Max Powers

Austin - January 2021

Folks, I have seen the future. 

And lucky for you I can provide you a glimpse of it. 

Here is a picture of yours truly preparing a Representative-elect Elisa Tomatillo-Powers a dark roast pour over, using a Chemex of course, the morning of swearing-in:

 

And yes, you do need a gooseneck kettle to make a proper pour over at home. 
 

Run, Eddie, Run!

The race for House District 76 is on, and like David K said it will get nasty.

Why?

Well, in short, dos mujeres...un camino.

And when it is like that, things get ugly.

You have Claudia Ordaz PEREZ and her Taco Bell logo versus Elisa Tomatillo and her caca logo....although I think Jaime Abeytia is stretching on that comparison. 

Claudia is bothered by the fact Elisa is younger and curvier.

Elisa is bothered by the fact that while Claudia looks more india, Claudia does not have an accent that makes her sound like the help. 

"Max, that is racist!"

Oh, no....I find Elisa's accent sexy (Elisa - call me). 

What I am saying is that this is what these two are thinking.

I am not saying it is right. 

It is what it is. 

And because of this, things are gonna get ugly fast.  

Enter El Rey del Valle Bajo, Eddie Holguin, Jr. 

While those two - Elisa and Claudia - go at it, Eddie could waltz right in. 

If the choice is Eddie or one of two catty womyn, Eddie wins. 

So how does Eddie exactly waltz right in?

Here you go:

"The choice is clear.  You have Mrs. Perez who thinks she can do in Austin what she did on City Council...tax your way out of your problems.  You have Ms. Tomatillo who claims she is the more experienced candidate but her experience is limited to plucking Cesar's eyebrows and changing Jose's diaper.  And then you have me.  And yes, I believe Juan Gabriel is still alive.  And I know this to be true because I am his son too."

Race. over. 

 

Moody Blues

Have you ever gone to a bank and either applied to open a business line-of-credit or ask for an increase?

Opening a business line-of-credit is somewhat easy if it is an SBA-backed line-of-credit.  The bank likes it cos' it won't lose.  

Now, have you asked for an increase on the line-of-credit?

The bank wants two years of tax returns showing a profit. 

You, small business owner, thinking you are doing yourself a favor by maximizing the tax code, but you really are not. 

Banks want to bank to with winners, or at least those likely to win. 

Why do I bring this up? 

Well, not too long, Chairman and CEO of WestStar Bank, Rick Francis, hired your State Representative Joe Moody. 

If only he was as thorough doing his due diligence with Moody as his bank is with its customers when applying for a loan, he probably would have never hired Moody in the first place.

Moody, a guy with no experience in the financial industry, gets hired by Francis. 

Why? 

The only reason why Francis hired him was because he thought he had a potential Speaker on his payroll, or at the very least, someone tight with the current Speaker on his payroll.

I am only guessing, but I putting Moody's salary at around $150,000.00

And that's how much Francis is willing to pay for influence.

Or was willing to pay? 

As you all now know, the current Republican Speaker of the House, is not seeking reelection...which does not bode well for Moody. 

While Republican members were calling for the Speaker to resign, Moody stayed quiet.  

And what does he have to show for his loyalty to a Speaker that is on his way out? 

A six-figure job at a local bank...but for how long? 

You know Francis had to be pissed when he heard the news about the Speaker not seeking reelection. 

Or maybe Francis is dumb enough to think Moody can be Speaker should the Democrats win the Texas House.  But again, Francis not doing his homework tends to forget their are other larger metros with Democrats aspiring to be Speaker themselves who will have no use for Moody's loyalty to a Republican Speaker who was calling his fellow Democratic legislators "pieces of shit."

Now, Francis probably wants to fire Moody since his investment went belly-up.

But then firing Moody would scream quid pro quo.

Luther Jones and others did time for a couple thousand here and there. 

Francis? 

Again, he is likely paying Moody six-figures.  

