DU Exclusive -- Active DUer announces candidacy for Statewide Office

[grantcart]

It is with great pleasure that I am able to advise all DUers that an active DUer is announcing candidacy for statewide office.

Jeff Weems is announcing his candidacy for Texas Railroad Commissioner.

The office, a partisan statewide position, has something of an archaic name and nothing to do with railroads but still has major relevance for vast interests in Texas.

The Texas Railroad Commission was formed in the 1890’s to protect farmers from predatory pricing by the railroads. The Texas Legislature later gave the Commission additional regulatory responsibilities, primarily over trucking and oil and gas exploration and production. Over the years, the Commission’s authority over railroads and trucking was reduced, and finally eliminated altogether in 2005.

The Texas Railroad Commission is currently responsible for:

•Regulating oil and gas exploration and production;
•Regulating pipeline (both natural gas and hazardous liquid) safety;
•Regulating certain coal and uranium surface mining operations;
•Setting rates for pipelines and for natural gas utilities;
•Regulating natural gas utility safety measures; and
•Creating and applying programs designed to promote the use of and market for Liquefied Petroleum (LP) or Propane gas.

Jeff's key focus on this campaign is committed to:

ensuring Texas’ vibrant energy industry, protecting Texas’ environment, giving consumers a voice at the commission, and restoring the good name and reputation of the Texas Railroad Commissioners.


Jeff's first policy position in announcing his campaign is to significantly reduce lobbyists ability to influence commission business.


“I propose that Railroad Commissioners be treated like Supreme Court justices – in other words, Texas Railroad Commissioners should be allowed to accept campaign contributions only for the period beginning 9 months before the primary election through a few months after the general election. In these times of energy uncertainty,” Weems said, “Texans must have confidence in the integrity of their commissioners’ decision-making, and that these decisions are not unduly influenced by campaign contributions.” Weems added that this restriction should apply both to campaign contributions and to gifts from lobbyists.


Jeff's website is here: http://jeffweemsforcommissioner.com/contact /

You can send him an email here: [e-mail]

Today is also Jeff's Birthday!

Please join me in congratulating Jeff, send him a personal message and if you are able and inclined a contribution. He will now be posting under jeffweemsforRRC here at DU and is retiring his old name so that past postings here cannot be used by partisan opponents out of context. I can simply say that he had a very strong voice and his opinions were always very reasonable.

[DesertFlower]

1. congratulations. nt

[myrna minx]

2. Happy Birthday Jeff and best of luck to you! K&R n.t

[AspenRose]

3. Woo Hoo! Go Jeff Go!

[gateley]

4. Wishing you the happiest of birthday's and success in your run for office!! nt

[flvegan]

5. Good luck Mr. Weems!

And a happy birthday to you as well!

[derby378]

6. JEFF! When are you coming to Dallas?

Come on over sometime, man! We could schedule a DU get-together for DFW, which we're long overdue for. PM me!

[NoPasaran]

7. Happy Birthday Jeff!

And may 2010 be the year we win some statewides!

[pleah]

8. K& R Go get'em! Happy Birthday!

[mzmolly]

9. Go Jeff!!!

[Wetzelbill]

10. K and R

[barbtries]

11. happy birthday

good luck with the race.

[JaneLovesAll]

54. Congratulations

Congratulations and best of luck in the race!

[AuntPatsy]

12. happy birthday and good luck Jeff..we need more honest voices here in Texas..

[grantcart]

13. kick

[closeupready]

14. Go, Jeff!

[Cha]

15. Good for you, Jeff Weems!

Happy birthday and Good Luck

Thanks, grant, for such a magnificent announcement~

[Maru Kitteh]

16. Good Luck Jeff! More of us should do the same! Wish I could vote for you!

[The Magistrate]

17. Best Of Fortune To Mr. Weems, Sir!

[H2O Man]

18. Great!

Definitely recommended.

[berni_mccoy]

19. Go Jeff Go! Congrats!

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Happy b'day Jeff

and damn it good luck... and will see about dropping a few bucks next month...

[Soylent Brice]

21. cool! good luck to ya Mr. Jeff!

[madrchsod]

22. cool...and congrats!

the TRC runs the state of texas....

[grantcart]

23. kick

[NYC_SKP]

24. Kick and Happy Birthday!

I'll be pulling for you during the campaign and look forward to your posts here at DU!!!

Happy Birthday!

Go Get Them!!!

NYC_SKP

[glinda]

25. Happy Birthday and best of luck to you!

[Glorfindel]

26. Hooray! What great good news

Thank you, Mr. Weems, for your courage and convictions. And happy birthday, too, fellow Virgo!

