Americans for Prosperity-Texas applauds Congressman Joe
Barton (R-Fort Worth) for introducing a resolution which would block the
Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the
Clean Air Act, something the Act was never designed to do.
“Rep. Barton has taken a leadership role in blocking
the EPA’s unacceptable regulatory overreach, and I urge other members of
Congress to support his bill,” said AFP-Texas Director Peggy Venable. “We
consider the EPA action as just another Obama Administration end-run around
Congress and the Constitution.”
Rep. Barton is ranking member, House Energy and
Commerce Committee. In addition to Barton, Representatives John Boehner,
R-Ohio (Republican Leader); Mike Pence, R-Ind.( Republican Conference
Chairman); Darrell Issa, ranking member, House Oversight and Government
Reform; Frank Lucas, R-Okla, ranking member, Agriculture Committee; and
Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, House Energy and Commerce Committee. The
resolution currently has 79 co-sponsors.
“The EPA’s actions are unprecedented,” said Venable.
“The agency is inappropriately using the Clean Air Act to promulgate the
so-called endangerment finding regarding carbon dioxide emissions would
force millions of businesses, churches, schools and hospitals across the
country to deal with the complex, time consuming and costly EPA permitting
process for the first time”
“This proposal would literally shut down commerce as
the private sector tries to figure out just exactly how it will be affected
by the new regulations,” Venable said. “The EPA’s plan would also cripple
state permitting agencies, which would be forced to implement the new
unfunded mandate.”
The Congressional action comes just two weeks after
Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Gregg Abbott and Agriculture
Commissioner Todd Staples filed a lawsuit against the EPA for attempting to
regulate green house gases under the Clean Air Act.
“We are pleased that Texas is taking a leadership roll
in the EPA fight, since we will be affected so disproportionately by these
proposed regulations,” Venable said. “We're pleased that the state is suing
to block the EPA, but the most direct action is for Congress to shut down
the EPA’s overreach. The Clean Air Act was never intended to be the vehicle
for global warming regulations.”
AUSTIN – The Texas director of Americans for Prosperity
applauds the decision of Gov. Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and
Agriculture Commission Todd Staples to challenge the federal Environmental
Protection Agency’s attempts to enforce the Clean Air Act in Texas.
“Hats off to Governor Perry, Attorney General Abbott
and Commissioner Staples for taking this step – they are protecting
citizens by challenging this rogue agency’s actions which do not fall within
the EPA’s jurisdiction,” said AFP State Director Peggy Venable. “This is
regulation without representation and represents an end-run around
Congress.”
Texas is the No. 1 energy producer in the country, so
it is serious business when the federal government sets massive new energy
policies. It affects a huge swath of the Texas population, which relies on
the energy industry for jobs, and energy consumers across the nation.
“Texans are faced with the economic doom promised by
the Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade bill. Now the unelected and unaccountable
Environmental Protection Agency is issuing back-door climate regulations
under the Clean Air Act,” Venable said.
AFP supports a full and vigorous debate about the
state’s and the national environmental policies. But the EPA has sidestepped
debate and gone directly to the regulations.
“We are excited to see our state’s leadership take a
stand against this kind of unaccountable regulation,” Venable said. “Texas
isn’t about to sit by and let the feds mess with Texas.”
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has signed onto the Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (R-Alaska) legislation introduced late January which would
overturn the EPA endangerment finding.
“We are supportive of both actions taking place to stop
this harmful regulation from moving forward,” said Venable.
Texas is the number one energy producer in the country
and a large sector of the Texas job market relies on energy. So do Texas
consumers. It is serious business when the federal government sets massive
new energy policies. In doing so, the feds are messing with Texas.
Texas consumers: prepare for a body blow. Unless it can
be blocked, the feds are set to drop kick Texas’ prosperity in a big way.
Cap and trade legislation may be dead or on life
support in the Congress but via the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Administration has picked up the ball and is running with it. The only
question now is whether or not they will make it to the end zone.
Back in June, the U.S. House passed a cap-and-trade
energy tax bill, which would have capped our prosperity and traded our jobs
to China.
Texans were paying close attention. The Waxman-Markey
bill passed the House by a narrow 219 to 212 vote in June with 44 Democrats
voting against the bill, among them Texas Reps.Cong. Chet Edwards (Dist 17),
Solomon Ortiz (Dist 27) and Ciro Rodriquez (Dist 23). They joined every
Texas Republican in the House opposing the bill.
The Lone Star Report blog had a good write-up following
passage of the House plan which quoted Gov. Rick Perry slammed the
legislation, saying that if passed in its current form, it would amount to
"the largest tax increase in American history," and calling it a "pending
meteor strike on the Texas economy."
Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd
Staples said the bill would cost Texas farmers up to $5 billion, and force
the nation to outsource agriculture.
Martin Hubert of the Texas Comptroller's Office
reported that 137,000 jobs in Texas would be lost by 2020 alone under the
bill, and Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken cited a Spanish study
showing that when Spain tried a government-directed “green jobs” program,
they destroyed 2.2 jobs in the private sector for every one they propped up
with government subsidies.
Kathleen Hartnett-White from the Texas Public Policy
Foundation, put it in perspective when she said Texans could pay seven times
more in the carbon tax than most other states.
The Waxman-Markey bill is an energy tax, pure and
simple. It will cost Texans jobs at a time the feds are claiming they want
to create jobs, and it is punishing Texas disproportionately.
Fortunately, the Senate isn’t so hot about the global
warming legislation.
But making an end run around Congress, the unelected
and unaccountable Environmental Protection Agency is trying to issue
back-door climate regulations under the Clean Air Act (CAA), something the
Act was never designed or intended to do.
In December, Gov. Perry sent a letter to the EPA urging
the ruling be withdrawn, especially in light of the recent “Climategate”
scandal, which uncovered that data had been manipulated and destroyed in
order to falsely show a preordained result. He claimed politics had hijacked
science
He is right.
This issue deserves a full debate. But EPA has
sidestepped debate and gone directly to the regulations, declaring that
carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are pollutants that “threaten
public health and welfare,” the magic words that will allow the runaway
bureaucracy to regulate to their heart’s content.
The scientific establishment has dropped the ball.
Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. On the contrary it makes crops and
forests grow faster. We exhale carbon dioxide.
Americans for Prosperity and numerous other groups are
fighting the regulations citing economic impact, and over 17,000 AFP
activists filed comments to the EPA opposing the new regulations.
Only Congress can stop the EPA now and they must be
held accountable if they do not.
There are currently several pieces of legislation that
have been introduced in Congress that would preempt EPA’s ability to
regulate greenhouse gasses under the CAA. Senator Murkowski (R-Alaska) has
the most promising proposal, an expression of congressional disapproval,
which has the power to block executive regulations if both chambers pass the
bill and the president signs on. Due to parliamentary rules, the resolution
only needs 51 votes in the Senate, something that is appearing more and more
likely. The heavy lift for conservatives will be mustering the 218 votes to
pass the resolution in the House. However, if Members of Congress don’t
support a move to block EPA from strangling our economy, they must be held
accountable. This is one of our last chances to stop EPA and our elected
officials are the only ones we can duly influence.
Another approach being considered by Texas officials is
suggested by AFP ally, attorney and physician John Dale Dunn who proposes
attacking the EPA as a purveyor of bad science under federal statutes that
prohibit junk science by agencies. The Rules of Good Science are published
by the US Federal Judicial Center in a book called The Reference Manual on
Scientific Evidence. Dunn points out that the pubic health research and
claims of the EPA on greenhouse gas human effects do not meet the basic
guidelines for good scientific evidence in a federal courtroom.
The Administrative Procedure Act provides a mechanism
to take legal action against any agency for misconduct in its policy and
science conduct. It is Dunn’s contention that the EPA consistently,
constantly and consciously engages in cheating on the public health science
rules in pushing public policies making alleging public health risk. He says
the research results the EPA relies on is not adequate and fails the basic
test for good scientific evidence. He also asserts claims that greenhouse
gases are a threat to human welfare are not true.
Texas is unlikely to roll over and it is clear the EPA
will aggressively move to impose harmful regulations.
With the EPA encroaching on the economy and using
unsportsmanlike conduct in circumventing debate, it’s about time someone
throws a flag.
Will 2010 be the year of the 10th? According to Tenth
Amendment Center founder, Michael Boldin, "With people looking to resist
D.C. through state laws on everything from national health care to medical
marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be front and center in the
national debate this year."
In 2009, seven states passed sovereignty resolutions
under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Two
states passed laws nullifying some federal firearms laws and regulations.
States with Medical Marijuana laws in direct opposition to federal laws
reached thirteen. In 2010, some expect the ante to be raised significantly.
"Already, over a dozen states are considering laws or
state constitutional amendments that would effectively ban, or nullify, any
proposed national health care plan in their state, and we expect that number
to reach at least twenty in 2010," said Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth
Amendment Center. "In conjunction with 20+ states that have already said
"No" to the Bush-era Real ID act, another dozen or more considering state
laws to nullify federal gun laws, and the steady growth of states refusing
to comply with federal marijuana laws, some might consider what we see today
to be an unprecedented state-level rebellion to the federal government."
The principle behind such legislation is nullification,
which has a long history in the American tradition. When a state nullifies a
federal law, it is proclaiming that the law in question is void and
inoperative, or non-effective, within the boundaries of that state; or, in
other words, not a law as far as the state is concerned.
