texas State Senator
Tommy Williams, chair-
man of the Senate Fi-
nance Committee, will
testify today at a House
Ways & Means Human
Resources Subcommittee
hearing in support of al-
lowing states to require
drug screening as a con-
dition for receiving unem-
ployment benefits.
U.S. Congressman
Kevin Brady of Texas,
who helped successfully
remove a 40-year federal
ban on drug screening
and testing unemploy-
ment recipients and allow
for the first ever pro-work
program waivers during
last year’s negotiations
on extending federal un-
employment benefits, will
join Williams at the hear-
ing. Senator Williams has
moved bipartisan legisla-
tion through the State
Senate in Austin, which
would require drug
screening for some indi-
viduals receiving unem-
ployment benefits – a
move that Brady strongly
supports.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t
subsidize drug use. If
you’re on drugs, you’re
not job ready,” said Brady,
who leads the Health
Subcommittee in Con-
gress. “I applaud the
leadership of Senator
Williams, and we will con-
tinue to push the White
House to follow the law
and issue regulations on
drug testing so that states
like Texas can implement
the law.”
Brady is also a strong
advocate of the waiver
policy and encouraged
Texas state officials to
apply for one of ten fed-
eral waivers under the
pilot program. Subse-
quently, their initial appli-
cation was denied by the
Department of Labor
(DOL), citing a lack of
guidelines at the time.
Today’s appearance by
Brady at the hearing will
be his second. Last year,
after DOL finally issued
application guidelines, he
appeared to question
DOL’s Assistant Secre-
tary Jane Oates about the
lengthy requirements in-
cluded in the guidelines,
which have since com-
pletely stifled all interest
in the waiver policy.
When questioned last
year about what would
happen if no state applied
for a waiver, DOL’s re-
sponded by saying that
“after a few months” they
would “go back to the
drawing board” if the pro-
gram did not move for-
ward. Brady claims the
agency continues to
needlessly stall.
“Texas has already
been recognized by the
White House for their in-
novative ways to get Tex-
ans back to work. But
again, the White House
needs to apply the law
and allow states like
Texas to continue that in-
novation when it comes
to getting the unemployed
back to work making
good wages rather than
collecting benefit checks.”
Better, But Not Good Enough“Economic growth remains tepid due to
weak business investment,” says Brady
Drug Testing for Unemployment: Texas State Senator
Tommy Williams Testifies before U.S. House Ways and
Means PanelWilliams joins Congressman Brady in support of drug screening as
condition for unemployment compensation
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 28
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 29
Washington, DC – The
Department of Trans-
portation announced late
Thursday that Air Traffic
Controller furloughs and
runway closings will
begin on Sunday, be-
cause they have “done
everything to find a bil-
lion dollars.”
“They want you to
wait at the gate while
they hold press confer-
ences to convince you
there is no possible way
this government can
save some of your hard-
earned tax dollars,” said
Texas Congressman
Kevin Brady. “The truth
of the matter is that in-
stead of cutting consult-
ants, conferences,
executive travel and staff
parties out of their rapidly
growing budget, they
made a cynical, political
decision to close run-
ways and send air traffic
controllers home. Why?
So fliers will feel maxi-
mum pain over these
minor sequester sav-
ings.”
“How does this -- or
the President’s recent
budget proposal’s un-
precedented number of
higher aviation taxes and
fees – make our skies
safer?” asked Brady who
says the White House
could direct the FAA to
cut wasteful spending in-
stead of putting families
and business travelers in
an unnecessary holding
pattern.
Washington, DC – Ahead
of an expected late sum-
mer showdown on the
debt ceiling, on Wednes-
day the U.S. House Ways
and Means Committee
will consider legislation to
direct the U.S. Treasury
to make all federal debt
payments and interest, in-
cluding guaranteeing that
Social Security benefits
are paid in full, if the debt
ceiling is not raised in Au-
gust. The Full Faith and
Credit Act is introduced
by Republican Congress-
man Tom McClintock of
California.
“This assures in-
vestors that America will
make good on its debt
while focusing Washing-
ton on the true problem –
the real risk of another
downgrade of America’s
credit rating if the Presi-
dent and Congress don’t
take sensible, credible
steps to save Social Se-
curity and Medicare for
the long term,” says U.S.
