Bush Legacy Tour

SAN ANTONIO, TX-The many times our up-coming  stop at the Alamo has been brought up in conversation over the past weeks,  I have heard  references to both the heroic stand of the 181 Texas Volunteers and of Pee Wee Herman’s heroic quest to find his stolen bike.  I too, have made more jokes in the past few weeks about looking forward to seeing the “the basement” and catching that jerk Francis red-handed than I should probably admit to. Regardless, the bus pulling up this morning in front of the Alamo has easily been one of most symbolic and anticipated stops to date.

The park rangers could not have been more helpful and supportive and we could not have done the event without them. They even helped us figure out a way to hook up our electric power supply.  We were surprised the Alamo even had a power source we could tap into.  It must be for the game room in the basement.

The AFL-CIO hosted the event and did a great job getting  supporters out. There was a huge crowd there to see the Alamo that wandered over to check out the bus as well. We gave a short press conference where Rachael Hernandez, President of the San Antonio AFL-CIO shared some of her thoughts about how the Bush administration had impacted her as a mother, grandmother, labor activist and citizen of Texas.  Her portrayal of the administration was eloquent and far from flattering to Bush and Co. 

I spoke to quite a few people on the bus who expressed their disgust over this administration’s policies. One issue in particular that hit home was the lack of relief for Americans paying $4/ gallon for gas while oil companies get huge tax breaks. Several of the folks I spoke with about gas prices found it ironic that they live in a state whose economy for years centered on oil, now purchase it for $4/ gallon from foreign countries. So many Texans have a very sophisticated understanding of how oil profits work for the oil companies- and how the tax breaks are not benefitting the taxpayers- because they worked for, or have a long line of family members that worked in the oil industry. In the largest state in the nation, with some of the most rural communities in the country, it is difficult to imagine what filling up the tank must  like knowing that going to get a loaf of bread at the store can cost $5 in gas.  I spoke to a family from Abilene who was in town sightseeing that have drastically changed  their lifestyle and have to say no to their children’s activities lately and stay close to home because gas prices are so high. They almost did not take a vacation to San Antonio due to the gas prices but decided to go anyway and camp rather than stay in a hotel to save money. Unfortunelty both Senators from Texas, John Cronyn and Jennifer Hutchinson are doing very little to relieve their constituents pain at the pump.  They both receive millions in campaign contributions from big oil companies and have voted for the tax breaks for big oil that do nothing to lower gas prices for the consumer.

Just as Pee Wee got his bike back, in the end we hope to get our country back from the Bush Administration and its allies whose conservative policies have led us so far astray. If exposing the real Bush legacy and holding his allies accountable  doesn’t work, then we may need to take a page from Pee Wee’s playbook and give Bush, Cronyn, and Hutchinson all packs of trick gum…