Clear Lake Tea Party

Clear Lake Tea Party “WISH LIST”

2011-07-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

Two office rooms, to carry out our campaign plans through November 2012. (Total cost, all inclusive, is $350 a month which equals $116.67 a month each, for 3 donors.)

Computers, with no less then Windows XP, or Mac.
Scanner/Fax/Printer
Filing cabinet
Tables and/or computer desks
Chairs
Gift Cards from Sam’s, Office Depot, Staples, etc., for office supplies. (Ink, printer paper, phones, etc.)
Books for CLTP lending library

Please see a CLTP Board member for questions or details.

CLTP Election Plan - 2012

2011-07-16T13:36:00.000-05:00

The Clear Lake Tea Party’s plan for the 2012 election is a very simple one:

√ Work for Tea Party Candidates and increase Conservative Precinct Chair numbers!
We need your help to do just that!

√ Our goals are to operate a campaign satellite for Tea Party candidates that are running
in local, state, and national races and fill vacant Precinct Chair positions.

√ Please review the CLTP “Wish List” and help where you can.

Also, we are in the process of building a volunteer data base:

√ Please sign up to help Take Back America!

Your Action Required Immediately

2011-07-13T03:31:00.000-05:00

Dear Clear Lake Tea Party Members:

All around us, states are taking action to deal with the high financial and security costs of illegal immigrants. Texas is sitting in the shadow of states like South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, and now Louisiana!

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed two pieces of legislation into law on Thursday, July 7th that will require and encourage businesses to use E-Verify. HB342 requires all state and local contractors to use E-Verify, while HB646 requires all private businesses to verify the legal status of their new hires by providing employers that use it a safe harbor against sanctions. Louisiana becomes the sixth state to pass E-Verify since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of state enforcement of E-Verify earlier this year. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana have also passed E-Verify bills. Plus, Virginia passed legislation earlier this year.

Here we sit in Texas not only without E-Verify to cut off the magnet of jobs to illegal immigrants, but the TX legislature's regular and special sessions ended with a failure to pass a simple anti-sanctuary cities law! House and Senate leadership played games and ran out the clock on this important issue because they were under pressure from business special interests who want cheap labor. This is unacceptable!

Help us move Governor Perry to take action by doing two things starting today:

1) Call and/or fax his office today. Tell Governor Perry's staff that you want Texas to end sanctuary cities and mandate the use of the E-Verify system to ensure Texas jobs go to citizens and legal immigrants. Tell them we cannot afford illegal immigrants accessing social services like Medicaid!

Phone: (512) 463-1782 or (512) 463-2000 Fax:(512) 463-1849

2) Will you help us reach 2,000 signatures to send a message to Governor Perry? This letter is going out across the State of Texas.

If you share our frustration with Texas' inaction on illegal immigration, please consider SPREADING THE WORD and endorsing the letter below:

AN OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY

June 30, 2011

The Honorable James Richard 'Rick' Perry
Governor of the State of Texas
State Insurance Building
1100 San Jacinto
Austin, Texas 78701

Governor Perry:

We write to express, in the strongest possible terms, our disappointment over the outcome of the regular and special sessions of the 82nd Legislature, in which every single one of the dozens of common-sense immigration reform bills died.

As you are most likely aware, the overwhelming body of polling data shows that Texans are extremely concerned about the effects of unchecked illegal immigration on our state. A recent University of Texas / Texas Tribune poll of 800 registered voters in Texas found the following:

Texas voters consider illegal immigration to be the most important problem facing the State of Texas, with the lack of border security ranking a close second.[1]

Fully 87% of Texas voters, including 71% of Hispanic voters, support the passage of a law requiring employers to verify immigration status for their employees, with 70% of Texas voters 'strongly supporting' such a law.[2]

Roughly 69% of Texas voters oppose 'sanctuary city' policies which prevent the enforcement of immigration laws.[3]
Despite an overwhelming consensus among voters on the need for urgent action on illegal immigration, the Texas State Legislature blocked all bills filed in the regular and special sessions relating to employment verification,[4] sanctuary cities, [5] cost reporting[6] state licensing,[7] or any other common-sense immigration reform policies. The vast majority of immigration-related bills filed in the State Legislature were prevented from even receiving a committee hearing, much less a floor vote.[8]

Although we do not necessarily hold you completely responsible for the inexcusable actions of the House and Senate members during the regular and special sessions, the ball is now squarely in your court. It is solely within your power as Governor to call the legislature into session and demand that they complete the important work that they promised their constituents they would do.

Further, you have the inherent power, as the Chief Executive of the State of Texas, to issue one or more executive orders[9] to address illegal immigration, if you only choose to do so. You have the inherent executive power, for example, to issue an executive order requiring the use of E-Verify for all state employees and by all state contractors, following the examples set by the governors of Florida,[10] Virginia,[11] Idaho,[12] Rhode Island[13] and Minnesota.[14]

It is a point of pride for many Texans that our Governor is receiving a great deal of attention as a potential contender for President of the United States. Your bold conservative message has clearly struck a chord within the hearts of many Americans. That said, the American people are hungry for a statesman whose bold words are followed up with bold action.

All eyes are on you, Governor. Please don't let Texas down.

Sincerely,

THE UNDERSIGNED (CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE LETTER)

JoAnn Fleming, Executive Director (volunteer) Grassroots America - We the People
www.gawtp.com (903) 894-7204 home office or (903) 360-2858 cell

Ron Paul won't run for reelection to the House Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58792.html#ixzz1RyK3X36h

2011-07-13T03:26:00.000-05:00

It's all or nothing for the congressman from Texas:

After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat.

Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012. “I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul said. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”

His announcement will give enough time for anyone with aspirations for his seat to think about running, he said. Paul didn’t want to wait for filing in the 2012 primary to let people know he wasn’t seeking reelection. “I didn’t want to hold off until in December,” he said. “I thought it shouldn’t be any later than now.”

The Truth about the 82nd Texas Legislature

2011-07-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

By Katrina Pierson

The supermajority of Republicans in the Texas legislature could not seem to make quorum twice in the week prior to the end of the special session to take up the people’s business. Strangely enough, there were 126 members on the roll call, but the House Speaker adjourned for lack of quorum and the members went home. What we have witnessed is how the special interest pulls the strings of politicians, and how the people have become but a mere thorn in the side of the establishment. They don’t like us, and they don’t want us watching. Now, I know why.

I arrived in Austin on Sunday, June 26^th for our monthly Tea Party Caucus Advisory Board meeting in the Senate conference room. After much discussion about the next steps for the movement in Texas, we read through the pending legislation that sat upon our House and Senate. Curiously, the Sanctuary Cities bill still sat in the House State Affairs Committee held to die by Chairman Byron Cook (R – Corsicana) who “holds a special place in his heart for illegal’s”. So, we knew on arrival that the Sanctuary Cities bill was dead. Although Governor tagged this bill as one of his emergency items, this bill died in the Senate in the regular session and was killed by the House in the special session.

Monday, as we prepared to tour the Capitol looking for friends of the movement and doing interviews, we participated in a press conference that highlighted the dangers that we warned the freshman legislators prior to the election of the Texas Speaker of the House have come to pass.

Patiently, we waited to hear when the committee was going to meet to discuss the TSA legislation. By this time, surely the bill would be acceptable since just the day before, a ninety five year old woman dying from cancer had to remove her adult diaper for a TSA search at an airport. Perhaps if she had just worn a burka she would have been ushered on through the check point.

Back and forth through the house (H.B. 41) and senate (S.B. 29) the TSA bill went. Texas had the opportunity to secure the fourth amendment for the citizens of America, not just Texans. We all know that when this bill was first brought to the floor in the senate by Senator Dan Patrick, the Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst, worked diligently against the legislation by seeking a letter from the TSA issuing the threat to suspend all flights in Texas. David Dewhurst began to use the letter that he requested to peel off the votes for the bill quietly behind Senator Patrick’s back. When David Dewhurst allowed the bill to come to a vote he knew that he successfully pulled enough votes for it to ultimately fail.

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst killed the bill in the Senate in the regular session, and then in a press conference leading into the special session, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made the attempt to take credit for the nationally popular legislation. He claimed that there were people in the legislature that tried to stall and run the clock out. And it was David Dewhurst who is guilty of his own allegations. He spoke of principles that are obviously just words to the three kings of Texas:

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, Governor Perry was caught on film in New Orleans during a book signing for his book “Fed Up”, ironically, when he made the claim that they did not have the votes to pass the TSA bill and that there was not enough time left to get it done. However, that video went viral. Governor Perry added the TSA legislation to the special session less than 24 hours of the video hitting the internet. I sat down with the Governor that Tuesday, and he said that he added the legislation because he was informed that they had the votes, not because of the video. You decide.

The house passed a watered down version of H.B. 41 with at least 100 co-authors. Once it was sent to the senate, S.B. 29 (there is that Lt. Governor David Dewhurst again) things got more sticky. Rep. David Simpson passionately carried the legislation and was upset about the watered down version, but upon working the Attorney General, he accepted the new language to keep the bill viable.

Tuesday morning, as I entered the House chamber at 9:00am it was empty. The Senate was doing the people’s business and the House was scheduled to gavel in at 2:00pm. Why were the Texas legislators not at work. Simple, it was one of those stalling tactics that Lt. Governor David Dewhurst was guilty of doing himself. The house could have gaveled in at 9:00am and voted to suspend the rules to get the work done, but Joe Straus chose not to.

That evening, around 5:45pm everything fell apart. The budget (S.B. 1) did NOT pass. Perhaps real Conservatives in the House tried to hold the budget hostage until the TSA legislation passed? Immediately, a meeting of the Republican Caucus was called, and ironically, so was the Criminal Jurisprudence meeting for the TSA bill. In order for TSA to pass at this point, it still had to go through two more readings before they could take a vote. “There is not enough time” the house claimed. But, they failed to mention that when the Senate sent the TSA bill to the House, the messenger was refused and the bill was sent back, causing further delay.

All of the sudden, the motion to reconsider S.B. 1 was made by Rep. Phil King, so all of the Republicans were called back to the floor to vote. And when they arrived, Chair Rep. Pete Gallego went into the Criminal Jurisprudence meeting and because the Republicans left to vote, they were not there and in that second he canceled the meeting. This is where the bill was ultimately killed. Sadly, Rep. Gallego could have called the Criminal Jurisprudence meeting that evening, but he didn't. Note, Rep. Gallego was appointed by House Speaker Joe Straus.

In order to keep the bill alive, they will now have to vote to suspend a constitutional rule, requiring 4/5 of the vote instead of the normal 2/3. In other words, this would have required 120 votes to pass the bill.

Wednesday, the House gaveled in at 10:00am with silly resolutions. For example, they spent time talking about honoring a man who had died but had perfect attendance for 60 years at rotary club. Seriously, this is your tax dollars at work folks.

When they finally decided to take up actual business, I could feel the treacherous demise of the TSA legislation. Rep David Simpson boldly stepped up to the mic to defend the fourth amendment for all Americans, and he took shot after shot by Democrats. Rep. Joseph Deshotel (D-Beaumont) actually said that they passed the TSA legislation that, “Terrorists would start using old white ladies and put C4 in their adult diapers”. No kidding. In the end, Republicans tried to cover the Houses tail by blaming the Senate. Rep. Simpson stood strong and vote after vote, the rules were suspended to allow the second reading but failed to achieve the 4/5 vote to get to the third. Twenty-six members were absent that day. Nine were excused.

In the final hour of the last day of the special session. Rep. Simpson stepped out on the house floor to speak from privilege. And when he spoke, he uncovered all the lies and tricks that the three kings of Texas used to fool Texans and shed some light on what Governor Perry was going to attempt to take credit for on the national scene.

The house adjourned sine die. Money talks! So Texans, once again, got the short end of the stick!

Texas Leadership Fails Us

2011-07-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

June 30, 2011

Congratulations South Carolina! Texas Sits in Your Shadow… a Texas Legislative Update – the People’s Unfinished Business

By JoAnn Fleming

Governor Nikki Haley signs Illegal Immigration Reform Law

This is what principled leadership looks like! Click on this link to see the bill signing news conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMZikpA3_8U

While the leadership of the Texas House and Senate played political games to run out the special session clock, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed an immigration reform law Monday (06/27/11), establishing a $1.3 million illegal enforcement unit for the state.

The South Carolina law, the latest immigration reform measure to pass state legislatures around the nation, requires employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check employees’ and job applicants’ citizenship status. It also establishes a team of immigration police aimed at enforcing the new law. The unit will have 12 full-time officers.

Governor Nikki Haley has proven her talk by her walk. The South Carolina legislature and Governor Haley got the job done, and they got the job done in a non-border state.

Texas Leadership Fails to Get the Job Done

In our border state of Texas, with a super-majority of Republicans in the House, a majority in the Senate, Republican Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, and Republican Governor Rick Perry, our state leadership could not manage simple anti-sanctuary city legislation – legislation that did not include E-verify, another much-needed reform measure.

In January, Governor Perry made anti-sanctuary city legislation an emergency item for the Texas legislature. The legislature failed to get the job done in the 82nd regular session. With strong urging from the grassroots, Governor Perry put it back on the special session call. The special session ended yesterday in yet another failure simply because House Speaker Joe Straus, State Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Cook, and his committee members purposefully kept the bill bottled up in committee for two weeks after the TX Senate passed the legislation!   In spite of valiant efforts by a small group of conservatives in the TX House and Senate, the Republican leadership has failed yet again to protect Texas and failed to uphold the rule of law.

And if that’s not bad enough…

The TX legislature also failed to pass the Fourth Amendment-defending TSA anti-groping bill along with anti-Sharia law legislation and scores of other bills dealing with illegal immigration and its heavy toll on Texas. Why did most of these bills fail to make it out of committee with the GOP-controlled branches of executive and legislative state government? Political games, special interests, cowardice, and a lack of leadership...

Simply filing bills and talking big won't fool the People of Texas. Texans don't need, don't want, and don't deserve the games being played by establishment Republicans. The truth is -- in Texas, most of our GOP leadership marches to the tune of special business interests who put their love of cheap labor above the safety, security, and financial well-being of Texas citizens and legal immigrants.

Texas taxpayers cannot afford to be a social safety net for all who want to come here illegally to access taxpayer-funded services. These services and jobs should go to citizens and legal immigrants – period. The People’s reasonable expectation that our elected leaders would take the oath of office seriously and uphold the rule of law has once again been ignored by our state leadership.

Will Governor Rick Perry Step Up?

The Texas anti-sanctuary cities legislation was a limited first step to deal with the flood of illegal aliens coming into Texas. Our leaders failed to move this one small step forward while law enforcement officers, citizens, and legal immigrants continue to die at the hands of illegals, while private property is plundered, while the cost of social services continues to explode, and while certain cities may well indeed harbor serious threats to national security.

Will Governor Perry – who has served as governor of this border state for ten years – step up and call the Texas Legislature back into another special session to get anti-sanctuary city, E-verify, and Fourth Amendment, liberty-defending legislation passed? Or, in view of the legislature’s failures, will he lead by signing an executive order to get the job done for Texas? Perry has a history of signing executive orders for matters far less important than these fundamental “rule of law” issues.

What We Have Asked Governor Perry to Do:

This week the white horse was saddled up and placed right in front of Governor Rick Perry by Texas grassroots constitutional conservatives. In a meeting with Governor Perry on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 – one day before sine die of the special session – we directly asked him, begged him, to step up to do the right thing by calling another special session in a few weeks or by issuing an executive order.   Media reports say Perry doesn’t seem compelled to make any more attempts to resolve the People’s unfinished business…as he left the state for yet another trip to California – the second trip to the nation’s most populous state in less than three weeks.
Meanwhile, grassroots leaders across Texas and the nation are waiting to see what Governor Perry does.   Texas is sitting in the shadow of South Carolina, Alabama, and many other states whose leadership has boldly stood up for the rule of law.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley proved this week that she doesn't just talk. She leads the charge.  Texas has its share of big talkers, but rhetorical bravado delivered with fist-pounding anger directed toward Washington won't save Texas from becoming California, and it won’t save our country. We want principled leadership. We need courage in action. We deserve results.

TX Budget Success? Fairy Tales, the Medicaid Credit Card & Formula One Racing

Texas lawmakers dealt with the budget shortfall and balanced the budget with no new taxes and no tax increases, but $12 billion of the cuts were the one-time federal stimulus funds used to balance the 2010-2011 biennium budget. The 2012-2013 budget is balanced with some other cuts, tax payment speed ups, accounting gimmicks, and an estimated $4.6 billion charge to a “Medicaid credit card.” In other words, Texas has a planned budget shortfall for 2013 when legislators will once again raid the Rainy Day Fund (the People's Savings Account). If kicking the can down the road and delaying tough decisions is wrong in Washington, DC, what makes it right for Texas?

The legislature left many commonsense spending cuts on the table. Texas Republican leadership refused to champion and push for sensible cost-cutting measures offered by conservative legislators in both the House and the Senate, for example – pay cuts for statewide officials and state employees (not teachers) who make $60,000 and above; and a hiring freeze for all state agencies (excluding law enforcement, corrections, and the court system). Texas still has many overlapping, duplicated departments, agencies, and programs (twenty-three plus agencies alone that manage natural resources).   If waste is wrong in Washington, DC, why isn’t it equally wrong for Texas?

The legislature and Governor Perry also approved $25 million for Formula One Race track funding for the billionaire promoter and special interests in Austin. No matter how many times we got this pork stripped out of the budget by the few conservatives in the House and Senate, it always rose from the dead in conference committee and stayed in the budget. Our Republican Comptroller and other state leaders deeply desired this project and arm-twisted to bring it back to life. If crony capitalism and pork are wrong in Washington, DC, what makes them right for Texas?

The State of Texas has no business serving as an investment banker or venture capitalist for entertainment venues. Leveraging tax dollars for private special interests is not a core constitutional responsibility of state government. It’s just plain wrong.

Does Texas have True Constitutional Conservative “Walk the Talk” Leadership?

Right now, the jury is out in Texas, but patience is wearing thin – blisteringly, painfully thin. Our governor has a new book entitled, Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington. It’s a good book, written at the right time. Like Governor Perry’s likeable Texas drawl, his swagger, and his animated protests against Big DC Government, it’s red meat for the conservative masses, but back here in Texas, we’re fed up with continued inaction on the issue of illegal immigration and a state government desperately in need of structural reforms to reduce unsustainable spending, eliminate waste, simplify school funding, reduce debt, and end transportation funding diversions.

Constitutional conservative Independents, Republicans, Reagan Democrats, TEA Parties, 912s, and other grassroots groups should be very careful not to prematurely jump on any Presidential candidate's (or potential candidate’s) train. Doing so may have you riding a slow train to disappointment or one that goes off the rails once folks check to see what actually fuels that engine. It could prove to be a lot of hot air…

The burning question remains – will Governor Rick Perry step up?   Will he stand up for the rule of law and for Texas citizens and legal immigrants? Or is Rick Perry satisfied to sit in the shadow of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley?   His white horse is saddled up and waiting.

____________________________________________________________________________

JoAnn Fleming serves as Chairman of the TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee for the Texas State Legislature. She is the full-time volunteer Executive Director of Grassroots America – We the People of Tyler/Smith County, Texas, (www.gawtp.com) and is a former county commissioner. She is a subject matter consultant in local government public policy development, Performance Management, Organizational Development, Teambuilding, Small Business Consulting, Political Campaign Management/Strategy, and Grassroots Activist Training. A leader in the conservative movement for nineteen years, she has served on twenty local government boards, committees, and task forces. JoAnn is a regional public speaker and a guest political analyst/commentator for Tyler/Smith County local media. Contact: jafleming3@juno.com or 903.894.7204

Texans betrayed by house leadership

2011-06-29T23:58:00.005-05:00

By Bill Kneer

After the last election, with the overwhelming Republican victory, all of us thought that we had finally done it, and that we could now take back control of our state and make some positive changes within our state legislature. Then we found ourselves in a battle royale when our State Representatives overwhelmingly supported Joe Straus for Speaker of the House. Since that time we have had a few victories but we also have had Joe and others stand in the way of what “We the People” desired. Joe Straus has also done what he could to punish those who did not support him. Dan Flynn is a good example of the retribution wielded by Straus, by getting rid of his district under the new redistricting map.

The latest move by our Republican legislators to stick their fingers in the eyes of “We the People” has made me and many others fighting mad and we will not stand for this! We need to replace House members in the upcoming Primary elections. If we fail to do so we will have relinquished the power of the people to the elected who do not care about “We the People” of the great State of Texas!

State Sen. Dan Patrick and State Representative David Simpson have done all they could to protect our families from the perverts at the TSA but because of Joe Straus and ALL those who supported him, my wife and 2 daughters are in danger of being groped as a condition of flying.

Here is a statement from Senator Dan Patrick:

Dear Friend,

I have been sent several e-mails that are circulating today concerning Sanctuary City and the TSA bill. They are either biased due to a friendship with someone, or they simply are misinformed and don’t know the facts. The facts do not lie. This is long, but you need the facts and the full picture. I appreciate all you do for Texas. I don’t want a feud between the House and the Senate. But, when people send out false information it has to be answered. I appreciate the work the House did this year. I am frustrated how the final two weeks ended stopping us from passing Sanctuary City and TSA bills. I’m not blaming anyone, or pointing a finger, simply setting the record straight based on the facts.

FACTS

First, let me be clear. Rep David Simpson did all he could to pass this bill. He gets great credit and my respect for never giving up. He is a good man. The facts contained do not reflect his desire to seek delay at any step of the way. I will let him speak for himself.

1. Early in the week of June 13th, I believe the 13th or 14th, Rep Simpson, who has worked his heart out on the TSA bill, told me he had the votes to pass his bill out of committee and asked me if we had the votes in the Senate. He passed the bill out without opposition that week, on Monday or Tuesday I believe. 13th or 14th He can confirm date.

2. I worked to get the votes again and on June 14th. I had my votes again. On June 15th I delivered a brief letter to the Governor’s office letting him know I had the votes in the Senate and David had the votes in the House. I once again asked him to put the bill on the call.

3. Perry was traveling that week and was not aware of my letter until a few days later when a gentleman approached in on June 18th, Saturday, in New Orleans and asked him to put TSA on the call. Gov Perry said there was not time or the votes. The gentlemen told Perry that Dan Patrick sent him a letter. (I had posted on my Facebook pg of the letter) Perry answered he was not aware. The Governor returned to Austin Sunday, June 19th, read the letter and put the bill back on the call the next day Monday June 20th.

4. I met with David Simpson and we agreed for him to lead on the bill and pass it. He asked House leadership to schedule the bill for the floor.

Let’s put this in perspective: He passed the bill on June 13th or 14th, a week later the bill was still not scheduled for the floor. On June 20th Perry adds the bill to the call, but the bill is not set for a House vote until Friday June 24th. WE LOST TWO WEEKS from passage out of committee to scheduling for the floor. The Senate had nothing to do with that scheduling issue. We were ready for the bill as soon as we received it.

Rep Simpson was hoping to bring it up sooner, but on Monday June 20th there was not a quorum and no House business was conducted. Rep Simpson was then hoping the bill would be set on Thursday, but it was set for Friday June 24th.

5. On Fri June 24th, the Speaker announced the bill was a publicity stunt and a laughingstock. This despite the fact nothing was said previously in regular session when the bill passed 138-0 (or close to that number) And anyone who knows Rep Simpson knows he was sincere on this issue. He would never launch a publicity stunt.

In addition, this was a bill that was written in large part with input by the A.G office. Rep Simpson agreed to all of the language except changing “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “reasonable suspicion ” which was favored by the majority of House members, police, and the district attorneys. It apparently wasn’t going to pass the House without it. It is said that the Speaker did not like that and that is why he was upset. I don’t know, but it could have been fixed in an hour and passed on Friday, June 24th.

RESULT: WE NOW LOST FRIDAY AS THE DEADLINE APPROACHED.

6. In the Senate we were waiting for his bill. David knew the plan was to take his bill. We had a hearing scheduled originally for Thursday, June 23rd, hoping it might come over early, but when the bill was set for Friday, we scheduled Monday. THERE WAS NEVER A PLAN TO PASS THE SENATE BILL SB 29, but to take his bill. Everyone involved knows that is the truth, including David Simpson.

