Category: news

The SREC Speaks

I’ve been watching this weekend’s SREC meeting (9/23/23). They just voted on a resolution calling for Speaker Dade Phelan to step down as Speaker and to resign. There were only 2 “nay” votes.

Sad to say, one was our SD-5 member, Bill Fairbrother. I submit that had he talked to the various county parties before casting that vote, he would have found nearly all in agreement that Phelan should step down.

WHEREAS, Speaker Dade Phelan voted for the impeachment of Attorney General Warren Kenneth Paxton and through his leadership team pressured other House members to vote for the impeachment as well, and continues to defend this action despite the weaknesses of the case as demonstrated in the Senate trial that resulted in General Paxton’s acquittal;

WHEREAS, Speaker Dade Phelan appointed nine (9) Democrats to chair important legislative committees, in direct defiance of the wishes of Republican voters and the Legislative Priorities of the Republican Party of Texas; and

WHEREAS, Speaker Dade Phelan ignored or actively undermined several GOP priorities during the regular session, failing to prioritize legislation to secure our borders and elections; and

WHEREAS, new leadership is needed in the House of Representatives for the upcoming special session, and potential subsequent special sessions, to ensure that conservative priorities are achieved and members are no longer pressured to act and vote contrary to the platform, principles, and priorities of the Party they represent and its voters; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Republican Party of Texas calls on Speaker Dade Phelan to step down from his leadership role as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, and to allow a new Speaker to be elected after a caucus vote in accordance with the Republican Party of Texas Platform; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that should Speaker Dade Phelan fail to step down from the Speaker chair for this upcoming special session, the Republican representatives should vote to vacate the chair and allow for a new Speaker who has pledged to honor and support the priorities and principles of the Republican Party to be elected.

Paxton Impeachment Trial

Ken Paxton was acquitted of all charges. I watched or listened to almost every minute of this trial in the TX Senate.

Here’s what I wrote to my State Senator, Charles Schwertner, the last day of the trial.

Probably unlike most of your constituents, I have either listened to or watched almost every minute of every day of the Paxton hearings. I’ve been waiting for proof of the allegations against him, and even now that the House managers rested, I’ve not heard it.

It is very clear to me that there were lots and lots of assumptions made, and then actions taken in support of those assumptions. Example: the “apoplectic” reaction to subpoenas being issued, and the witness had no knowledge of the second referral at the time he went “apoplectic”.  Reaction without knowing the facts. Actions, including the meeting with the FBI, taken as a result without knowing the facts.

One of these employees acknowledges that he sent documents to Johnny Sutton. Thus, documents could have been taken to the FBI. Claiming they couldn’t take internal documents externally is BS since they DID send internal documents to Johnny Sutton.

I’m not going to take the time to go through each and every Article of Impeachment. Suffice it to say that the case has not been made.  A bunch of innuendos have been thrown against the wall to see what y’all will vote for to get rid of the most effective AG Texas has had.

The House Managers claim they brought these charges because Ken Paxton asked for the funds to settle all this.  OF COURSE those have to be public funds.  It was the OFFICE that was sued.  Under the statute ONLY the office can be sued, not him personally.  Isn’t it in everyone’s best interest to settle this and get back to work?  As a mayor in the past, we settled many suits that were without merit because it was cheaper to do so than to go to trial.

I urge you to vote to exonerate Ken Paxton on each and every allegation.