"Nullification has been used to stand up for free
speech, resist the fugitive slave laws, reduce tariffs and more. It's a
peaceful and effective way to resist the federal government, and might be
our only hope for moving towards the constitution. Legislators drawing this
kind of line in the stand should be commended," said Boldin.
Grassroots activists around the country are looking to
the Tenth Amendment and nullification to bolster their efforts too. Tenth
Amendment rallies are planned in at least 10 states before the end of
January, including Virginia, Washington, Alabama and Texas. "These aren't
tea party protests, or tax protests, or any of the other topics that were
popular last year," said Boldin. "These are rallies solely in support of
the 10th Amendment, State Sovereignty or Nullification - something that
indicates a major shift from the grassroots, and shows potential for the
growth of a popular mass movement in support of the Tenth."
A recent article in the New York Times included "Tenther"
as a top buzzword for 2009. In response, Boldin said, "With people looking
to resist D.C. through state laws on everything from national health care to
medical marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be front and center
in the national debate once again this year."
NOTE: The Tenth Amendment Center, a Los Angeles-based
think tank founded in 2006, acts as an educational forum on issues related
to the 10th Amendment and Constitutional governance.
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/
As U.S. Senate leaders try to wrap up the debate over
governmental control of health care, some dangerous characters are lurking
in the wings. Grave robbers, property poachers, walker stalkers and other
opportunists seeking to loot estates are likely applauding this move.
Disgruntled family members, wannabe heirs or unscrupulous members of the
legal industry will find Obamacare helpful with Involuntary Redistribution
of Assets (IRA) actions in which probate venues or instruments like wills,
trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are used to divert assets from
intended heirs or beneficiaries.
The House of Representatives bill introduced
end-of-life counseling. When “reform” cost explanations failed to reconcile
with fiscal responsibility principles and political realities, the public
viewed such provisions as precursors to health care rationing and logically
began questioning administration of such a process. While the exact language
of the Senate bill is yet to be determined, concern legitimately exists that
similar end-of-life provisions or measures that open the door to such
provisions will be inserted prior to any upcoming vote.
Palliative care, a common end-of-life care component,
is defined as any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on
reducing disease symptom severity rather than striving to halt, delay, or
reverse progression of the disease itself or provide a cure. The goal is to
prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life for people
facing serious, complex illness. While used with aggressive treatment, it is
also a common alternative for patients who decline prolonged, expensive
efforts. Performed under the guise of government-run health care, it’s
likely to become a mandated, state-sponsored doping of sick Americans deemed
unsuitable for proactive medical treatment.
Elder financial abuse is frequently termed the crime of
the 21st century. Estate looting and other probate abuse fall into this
category. Estate disputes frequently include allegations of undue influence
with the role of medication being a common point of contention. If
palliative care becomes a major tool in the government’s arsenal of health
care cost-cutting measures, predators will seize this opportunity.
“Isolate, medicate, steal the estate” is a phrase
commonly associated with IRA acts. The medicate phase offers great
opportunity for the use of undue influence that can lead to late-in-life and
uncharacteristic estate plan changes. Abandoning proactive medical
treatments to artificially incapacitate our seniors in the name of
“palliative care” will aid unscrupulous individuals in estate hijacking
pursuits. Similar concerns can be raised for the disabled or younger people
with terminal illness or life-threatening injuries – especially individuals
attached to a significant estate as legal settlements can provide.
People seem increasingly concerned as they learn more
about the proposed reforms. The administration and Congressional leaders
claim their reform will better for all Americans. The federal government
wants us to trust them with a plan that will ultimately position a majority
of Americans to forfeit a flawed, but functioning health care system to
provide coverage for up to 40+ million previously uninsured “Americans”
whose true numbers are unknown. The pressure to quickly approve this
legislation despite its illogical economic premise and language clearly
questionable to the longevity and welfare of many Americans – especially the
elderly – is rightfully a major cause for concern.
Estate abuse and probate corruption already threaten
the property rights of Americans and their heirs' or beneficiaries'
inheritance rights. Provisions of this legislation – specifically doping
rather than treating certain population segments – will add to the problem.
An unsuspecting public must become aware of IRA threats and the accompanying
consequences likely to flow from the current health care proposal.
The treatment of estate thefts as civil rather than
criminal matters has already provided growth opportunities for the legal
industry in addition to generating incentives for others desiring to divert
assets from intended beneficiaries. Increased numbers of heavily-medicated,
especially elderly, Americans will likely fuel this expansion of activity.
Lou Ann Anderson is an advocate working to create
awareness regarding the Texas probate system and its surrounding culture.
She is the Online Producer at www.EstateofDenial.com and a Policy Advisor
with Americans for Prosperity – Texas Foundation. Lou Ann may be contacted
at info@EstateofDenial.com.
AUSTIN –
A study released December 7 reveals that for the third year in a row, Texas
has been rated No. 1 in residential electricity competition and No. 1 for
the second year in a row in commercial energy competition.
“LoneStar State consumers have
benefited from a competitive electricity marketplace,” said Peggy Venable,
state director of Americans for Prosperity, “We have good news in Texas, and
it is not result of a top-down regulatory regime, but of allowing the free
market to work. Consumers like choices and have taken advantage of those
opportunities in selecting their electricity providers.”
Texas leads the nation
in wind turbine capacity and wind energy production. States which have
vibrant energy markets have experienced rapid growth in renewable
generation.
“We Texans like to
brag,” said Venable. “The Texas Legislature has opened the electricity
marketplace and consumers have responded.”
Most consumers have 130
different offers and four out of five consumers have exercised their ability
to choose. Consumers are the beneficiaries of a vibrant electricity
marketplace, according to the new study.
The Annual Baseline
Assessment of Choice in Canada and the United States (ABACCUS) results
evaluating the effectiveness of retail choice in the electricity industry
were released Monday. The study, Assessment of Restructured Electricity
Markets, is a project of the Energy Retailer Research Consortium.
“Unfortunately, not all
consumers have the opportunity to choose their provider,” said Venable.
“Those of us in municipally-owned utility regions and those in co-ops can’t
choose other providers until the cities and co-op boards elect to allow
competition. And that could be a freezing cold August day in Texas before
that happens.”
The LoneStar State has been ranked first
in residential and commercial electricity restructuring and benefits derived
to residential and commercial consumers.
Consumer choice has
helped provide lower prices and more alternatives for consumers in every
state which has embraced free market competition.
Texas
Director, Americans for Prosperity Foundation
The Obama Administration should look to Texas for ways
to create jobs. While jobs aren’t created at job summits, businesses large
and small look for certainty in taxation and regulation.
Instead, the Obama Administration and Congress are
considering two of the biggest tax bills in history in the health care
reform and the cap and trade legislation. And federal government debt has
hit $12 trillion.
While Texas has created more jobs than any other state
in the country, and touts creating more jobs last year than all other states
combined, and has a rainy day fund of over $8 billion, officials in the
Obama Administration will be convening a jobs summit.
We in Texas could have saved them the effort.
Washington officials should look to Texas to see that tort reform, lower
taxes, limiting government growth and debt, and common-sense regulations
open the door to job creation.
Texas is No. 1 in the country for job creation and is
the No. 1 state for business relocation. For the first time in history,
Texas has more Fortune 500 companies than any other state. Texas also is
named as the No. 1 state for tort reform.
We have good news in Texas, which also includes having
been named the top state for government spending transparency.
So as the jobs summit is convening in Washington, D.C.,
Americans for Prosperity recommends that Congress and the Administration
look to Texas for ways to boost job creation and improve the economy.
AFP Foundation-Texas has created a website
www.GoodNewsInTexas.com which lists some of the ways Texas is No. 1 in
the country.
Rather than holding summits, Washington officials
should look to Texas for ways to create jobs and improve the U.S. economy
An open letter from a former Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004
This past Thursday 13 American Soldiers were killed and
another 30 wounded at a horrific mass shooting at US Army installation, Ft
Hood Texas . As I watched in horror and then anger I recalled my two years
of final service in the Army as a Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004.
My wife and two daughters were stunned at the incident
having lived on the post in family housing.
A military installation, whether it is Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marine, or Coast Guard, is supposed to be a safe sanctuary for our
Warriors and their families. It is intended to provide a home whereby our
"Band of Brothers and Sisters" can find solace and bond beyond just the
foxhole but as family unit
A military installation is supposed to be a place where
our Warriors train for war, to serve and protect our Nation.
On Thursday, 5 November 2009 Ft Hood became a part of
the battlefield in the war against Islamic totalitarianism and state
sponsored terrorism.
There may be those who feel threatened by my words and
would even recommend they not be uttered. To those individuals I say step
aside because now is not the time for cowardice. Our Country has become so
paralyzed by political correctness that we have allowed a vile and
determined enemy to breach what should be the safest place in America, an
Army post.
We have become so politically correct that our media is
more concerned about the stress of the shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The
misplaced benevolence intending to portray him as a victim is despicable.
The fact that there are some who have now created an entire new
classification called; "pre-virtual vicarious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD)" is unconscionable.
This is not a "man caused disaster". It is what it is,
an Islamic jihadist attack.
