Senator John Cornyn has served in all three branches of the government -- Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. He met with bloggers today at the Texas GOP convention, at the Blogger's Row sponsored by RightOnline.com.

Cornyn meets the bloggers,
including me in the Hawaiian shirt.

He began with a discussion of gas prices, in particular the need to open the off-shore areas of the rest of the United States to exploration and drilling, as well as ANWR and the oil shale deposits. He asks why, when only 42 senators would vote in favor of that exploration, these same senators can complain about gas prices. Talking about the new exploration, he noted "unfortunately, our Democrat friends don't want to do that." Windfall profits taxes and lawsuits against OPEC were described as part of the Democratic "No Energy" plan. In particular, the windfall profits tax was described as a tax on the stockholders in American oil companies, not the foreign nations who control the supply. He also supported alternative sources, including nuclear power and renewable fuels like bio-diesel. However, he noted that the use of "food for fuel" has resulted in 25% of the nation's corn crop has led to higher food prices.

On earmark spending, Senator Cornyn noted his support for proposals to end earmarks. The light of day needs to be shed on these earmarks, to help eliminate the pork while preserving those that have merit.

On immigration, the senator was asked about what the future holds in regard to stopping a return of last year's bad immigration bill sponsored by John McCain and Ted Kennedy. He noted the importance of creating border security and verification of legal work status. In particular, he noted that Senator McCain has come to recognize the need for border security before amnesty.

Senator Cornyn noted that yesterday's decision on habeas corpus for terrorist detainees was clearly erroneous, and that the dissenting opinions of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia were correct -- the majority of the court substituted their opinion for the judgment of the Legislative and Executive branches. The basic problem is that the court wants to treat terrorism as a crime, not an act of war and the need to prevent attacks before they happen rather than punish perpetrators afterwards. "We cannot allow the Supreme Curt's decision to stand without addressing it." Otherwise, the result will be endless litigation.

Regarding Open Government, the Senator noted that the legitimacy of the government is based upon the consent of the governed. However, the people cannot give real consent if they don't know what is going on. He has been partnering with Senator Pat Leahy to effect reform of Freedom of Information Laws. On such issues, it is very possible to make common cause with Democrats. This gives the people the power to evaluate what those in power are doing.

Unfortunately, Senator Cornyn noted that Leahy and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have fallen short of their commitment to confirm judges in a timely manner. He noted that the laws passed by Congress don't matter if judges believe they can set aside the wisdom of the elected branch and the people. Electing McCain is therefore important, because he will nominate judges who will interpret the law and Constitution, whereas liberal Obama nominees would implement policies that the people and the elected leaders of the country reject.

UPDATE: One of the delights of the convention has been the introduction videos for our candidates and elected officials. Turns out some of them (or their handlers) have a great sense of humor. John Cornyn's was a delegate favorite.

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