7. When the bill did not move on Friday, and the Speaker saying it was a stunt by Rep Simpson, I assumed it might not come up at all, and even if it did, the clock would be against us. We shifted gears and moved our bill out of committee on Monday morning, June 27, to give us a chance to pass a bill. We did not know what they were going to do. We couldn’t amend the bill in committee because of time, so we amended it on the floor Monday night.

8. On Monday afternoon I had hope again when the House took up Rep Simpson’s bill. However, they did not suspend the rules to pass it to third reading meaning it would not pass until today, Tuesday, June 28th. If the House wanted to give the HB 41 a chance they needed to at least suspend the rules on Monday to third reading and send it over to us. We could have taken it up Tuesday in committee, and then on the floor Wednesday, but the time was still tight. Once they delayed until today for final passage, the bill was dead coming over to us because of various rules on time.

AT THAT POINT, I DECIDED TO TRY TO SUSPEND ALL RULES TO GET OUR BILL OVER TO THEM ON MONDAY NIGHT. It’s a bit complex, but this was our only chance to suspend the rules. I needed to convince 2 Democrats to suspend last night. I did and we passed it our about 9 pm last night. So, the Senate passed the bill out of committee and all the way off the floor in 12 hours, while the House took two weeks from committee to House passage, and actually never finally passed it out as of tonight. Even if they did there was not time. We would need to suspend rules several times and would not have had the votes to do as we had last night, when I only needed to suspend once with 2 extra votes.

9. Today the House did not gavel in until 2 pm. Because they adjourned yesterday they could not take the bill last night. We could not send it over to them until they gaveled in today at 2 pm. We sent the bill over about 2:20-30, along with HB 79.

THE HOUSE REFUSED TO ALLOW OUR MESSENGER TO DELIVER EITHER HB 79, a court reform bill, or SB 29 TSA bill. Veterans who have been in the legislature a long time, nor the media, could remember one chamber keeping a messenger out from delivering important bills, especially with deadlines only a day off. It may have happened once a long time ago, but one has to sake why the House refused to accept SB 29 and HB 79. I believe they finally accepted it later in the day.

10. Instead of taking up our bill, a strong bill that was written with the help of district attorneys, to be sure they could prosecute, the AG office, to be sure they could defend in Court, and removed some language opposed by citizens, and the exact language Speaker Strauss and the House required changing from “probable cause” to “reasonable suspicion with an unknown or unlawful object.”

11. Sanctuary City bill. The Senate passed over SB 9 a Sanctuary City bill almost two weeks ago that required proof of citizenship to get a drivers license, requiring all people arrested go through a Secure Community Check for citizenship, and allowing local police to inquire on a person being legal present in the state and country

THIS BILL HAS NEVER BEEN VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE. IT HAS SAT FOR TWO WEEKS WITH NO ACTION.

The House wanted the Senate to add some weak immigration language to Senate bill 1, the fiscal matters bill. That bill is a must pass bill. Adding sanctuary city language, even with weak language, would have killed the bill because the Democrats would have filibustered again and we would be back in another special session. ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS PASS SB 9 during the last two weeks.

SUMMARY

I have laid out the facts. I cannot address those who have a friend in the House or a bias and who are trying to defend these actions. These are the facts, HB 41 TSA passes out of committee June 13th or 14th, and it takes 10 days to get a floor vote, and when it comes up the Speaker pulls it down. Then when they pass it on Monday, June 27th, they don’t pass it to third reading, waiting until today, which kills the bill, with only one day left in session and time lines we could not has suspended. If we could have suspended it would have been only with a few hour left on Wednesday night and the Democrats would have filibustered it.

We passed our bill as a last resort to keep the issue alive. The House could have suspended rules, they have 101 Rs, and the bill was supported without a no vote previously. They could taken up the Senate bill by tomorrow, passed it, and send it to the Governor.

Instead they refuse to accept the bill at first from our messenger with the clock ticking.

Why there was a long delay on both TSA and Sanctuary City bills in the House is for them to answer. They clearly had plenty of time to pass both. A lack of quorum on several days didn’t help, but they still had time.

The Senate passed every bill we were asked to pass during Special. We finished our work and with no time left to accept any bills and pass tomorrow, we concluded today.

This isn’t about a battle between the House and Senate; it’s about doing the job people asked us to do. I have given you the facts. I will let you decide the truth. I can tell you we did all we could in the Senate to pass both the TSA bill and Sanctuary City bills. I think the facts show the House did not.

Senator Dan Patrick

Dan thank you for your leadership! We need more like you who are willing and able to fight not only for us but with us side by side! Although you would make a great US Senator we sure would miss you in Austin! Its time “We the People” rise back up ad put the heat on ALL our House members, even those that showed up. Many will say “Well I was there” but i say “What did you do to help?” being there and doing nothing to help is not showing leadership.

So to the all Republican House members: You had better find a way to get things done or prepare to be replaced! There is NO compromise left within the hearts of conservatives.

Why is it that conservatives always need to “compromise” and “concede” to the Liberals and Moderates? It is never the other way around! Well, enjoy your last days in Austin, because we will be working hard to ensure you don’t go back! We have got to find representatives who will do the will of the people! There must be consequences for this betrayal!

Save The Date: Clear Lake Tea Party To Host Senatorial Job Interview

2011-06-24T13:31:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 22, 2011

Contact: Roberto F. González
Phone: 281.732.1706
Email: info@clearlaketeaparty.com

Clear Lake Tea Party To Host Senatorial Job Interview

Who:    Clear Lake Tea Party (CLTP), Alliance of Constitutional Patriots (ACP), in cooperation with the Galveston, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Harris County Tea Parties collectively sport a membership in excess of 10,000, encompassing an area that represents approximately 25% of the total population of registered voters in the state of Texas.

What:   A job interview for the elected office of U.S. Senator of Texas. All declared candidates for this position have been invited to meet with possible constituents and be individually interviewed for the job of being our elected Senator. This will be a direct, personal interview. The following candidates are thus far confirmed to attend:

Glenn Addison
Ted Cruz
Elizabeth Ames Jones
Andrew Castanuela
Lela Mae Pittenger
Thomas Leppert
Roger Williams

This list will be updated on the CLTP website as further confirmations are received.

When:    Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Where:     University of Houston – Clear Lake
                 Bayou Building
                 2700 Bay Area Blvd.  
                 Houston, TX 77058 
                 Phone: 281-283-2562
                 www.uhcl.edu/bayoutheater

CLTP mailing address:

2951 Marina Bay Dr. #130-394
League City, TX 77573

http://clearlaketeaparty.com

Sanctuary Cities Bill (HB12) in Danger!

2011-06-24T11:09:00.000-05:00

Mr. Ray Sullivan, Governor Perry's Chief of Staff
Mr. Ken Armbrister, Governor Perry's Director of Legislative Affairs

Thursday evening, June 23, 2011

Gentlemen:

We respectfully ask that you deliver the following message to Governor Perry from the Advisory Committee to the TEA Party Caucus of the TX Legislature:

We are alarmed and angry to hear about and witness the games being played in the People's State House regarding the Sanctuary Cities Bill -- legislation so important to Governor Rick Perry that he called it an emergency item for the regular session and subsequently placed it on the call for the special session when the legislature failed to act.

We understand that the business lobby, including those supported by Mr. Bob Perry, are doing all they can to derail or gut this bill. Apparently, these special interests are eager to put their own interests above the safety, security, and financial well-being of Texas citizens and legal immigrants.

We also understand that the House is having difficulty conducting the People's business because House leadership cannot muster a quorum. This is outrageous. Texans deserve better.

This is the first legislative session in which thousands of everyday Texans have taken such an active interest in their state government. At this point, we are extremely disappointed with what we've witnessed. The Constitutional Conservative movement - known as the TEA Party or Grassroots - is rapidly growing and plans to continue to stay engaged in government at all levels. In other words, this session was only the beginning.

Please understand that the Sanctuary Cities bill is a “foundational rule of law” matter and a key issue for us. We will not accept the gutting of this bill nor will we accept failure to pass it. Texas taxpayers cannot continue to fund a social safety net for all who would break the rule of law. Social services and jobs should go to American citizens and to legal immigrants, period. Citizens and legal immigrants should also have their safety and security protected as much as possible by our state leaders. The Sanctuary Cities bill represents a limited step forward in addressing this issue as the federal government fails to secure our border.

If the legislature fails on this issue by running out the special session clock or gutting the bill, we will expect Governor Perry to stand strong for the citizens and legal immigrants in our great state. We will expect him to call the legislature back into another special session to hammer out a bill he can sign into law, or we will expect him to sign an executive order to protect us.

Our very thorough research demonstrates that thirty-one other states are in the process of legislation, have passed legislation, or have Governors who have signed executive orders to deal with the illegal immigration issue. Texas is now standing in the shadow of Alabama, the most recent state with new, tough illegal immigration laws. As a native Texan, I am incensed by that. Everywhere I go, grassroots Texans don't like the fact that Texas is not leading on this issue. Our escalating Medicaid costs alone should be enough evidence to show this course is unsustainable.

Please let Governor Perry know that this is a "make or break" issue for us. Failure is not an option.

We are asking Governor Perry to stand up and lead for us, because we are "Fed UP!"

Respectfully communicated with a sense of urgency,

JoAnn Fleming, Chair - TX Legislature's TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee
Executive Director (volunteer)
Grassroots America - We the People www.gawtp.com
(903) 894-7204 home office or (903) 360-2858 cell

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." --Thomas Paine, The Crisis, 1776

Need Calls on Anti-Sanctuary City Legislation!

2011-06-23T11:49:00.001-05:00

Folks, the Democrats and RINO's are pulling out all of the stops,
including the race card, to block sanctuary city legislation. The
Chairman of the State Affairs Committee, RINO Byron Cook, continues
to disappoint:

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/82nd-legislative-session/students-federal-memo-complicate-sanctuary-cities/

The Democrats parade some hard cases of illegal immigrant students
in front of his committee, and he gets a "soft spot." How about a
soft spot for the police officers murdered in the line of duty by
illegal aliens? How about a soft spot for the thousands of
American families devastated by illegal alien drunk driving,
murder, rape and robbery? How about a soft spot for taxpayers who
foot the bill for illegal alien education, food stamps, welfare and
health care? How about a soft spot for the millions of Americans
who are unemployed and would gladly do the jobs that illegal aliens
have taken? When McDonald's has seven applicants for every open
position, it's obvious that there are millions of unemployed
Americans who are hungry for any sort of work they can get.

No, Byron Cook cares more about the theoretical harm that might be
visited upon people who aren't even American citizens and shouldn't
even be in this country than he does the clear and present danger
illegal aliens pose to the citizens of this state every day.

It's becoming clear the grassroots must adopt a scorched earth
policy in the 2012 primaries. I have an easy rule I follow: if I
haven't heard anything positive about an incumbent, I vote for the
challenger. For example, I've heard a lot of positive things about
new Republican representative David Simpson. He doesn't appear to
be afraid to stand up for what's right. I don't live in his
district, but if I did, I'd vote for him. The reason is that any
decent Republican who actually stands up for our interests is going
to be savagely attacked in the controlled media. If the
anti-American press has good things to say about someone, or
nothing to say, then most likely the incumbent isn't worth
anything. These so-called Republicans must be held to account.

I am passing along a message from the Immigration Reform Coalition
of Texas. We BADLY need phone calls to the State Affairs
Committee. Time is running out in the special session and the
rumor is that the committee is deliberately stalling, avoiding a
quorum, so as to run out the clock on this bill.

..............................................................

Please take action by calling the members below:

Status of SB9 & HB9 - Anti-Sanctuary City Bills

Since the Hearing on Monday, the bills are stalled in the House
State Affairs Committee.

After the hearing Monday night there were not enough committee
members in attendance to have a quorum -- and so, a vote did not
occur.

On Tuesday, Chairman Cook held a meeting to vote the bills out,
but there were not enough Republicans in attendance to pass the
bills out of committee!

The Session ends next Thursday and the notice just went out a
moment ago that the State Affairs Committee will meet this Friday
to vote. This is cutting it extremely close! The bills still need
three readings & votes on the House floor, then who knows how many
amendments and points of order will slow it down. The Senate
played this game at the end of the regular session and it killed
the bill.

Legislators are receiving faxes supporting the sanctuary city bills
-- BUT, WHAT WE NEED ARE PHONE CALLS. The faxes are not
necessarily being printed out by every office, and if that doesn't
happen they were never received.

Call your Representative, especially if they are on the State
Affairs Committee. Please call and email the committee members
listed below (Republicans first) with the message.

"The State Affairs Committee will be voting on Friday morning. You
want them to make themselves available for the vote on Friday.
Certain members avoided voting earlier in the week. Texans want
anti-sanctuary legislation passed so please show up and vote YES on
these bills. In addition, support a mandate for all employers to
use E-Verify.

"Sanctuary policies are not needed to protect illegal-alien
witnesses and crime victims because they are protected under the
federal "U" visa. And citizens do not want to compete with illegal
aliens for Texas jobs."

House Committee on State Affairs
(C450) Clerk: Toni Barcellona
Legislature: 82(R) - 2011 Phone: (512) 463-0814
Appointment Date: 1/24/2011 Room: EXT E2.108

Chair: Rep. Byron Cook 512-463-0730
Vice Chair:Rep. Jose Menendez 512-463-0634
Members:
Rep. Tom Craddick 512-463-0500
Rep. John Frullo 512-463-0676
Rep. Pete Gallego 512-463-0566
Rep. Charlie Geren 512-463-0610
Rep. Patricia Harless 512-463-0496
Rep. Harvey Hilderbran 512-463-0536
Rep. Dan Huberty 512-463-0520
Rep. Rene Oliveira 512-463-0640
Rep. John T. Smithee 512-463-0702
Rep. Burt R. Solomons 512-463-0478
Rep. Sylvester Turner 512-463-0554

The Peter Morrison Report
http://www.PeterMorrisonReport.com
http://www.facebook.com/morrisonreport

PO Box 8742, Lumberton, TX 77657, USA

Supporting info for the 912 meeting: "Understanding Agenda 21" on June 26, 2011

2011-06-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 6/23 11;42 am:

On June 9, 2011, President Obama signed his 86th Executive Order, and almost nobody noticed.

President Obama’s E.O. 13575 is designed to begin taking control over almost all aspects of the lives of 16% of the American people. Why didn’t we notice it? Weinergate. In the middle of the Anthony Weiner scandal, as the press and most of the American people were distracted, the President Obama created something called “The White House Rural Council” (WHRC).
Section One of 13575 states the following:

Section 1. Policy. Sixteen percent of the American population lives in rural counties. Strong, sustainable rural communities are essential to winning the future and ensuring American competitiveness in the years ahead. These communities supply our food, fiber, and energy, safeguard our natural resources, and are essential in the development of science and innovation. Though rural communities face numerous challenges, they also present enormous economic potential. The Federal Government has an important role to play in order to expand access to the capital necessary for economic growth, promote innovation, improve access to health care and education, and expand outdoor recreational activities on public lands.

Warning bells should have been sounding all across rural America when the phrase “sustainable rural communities” came up. As we know from researching the UN plan for Sustainable Development known as Agenda 21, these are code words for the true fundamental transformation America.

You can read the full article (includes list of Council Members) at the Blaze
Lots of links to check out within the article!

Contact Your members of Congress, also your State Legislatures and Governors as well.

Original Post:

EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE WHITE HOUSE RURAL COUNCIL

Under "Presidential Actions" it can be found here.

It is 13575 according to the Federal Register (published June 13th):

Title 3--

The President

[[Page 34841]] Executive Order 13575 of June 9, 2011

Supporting links and information, a transcript and actions that can be taken can be found HERE.

Since there is so much info here, I'm going to post this info on our blog. In the meantime, I'm more than convinced that we need to make that Sunday event available to our membership. Agenda 21 is something that hits really close to home - in fact, it does hit our homes directly.

Heidi

Excerpt from this website, also goes with this video:

   5.      This Executive Order gives control over our local planning and development to a Federal committee. We will no longer be able to voice our concerns, opinions, or grievances at the local level and have it matter. This Executive Order virtually eliminates local government’s ability to set policies that benefit rural areas without approval from the Feds.

   6. Why an APPOINTED committee to “coordinate” this effort? Committee members will be the heads of specific agencies, offices and departments by appointment until or unless they, themselves, appoint their own Representative to the Council in their stead. This Executive Order sets up another committee to regulate all aspects of rural life. Residents and local governments will have no opportunity to redress any grievances as these appointees are not elected.

   7. Why is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) involved in the Federal government promoting economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America? The majority of agencies listed in this Executive Order are already under or are partnered with [allowing a certain amount of authority to] DHS, and Janet Napolitano will sit on the council.

   8. “The Department of Agriculture shall provide funding and administrative support for the Council to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations”. So the funds are set aside. Right. We are broke yet we have money sitting ready for yet another expansion of the Federal government. With DHS oversight and the DHS unlimited budget - yes unlimited, I am sure the Feds have plenty of money to move this agenda right into rural America. (The Department of Homeland Security has no oversight as they directly report to Joe Lieberman who has already received kickbacks from helping DHS in the form of DHS agency regulation in order to bypass congress with some of the bills he has sponsored/proposed. Lieberman is then supposed to report to the President, and another perk is that DHS can demand more funds from Congress as part of their written budget through fiscal year 2012 - not ask – but demand) Remember – no matter what, the taxpayer will foot the bill for this expansion of government.

   9. “The Council shall coordinate its policy development through the Domestic Policy Council and the National Economic Council”. WHY do we need yet another council to cover a specific 16% of the country?    Because Rural America still has some degree of control over resources and we are resistant to globalization. This Executive Order allows the federal government to implement Agenda 21 right in the heart of America’s food basket. This ultimately could bring the end to rural life as we know it. By asking for the Agricultural departments to participate, they will mitigate resistance.   Yes, control the food and you control the population. Think about this and research how well it worked out for California.

                        (http://www.newsweek.com/2009/08/23/dying-on-the-vine.html )

10. This Executive Order will coordinate Federal efforts directed toward the growth and development of geographic regions that encompass both urban and rural areas; and “identify and facilitate rural economic opportunities associated with energy development, outdoor recreation, and other conservation related activities”.   Geographic regions – i.e. Target Areas. Just like FEMA or the EPA (both DHS controlled), where states completely have been regionalized. This Executive Order requires that the appointed Council shall set up regions thereby removing the barriers to ICLEI’s town-by-town focus and stream lining the effort to implement Agenda 21.

(http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/regionalism-death-of-the-american-system-of-governmen t/ ),

11. “This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations”. Remember there are no laws that restrict the Department of Homeland Security – thus, unlimited power over Rural America.

So, under pretenses that are false (based on past performance), the Federal Government is attacking the United States using Agenda 21, ICLEI tactics but it is much more direct this time. The actions are simple and the results - measured but disastrous.

Ask yourself how the Federal Government’s agenda gets into our schools – into the thoughts of our children? The States offer grants or loans to schools. The State then promotes to or seeks out interested School Districts to apply. Every dollar has federal strings attached. The very same way, this Executive Order will ensure rural America’s compliance and put our food supply in absolute danger through the Rural Council.

The government has the Rural Council to help "stimulate" the rural economy. The Feds just want to help, right? Their initial target audience will be agricultural organizations, Why? Say you are a farmer and a Federal Government representative knocks on your door asking you to apply for a loan or grant - just to help you out - would you think they would get very far? But if the [trusted cattle or growers' association, your neighbor] promoted it then you might be a lot more interested and believe everything to be on the up and up, right?

There is no doubt at all that Rural America in general is hurting right now; farmers are stretched and some have already had to suck in their pride to take one form of government assistance or another just to feed their families in this declining economy. When the government starts throwing this money out there with the support of trusted agricultural organizations the temptation to apply will be huge. But if the "help" is accepted the risk of losing is even greater.

The federal government never wants to give you something for nothing and while they speak out one side of their mouth telling you that this is to 'boost the dying economy', to 'help the rural communities' and push forward on 'energy solutions'... there will remain the high risk of default on loans and loopholes that farmers or businesses will have to jump through to receive grants. The red tape has "control" written all over it; it may even dictate what can or must be grown on a property just in order to be eligible to apply, whether accepted or not. In the short term, it may sound great but in the long term it will bankrupt farms and businesses, discredit once-trusted organizations, remove the voice of the people town by town, limit Mayors, City Council & School Board Members who mean to do right by the people who elected them and break the hearts and pride of generations of Rural Americans while at the same time limiting Americans who depend on our rural breadbaskets for food and further destroy the American Dollar.

The freedoms that have been known by older generations will not be shared by the new. The destruction of the United States Constitution is all but complete. We no longer have a 2 party system... we have the party of "D&R", as one. We no longer have 3 branches of effective government... we have runaway presidents (plural), a legislative branch that either works against the people, puts on a show (generally right before an election cycle) or is bypassed altogether by executive order, presidential directorate or backdoor regulation (mainly through DHS agencies) AND lifetime justices who have done and will continue to do nothing about it. The Patriot ACT supersedes the Constitution and the majority of your rights and freedoms are mere illusions that the government GRANTS you in order to keep you passive while they keep chipping away at the last bits of our foundation of freedom. We are sitting on a time bomb.

What Can We Do?

What can you do?

1. You can spread the word. Action on this will require people knowing about it and understanding that it is of concern so they, too, will act.

2. You can contact the listed (above, left) people or groups and make sure they know what is happening so they can be aware and road blocks can be in place before the Rural Council can take action in your state, county or home community.

3. You can get in to your local school board, city council and commissioner meetings. As boring as they may seem, it is an opportunity for use your voice to make a difference - while you still have it. Once they know you are involved because you are taking the time to show up and sit through their mostly empty-seat meetings... they will listen to you. They are just people like you and me but you have to understand that like our State Representatives and higher... these people may be elected but they are not used to people standing up for themselves. They are used to making decisions on their own. That is a HUGE part of the overall problem. Road blocks could have gone up faster on so many things but people, in general, are so obsessed with their free TIME that they risk their own freedoms. Use it or lose it. Our electeds can not effectively represent you if they don't know what you want. You probably have more time to do research on this stuff than them. Feed it to them, educate them and keep the Rural Council, ICLEI, DHS and the U.N. OUT of your local communities.

4. At very least you should be getting out and meeting people in your local communities so you can find others who are concerned and preparing for the 'what if we fail' scenarios.

5. If you hold an elected position or chair a group that can network information out... help get others involved by sharing what you know. If people don't know - they can't act. That is how the govt has gotten away with so much.

6. Find your motivation... whether it be your kids, your grandkids, your right to hunt, your anger on spending, your fear of SWAT busting in to people's homes to collect late student loans... whatever will get you off your butt and doing.

7. RESEARCH / EDUCATE YOURSELF

8. Educate OTHERS
Concentrate on those who will listen.

9. Pay attention to what is happening on a local level. It is good to know what is going on everywhere but the local level is where you must ACT. Your Federal "Representatives" are far away in D.C. and will not listen. Before the 10th Amendment no longer exists, use it on your state and local levels. Keep the globalization giants out of your communities.

10. Do not take federal grant money. Do not let your community take federal grant money. Push your State Reps to steer clear of more grant money. IT IS OFFERED ONLY TO CONTROL.

Stop relying on the MSM for what is really happening.

Put down your remote control. If SHTF... knowing who won Dancing with the Stars will NOT save you!

No election or representative can or will save us from all that is happening right now. We are too late for that... too deep and that's not how our government was designed to work ANYWAY. If you have been banking on the 2012 elections, STOP. Re-focus your efforts where they will matter.

This is not a Republican or Democrat thing - accept that both parties have failed, both are corrupt, both pushed the system to failure.

It is up to YOU to make a difference.

Get out of your comfort zone... it isn't so bad once you're doing it.

Don't be afraid of what people think of you...
IF YOU VALUE YOUR FREEDOM - HAVE FREEDOM FROM FEAR

Perry adds anti-groping bill to special session

2011-06-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

Houston Chron

Gov. Rick Perry announced he had added legislation that would make it illegal for TSA agents to engage in “intrusive touching” at airports security checkpoints without probable cause to the list of items for the legislature to consider during the special session.

The measure had previously failed to pass in the Texas Senate after the Justice Department wrote a scathing memo against the bill that threatened legal action against the state and the bill became enmeshed in Senate politics.

There are questions about what affect the legislation might have since airport security is a federal matter.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who was accused of lobbying against the bill in May said he was “pleased” by Perry’s decision.