We have seen this before in 2003 when a SGT Hasan of
the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) threw hand grenades and opened
fire into his Commanding Officer's tent in Kuwait . We have seen the foiled
attempt of Albanian Muslims who sought to attack Ft Dix, NJ. Recently we saw
a young convert to Islam named Carlos Bledsoe travel to Yemen, receive
terrorist training, and return to gun down two US Soldiers at a Little Rock,
Arkansas Army recruiting station. We thwarted another Islamic terrorist plot
in North Carolina which had US Marine Corps Base, Quantico as a target.
What have we done with all these prevalent trends?
Nothing.
What we see are recalcitrant leaders who are refusing
to confront the issue, Islamic terrorist infiltration into America, and
possibly further into our Armed Services. Instead we have a multiculturalism
and diversity syndrome on steroids.
Major Hasan should have never been transferred to Ft
Hood, matter of fact he should have been Chaptered from the Army. His
previous statements, poor evaluation reports, and the fact that the FBI had
him under investigation for jihadist website posting should have been proof
positive.
However, what we have is a typical liberal approach to
find a victim, not the 13 and 30 Soldiers and Civilian, but rather the poor
shooter. A shooter who we are told was a great American, who loved the Army
and serving his Nation and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)
stating that his actions had nothing to do with religious belief.
We know that Major Hasan deliberately planned this
episode; he did give away his possessions. He stood atop a table in the
confined space of the Soldier Readiness Center shouting "Allahu Akhbar",
same chant as the 9-11 terrorists and those we fight against overseas in the
Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of operation.
No one in leadership seems willing to sound the alarm
for the American people; they are therefore complicit in any future attacks.
Our Congress should suspend the insidious action to vote on a preposterous
and unconstitutional healthcare bill and resolve the issue of "protecting
the American people".
The recent incidents in Dearborn Michigan, Boston
Massachusetts , Dallas Texas , and Chicago Illinois should bear witness to
the fact that we have an Islamic terrorism issue in America . And don't have
CAIR call me and try to issue a vanilla press statement; they are an
illegitimate terrorist associated organization which should be disbanded.
We have Saudi Arabia funding close to 80% of the
mosques in the United States, one right here in South Florida, Pompano Beach
. Are we building churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia? Are "Kaffirs" and
"Infidels" allowed travel to Mecca?
So much for peaceful coexistence.
Saudi Arabia is sponsoring radical Imams who enter into
our prisons and convert young men into a virulent Wahabbist ideology, one
resulting in four individuals wanting to destroy synagogues in New York with
plastic explosives. Thank God the explosives were dummy. They are sponsoring
textbooks which present Islamic centric revisionist history in our schools.
We must recognize that there is an urgent need to
separate the theo-political radical Islamic ideology out of our American
society. We must begin to demand surveillance of suspected Imams and mosques
that are spreading hate and preaching the overthrow of our Constitutional
Republic that speech is not protected under First Amendment, it is sedition
and if done by an American treason
There should not be some 30 Islamic terrorist training
camps in America that has nothing to do with First Amendment, Freedom of
Religion. The Saudis are not our friends and any American political figure
who believes such is delusional.
When tolerance becomes a one way street it certainly
leads to cultural suicide. We are on that street. Liberals cannot be trusted
to defend our Republic, because their sympathies obviously lie with their
perceived victim, Major Nidal Malik Hasan.
I make no apologies for these words, and anyone angered
by them, please, go to Ft Hood and look into the eyes of the real victims.
The tragedy at Ft Hood Texas did not have to happen. Consider now the
feelings of those there and on every military installation in the world.
Consider the feelings of the Warriors deployed into combat zones who now are
concerned that their loved ones at home are in a combat zone.
Ft Hood suffered an Islamic jihadist attack, stop the
denial, and realize a simple point.
Let me state it right from the start so that there is
no misunderstanding as to my position: Nidal Malik Hasan’s attack on U.S.
soldiers at Fort Hood was an act of terrorism. By his murderous and
treasonous act he should be subject to a General Court Marshal, placed
before a firing squad and executed.
The first obligation of the United States government is
to protect its citizens. This it failed to do on 9/11 and again on November
5, 2009. President Obama, as weak and indecisive a president as we’ve ever
had, has stated that, “I would caution against jumping to conclusions until
we get all the facts.” Yeah, right. Like he did when he accused Cambridge
cop James Crowley of acting “stupidly” when arresting his buddy, Harvard
professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. without knowing anything about the facts of
the matter? We can’t even get the facts as to Obama’s place and circumstance
of birth because of his withholding that information from the public!
Here’s what we seem to know about Hasan according to an
article by Carter Clews of GetLiberty.org, Americans for Limited Government:
In 2001, Hasan attended the notorious Dar Al-Hijrah
Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia, where he listened in rapt
attention as the fiery, anti-American imam Anwar Al-Awlaki encouraged his
followers to attack the infidels. Not so coincidentally, among Hasan’s
fellow attendees at the Center were two of the September 11 terrorists.
During his time at Walter Reed Hospital and the
Uniformed Services University, Hasan, according to the New York Times,
became increasingly hostile towards the War on Terror and Americans who
defended it. Wrote the Times:
“A former classmate in the master's degree program said
Major Hasan gave a PowerPoint presentation about a year ago in an
environmental health seminar titled "Why the War on Terror Is a War on
Islam." He did not socialize with his classmates, other than to argue in the
hallways on why the wars were wrong … [S]ome students complained to their
professors about Major Hasan.”
Even more recently, according to an ABC News Online
article, intelligence sources had a level of knowledge that Hasan was in
communication with al Qaeda assets abroad. And according to the highly
reliable web site, the Northeast Intelligence Network, “this and information
similar but not directly related to such communications became a ‘political
issue’ between government agencies and officials ‘at the policy making
levels’ of the administration.”
Hasan was a Muslim fanatic who wrote internet postings
praising Islamic suicide bombers. The Army knew he was a supporter of the
Islamic jihad against the west and had him under investigation for the past
6 months, yet he remained an Army Major, with access to military
intelligence and lethal weaponry.
Chuck Medly, Fort Hood’s director of Emergency
Services, told Reuters that Hasan yelled “Allahu Akbar” just before the
shooting. An ABC news report indicted that Hasan attempted to contact al-Queda.
Obama says not to jump to conclusions; Chris Mathews
says, “It’s unclear if religion was a factor in this shooting;” Tom Gjlten
on NPR says Hasan may have been suffering from “pre-traumatic stress
disorder;” and Geraldo Rivera says “I don’t know what motivates him…as far
as I know…he’s a sociopath; he’s a criminal. He could have had a toothache
and gone off because of that.”
I say, “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining!”
Political correctness killed those soldiers and one
civilian at Ft. Hood and seriously wounded 30 others. Muslims killed nearly
3,000 of our citizens 8 years ago as a religious declaration of war against
us, not the other way around. A Muslim murdered a soldier at a military
recruiting center in Arkansas earlier this year. Unless the United States
becomes a politically correct free zone there will be more Americans killed
by Muslim terrorists in this country.
The Defense Department says there are 3,572 Muslims in
the American military. The American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs
Council put the number at more than 15,000. That’s enough to send shivers up
anyone’s spine.
The administration, the media and liberals in general
try to sell us a bill of goods that these dastardly acts are committed by
radical Muslims, not the vast majority of so-called “moderate” Muslims who
follow a “peace-loving” religion, but where is the evidence of that? If the
“moderates” are in the majority, why aren’t they taking action to curtail
Muslim extremists and speaking out against them? Their silence is assent to
their murderous acts. One need only read the Koran to know it is not a
“peace-loving” religion.
The First Amendment restricting Congress from making
any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion doesn’t require the
government or the people to tolerate a religious movement that is hell bent
on killing us. Unless the government and its enablers wake up and stop their
self-destructive policy of Muslim appeasement, the people better look to
their own defense against political correctness gone wild.
And remember Klee’s law:
“Judge me by the people with whom I surround myself” (Barack Obama) (I
thought you’d get a kick out of this one – it says it all)
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior Senator, issued a statement today on
Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to transfer five Guantanamo Bay
detainees with alleged ties to the 9/11 conspiracy, including accused
mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to go on trial in civilian court.
“I am strongly opposed to Attorney General Holder’s
decision to give Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists the same rights
as American citizens - rights they do not deserve,” said Sen. Hutchison.
“Today’s announcement will jeopardize our national
security and undermine our legal system. We cannot underestimate the
possibility that the trial will divulge intelligence, information gathering
and other sources and methods that are critical to our progress in the War
on Terror. This poses an unacceptable risk, considering that we already
have a military tribunal system established in Guantanamo Bay.”
“I encourage the Obama Administration to reverse this
decision. The safety of our citizens must be our paramount concern and
should not be undermined in order to win international applause.”
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison (R-Texas) its October Porker of the Month. The four-term senator
from Texas is loading up her goodie bag just before Halloween as she
prepares to leave the Senate to run for governor. While claiming to be a
fiscal conservative, Sen. Hutchison requested 149 projects worth $1.6
billion for authorization and appropriations bills for fiscal year 2010.
In a March 6, 2009 Dallas Morning News article, Sen. Hutchison
said, “I do think that earmarks are a legitimate role of Congress. I don’t
think that we should be earmarking things that do not have a national
interest…Can it be overdone? Yes. Should it be transparent? Yes. But that is
the role of Congress, to determine how we spend money.” On September 28,
2009, she told the Austin American-Statesman that “I’m proud of
being able to garner Texans’ fair share of their tax dollars.”