Congressman Kevin
Brady of Texas, a senior
member of the commit-
tee, who supports the bill.
The federal govern-
ment is generating more
taxes and revenue than at
any time since 2007,
notes Brady, “so there is
plenty of money to pay
the debt if the ceiling is
not raised on time. A de-
fault would raise interest
rates and likely push
America back into a dou-
ble-dip recession.”
Brady says he is most
concerned about avoiding
a second downgrade of
America’s credit rating.
“Let’s take default off
the table so the President
and Congress can’t hide
any longer from the seri-
ous financial problems
facing Medicare and So-
cial Security,” concluded
Brady. “We’ve got to act
now, together, to preserve
these important programs
for the long haul or risk a
second downgrade of
America’s credit – which
will increase the nation’s
deficits and make credit
more expensive for fami-
lies, small businesses
and local governments.”
Washington, DC –
Today, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed
legislation to protect
America’s business com-
puter infrastructure from
cyber attacks as coun-
tries like China continue
to attempt to infiltrate
U.S. networks to steal
trade secrets and per-
sonal information.
The revised Cyber In-
telligence Sharing and
Protection Act (CISPA)
allows American busi-
nesses to voluntarily
share cyber attack signa-
tures as they are hap-
pening with the govern-
ment and other
businesses who might be
attacked. The shared
cyber attack information
occurs are at the base 0
and 1 source code level.
“Cyber attacks from
foreign governments
steal American jobs and
our intellectual property,”
said Texas Congressman
Kevin Brady. “I’m con-
vinced a voluntary ap-
proach that places a
priority on protecting our
personal information is
so much better than the
White House proposal
that mandates who and
how businesses are
forced to share data with
the federal government.”
“American busi-
nesses need to be able
to move quickly to defend
themselves from cyber
attacks and inform similar
businesses so they can
defend themselves in
real time,” added Brady.
“All this happens at the
computer code level in a
nanosecond.”
Cyber Attacks: House Votes to Protect U.S. Computer
Systems and Privacy Voluntary Quick Response To Prevent Foreign Nations from Stealing
Business Secrets & Personal Information
Debt Ceiling: House Ways & Means
Committee Acting to Guarantee
America Will Honor Its DebtsTakes Default Off Table, Focuses Washington
On Saving Social Security & Medicare
Peace is that brief glorious moment in history wheneveryone stands around reloading.
Thomas Jefferson
Brady Calls out FAA over Flight Delays Landing
SundayLong Waits at Gates and Closed Runways is about Inflicting
Maximum Pain
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 29
Business Block
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 30
We are very excited to
report that the Land Pro-
curement Committee, co-
chaired by Steve Strake
and Stan Stanley, has se-
lected a site for the new
Camp Strake. This site is
under contract for pur-
chase. The contract
which was presented by
Steve Strake and Stan
Stanley, was approved by
the Executive Committee
at its meeting on Thurs-
day, March 28. The se-
lected site consists of
1,442 acres and is conve-
niently located between I-
45 and Highway 59 near
the community of Ever-
green. It is surrounded on
three sides by Sam
Houston National Forest.
The purchase of this
property is subject to the
following:
• the due diligence
study of the site being
satisfactorily completed
• selling the property of
the current site of Camp
Strake for enough money
to buy this land, build a
new state-of-the-art
Camp Strake for 21st
century Scouts and their
leaders, and to endow
the new Camp Strake.
Our broker, Jones
Lang LaSalle, which was
selected by the Land Dis-
position Committee to
market the current site of
Camp Strake began to
market the property on
March 22. After a thor-
ough period of marketing
the property, a sealed bid
process will be used to
sell it. This is a very excit-
ing time for the Sam
Houston Area Council as
we have found a wonder-
ful site for the new Camp
Strake that will provide a
transformational outdoor
adventure experience to
help equip young people
with a foundation for
leadership. The new
Camp Strake is an excit-
ing pivot point in the his-
tory of Sam Houston Area
Council. With a new
Camp Strake, Sam Hous-
ton Area Council is com-
mitted to:
• Being relevant to our
customer: today’s and to-
morrow’s youth
• Staying connected
with our customer to build
lifelong relationships
• Continuing a leader-
ship position in youth de-
velopment.
We will continue to
provide updates on the
relocation of Camp
Strake as progress is
made.