“I’m very pleased that Governor Perry agreed to add this legislation to his Special Session call,” Dewhurst said. “Addressing unreasonable and unlawful searches of innocent travelers by some TSA employees is an issue that affects all Texans who use air travel, and it should not wait until next Session.”

Before the Senate took up the bill initially, the Justice Department sent a letter to state advising that passage of the bill would result in immediate legal action by the federal government and that it could result in airline flights to and from Texas being delayed or cancelled.

Opponents of the bill used it as ammunition to stall the bill. Patrick blamed Dewhurst for the unexpected opposition and claimed Dewhurst was openly lobbying Senators against the bill. Dewhurst said that Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, had told him there were 12 Senators against the bill, enough to block it from coming up for consideration.

ALERT! TSA Bill & Governor Perry

2011-06-19T21:45:00.000-05:00

Governor Perry is playing games with us again. If he is going to be a Presidential Candidate, then he needs to act like one. He’s telling us there is no time to place the Anti Groping bill HB41, the Senate Version is SB29, on the call in this special session and says it doesn’t have enough votes for it. Again he’s wrong! See below:

Fellow Patriots:

Incredibly disappointing! You will not believe your ears!! See this clip from New Orleans yesterday when a fellow Texan asks Gov. Perry about the TSA bill:

1. As Governor, he KNOWS he has the authority to call as many special sessions as he wants or needs in order to take care of the People's business. So his comment about running out of time is inaccurate. The defense of Liberty should not and cannot wait!

2. Only one of two things can be true regarding his comments about "not enough votes" -- 1) either he knows the truth and chooses to ignore the fact that Rep. Simpson and Senator Patrick now have enough votes for passage; 2) or he does not know the facts because he has not made it priority to know the facts. Governor Perry could get Simpson and Patrick on the phone today! Our Governor keeps talking about state sovereignty and the need to push back federal tyranny. Now he has a chance to show Texas (and the nation) that he really means it!

Let's get the troops calling and faxing Governor Perry first thing Monday morning. Politely, but firmly ask Governor Perry to stand for Liberty and against federal tyranny by adding the TSA anti-groping bill to this special session or to a second special session, if necessary.

(512) 463-2000 Main switchboard; alternative number: (512) 463-1782; Fax: (512) 463-1849

FACTS:

1. The TSA bill in the TX House is HB 41; in the Senate, it is SB 29 (this is the TSA anti-groping bill from the regular session refiled in both chambers).

2. This must be added by the Governor to the call for the special session OR the Governor can call another special session. It is in his power to do it. Period.

3. Per Representative David Simpson's updates: His bill (HB 41) has 112 coauthors in the House and can pass! Simpson has sent word to the Governor that he has the votes and has requested that Gov. Perry add it to the call.

4. Senator Dan Patrick's SB 29 has the votes to pass! He has sent a letter to Gov. Perry asking him to add it to the call.

5. Even Lt. Governor Dewhurst has reversed course and has asked the Gov. to add it to the special session call.

6. This is a fact - if Governor Rick Perry does not add the TSA anti-groping bill to the call of the special session OR call another special session to address this liberty issue, then Governor Perry's words about being "FED UP" with the federal government mean nothing! Governor Perry will have caved to tyranny by the Federal Government. There is NO other way to see this.

7. If Governor Perry will lead on this issue, it will quickly move through both chambers and will demonstrate he has the courage to stand up for us, for dignity, for Liberty and for the US Constitution! Anything less is unacceptable.

NOTE: Even if there were not enough votes to pass it; a principled defender of Liberty would be expected to add this issue to the special session call and let every Representative and every Senator be held accountable for his/her vote on the matter!

Advancing Freedom,

JoAnn Fleming, Chair, Advisory Committee to the TX Legislature's TEA Party Caucus

Please Call Your Reps Re: HB 33 & SB 9

2011-06-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

Please make calls requested by AFP below in this email ASAP and pass this on to everyone you know. We must get HB 33 passed along with SB 9 (Sanctuary Cities). It is time that we got on board with our immigration legislation. When you call also ask the legislators where our immigration legislation is? I see states like GA, AL, IN, AZ and SC taking stong stands on immigration, and where is Texas? No where to be found!

More info on HB33 below, along with contact phone numbers.

Regards,
Eva B.

******

Dear Freedom Lovers:

We have a unique opportunity to provide more freedom for parents in determining where their children go to school as well as provide more per-pupil funding for public schools, but public schools are fighting it. Here is an example of how one school district is using our tax dollars to lobby against parental choice in education: Cy-Fair ISD official lobbies against HB 33; Texas leaders should investigate. HB 33 by Rep. Sid Miller is called the Taxpayer Savings Grant (the website is http://www.taxpayersavingsgrants.org) and takes only a portion of the public education funds for a student and allows the parent to use those funds for private school tuition. It is estimated to save around $2 billion for public schools.

HB 33 is in House Government Efficiency and Reform Committee. The Comptroller’s office gave it a cost the first two years, and it should be a savings – so while we continue to work on getting the fiscal note corrected, we need your help. We need communication from voters like you and your networks to your state lawmakers telling them you support the bill and telling them you want it passed. We have a strong coalition and need to show our elected officials that the grassroots want taxpayer savings and school choice.

Ask Your State Lawmakers to Support Taxpayer Savings Grants!

We need to let our state officials know that Taxpayer Savings Grants have grassroots support and are good for students, parents, teachers and taxpayers.

Please call the Lt. Governor, Governor, and Speaker of the House and ask them to support HB 33, Taxpayer Savings Grants, by Rep. Sid Miller.

Lt. Governor David Dewhurst (512) 463-0001
Governor Rick Perry (512) 463-2000
Speaker Joe Straus (512) 463-1000

Then, call your state representative and state senator and tell them you support HB 33, Taxpayer Savings Grants.

Taxpayer Savings Grants will provide a conservative solution to the budget shortfall, without tapping into the Rainy Day Fund, by providing HUGE savings to Texas over the next two years AND provide choice in education to thousands of students and parents across Texas.

Urgent: This issue will be decided within the next few days. Please call now!

Here is a list of key members. If this is your state senator or representative, please contact them immediately as they are key to getting HB 33 passed.

Senators:

Senator Ogden (R - Bryan) (512) 463 -0105
Senator Deuell (R - Greenville) (512) 463 - 0102
Senator Duncan (R - Lubbock) (512) 463-0128
Senator Eltife (R - Tyler) (512) 463-0101
Senator Nelson (R - Flowermound) (512) 463 - 0112
Senator Shapiro (R - Plano) (512) 463-0108
Senator Seliger (R - Amarillo) (512) 463-0131

Representatives:

Rep. Pitts (R - Waxahachie) (512) 463-0516
Rep. Crownover (R - Lake Dallas) (512) 463-0582
Rep. Eissler (R - The Woodlands) (512) 463-0797
Rep. Taylor (R - League City) (512) 463 - 0729
Rep. Hancock (R - Fort Worth) (512) 463 - 0599
Rep. Frullo (R - Lubbock) (512) 463 - 0676
Rep. Cain (R - Como) (512) 463 - 0650
Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R- Irving) (512) 463-0641
Rep. Bill Callegari (R- Houston) (512) 463-0528

You may want to call and say:

· I'm calling about Taxpayer Savings Grants that will provide a HUGE SAVINGS to Texas and expand school choice. (You may also reference it as HB 33 by Rep. Sid Miller )

· I am a constituent; I live in YOUR district.

· Please support Taxpayer Savings Grants.

Then add your reason for supporting the bill :

· I like this proposal because... (add in your reason here)

· HB 33 has a broad coalition of support including (insert your group here)

· Taxpayer Savings Grants are good for students, parents, teachers and taxpayers as they provide more educational options to parents and students across Texas.

· School district personnel who are opposing the Taxpayer Savings Grants must have little confidence in the parental satisfaction in the educational product the District is providing. All the more reason for this bill as it provides that around $5,000 of the around $8,000 we spend per pupil will go to the private school of the parent’s choice and the remaining $3,000 would remain in the school district, increasing the per pupil funding.

With your support, Taxpayer Savings Grants can effectively help the cause of freedom in Texas!

Peggy Venable
State Director
Americans for Prosperity - Texas

Say No to RINO Joe and Texas House Speaker Pledge Cards

2011-06-14T22:02:00.000-05:00

Official Summons for Grand Jury Duty

2011-05-30T11:47:00.000-05:00

The 82nd Texas Legislative session is now over, and The Citizens Lobbyist Network is extremely proud and thankful to all those that worked tirelessly and relentlessly to further the conservative ideals even when they thought that no one was looking. That’s what character is all about.

But on the flip side: It’s tragic that the vast majority of our legislators didn’t think that any one was looking. They were wrong, dead wrong. Although most legislators were oblivious of the fact, there were hundreds if not thousands of eyes watching their every move this session. Meticulously watching and taking notes and reporting back to their groups. And now many are compiling the statistics of each and every politician, on every committee, and on every vote. You simply cannot ‘not take a position’, no matter how inconspicuous you try to be. Even inaction is action and has been duly noted.

This kind of scrutiny has never been accomplished before in the history of our great State. The 21st century technology will change a politician’s world forever, just like the portable camcorder has changed a few Police Officer’s lives forever. And that is a good thing. Those with character will not need to do anything differently. Those without will identified and spotlighted in short order and discarded like the rodents they are. My apologies to mice everywhere.

I’ve been ‘citizen lobbying’ in Austin since the 74th legislature in ‘95, and I would have bet money that we’d see a difference this year. I never considered that any D or R would ignore the messages shouted by the 2010 elections. That would defy logic and I really didn’t suspect that they could actually believe that we (the very Citizens they took an oath to protect and serve) were either insincere or stupid. We are neither.

I had told everyone (based on my experience) that Austin was not D.C. But I now stand corrected. We wanted to trust them all, after all they weren’t from California or New York, they are fellow Texans. And after all Texans take care of Texans, don’t they?

In retrospect, and with a few refreshing exceptions, I saw a whole lot of business as usual and an inordinate amount of lip service. Well, they are proving to be the ones with sub-average I.Q.s if they think life will ever go back to business as usual. Sooner or later they will realize that we are simply not going back to sleep again. If the mule kicks you once….. you know that story.

Now, we need to act like the Detectives we are. We have some time to compile cases (all the clues and evidence are there) to present to the voters before the PRIMARY elections next May. Those lacking Character need not worry about the General election. Our job is to make sure that they don’t make it that far.

This is a call for representation from every conservative group in Texas to sit on a Texas Political Grand Jury which will convene very soon. A lot of groups are compiling their individual cases now, and for maximum coverage and impact we need to bring all the evidence together in a single cohesive brief.

It’s like the CIA and FBI not comparing notes before 9-11. We can’t repeat that mistake again. One group will certainly have evidence that another does not. United we Stand.

Emotional arguments can be easily dismissed, but we have all the statistics and antidotal elements to present an air tight case. “If it looks like a RINO, and grunts like a RINO, and VOTES like a RINO, it certainly is a RINO”. Of course, we need to give them the opportunity to submit a deposition or answer questions under cross examination. We need to invite them to our meetings.

The accused need to realize that like a choir, we are once again a single voice singing in unison. They, and the media, think we can be dismissed because of our diversity – that misconception must be corrected. We then need to release the results of this Grand Jury investigation to the press and the voters of Texas.

Only then can the trial proceed in the Court of Public Opinion. The RINO’s must to be defeated in the Primary. The General election is too late.

Those politicians with conservative character will undoubtedly be ‘No Billed’ by the Grand Jury and deserve our heartfelt thanks and support in upcoming primary and general elections. They are the true Champions.

Those that are indicted by the Grand Jury on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors against Texans should be severely adjudicated and true conservatives should be sought out and supported as their opposition candidates in the PRIMARY election. This is the mandatory sentence upon conviction and a speedy trial is in order. We will then watch them descend into obscurity.

Conservative groups, please contact Patriot Shar at partiotshar@att.net and let her know that you are reporting for Jury Duty on the Texas Political Grand Jury. Time is of the essence

Thank you,

Citizen Lobbyist Network

www.CitizenLobbyist.net

12 Things We Learned During The 82nd Legislative Session

2011-05-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

By Heidi Thiess

Special thanks to Geri Bentley and Cheryl Johnson for training in how to get around Austin and lobby our own Representatives. And more special thanks to the dozens of patriots who spent long, arduous days going to and from Austin to confront our legislators with information, appeals, and calls to action. We all owe them our sincere gratitude for taking our concerns to the Capitol on our behalf.

During our Citizen Lobbyist Trips we were armed with our white papers outlining our conservative positions FOR or AGAINST specific bills. We would present these at every stop in the Capitol. We made a point of visiting the Governor's office, our Senators Mike Jackson and Dan Patrick, and any Representative who was involved in legislation we wanted to influence. And of course, we always dropped in on our own Reps who represent this area: Larry Taylor, John Davis, Randy Weber, Wayne Smith and sometimes even Democrat Craig Eiland! (FYI: you can see a graph of how they voted in the first 120 days of the session here.)

Here are the Top Twelve Things We Learned During the 82 Legislative Session:

12. For better or worse, you will be dealing mostly with your legislator's staff.

You can learn a lot about a legislator from the attitudes of his staff. People tend to surround themselves with like-minded folks, and staff is really an extension of the legislator. Some are rude and snotty, some are warm and welcoming. Sometimes, the legislative staffs will outright lie to you. More than once, when we asked if a legislator was in his office, his staff would say "No, he's not here." Then, while we're signing his guest book, wouldn't ya know, the Rep unwittingly traipsed out of a back room and right into our midst!

The key is to never forget that all these folks work for us. We always stayed polite but firm when presenting our cases to legislative staff.

11. Learn to translate Clintonese!

Speaking of untruths, be aware that the legislators will parse their language so carefully that what they are saying to you might only be true in that moment, under specific circumstances, but otherwise not true at all. This is truly Clintonian stuff, folks! The tip is here is DO NOT TRUST, and ALWAYS VERIFY.

10. Reps don't always cast their own votes.

The Reps vote to suspend a House Rule every session that requires them to cast their own votes on each piece of legislation. They will tell you it's so they can go to the restroom, each some lunch, negotiate with their peers, get to committee meetings. The reality is that on many days, a couple dozen or so Reps may vote for everyone. I'll leave that up to you to decide whether that's acceptable or not.

9. Committee chairmen will try and dodge citizen input in hearings.

Chairmen will drag out committee hearings so they can avoid hearing from work-a-day folks who are signed up to testify. They will even adjourn, knowing that folks have been waiting for hours, and then commence again at 10pm, when most folks have to go home to families and jobs. Just be ready for it! It's a game they play and your only option is to outlast 'em! Unfortunately, it is effective, because no one but those yahoos are getting paid to be there, and they know you have pressing responsibilities. If your testimony is imperative, you have to know ahead of time that sometimes you might be there all night!

8. These folks are NOT policy experts.

We are represented by folks elected from among us: insurance agents, business owners, attorneys, veterans, retirees, etc. They are not legislative geniuses. Many times the language of bills is written by staffers, consultants, or lobbyists, and the legislator slaps his name on it. Some of it is so poorly written, it's unenforceable, and sometimes it's so convoluted that it leaves loopholes of unintended consequences lurking in the muddled language. Worse, some legislators don't read the bills they vote on, unless they are directly involved as authors or sponsors. They rely on the expertise of the other Reps to know which way to vote. You know what that means? There is a very tiny niche of self-proclaimed experts making decisions for the entire deliberative body on issues within their purview. It is a self-perpetuating problem, and it needs watching!

That's why your letters, emails, and phone calls are so crucial. If you don't feed these guys info on important issues, folks, they will not know.

7. TRADITION!!!!!!

Sometimes bills are passed because "that's the way things have always been done." By now, most of you are already aware of the self-inflicted disaster of the Republican redistricting maps - at every level. As predicted, conservatives who had opposed Straus were paired against each other or drawn right out of their known districts. A more strongly conservative map (Cain/Nixon) was ignored and never made it to the floor for debate. The SBOE map set up some of the conservative members to be eliminated in the next election. When we discussed our concerns with Senator Mike Jackson, we learned that the Senate always passes the House map and vice versa - it's tradition!

Tradition? The bottom line is that's a pretty poor cop out.

6. Where's the fire??

Very little business gets done in full view of the public and even fewer folks are paying attention. Bills are thrown up on the floor at a rapid fire pace in a constant drone from the clerk. Yes, there are thousands of bills but much of it is nonsense, such as commending Mildred for her 100th birthday, congratulating so and so on the birth of their first child, their 50th anniversary, their new dog, whatever! Meanwhile, the people's business is not getting done! There seems to be ZERO sense of urgency. Big issues languished in committees or Calendars while the House voted day in and day out on ridiculous stuff.

We were there on the last day of the House voting on House bills. You'd think they would be on fire with an urgency to pass every last bit of serious business they could get to before midnight, right? No, they passed one bill dealing with electronic bingo and the rest was garbage.

If you don't know already what's wrong with Austin, a recent article in the Dallas Morning News should give you more clues:

AUSTIN — As lawmakers scramble to pass thousands of bills during the legislative session’s final weeks, one House committee wields the power to decide which legislation will see the light of day on the floor and which will die an unceremonious death.

Once a committee advances legislation, the Calendars Committee must then schedule it for floor debate. With a key House deadline looming, committee members are at the height of their power. To outsiders, the powerful 15-member group largely works in the shadows, shrouded by its esoteric procedures.

At the committee’s daily meetings, Chairman Todd Hunter rapidly lists off bills by their numbers, and committee members vote on whether to schedule the bill for a House vote. There is little discussion, and the meetings are so short that many committee members don’t even bother to take seats.

How the committee makes its final decisions, which bills out of the nearly 400 currently pending get a chance, and exactly what legislation they will stall or push is murky. The real action takes place among committee members, other legislators and lobbyists in private conversations.

The House speaker loads the committee with trusted allies who can advance the leadership’s agenda — and insulate him from criticism by members whose bills never get to the floor.

In essence, there are two people who can veto a bill: the governor and the Chairman of House Calendars...

5. The Republicans can't blame anyone but themselves for their performance.

You are going to hear Republicans claim heroics for having to return for a special session. You will also hear Republicans blame Democrats for "chubbing" or killing legislation with technicalities before the deadline. Don't let them get away with it! They have to come back because their super-majority failed to take care of business in a timely manner. They could not even complete the emergency legislation Governor Perry assigned at the beginning of the session! There's nothing heroic about willful neglect or incompetence.

Look, the bottom line is the Republicans passed important legislation that was a no brainer. It's like calling Obama "gutsy" for sending the SEALs after bin Laden. Anyone would've made the same call and good on them for doing so, but they would've gotten creamed if they hadn't. Self-preservation is a powerful motivator folks, and if there is anything that drives these yahoos, it's self-preservation.

The real test is in what DIDN'T get passed.

4. We don't answer to special interest lobbies, and neither should our Reps!

Lobbysists live in Austin 'round the clock and spend every resource they have hammering home their agenda on these guys. When the House failed to pass E-Verify, a cornerstone bill to stem illegal immigration, we were told by Taylor's staff that the TAB - Texas Association of Business lobby - killed the legislation and if we had a problem with it we needed to take it up with them! NO. Wrong answer.

3. The Texas Senate is out of touch with regular Texans.

How is that possible when they are only in Austin 5 months every 2 years? Believe me, folks, they manage.

This excerpt from EmpowerTexans sums it up well:

Texas senators seem to believe they're members of an exclusive club, rather than elected public servants. Speaking for the club this week, State Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), chair of the Finance Committee, told the press it “has always been … pretty hard to penetrate the club, but these outside groups have done it and it’s making it hard to pass the [budget].”

Outsiders? That’s you, the voting taxpayer; the one paying their club dues. That’s the general sentiment inside the halls of the Senatorial Clubhouse.

Senators are dismayed that their budget scheme isn’t sailing through the chamber. It’s a spending plan that lives beyond the taxpayers’ means using one-time revenue gimmicks and tapping the rainy day fund.   In conversations this week with senior senate leaders, I was struck by just how out of touch that chamber’s Republicans are with political reality. Senators and staffers – all Republicans – told me they fear being defeated by Democrats in November 2012 unless they break the bank.

You know what that tells me, folks? They are worried about the WRONG VOTERS!

2. Pledge Cards - the dirty inside secret of Austin politics.

This corrupt practice protects the power structure in Austin. Here's some background from the North Texas Tea Party: there has been a long-standing ‘tradition’ of pledge cards that has made selecting a Speaker nothing but a sham. The real backroom process is about as democratic as a mugging and is another tradition than needs to go away.

Here’s how it really works. A seated Speaker has hordes of special interests slavering to do favors for the one individual that controls ALL legislation- and tens of billions in State spending. And they have VERY deep pockets for donating vast sums for campaigns. Toward the end of the session, the Speaker will approach each representative and ask for them to sign a pledge card, promising to support the Speaker for re-election in the NEXT session. And everyone KNOWS that donations and future committee assignments are tied to this decision. This last session, redistricting was also a weapon to be used and it was used to effectively eliminate opposition. Normally, a seated Speaker can get nearly all of his own party’s cards; they ALSO can get many for the opposing party, based on favorable committee assignments and- you can be assured- assistance at killing selective majority party legislation by letting it die in the committees controlled by the Speaker. The current session, in which the GOP had a super-majority, the vast majority of the conservative agenda - other than the budget - died this way.

In open seats, candidates parade down to Austin looking for donations for their runs. They are judged by the ‘powers that be’, on whether they are willing to ‘play the game’. In the majority party, that very often involves a willingness to sign a pre-election pledge card. Sign a pledge, and doors are opened and donations made.

The major problem with the raw exercise of political power is there is ZERO input by the electorate in this. They don’t wait for the office holder or candidates are validated by the voters; they don’t brook any input from the electorate after. This is the power of the ‘Austin machine’ and it is time to challenge that when it matters- BEFORE the session is out, BEFORE the election.

Mind you, much of that ‘machine is pretty conservative and that is the ONLY reason Texas is STILL in decent shape. But the constituency has amazing little say in events in Austin and that is one thing we of the Tea Parties need to help change. Both policy AND process matter.

1. WE were right and our Reps were WRONG.

We were 100% right to oppose Joe Straus as Speaker of the House and all of our Reps were 100% wrong to support him. All of our warnings about Committee assignments, calendars, and procedures that killed conservative bills came true. What these Reps will tell you - and I want you to watch for it - is that "Hey, look at what we passed! You guys should be so happy." What they want you to do is look at what's in this hand so that you don't realize the other hand is empty. I'm telling you right now that approximately 30% of the conservative agenda has passed thus far. (We'll be updating this figure after the session ends with the final tally.) That's not nearly good enough.

SUMMARY: Let me leave you with this thought. The big bills that got passed are certainly a credit to the Republicans. But it is a paltry showing when they had the opportunity to do so much more - and PROMISED to do so much more to get elected. Passing 30% while leaving 70% on the table is unacceptable. We must demand more. We had a serious shot at a bold conservative agenda with an unprecedented super majority. But we were let down by our Reps who thought they knew better than us.

We don't need more of the same self-interested politicians worried about re-election, we need fearless leaders driven by their principles. When the issues get complicated and the pressure mounts, we have to know that the Reps we elect have a bedrock of uncompromising conservative principles.

Knowing what we know now, we are committed to vetting candidates for office for the 2012 primary. Principle matters above all! We don't want flowery words and empty promises - we want backbone and determination. We absolutely count on YOU folks to back conservatives that otherwise would not have a chance without your commitment.

It is imperative that we build a grassroots organization to support these efforts and it starts in your neighborhoods in your precincts. To that end, we need everyday folks to step and volunteer to become precinct chairs. We want to help you do this. We will help you determine your precinct by your address, and will help you with the 1-page application.

This is a call to action, folks. If you're interested, please email me at info@clearlaketeaparty.com, and we can talk further.

Thank you, Patriots!

Call To Action!!

2011-05-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

Please call your Rep and request that they DO NOT sign a Pledge Card to Speaker Joe Straus, but instead they should sign the Pledge to their constituents.

Here is the Pledge Card we've asked Reps to sign. We've had varying degrees of success with this, with some Rep reacting in full outrage that we even dare ask such a thing. Read the Pledge Card for yourself. Why would any Representative of the people have a problem with signing it???