[cliffordu]

27. Congrats and Happy Birthday!!!!

[rug]

51. Damn, I thought that was you.

[cliffordu]

52. Nah, I'm running for mental health czar.

[grantcart]

61. and the nightmares begin

[cliffordu]

76. Electroshock on isle five, Electroshock on Isle five....Mrs grantcart,

Your puddle, er, I mean husband is ready for pick up.....those burns should heal in a couple of weeks....

[jeffweemsforRRC]

79. That's too funny!

[JimGinPA]

28. Congratulations, Good Luck & Happy Birthday

K&R

[jeffweemsforRRC]

85. As I recall, I sent you some signs last year!

[JimGinPA]

136. You Changed Your Username!

LOL! Yeah, I still have one in an upstairs window at home!

[ThomWV]

29. The Texas Railroad Commission was once one of the nation's really powerful institutions.

[grantcart]

30. Really I had never heard of it before Jeff announced.

[jeffweemsforRRC]

75. OPEC was modeled off of the Texas Railroad Commission

In the early 1930's, the RRC would set allowable rates of production from the wells in the giant Texas oil fields. If the world oil price was collapsing, they would curtail production to maintain a marginally reasonable price. If the price got too high, they would do the opposite. These actions were challenged all the way to the US Supreme Court several times. The first couple of cases resulted in the striking down of some aspects of the commission's power, until a case later in the 1930's where the Supremes upheld the RRC's power. Soon therafter, Texas and other oil producing states formed the IOGCC (Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission), which was set up to coordinate policies. It used to.

Once peak US oil production passed in 1972, the RRC's power diminished greatly. But its importance to the Texas environment and Texas consumers looms larger than ever. Now is not the time for "hands off" regulation.

[Loki]

65. Jim Hightower

a Texas Democratic Activist ran for that office back in the late 70's I believe. Congratulations Jeff. Texas needs to return to the great history of our Democratic legislators. We will do this, one office at a time.

[ceile]

31. Congrats!!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

71. Thanks - look me up next time I am in town

My events will start becoming more public now.

Jeff

[RagAss]

32. Go Get 'em, Jeff !

[goclark]

33. Jeff you come highly recommended by grantcart

and that means you are terrific!

[grantcart]

129. Don't hold that against him!

[goclark]

134. Jeff must be a winner! nt

[OneGrassRoot]

140. +1 :) n/t

[Enthusiast]

34. Good luck, Jeff! nt

[Kajsa]

35. Happy Birthday, Jeff!

And good luck with your campaign!

[Wizard777]

36. Congrats! VOTE WEEMS!

[ddeclue]

37. YOU WIN THE DU!!!

What can we do to help?

[grantcart]

38. First thing is to get the word out- especially if you have any contact in Texas

If you can help he has an ActBlue account here: http://www.actblue.com/contribute/entity/22950

[Barack_America]

82. Jeff already won DU a while ago...

IMO.

This is just icing on the cake!

[smubossirossi]

39. yea k&r!

this texan is excited!!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

70. Let me know where you are - we'll get in touch.

[blm]

40. Yeah Jeff....Happy Day to you.

.

[tomm2thumbs]

41. break a leg! congrats

[bobbolink]

42. Thank you for stepping up, and best wishes!

[blogslut]

43. cool

I shall mark him on my ballot.

[jeffweemsforRRC]

69. It would be an honor to represent you!

[svpadgham]

44. It'll be nice to see

The incumbent not running unopposed again.

I actually thought about doing it just to have another name on the ballot, but then I thought "Oh crap, what if I won?"

[grantcart]

77. Sounds like the basis of a great movie script

[Iwillnevergiveup]

45. Good luck, Jeff

and thank you for stepping up and HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

K&R

[sonias]

46. I'll K&R this thread too

Congratulations on the race Jeff. We're of course thrilled you are running.

And another birthday wish to you again.



Sonia

[jeffweemsforRRC]

68. Sonia, you are a force of nature

Thanks for everything you do for us Texans!

2010 is going to surprise folks.

[NewJeffCT]

47. Happy Birthday - and like your name, too!

good luck with the campaign.

[DUlover2909]

48. I get to vote for him. Woo-hoo!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

64. If you have the chance, go to my web site

I would love to get you and eveyrone else who can stand it involved. We have to take this state back before there's nothing left.

Jeff

[Flying Dream Blues]

49. Happy Birthday and best of luck.

I'll be supporting you and just made a small donation.
Thanks!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

66. My newest BFF!

Seriously, in these tough times, I know how much every contribution means. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Jeff

[Moosepoop]

50. K&R and Congrats, Jeff!

I'd vote for you if I lived in Texas!