“Sen. Hutchison is repeating the same old insidious quackery about the
earmarking process: that it can be made accountable and that it somehow
levels the spending playing field,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz. “The
only fair way to distribute the taxpayers’ money is to eliminate the
practice altogether and instead work to ensure that every dime of taxpayer
money is spent using the budget laws and rules that they themselves
established. Earmarking is a secretive, wasteful process that breeds a
culture of corruption in Washington and distrust among taxpayers.”
According to CAGW’s pork database, Sen. Hutchison secured 130 projects
worth $189 million in fiscal year (FY) 2009, and 145 projects worth $259
million for FY 2008. So far, the senator has appeared in several of CAGW’s
Pork Alerts for FY 2010. In the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, she joined several other senators in getting $50.5
million for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC). The Senate
bill had already appropriated $132 million to the NDPC even before the
earmark. In the Military Construction Appropriations Act, Sen. Hutchison
took home five projects worth $25,045,000, equal to 8.2 percent of the total
dollars in the bill. In the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development Appropriations Act, she grabbed earmarks for two light rail
transportation (LRT) projects: $75,000,000 for the Houston North Corridor
LRT and $75,000,000 for the Houston Southeast Corridor LRT.
For personifying the tiresome hypocrisy of some members of Congress who
want to claim the badge of fiscal conservatism while continuing to abscond
with billions of dollars in wasteful pork projects, CAGW names Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison its October Porker of the Month.
Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan,
nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and
mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to
lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a
blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
If those out there think more pork for Texas is a good
idea, maybe they should encourage Sen. Hutchison to remain in the senate.
Although our
constitution may be growing, the amendments that we will vote on this
November, will actually reduce the scope of state government and improve its
operation. Passing these amendments will do nothing less than help our
service men and women, protect our military bases from encroachment, make
property tax appraisals fairer and preserve the sanctity of private property
rights.
There has been a
lot of misinformation circulating about Propositions 2, 3, and 5. These
amendments will NOT create a new state property tax. The Texas Constitution
still prohibits a state property tax. Please take the time to review the
analysis below and be sure to vote. Early voting is available from October
19 through 30 and Election Day is November 3.
Proposition 1: "The constitutional amendment
authorizing the financing, including through tax increment financing, of the
acquisition by municipalities and counties of buffer areas or open spaces
adjacent to a military installation for the prevention of encroachment or
for the construction of roadways, utilities, or other infrastructure to
protect or promote the mission of the military installation."
Voting
recommendation: For.
Military bases in Texas provide immense economic benefits for the state.
The encroachment by development around military installations is putting
this money in danger and is also restricting training and operational
missions. If passed, this will protect military installations from further
encroachment, which is a worthy investment.
Proposition 2: "The constitutional amendment
authorizing the legislature to provide for the ad valorem taxation of a
residence homestead solely on the basis of the property's value as a
residence homestead."
Voting
recommendation: For.
This amendment DOES NOT create a
new state property tax.
If passed, this will provide protection to homeowners whose neighborhoods
are in transition from residential to commercial developments. It will
provide for taxation of property to be determined solely on the basis of the
property's value as a residence, regardless of whether that use is
considered to be the "highest and best use" of the property. Residence
homesteads throughout the state have experienced increasing appraisal
values, in some instances more than 200 percent in one year, due to the
appraisal practice known as "highest and best use."
Proposition 3: "The constitutional amendment
providing for uniform standards and procedures for the appraisal of property
for ad valorem tax purposes."
Voting
recommendation:For. Property
tax practices vary across the state. This amendment provides for the
administration and enforcement of uniform standards on appraisal districts
while leaving the appraisal of property at the local level.
Proposition 4: "The constitutional amendment
establishing the national research university fund to enable emerging
research universities in this state to achieve national prominence as major
research universities and transferring the balance of the higher education
fund to the national research university fund."
Voting recommendation:OPPOSE
–
While commendable, more tax dollars should not be used at this time to reach
this goal. Research conducted in the private market is efficient and
effective and doesn't involve the use of billions of tax dollars. Moreover,
the past has shown that research-oriented universities are more expensive
for students and provide a lower-quality education, as professors spend less
time in the classroom and more time conducting research projects.
Proposition 5: "The constitutional amendment
authorizing the legislature to authorize a single board of equalization for
two or more adjoining appraisal entities that elect to provide for
consolidated equalizations."
Voting
recommendation:For. The
prerequisites to serve on an appraisal review board are minimal, and the
number of people familiar with the appraisal of property is limited in any
one county. The appraisal review process would benefit from the
consolidation of appraisal review boards in rural counties that currently
have a small amount of qualified board members.
Proposition 6: "The constitutional amendment
authorizing the Veterans' Land Board to issue general obligation bonds in
amounts equal to or less than amounts previously authorized."
Voting
recommendation: For.
This will give the Veteran's Land Board the authority to continue the
Veterans' Housing Assistance Program and the Veterans' Land Program.
Proposition 7: "The constitutional amendment to
allow an officer or enlisted member of the Texas State Guard or other state
militia or military force to hold other civil offices."
Voting
recommendation:For.
This would add officers and enlisted members of any active militia or
military force organized under Texas law to the list of civil offices
exempt from the prohibition against holding or exercising more than one
civil office at the same time. These groups were overlooked or not in
existence when the original exceptions were made.
Proposition 8:
"The constitutional amendment authorizing the state to contribute money,
property, and other resources for the establishment, maintenance, and
operation of veteran's hospitals in this state."
Voting
recommendation:For.
This will require the Texas Veterans Commission and the Department of State
Health Services to work with the VA and any other appropriate federal agency
to propose that the federal government establish a veteran's hospital in the
Rio Grande Valley region of the state. Currently veterans in this area must
make about a 300 mile trip to get to the nearest VA hospital.
Proposition 9: "The constitutional amendment to
protect the right of the public, individually and collectively, to access
and use the public beaches bordering the seaward shore of the Gulf of
Mexico."
Voting recommendation:
OPPOSE –
The Open Beaches Act gives the state too much power to restrict the right of
private landowners to enjoy their property. Placing this authority in the
Constitution would only worsen this problem by making the law more difficult
to change in the future. Under the Open Beaches Act, the state has forced
homeowners to move or remove their houses after hurricanes and other changes
to the coastline. The law should be weakened, not placed in the
Constitution.
Proposition 10: "The constitutional amendment to
provide that elected members of the governing boards of emergency services
districts may serve terms not to exceed four years."
Voting
recommendation:For.
This will allow emergency services district board members enough time to
gain the experience needed to properly do the job.
Proposition 11: "The constitutional amendment to
prohibit the taking, damaging, or destroying of private property for public
use unless the action is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the
property by the State, a political subdivision of the State, the public at
large, or entities granted the power of eminent domain under law or for the
elimination of urban blight on a particular parcel of property, but not for
certain economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes, and to
limit the legislature's authority to grant the power of eminent domain to an
entity."
Voting
recommendation:
OPPOSE.
I’ve gone back and forth on this
proposition. There seems to be just as many good arguments against it as for
it. The arguments against it are: Economic development isn’t defined. Public
use isn’t clearly defined or limited. Good faith negotiations for offers of
“adequate compensation” (the current constitutional language) aren’t
required. Urban blight isn’t defined, and even though the legislative
committees writing the bill couldn’t accurately discern the voluminous
entities that currently have eminent domain powers, Prop 11 continues to
allow the Legislature the power to grant yet more undefined “entities” the
power of eminent domain for “public use,” which Perry ensured still included
privatizing Texas
roads to benefit foreign entities.
Proposition 11 is poorly written and prone to interpretive mischief yet some
would argue that’s its better than nothing (See, Peggy Venable’s article in
favor of the proposition in this edition of the Kaleidoscope). If it were a
statute I might go along with her argument in favor. (It’s easier to go back
and amend it later) but as a constitutional amendment, the wording needs to
be cleaned up considerably. As it reads now, property owners could be in
worse shape if it passes.
In my
opinion there are too many exceptions to its provisions to give any
substantive protection for property owners. It vaguely addresses one issue,
the taking of property that would aid developers, hurt property owners and
all for the purpose of increasing tax revenues, but the wording is
exceptionally weak.
Now if
the proposition would prohibit eminent domain proceedings for developmental
purposes that would result in a financial benefit to any public or private
entity, that would be more like it.
We Texans value our property and private property
rights are at the very core of a free society.
That explains why the controversial Kelo
decision of 2005 rocked the nation as property rights activists rolled up
their sleeves to get greater protections written into state constitutions,
as the U.S. Supreme Court suggested.
The Texas legislature has passed a bill which, if
passed on the November ballot, will improve private property rights in the
State of Texas. By declaring that Prop.11 is “counterfeit eminent domain
reform,” some opponents are suggesting the legislation doesn’t go far
enough.
Rather than focusing on what is in the proposition,
some naysayers are busy telling you what is not in the proposition. It is
true that good faith negotiations, diminished access to property, relocation
of displaced landowners, and voter approval of eminent domain are not
covered in the proposal.
However, those are not issues which arose from the
Kelo case that this legislation was designed to remedy. Those are issues
that came up in property owners’ opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor.
Should the issues be addressed? Sure, but they can just as easily be
addressed in statute as the constitution.
You may recall that the Kelo decision allowed
local entities to take property – even homesteads – if the local government
could get more in tax revenues were the property converted to another use –
like a shopping center.