Here’s how the Texas Senators voted:

2023-09-16PaxtonImpeachmentVotes

My thoughts on this whole thing:

  • Thank you to the senators, including mine, who saw through this sham of an impeachment. Thank you for listening to your constituents, representing them. Thank you for upholding our votes.
  • Dade Phelan should resign. He should resign because he was drunk on the floor of the House. He should resign because, when called on it by Ken Paxton, he did exactly what they accused General Paxton of doing: he retaliated by rushing through a bogus impeachment.
  • Dade Phelan, if he doesn’t resign, should never again be considered for TX Speaker of the House. He doesn’t deserve a leadership position. He didn’t serve the people of Texas. He served himself and his cadre of compatriots, exactly what he accused AG Paxton of doing.
  • House legislators who voted for this sham should be very circumspect about future votes. And, if they took money from Phelan, they should return it or face defeat at the ballot box.
  • The cost of this fiasco should be made public.
  • If there is any settlement for those alleged “whistleblowers”, the cost of this debacle, both houses of the legislature, should be deducted from it. If there isn’t enough, Dade Phelan should pay the rest out of his campaign funds.
  • AG Ken Paxton has hopefully repaired his relationship with his wife. He, and any other cheating elected official, should remember this is a job they’ve been elected to do, not a party or a social gathering. If you fit that category, clean up your act.
  • Ken Paxton should clean house in that Attorney General’s office as best he can subject to HR laws. As an elected official, you can’t work with people who refuse to support you or your agenda.
  • Ken Paxton needs to remember to pick his friends and associates carefully. As an elected official, it’s hard to know who to trust and who is blowing smoke… well, you know. Learn to cut ties quickly and completely.
  • Ken Paxton needs to find trusted, truly trusted, advisors outside his realm of business. As Ronald Reagan used his beautiful ranch to ground himself, Ken Paxton needs to do the same… find a grounding place and a couple of people who have no ties with government to give him perspective.

Ken Paxton Impeachment

See below the votes as cast by Texas Senators regarding dismissal of various charges. Watching in plain view how Democrats stick together and Republicans do not. All Dems and 6 Republicans voted “nay” on every article moved for dismissal. Only 5 of 30 voting senators (all Republicans) had mixed votes, and of those, 2 of the 5 had only one “yea” vote which is really hard to characterize as “mixed”. Senators Perry, Schwertner, and Sparks were the only mixed votes.

Ken Paxton has not been convicted of any crime. Even if he is impeached, he will not have been convicted of a crime. Sound familiar? Sounds to me like the “Get Trump Any Way You Can” playbook. Impeach, then if that doesn’t work, indict. Oh yeah, that already happened to Ken Paxton in 2015 but it’s never gone to trial. Accuse, accuse, accuse, smear, smear, smear anyone in office on the GOP side who is actually effective. Sad Republicans can’t see this for what it is.

TX Senate votes on dismissal of various articles of impeachment

Gambling Reruns

I’ve watched this movie before: “Casino Gambling is Good for the State”.

GamblingI lived in NJ when casino gambling came to Atlantic City. I’m shocked as I watch issue after issue coming to Texas that first came to NJ, in pretty much the same fashion and using the same arguments. Casino operators had tried to get the question on the ballot in NJ and were unable to do so for a long time.

Atlantic City NJ casinosFinally, the legislature voted to put the question on the ballot. With so much pro-gambling advertising money pouring into the state, opponents couldn’t begin to compete on a level advertising field. It passed.

The sales pitch:

  • Casinos would be limited in location. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • No slot machines throughout the state. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • A percentage of the proceeds would go to seniors and the disabled (https://www.nj.gov/casinorevenue/funded/). (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • Jobs would be created. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • The public should have a right to vote on the issue. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • Surrounding areas would benefit from a positive economic impact. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • Funds would be made available for those who suffer addiction (alcohol, gambling, etc). (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • A Casino Revenue Fund Commission would be created. More government bureaucracy. Someone has to determine how much of the revenue should go where. (Sound familiar, Texans?)
  • A Casino Control Commission would be created. More government bureaucracy. Someone has to determine which companies get permits. The 2023 cost of that commission is nearly $8 MILLION dollars: $7,957,000. (https://www.nj.gov/casinos/about/budget/)(Sound familiar, Texans?)

Today, Atlantic City NJ is just as poor and crime ridden as it was before casino gambling. It’s not a place you’d take your family for vacation, in spite of being along the Jersey Shore. Many casinos are run down. What saves AC? Government conferences like the NJ Conference of Mayors and the NJ League of Municipalities (think Texas Municipal League). There isn’t anywhere else in the state for large conferences with sufficient hotel space. That’s not the case in Texas so when the casinos fail, conferences will go elsewhere.