The Sam Houston
Area Council intends to
use the new Camp
Strake for training, winter
camps and summertime
activities. The Council ex-
pects to welcome 15,000
campers per year to the
new site.
New jobs are not an-
ticipated when Camp
Strake opens in San Jac-
into County because
many of the current em-
ployees will make the
drive to the new location.
However, local stores,
restaurants, B&B’s,
etc will be positively
impacted by sales of
goods and services
campers and visitors
need when attending
Camp Strake. This is
good news indeed for
San Jacinto County.
They will have a Mas-
ter Planning meeting in
September and it is un-
likely the camp will be op-
erational in 2014.
There will be climbing
towers, shooting range,
science lab area.
The current site of
Camp Strake was ac-
quired in 1942 and dedi-
cated in March, 1944
honoring George and
Susan Strake who paid
off the note of the pur-
chase of the land.
We (TDGT) believe
the more accurate loca-
tion is FM 945 North &
Down Hines Lake Road
(which is the road it is ac-
tually going to be on), this
road dead ends into the
Sam Houston National
Forest.
Update on Relocation of Camp Strake from Montgomery County to San Jacinto County
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 30
LIES
country, our economy,
our personal busi-
nesses and our bank
accounts. It’s gone on
long enough. You don’t
get something for noth-
ing. Not for long any-
way.
You are in OUR
White House and while
you are there we’d ap-
preciate it if you ac-
knowledged the fact
you are in such a great
space to teach honor-
able traits to our young
people instead of an
entitlement mentality.
Instead of teaching
(and leading by exam-
ple) that winning comes
through integrity and
sacrifice you are teach-
ing (and leading by ex-
ample) that a win
should come at all
costs…even human life.
Winning! That means
everything and every-
thing in its way is dis-
posable…including
integrity and ethics.
This week a shining
example of how out of
control our youth is was
displayed when a 17-
year-old punk punched
a coach and now that
coach is dead. Instead
of respect our children
are learning disrespect.
Instead of responsibility
our children are learn-
ing gratify-me…NOW!
Instead of integrity our
children are learning
entitlement.
And as I love to
quote from my favorite
movie, Remember the
Titans, “Attitude reflect
leadership!”
Who is Jon Galt?
Veterans
Research and Develop-ment Officer. “Their contin-ued support has placedtheir facility as the top siteamong our 49 enrollingMVP sites.”
“With the help of our pri-mary care teams and labo-ratory staff, we are makinggreat progress towardreaching our goal of en-rolling 20,000 southeastTexas Veterans in thenext four years,” saidLaura Marsh, M.D.,Mental Health CareLine executive and co-primary investigator ofthe MVP in Houston.Marsh is also a profes-sor at the MenningerDepartment of Psychia-try and Behavioral Sci-ences at Baylor Collegeof Medicine.
Tammy Natividad,Maxwell Stewart, “Vicki”Zhifang Zhao and EmilyBoeckman are theHouston MVP repre-sentatives. They are lo-cated at the MEDVAMCin Room 6B-310 andcan be reached for anappointment at 713-791-1414, ext. 6911.Walk-ins are also wel-come.
Up to a million Veteransare expected to enroll inthe VA study over the nextsix years. Veterans’ pri-vacy and confidentialityare top priorities in MVP,as in all VA research. Dataand genetic samples col-lected through the studyare stored securely andmade available for studiesby authorized researchers,with stringent safeguardsin place to protect Veter-ans’ private health informa-tion.
...Who is Ed Mezvinsky?...Edward "Ed" Mezvinskyborn January 17, 1937, is aformer Democrat congress-man.
As a Democrat, he repre-sented Iowa 's 1st congres-sional district in theUnited States House ofRepresentatives for twoterms, from 1973 to 1977.
He sat on the House Judici-ary Committee that decidedthe fate of Richard Nixon.
He and the Clinton's werevery politically intertwinedfor years.
In March 2001, Mezvinskywas indicted and laterpleaded guilty to 31 of 69charges of bank fraud, mailfraud, and wire fraud.
He was sentenced to 80months in (Federal) prison.Ed Mezvinsky embezzledmore than $10 million dol-lars from people via both aPonzi scheme and the noto-rious Nigerian e-mailscams. After serving five
years in federal prison, hewas released in April 2008.He remained on federalprobation through 2011,and still owes $9.4 millionin restitution to his victims.