This isn’t the legislature’s first try to stop that
opportunity. Legislation passed in the 2007 Legislative Session didn’t make
it to the ballot. With the support of the bill sponsor, Rep. Frank Corte,
Gov. Rick Perry vetoed the bill.
Some would have you believe that Gov. Perry’s 2007 veto
of HB 2006 should result in the defeat of this measure because it does not
propose that everything that was in that bill be added to the Texas
Constitution. Even the Farm Bureau isn’t buying that logic. That veto may
have cost the governor the Farm Bureau’s endorsement this campaign cycle,
but the Farm Bureau is strongly in support of this constitutional measure.
They recognize that this does not give them everything they would like, but
it certainly moves us forward in the process of private property rights
protection.
Here is how Proposition 11
would amend the Constitution in four primary ways:
1. It would define the term “public use,” rather than leaving the
definition of that term up to court interpretation;
2. It would specify that the taking of property for the purpose of
economic development or enhancement of tax revenue purposes is not a public
use;
3. It would provide that property taken to eliminate urban blight
must be done on a parcel by parcel basis; and
4. It would require that any future power of eminent domain granted
requires a 2/3 vote of the Texas Legislature.
So, why a constitutional amendment instead of statutory
reform? The U.S. Supreme Court in rendering the Kelo case overturned
years of precedent and changed the definition of public use that is found in
both the Texas and U.S. Constitution. To prevent further erosion of property
rights in Texas, there had to be a constitutional fix to the definition of
“public use.”
The definition used in Proposition 11 defines both what
public use is, and reiterates what it is not. Public use does not include
the taking of property for the primary purpose of economic development or
enhancement of tax revenue purposes. That’s protection we don’t have if the
proposal fails. But, Prop 11 goes even further to prevent the taking of
property to eliminate urban blight except on a parcel by parcel basis. This
will stop local governments from declaring a few pieces of property as
blighted and then taking all the property in an area for a development
project.
Passage of private property protection has been a long
time coming in Texas. Passage of Prop. 11 will send a clear message to
legislators that the issue is of utmost concern to the voters. Failure to
pass the measure will let them know there is no need to continue to work on
the issue because the people making the most noise will not even be content
with a victory.
Peggy Venable is the State Director for Americans
for Prosperity- Texas,
www.afptx.org.
In his Presidential address, Obama said he’d talked to
some doctors and learned that unnecessary medical procedures were being done
due to fear of medical malpractice lawsuits.
In town hall meetings across the country, elected
officials heard from citizens that tort reform needs to be part of any
health care reform Congress considers.
Obama didn’t mention that medical malpractice insurance
rates are high – those costs are either passed on to patients, or doctors
limit their practice. In Texas, many doctors refused to deliver babies for
fear of lawsuits. Last night, Obama entertained the idea of tort reform,
saying we could try it in some states with pilot projects.
While that likely caused heartburn with his personal
injury lawyer friends and donors, we have good news. No need for a pilot
project.
It’s been done!
Earth to Obama: Texas enacted malpractice reform years
ago. The President would benefit from a phone call to Texas Governor Rick
Perry.
Texas passed significant tort reform in 1995 and more
reforms have been enacted since then. A study released in 2008 outlined the
benefits stating that perhaps the most visible
economic impact of lawsuit reforms are the benefits experienced by Texans
who have better access to high-quality healthcare. Doctors and hospitals are
using their liability insurance savings to expand services and initiate
innovative programs; those savings have allowed Texas hospitals to expand charity care by 24%.
In the study titled
“The Texas Turnaround,” The Perryman
Group measured the incremental gains from tort reform and found that the
total impact of tort reforms implemented since 1995 includes gains of
$112.5 billion in spending each year
as well as almost 499,900 jobs in the state.
The fiscal stimulus to the State from judicial reforms is almost
$2.6 billion per year increase in
state revenue.
Texas reforms
limited non-economic damages in medical
malpractice litigation, which alone lead to gains of $55.3 billion in
spending per year and more than 223,000 jobs. In addition, these
impacts are responsible for approximately
430,000 individuals having health insurance than would otherwise, and there
has been an increase in the number of doctors, particularly in
regions which have been facing severe shortages. In the Houston-Sugarland-Baytown
area, the impact of tort reform has been astounding.
Since 1995, over
$39 billion has been added to the economy and 152,905 jobs were created.
The 2003 omnibus
tort reform bill, HB 4 sponsored by former Rep. Joe Nixon, has been very
successful and was touted in the Wall Street Journal:
http://www.tortreform.com/node/462. This Administration may want to
subscribe to that publication.
But there is
more. Those the class action lawsuits which result in hundreds or thousands
of plaintiffs getting nothing more than a coupon also provides justice to
the ambulance-chasing lawyers who file those suits. If filed in Texas,
instead of getting six-figure attorney fees when citizens get coupons, the
lawyers who file those bills get paid like the plaintiffs they abuse do --
in coupons. Gotta love Texas!
Obama and Congress could learn from Texas. Many
Americans consider our national economy and unemployment as important
issues.
Texas created more jobs than any other state last year
– 70% of the jobs created in the U.S. were in Texas. Texas is also the No. 1
exporting state, the top state for businesses to relocate, has the most
Fortune 500 Companies, has been rating No. 1 for transparency, has more wind
generation than any other state, and on and on. Texas’ good credit rating
has improved, according to Standard and Poor’s.
Much of this information is on the Americans for
Prosperity web page
Good News In Texas.
President Obama and his staff can find Gov. Perry’s
phone number listed, but in case they need some help – you can call him at
512-463-2000.
If you’re
discouraged with this recession, perhaps it’s time to take a trip to the
beauty salon. Worried about your job future? Why not grab onto some
federal stimulus money to become a beautician? That’s the plan for many
Texans this fall. So far this year,
$3.8 million in federal stimulus money has been paid to barber and
beauty colleges in Texas’ five largest counties to train future stylists.
The money is part
of more than
$225 million in Pell Grants that have already come into Texas this
year. Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not have to be repaid. Although
it was designed to help low-income people attend post-secondary school and
for those recently laid-off to find new careers, it is primary going to
subsidize students who are already enrolled in the schools. While these
cosmetology schools did not appear to be the most likely candidates for
additional funding, they received substantially more aid.
Understanding where the money goes
and who get it is usually an indication about how it will affect the local
economy. The only thing we know at this point, is that students who
otherwise would pay their tuition bills, now have some extra cash in their
pockets. Check out
this article for more information about stimulus spending in Texas.
Government
takeover of health care has Constituents dogging Doggett; Liberals busing in
supporters
AUSTIN – U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett walked into an
Astroturf-filled town hall meeting following a rally at the Texas Capitol,
all designed to give the impression of widespread support of a government
takeover of the country’s health care system.
Rally organizers are MoveOn.org. The rally was slated
for 1 – 4 p.m. beginning at the Capitol. Rep. Doggett spoke at 3 p.m. in
the air-conditioned First United Methodist Church at 1201 Lavaca, just one
block west of the State Capitol.
“Supporters of ObamaCare are worried. The more
citizens know about the bill, the more they oppose it. The entire event is
filled with hypocrisy,” said Peggy Venable, Americans for Prosperity-Texas
Director.
“Rep. Doggett has a problem. He has characterized his
constituents who oppose H.R. 3200 as Astroturf political operatives who show
up at town halls with the intent of squelching honest debate. Then he goes
out and aligns himself with a group of Astroturf operatives who are
organizing a town hall designed to squelch honest debate on the massive
overhaul of one-sixth of our national economy.”
“I hope Congressman Doggett’s constituents have an
opportunity to attend the town hall, not just MoveOn.org supporters being
bused in from outside Austin,” Venable said.
MoveOn.org had urged its members to “get as many of you
as possible into this 1,200 seat venue,” apparently so anyone who is opposed
to H.R. 3200 – or who may even have questions about the bill – will not be
able to get inside and be heard.
MoveOn.org announced plans to bus hundreds of their
operatives into Austin. According to a recent MoveOn.org email, the
organization has hired buses to bring as many as 550 individuals in from
Dallas to help show support.
“It is a telling picture of the lack of support for
ObamaCare when leftist groups have to bus people in to a town like Austin to
support liberal legislation,” said Venable. “You would think they could
generate a lot of support in Austin without having to bus other people in.
After all, Austin is the blue dot in Texas. Apparently, government-run
health care is – as we say in Texas, a dog that just won’t hunt, even in
Austin, Texas!
Whether the State of Texas
may permit unauthorized aliens to receive the benefit of in-state tuition at
Texas state colleges and universities (RQ-0742-GA)
Summary: Education Code
sections 54.052(a)(3) and 54.053(3) would conflict with and thus be
preempted by section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1623, if the state
statutes provide a "postsecondary education benefit" to an alien who is not
lawfully present in the United States on the basis of "residence," within
the meaning of the federal statute, "unless a citizen or national of the
United States is eligible for such a benefit . . . without regard to whether
the citizen or national is such a resident." 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a) (2006).
However, the terms "postsecondary education benefit" and "residence" are not
defined in the federal law. In addition, no Texas or federal court has
construed these terms or considered the substantive application of the
federal law to a statute similar to the Texas statutes. Thus, while a
federal or state court in Texas, following the reasoning of an intermediate
California state appellate court decision, could find that 8 U.S.C. § 1623
preempts Education Code sections 54.052(a)(3) and 54.053(3) to the extent of
the conflict with the federal law, given the paucity of judicial precedent,
this office cannot predict with certainty that a court would so find.