Notwithstanding these government commissions allegedly running everything in Atlantic City, corruption runs rampant. https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/4-of-last-7-atlantic-city-mayors-faced-criminal-charges/ Prostitution runs rampant. Right off the boardwalk, drugs of any and all kinds are available. But, I’d caution you about going there, walking there, at night. It’s just not safe.

Search “Atlantic City drug raids” and you’ll see. Here are some examples:

And, then there’s the gun violence: https://247wallst.com/city/atlantic-city-nj-reported-one-of-the-highest-murder-rates-in-the-us/

So, our Texas elected officials are trying to stop 18 year olds from legally purchasing rifles, but they want to bring gambling here with all its vices and dangers.

My mother always said “If your friend stuck her head in a sewer, would you do it too?” I hear her saying that every time I hear a legislator say Texas has to have casinos because our neighboring states do.

Texans: Just because they stuck their heads in the gambling sewer, should we do so too? Because I’ve seen this movie before, I say “no”.

    The Biden Crime Family

    Many government entities prohibit employees from receiving money or other goods from anyone. I worked for one of those. If someone brought our office cookies for Christmas, we were not allowed to accept them. When mayor, I couldn’t buy lunch for another government employee because they couldn’t accept a “gift”. Yet, Joe Biden and his family received millions from foreign governments, let alone US constituents.

    IMHO, this is treason, meaning Joe Biden should immediately be removed from office and tried for his crimes. We cannot trust that decisions are being made in the interest of the US when foreign monies are moving in and out of the President’s family.

    #FollowTheMoney, always, when investigating political corruption. Always.

    Non-Partisan = Partisan

    In Texas, elections for school board, mayors or city council are “non-partisan”.

    What successful candidate doesn’t bring their overall philosophy of governance and their core values to an elected office? None. Elected officials bring who they are, and who they are is based on their experiences and beliefs.

    Do they follow the law? Of course (constituents sure hope so). Do they fight for change where they believe it is needed, advocating for legislative changes? If they do that, and I’d expect they would, then no race is non-partisan. Our beliefs draw us to a particular political party so those things we would advocate for are, logically, partisan.

    In Bastrop County, more than 60% of each property tax dollar goes to the schools. So why is voter turnout so low? It could be because it’s hard to find information about the candidates.

    Early voting starts Monday and I’ve not received one political mailer for any Bastrop ISD candidate or the bond issue. (I live in that jurisdiction.)

    I did some research and I hope it helps you. I’ve listed the position, candidate, year they registered to vote, and which party’s primary they voted in since 2012. I did not include general election votes as they are not an indicator of philosophical party alignment. The comments under Voter History are mine based on the voting history provided.

    Search Facebook, Instagram, and the web for candidate information. For example, a search of Lyle Nelson Mayor returns this FB page: https://www.facebook.com/nelsonforbastropmayor. I leave it to you to research the candidates for whom you’ll be voting.

    Bond issues? Here’s where to find the information on those: Bastrop ISD, Lexington ISD, McDade ISD, Wildwood Municipal Utility District.

    One last thought: You can view your sample ballot at BastropVotes.org. Viewing this in advance will help you be prepared when you vote.

    Early voting starts 4/24. Election day is Saturday 5/6. Where to vote.

    BASTROP

    SMITHVILLE

    ELGIN

    Compelling Words About Freedom

    On February 9, 2023, Tulsi Gabbard gave this compelling testimony before Congress. It’s a must see for every American. In 16 minutes, Tulsi makes the case for the importance of these committees looking into the weaponization of our government against us.

    Unfortunately, none of the main stream media is covering any part of these hearings. They are on C-Span, live, but few have the luxury of time to tune in. So, here’s the 16 minute video to watch to understand the importance and impact of these hearings.