[onehandle]

53. Excellent. nt

[The Hope Mobile]

55. Happy birthday and best wishes! nt

[AllyCat]

56. Good for you Mr. Weems!

It's an honor to have you here

[jamesatemple]

57. Well, I'll declare! That's one of our "homeboys" runnin' for office.

Happy birthday, Jeff. I'm mighty pleased to support one our own. I'm pretty sure that you know or have met Jim Hightower who served as Ag Comissioner. He also came close to being the Railroad Commissioner of Texas and continues to stir up trouble as a journalist contributing to the Texas Observer.

Good luck!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

63. I gave a quick interview to the Observer's twin, the Texas Energy Journal

It stirred up the other side. It seems they don't like much criticism. Ha!

[SlingBlade]

58. You Go Jeff. Do us proud.

[Hawkeye-X]

59. Just for clarity (and if you wish to PM me)

what was Jeff's DU name?

[jeffweemsforRRC]

60. DU ROCKS THE HOUSE!

So, my darling bride and I have a nice relaxing dinner after an afternoon of fundraising calls and trial preparation. I stroll onto DU and find this! I am humbled - you folks are the backbone of what we all stand for - I have the easy job.


I don't know if you all know this - I am a trial lawyer - so it is easy for me to stand up in front of a bunch of people and tell them exactly what I think - in fact, I thrive on it.


Ya'll are the meat of this meat and potatoes dish. You keep all of us, candidates and elected officials, on the true and narrow. To see this outpouring of support is amazing. I am in the process of taking screen shots so I can remember this for a long long time.


If you want me to expand on any of my positions, I am glad to do so. The beauty of being a democrat is the conviction of your beliefs.


Jeff Weems, your next Texas Railroad Commissioner


Pol. Adv. Paid for by Jeff Weems for Commissioner Campaign Fund, Lisa Acord Holzgrafe, Treasurer (to make sure I am in compliance)

[Rozlee]

62. Got three votes in our casa already just after reading this post

Now I'll call relatives and get name recognition going. Way to go, Jeff. We need politicians in Texas with IQs in the 3 digits.

[checks-n-balances]

67. How cool is that!? His DU education will help him serve well

in whatever he does.

Best of luck to you, Jeff!!!

[merci_me]

72. I met Jeff and his son.............

a few months ago at the Houston Galleria Area Democrats meeting and am very proud to support him.

Another note, from the number of his posts, it looks like Jeff is a new DU member. He is not. He's a long time DUer, but recently changed his posting name reflect his candidacy when he posts.

[harkadog]

73. Good luck Jeff!

[donheld]

74. Happy Birthday now kick ass

[JimWis]

78. Good luck. Congrats.

[Barack_America]

80. This is so exciting! I hoped it was you when I read the subject line...

...At it was!

Please do keep us updated on how to donate to your campaign. Do you have an actblue page yet?

My very best wishes to you and your family!

And, of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

83. Act Blue is up and running

If and as you are able in these very tough times, all contributions are greatly appreciated.

http://www.actblue.com/contribute/entity/22950

Sorry that my pasting skills are somewhat lacking - but I can for dang sure regulate the energy industry in a reasonable and responsible manner!

Thanks again.

Jeff

[MrMickeysMom]

81. PA salutes TX for your service...

I get to say this as someone who lived in San Antonio x 3 yrs!

[madmax]

84. Good Luck, Jeff k&r n/t

[Subdivisions]

86. Another Texas voter here...Good luck Jeff ------->

[jeffweemsforRRC]

87. Thanks a bunch!

I need all the support I can get!

[Lagomorph]

88. Good luck, Jeff.

[upi402]

89. good luck Mr Weems! n/t

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

90. Good luck

and happy birthday.

[jeffweemsforRRC]

91. Here is an example of what I am running against

In the 1950's, Exxon's predecessor in interest took some leases from a rancher in the mid-coastal bend in Texas. Because oil was known to be present, the royalty rate was hefty. Exxon drilled wells there and produced them for decades. Everyone made money. In the 1980's, Exxon approached the royalty owners requesting a royalty reduction to justify further operations. The royalty owners said no under the terms offerred.

Exxon proceeded to plug all of the wells on the lease, despite the request of the landowners/royalty owners who asked that the wells be left intact for another operator to come on board. The wells were plugged.