The United States Supreme
Court has "approved bona fide residency requirements in the field of public
education." Martinez v. Bynum, 461 U.S. 321, 326-27 (1983). Additionally,
the Court has recognized "that a State has a legitimate interest in
protecting and preserving the quality of its colleges and universities and
the right of its own bona fide residents to attend such institutions on a
preferential tuition basis." Vlandis v. Kline, 412 U.S. 441, 452-53 (1973).
"This 'legitimate interest' permits a 'State [to] establish such reasonable
criteria for in-state status as to make virtually certain that students who
are not, in fact, bona fide residents of the State, but who have come there
solely for educational purposes, cannot take advantage of the in-state
rates.'" Bynum, 461 U.S. at 327 (quoting Vlandis, 412 U.S. at 453-54).
Accordingly, a federal or
state court in Texas would likely conclude that Education Code sections
54.052(a)(3) and 54.053(3) do not facially violate the federal Equal
Protection Clause because the statutory prerequisites for in-state tuition
are reasonable requirements that serve Texas's legitimate or substantial
interest in assuring that only bona fide residents that graduate from Texas
high schools or receive the diploma equivalent from this state are eligible
for in-state tuition. However, no court has addressed whether a statute
similar to the Texas statutes conforms to the mandates of the Equal
Protection Clause.
Stuff you won’t read or hear about in the main stream
media
AUSTIN—
Terrified by legitimate, unplanned and uncoordinated grassroots rage at
their attempted takeover of the nation’s health care system, President Obama
and the Democrats are on the defensive and have resorted to extreme and
desperate measures. They are running away from voters, calling them “mobs,”
and deploying dishonest maneuvers designed to fool Americans and distract
attention from their power grab.
We’ll begin in the state
capital. In Austin, our own camera caught a pair of Organizing for America
staffers at a health care event on Saturday. They were at the event at the
direct request of the White House’s Organizing for America website, a site
that is coordinating the Democrats’ health care campaign nationwide. In the
wake of House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi’s accusation that
the Republicans are coordinating grassroots opposition to ObamaCare, the
fact that the White House has been caught sending its own workers out to
local events gives the game away: The Democrats are projecting their own
underhanded tactics onto the Republicans.
Next up, Rep. Sheila
Jackson Lee. During her Houston town hall meeting Tuesday, a meeting she
tried to hide from the media and her own constituents, Rep. Lee took a cell
phone call while a real voter tried to ask a question about health care. And
as if to top that, Lee answered a softball question from a woman claiming to
be a doctor. The woman, Roxana Mayer, is NOT a doctor, does not live in
Lee’s district, but is a long-time Obama supporter, a confirmed Organizing
for America activist, and may have been brought to the event by local
Democrat operatives. Astroturfing, anyone?
Also in Houston, Democrat
Rep. Gene Green is requiring photo ID to enter his townhall events. There is
nothing inherently wrong with that, but Green and his party OPPOSE requiring
photo ID to cast a vote in Texas elections. Green himself has voted against
requiring photo ID to vote. But he requires photo ID to enter his meetings.
Hypocrisy, anyone?
In Bryan, a videographer
recently caught Democrat Rep. Chet Edwards walking briskly away from voters
in his district. All they wanted was to meet with him to discuss health
care. Rep. Edwards refuses to meet his voters face-to-face to discuss this
vital issue and whether he will vote for or against ObamaCare. His
constituents deserve to know where he stands, but he won’t talk with them.
But the worst tactic seen
so far might be what MoveOn tried to pull this week. The leftwing Democrat
front group blasted out an email to its supporters, goading them to show up
at an Austin event that allegedly featured Texas Senators Kay Bailey
Hutchison and John Cornyn. Both are Republicans. But a quick fact check
revealed that neither senator had ever been scheduled to show up at the
event, which didn’t actually exist.
MoveOn was evidently
trying to set the senators up for a no-show, which the front group would
then use to distract from the Democrats’ own tricky town hall behavior. It
didn’t work. We caught them and called them out. But we wonder, did the
Democrats nationally or here in Texas put MoveOn up to this? Other Democrat
front groups have been advertising on the web site craigslist.com to hire
paid pro-ObamaCare activists, hinting again at broader astroturfing and
dirty trick strategies.
“The Democrats are running
scared,” said Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tina Benkiser. “They’re
trying to foist a terrible health care takeover on the people of Texas, and
we’re not buying. They’re resorting to dirty tricks which are not fooling
anyone. They’re calling Americans ‘mobs’ and even ‘un-American’ for using
their constitutional right to free speech. The Democrats need to stop the
games and scrap ObamaCare immediately. Their plan is bad for Texas and bad
for America. Republicans favor real health care reform, not a government
takeover, and the American people are with us on this.”
More than 800 Texans converged at the Texas Capitol to counter a pro-ObamaCare
event sponsored by a local chapter of Organizing for America – Barack
Obama’s team of community organizers who try to rally grassroots support for
the president’s key initiatives.
Hundreds of ObamaCare
supporters were expected to attend a rally at 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 9 at the
state capitol, according to a post on the Organizing for America web site
(see attachment below). At least 400 supporters signed up to attend the
rally before the event page was taken down days before their rally was
supposed to happen. Interestingly, organizers took down the event page after
local conservative groups, including AFP, began
circulating the event’s information among their members.
On
Sunday, somewhere between 800 – 1,000 supporters of a free market solution
to the health care issue showed up at the Capitol to protest the
OFA event, only to find that not a single pro-ObamaCare
person could be found on site.
“It looks like the Organizing
for America folks realized that they are heavily outnumbered on this issue,”
said Cindy Mallette, Grassroots and Communications Coordinator for
AFP-Texas. “A majority of Americans are opposed to
the plan that is now in Congress, and it’s no wonder why. The bill President
Obama is trying to push through would add $1 trillion to the already bloated
national debt. Government has been a failure at running Medicare, Social
Security, the U.S. Postal Service and with fixing the nation’s economy. What
makes them think they’ll do any different after taking over the health care
system?”
The rally turned into an
impromptu Tea Party when local doctors, small business owners, government
workers and other ordinary Americans took turns talking to the crowd through
a bull horn about why the proposed “health care reform” bill in Congress
will be bad for the U.S.
Lizzette Scinski suffered an
debilitating accident while working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture
in Wyoming. Now unable to work, she told rally attendees that she must
suffer through a government workman’s comp program that denies much-needed
treatments and limits her access to doctors.
Click here to see Lizzette’s speech, as well as interviews from other
people who attended Sunday’s impromptu tea party.
The current plan before
Congress will ensure that our freedom to choose our doctors, our health care
plans, and our courses of treatment will be taken away and handed over to a
government bureaucrat. It’s not a made-up fable spread around by fatcats in
the insurance industry—it’s a fact that President Barack Obama has himself
stated that he wants to see take place:
Modern-day grave robbing and other inheritance rights
threats facing Texans and their property will be the area of focus of Lou
Ann Anderson, Creator and Online Producer at
www.EstateofDenial.com, as she joins Americans for Prosperity - Texas (AFP-TX)
as a Policy Advisor.
“Probate venues and probate instruments like wills,
trusts, guardianships and powers of attorney are increasingly being used to
loot assets of the dead, disabled or incapacitated,” Anderson said. “These
Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) acts can be initiated by a
disgruntled family member, a wannabe-heir, or are sometimes perpetrated by
unscrupulous, opportunistic attorneys. Texans should not have to deal with
such a threat to their basic property rights or specific rights of
inheritance."
“Americans for Prosperity believes that property rights
are essential to the success of our free market system,” said Peggy Venable,
AFP-TX State Director. “For these rights to be meaningful, we need to be
able to dispose of our property as we wish, including gifts and
bequests. With the aging Baby Boomer population, we must address government
and lawyers having created an involuntary distribution of assets.”
Anderson launched www.EstateofDenial.com
upon learning her own family experience was not unique. Today, the
site provides news, analysis, commentary and a forum for IRA discussions as
well as promotes awareness regarding this increasingly visible issue. She
additionally is a Legal News Examiner for the Austin bureau of Examiner.com
and a featured writer with US-Observer.
In her new role, Lou Ann Anderson will be available
for speaking engagements through the AFP-TX Speakers Bureau. Additionally,
Anderson will serve as a resource to the media or other applicable
parties addressing estate abuse, probate corruption and the impact of IRA
acts on Texans and their families.
I
hate to say, “I told you so” but what the heck, “I told you so.” See, “Wind
Power Just a Lot of Hot Air?” August 4, 2008 and “T. Boone Pickens in Bed
with Nancy Pelosi?” September 1, 2008.
T. Boone Pickens gave up the ghost and decided to get
out of the wind farm business while he can. If you’re interested, I can get
you a good price on a wind turbine – real cheap. Our modern day Don Quixote
is facing a $2 billion loss unless he can dump the surplus turbines in some
other state – Texas doesn’t want them. Where is Sancho Panza when you need
him?
Normally a heavy financial Republican supporter,
Pickens supported Obama hoping to sell his administration on the idea. It
was a lame-brain idea to begin with. Anyone driving through Southern
California past the gigantic wind farms there – most not in use and long
since abandoned, should have know it’s a poor source of alternative energy
and a poor investment. Pickens, however, spent over $58 million promoting
the project trying to convince people otherwise, but the propaganda didn’t
pay off.