So who is he? He's ChelseaClinton's father-in law. Hasanyone heard mention ofthis in any of the media?
If this guy was Jenna orBarbara Bush's, or betteryet, Sarah Palin's daugh-ter's, father-in- law, thenews would be an everydayheadline.
Some say there are no dou-ble standards in the mediaor politics . . . S-u-r-ethere aren't...
...Scarface actor and for-
mer anchorman Mario
Machado has died from
complications from pneu-
monia. He was 78.
3rd Annual Car &
Bike Show in Cold-
spring, TX on the
Courthouse Sq.
May May 25th!
Rumor Has It
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 32
Local Offices:
The Honorable Rick
Perry, Governor
Office of the Governor,
State Capitol, Austin TX
78711-2428 (800) 252-
9600
Fax: (512) 463-1849
The Honorable John
Cornyn, Senator
517 Hart Senate Office
Building, Washington DC
20510 (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
The Honorable Ted Cruz
Austin Office
300 E. 8th., Suite #961
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: (512) 916-5834
Dallas Office
10440 N Central Expwy,
Suite #1160
Dallas, TX 75231
Phone: (214) 361-3500
Houston Office
1919 Smith St., Suite
#800
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: (713) 653-3456
San Antonio Office
3133 General Hudnell
Dr., Suite # 120
San Antonio, TX 78226
Phone: (210) 340-2885
Washington Office
Dirksen Senate Office
Building,
Suite SDB-40B
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5922
The Honorable Joan
Huffman
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711
(512) 463-0117
District Addresses:
129 Circle Way, Ste 101
Lake Jackson, Texas
77566
(979) 480-0994
(979) 480-9122 (Fax)
6217 Edloe
Houston, Texas 77005
(713) 662-3821
(713) 682-3842 (Fax)
The Dam GossipMay 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 33
Photos from opposite page clockwise: Luke Sweeney & Myron LaDay offshore in Louisana at Vermillion 149; Luke Sweeney & Ken Eymard off-shore in Louisana at Vermillion 67; Suzanne York aboard the Duck Dynasty 18 Wheeler at the NRA 2013 Convention in Houston Texas;Cheryl Laramore with TDGT at the George Strait concert in Lile Rock, AK: Photos this page, clockwise: Cissy Allen & Pam Thiel in Negril, Ja-maica; Dave Kemmerer and Crystal Laramore in the Duck Commander at the NRA 2013 Convention in Houston, TX; Chase Landry, fromSwamp People, & Crystal Laramore at the NRA 2013 Convention in Houston, TX
Going abroad? Someplace interesting? Grab a copy of TDGT and take a pic of yourself with TDGT and we’ll make you famous too!
May 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 37
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 37
April 2013 The Dam Good Times Page 38
By Penny Uselton
The 142nd Annual
NRA Convention in Hous-
ton was a HUGE success
with well over 70,000 par-
ticipants. Wonderful
speakers were heard and
wonderful camaraderie
was witnessed by this re-
porter and participant!
The “Stand Up and Fight”
themed convention, with
its many exhibits promot-
ing the Second Amend-
ment, filled all three floors
of the George R. Brown
Convention Center.
The speakers at the
Stand and Fight Rally,
beginning with the top
NRA leadership, kept the
audience clapping, and
oftentimes, getting off
their seats with rousing
cheering. Beginning with
our Texas Governor, Rick
Perry, and Senator Ted
Cruz, the speakers were
topnotch and they in-
cluded: former US Am-
bassador John Bolton;
Governor, Bobby Jindal
of Louisiana; former U.S.
Congressman, Asa
Hutchinson, who an-
nounced he was running
for Governor of Arkansas;
former Judge and now,
host of FOX New’s “Jus-
tice with Judge Jeanine”,
Honorable Jeanine Pirro;
the Honorable Rick San-
torium, former U.S. Sena-
tor from Pennsylvania;
and the former Governor
of Alaska, the Honorable
Sarah Palin. Further re-
marks were given on the
screen by Governor Scott
Walker; the writer, colum-
nist and commentator,
Mark Levin; and profes-
sional golfer and f-16 Top
Gun pilot, Major Dan
Rooney.*
Midway USA’s owner,
Larry Potterfield, was in-
vited on stage to be
thanked as a strong con-
tinuous supporter of the
NRA and the Second
Amendment. Mr. Potter-
field explained his grati-
tude to his more than a
million customers and
presented a check to the
NRA-ILA education group
of just under $8,750,000.
