VoteKansas.org

A little more than two years ago, political allies of Texas Governor Rick Perry quietly passed legislation creating the "Trans-Texas Corridor" (TTC). With the connivance of a largely silent press, the most expensive project in the state's history became law with scant public notice.

It's bad enough that the TTC will cost at least $185 billion, much of it derived from new toll taxes imposed on existing free roads. It's even worse that the project -- 4,000 miles of roads, rail lines, and other infrastructure crisscrossing the state, bypassing all of the cities -- will be built by a Spanish contractor rather than a firm based in the United States. But worst of all is the role to be played by this hugely expensive boondoggle in linking the transportation system of the United States with that of Mexico, thereby creating the infrastructure that will facilitate the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).

My name is Bob Dacy. I am the host of “The Simple Truth”, a political TV talk show cablecast in Austin, Texas. This morning, I attempted to vote before going to work. I say “attempted” because the Hart Intercivic E-Slate machines we use in Travis county prevented me from doing so.

I was the third voter in line, but, since one of the three machines at precinct 228 was not operational, I waited in line behind the first voter. She “voted” and left the booth. I entered the booth and put in my code number.

The ballot that appeared before me was complete nonsense. It was asking for my vote on such propositions as whether wheels should be mandated on office chairs, whether poll workers should be exempt from having to pay taxes, whether we should mandate 4 week vacations instead of 2 week vacations, and whether we should have a 3 day workweek. I looked at the poll worker nearby, a neighbor of mine, and asked him if this was a joke.