Isn’t the County of Llano
promoting a similar plan to encourage wind farms within the county – at
least to have ugly transmission lines strung out along our landscape? I hope
they see the writing on the wall before it’s too late and realize they’re
out in left field on this. If you want the real low down on the efficacy of
wind farms – not the government’s or wacko environmentalists lies about
them, check out the Wind Action web site at
www.windaction.org
And remember Klee’s Law: “Governments
should govern, not micro-manage the economy. A government unrealistic enough
to think it can micro-manage is likely to do a worse job than most.” (Thomas
Sowell)
Ted Nugent
discusses the 2nd Amendment with Evan Smith, host of the KLRU program TEXAS
MONTHLY TALKS and editor of TEXAS MONTHLY magazine. Ah, the fresh air of
honest opinion telling it like it is.
AUSTIN – Today, a Travis County District Judge ruled
against Friendswood city officials and in favor of five citizens who fought
City Hall to support their city charter. The landmark decision sets a
precedent.
“This is a huge victory for Texas taxpayers,” said
Peggy Venable, Texas director of Americans for Prosperity Foundation, “as
this case has ramifications across the state.”
Ms. Venable added: “The Friendswood Five are heroes of
the taxpayer. They challenged City Hall, endured multiple attempts to have
their voices silenced, and set an example for oppressed taxpayers
everywhere. Today, the 53rd District Judge agreed with the
taxpayers and AFPF that citizens possess an inherent right established in
the Texas Constitution for local voters to have the ability to limit their
local governments above what state law. I congratulate the Friendswood Five
for their hard work and bravery.”
This ruling comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by the
City of Friendswood against its own residents, asking a state court to allow
the city to issue debt in spite of provisions outlined in the Friendswood
City Charter that bar any debt that isn’t approved by the voters. Americans
for Prosperity Foundation–Texas (AFPF-TX) filed an amicus brief in this case
supporting the position of the Friendswood Five. AFPF-TX stated to the court
that the people of Friendswood “have declined to grant such flexibility in
funding for government acquisitions and expenditures to their elected
officials without their express approval in a bond election. The court must
heed that exercise of sovereign power.”
On Tuesday, July 14, more than a dozen Friendswood
residents attended a hearing on the case to protest the city’s actions. Five
of the residents – Janis Lowe, Deborah Winters Chaney, Mel Austin, Kathy
Rogers and Leslie Rocque – hired an attorney to represent the interests of
the Friendswood voters. Dubbing themselves the “Friendswood Five,” they
presented the case that 1997 a voter-approved city charter is the highest
authority under which a city operates, according to the Texas Constitution.
Judge Scott H. Jenkins, 53rd Judicial
District Civil Court, agreed. In his final judgment he ruled in favor of the
citizens.
“A true democracy has elected officials working for
their constituents. Our Friendswood City Council has a different view of
their authority,” said Mel Austin, former member of the city council and one
of the Friendswood Five. “The issues facing us were simply our rights as
taxpayers and our responsibility to police our government. Without citizen
oversight, governments abuse their authority, ignoring their responsibility
to serve the citizens they represent.”
Friendswood Mayor David Smith and attorneys
representing the City of Friendswood argued last week that state law
actually prevents people from being able to limit their local government
when it comes to issuing debt. A bond attorney testified on behalf of the
city of Friendswood that other cities in Texas – including Houston – have
gone against their city charters to issue debt.
“’Because other cities do it’ is not a good enough
argument for violating a city charter,” said Venable. “We hope that city
leaders across the state take notice that they work for the taxpayers and
are required to follow their city charter.”
Much ado has been made lately in the Daily Tribune of
the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ reduction of their
backlog on immigration background checks supposedly as a result of better
training and improved technology. Let’s take a more realistic look at the
situation.
First off, the USCIS (formerly the INS) is overwhelmed
by the number of immigration applications received annually – it’s well into
the millions. In the words of Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security, “Parts of the system have nearly collapsed
under the weight of numbers.”
In a report issued by the Government Accountability
Office re Immigration Benefits, it was stated, “It would be impossible for
USCIS to verify all of the key information or interview all individuals
related to the millions of applications it adjudicates each year –
approximately 7.5 million applications in fiscal year 2005 – without
seriously compromising its service-related objectives.”
As reported in another Government report, “Checking
Terrorism at the Border,” “Staff are rewarded for the timely handling of
petitions rather than for careful scrutiny of their merits.” In
congressional testimony it came out that, “USCIS District Offices and
Service Centers are holding competitions and offering a variety of awards,
including cash bonuses, time off, movie tickets, and gift certificates, to
employees and/or teams of employees with the fastest processing times.”
Let’s get closer to home. Michael Maxwell, former
director of the Office of Security and Investigations at USCIS wrote, “It
appears that the Texas Service Center has developed an ‘auto-adjudication’
system that can process I-765s [the application for an employment
authorization Document] from start to finish without any human involvement
at all. In other words, there is no point in the process when a USCIS
employee actually examines the supporting documentation to look for signs of
fraud. Instead, the I-765 application is processed automatically when the
underlying application for LPR status has been sitting on the shelf for 90
days.”
The pressure to process immigration applications as
quickly as possible results in massive fraud. One USCIS official estimated
that 20 to 30 percent of all applications involved fraud!
Using fraudulent immigration documents, “a number of
individuals linked to a hostile foreign power’s intelligence service were
found to have been employed as temporary alien workers on military
research,” according to another government report.
So how does the USCIS reduce their backload without
compromising national security? The simple answer is that they don’t. But
hey look, at least the USCIS has got their backlog nearly gone. Marvelous!
If you’re concerned about this and related immigration
problems, get a copy of Mark Krikorian’s book, “The New Case Against
Immigration – Both Legal and Illegal,” published by the Penguin Group.
And remember Klee’s Law: “We seem to be moving
steadily in the direction of a society where no one is responsible for what
he himself did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did, either
in the present or in the past” (Thomas Sowell)
Senate Bill 787 will change federal jurisdiction over "navigable" water, to
give the federal government control over all water everywhere, in municipal
reservoirs, and on private lands, and in private wells. This bill ignores
state water law authority and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
AUSTIN, Texas — Thousands of the so-called “silent”
majority gathered at the Texas State Capitol this Independence Day to voice
opposition to oppressive taxation and excessive spending on the part of the
federal government at the “Take Back America” Tea Party sponsored by
Americans for Prosperity.
“I am just a guy with a family who is horrified by this
generational debt,” said Barry Walker, a resident of Dripping Springs who
spoke at the rally.
The focus of the event was both to inspire people to
become involved in government and to give them the tools to make a
difference.
“These tea parties are great, but I hope it leads to
more involvement in local government,” said Emily Adams, a 13-year-old who
recently took on the city of Dallas regarding underage curfews. Adams
encouraged attendees to remind government officials who they work for.
“It’s no coincidence that the first three words of the
Constitution are ‘We the People,’” she said.
Many of those who attended and spoke at the rally said
they are fed up with the attempts by those in Washington, D.C. to turn our
nation’s economy into a reflection of California.
“When we meet in the legislature here in Texas, we’re
here to do the people’s business with the people’s dollar,” said State Rep.
Wayne Christian. We’re not here to spend it like it’s a credit card. In
California, they say the stimulus money is a gift – we’re proud that we in
Texas don’t have to do that.”
The crowd – which totaled around 5,000 – heard from a
variety of speakers who reinforced the importance of getting back to a
limited government that is of, by and for the people.
“Texas stands as a beacon of fiscal responsibility in
the nation. Our economy is stronger than any other in the country, and
Texans are angry that D.C. is trying to take us down the path to economic
ruin,” said Peggy Venable, Americans for Prosperity State Director. “Today,
we helped thousands of Texans know how they can make their voices heard all
the way in Washington, D.C.”
The “Take Back America” Tea Party was part of a
nationwide movement of protests against high tax burdens, unrestrained
spending, and the federal stimulus and bailout packages. The rally was
jointly organized by Heather Liggett, a stay-at-home mother of two, Laurie
Bartlett, a local small-business owner, and the Texas chapter of Americans
for Prosperity (www.afptx.org).
Over the past couple of
weeks, thousands of you have sent faxes and placed phone calls expressing
your disapproval of the cowardly Republican leadership in the Texas House,
particularly traitors-in-chief Joe Straus and Burt Solomons.
The situation has now
gotten so bad that my tech guy has informed me that Straus and Solomons are
now refusing your faxes. That's right, thousands of you took time to write
a personal message to them about your concerns, and they turned their fax
machines off because they don't care what you have to say.
Please call the two House
traitors, Straus and Solomons, since they refuse to take your faxes. Speaker
Straus can be reached at (512) 463-1000 or (210) 828-4411 and Rep. Solomons
at (512) 463-0478 or
(972) 394-3904. Again,
call back later if the lines are busy, so that they know we will not give up
holding them accountable for their traitorous acts against this state. Tell
them how disappointed you are that they blocked this important legislation
in this year's legislative session.
The full report:
The latest session of the
Texas Legislature has come and gone, and it's time to take a look back and
recap the victories and losses for conservative Texans. Frankly, the
results weren't all that positive, and there's no point in sugarcoating it.
With the GOP holding a majority in the House, and a big majority in the
Senate, they should have accomplished a lot more than they did when it comes
to issues like illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, and voter ID.