An Open Letter to the Members of the Texas House of Representatives

2011-05-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE OPEN LETTER

May 23, 2011

Re: The Corrupt "Pledge Card" System

Honorable Members:

As you know, the traditional "pledge card" system for electing the leadership of the Texas House has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. Under the "pledge card" system, members of the Texas State House are required to tender written pledges of loyalty to the current House leadership. Supporters of the "pledge card" system argue, among other things, that it is a time-honored process that maintains stability and continuity in House affairs from one session to the next. Critics of the pledge card system argue that it is nothing more than a mechanism for conveniently perpetuating the "good old boy network" in the State Capitol.

As you know, this controversy over the pledge card system precipitated an unprecedented vote in the Republican House Caucus prior to the 2011 Texas Legislative session. The controversy was brought on by the overwhelming call for new conservative leadership delivered in the 2010 midterm elections. As a result, Republican House legislators were forced into an unfortunate choice between the will of the people on the one hand and their 2009 "pledges" to the existing leadership on the other.

We the undersigned write to express our opinion, in the strongest possible terms, that the "pledge card" system, whatever its merits may have been at one time, has long since outlived its usefulness and has become a recipe for corruption and abuse.

It is our fervent belief, grounded in our core principles, that our elected public servants derive their authority from the people of Texas. Elected public servants owe their allegiance first to our federal and state constitutions, second to the people they represent and to none other. As an elected public servant, you have already pledged your loyalty to our constitutions and the people of Texas. You have no further allegiance to promise. Thus, you have no business whatsoever pledging loyalty as a public servant to any person or group. Every two years the People of Texas are free to elect a whole new House legislature if they so choose. Should our elected officials not have that same choice? It is against the principles of fair and free representation to lock in a pledge for the third highest office in Texas prior to a vote of the Texas people.

Compounding this fundamental problem is the illicit appearance of the transaction. There is an understandable perception on the part of many Texans that any legislator who pledges his or her allegiance to the House leadership does so as a result of inducements. Even in the absence of an actual quid pro quo, there is the understandable appearance of a quid pro quo, and for the sake of appearances alone this system should have been abolished long ago.

Finally, we write to remind you that the offering of an inducement or a threat for a vote on the House leadership is not merely unethical. Offering inducements of any type "with the intent to influence a member of or candidate for the house of representatives in casting a vote for speaker of the house of representatives" is illegal under Section 302.032 of the Texas Government Code--and rightly so.

For the reasons set forth above, we implore you to refrain from pledging your loyalty to the House leadership and to retain your independence to represent the people of Texas. We look forward to your response to our letter, including your written assurance to the people of Texas that you will pledge your allegiance to your constituents, and to none other.

For Texas,

Jodi Maner, President, Amarillo Tea Party Patriots
Donna McClure, Organizer, South Texas Tea Party Network
Chris Bowling, Organizer, Laredo Tea Party
JoAnn Fleming, Chair, Advisory Committee to the TX Legislature's Tea Party Caucus and Executive Director, Grassroots America - We the People

Cathy Meyer, Organizer, Irving/Coppell Tea Party

Michael Kinzie, Organizer, Lake Fork Tea Party

Michael Openshaw, Organizer, North Texas Tea Party

Karen White, Organizer, Dallas 75252 Neighborhood Tea Party

Ladaune Ashley, Alvin TEA Party Patriots, Inc.
Fred Skeen, Wichita Falls Tea Party Patriots
Brett Baldwin, North Texas Tea Party
Konni Burton, NE Tarrant Tea Party and Member, Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee
Ray Myers, Kaufman County Tea Party
Pamela Bell, San Patricio County Tea Party

Katrina Pierson, Organizer, Garland Tea Party and Member, Texas Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee

Heidi Thiess, Communications Director, Veterans in Defense of Liberty- TX Chapter

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE OPEN LETTER

Time to Fight the Pledge Card System

2011-05-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

As you know, when we last visited Austin, we left a parting message with every Representative we met: DO NOT SIGN A PLEDGE CARD! We are visiting our reps one final time on Wednesday, May 25th, and will carry the same warning, including pledge cards that they can sign that pledge their loyalty to their constituents NOT to one man in the House. Please read below for more information.

Via the North Texas Tea Party

If you need an understanding of how the Pledge Card system corrupts the electoral process, read this first.

With the legislative session coming to a close, you can rest assured that Joe Straus (whose incompetent/willful leadership resulted in over 70% of the Conservative agenda failing to reach the floor, even with a super-majority) will be busy hunting Pledge cards. This system, where pledges of support in the NEXT session are given and large donations materialize for the pledge givers is an abomination that needs to be contested, now! We need to demand that ANY officeholder or candidate we support or will vote for withhold signing ANY Pledge card until well AFTER the election, and to publicly commit to this. Refusing to do so will be taken as an affirmation that they have or intend to sign a pledge card before the electorate has had any say.

This campaign is in defense of the electorate and it’s ability to influence the leadership of the legislature, fighting the current situation where that leadership is purchased by interest groups and intimidation.

We need a BIG response to this call!

The following are some local State Reps email forms:

Larry Taylor
Randy Weber
John Davis
Wayne Smith

Last Chance to Help HB12, the Anti-Sanctuary City Legislation!

2011-05-22T08:29:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, a Senate committee restored the anti-sanctuary language to HB 12 that it had removed on May 18th. This gives the legislature one last opportunity to pass the measure but HB 12 must first get past two hurdles.

To be considered at this late date, the measure needs 21 votes (out of a total 31 Senators) in order to be heard on the Senate floor. Then it needs a simple majority to pass. Time is running out because the legislative session is expected to end on Saturday, May 21st.

Please call and email your Senator with the following message:

“I am a constituent who wants you to support the motion to proceed on HB 12 and to vote YES on the bill. Too many have been killed or suffered severe injury because sanctuary policies are allowed to continue.

A recent poll says that sixty-nine percent of Texans want a ban on sanctuary policies. Please stand with your constituents, not against us."

PLEASE MAKE YOUR CALLS RIGHT AWAY!

SENATORS:
Sen. John Carona     512-463-0116      512-463-3135 fax
Sen. Wendy Davis    512-463-0110      512-463-3745
Sen. Bob Deuell        512-463-0102      512-463-7202
Sen. Robert Duncan 512-463-0128     512-463-2424
Sen. Rodney Ellis      512-463-0113     512-463-0006
Sen. Kevin Eltife       512-463-0101     512-463-3751
Sen. Craig Estes       512-463-0130     512-463-8874
Sen. Troy Fraser      512-463-0124     512-463-3732
Sen. Mario Gallegos 512-463-0106    512-463-3732
Sen. Chris Harris      512-463-0109    512-463-7003
Sen. Glenn Hegar     512-463-0118    512-463-3736
Sen. Chuy Hinojosa 512-463-0120    512-463-0229
Sen. Joan Huffman   512-463-0117    512-463-0639
Sen. Mike Jackson   512-463-0111   512-463-3727
Sen. Eddie Lucio       512-463-0127   512-463-0061
Sen. Jane Nelson      512-463-0112    512-463-0923
Sen. Robert Nichols 512-463-0103   512-463-1526
Sen. Steve Ogden      512-463-0105   512-463-5713
Sen. Dan Patrick       512-463-0107    512-463-8810
Sen. Jose Rodriguez 512-463-0129    512-463-7100
Sen. Kel Seliger        512-463-0131    512-463-3733
Sen. Florence Shapiro 512-463-0108 512-463-7579
Sen. Carlos Uresti     512-463-0119    512-463-1017
Sen. L. Van De Putte 512-463-0126   512-463-2114
Sen. Kirk Watson      512-463-0114   512-463-5949
Sen. Jeff Wentworth 512-463-0125   512-463-7794
Sen. Royce West       512-463-0123   512-463-0299
Sen. John Whitmire   512-463-0115   512-463-3737
Sen. Tommy Williams 512-463-0104 512-463-6373
Sen. Judith Zaffirini    512-463-0121 512-463-3738

URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO PASS anti-SANCTUARY CITY LEGISLATION!

2011-05-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

URGENT ACTION NEEDED
TODAY, TOMORROW & THIS WEEKEND
TO PASS SANCTUARY CITY LEGISLATION!

On 5/18/11 the Senate Transportation & Homeland Security Committee was to hear and vote on HB 12, the anti-sanctuary city legislation that Governor Perry said was an "emergency item" this session. Because of back door deals and disagreements between the House and Senate, SB 9 (which does not contain the needed provisions of HB 12) was substituted by the committee with the apparent blessing of the Commitee Chair, Sen. Tommy Williams and other Republicans. THIS CANNOT STAND!

WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME FOLKS - THE ONLY WAY THIS BILL GETS PASSED IS IF WE FLOOD THESE PEOPLE WITH CALLS (PREFERRABLY) & EMAILS. LEAVE MESSAGES IF NECESSARY BECAUSE THE ILLEGAL ALIENS & THEIR SUPPORTERS ARE SHOWING UP ENMASSE!

MOST IMPORTANTLY CONTACT THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS, CO-CHAIRS, COMMITTEE CLERKS, GOVERNOR PERRY, SPEAKER STRAUS, YOUR SENATOR & REPRESENTATIVE, & LT. GOV. DEWHURST!

Without going into the details of the tricks that are being played, this is the main message:

"Pass HB 12 this session to end the dangerous practice of providing sanctuary to illegal aliens in Texas. Law enforcement officers, citizens, and other residents (both legal and illegal) have been killed and suffered severe injury because criminal illegal aliens are being allowed to live in our communities (without fear).   This "magnet" must end this session."

GOVERNOR RICK PERRY:
Citizen's Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers]:
(800) 252-9600
Office of the Governor Fax:
(512) 463-1849
Email Governor Perry (Select I'm Registering an Opinion)
http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/

SPEAKER JOE STRAUS:
(512) 463-1000
(512) 463-0675 Fax
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=121&session=82

House Homeland Security & Public Safety Commitee:
All Numbers (512) Area Code

Clerk: Steven Schar - 463-0133
Chair: Rep. Sid Miller - 463-0628 sid.miller@house.state.tx.us
Vice Chair: Rep. Allen Fletcher - 463-0661 allen.fletcher@house.state.tx.us
Members: Rep. Marva Beck - 463-0508 marva.beck@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Lon Burnam - 463-0740 lon.burnam@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Joe Driver - 463-0574 joe.driver@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Dan Flynn - 463-0880 dan.flynn@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway - 463-0664
http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/member-page/email/?district=110&session=82
Rep. Aaron Pena - 463-0426 aaron.pena@house.state.tx.us
Rep. Armando Walle - 463-0924 armando.walle@house.state.tx.us

Senate Committee: Transportation & Homeland Security

Clerk: Tulsi Reddy - 463-0067

Chair: Sen. Tommy Williams - 463-0104 / 512-463-6373 Fax
tommy.williams@senate.state.tx.us

Vice-Chair: Sen. Kirk Watson 512-463-0114 / 512-463-5949 Fax
kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us

WHO REPRESENTS ME?:   http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

JOIN IRCOT ON FACEBOOK & spread the word then PLEASE.....

Thanks for JOINING FORCES WITH US and being engaged in this battle!

Visit our website at:
www.ircot.com

Summary of 4th Citizen Lobbyist Trip to Austin

2011-05-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

Summary of 4th Citizen Lobbyist Trip to Austin

The first stop, as always, was Governor Perry’s reception office. The reception within the Governor’s ceremonial office is always very cool toward their seemingly unwelcome constituents. Of course, the Governor is never “in” or available to speak with constituents, at least not without being a “someone” with an appointment. We’re used to the attitude and ignore it, knowing it’s our right to be in his office telling him how to do his job.

Next, we dropped off a statement at Governor Perry’s business office. The staffer in the office recognized our group from previous lobbying trips and was very receptive. We took the opportunity to reiterate our stand on the SBOE redistricting map and requesting that Perry veto the map. We also delivered copies of the letter to his Constituency Communications office and to his policy advisor, Molly Rutledge.

Below is the text of our message to Governor Perry:

REASON FOR OUR VISIT:

As a Tea Party we have sent leadership and members to Austin for the past 4 weeks to lobby against HB600. We are extremely dissatisfied with the redistricting of the SBOE, as the map eliminates several very key conservative Board members. The elections of November 2010 sent a clear message of what your constituency expects in return for their support and votes and therefore we oppose HB600. We request that you VETO HB600.

We represent over 2000 members and last week our Citizen Lobbyists were joined in Austin by the Galveston County TP, the Pearland TP, and the San Antonio TP - representing over 10,000 conservative Texans in all. Together, we presented a white paper outlining our opposition to HB600 and requesting a veto. We delivered that statement to your office on Thursday, May 12th, and are following up with this document today on May 17th.

Next stop was Senator Dan Patrick’s office. We questioned him about P3s (private-public partnerships) especially with regards to foreign entities and funding infrastructure. He explained that to pay for new roads, there are only three sources of revenue: 1) hike the gas tax 2) tax per mile driven 3) toll roads financed by the company building it.   Unfortunately, he explained that there is only one American company that can build toll roads. This needs to be researched because that sounds unbelievable. Only one? Apparently, that dearth of American companies leaves the job to foreign firms who can finance the infrastructure based upon payback from tolls. We need expert input on this issue.

We then visited Senator Mike Jackson in his office. We discussed the SBOE map with him and he stated that he spoke with Perry about the public call for Perry to veto the map. That’s interesting since he voted FOR it in the first place. It didn’t sound like he advised the Governor one way or the other, but discussed the situation.

We spoke with Jackson about the hazards of counting illegal aliens in the voting population and then using those skewed numbers in the redistricting considerations. He seemed unaware that illegal aliens were counted in redistricting. One of our members had testified earlier in the redistricting hearings and had confirmed with the demographer that there was no breakdown of Hispanic surnames into those that were legal citizens and those that were not. Senator Jackson appeared a little surprised to hear that his Texan constituency did not appreciate illegal aliens being included as voting public with rights to representation in the redistricting process. He also confirmed that he would vote for the House redistricting map (HB 150), against our advice, since that was “the way things had always traditionally been done”: the Senate rubber stamps the House map and vice versa.

Next, we made the rounds of all of the Senate members of the Transportation and Homeland Security Committee in order to lobby for HB12, the anti-sanctuary city bill. Here is the text of our white paper that we left in each office:

REASON FOR OUR VISIT:

We understand that the Transportation and Homeland Security Committee is holding a public hearing on HB12 on May 18th. We transported a van of our Tea Party leadership and members to the Capitol today to inform you that our membership (2000+ members and growing) fully supports HB12, which would end “sanctuary cities” in Texas. It is important that you understand that we Texans support HB12 and want you to send the bill to the Senate floor for a vote and we want you to vote in favor of HB12. We believe it is necessary for the safety of our communities, the solvency of out towns and cities, and the law and order of our State.

Please support HB12 and end “sanctuary cities” in Texas. We demand that our laws be enforced and our communities secured.

This letter was delivered to all the following Senate Members:

Tommy Williams (chairman)
Kirk Watson
Wendy Davis
Rodney Ellis
Chris Harris
Juan Hinojosa
Robert Nichols
Florence Shapiro
Jeff Wentworth

Also, copies were delivered to Senators Mike Jackson and Dan Patrick.

We then went and observed in the Senate gallery as they debated proposed amendments for SB31, the Senate redistricting map. The only topic under consideration was the race and ethnicity of the majority-minority districts in Tarrant County (via Sen. Wendy Davis, D).

After lunch, we visited Harris County area Representative Wayne Smith. We have not yet visited his office during this session, and since one of his constituents was with us today, we thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce him to the Clear Lake Tea Party. He was in the House Chambers, but we did visit with his friendly staff and sign his guest book.

We then spent quite a good bit of time visiting with the chief of staff for Rep. Leo Berman, specifically about the MOVE Act, which proposes to move Texas’ primary date. We believe we have some good connections that may offer some alternatives for ensuring military ballots are mailed and collected in a timely manner, as it is imperative that we not push back our primary date any further than it already is (in March). To the contrary, we really need to move Texas’ primary up to Super Tuesday (early February) in order for our large delegation to be counted in the nomination process.

Note: earlier in the day, we had already heard from Senator Jackson that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had threatened the Republican Party of Texas with sanctioning if they dared to try and move Texas’ primary to an earlier date. The national Party apparently threatened to withhold campaign funds from the State, but considering that Texas donated over 5 times the funds to the National Party that they received back in campaign funding, their threat to withhold that paltry sum is ridiculous. Note the heavy-handed threats from the national Party though.

Rep Leo Berman’s office is extremely welcoming to conservatives and we were treated with a great deal of friendliness and respect. It visiting countless legislative offices, it is quickly obvious that you can deduce the personality of a representative from the behavior of his staff, and Leo Bernam can be proud of his staff.

We next popped in on Rep. James White, the Tea Party freshman from East Texas. We wanted to meet him and encourage him to NOT sign a pledge card for Straus, and to reiterate our opposition to Straus and remind him that the Tea Parties across Texas were aligned to oppose Straus again in in the next session.   We then thought it would be a good idea to impress that point upon all of the Reps we visited to dissuade them from signing a pledge card to Straus. That pledge card was the inside secret that caused so many of them to precipitously pledge their support to Straus at the end of the last session, and prior to the November elections. We are well aware that Straus promises Reps re-election funds and support in exchange for their pledge.

That led us to visit Larry Taylor’s office to encourage him to NOT sign a pledge card for Straus. We had been extremely disappointed in Larry Taylor’s support for Joe Straus, believing that it disadvantaged crucial legislation that was important to us. Therefore, it was only fair to stress our continued opposition to Straus, and to request that Taylor NOT sign a pledge to support Sraus for Speaker in 2013. We had quite a lengthy visit with one of Taylor’s legislative aides, Carrie, who defended Taylor’s record on the biggest votes, citing them in lieu of the other legislation that had gotten killed in Committees or Calendars.

Carrie also informed us that Texas Association of Business (TAB) had successfully lobbied the Republicans to kill the E-Verify bill (which the Tea Party was for). She advised us to turn our attentions to the lobbyists, but we told her that our Representives work for us, and that is who would get our attention.

We then went to Senator Duell’s office to drop off our statement on the SBOE map, and requested that he advise the Governor to veto the map.

We spent some time in the House gallery to observe the debate on SB 1811, which would allow the State to collect the small business franchise tax 9 months early in order to pay down the shortfall between the Senate and House budgets concerning education spending. We stand in direct opposition to SB 1811, and so we emailed Larry Taylor from the gallery, to ensure that he knew of our position on the matter and to solicit his vote in opposition. The vote should happen tomorrow on May 18th.

The Senate had recessed earlier in the day around 1pm and the House adjourned at 5pm until 10am tomorrow.   Before we left Austin, we stopped for dinner and saw many Republican representative members of the Texas Conservative Caucus (TCC) meet at the restaurant with some lobbyists. It was interesting to note who was there and who was not.

Along the way, we lobbied in favor of the Health Care Compact with any of the relevant legislators we spoke to. Also, we discovered the that anti-“sharia law” legislation (HB 911) had been amended to a weaker House bill (274) which was getting some resistance in the Senate and therefore looked like it was going to die. This is unfortunate, because HB 911 was a strong bill and likely to pass on its own merits, without being dragged down by HB 274. We found this out towards the end of the day and tried to get more information, but just ran out of time. This topic will be worth following up on.

The next Citizen Lobbyist trip to Austin is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 May.

Governor Perry, please stand with us.

2011-05-11T09:07:00.000-05:00

This is the message that this powerful video made by Texas conservatives is sending out not only to Gov. Perry but to all of our Texas Legislators.

Today’s video is Pt. 1 with more to follow from Texas’ conservative leaders:

We will not go away, and our numbers are growing with each new outrage during this Legislative Session. The elections of 2012 are just around the corner, and we will not forget those Legislators who stood with us and those who stood against us.

Donna Garner

Background on SBOE Vote

2011-05-09T11:17:00.001-05:00

“A Vote for the Record Book”
by Donna Garner
5.5.11

*Today’s vote on HB 600 (State Board of Education/E120 redistricting map) will be one of the prime votes by which conservatives rank candidates when it comes time for the 2012 elections.

THIS AFTERNOON

In spite of our pleas to our Texas Legislators, they have managed to pass one of the most dastardly bills to come out of this session because if left to stand, the Texas State Board of Education redistricting map will negatively impact what happens to our public schools for ten years to come.

The House took a record vote today on HB 600 (Sen. Seliger’s rogue E120/SBOE redistricting map) and concurred with the Senate.

The vote in the House today was 80 yeas, 61 nays, 3 present not voting, 2 absent excused, and 4 absent.

The representatives who voted against the dastardly HB 600 (Sen. Seliger’s rogue E120) in the House this afternoon were Allen; Alonzo; Alvarado; Anchia; Berman; Burnam; Cain; Christian; Coleman; Davis, Y.; Dutton; Eiland; Farias; Farrar; Flynn; Gonzales, V.; Gonzalez; Guillen; Gutierrez; Harper-Brown; Hernandez Luna; Hochberg; Howard, D.; Hughes; Johnson; King, P.; King, T.; Landtroop; Larson; Laubenberg; Lozano; Lucio; Mallory Caraway; Margo; Marquez; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; McClendon; Menendez; Miles; Muñoz; Naishtat; Oliveira; Paxton; Perry; Pickett; Quintanilla; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez; Simpson; Taylor, L.; Taylor, V.; Thompson; Truitt; Veasey; Villarreal; Vo; Walle; White; Zedler.

Please take time to thank these courageous representatives who voted against HB 600.

When HB 600 (Sen. Seliger’s rogue E120) was passed in the Senate on 4.29.11, the only two Senators who voted against it were Sen. Brian Birdwell and Sen. Dan Patrick. Please take time to thank both Sen. Birdwell and Sen. Patrick.

You can go here and click on “Record Vote -- 5.5.11” to see for yourself how the House members voted:

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Actions.aspx?LegSess=82R&Bill=HB600

Now HB 600 (Sen. Seliger’s rogue E120) has been sent to Gov. Perry’s desk.

We have a chance to stop this bill. I beg of you to call Gov. Perry and tell him that we want him to veto HB 600 and announce a Special Session to produce a fair and equitable SBOE map, honoring the conservative voting patterns reflected on Nov. 2, 2010.

Gov. Perry is one of the most conservative Governors in the entire United States. I believe he will listen to us if we make our voices heard.

Gov. Perry’s phone numbers: 1-800-252-9600; 512-463-1782; 512-463-2000

Gov. Perry’s e-mail address: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact/assistance.aspx

GOV. PERRY’S THREE OPTIONS

Gov. Perry also has three options that are open to him by law:

(1) Gov. Perry can SIGN the SBOE bill as presented to him.

(2) Gov. Perry can veto the bill as presented to him, but then the map would go to the courts to decide the SBOE redistricting map.

(3) Gov. Perry can veto the bill as presented to him AND CALL A SPECIAL SESSION for the purpose of coming up with an acceptable map that he would sign.

==================================
“We the People Showed up in Austin Yesterday”
by Donna Garner
5.5.11

http://alicelinahan.net/2011/05/05/governor-perry-stand-with-us-we-the-people-showed-up-in-austin-yesterday/

Yesterday 24 conservative leaders from all across Texas drove hundreds of miles at their own expense and on their own time to go to Austin to meet with the Texas Attorney General’s (TAG) office.

These 24 conservative leaders were tea party and/or Republican activists who represent thousands of other Texas conservatives who have become totally frustrated with our Texas legislature.

Most of the people who came to the meeting had taken personal leave or had left their own businesses to spend the entire day in Austin, not going to fancy malls and eating at exotic-sounding restaurants but instead to do the grunt work of strategizing for the remainder of this legislative session and for the elections of 2012. (You will soon see visual evidence of our hard work.)

These conservative leaders have already begun spending the hours required to vet candidates for 2012, and they shared their ongoing results yesterday. We want to make sure that the ever-growing conservative numbers of Texas voters are not fooled in the next election by those who run as conservatives and then legislate as left-leaning Republicans-in-Name-Only (RINO’s) as we have seen in this present legislature.

OVER 3,500 SIGNATURES ON OUR PETITION

One of the things that we did was to present our petition that held over 3,500 names, gathered in only 6 days. This was the petition that voiced Texas citizens’ passionate displeasure over the redistricting process that we have seen thus far by the Texas Legislature. The redistricting process will determine the direction in which Texas will go for the next ten years!