The new/other/alternative operator came on board, reviewing Exxon's plugging reports, and determining that it could reenter the wells rather quickly to reestablish production. New leases were executed. The new operator drilled into the old well bores only to find that the condition of the well bores was not as represented by Exxon in its sworn filings at the Railroad Commission. Old drill bits, perforating tools, and shredded casing were reported in each well bore reentered by the new operator. After over a decade in the courts, where relief was denied eventually on technical grounds, certain parties in Texas (among whom are, amazingly, the Republican Commissioner of the General Land Office) have begun demanding that the Railroad Commissioners do their job and call for public hearings to determine if Exxon indeed filed false reports at the commission (which, if true, could result in millions in fines). The Railroad Commissioners' response to date:

--Crickets--

That is not the way to operate an agency constitutionally structured as a consumer/little guy protection outfit. Hold the hearings. This isn't that hard, folks. Even if they get around to doing it now, it begs the question: Why did you wait so long? Was it the heat?

I appreciate you listening to me.

jeff

[grantcart]

100. Looking forward to learning about the office and your opponents.

[Tx4obama]

92. Happy Birthday and Good Luck, I'll vote for ya. n/t

[NanceGreggs]

93. Happy Birthday, Jeff!

And congratulations on choosing to fight the good fight for all of us - all the best to you!!!

[jeffweemsforRRC]

95. A Nance Greggs rec!

I am deeply honored!

Thanks - as I mentioned above, common decency shouldn't be all that hard -- should it?

Jeff

[NanceGreggs]

102. As I am honoured to know you, Good Sir ...

... now go and do us proud!

[rhett o rick]

94. rec 127 and Happy Birthday and best of luck. nt

[jeffweemsforRRC]

96. Thanks - I like all the Edward Kennedy avitars!

[rhett o rick]

98. Some day America will truly appreciate Teddy. nt

[Dystopian]

97. Go Jeff!

Happy Birthday!
Best wishes!

Keep on!
peace~

[BobTheSubgenius]

99. The VERY best of luck to you!

[Lugnut]

101. Congrats and happy birthday!

Good luck on your campaign!

[NecklyTyler]

103. GO JEFF

[Ken Burch]

104. Good luck to Jeff

BTW...didn't Jim Hightower once serve on the Railroad Commission?

[WillyT]

105. You Go Jeff !!! - K & R !!!

[BonnieJW]

106. Congratulations and good wishes for success.

I am in awe of any Democrat who has the courage to run for any office in Texas. Actually, I have great respect for any Democrat who has the courage to LIVE in Texas.

[Javaman]

107. You got my vote! nt

[serbbral]

108. Jeff!

Congratulations! Good Luck!

[Lochloosa]

109. Happy Birthday. You have my support and now you have my money.

[jeffweemsforRRC]

122. Thanks (you'll get a better thank you soon)

[Lochloosa]

132. Put it to good use.

Give 'em Hell

[DKRC]

110. Good luck Jeff!

[TuxedoKat]

111. Congratulations

good luck and Happy Birthday too!!!

[earcandle]

112. Good luck.

[Reeta77]

113. Congrats & Happy B-day! When do you make it to Houston? n/t

[jeffweemsforRRC]

121. I live in Houston

I try to go to as many local events as I can. I hope to see you at one soon!

[hamsterjill]

114. Awesome!

Here in Texas, we need all the Democrats we can get!!!

Happy Birthday - may your year be filled with success!!!

[zoff]

115. A DUer in public office! YAY!

[kentuck]

116. If you need any advice....

let us know.

[grantcart]

124. well if he actually is going to listen to us

then we have to reconsider our support

[redqueen]

117. Congratulations Jeff!

Good luck, & happy belated birthday!

[Uzybone]

118. Congrats, good luck and we'll be voting for ya

[Liberal_in_LA]

119. good news. Kick

[CherokeeDem]

120. Great News...

We need good people in elected office and I am glad that you have decided to run. Good luck in this election and in the future.

Happy Birthday!

[asdjrocky]

123. So cool.

Glad I got here in time to rec this!

[Maraya1969]

125. YEAH!!! Congratulations!

[Joey Liberal]

126. God Luck Jeff! nt

[psychmommy]

127. run jeff run

happy birthday. good luck with your candidacy.

[demwing]

128. Give 'em hell buddy!

and remember DU when you eventually work your way up to Governor!

[uppityperson]

130. Happy birthday and best of luck.

[RDANGELO]

131. Good Luck n/t

[pinto]

133. Kick

[grantcart]

135. Thank you for the kick

[NYC_SKP]

137. Kickety

We need all the good men and women in office we can possibly get...

[mdmc]

138. ..

[Horse with no Name]

139. K&R n/t

[southerncrone]

141. Happy Belated Birthday, Jeff! And Good Luck! WEEMS 4 TX TRC!