Patriotic conservatives are the ones who put them in office, and yet they
keep letting us down.
One of our biggest
disappointments was the much needed Voter ID bill. There's no reason that
any Republican legislator should have opposed this bill, which would require
everyone to show valid state issued ID in order to vote, starting in 2010.
It's identical to a bill which Indiana passed a few years ago, and which has
been ruled constitutional by the US Supreme Court. Yet the GOP leadership
in the House waffled, stalled, and obfuscated as much as they could to keep
it from passing. They offered an alternative bill which was much weaker,
and wouldn't take effect for years. Thousands of you contacted your
representative to insist that the original bill be passed to no avail. The
GOP leadership, especially Elections Committee Chairman Todd Smith, betrayed
us, and this bill never became law.
SB 358 was another
disappointment. This bill, introduced by Rep.
Dan Patrick, would have
barred Texas municipalities from declaring themselves "sanctuary cities"
where laws against illegal immigration aren't enforced. Sanctuary cities
are already illegal, as no government entity can refuse to enforce state and
federal laws. SB 358 would have cracked down on this blatant defiance of
the law, but at the last minute Rep. Patrick withdrew the bill, even though
the likelihood of it passing was quite high.
Were there any victories
for conservative Texans to celebrate during this session? Yes, we did win a
few. One of the biggest victories was getting two official rulings from the
Texas Attorney General that the Legislature has the authority to outlaw
sanctuary cities, and to strip business licenses from companies that employ
illegal aliens, which refute the charges by Democrats and weak-kneed
Republicans that such bills are unconstitutional. These rulings took away
one of the biggest excuses often used to oppose such bills, and laid the
groundwork for possibly getting them passed in the future.
We had a semi-victory when
it comes to HB 276. This bill would require all state agencies to report
the amount of money they spend on illegal aliens. We've tried to get it
passed several times, but it has been languishing in committee. This year,
it finally got out of committee and was placed on the calendar. It didn't
become law, but it's a hopeful sign.
Two bills which deal with
the growing menace of street gangs, such as the ultra violent MS-13, also
passed. SB 418 and SB 379 require local law enforcement to collect
information about gang membership from arrested criminals and make an annual
report to the governor on the numbers. These bills are a couple of small
steps in the right direction. Finally, we were also able to kill SB 1398.
This bill would have nullified the efforts of local communities to deal with
their illegal alien problem. This is great news for cities like Farmers
Branch and others who are tired of waiting for Austin and Washington to deal
with the invasion of illegals, and are taking a pro-active approach to the
crisis.
While we're thankful for
these small victories, it's no exaggeration to say that this past
legislative session was disastrous when it comes to dealing with the ongoing
invasion of Texas by illegal aliens. The invasion has been going on for
decades, and it's the number one issue with conservatives in Texas, but the
GOP refuses to stand up and fight for us and our families.
This situation can't
continue much longer, or Texas will soon go the way of California, which is
now bankrupt due largely to the presence of millions of illegal aliens.
Having Joe Straus as the
GOP leader in the House has been, to put it mildly, horrendous for anyone
concerned about illegal immigration. The Democrats might as well have won
the election, because Straus is far more concerned with pleasing them than
pleasing the conservative voters who elect Republicans. In fact, one of the
first things he did after becoming Speaker was to pander to the Mexican
American Legislative Caucus, who even made Straus an honorary member of
their exclusive ethnic caucus (he apparently didn't qualify for full
membership). It's obvious Straus made it clear to them that he was not
going to do anything about illegal immigration.
In fact, we have been
informed by several well placed and reliable sources in Austin that Straus
made a deal with the Democrats - if they would vote for him for Speaker, he
would make sure nothing substantial was done about illegal immigration. He
certainly kept his end of the bargain. Democrats and pro-immigration groups
are quite pleased with his performance. "I think the leadership got the
message," said Luis Figueroa, legislative staff attorney for the Mexican
American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. A pro-immigration House member
went even further. Here's what Rep.
Martinez Fischer, a
Democrat, said about Joe Straus: "We've demonstrated pretty clearly we can
keep those bills from ever coming to the floor. Joe understands the idea of
what comes around goes around - we just have a philosophical respect for
each other."
Straus is by no means the
only quisling in Austin. He's had a lot of help. Straus has been greatly
aided and abetted in his betrayal of conservatives by Rep. Burt Solomons.
Solomons is Chairman of the important State Affairs Committee, and has used
his power to bury a lot of important legislation. Straus and Solomons are a
tag team of sellouts, who are working together to block immigration bills.
They've been elected to represent us, but they refuse to do so. You've been
calling, writing and faxing, but they turn a deaf ear.
The situation has now
gotten so bad that my tech guy has informed me that Straus and Solomons are
now refusing your faxes. That's right, thousands of you took time to write
a personal message to them about your concerns, and they turned their fax
machines off because they don't care what you have to say. With GOP
"leadership" like this, who needs Democrats?
All is not lost, though.
Governor Perry can call the legislators back to Austin for a special
session, and he can specify what topics they address. It's urgent that we
call and fax his office, and insist that he include the following as
subjects of the special
session: Photo Voter ID (HB
125), Transnational gangs in Texas (SB 11, SB 366, SB 369, SB 371 and SB
423), the costs of state services to illegal aliens (SB 276), and the
Sanctuary City bill (SB 358).
It's imperative that we
get these bills turned into law as soon as possible. The next few years
will be a watershed for Texas, especially with the census and redistricting
coming up. If we can begin to halt and reverse the massive invasion of
illegals and do it soon, we can preserve the Texas we all know and love. If
we don't, the Lone Star state will inevitably go the way of California and
become a Third World outpost in America. So let's keep the pressure on. We
can't let up until these craven and treasonous Republicans in Austin get the
message.
Take Action:
Please call the two House
traitors, Straus and Solomons, since they refuse to take your faxes. Speaker
Straus can be reached at (512) 463-1000 or (210) 828-4411 and Rep. Solomons
at (512) 463-0478 or
(972) 394-3904. Again,
call back later if the lines are busy, so that they know we will not give up
holding them accountable for their traitorous acts against this state. Tell
them how disappointed you are that they blocked this important legislation
in this year's legislative session.
To read a particular
article, simply click on the title below
2010 Articles
A Texas
Representative Worth Applauding - An attempt to
block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse
gases under the Clean Air Act, something the Act was never designed to
do.
The
Feds are Messing with Texas - Texas is the
number one energy producer in the country and a large sector of the
Texas job market relies on energy. The feds stand ready to screw that
up.
The Tenth Amendment
is There for a Reason - With people
looking to resist D.C. through state laws on everything from national
health care to medical marijuana, the 10th Amendment appears ready to be
front and center in the national debate this year
2009 Articles
Obamacare: Stimulus for
Estate Abuse? - Estate abuse
and probate corruption already threaten the property rights of Americans
and their heirs' or beneficiaries' inheritance rights – we don’t need
the fed’s to make the problem worse
Texas
is No. 1 in Electricity
– Competition is Watt Matters - Consumer
choice has helped provide lower prices and more alternatives for
consumers in every state which has embraced free market competition.
Jobs Aren’t Created at
Job Summits - Washington
officials should look to Texas to see that tort reform, lower taxes,
limiting government growth and debt, and common-sense regulations open
the door to job creation.Commentary by Peggy Venable, Texas
Director, Americans for Prosperity Foundation
Tragedy at Ft. Hood- An open
letter from a former Battalion Commander at Ft Hood, 2002-2004 “When
tolerance becomes a one way street it certainly leads to cultural
suicide.”
Political Correctness Gone
Wild - Unless the
government and its enablers wake up and stop their self-destructive
policy of Muslim appeasement the people better look to their own
defense.
Tort
Reform - President Obama opens door for pilot project on malpractice reform Earth
to Obama: Texas has done it!
Government Paying for
your Hairstylist - Federal stimulus money has been paid to
barber and beauty colleges in Texas’ five largest counties to train
future stylists. More of your tax dollars at work!
Constituents Dogging Doggett
- Rep.
Lloyd Doggett aligns himself with a group of Astroturf operatives who
are organizing a town hall designed to squelch honest debate on the
massive overhaul of one-sixth of our national economy. Obama
Chicago-style tactics come to Texas
Estate
Looting Threatens Property Rights of Texans - Probate
venues and probate instruments like wills, trusts, guardianships and
powers of attorney are increasingly being used to loot assets of the
dead, disabled or incapacitated
The Man From La Mancha Blew It
- Wind farms
are a lot of hot air, a poor return on the investment, dangerous to
wildlife and ugly as all get out
Texas Monthly Talks -
Ted Nugent
discusses the 2nd Amendment with Evan Smith, host of the KLRU program
TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS and editor of TEXAS MONTHLY magazine. Ah, the fresh
air of honest opinion telling it like it is.
Taxpayers
Fight City Hall and Win
- Chalk one up for the good guys! Local governments can’t bypass the voters by
issuing certificates of obligation
The Great Water Heist -
The
government is out to grab ownership over all water on private property
even though prohibited by the Constitution
Thousands Convene on State Capitol to “Take Back America”
- Thousands of the so-called “silent” majority gathered at the Texas State
Capitol this Independence Day to voice opposition to oppressive taxation
and excessive spending on the part of the federal government at the
“Take Back America” Tea Party sponsored by Americans for Prosperity.
I
hate to say, “I told you so” but what the heck, “I told you so.” See, “