But all of this could have been avoided....had Moody ran for DA.

But no.

Moody tied his fate to another man, the Speaker, rather create his own by running for DA. 

So what does Moody do now?

Well, now he has to earn those six-figures.

I would recommend showing up early and getting the coffee going.  

What about Francis?

I hope the Board reprimands him for losing money on an investment that should have never been made to begin with. 

 

 

Claudia Ordaz - Shit or Get Off The Pot...Parte Dos

By next week, it will have been a month since Tomatillo announced.  

A month in which Ordaz has done nothing but “strategically wait”.

"Claudia has time!"

Yes, and no.

Since Ordaz's strategic patience plan, her colleague, Sam Morgan gets arrested for slapping his wife. 

Now you have elected women in El Paso calling for Morgan's resignation.

Where is Ordaz? 

Strategically waiting? 

Sure, she can denounce now, but the issue will now be why did she not denounce sooner.  

Things at City Council are bad, and I do not see them getting any better, especially if Hernandez-Not Brown wins in a couple weeks.

I understand Claudia wants to keep her seat on City Council in case she loses, but the way she is playing it, yea, better have that insurance policy in place.  

Claudia Ordaz - Shit or Get Off The Pot

As of today, House District 76's next representative will be Elisa Tomatillo. 

Now matter how many times Jaime Abeytia or David K blog how wrong that is, that is what will happen.

UNLESS, City Representative Claudia Ordaz runs.  

You can shit on movidas all you want, but they can only happen if you allow them to happen and at this point it is only happening because Ordaz is letting it happen. 

I just do not get her hold up though.

Claudia should have already announced by now. 

The longer she waits the more likely people both in Austin and El Paso will settle on Tomatillo. 

Hell, the longer she waits something more interesting could happen...Cassandra Hernandez wins on November 5th, and decides afterwards, "Phuck it. I am running for State Rep."

Meanwhile, Claudia still sits on the pot.

 

 

 

 

I'm Pro-Bonnen Now, Is Moody Still Too?

When the Texas House Speaker referred to some Democrats as "vile" and "pieces of shit", my immediate thought was, "Is he wrong tho?"

And that is not even best, or even funniest, part.

The funniest part is that nobody really likes Scott Braddock. 

In light of all of this, consider me a fan of Speaker Bonnen.

Unlike some of the Republicans calling for his resignation, I believe Republicans should double down on Bonnen. 

Only thing Bonnen is guilty of is being Speaker.  

But who cares what I think?

Now as to what Speaker Pro Tem Joe Moody thinks...

Moody was standing by his Man these last several months.

But I don't know now.

I mean how can he be a good Democrat when his legislative patroncito is calling his colleagues pieces of shit.  

If Moody is man of principle, he should denounce Bonnen and resign as Speaker Pro Tem. 

Not that Moody had much of a shot of being Speaker, but if wants to improve his slim odds he needs to bounce today.  

Otherwise, he is just like me in thinking Democratic legislators are pieces of shit.  

Ah, if only the El Paso Times had Gary Scharrer still. 

Oh well.

 

 

Wife Beaters - The Ones We Hate vs The Ones We Love

Well, get a load of City Representatives Cassandra Hernandez-Not Brown and Alexsandra Annello. 

They were having none of it regarding their wife-beater colleague, City Representative Sam  Morgan.

Something about being treated different and what not. 

Never mind the fact, when it comes to everybody else, whether it be staff, lobbyists, constituents, and anybody else and their grandmother, both Annello and Hernandez-Not Brown do not exactly preach or practice equal treatment.

No, what is rich....who does Cassandra Hernandez-Not Brown date?

And what was he arrested for? 

OH, THAT'S RIGHT.

If we are for equal treatment when it comes men who assault their wives or girlfriends, shouldn't Morgan get the same treatment as Hernandez-Not Brown's boyfriend? 

"But Max he was fired!!!"

Knowing what we know now, should have been? 

