Mattsapundit

Chris Bell, out of his supreme care for humanity, has shut down his “$25,000 by August 31″ fundraising drive, instead encouraging would-be contributors to donate to the American Red Cross:

I read the news today, oh boy. The Chris Bell for Governor campaign is calling off our online fundraising drive out of respect for the hurricane victims. Please do what you can for those who can’t do for themselves. Please do as much as you can, and then please do more. We’re taking down our fundraising thermometer and putting up the link to the Red Cross until the end of the week. 

Incredibly, a commenter on the blog seemed to think that Bell was pouring his campaign war chest into hurricane relief:

Because of your kindness, I am paying it forward by making a donation to the victims of Hurricane Katrina — victims that include friends of family of ours. God bless you, Chris, and anyone else who donates to the Red Cross. 

What kindness? Bell avoids looking tacky by soliciting political funds during a disaster, AND he can gloss over the fact that he was going to fall 10-20% short of his modest goal. It’s not like Bell is shutting down his campaign and donating surplus “Re-Elect Chris Bell to Congress” yard signs as roofing materials.

Matt Bramanti | August 31, 2005 at 8:25 am
Posted to Texas, Politics

No comments yet

This sounds like something Wes and I would have done, if we’d thought of it first:

They say you can get just about anything at Wal-Mart, including arrested. Police say employees at a Wal-Mart called to report a young man was in the store on Tuesday in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, asking for a hacksaw. 

It turns out Joha Turner, 18, of Pittsburg, hadn’t escaped from anywhere. He told police it was a prank. They told him he was under arrest, for disorderly conduct.

That’s a good one.

Matt Bramanti | August 26, 2005 at 4:35 am
Posted to Bizarre, Humor

No comments yet

Our beloved local transit authority has a mission statement, as follows:

METRO is an innovative regional transportation organization of dedicated employees committed to partnering with the public and private sectors to provide the safest, highest quality services and mobility solutions that exceed our customers’ expectations while creating economic growth. 

Let’s break this down:

METRO is an innovative regional transportation organization 

Recent Metro innovations include putting an electric streetcar on Main Street only a century after its invention.

of dedicated employees 

Complaints against those dedicated employees are up.

committed to partnering with the public and private sectors 

That partnership consists primarily of the public sector expropriating money and property from the private sector.

provide the safest, highest quality services 

Willingly unpoliced Metro facilities have seen crime sprees, while on-time performance slipped 2 percentage points.

and mobility solutions 

A couple weeks ago, I saw a Metro bus that had broken down on the Katy Freeway HOV lane. No big deal, that happens all the time, right?

The bus driver had run out of fuel.

that exceed our customers’ expectations 

Every time a Metro bureaucrat ties his shoes correctly, Metro succeeds in this regard.

while creating economic growth 

If a 1 percent sales tax creates economic growth, than a 600 percent sales tax will create 600 times as much economic growth, right? Houston will become so valuable that Metro won’t know where to start condemning.

Matt Bramanti | August 26, 2005 at 4:02 am
Posted to Houston, Politics, Stupidity

No comments yet

Today, the Chron editorial board scolds Metro for failing Houston, but still insists on plugging the Danger Train:

Despite optimistic pro- jections [sic] of increased ridership on its bus system, Metropolitan Transit Authority officials continue to wrestle with a slump in the number of people using mass transit here and resulting declines in fare box revenues. Particularly worrisome, the successful light rail line should be pumping up those statistics with thousands of additional boardings each month, and climbing fuel costs should have made Metro more attractive to commuters.

Which is it, Chron? Is the light rail line successful, or has it failed to increase ridership?

That said, kudos to the editors for pointing out Metro’s dismal financial results:

According to a performance audit of Metro by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., passenger fare revenues plunged more than 14 percent during the last four years while operating expenses per passenger rose 35 percent.

The audit found that passenger complaints increased significantly last year. A majority concerned driver behavior.

Yikes. Those are some pretty bad numbers. So are these:

“Metro’s fare recovery ratio has been declining, and at 15 percent is low for the transit industry,” the audit report says. Rates of 25 percent or more are common among big transit systems, it says.

The report says ridership slipped 5 percent in the three years, from 100 million yearly boardings to 95 million

On-time performance fell from 86 percent to 84 percent, and passenger complaints increased from 18.5 to 20 per 100,000 boardings.

Average occupancy: 10 riders, down 10 percent

Stories like these drive me into the arms of the Cato Institute.

Matt Bramanti | August 26, 2005 at 3:40 am
Posted to Uncategorized

No comments yet

This is pretty funny:

Better step it up, boys, or Chris Bell might not be able to mount a serious challenge to…HAHAHAHAHA… Sorry, I couldn’t finish that sentence with a straight face.

Matt Bramanti | August 24, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Posted to Uncategorized

43 comments

If you’ve got one available, give it to him.

Matt Bramanti | August 24, 2005 at 4:56 pm
Posted to Uncategorized

No comments yet