Next stop for the petition is Gov. Perry’s office. It is not too late for other concerned citizens to sign the petition at:

http://austinreteaparty.com/Signthepetition.aspx

Priority Action Items!

2011-05-08T08:32:00.000-05:00

Read this behind the scenes update from Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas (IRCOT)...

On Monday all Conservative Bills will be dead in the Texas House unless the Calendars Committee hears from you today! You can be sure the other side is burning up the phone lines!

THE 3 TOP PRIORITY ITEMS AND CORRESPONDING ACTION YOU MUST TAKE IN THIS ORDER:

1. CALL THE CALENDARS COMMITTEE ON THESE 3 BILLS
   HB 3252 This was the only E-Verify bill that passed out of committee & it is the most important bill!
   HB 301 English as the Official Language.
   HB 911 Prohibition on application of foreign laws.

Call the Calendars Committee at 512-463-0758. Tell them you want them to vote YES for these bills quickly to meet the Monday deadline.
Tell them Citizens do not want to compete with illegal aliens for Texas jobs and you, Our sovereignty, must be their priority!

2. HB 12 Anti-Sanctuary City. Call your State Rep and ask them to vote YES for HB 12 Anti-Sanctuary City on Monday when it returns to the floor.

3. HB 608 Cost of benefits for illegal aliens. Call your State Rep and ask them to support this bill when it comes to the floor on Tuesday!
_______________________________________________________________

2ND TIER OF PRIORITY LEGISLATION

Amazingly, 4 GOOD BILLS and 1 BAD BILL on illegal immigration are sitting in THE Calendars Committee from our 2nd Tier of important legislation.

ON MONDAY ALL BILLS WILL DIE!

We ask that you CALL the calendars committee to vote YES TO THESE BILLS BEFORE THE DEADLINE.
HB 911 Application of Foreign Laws and Forums in the State
HB 875 Identifying illegal aliens prior to granting bail
HB 892 Unlawful transport of illegal aliens
HJR 86 Constitutional Amendment to deny bail to illegal aliens arrested on a felony

VOTE NO TO KILL THIS BILL:
HCR 88 Calling on Congress, Senate, the President to fix the immigration system using a comprehensive immigration reform solution.
______________________________________________________________

After viewing the proceedings on the House Floor today and throughout this past week, it is clear that the House leadership is not up to the task of defending conservative legislation. During the debates on the House floor, liberals are relentless in using procedural rules to stymie the unprepared House leadership. Frankly it is an embarrassment. But they believe that everything they do occurs in a vacuum, and no one will notice. We must let them know we are watching.

NOW IS THE TIME TO LET THEM KNOW THAT WHEN THEY SAID THE TEA PARTY WAS DEAD AND GONE - WE ARE VERY MUCH ALIVE AND WATCHING EVERY MOVE!

We have the opportunity to call them on their shortcomings and demand something be done. I urge you to call your State Representatives and the Speaker's office and demand they bring in a parliamentary expert to defend their own bills because it's obvious either they don't have the ability to do so, or they don't want to.

Your Action Item:
Call your State Representative & the Speaker of the House.
Tell them you are watching the liberals continually kill conservative bills over minor procedural moves. It is obvious to you that House leadership must bring in another parliamentary expert who has the ability to deal with the liberals' procedural moves. They do not have the expertise within their current team.

House Speaker Joe Straus     512-463-1000
State Rep Doug Miller 512-463-0325
___________________________________________________________

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE LEGISLATURE...

HB 12 was brought down Friday night by a questionable point of order and sent back to the State Affairs Committee. The Bill will come back to the House floor on Monday for a vote. If Straus does not bring on a strong parliamentary expert we are doomed to have the same thing happen.

HB 608 is now out of Calendars Committee and is scheduled for first reading on Tuesday, May 10th.

HB 3252 was voted out of State Affairs Committee last night and is moving on to Calendars. The bill is not out of danger, however. If the Calendars Committee chaired by Todd Hunter does not move it out immediately the bill is dead. Calls must go to the Calendars Committee over the weekend urging them to pass the bill and get it scheduled for a floor vote.

HCR 88 Is a resolution calling for Congress, Senate, and the President to fix the broken imigration system with comprehensive immigration reform, or amnesy light. With the mandate conservatives gave Republicans this past November, it is outrageous that Republicans in the State House would send a mandate to this administration for anything other than eliminating magnets which draw illegal aliens to the state and addressing the violence which our open borders allow. Please call the Calendars Committee and tell them you are against HCR 88.
_____________________________________________________

RECAP OF ACTION ITEMS

FIRST PRIORITY:
1) CALL THE CALENDARS COMMITTEE ON THESE 3 BILLS:
   HB 3252 Only E-Verify bill passed out of committee & the
                 most important bill this session!
    HB 301 English as the Official Language.
    HB 911 Prohibition on application of foreign laws.

2) HB 12 Anti-Sanctuary City. Call your State Rep and ask them to vote for HB 12 Anti-Sanctuary City on Monday when it returns to the floor.

3) HB 608 Cost of benefits for illegal aliens. Call your State Rep and ask them to support this bill when it comes to the floor on Tuesday!

SECOND PRIORITY:
4) Call the Speaker's office & your State Rep urging them to bring in a parliamentary expert to defend conservative legislation on the House floor.

5) Call your State Representative and tell them to support HB 1129, HB 608, and HB 804 when they come up on the House floor.

6) Call the Calendars Committee office and tell them to VOTE FOR HB 875, HB 892, HJR 86.

7) Call the Calendars Committee office and tell them to VOTE AGAINST HCR 88.

House Speaker Joe Straus 512-463-1000 office 512-463-0675 fax

Calendars Committee 512-463-0758 office

State Rep Doug Miller 512-463-0325 office

or find your State Representative http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

Summary of 1st Austin Van Trip

2011-05-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

By Robert Gonzalez

Dear Patriots,

On Thursday, April 28, 2011, the Clear Lake Tea Party sponsored a van trip to Austin. The purpose of the trip was to lobby elected officials and encourage them to move bills that have been held up in different committees, i.e. Calendars & State Affairs. The bills in question were related to immigration reform.

We also discussed the recent vote by the House on redistricting. The redistricting plan didn’t go as we had expected. The “Solomons Redistricting Map” was the only one debated, amended and voted on. This will force incumbent Republican lawmakers to be paired against each other in the upcoming primary races. There was a more favorable plan, “The Nixon Map”, but it never saw the light of day.

We enjoyed many face to face discussions with lawmakers and their staff and on almost all occasions, we were treated warmly. During our conversation with the staff, many of them made a special mention that we needed to make frequent visits. This is to counter the bombardment of emails and special interest groups (lobbyist) who run through their offices on a daily basis.

We lobbied to push immigration reform bills HB12, 183, 197, 608, 1275 & 3152 (all House bills). While at the Capitol, two of these bills, HB608 & 1275 where voted out of committee.

In addition we lobbied for the passing of immigration bill SB9, (a Senate bill) backed by both the Governor, whose staff we spoke with, and conservative Senators. This bill passed on the Senate floor the same day.

We believe this trip needs to be replicated by every Tea Party or conservative group in Texas. A day off from work with fellow Patriots will make a difference for generations to come. We implore you to take advantage of the remaining 27 days of the 82nd Legislative session.

We’re either going to make history, or we’re going to be history!

Our State and Country needs you!!!!!

Second Van Trip To Austin: May 5

2011-05-02T08:41:00.000-05:00

The Clear Lake Tea Party had a very successful trip to Austin last Thursday. Three of the bills we lobbied for were moved out of committee and will hopefully be voted on in the near future.

We have scheduled our 2nd van trip to Austin for Thursday, May 5, 2011. We need at least 10 Citizen Lobbyists to be involved in this trip. We will leave Houston at 7:00 am and arrive back from Austin at approximately 7:00 pm. The Clear Lake Tea Party will pay for the van rental and gas. You will only need to pay for your food.

If you are able to come with us to Austin on Thursday, May 5th, please respond to Tanya as soon as possible with your name, phone number and email address and you will be contacted with all the details. Please put "Austin Trip" in the subject line of your response.

May 24th CLTP Townhall Meeting: TEXAS FREEDOM!

2011-04-28T09:40:00.000-05:00

CLEAR LAKE TEA PARTY
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Town Hall Meeting
TEXAS FREEDOM!

TOPICS
Fair Tax For Texas – Marv Kuhn Replacing Property Taxes with a Consumption Tax

Energy, Climate & The Progressive Threat - Lyle Henderson

Question & Answer Session after each Speaker

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Location: WebsterCivicCenter 311 Pennsylvania Ave, Webster, TX 77598 Time: 6:30 PM

Bring your family, neighbors and friends!

E-Mail: info@clearlaketeaparty.com

Web: www.clearlaketeaparty.com

Van trip to Austin rescheduled for Thursday, April 28th

2011-04-25T10:44:00.001-05:00

Our van trip to Austin had to be rescheduled because the State Legislature canceled all their meetings on Monday and will be in recess until Tuesday, April 26th. We did not get word of this until late Saturday afternoon. Everyone who reserved a seat in the van was notified immediately.

We have rescheduled our van trip to Austin for Thursday, April 28th. There is still room available if you would like to go. As before, the Clear Lake Tea Party will pay for the van rental and gas. You will only need to pay for your food. We will leave Houston at 7:00 am and arrive back from Austin at approximately 7:00 pm.

We will be lobbying for immigration reform. It seems that all of the bills that were introduced concerning immigration reform have been blocked and are not being released from their committees. We need to visit key legislative offices and tell them what we think about this.

If you are able to come with us to Austin this Thursday, please respond to Lgonzo8@verizon.net as soon as possible with your name, phone number and email address and you will be contacted with all the details. Please put "Austin Trip" in the subject line of your response.

TRIP TO AUSTIN AS CITIZEN LOBBYISTS

2011-04-21T09:09:00.001-05:00

The Clear Lake Tea Party will be taking Patriots to Austin on Monday, April 25, 2011 to meet with State Legislators about the upcoming redistricting vote in the State of Texas. It has been revealed to us by a conservative State Representative that the timing of this vote is to prevent a grassroots effort from influencing the Texas House redistricting effort. Read full story here. This will be the first of several trips to Austin while the State Legislature is still in session.

The Clear Lake Tea Party will pay for the van rental and gas. You will only need to pay for your food. We will leave Houston at 7:00 am on Monday morning and arrive in Austin at 10:00 am. We will spend all day visiting our Representative's offices and letting them know how we feel about the redistricting issue. We can also attend any committee meetings that may be going on. We will depart Austin at 4:00 pm and arrive in Houston at 7:00 pm.

If you would like to come with us to Austin on Monday, April 25th, as a Citizen Lobbyist, please respond to this email and put "Austin Trip" in the subject line. We will need your name and telephone number and the number of people coming with you in the van. You will then be contacted to confirm your reservation.

CLTP Watch Dog Alarm!

2011-04-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

The Calendars Committee met Tuesday evening and set CSHB 150, the Texas House redistricting map passed by committee, for the House calendar on ~~Tuesday, April 26~~ Wednesday, April 27th. *This has been changed due to the number of amendments being prepared and submitted. The deadline for all amendments is 5pm on Monday; Reps to review on Tuesday; and the debate/vote is scheduled for Wednesday.

It has been revealed to the grassroots by a conservative State Representative that the timing of this vote is to prevent a grassroots effort to influence the Texas House redistricting effort. Rep. Solomons, a Straus lieutenant, presented an initial House redistricting map (H153) that is expected to elect about 80 Republicans in the next election. This is more moderate “fairness” from Speaker Straus’ camp. In fact, it is rumored that the Speaker is reaching out again to Democrats for help in pushing this redistricting plan. Forget the fact that the overwhelming majority of Texans voted for Republicans in the hope that they would pass legislation based on conservative principles. Again, as the Speaker did in the last session when he appointed Committee Chairs to be “representational” of the Texas vote, he is at it again to ensure the progressive Democrats get a better shot at winning elections than they deserve. This quick scheduling of a vote is to slip this in as soon as possible while the conservative grassroots are busy with observing the Easter Weekend.

Again, it is with mixed emotions that the Tea Parties can claim “we told you so.” We are sad to note that the Solomons/Straus House Redistricting Plan does include retribution regarding the several House conservatives who challenged Straus in the Speaker’s Race earlier this year. At the time, Rep. Hughes put out a press notice that Rep. Larry Phillips indicated to him that the Speaker would use redistricting as a weapon against conservative House members. Well, that is exactly what has happened. The Speaker’s map pits 14 conservative incumbent Republicans against each other while only forcing 4 Democrats to face each other. Of special note, this plan pairs conservatives Erwin Cain and Dan Flynn, and Jim Landtroop and Charles Perry - four gentlemen who opposed Speaker Straus.

However, there is hope. The conservative House members are starting to coalesce behind an alternative plan put forth by Rep. Joe Nixon (see below). The Nixon House Proposal Plan H155 holds down the number of Republican pairing to only 2 districts and is expected to elect 99 Republicans in the next election. This is a far better plan than Solomons' which is expected to be voted on next Tuesday. You can view both the Solomons and Nixon plans online at http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us (click "Base Plan" and go from there).

It is imperative that we help defeat House Redistricting Plan H153 (CSHB 150) to ensure that the gains we made in 2010 are not frittered away by RINOs who hope to continue their rule with Democratic support and to show the Speaker that the Tea Party grassroots is still alive and kicking.

We need each and every Tea Party Conservative who gives a damn about Texas to pick up the phone AND send an email to let the Republican House Representatives know that we do not support an anti-conservative House redistricting plan. This must be done every day until next Wednesday’s vote. This is not a time to be “fair” or “moderate”, the future of our State, and indeed our country, is at stake. We must be partisan in order to hold the gains we have made and to continue the push towards limited government, fiscally responsible, and free market solutions.

It is critical that Republican Legislators hear from the conservative grassroots Tea Party movement. You must take a personal responsibility in charting the legislative course for Texas. Make your calls, send your emails, and if you can visit their local offices in person. Thank you and please keep up the good fight. I’m off to make a call!

Representative, Larry Taylor: (District 24):
Capitol Office (512) 463-0729 Fax (512) 474-2398
District Office (281) 338-0924 - Fax (281) 554-9240
Email: larry.taylor@house.state.tx.us

Representative, John Davis: (District 129)
Capitol Office (512) 463-0734) Fax (512) 479-6955
District Office (281) 333-1350 Fax (281) 335-9101
Email: john.davis@house.state.tx.us

Representative, Randy Weber: (District 29)
Capitol Office (512) 463-0707 Fax (512) 463-8717
District Office (281) 485-0616 Fax (281) 485-1106
Email: district29.weber@house.state.tx.us

Take a minute to call and express your thoughts to your representatives. Please copy us (info@clearlaketeaparty.com) on any letters you email to your Rep so that we can keep a record. Too often they try and claim they haven't heard from us. If you copy us, there's an irrefutable record.

They vote on Tuesday, April 26th! Act now!

UPDATE from Rep. Wayne Christian:

Urgent Texas Legislative Update: New House Map

A new Texas House map has been released, "Plan H155," that can be viewed here, http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us.

The new map H155 accomplishes the following:

Is more reflective of the voting patterns of the state
Is fair and legal
Accurately reflects the voters intent
Includes a minimal amount of pairings
Consistently compact where possible
Is in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
Elects 99 Republicans, compared to the committee map electing 92 Republicans
Protects conservative House members
Reelects the conservative freshman House members that the voters elected in an overwhelming mandate in 2010

To view the map go to http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us.

Click on "select plans," and select "base plan."

Select "PlanH155- NIXON STATEWIDE HOUSE PROPOSAL"

The ask is that the grassroots call their State Representatives and ask them to not vote for the house map passed out of the redistricting committee and to vote for the new map as an amendment on the House floor on Tuesday.

Reference "Plan H155." As of today the vote will be on ~~Tuesday April 26th~~ Wednesday, April 27th. Plan H155 will be introduced as an amendment to HB 150, the map passed by the committee.

Time is of the essence here, the House will adjourn on Thursday afternoon and all of the Representatives will return home to their districts for Easter weekend.

**Note- The map you see live on the website today will be slightly different from the map that is introduced as an amendment, the lawyers are fine tuning the map as we speak.

Conservatives Need To Take Over The GOP Precincts

2011-04-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

Original article at RedState

Folks, we need to win the next round of elections, no? And we need to elect constitutional conservatives, no? Well, they need to run on a party ballot. And they have to win the primary election. And that’s the EASIEST one to win because turnout is so low. If we can raise the turnout in our neighborhoods — our “political neighborhoods” — our precincts, we can cause constitutional conservatives to win those all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout primary elections.

As Judson Phillips over at Tea Party Nation has advised, we (that means YOU and me — each one of us) have to DO two critical things simultaneously: become precinct committeemen in the Republican Party AND become poll watchers and poll workers to make sure the vote is not stolen.

We are weakest where we should be strongest, and most of us don’t know it. At the precinct level, from which all power within the Republican Party comes, over half of the precinct committeeman slots are VACANT.
This chart shows where the real power lies.

Where all the power comes from, over half of the positions are vacant. And that is where THE opportunity for constitutional conservatives exists — to take back the Republican Party and use it as the tool for winning the elections.

This next chart shows how the “power” chart should be drawn — with the citizen on top. But the citizen has been sitting up in the bleachers for generations. We need to become ball players. And in the real ball game of politics, which is PARTY POLITICS, if you want to be on the ball field and play the game, you’ve got to become a precinct committeeman.

This next chart shows that about half of the Republican Party precinct committeeman slots are vacant. And that the filled slots have been split, ideologically, about 50-50 between conservatives and Republicans In Name Only. The elections of Michael Steele as RNC Chairman, and then Reince Priebus, reflect that ideological split. In Arizona, where I live, it’s been even worse. In 2008, fewer than one-third of the PC slots were filled. We are not even up to half strength yet. But in two years we’ve completely changed the Party, because almost all of the new PCs are conservatives from the grass roots conservative groups. Now they are UNITING inside a real political party where they can actually BECOME the leaders of the Party and determine the outcome of the primary elections.

Here’s an article about what we achieved in Maricopa County in two years by UNITING POLITICALLY INSIDE A POLITICAL PARTY.

This next chart shows, again, that the Party is weakest where it should be strongest. All of the “upper level” officer slots are filled, but only about 44 per cent of the most important slots, the “we the people” slots, are filled. And if “we the conservative people” fill them up, we can take over the Party and determine the outcome of the elections.

(The numbers for the “upper level” officer slots are estimates; the point is there’s almost 10,000 precinct committeeman slots state-wide, that not even half are filled, and the number of precinct committeemen dwarfs the number of officer slots “below” them.)

This next chart shows what we have, and what we could have. Which Republican Party do you want? What will YOU DO to make the full-strength, 75 % solidly conservative landslide-win-producing political powerhouse of a party happen?

One more graphic. This one shows HOW we can get to a full-strength, solidly-conservative Republican Party IF we will all UNITE INSIDE the Republican Party as precinct committeeman. United we stand. Divided we fall. Let’s unite, no?

Let’s get it done, shall we? Who’s with me?

For Liberty,
Cold Warrior

Cross-posted at Unified Patriots.
—–
Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”
Where it all started.

Robin Hood Toll Tax Up for House Vote TOMORROW

2011-04-19T09:23:00.001-05:00

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Terri Hall, Founder, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom or Texas TURF, (210) 275-0640, WEB: http://www.texasturf.org EMAIL: terri_2@commonsensecitizens.net

HB 1112, Robin Hood toll tax in perpetuity, up for House vote tomorrow

(Austin, TX) House bill HB 1112 by Texas State Rep. Larry Phillips (R - Sherman) is on the General State Calendar in the House for Wednesday, April 20. TURF is urging lawmakers to VOTE NO on HB 1112, which amount to toll taxes in perpetuity.

"Raiding toll money from one segment to be used for another amounts to a Robin Hood hidden tax. Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs) are unelected boards. So this is taxation without representation, too," noted Terri Hall, Founder of Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom.

"HB 1112 is a vote for Robin Hood toll schemes and toll taxes in PERPETUITY. This bill makes 'system financing' permissible for Regional Mobility Authorities (or RMAs), which is stealing toll taxes from one corridor and giving it to another corridor (that those same users may not use) as well as to increase the toll on one segment to gain "surplus revenue" to pledge to another and so on, making it virtually impossible to take the tolls off the road."

Under HB 1112, there would no longer be a requirement that toll rates be based on the cost of building the road and retiring the debt nor strictly dedicated to paying the cost of construction and retiring the debt. Also, based on testimony during an exchange between RMA lobbyist Brian Cassidy and Senator Juan Hinojosa in the Senate Transportation Committee March 9, "system financing" indeed means tolls in perpetuity. The Texas Constitution prohibits perpetuities in Art I, Sec. 26. So under "system financing," tolls become a hidden, permanent tax, not a "user fee."

The bill also allows RMAs to borrow money using borrowed money, which are the same multi-leveraging schemes that caused the subprime mortgage crisis and global financial meltdown.

It's like building roads with credit cards," says Hall. "It's dangerous and very risky business, putting the taxpayers on the hook for any bailouts if the traffic doesn't show up. With gas nearing $4 a gallon, toll roads are bleeding traffic. So future bailouts of this multi-leveraged debt is more likely by the day."

HB 1112 also broadens the authority of RMAs to have all the powers of TxDOT, including eminent domain, and Comprehensive Development Agreements (selling off Texas roads to private toll operators) if that authority is granted to the Department. The bill also broadens its authority for toll collection, which has been problematic in every area of the state. HB 1112 allows RMAs to build parking structures and collect "fees" or tolls on parking and parking meters. Phillips argues it's for the Grayson Airport, but the bill doesn't limit it to airport parking.

It would allow the RMAs to raid property tax appraisal increases for its projects, and use toll revenues for "economic development" (which is eminent domain for private gain) and for just about anything it likes. It would also repeal Section 370.317(d), Transportation Code which requires the Department to approve any agreements between a local government and private entity.

It would also let RMAs participate in the State Travel Program. Why would a LOCAL entity to need travel? Perhaps for junkets to "conventions" in Austria as the NTTA did at a cost to taxpayers of $7,000 a ticket? All of this would be done by UN-elected bureaucrats, not elected officials.

"This bill is far from being fiscally responsible much less fiscally conservative," concludes Hall.

Two other organizations besides TURF testified against this bill, Texas Public Interest Research Group and Texans for Accountable Government. Only the RMA lobbyist testified in favor.

Texas TURF is a non-partisan, grassroots, all-volunteer group defending Texans’ concerns with toll road policy, Trans Texas Corridor-style projects like public private partnerships, and eminent domain abuses. TURF promotes non-toll transportation solutions.

###

Do Texans Care about Border Security and Immigration Bills?

2011-04-18T08:54:00.000-05:00

Immigration is a costly burden on the state. How much? We do not even know. Excellent pieces of legislation have been drafted but are not moving out of committee to the floor for a vote.

Please read the following letter and sign the petition if you'd like to let our representatives know you're concerned about Texas's lack of border security and immigration related problems.

Best regards,
Rachel Delgado
President, Galveston County TEA Party

Fellow Grassroots Activists:

A few of us have prepared a NEW open letter to the Texas State House Leadership.

This letter draws attention to the many immigration-related bills currently languishing in House Committees (sound familiar)?

In any event, please review the letter, and if you support the message, please sign.

HOUSE FRESHMEN FLUNK THE FIRST TEST

2011-04-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published on DickMorris.com on April 15, 2011

Three-quarters of the freshman class of Republican Congressmen – the group that was going to change America – succumbed to party pressure and voted to accept the Boehner sellout deal he struck with President Obama. How disappointing for those of us who worked hard to elect them and vested such hopes for change in their candidacies.

Please go to DickMorris.com for a list of the House freshmen who voted for the Boehner deal – sixty-one of them. The link is in the top left column. Also, please find on our site the names of the 59 men and women of courage and conviction who voted against the sellout compromise.

We cannot read the names of those who folded without a sense of exquisite pain. These were the people who were going to change Washington. Now it is evident that Washington is changing them.
It is not only the paltry nature of the $39 billion in cuts they accepted or even that they broke the basic campaign promise – and premise – on which they were elected, but that they were too frightened to use the lever available to them – shutting down the government. The Republicans would have won that fight. We had hoped that those freshmen who battled the odds so bravely to secure their seats would continue to fight just as vigorously to save America from fiscal ruin, but it was not to be.

