Texas GOP Vote

Among all of the tools governors have, the ability to veto bad bills is one of the most powerful. Usually this is wielded in a very limited way, and typically it is either to correct errors or unintended consequences not realized at the time of legislative passage of a bill, or at times a social issue will be at stake.     Read more »

The Texas State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) met for our regular quarterly meeting in Austin this weekend. As always, the meeting was open to the public. Any interested party with or without media credentials may attend the meetings.

As many readers of this site know, the presidential primary system in this country routinely disenfranchises primary voters in important “red” states like Texas. In the last cycle, due to a combination of rules and courts, Texas had one of the last primaries and had to allocate delegates proportionally. This effectively means we had little to no say as to who was nominated—it was already a “done deal” by the time we voted.   Read more »

The Congressional Committee hearings on Benghazi yesterday were some of the most riveting since the Reagan era. There was testimony from personnel intimate with the details—who knew those who were killed on a first name basis – who had been in or were in Libya during the attacks—and who came to tell the truth. As one witness put it, “In February 1991, I swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. I am here today to honor that oath.” (Full opening statement of Gregory Hicks here.) Here are some highlights if you missed it.   Read more »

Please permit me to share a short personal observation. Saturday, while driving on the Gulf Freeway South of Houston, I noticed flags flying at half-mast. That wasn’t terribly unusual in today’s endless and instantaneous reporting of catastrophes near and far. What did strike me as odd was that the place the flags were flying low was the infamous largest-in-the-nation Planned Parenthood® facility. The group that has become one of the very names synonymous with promoting a culture of death was now mourning it.   Read more »

The U.S. income tax code is infamous for its complexity (think special interest lobbyists), and its “progressive” nature—named not for the fact that it increases with increasing income but rather, because it was the brainchild of the Progressive party that is now called the Democratic Party. In that sense, maybe we should call it the “Democratic Party Income Tax”.

However, let’s assume that there are six different people standing in line to buy groceries. They all buy precisely the same things, and the cash register total comes out to $100 even, no sales tax included since the goods are food. All six dutifully plop down their cash, debit or credit cards, write a check, or hand over a “Lone Star” card.   Read more »

Harris County taxpayers should consider a trip to the beautiful Texas “pink granite” capitol Tuesday to testify at the House education committee in favor of Rep. Debbie Riddle’s HB945 that would save Harris County taxpayers at least $18,000,000 annually in reduced property taxes. (Details here.)

Numerous fiscal and education conservatives have weighed in on the Harris County School Board of Trustees (HCSBT) presently doing business as the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE). (Note this is a DBA only…it is NOT a department of Harris County government). Attempts have been made in the past decade to dismantle or defund this entity that should have naturally gone out of existence in the 1960s with the complete conversion of schools from county-run to independent school districts (ISDs).   Read more »

Having finished reading the “Growth and Opportunity Project” report from a blue ribbon panel appointed by Chairman Reince Priebus, it reported seven different areas for improvement in the next campaign cycle. Each area described will likely have appeal to some people. To find your niche to help out, please read the entire report—it’s not that long—located at: growthopp.gop.com/default.aspx and many other sites.

However, I propose an eighth area of improvement. Let me call this the Team for America approach.

The State Republican Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) unanimously passed a strong resolution requesting and empowering our party chairman, Steve Munisteri, to urge

“…the Texas House Republican Caucus to follow the Republican Party of Texas Platform and stand with Governor Perry in opposing the expansion of Medicaid funding in Texas under Obamacare (Affordable Care Act).”

Senator Dan Patrick (SD7), chair of the powerful Senate Education Committee, has recently introduced legislation that would open up the strangle-hold government-sponsored monopoly that the education establishment enjoys in public education. His reasoning is simple and time-honored—“competition is good.” It doesn’t matter much what the competing items are—widgets, services, commodities, or even education—the very existence of competition improves the quality of all competitors.   Read more »

The second of the ten “bill of rights” amendments has been said to be “not needed until you need it.” With the recent public mass shootings prompting gun-ban groups (almost exclusively extreme leftist/progressive/Marxist Democratic party activist groups), are renewing their call for more gun restrictions and even confiscation from law-abiding citizens.   Read more »