Category: news

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.

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

I 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.

Finally, 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:

• 2022: https://breakingac.com/2022/11/16-arrested-in-atlantic-city-drug-trafficking-ring-400k-in-drugs-taken-off-streets/
• 2021: https://www.phillyvoice.com/atlantic-county-drug-bust-new-jersey-desmond-tally-homicide/
• 2020: https://breakingac.com/2020/12/five-arrested-gun-and-drugs-seized-in-atlantic-city-raid/

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”.

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.

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

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.

Did you know that Texas REPUBLICAN legislators often vote for DEMOCRATS as committee chairs? Shocked? I was when I found out this was a common practice.

According to Jill Glover, Texas GOP Legislative Priorities Chair, “In the Republican primary in March 2022, 81.24% of close to two million (1,850.020) voters agreed that the practice of awarding chairmanships to Democrats, when Republicans hold the majority, should end. At our RPT state convention in June, our state delegates chose this issue one of the top eight priorities for this legislative session.”

How can this happen, you ask? It happens because Dade Phelan (and to be honest, some past TX House Speakers) wants it to. It gives him and other legislators cover for GOP priorities not being accomplished. They can claim legislation didn’t make it through committee, but if you’re not a political junkie, you probably don’t realize that’s because a Democrat committee chair wouldn’t give a Republican legislative priority bill a hearing.

Dade Phelan, Speaker of the TX House, gives out money like it’s candy. See the list of recipients of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions. (Source: Texas Ethics Commission)

Where did Dade Phelan get so much money to dole out? See the list of donors to Dade Phelan over the last 2 years. (Source: Texas Ethics Commission)

Yes, to get elected a candidate needs money. But, there’s a fine line between just accepting contributions and accepting contributions and then awarding the donor preferential access or worse, a vote. It’s a very strong legislator who can accept thousands of dollars from a contributor, and then look that person in the eye and say “I’m not voting with you on this one.”

Some candidates realize it takes both to get elected: money and voters. Those office holders also realize the equal value of each. You can’t get votes without money, but you also won’t get money if you can’t get re-elected.

That’s what creates the “go-along to get-along” mentality. Buck the powers-that-be too often or on issues they think are important, and the money doesn’t flow. Nor do the plum committee appointments. Buck the voters and you’ll not win re-election.

This is why candidates like Donald Trump are so threatening to legislative leadership. He doesn’t owe his position to them. They can’t call the shots. He can call the shots because he isn’t beholden to them.

But self-funders are few and far between, so the indebtedness of our legislators to those who can hand out valuable campaign contributions grows and grows. Power becomes more centralized. Democrats get elected by GOP members to chair critical committees.

And, who loses? The GOP voters who put these people in office, yet don’t see their priorities come to fruition, in fact, often never heard at all.

In Bastrop County, our Texas House member-elect is Stan Gerdes. Email him. He won the GOP primary over others who vowed not to vote for Democrat committee chairs. Let him know your opinion on this and that you will be watching.

Recently, an organization published a warning to voters to check and double check your selections before depositing your ballot in the “ballot box”, better known as the scanner. I agree.

But what that article failed to do was tell you what to do if your printed ballot doesn’t reflect your wishes. Changes can be made, but they must be made before the ballot is placed in the scanner and counted.

CHECK YOUR CHOICES
As you vote and before you move to the next page on the screen, if you have not made a selection an a race, the ballot-printing machine will notify you that you still have choices to make. You can go back, or if you intended to skip that race, you can move on.

Once you have made all your selections, the ballot-printing machine will provide you with a review of all those choices. Again, you can go back to any race, change your selection, and return to the review.

Your final action on the ballot-printing machines will be to actually print your ballot. Review it again. If it’s right, place it in the scanner to be counted. If it isn’t right, you can still fix it!

GETTING IT RIGHT
All you have to do is notify the Election Judge before you scan your ballot, that you need to vote again. The election judge will “spoil” that ballot and give you another. The “spoiled ballot” will be logged, voided, and placed in an envelope with other spoiled ballots.

There are other reasons for spoiled ballots. Sometimes the bar codes don’t print properly and can’t be read by the scanner. I witnessed that while working as an Elections Clerk.

SCANNING IS FINAL
It’s all well and good to remind people to check their ballots at every step in the process. But, it’s even more important to let people know what to do if there is a problem. Pretty much anything can be rectified before that ballot is scanned. Once it’s scanned and counted, though, it cannot be retrieved. Happy voting!!

One added point: the posting in questions says the voter spoke to a “poll watcher” and also recommends you speak to a “poll watcher” if you have a problem. Don’t do it. Poll watchers cannot speak to voters. That’s a violation of Texas law. Speak to the election judge if you have a concern.