Breakfast with Rick Noriega

I had the pleasure of having breakfast with Rick Noriega today and wanted to provide everyone with a first hand account. Rick is a fantastic candidate and we need to everything we can to get that message out there.

Following his introduction, Representative Noriega said, "Our state has great potential. But we have serious challenges to meet, and the first is to unseat John Cornyn. Cornyn has managed to cloud the possibility of hope."

Rick spoke specifically about Cornyn's troubling position on cuts in Medicare fees. If Cornyn's position stands, more than 58% of doctors in the state will not be able financially to serve seniors, service people and the disabled. They will stop taking new Medicare patients. This situation has caused the Texas Medical Association to withdraw its support of Cornyn and galvanized seniors across the state

For the sake of our seniors, Rick hopes Cornyn will change his vote, just as he voted against the 21st Century GI Bill, then voted for it.

"He initially voted against the GI Bill, which is unconscionable. It is my hope he will flip again on this Medicare vote. The American Dream is how we can provide for our children from generation to generation, and Cornyn stands in our way." At this point, I asked why myself why we have to keep going through this kind of thing with our elected officials. We deserve better government than this.

Asked about our failed policies as a nation and a state, Noriega said, "Somebody has to stand up and say the emperor has no clothes.
There needs to be a new path in the Iraq War, beginning with a new Commander-In-Chief to correct this strategic blunder. Then benchmarks need to be established for the Iraqi government to meet, an idea from the Iraq Study Group. Nothing compels the Iraqi government to perform." And he noted, our government is now NINE TRILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT.

Asked about immigration, Noriega said the policy is broken and he speaks from experience. He served as Border Sector commander, Laredo for Operation Jumpstart for six months. Rick has said the border also is a national security issue. His groups seized 10,000 pounds of marijuana as well as cocaine. But he noted that the wall is a cheap trick that does not address the whole issue. A virtual fence will work, but we still need to address people who are already here. Not dealing with this issue squarely only pushes people further back into the shadows.

I left thinking this is the kind of pragmatic leadership Texans once were famous for. Won't you join this grandmother in bringing sense back to Texas politics.

FYI – Rick Noriega is manager of economic development for CenterPoint Energy in Houston. He has a BA from the University of Houston and a Masters from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard and spent a year in Afghanistan. He oversaw the Hurricane Katrina shelters in Houston and helped evacuees from Katrina and Rita.

For more information, check out www.Votevets.com. This is a site set up by General Wesley Clark with a mission to elect Iraq and Afghanistan vets to public office.