Or do two wrongs make a right? 

Not defending either of those two motherphuckers, Morgan or Hernandez-Not Brown's lover, but just pointing out that maybe Annello and Hernandez-Not Brown shouldn't jump the gun so quickly.  

I mean jumping the gun is exactly why Hernandez-Not Brown's political future is dead in the water. 

Next time maybe both Annello and Hernandez-Not Brown should hide their horns before they try to fix their halos. 

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Your only major daily has not one, but TWO stories about your CongressX, Veronica Escobar. 

One is about the border wall.

Yea, I do not care.

The other is kinda interesting. 

The other is about El Paso's current economy.  

Per your Escobar:

"If we don’t do something to plan for the next phase in our economy the indicators are pretty scary," including low wages, flat population growth, and a renewed "brain drain" from the University of Texas at El Paso, Escobar said after listening to the five-member panel discuss the good and bad of this region's economy.

You know what is funny about that?

What political faction has been behind the wheel in El Paso for last 10 years or so?

Oh, that's right. 

Escobar's!

So what she is saying after her rule of the roost at the county, former Mayor John Cook and the Shapleighs reign at the City, Beto's trip to D.C., El Paso has sweet fuck all to show for it. 

Back when I first started interning with your then-State Representative, Norma Chavez, this was the same shit they all talked about.

"This is why we need the Medical School."

Ok.

"Now, this why we need the Medical Center of the Americas".

Ok. 

"We are going to be overwhelmed by BRAC."

Actually it looks like underwhelmed based on Escobar's recent assessment of things.

"This is why we need a nursing school."

Ok.

"This is why we need to pass QOL bonds".

Ok.

You see where I am going with this. 

Everything El Paso has been doing in the last ten years has been to improve the economic indicators that Escobar says today are scary. 

So all that money spent for what?

Unless El Paso is able to secure an HQ of a Fortune 100 company, none of these investments are going to bring the payoff you all are looking for.

And I'm gonna go on a slight tangent here, but you will see what I am getting at. 

You know the one great thing everyone had to say about El Paso after shooting? 

How El Paso really is a tight-knit community. 

Unlike say...the mess where I live.  

But herein lies the rub, the mess I call home IS an economic dynamo.  Migrants, domestic and international - and, yes there are more Latinos and immigrants in my part of the world than yours - all call this place home because they all came to work. 

The other day talking to someone they were surprised that I was actually born in Dallas, unlike everybody else that came from somewhere else.  

But there is not really a sense of community here.  Sure certain areas of the city are trying to develop that, but it is nothing compared to El Paso.

But back to "scary indicators". 

There is nothing Escobar can do to change the "scary indicators."

Even if she could, would she want to?

In the metromess, nobody gives a shit about a CongressX. 

Y'all become a Houston or a Dallas, you will cease being El Paso. 

There is not really much of a balance here.  

If you are gonna try to be something, then sell your strengths.   El Paso proper is a great place to raise a family, which is something the other larger cities have hard time selling. El Paso does not really have suburban competition. In most metros you leave the city for the suburbs for a better quality-of-life.  But folks in El Paso are not exactly rushing to Socorro or Tornillo. 

Again stick to your strengths.  

And stop throwing money all over the place.

El Paso City Hall - What a clusterphuck

2021 will be interesting for El Paso.

In 2021, you will likely have a new mayor.

In 2021, you will likely then have a new city manager.

And in 2021, you will likely have a city council that may not be able to get anything done.  

The crazy part though it is still 2019.

What you are seeing is a slow-moving disaster that seems like nobody can stop. 

Between Dee and his walker, Cassandra fighting for her old job back, Claudia Ordaz likely to run for another office, and NOW Sam Morgan...well you know...,Cissy who is just happy to be there....has there been any other time in recent city hall history that everything seems so phucked?

Say what you will about former Mayor Cook and Team Shapleigh, at least you knew where they were headed.

This though? 

#ElPaSoStrong, bro.