March 25, 2018

Ted Cruz was punked!!

https://twitter.com/LazyyMillennial/status/977267940796936192

If nothing makes you happier than seeing a politician be unwittingly owned by a constituent who completely opposes their cynical conservative agenda, today’s your lucky day.

The morsel of joy you are about to see comes courtesy of Rebecca, an Austin, Texas woman who doesn’t use her surname on Twitter, but goes by the handle @LazyyMillennial. Rebecca ran into one of the Senators representing her state in Congress at the Dallas airport and seized the opportunity to stage an epic photo prank that will wipe the smile off of the beaming face of Senator Raphael “Ted” Cruz (R-TX) once he sees the photo.

Rebecca is obviously not a fan of Senator Cruz and was fortuitously wearing the perfect message on a lanyard under her blazer when she saw Cruz and approached him to ask to take a picture with him. A last-minute opening of the jacket before the shutter snapped meant that Senator Cruz had no idea what was happening to him while he smiled and posed for the photo with what he thought was an admiring constituent.

Little did he know that Rebecca’s innocent visage hid the mind of a clever trickster who managed to completely undermine the Senator without him having the slightest awareness of the message on her lanyard.
https://washingtonpress.com/2018/03/23/ted-cruz-just-got-owned-by-a-constituent-in-a-hilarious-airport-photo-op/

For those who don't have twitter, here is the pic:

March 20, 2018

The Death of Stalin - trailer

March 19, 2018

TRS Board Discusses Future Shortfalls as Critical Primary Election Looms

(A few weeks old, but very relevant. Teachers do not have SS withheld. My husband wants to retire next year. They really hate us!!)

I was listening to a retired educator testify before the TRS board at their annual board retreat this morning. She expressed that retirees are scared about increasing healthcare premiums and upcoming changes that will greatly impact the actuarial picture of the pension fund. She also asked for TRS to advocate on behalf of retirees in dealing with the legislature. It was moving testimony. However, I wish she and all educators, active and retired, would shift their mentality from scared to angry and look not to TRS to take care of them next session, but instead look to themselves to be their own best advocates, at the polls where these decisions are really made.

The reality is TRS is an administrative agency, and while the TRS staff does a phenomenal job, their job is to implement the legislature’s will, NOT to lobby the legislature on behalf of TRS members. In fact, all state agency staff, TRS staff included, are prohibited by state law from engaging in lobbying efforts.

TRS has hard days ahead. If the defined benefit pension system or TRS-provided retiree healthcare are going to continue to exist, active teachers and retired teachers alike will have to use their voices not only at the capitol but also at the polls.

First, TRS is set to drop its assumed rate of return from 8 percent to 7.25 percent. This one action, at least on paper, will make the fund go from healthy to anything but. There is already extreme pressure from Wall Street money managers and the politicians willing to work on their behalf to convert TRS to a 401(k) style system off of which they could make huge profits. Without other changes offsetting the drop to 7.25, this pressure will likely increase exponentially as the pension fund will look considerably more vulnerable going forward.

https://www.teachthevote.org/news/2018/02/15/trs-board-discusses-future-shortfalls-as-critical-primary-election-looms/

This is why I support Andrew White for governor. This is life and death for us.

March 9, 2018

I ran for "dog catcher" and I won!

Just joking, I ran for Precinct Chair and I won

In early February, I pulled out a sample ballot and saw my name on it.

My jaw almost dropped.

Long story how it got on there, but it is what it is.

When I saw my name on the ballot, I wasn't going to campaign at all.

Then, I started thinking about it and thinking about it.

So, I campaigned and got 80% of the vote! (My opponent was not engaged with his precinct. He didn't campaign)