Please go to DickMorris.com and read the names of the freshmen Republicans who voted for this deal. Again, the link is in the top left column. It is very important that you write or call them to give them a simple message: either they show more backbone next time or you will withdraw your support.

Theodore Roosevelt said of William Howard Taft that he had the “backbone of a chocolate éclair.” The same could be said for three-quarters of our freshmen.

Let’s salute the Congressmen who showed that they would keep their word to their voters. Freshmen Scott Rigells (Va), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Cory Gardener (Col), Morgan Griffith (Va), Andy Harris (Md), Robert Hurt (Va), Raul Labrador, Steve Pearce (NM), Scott Tipton (Col), Alan West (Fla) and Ben Quayle (Ariz).

Engraved beside each name, in our minds, is the time we spent campaigning for them and we cannot but feel a warm glow that we helped to put them in office. Those of you who donated to their campaigns should feel especial pride.

For the others, we apologize. If they continue to act as pawns for the Speaker, we need to admit that we should not have asked you to donate funds to them or to help them get elected. And we won’t again.

Of course, there is still room for redemption. There will soon be bitter fights over the 2012 budget and legislation to raise the debt limit. Our straying freshmen may yet discover their courage. Your calls and letters to them will help. Please, if you recognize the name of your Congressmen on the list of compliant freshmen or the name of someone to whom you have donated, please call them and express your shock and chagrin. Maybe, maybe they will get the message.

Locating liberals and conservatives in the Texas House after 90 days

2011-04-14T09:44:00.000-05:00

By Mark P. Jones, James A. Baker Institute For Public Policy

The Texas House has now been in session for 90 days, with a total of 266 roll call votes that were at least minimally contested taking place during this period. Here I utilize these votes to provide an update of a previous analysis (conducted at the 60 day mark) locating the members of the Texas House of Representatives on the Liberal-Conservative ideological dimension along which most votes in the Texas House take place.

As was the case with the prior analysis, these ideological locations should be considered tentative, and are likely to change somewhat over the next six weeks as additional votes are held.

The three downloadable documents (All Representatives, Republicans, Democrats) provide the representatives' respective locations on this Liberal-Conservative dimension (which ranges here from the liberal extreme of -1.6 to the conservative extreme of 1.9) as well as a 95 percent credible interval (CI) for this point estimate. Only when a representative's CI does not overlap with that of another representative can we say with any real certainty that their respective locations on the Liberal-Conservative dimension are credibly distinct.

Click image to enlarge, and then zoom in.

As the figure for all representatives makes abundantly clear, the Texas House is highly polarized along partisan lines. Not only is every Democrat located at a more liberal location on this ideological dimension than every Republican, but there is absolutely no overlap of the CIs of any Democrat and Republican. As a result, we can, for instance, state with considerable certainty that at present the voting record of the most liberal Republican (former Democrat Aaron Peña) is more conservative than that of that of the most conservative Democrat (Joe Pickett).

Within the Republican Party there exists a considerable amount of ideological homogeneity, with 69 members of the delegation (out of a total of 100; Speaker Joe Straus does not normally vote) possessing an ideological location that does not differ significantly from four-fifths or more of their Republican colleagues. The remaining 31 representatives fall into either the conservative or moderate wings of the Republican delegation in Austin.

The conservative wing of the Republican Party (arbitrarily defined as those members who are significantly more conservative than one-fifth or more of the delegation) contains 17 legislators (ranging from Bill Zedler to Bryan Hughes in the figures). Within this group, six representatives stand out for their distinctive (i.e., significantly more conservative) voting behavior compared to their fellow Republicans, with over half of the delegation possessing voting records that are more moderate or less conservative. These six legislators (ranging from most to least conservative) are: Bill Zedler (87), Ken Paxton (81), Jodie Laubenberg (63), Tan Parker (58), Erwin Cain (51) and Leo Berman (50).

At the other end of the spectrum are 14 legislators (ranging from Aaron Peña to Larry Gonzales in the figures) who, at present, form the moderate wing of the Republican delegation in Austin. They have ideological scores that are significantly more liberal than one-fifth or more of their colleagues. Of note -- due perhaps to a combination of their personal ideological preferences, the ideological profile of the electorate in their projected House district and/or their future political goals -- six of these 14 representatives are either African American (Stefani Carter and James White) or Hispanic (Jose Aliseda, John Garza, Larry Gonzales and Aaron Peña). That is, at present this moderate bloc contains the Republican Party's two African American representatives and four of its six Hispanic representatives. Finally, three of these 14 House members possess an ideological location that is significantly more moderate than more than half of their fellow Republicans. They (ranging from least to most conservative) are: Aaron Peña (86), James White (68) and Sarah Davis (50).

The Democratic Party delegation is noticeably more ideologically homogenous than the Republican Party delegation, with the principal intra-party difference being the presence of a small group of conservative Democrats who have an ideological voting profile that is significantly more conservative than a large majority of their 48 Democratic colleagues. The four who stand out most as conservative within the Democratic delegation (from most to least conservative) are Joe Pickett (38), J.M. Lozano (35), Chente Quintanilla (33) and Sergio Muñoz Jr. (30). Among the party's most liberal members, only Lon Burnam has a voting record that is noticeably more liberal than that of more than one-third of his fellow Democrats.

Mark P. Jones is the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy's Fellow in Political Science as well as the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Rice University.

First House Redistricting Maps Presented

2011-04-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

By Ross Ramsey and Matt Stiles, The Texas Tribune

The first House redistricting maps are out, creating one new Latino district, keeping the current number of black opportunity districts and pairing 16 incumbents in districts where they would face one of their colleagues in the 2012 elections.

"I want to thank the members of the House for working with the Redistricting Committee over the past weeks and months. We have received public testimony from across the state at hearings and submitted written materials. I deeply appreciate everyone's participation," said Redistricting Chairman Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, in a written statement. "As a member, I know this is a very personal process, and I appreciate the patience and understanding that I have received from my colleagues. The map we are proposing is a fair and legal map that represents the people of Texas and our growth over the last 10 years. And, I believe the members understand this growth resulted in some difficult decisions for me personally."

Four members got paired in East Texas (freshmen in italics):

Flynn/Cain
Ritter/Hamilton

Four got paired in West Texas:

Landtroop/Perry
Chisum/Hardcastle

Four got paired in Dallas County:

Driver/Burkett
Harper-Brown/R. Anderson

Two in Harris County:

Hochberg/Vo

And two in Nueces County:

Torres/Scott

This is just the start. The House Redistricting Committee holds its first hearings on Friday and Sunday. Other maps are expected soon. A coalition of Latino groups will unveil a map on Thursday, and individual members are certain to present — publicly and privately — their own versions of how they think the new political lines should be drawn. If lawmakers can't agree on the maps, new districts will be drawn by the Legislative Redistricting Board, a five-member panel that includes the speaker of the House, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the land commissioner and the comptroller. All five are Republicans.

The ideal House district in the new map will have 167,637 people in it. Left alone, the districts are way out of whack. Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, has a district with 300,801 people in it, due to growth since the current maps were drawn a decade ago. Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, has a district with 117,346 people in it.

The stats and gory details of Solomons' plan are available on the Texas Legislative Council's website (the one you want is plan 113). Here's the full announcement from Solomons about the starting map for the House, followed by the maps themselves.

Suckers: We Were Fooled; Budget Barely Cuts Anything

2011-04-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a good article at Ace of Spades about the "smoke and mirrors" used to pass the budget. The article is pasted below and contains multiple links. Here is another one at HotAir.

Suckers: We Were Fooled; Budget Barely Cuts Anything

A week ago, I noted that John Boehner rejected what he called Democratic "smoke and mirrors" on the budget. "Cuts" that weren't really cuts at all, just something to present to the public as "cuts."

Win-win: You get the political benefit of cutting and you get the political benefit of not cutting, because you really didn't cut.

I urged Boehner to expose these tricks so that the public could understand what a real cut was and what a real cut wasn't. So we could not be deceived by the Democrats, or, as it really would wind up happening: So we could not be deceived by Republicans who need to show their constituents cuts but also don't really want to make those cuts.

I asked him to declare "I will not perpetrate a fraud on the American public." I'd hoped such a vow would bind him from doing just that.

I assumed, wrongly, that having taken a position against "smoke and mirrors," he would not foist upon the public a deal containing almost nothing but that.

Once again, I thought well of a Republican and am burned because of it.

Well, according to an analysis, our "$38.5 billion in cuts" is actually about $15 billion in cuts as what is counted as "cuts" is a large pile of stuff that wasn't going to be spent anyway or which (as is the case with earmarks) is about what money is spent on, not how much of it, in total, is being spent.

The specifics show that finding nearly $40 billion in cuts during the 2011 fiscal year required clever accounting and, for the White House, a willingness to concede on rhetoric to find gains on substance.

For example, the final cuts in the deal are advertised as $38.5 billion less than was appropriated in 2010, but after removing rescissions, cuts to reserve funds and reductions in mandatory spending programs, discretionary spending will be reduced only by $14.7 billion.

As Rand Paul said -- and I didn't think he was right when I first heard this, but he was, in fact right -- we'll actually spend more in 2011 then in 2010.

This is a "cut"? In what sense?

This is absolutely horrible. You know what we've got? Another stimulus, but a covert one.

And apparently it's a stimulus that's baked in the cake and will keep getting spent year after year forever.

Boehner-Obama Deal Leaves FY11 Spending $773B Above FY08 Level—About as Big an Increase as Obama’s Stimulus
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

By Terence P. Jeffrey

(CNSNews.com) - The budget deal cut late Friday by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) will allow $3.7555 trillion in federal spending in this fiscal year.

That is $773 billion more than federal spending was in fiscal year 2008--the fiscal year before Congress enacted a bailout for the banking industry requested by President George W. Bush and a $787-billion economic stimulus law request by President Barack Obama.

That $773 billion in spending that the federal government will do this year over and above the federal spending level of 2008 equals 98 percent of the $787 billion stimulus signed by President Obama in February 2000—on the premise that it was a one-time, short-term spending escalation needed to pump up the economy in a time of recession.

My heart is really leaving me on this. I am finding it increasingly hard to care who "wins" and who "loses." If the system is rigged against what I actually want politically, then there is no point in my engaging with the system at all.

John Podhoretz finds the cuts may even be lower than that $14 billion and change...

The total amount actually cut appears to be somewhere between $8 and $14 billion.

And he expects there might be a populist revolt against the sham cuts -- which puts us all in a difficult spot, because Boehner and Co. have already sold this as "mission accomplished" and now we will get blamed for undoing a deal already struck.

But what choice do we have?

Could the Deal Fall Apart? My God I hope so. Several conservative Senators could abandon it, for example, and in the House, the GOP only has a 24 seat cushion. If the Tea Party representatives abandon the deal, can Boehner crib together a lump-party of GOP establishment appropriators and enough liberals to pass it?

The 15 Blue Dogs will vote for the deal, because then they can pretend to be conservative budget-cutters in purple and red districts, so Boehner will have those 15.

Extra Special Bonus: "The budget baseline," the starting baseline for the next year's funding, was moved up in this deal, above what it was in 2011, making it easier for Democrats (and Republicans!) to spend more in 2012.

You F'd Up, You Trusted Us:

Morons and moronettes, I'll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few promises, or took a few liberties with your money - we did. But you can't hold a whole party responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole two-party system? And if the whole two-party system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our political institutions in general? I put it to you - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!

Thanks to Eric "Otter" Cantor.

More Details: At CBSNews.

Many of the cuts appear to have been cuts in name only, because they came from programs that had unspent funds.

For example, $1.7 billion left over from the 2010 census; $3.5 billion in unused children's health insurance funds; $2.2 billion in subsidies for health insurance co-ops (that's something the president's new health care law is going to fund anyway); and $2.5 billion from highway programs that can't be spent because of restrictions set by other legislation.

About $10 billion of the cuts comes from targeting appropriations accounts previously used by lawmakers for so-called earmarks - pet projects like highways, water projects, community development grants and new equipment for police and fire departments. Republicans had already engineered a ban on earmarks when taking back the House this year.

Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule -- used for years by appropriators -- placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as "budget savings." The savings are awarded year after year.

Let's talk about earmarks first -- it has long been known (often written on the internet) that earmarks don't actually spend new money, at least not in the year they're promulgated. An earmark is not an appropriation. It is a directive to a department or agency to spend money in its general slush-fund, money that was already appropriated, on a specific measure.

Now, the conservative internet has campaigned against earmarks for two reasons: They're often a vehicle for corruption and once something gets funded once, it tends to get funded forever. So an earmark, while not actually spending new money in the year it's introduced, may wind up spending new money down the road.

But again: An earmark does not actually spend new money. It directs an agency to spent money already in its slush-fund kitty.

So cancelling earmarks is not actually cutting the budget. All it is is cutting the restrictions on an agency as to how to spend the money it has.

The $10 billion in canceled earmarks should not be considered "cuts." No less money is being spent because of such cancellations. The agency is just freer to spend as it (or the President) directs.

And this one?

Republicans also claimed $5 billion in savings by capping payments from a fund awarding compensation to crime victims. Under an arcane bookkeeping rule -- used for years by appropriators -- placing a cap on spending from the Justice Department crime victims fund allows lawmakers to claim the entire contents of the fund as "budget savings."
Just by putting a cap on the $5 billion allows you to claim the $5 billion you're spending isn't being spent? That is plainly an accounting trick.

So, so far, we have $15 billion in "cuts" which are not cuts no matter who you are.

“Tax Day Rally” Agenda

2011-04-11T07:01:00.001-05:00

April 15th

Clear Lake Tea Party

“Tax Day Rally”

Mike Smith
Program Emcee

6:00 – 6:05pm
Invocation – Harris County Precinct 8 Constable Bill Bailey

6:06– 6:10pm
Pledge of Allegiance – CLTP Chairman John Bentley

6:10 – 6:15pm
National Anthem – Rebeca Pineda

6:16 – 6:30pm
“Promoting Economic Growth” – Harris County Commissioner Precinct 2 Jack Morman

6:32 – 6:37pm
“Right the Wrongs” – Harris County Sheriff (R) Candidate
Carl Pittman

6:39 – 6:54pm
“Texan Tax Burdens” – Former Tax Assessor & Collector
Paul Bettencourt

6:56 – 7:01pm
“Justice in the American System” – 309th Harris County District Court Judge Sheri Dean

7:03 – 7:18pm
“The Great Conservative Awakening” – U.S. Senate (R) Candidate & Former Solicitor General Ted Cruz

7:20 – 7:30pm
“Stay Engaged, America needs You” – CLTP Board Member
Roberto Gonzalez

Nullify Now!

2011-04-09T16:11:00.000-05:00

Time	Saturday, April 16 · 10:00am - 5:00pm

Location	AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center 1900 University Avenue Austin, TX



More Info	The only way to GUARANTEE seats is to get them online here: http://www.nullifynow.com/austin/ Thomas E. Woods, Kevin Gutzman, Stewart Rhodes and Debra Medina join us in Austin to talk about Nullification as a response to a federal government that refuses to follow the rules of the Constitution. ...Woods is the New York Times bestselling author of nine books, including Meltdown and The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. A senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, he holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard and his master’s, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. Through historical writings, case studies, and speeches by the Founding Fathers, our speakers will give you a logical, moral, and constitutionally sound case for nullification, revealing: --How we can roll back Obamacare, cap and trade, and other unconstitutional expansions of federal power through nullification --Why the Founding Fathers believed that nullification was the “moderate middle ground" --Why the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution gives the states the power to nullify unconstitutional laws --Why states – not the Supreme Court – should arbitrate disputes between the states and the federal government over the constitutionality of the federal government’s actions. More speakers will be added soon!

The Path to Prosperity: America's two futures, visualized

2011-04-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

This 3-minute video is a visualization of the House Republicans' budget, "The Path to Prosperity," presented by Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee.

For more information on our plan to avert the US's nearing debt crisis and chart a path of growth and prosperity, visit http://budget.house.gov

Budget Proposal: The Path to Prosperity

2011-04-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

WALL STREET JOURNAL OPINION
APRIL 5, 2011

[Ed. note: Attached to the bottom of this post, please find the budget’s Key Facts, Contrasts with the Obama Budget and the full budget plan document.]

The GOP Path to Prosperity

Our budget cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years and puts the nation on track to pay off our national debt.

By PAUL D. RYAN

Congress is currently embroiled in a funding fight over how much to spend on less than one-fifth of the federal budget for the next six months. Whether we cut $33 billion or $61 billion—that is, whether we shave 2% or 4% off of this year's deficit—is important. It's a sign that the election did in fact change the debate in Washington from how much we should spend to how much spending we should cut.

But this morning the new House Republican majority will introduce a budget that moves the debate from billions in spending cuts to trillions. America is facing a defining moment. The threat posed by our monumental debt will damage our country in profound ways, unless we act.

No one person or party is responsible for the looming crisis. Yet the facts are clear: Since President Obama took office, our problems have gotten worse. Major spending increases have failed to deliver promised jobs. The safety net for the poor is coming apart at the seams. Government health and retirement programs are growing at unsustainable rates. The new health-care law is a fiscal train wreck. And a complex, inefficient tax code is holding back American families and businesses.

The president's recent budget proposal would accelerate America's descent into a debt crisis. It doubles debt held by the public by the end of his first term and triples it by 2021. It imposes $1.5 trillion in new taxes, with spending that never falls below 23% of the economy. His budget permanently enlarges the size of government. It offers no reforms to save government health and retirement programs, and no leadership.

Our budget, which we call The Path to Prosperity, is very different. For starters, it cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt. Our proposal brings federal spending to below 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), consistent with the postwar average, and reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion.

A study just released by the Heritage Center for Data Analysis projects that The Path to Prosperity will help create nearly one million new private-sector jobs next year, bring the unemployment rate down to 4% by 2015, and result in 2.5 million additional private-sector jobs in the last year of the decade. It spurs economic growth, with $1.5 trillion in additional real GDP over the decade. According to Heritage's analysis, it would result in $1.1 trillion in higher wages and an average of $1,000 in additional family income each year.

Here are its major components:

• Reducing spending: This budget proposes to bring spending on domestic government agencies to below 2008 levels, and it freezes this category of spending for five years. The savings proposals are numerous, and include reforming agricultural subsidies, shrinking the federal work force through a sensible attrition policy, and accepting Defense Secretary Robert Gates's plan to target inefficiencies at the Pentagon.

• Welfare reform: This budget will build upon the historic welfare reforms of the late 1990s by converting the federal share of Medicaid spending into a block grant that lets states create a range of options and gives Medicaid patients access to better care. It proposes similar reforms to the food-stamp program, ending the flawed incentive structure that rewards states for adding to the rolls. Finally, this budget recognizes that the best welfare program is one that ends with a job—it consolidates dozens of duplicative job-training programs into more accessible, accountable career scholarships that will better serve people looking for work.

As we strengthen and improve welfare programs for those who need them, we eliminate welfare for those who don't. Our budget targets corporate welfare, starting by ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that is costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. It gets rid of the permanent Wall Street bailout authority that Congress created last year. And it rolls back expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy, calling instead for a free and open marketplace for energy development, innovation and exploration.

• Health and retirement security: This budget's reforms will protect health and retirement security. This starts with saving Medicare. The open-ended, blank-check nature of the Medicare subsidy threatens the solvency of this critical program and creates inexcusable levels of waste. This budget takes action where others have ducked. But because government should not force people to reorganize their lives, its reforms will not affect those in or near retirement in any way.

Starting in 2022, new Medicare beneficiaries will be enrolled in the same kind of health-care program that members of Congress enjoy. Future Medicare recipients will be able to choose a plan that works best for them from a list of guaranteed coverage options. This is not a voucher program but rather a premium-support model. A Medicare premium-support payment would be paid, by Medicare, to the plan chosen by the beneficiary, subsidizing its cost.

In addition, Medicare will provide increased assistance for lower- income beneficiaries and those with greater health risks. Reform that empowers individuals—with more help for the poor and the sick—will guarantee that Medicare can fulfill the promise of health security for America's seniors.

We must also reform Social Security to prevent severe cuts to future benefits. This budget forces policy makers to work together to enact common-sense reforms. The goal of this proposal is to save Social Security for current retirees and strengthen it for future generations by building upon ideas offered by the president's bipartisan fiscal commission.

• Budget enforcement: This budget recognizes that it is not enough to change how much government spends. We must also change how government spends. It proposes budget-process reforms—including real, enforceable caps on spending—to make sure government spends and taxes only as much as it needs to fulfill its constitutionally prescribed roles.

• Tax reform: This budget would focus on growth by reforming the nation's outdated tax code, consolidating brackets, lowering tax rates, and assuming top individual and corporate rates of 25%. It maintains a revenue-neutral approach by clearing out a burdensome tangle of deductions and loopholes that distort economic activity and leave some corporations paying no income taxes at all.

This is America's moment to advance a plan for prosperity. Our budget offers the nation a model of government that is guided by the timeless principles of the American idea: free-market democracy, open competition, a robust private sector bound by rules of honesty and fairness, a secure safety net, and equal opportunity for all under a limited constitutional government of popular consent.

We can reform government so that people don't have to reorient their lives for less. We can grow our economy, promote opportunity, and encourage upward mobility. This budget is the new House majority's answer to history's call. It is now up to all of us to keep America exceptional.

File Attachments
KeyFactsSummary.pdf	108.72 KB
ContrastInBudgets.pdf	76.37 KB
PathToProsperityFY2012.pdf	3.61 MB

Mr. Ryan, a Republican, represents Wisconsin's first congressional district and serves as chairman of the House Budget Committee.

President Barack Obama's First Ad For 2012

2011-04-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

President Barack Obama is proud of his record of accomplishment. Watch his first ad of the 2012 campaign brought to you by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

And the winners of the first Obamacare payout lottery are … not the taxpayers

2011-04-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

By Jimmie Bise, HotAir.com

If you had any doubt that Obamacare was a huge scam, let Jamie Dupree blast it away like an oyster cracker before a sandstorm.

Facing questions from both parties in the Congress, the Obama Administration has now revealed how it has spent over $1.7 billion on part of the Obama health law, known as the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.

This plan is intended to help companies pay the cost of health care for their early retirees, but lawmakers say it is wrongly benefiting companies like AT&T and General Electric, who have billions in profits on their bottom lines.

The list that follows is like a Who’s Who of big campaign donors, unions, and public employee groups. Six of the top ten recipients are pension systems for public employees. The United Auto Workers, already $3.4 richer from the auto bailout, topped the list with an award of almost $207 million. General Electric, which paid no taxes at all in 2010 and whose CEO is a darling of the White House, received $36.6 million, good for 11th place on the list.

AT&T, which placed second on the list, spent slightly under $15.4 million on lobbying efforts in 2010 and will rake in over $140 million from just this portion of Obamacare. Verizon, third on the list, will make $91.9 million on its $16.75 million 2010 lobbying investment.

Melissa Clouthier has the right of it. This has to stop. Let us set aside the obvious fact that we simply can’t afford Obamacare and focus on the message the ERRP sends. Companies now have a crystal-clear example that if they pony up a few million dollars to Washington politicians, they can expect to see their money returned to them multiplied many times. Most of us who have watched Washington politics know this has been true for a while but I can’t recall a time when our government was this blatant about paying back its corporate and union supporters. If ever there was a time for the taxpayers to push back hard against the rent-seeking and paybacks, it’s now. If not, well, we deserve everything we get.

Jimmie runs The Sundries Shack and has his own very entertaining podcast called “The Delivery”. He is also an amateur musician, an aspiring composer, an unrepentant geek and an avid fan of Twitter. This article is cross-posted there.

Guest Editorial: The Plot to Destroy the US Military

2011-03-25T02:10:00.000-05:00

By Larry Reams

It has been universally agreed that an outside military force can't defeat the US. We're the only nation still considered to be a superpower. So, if you want to destroy us, you must do it from within; slowly chip away at our various institutions until they are meaningless and can no longer contribute to our claim of superpower, or world's largest economy, or greatest nation ever devised by mankind, "shining city on a hill," a Constitutional Republic, etc. etc.

The leftist progressive movement, formerly also known as Marxists, communists, socialists, liberals and perhaps a few more "ists" and "isms," have been working at it for close to 100 years. They have destroyed, or severely weakened most of our traditional institutions--our Constitution and Founding Documents, education, traditional media, unions, government (particularly federal), the family unit, marriage, the free enterprise system, corporations, the churches, and, rewritten history so current and future generations won't know the truth. Recently they've turned their attention to our Armed Forces.