For the last few years, he
has put in a dollar for
each customer obtained;
and customers have
been putting in donations
to achieve this consider-
able contribution for the
safety education program
of the NRA.
A very poignant event
occurred after the late
American sniper, Chris
Kyle’s wife, Taya, spoke
about Chris and his com-
mitment to his God,
Country and Family. “He
was an everyday guy”
and “his motivation was
to save as many lives as
possible”! He considered
his military job as “an im-
mense responsibility” and
“a tool to stop evil”. Be-
fore his death, he worked
diligently to “Help make a
difference for veterans”.
At the close of her
speech, when the tears
began to abate, Lt. Gen-
eral Leroy Sisco came to
the stage keeping Mrs.
Kyle at the podium for a
presentation by Sisco’s
group, the Military War-
rior Support Foundation**
of 3 homes to 3 military
families who had been
brought on to the stage.
These homes were given
mortgage free; tax free
for 2013; AND gift tax
free. Again, tears began
to flow throughout the
convention floor. The
foundation has now been
able to give former mili-
tary members, who have
suffered wounds on the
battlefield, over 345
homes. On Saturday af-
ternoon, the following
day, a three time Purple
Heart recipient veteran,
Jonathan Langford
showed up on the floor of
the convention to draw
the winning ticket for a
rifle being given away by
Daniel Defense’s owners.
He got a huge surprise
when he found out that
he, and his wife, had
been selected for a
house when both Mr.
Daniel and General Sisco
(MWSF) made the an-
nouncement after the ini-
tial drawing. The
selected home is in
Florida where his par-
ent’s live. Mr. and Mrs.
Marty Daniel donated the
house. General Sisco
were able to add that
Jonathan had two job of-
fers waiting for him in
close proximity to his
Florida home. (One offer
was for $50,000 yearly
and the other was
$100,000.) He added
that it would be up to him
to decide which to take.
There was a lot of cheer-
ing again by the crowd,
who had gathered at the
exhibitor’s main floor for
the gun raffle.
All in all, the conven-
tion was a resounding
success! Many families
participated—unfortu-
nately the “usual sus-
pects” (liberal-land
media) tried to tie an ob-
scure Houston airport
shooting to the NRA Con-
vention before it even
started; and took numer-
ous pictures to post of
women handling guns
and children being shown
a gun or rifle and being
allowed to hold them.
Good gracious! Be care-
ful! A youngster might
draw a gun with a crayon
or when eating a pop tart
and shape it into a gun
after two bites!! This
could spell BIG TIME fu-
ture problems…Big
Brother is watching you
and so are all the fringe
fruits and nuts.
*Dan Rooney has raised
over $25,000,000 to help
the over 1,000,000 chil-
dren of our soldiers, de-
ceased and living, and
veterans. This Septem-
ber of 2013 his organiza-
tion is sponsoring a
“Patriot’s Range Day” to
get American shooting
ranges to contribute
monies for this cause for
the entire month of Sep-
tember. Check this site
on your computer and
see who you can get to
participate. www.Fold-
sofhonor.org
**Military Warrior SupportGroup headquarters are inSan Antonio, Texas. Theycan be reached to give dona-tions through several av-enues:www.MilitaryWarriors.org;[email protected]; 210-615-6178 or 2511 N.Loop 1604 W, Suite 201,San Antonio, Texas 78258.
May 2013_TDGT Tabloid 5/9/13 4:50 PM Page 38
Pics Top Left Clockwise: Dan Rooney; Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro;
Protestors; The NRA 2013 convention hall-just a tiny snapshot of the con-
vention floor-you could not walk down the aisles, you had to shuffle; Joe
Essler from Austin, TX, Cliff Schwenk from Needville, TX & Jim Schwenk
from Austin, TX; E-7/SFC Jonathan Langford and his wife Christina receiv-
ing a (unexpectedly) home from Col. Scisco & Daniel Defense; Flashbang
Holsters Taylor & Lisa flashbangholsters.com (Tell them TDGT sent ya!)