Poll after poll shows our military to be THE most respected institution in the country. Well, not for long. With the promotion of "political generals" instead of war hawks, the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," Chaplains who can't pray in Jesus Name, rules of engagement that give the enemy an advantage over us, national leadership that hasn't spend one day in the service yet purport to know how to "lead," a fear of exposing those who show signs of being terrorists yet giving prison sentences to those who kill the enemy in self defense, putting females in combat roles, dictating promotions by minority status instead of the merit system, an inability to clearly define the mission then suffering from "mission creep," reducing the defense budget so as to increase some social welfare program; and on and on it goes. Our national leadership is even reluctant to use the words "terrorist" or "war." Political correctness has run amuck. It won't be long until we'll be compared to the French Army in capability and will to win. All because the Leftists hate all things military and our elected officials haven't the balls to do the right thing to defend the nation--a Constitutional obligation.

Marx and Engles, Cloward and Piven, Saul Alinsky, Richard Trumka and Andy Stern, Code Pink and MoveOn.org now carry more sway that Washington, Madison, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson et. al, or Jesus. This has all the signs of not turning out well. Be sure to call me when the Second Civil War starts. I don't want to miss doing my part.

Read Daniel Greenfield's article. It's alarming.

Larry Reams
Veteran
Houston, TX

Business Insider: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan & Crash The Stock Market

2011-03-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

Business Insider:

A former official of one of the country’s most-powerful unions, SEIU, is detailing a secret plan to “destabilize” the country.

Specifically, the plan seeks to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock market, and weaken Wall Street’s grip on power, thus creating the conditions necessary for a redistribution of wealth and a change in government.

The former SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, spoke in a closed session at a Pace University forum last weekend.

The Blaze procured what appears to be a tape of Lerner’s remarks, many of which many Americans will no doubt sympathize with. Still, the “destabilization” plan is startling in its specificity.

Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore–the redistribution of wealth and the return of “$17 trillion” stolen from the middle class by Wall Street–is to “destabilize the country.”

Read the rest of the Business Insider analysis here.

To watch the video click here or view below:

Full version of discussion:

The Cost of Being Taxed

2011-03-17T09:59:00.000-05:00

By Cheryl E. Johnson, Galveston County Tax Assessor and Collector/Taxpayer Advocate

The Tax Office currently contracts with all cities, most school districts, both junior college districts and a handful of special purpose districts providing assessment and collection services at a cost of $0.32 per parcel ($1.01/parcel for out of county properties)—less than the cost of a stamp.

This year, we collected nearly $352M at a cost to our collection partners of $164,000…not a bad return on investment. How can we do this for so little money? We have no choice. The law allows county tax offices to charge only the “incremental additional cost” which equates to a line of ink and a handful of additional personnel and their infrastructure needs.

While cost is often a driving force behind the decision to contract for tax assessment and collection services, convenience—for both the local government and taxpayers is significant. GCTO’s 24/7 online account information and multiple office locations provide customers various options of conducting business. Whether one less check to write or one less errand to run, centralized tax collections save taxpayers time and governments money, translating to savings for everyone.

Governments in the collecting their own taxes are listed below as are the GCTO expected cost (excluding one-time conversion fees). As local governments begin the tedious process of developing and adopting budgets, the cost to collect their own taxes should be studied. With the cuts coming down the Austin pipeline, the relatively flat real estate market and on-going financial trends, consolidation of tax collections is an easy and cost effective way of saving money.

Cost by GCTO         Jurisdiction
$64,677    Clear Creek ISD*
$3,743    Friendswood ISD
$5,648    Santa Fe ISD
$4,272    Texas City ISD
$3,858    GC Consol. Drainage District
$220    Bay Colony West MUD
$158    Flamingo Isles MUD
$525    GC MUD # 2
$660    GC MUD # 3
$750    GC MUD # 6
$303    GC MUD # 13
$393    GC MUD # 14
$459    GC MUD # 15
$178    GC MUD # 29
$107    GC MUD #30
$84    GC MUD # 31
$64    GC MUD # 32
$337    GC MUD # 39
$268    GC MUD # 43
$92    GC MUD # 44
$83    GC MUD #45
$170    GC MUD #46
$2    GC MUD #51
$74    GC MUD #52
$3    GC MUD #57
$3    GC MUD #59
$9    GC MUD #66
$95    GC MUD #68
$7    GC Management District #1
$263    South Shore Harbour MUD # 2
$526    South Shore Harbour MUD # 6
$436    South Shore Harbour MUD # 7
$106    West Ranch Management District
$746    WCID # 8
$988    WCID # 12

* Includes 52,901 parcels out-of-county at a cost of @ $1.01/parcel

Citizen Advisory Committee Issues Reality Check for House Appropriations Chair Pitts

2011-03-11T08:12:00.000-06:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2011
Contact: JoAnn Fleming, TPCAC member, Tyler area (903.894.7204)

House Appropriations Chair Jim Pitts just doesn't get it. While he dismisses Governor Perry's call for spending cuts instead of a raid on the Rainy Day Fund, Chairman Pitts insists he'll push for a committee vote soon on a bill to spend $4.3 billion of the People's Savings Account instead.   In some news reports, Pitts has likened the state's budget situation to a family facing the loss of its home due to a sudden drop in household income. Pitts concludes that the family has two options - either tell the bank to take the house or take money out of the family's savings account. It is also reported that Pitts believes anyone who doesn't see it his way needs a "reality check." Such an outrageous statement deserves a reality check from citizens who see the matter quite differently.

"The loss of state revenue was not sudden, nor was it a surprise. Chairman Pitts knows better," says Tea Party Advisory Committee member Sharon Hall (San Antonio).   "The legislature has known the economy was slowing since 2008. They could have taken more aggressive cost-containment measures in the 81st legislative session, but did not. Now we expect them to cut - not take the easy way out."

Tony Corsaut, TP Advisory Committee member from Wichita Falls, agrees. "When families and businesses see a reduction of income or revenue coming, they prepare. They look at all expenses and cut out wants to get down to needs. The state has a way to go to get down to basic needs. After all, we still have an arts and film commission. The legislature is still underwriting a Formula 1 race track for some $25 million, and there's been no move to furlough non-essential state employees to save money. Why should government be exempt from the cuts families and businesses have had to make and are still making?"

Between fiscal years 1990 and 2010, All Funds appropriations for Texas state government increased from $23.3 billion to $92.7 billion, a growth of nearly 300 percent. By contrast, the rate of population growth plus inflation increased only 115.5 percent over the same period. (Source: Legislative Budget Board, Texas Public Policy Foundation) This clearly demonstrates that state government has grown to unsustainable levels. The Tea Party Advisory Committee insists it is time for state leaders to do the hard work required to get spending under control and balance the state budget without raising taxes, instituting new taxes, putting the state further into debt, or raiding the Rainy Day Fund.

In an effort to give Committee Chairman Pitts and his colleagues in the State Legislature a helping hand, the Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee advances the following "Fourteen Point Plan to Cut Spending to Balance the State Budget" as authored by Tea Party Advisory Committee Member JoAnn Fleming (Tyler area):

Fourteen Point Plan to Cut Spending to Balance the State Budget: Across-the-board cuts do not get to the root of the over-spending, over-regulating problem. Cutting 2.5%, 5% or 10% of a department, agency, or program that is outside basic constitutional authority does not go far enough to solve the spending problem. It is time to get state government spending under control by:

1) focusing on the basic constitutional duties of state government, making those the top budget priorities;

2) employing zero-based budgeting for every agency, department, and program;

3) asserting constitutional and moral duty to first protect and preserve the interests of the citizens and legal residents of Texas by requiring all public service providers to verify and report the citizenship/legal residency of those they serve to the State and to the People of Texas, thereby ensuring appropriate budget allocations can be made for legal Texas residents, versus those from other States (both foreign and domestic);

4) eliminating overlapping, duplicated agencies, departments, and programs (example, the natural resource agencies: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Rail Road Commission, Public Utility Commission, General Land Office, Agriculture Commission, Parks & Wildlife);

5) injecting competition into the delivery of services for improved service quality and lower costs (outsourcing, improved centralized procurement for volume purchasing discounts, and efficient contract management);

6) determining feasibility of purchase deferrals for all unspent appropriations in current budget and for new budget requests for capital assets (vehicles, equipment, technology, new facilities/upgrades/remodels);

7) instituting an immediate hiring freeze and review of all state government positions, all personnel policies, and all benefits; review solvency of benefit funding for state employees; end longevity pay for state employees; increase contribution levels for state employees toward their own pension and insurance benefits;

8) cutting pay for state employees, including statewide officials. Top officials should lead by cutting their pay first. (No public employee should make more than the Governor, including school superintendents.) Care should be taken not to reduce lowest paid state workers to the point of making them eligible for social services, thereby driving up state costs.

9) ending the practice of diverting funds from the originally-intended purpose to other uses (for example, the state motor fuels tax of which 47% is diverted to non-transportation fund use);

10) mandating review of all agencies, departments, and programs to match funding with originally-intended mission and to determine whether or not the agency/department/program is producing measurable results; although this is the purpose of the Sunset Commission, the Sunset Commission needs to be revamped with more private citizen representation on the review board;

11) reviewing state debt for savings through debt consolidation, lower interest rates;

12) suspending funding of parks, bike and walking trails, renovations of historical properties;

13) reviewing and curtailing in many cases state economic incentives and subsidies (our low taxes, limited regulations, right to work laws, and civil justice system provide plenty of incentives for companies to come to Texas, when compared to other states);

14) reasserting State Sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution. Too much state spending is driven by accepting unconstitutional federal funding with strings, regulation, and mandates. All federal funds that come with added strings and regulation should be rejected.

This will not be the state's last difficult budgeting cycle in the near term. According to Texas Public Policy Foundation, "Medicaid costs before ObamaCare will double every 10 years through the next three decades. ObamaCare adds 3.1 million people to Texas' Medicaid rolls by 2014, and Texas will need an additional $10 to $15 billion in the next budget to meet those costs." In addition, rising fuel costs, unrest around the globe, and uncertainty caused by suffocating federal debt and onerous regulations affirm that it is a wholly reasonable and prudent expectation that the 82nd Texas Legislature would exhaust all fiscally-responsible cost-cutting remedies before ever thinking about raiding the People's Rainy Day Fund.

Governor Rick Perry expressed support for citizen involvement in the state budget process: "Ever since they burst onto the national consciousness in April of 2009, the TEA Parties have been waking people up with their fundamentally American message of fiscal discipline and accountability for elected leaders. The Texas TEA Parties have remained in the vanguard of the movement and I'm honored to have their support. You can trust that I'll stand my ground on our core principles and continue our efforts to balance the budget without raising taxes or touching the Rainy Day Fund. Only through continued TEA Party engagement can we hold elected officials' feet to the fire and ensure they deliver on their promises from last November." [Statement provided to Katrina Pierson, TPCAC member, Garland]
                                                                        ###

Please forward any questions concerning the Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee to txteapartycaucus@gmail.com

Sullivan's Words of Wisdom

2011-03-09T14:13:00.000-06:00

At last night's meeting, Michael Sullivan (of Empower Texans) offered sage counsel on the most effective way to have your voice heard by your State legislator. What is there there to be vocal about? Do you want the full list, or just the top ten? Let's start with using Texas' nearly $9 billion dollar Rainy Day fund to cover the budget shortfall. This is particularly daunting to our schools as they are a huge chunk of our overall budget. The premise seems to be that we must either spend RD$$ on our schools or we will see drastic cuts in the classroom. Legislators need to know that we are not convinced. A study from Texans Conservative Coalition Research Institute shows there are just as many non-teachers on the payroll as are there are teachers. Why not not spend our Rainy Day fund, not cut teachers, and jettison unnecessary, redundant administrators (most of whom make far more than teachers). Eliminate archaic departments and superfluous spending. Do those things first. Why won't that work? It seems we are being given a false choice. Now, what to do about it:

Per Mr. Sullivan, the most effective thing you can do (short of storming Austin) is to write letters to your legislators. The easiest way to do that is with the Empower Texans free letter template and delivery service. Yes, you read that right. They will hand carry your letter to the office of your legislator. You can't beat that for service. The next best alternative is to send an email. And, last but not least, put in a phone call to register your remarks.

If we all interact with our legislator on a weekly basis, our sacrifice of 10 minutes will have an undeniable, inescapable impact on Texas government. So, write, email, or call...but commit to doing something.

Guest Blog: By Patrick Waits

2011-03-09T13:21:00.001-06:00

The Tea Party Groups made the difference in the 2010 mid-term elections. Conservative Representatives are now the majority party in the House of Representatives which means we have the people power to affect elections.

The Liberals are counting on the Tea Party Members to lose interest/passion for the future on our country. That is something we just cannot do!

All Patriots will be needed for the Presidential Elections in 2012. Please get involved and attend these town hall meeting as a show of support and commitment to stopping the Socialist movement and (Taking Our Country Back)!

Remember, If it is to be, it's up to ME!

Patrick H. Waits

IN GOD WE TRUST

Rally In Opposition To Progressives' "Day Of Outrage"

2011-03-09T13:16:00.000-06:00

CALLING ALL PATRIOTS!

Progressive Forces are Assembling in Houston for "Texans Day of Outrage" March 15th @ 4:30pm, at City Hall in Houston, TX.

We will rally in opposition. Their anti-American rhetoric cannot go unanswered. Bring your signs, cameras, flags, love of country, and every fellow patriot you know. We will meet at the Northwest corner of Smith and Walker at 3:00PM on Tuesday, March 15th. Park downtown wherever you can. For more information, please contact info@kingstreetpatriots.org

This flyer is posted online by SEIU, Latin American Organization for Immigrant Rights, Progressive Workers Organizing Committee, Marxist Reading Group, International Socialist Organization, Mexicanos en Accion, and the Houston Democrat Party.

Onward -
King Street Patriots.

Michelle Bachmann - Shocked and Appalled to find Obamacare bill appropriates $105 billion towards its funding

2011-03-07T09:16:00.000-06:00

The first step in repealing ObamaCare is to make sure not one cent goes to fund it. We must act now to ensure that the $105 billion to fund Obamacare secretly passed by the Democrats never makes it into Barack Obama's hands.

Dear Fellow Conservative,

This week, my colleagues and I were shocked and appalled to find a provision in the Obamacare bill which appropriates $105 billion towards its funding- a complete and fraudulent circumvention of the legislative process.

In the bill, instead of following the rules and letting the next Congress go through the appropriations process, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats appropriated $105 billion dollars in funding for Obamacare without holding a single hearing, or even allowing Members of Congress a chance to read the bill. I guess this is what Nancy Pelosi meant when she said "we have to pass the bill, so you can find out what is in it." Even Democrats in Congress were surprised to hear this shocking news.

Without further action, the bill will be funded, and our efforts will have failed.

I've drafted a petition, and recorded a special video message, to ensure that ObamaCare is defunded. I urge you to immediately take a minute to sign this petition and watch the video by following this link. We must immediately send a message to every Member of Congress that even a single dollar more of federal spending is unacceptable until Obamacare is defunded.

On Tuesday, I will meet with Members of Congress to discuss immediate plans to rescind this existing funding, and return Obamacare's fate to the hands of the people, who overwhelming rejected it in November's elections. At Tuesday's meeting, I will challenge Members of Congress to stand against the undemocratic actions of the Reid-Pelosi-Obama apparatus, and vote against any additional government spending until Obamacare is completely defunded.

I need to know you are 100 percent behind my efforts to expose the back-room dealings and secretive tactics Pelosi and Obama have tried to use. I need to know you want Obamacare defunded once and for all. Follow this link right away to sign the petition to defund Obamacare!

In November, the American people clearly and emphatically cast their ballots against Obamacare and the big-government agenda advanced by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. We must stand our ground to defund Obamacare, and we must move quickly to make sure that no taxpayer money is spent on our watch. By signing my petition, you will tell Congress where you stand: against the undemocratic and secretive actions of Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, and for our shared Constitutional conservative values.

Please take action before it is too late!

Finally, I ask that you share this petition on Facebook, and forward this email to your friends and family to spread the word. It is our charge to stop this unconstitutional government take-over of our lives!

Sincerely,

Michele Bachmann

P.S. As a constitutional conservative, I am motivated now more than ever to repeal Obamacare and the first step towards this goal is making sure that it doesn't receive a dime of your tax dollars. Although House Republicans voted overwhelmingly last month to defund the Obamacare law, our vote does not apply to the billions already secretly and fraudulently appropriated by the old Democratic Congress. I need your immediate help to send a message to every Member of Congress. We must immediately defund Obamacare! Please follow this link to sign this petition and pass this email along to your friends and family to spread the word. Thank you!

Tea Party Caucus Warns Texas Legislators: Do NOT Raid The Rainy Day Fund!

2011-02-26T09:43:00.000-06:00

We were alerted recently to the intentions of our law makers in the Texas State House and Senate to dig into the Rainy Day Fund (RDF). The Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee has now taken a bold stance and has issued a press release to the Tea Party Caucus members, describing our displeasure with their goal and where we stand on this (please see letter below).

Please read it carefully, it will be a contentious issue and one that will define who really is conservative and who will wilt when the heat rises. We need strong men and women who will stand up and be counted.

Check out this article in the Austin American-Statesman. It frames the issue from our press release perfectly.

Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee of Texas

February 23, 2011

Honorable Members of the Legislative Tea Party Caucus of Texas
State Capitol
Austin, Texas 78701

Re: State Budget

Esteemed Senators and State Representatives:

We continue to be extremely appreciative of your willingness to participate as Members of the Legislative Tea Party Caucus and to listen to the views and concerns of our committee in our role as citizen representatives of the grassroots activists and voters of Texas. Already in this 82nd biennial legislative session, you have gathered with us to discuss our legislative priorities and to provide us with an excellent overview of the State legislative process.

We write to you today to make clear our views regarding the current State budgeting process for the 2011-2013 biennium. We strongly support a budget that is balanced without the use of any portion of the State’s Rainy Day Fund and without the imposition of new taxes, new fees that are effectively increased taxes (such as increased vehicle registration fees) or other new sources of revenue (such as gambling).

We are acutely aware of the revenue position that our State faces. Despite significant reductions in administrative and agency costs and personnel, our State must make deep cuts in either or both of public education or human services. Current federal law prohibits large reductions in the latter category, so we are left with larger-than-desired cuts in public education.

At the same time, the economy in Texas, while stronger than in any other state, is not strong enough to withstand additional taxes or tax-like fees. We recognize that some of the most likely forms of tax increases or user fee increases would especially affect those in our State who are least able to bear additional costs.

We have a growing structural problem in our State.

Our public education system would, if consolidated, be the fifth largest corporate employer in the world. The number of non-teaching personnel in primary and secondary schools has increased markedly in the last 40 years. The cost curve of public higher education continues to bend upward even as we write this letter. Parents are concerned for the availability of future educational resources for their children and communities.

In the meantime, due to a myriad of factors, our costs for providing social and health services continue to outstrip almost all predictions and will soon be - by far - the largest use of general revenues from our State budget. We are on record as saying we desire to protect those for whom the State government must be the last or only provider, but we must recognize that at some point we may not be able to fund these services unless we explore private and non-profit alternatives that replace or supplement government programs.

The use of any portion of the Rainy Day Fund will only serve to mask budgetary problems that have been long in the making. The next biennium promises higher costs at almost every turn, with or without the new mandates of the federal healthcare legislation. Our public education system, which has reserves of its own to help it weather cuts in this biennium, will surely need more funding in 2013-2015. If we as a State bury our heads in the sand in this biennium, what will we face next time when no or few Rainy Day Funds may be available?

Texans deserve a legislature that will deal head-on with the significant budgetary choices that we must make. Texans have always been willing and able to shoulder the load together, and we must do so now. Allow Texans to know of the hard choices that must be made and give us the transparency to view the alternatives. We believe that you will find support across party lines once the facts are made clear and the choices are made to work in the best long-term interest of the people of this State.

What we ignore today will not be gone tomorrow. Let us work together to solve our structural problems and adopt a budget that will give us the clarity and the courage to do it right.

Respectfully,
Tea Party Caucus Advisory Committee of Texas

Konni Burton, NE Tarrant Tea Party
Sharon Hall, San Antonio Tea Party
Tony Corsaut, Wichita Falls Tea Party Patriots
Greg Holloway, Austin Tea Party Patriots
Felicia Cravens, Houston Tea Party Society
Robin Lennon, Kingwood TEA Party
JoAnn Fleming, Grassroots America – We the People
Chuck Molyneaux, Allen Area Patriots
Robert Gonzalez, Clear Lake Tea Party
Katrina Pierson, Garland Tea Party
Glen Hagenbach, South Texas Tea Party
Julie Turner, Texas Tea Party PAC
Leslie Haight, Fredericksburg Tea Party

*Tea party names used for identification purposes only – no group endorsement implied

Guest Editorial: The Tea Party Needs To Stay Away From Union Confrontations

2011-02-25T10:09:00.000-06:00

*We invite guest blogs from our membership. Publication on the CLTP website or blog does not indicate an endorsement of the opinion, but is presented for purposes of dialogue and debate.

As a Tea Party member, I'd like to recommend that Tea Party people across the country stay away from these union protests.

Confrontation is exactly what these union people want, and having Tea Party people show up at these rallies is not going to help anything.

We can show our support for these governors and legislators by e-mail. contributions, Facebook and most importantly the voting booth, but please do not give these mental midgets the satisfaction of showing up to either protest their rallies or support the State governments.

I think we all know nothing good can come from a confrontation with these people and the mainstream media would take any opportunity to try and blame the Tea Party for any violence that occurred or try and show Tea Party people as the instigators.

These unions are doing a fine job all by themselves showing America just what they stand for and their greed and unwillingness to compromise in hard times. They are showing everyone their contempt for the American taxpayer, and their "entitlement" attitude - that for some reason we owe them regardless of the state of our economy.

Hopefully other states that do not have right to work laws will enact those, and hopefully other states will take the hard line stance of Ohio where they are basically going to abolish public sector unions if the vote passes. The time has come to take our Country back - we made a good start in November and we must continue the fight through 2012 and 2014.

Keith Bryant
Houston, Texas

May 14, 2011: Local Elections (WE NEED CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES!)

2011-02-24T10:44:00.000-06:00

The Clear Lake Tea Party is actively looking for concerned citizens to support for local offices ranging from school boards to city councils. Please see the list below that was published in the Houston Chronicle and thoughtfully consider meeting with us.

Myriad of Bay Area elections planned

Voters will have plenty of issues to decipher and decisions to make in May 14 elections for some regular and special elections in Galveston County and the Bay Area.

Clear Creek ISD

The Clear Creek Independent School District will hold a regular election to fill the District 2 seat held by Win Weber and the District 3 position held by Ken Baliker.

A special election will fill the unexpired term of District 4 Trustee Page Rander.

To apply for a position on the ballot, pick up an application and information packet at the CCISD Education Support Center, 2425 E. Main St. in League City from Feb. 14 to March 14.

Applications must be received by 5 p.m. March 14.

For more information, contact Melinda Perales at 281-284-0181 or via e-mail: mperales@ccisd.net.

City of La Marque

A recall election is being considered to remove La Marque Mayor Geraldine Sam from office after the city clerk certified enough signatures from residents seeking the mayor's recall. It would mark the fourth recall election in six months for seats of the La Marque council.

The election in May will coincide with a special election to fill the seats held by Larry Mann and Deanie Barrett, who lost their seats in a recall election last November.

The 2010 recall effort also targeted Councilwoman Connie Trube, who survived by a narrow vote and has since refused to attend most council meetings to oppose the mayor's attempts to fire City Manager Eric Gage. Sam recently sat out a council recent meeting where trustees were to decide whether to hold a recall election.

College of the Mainland

College of the Mainland will hold an election to fill Trustee positions held by Annette Jenkins and Don Criss.

COM trustees also may call for an $86 million bond proposition to fund a number of construction and renovation projects that include building a health sciences center ($7.85 million), making an addition to the work force training center ($5 million) and renovating the student center ($4.2 million).

City elections

These entities in also are planning city council elections on May 14:

• Bayou Vista
• Nassau Bay
• Webster
• Seabrook
• Clear Lake Shores
• Dickinson
• Galveston
• Hitchcock
• Jamaica Beach
• Kemah
• League City
• Santa Fe
• Tiki Island

The following area school district also are considering May 14 elections:

• Dickinson ISD
• Hitchcock ISD
• La Marque ISD
• Santa Fe ISD

robert.stanton@chron.com

CLEAR LAKE TEA PARTY SUPPORTS GOVERNOR WALKER OF WISCONSIN

2011-02-23T07:50:00.000-06:00

The Clear Lake Tea Party stands with Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Governor Walker and conservatives in Wisconsin are boldly standing their ground in trying to balance their budget. This Facebook page has become an online support site for Governor Walker. Sign on and stand with him and Wisconsin.

You can also visit this website to find out how SEIU is organizing these protests all across America, beginning in Wisconsin.

CLTP Watchdog Report - February 21, 2011

2011-02-21T23:20:00.000-06:00

Hello CLTP Watchdogs! You guys are starting to get busy out there. More and more Watchdogs are sending in their reports. What is amazing is how the watch dogs are focusing in on the same subjects. Keep up the good work.

The good news is that the Texas House Select Committee on State Sovereignty is getting an early slate of issues. It is important that the watchdogs follow what is going on in this committee. The issues being dealt with here are vital to our Texas State rights and are the front line in the battle against an ever oppressive Federal Government.

The CLTP would like you to know that you are the model watchdog program that is being promoted about the State. The CLTP has given your training materials to many different Tea Parties and will be discussing the CLTP Watchdog training up in Dallas on the 25th at a Grassroots Boot Camp (American Majority). We are also providing a quick look on the March 15 with the Clear Lake Area Republicans (CLAR). To date we have trained 65 CLTP Watchdogs with representation from several different tea party groups. Thanks for making this citizens' effort work. Our legislators will know that the “Eyes of Texas are Upon Them!”

Here is a brief summary of CLTP Watchdog activity up to February 21, 2011.

Press Release: Legislative Tea Party Caucus Makes Great Strides In Short Time

2011-02-20T10:07:00.000-06:00

From the office of Senator Dan Patrick

Orientation draws over 300 TEA Party organizers to Austin

AUSTIN – The TEA Party Caucus has been very active since coming together just a few weeks ago. The caucus, third largest in the legislature with 57 members, held an orientation for TEA Party groups from all across Texas. Over 300 TEA Party organizers, representing hundreds of thousands of voters, came to Austin last Saturday to participate in a nearly four hour overview covering the legislative process, an outline of the budget, healthcare, redistricting, and a question and answer session with members of the caucus. “The idea was to have a first ever citizens’ orientation similar to what newly elected legislators receive before session," explained caucus vice-chair Rep. Phil King.

"From the beginning, one of the goals of our caucus was to help citizens become more empowered by learning the legislative process," stated caucus founder Senator Dan Patrick. "The more knowledge the people have about how government works, the better government will be."

"Saturday's orientation was a great opportunity for those of us around the state to learn more about the legislative process from our elected officials,” stated Leslie Haight, TEA Party Caucus Advisory Committee. “The information regarding the budgeting challenges we face this session was especially eye-opening.” Dean Wright, TEA Party organizer agreed, "This enlightening presentation provided valuable insight to the legislative process that can be used by the grassroots attendees to impact legislation much more effectively."

In addition to the orientation, over the past month the caucus has met with many TEA Party organizers from around the state. The purpose was to listen to what they believe are the major issues they want the legislature to address this session. Topping the list was balancing the budget without raising taxes. "The TEA Party Caucus is a great way to stay in touch and communicate on real issues. Fiscal responsibility can be reached and accomplished with such an effective caucus," said caucus board member Rep. Todd Hunter.

Last week the caucus met to discuss the issues presented to them by the TEA Party groups. The caucus has set an agenda for the session that reflects their support for the issues supported by the TEA Party. With one exception, the agenda does not support specific legislation, but broad principles. With many bills filed on the same issues supported by the TEA Party, the caucus decided it was too soon to get behind specific legislation. "The committees need to hear testimony and members need to study and discuss the various bills that have been filed," said caucus board member Rep. Allen Fletcher. "While the list of issues the caucus will support focuses on the major ones presented to us, they are by no means the only issues presented to us," clarified caucus board member Rep. Dan Flynn.

Texas Legislative TEA Party Caucus Statement of Principle

It is the purpose and intent of the members of the Texas Legislative TEA Party Caucus to promote and secure:

•     a balanced budget without increased taxation;
•     a secure Texas border and an end to illegal immigration;
•     the reassertion of the 10th Amendment and repeal of all federal laws in contradiction thereof;
•     election integrity, including passage of voter identification legislation;
•     advancement of Texans' 2nd Amendment rights.

"These issues were the top five issues presented to us," remarked caucus vice-chair Rep. Beverly Woolley. The one specific bill the caucus did agree to support was House Joint Resolution 50, by Rep Creighton, and the companion legislation, Senate Joint Resolution 14, by Senator Patrick. These bills affirm the sovereign rights of Texas under the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Creighton passed this measure with almost unanimous support in the House in 2009. So far, all 19 Republicans have co-authored SJT 14 in the Senate.

The Senate has already passed a photo voter I.D. bill. The House is expected to take up the legislation in the very near future. "We are off to a quick start on the issues brought to us by the TEA Party," noted Senator Patrick. "But, we are just beginning."

Op-Ed By Congressman Pete Olson: The Overreach Of The EPA In Texas

2011-02-20T10:05:00.000-06:00

Texas as well as the rest of our nation is under assault from crushing regulations that hinder economic growth, destroy jobs, and increase energy costs for all Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a new mandate for federal control of greenhouse gas emissions. The rules will apply to new motor vehicles, as well as other sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) including power generating plants, manufacturing facilities, and petrochemical refineries.

The State of Texas rightfully challenged these overreaching rules, calling into question the process under which EPA has opted to enforce this authority. In order to assert control over Texas’ permitting process, in 2009 the EPA decided that they erred way back in 1992 in approving the State’s plan to issue emission permits. Why? Because EPA said the 1992 plan didn’t provide for regulation of greenhouse gasses. But hold it – there was no requirement in 1992, nor any serious thought given to regulate these gasses. Simply put, the plan was never intended to regulate GHG’s. But that didn’t stop the Obama Administration from making its own rules and interpretation of history.

Texas has the most energy-intensive industrial sector in the nation and will be especially hard-hit by the EPA’s actions. Houston is home to hundreds of energy companies that employ thousands of people. As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I will do all I can to support our state’s fight against the heavy handedness of the EPA.

The EPA’s bureaucratic permitting process will result in construction delays for new projects. The increased costs for power plants and refineries to comply will result in companies moving their operations overseas to a less-regulated and lower cost environment. With unemployment in Texas still above 8%, the last thing we need is more federal intrusion that further hinders job growth. Our top priority should be to reduce the cost of doing business so companies can expand their operations and put Americans back to work.

The EPA regulations will also increase the cost of producing energy. When production costs rise, industry is forced to pass these costs onto the consumers. We must ensure that businesses and industries have access to affordable and reliable energy to maintain our competitive edge in an ever-increasing global marketplace. This requires a stable business climate free of the threat of ill-advised, federally-imposed carbon dioxide emissions regulations.

I intend to remind the Obama Administration that the constitution gives the authority to Congress - not unelected bureaucrats - to determine whether and if greenhouse gases should be regulated.

Furthermore, Texas has improved its air quality, while both seeing a significant population increase and providing a large portion of energy to the US – without a harmful government mandate. The EPA must not be allowed to overstep its authority and enact a misguided policy which will slow American economic growth, eliminate American jobs, and increase the cost of energy. I will continue to oppose harmful government regulations that are bad for Houston, bad for Texas, and bad for the United States.

Congressman Pete Olson
22nd District, Texas
Phone: 281-494-2690
Cell: 281-605-9290
Fax: 281-494-2649

A Tea Party Mission

2011-02-17T19:04:00.000-06:00

By Larry Reams

Obamacare has been ruled unconstitutional by two federal courts. The whole world knows this issue will ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court. There are two ways to get the issue to the USSC. The normal path is through appeal up through the court system. Best estimate is 2-3 years before the USSC decides the case. This is the method Obama and Holder prefer. Why? It takes longer and more of the provisions of Obamacare can be implemented before the case is heard. The hope is we will grow to accept Obamacare the longer it takes in this process - more people will already be dependent on it, and the USSC will thus be influenced to not rule against it. The longer it takes, the better for Obama, Holder and their fellow travelers.

The other route is to "fast track" it. Perfectly legal and has been done before with such critical and contentious issues. The states want the fast track. Why? It saves them millions of dollars by not having to set up all the infrastructure, etc. to implement Obamacare only to ultimately have it ruled unconstitutional. They'd also save money by not having to fight all the appeals. Wasted millions the collective states don't have. The faster the decision is rendered, the better for the states. Fast track could take under six months. And, an unconstitutional ruling would be a severe blow to Obama's re-election.

It's the Feds vs the States. We The People vs Big, Intrusive Government. Which side of the equation is the Tea Party on? The states and the people! I wonder what would happen if Tea Parties around the country jumped on this bandwagon and demanded that Holder fast track this case to the US Supreme Court? We'd get rid of Obamacare faster, the states would save millions of taxpayer dollars and less headaches all around. And Obama would probably be a one term president. Food for thought.

CLTP Watchdog Report - February

2011-02-14T11:23:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the first Clear Lake Tea Party Watchdogs! You have been busy since our first training. Many of you have set up your Texas Legislature Online (TLO) accounts and are ready for the Texas House to get busy. Many have been looking for bills filed in the House and have been following the priority Senate Legislation set by Governor Perry.

The CLTP would also like to let you know that you are the first operational Tea Party watchdogs in the State. You are the first Tea Party membership to take responsibility into your own hands to hold our elected officials accountable. The CLTP watchdog training is being adopted by many Tea Parties across the state and has even been posted on a North Texas Tea Party website. Be proud that your
home Tea Party is helping make a difference within the Texas Tea Party Movement!

A special note of thanks is given to CLTP Watchdog Bert Young. Bert has filed many strong reports and has moved from a CLTP Watchdog to a CLTP “Junkyard” Dog! Keep’ em coming Bert!

The 82nd legislative session is off to a slow start due to TX House committee assignments only being announced on February 9th. The Senate has been better in addressing Governor Perry’s legislative priorities. Please click here to download a PDF summary of CLTP Watchdog activity. This PDF can also be downloaded from the front page of our website.

Rep. Larry Taylor is NOT the "darling" of the Clear Lake Tea Party!

2011-02-09T16:41:00.000-06:00

I just read the blog posted by Mr. Coby at 6:43 am and although I may agree or disagree with the comments, I strongly disagree with and resent his statement that Larry Taylor is the "DARLING" of the Clear Lake Tea Party. That statement is very untrue. It is an out right fabrication and as Chairman of the CLTP, we expect a retraction and an apology. The CLTP protested twice this past year outside Mr. Taylor's office and met with him and his office staff to express our displeasure with his support of Mr. Joe Straus, Texas Speaker of the House. The CLTP is actively seeking a strong conservative candidate to oppose Mr Taylor in his next run for office.

-John Bentley, Chairman of CLTP

When Congress, the President, and the Courts Usurp the Constitution...

2011-02-03T10:08:00.000-06:00

In order to determine whether or not Congress, the Executive, and the Courts have "misconstrued" their duty and are exercising powers not warranted by the Constitution -- it is every citizen's DUTY to read both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence regularly. It is only by being informed regarding the constraints on those offices that the PEOPLE can properly exercise their obligation to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.

Our obligation to future generations mandates that each of us become informed and actively remove any elected official that does not abide by the highest law of the land -- and in the process correct the inroads that have been made on our freedoms by past excesses. The duty was clearly spelled out by James Madison in the quote, below.

"What is to be the consequence, in case the Congress shall misconstrue this part [the necessary and proper clause] of the Constitution and exercise powers not warranted by its true meaning, I answer the same as if they should misconstrue or enlarge any other power vested in them...the success of the usurpation will depend on the executive and judiciary departments, which are to expound and give effect to the legislative acts; and in a last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can by the elections of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers."

--James Madison, Federalist No. 44

Federal Judge Throws Out Obamacare

2011-01-31T15:26:00.000-06:00

"Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void."

This is in reference to the 26 state lawsuit that was argued in the Northern District of Florida federal court.

Language from the decision, featuring a reference to the Boston Tea Party (entire PDF):

It would be a radical departure from existing case law to hold that Congress can regulate inactivity under the Commerce Clause. If it has the power to compel an otherwise passive individual into a commercial transaction with a third party merely by asserting --- as was done in the Act --- that compelling the actual transaction is itself “commercial and economic in nature, and substantially affects interstate commerce” [see Act § 1501(a)(1)], it is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted. It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place. ...
In the final analysis, this Act has been analogized to a finely crafted watch, and that seems to fit. It has approximately 450 separate pieces, but one essential piece (the individual mandate) is defective and must be removed. It cannot function as originally designed. There are simply too many moving parts in the Act and too many provisions dependent (directly and indirectly) on the individual mandate and other health insurance provisions --- which, as noted, were the chief engines that drove the entire legislative effort --- for me to try and dissect out the proper from the improper, and the able-to-stand-alone from the unable-to-stand-alone. Such a quasi-legislative undertaking would be particularly inappropriate in light of the fact that any statute that might conceivably be left over after this analysis is complete would plainly not serve Congress’ main purpose and primary objective in passing the Act. The statute is, after all, called “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” not “The Abstinence Education and Bone Marrow Density Testing Act.” The Act, like a defectively designed watch, needs to be redesigned and reconstructed by the watchmaker.

So what's next? Allahpundit at HotAir explains:

A nice win, if only because it’s fun to watch the left sweat, but as we’ve discussed before, these lower-court decisions are virtually meaningless. There’s no question that the Supreme Court will eventually take this matter up, and given how profound the constitutional objection to the mandate is, there’s no chance that they’ll let “deference” to lower-court rulings shape their opinion on the matter. What we’re doing with these district court rulings — which now stand evenly split on ObamaCare, two finding it constitutional and two not — is going through the procedural motions until the Supremes get down to business.

It's a battle won, but not yet the war. We cannot relent.

Events in Egypt

2011-01-31T15:20:00.000-06:00

This report comes by way of General Krulak, former Commandant of The Marine Corps.

You may find this interesting...an inside report from a woman living in London whose family lives in Cairo. The family is well-to-do and has something to do with the movie business. "Ami" is working on her doctorate at the London School of Economics.

January 29, 2011—11:53 AM

I have been trying for the better part of two days to call my father in Egypt. On Thursday, the Egyptian government blocked all mobile phone and internet communications in the country and I wondered if they were able to watch satellite television to see what was happening. I finally got through this morning. Service had just been restored. I had one of the most memorable conversations with my step-mother and father that I have ever had. There is little doubt that we are now witnessing history in the making.

I didn’t know how my family would view the protests and I thought they would stay as far away from the action as possible. On one hand, they may be targeted or attacked by the protesters, as part of the elite that had kept the mid-lower classes from developing. On the other hand, if they joined in the protests, they could be easily identified by Mubarak’s secret police and if the current regime stayed in power, my family could find themselves woken in the middle of the night and taken to jail. As all Egyptians know, this is to be avoided.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. I can best describe the tone of their voices as elated, excited and proud. They were excited by the events of past week and extremely proud of the vanguard of young people who are, in their view, uniting to bring Egypt forward. In the most nationalist of nationalistic ways, it seems, Egyptians of all classes, ages and religions are united in a joint effort to end the 30 years of emergency rule under President Mubarak and bring a ‘real’ democracy to Egypt. It is truly amazing.

The protests were organized and being led entirely by young people — aged 20-35. Modern technology was used to generate support in the masses, and for the first time in Egyptian history, this is an uprising FROM the people. It is as ‘grassroots’ as it possibly gets. It is difficult to imagine how Mubarak could think he would be able to reclaim control or authority after this week’s events.

The internet and mobile phone communications systems were cut by the government before the planned demonstrations on Friday. The protests were organized primarily through Facebook and text messaging, so it was a clear attempt to prevent further organized protests. The ability of the Egyptian youth to harness this technology and use it as a tool of popular protest is being hailed by the local media as the most historic and significant aspect of what is happening. It is, they say, a new tool of mass revolution.

For me, it isn’t the use of technology that is so impressive…it is the fact that the Egyptian people are exercising democracy in its truest form. Unlike the Iraqis, for example who have had democracy imposed upon them from outside, the Egyptian people are bringing democracy from within. They are not being driven by religious zeal, fanatical tendencies, or partisan objectives, but by a shared basic belief that they have a fundamental right to live and work in a nation in which they have liberty and freedom. It is difficult not to have respect for that. Particularly when you see the numbers…there are hundreds of thousands of them. They have only one mantra: ‘Go, go, go…Mubarak must go.’

As I said earlier, I couldn’t have been more wrong about how my family would react to the events. My father and step-mother drove to central Cairo yesterday to join the protests. They were only able to get as far as the Sixth of October bridge — a bridge that links Mohandessein/Giza with Tahrir Square where the main protests are taking place. They got out of their car and joined in. My step-mother was immediately recognized by the other protestors, was lifted onto the shoulders of two young men, and was soon leading a large group across the bridge chanting the mantra of the protests. It encouraged them, I think, to see a figure they recognized among them. The army, on the other side of the bridge began firing tear gas on them and they ran across the bridge in retreat.

My father described seeing young men blinded by tear gas. He saw others who were walking, shirtless, among the protestors with their torsos covered in welts and bruises from where they had been shot by rubber bullets. They refused to go home and wore their welts with pride in front of the crowd as if to show the army that they would not be stopped. A 26 year old woman was killed while holding an Egyptian flag. Of course there have been many others.

Perhaps the most interesting story he told me involved the famous Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square. 25 army officers in plain clothes had been instructed to break into the museum and steal artifacts. (Presumably so that the protesters would be blamed.) There are no police in Cairo at the moment and nothing to stop them. The officers were spotted by a group of protestors who somehow realized who they were and stopped them from breaking into the museum by literally creating a barricade of human bodies in front of the museum doors. The protestors were adamant that they would not allow the government to take away their culture and heritage.

The last revolution in Egypt occurred in 1952 when Nasser and his Free Officers took over the country from King Farouq. Since he had lived through both, I asked my father how this revolution compares to the last. He responded that there was absolutely no comparison. The Free Officers Revolution was, he argued, a revolution of the military elite. The people had nothing to do with it, really. This revolution, he argued, was from the people...directly from the voices and hearts of the people.

So what will happen next? It appears that all eyes are on Mohamed Elbaradei, the Egyptian Nobel Prize laureate and former head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). My family feels that Mubarak dealt himself a final blow in last night’s news address in which he dismissed all of his government—except himself! While I was on the phone with them, it was broadcast that the curfew had been extended and all of Cairo was on 24 hour lock-down. They were told that if they broke the curfew, they would be shot. The protestors, my family feels assured, will not leave. Many of the young people in the streets have been there for two or three days and are refusing to leave until Mubarak steps down.

The EPA's Mess with Texas

2011-01-31T10:11:00.000-06:00

January 30, 2011

By Ben Voth

As part of Obama's new political initiative to bypass a Congress that rejected his leadership in 2009 and 2010, he has announced executive orders to allow the federal government to restrict economic activity to fit legislative goals he apparently no longer believes he can win in political debate. One of the most important new targets in this new post-congressional agenda is Texas. The EPA is messing with Texas in ways that threaten to disrupt the biggest jobs-producer in the United States.

The EPA is moving to restrict Texas' ability to continue as the largest production base for natural gas in the nation. As the largest consumer and producer of natural gas, Texas provides an important alternative in energy production to the conventional fossil fuels of coal and oil. Those fuels have fallen into dire regulatory restrictions that Vice President Biden suggested should eventually lead to the end of coal production in the United States. Natural gas has emerged as an important transitional fuel to the green economy. Despite this, the Obama administration is moving to limit this component of Texas' economic boom.

A secret weapon in the battle over Texas is EPA regulator Dr. Al Armendariz. Armendariz was tapped by the Obama administration to limit natural gas production in Texas. In his seminal article on natural gas production from the Barnett shale in North Texas, Armendariz argues that gas production contributes more to global warming than automotive traffic in Dallas:

For comparison, 2009 emission inventories recently used by state and federal regulators estimated smog- forming emissions from all airports in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area to be 16 tpd. In addition, these same inventories had emission estimates for on-road motor vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.) in the 9- county Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area of 273 tpd. The portion of on-road motor vehicle emissions from the 5-counties in the D-FW metropolitan area with significant oil and gas production was 121 tpd, indicating that the oil and gas sector likely has greater emissions than motor vehicles in these counties.

The research relies on "personal conversations" Armendariz had with natural gas-producers in the Dallas area. This is not generally an acceptable standard for research, but it is laying the foundation for intensely regulating the last major fossil fuel that Texas and the United States can turn to in the 21st century. The promotion of the activist/expert to the EPA bodes ill for energy use in the United States. The EPA plans to designate Dallas air as "serious" with regard to ozone pollution based on 1997 standards. Though Dallas has economically boomed and had a population increase of more than 25% since 1997, the city has reduced ozone levels from 102 parts per billion to 86 parts per billion. This impressive feat draws no acceptance from the EPA, and the 2 ppb will be enough to designate Dallas as having some of the dirtiest air in the nation. Dallas air is getting cleaner and will likely soon meet the 1997 standard despite rapid economic growth, but the EPA is eager to dim the star of Lone Star success.

The broader war on CO2 is also important. The potential ramifications for natural gas-producers are huge since CO2 regulation is authorized by a 2007 Supreme Court decision that allows the EPA to regulate such emissions. The messing with Texas is compounded by ideological documentaries such as Gasland which try to deceive the public into believing that natural gas extraction contaminates water supplies. Though gas is extracted nearly a mile below the water supply, ideologues show homeowners dependent on well water setting fire to their water taps from gases presumably introduced by gas drilling. Though the causation is purely speculative and can definitely happen without the presence of gas drilling, the scare tactics are having the same effect they had on nuclear power with "China Syndrome" and an array of fear-mongering tactics designed to destroy practical access to energy sources inside the United States.

The consequence of this long-running fear-mongering over domestic energy is that the United States pays billions of dollars to dangerous governments around the world to extract the same energy without meaningful regulation. This means that the world is more polluted than it would be from American sources and that Americans fund jobs elsewhere, drive up oil prices, fund an array of overseas activity -- including terrorism. The specific effort to mess with Texas energy production reduces one of our nation's most productive internal economies. Americans are flocking to the state, as shown by the 2010 census, and departing from states holding the EPA's view of greenhouse gases.

We would do well to expand the impact statement approach to environmental policies like this one. What will be the global impact of reducing Texas' ability to produce energy? Why is allowing a nation such as Mexico unbridled access to Gulf drilling or other forms of fossil fuel extraction superior to Texas' approach? If the EPA knows that energy consumption is not going to be reduced by regulation, do they bear a burden in increasing global pollution through the executive orders signed by the president? These are all more than fair questions going forward.

Page Printed from: American Thinker at January 31, 2011 - 09:34:10 AM CST

Steve Baysinger
Legislative Liaison
Texas Tenth Amendment Center
steve.baysinger@tenthamendmentcenter.com

Clear Lake Tea Party Pre-Election Rally Report

2010-10-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

From Big Jolly Politics

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 11:28 David Jennings

Almost a thousand people turned out for the Clear Lake Tea Party’s Gulf Region Pre-Election Tea Party Rally last night at Gulf Greyhound Park in La Marque. And they were treated to a rockin’ good time courtesy of the Texas Contraband and five Republican speakers.

full article...

Welcome to the Clear Lake Tea Party Blog!

2010-07-03T06:35:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the newest addition to the Clear Lake Tea Party website – a near real time blog. We Want To Hear From You! The election coming up in November is probably one of the most important elections in the history of our nation. It will take the committed efforts of every American across the country to speak loud and clear with our vote in this election.

You’ll hear from us on a regular basis as we kick around all kinds of subjects in the coming months. To launch this new blog, we have a question for each of you. If you were attempting to have the greatest impact on people in our area, our state, and our nation to move all citizens to really stand up for conservative values and take back America, how would you do it? What message do you believe is the most important? How would you get the average everyday American to wake up and actually do something about our issues today versus just complaining about the problem?