Texas Public Policy Action Announces Texas Government Waste Contest

Using the example of Senator Tom Coburn's Wastebook, Texas Public Policy Action is offering cash prizes to citizens turning in examples of Texas state government waste.  Prizes are available in two categories: video submissions and written submissions.  First, Second and Third place will be awarded in both categories.

Does this sound like something you might be interested in doing?  You can accept the challenge and expose wasteful spending in Texas state government which may result in a cash prize for your efforts. Any unit of government in Texas is eligible, if waste is found.  This doesn't have to be the Texas state budget - it can be your local government. Just remember the excess has to be in the State of Texas.  Write a story or make a video, it's your choice.

HERE is the website.  I am passing along the press release with all the details.

Texas Public Policy Action Announces Contest to Expose Government Waste Competition allows public to highlight examples of egregious government waste in Texas AUSTIN - Texas Public Policy Action today announced the Texas Government Waste Contest, an open competition to allow members of the public to identify and describe examples of egregious and frivolous government waste at all levels of government in Texas.  The contest runs from September 3 to October 24, 2014, with winners announced by November 14, 2014. "Even in Texas there is an incredible amount of wasteful spending, political favoritism, and crony capitalism.  This contest will help to expose waste and cronyism," said TPPA Executive Director Nathanael Ferguson. "By creating a compendium of government waste we will arm taxpayers with the information they need to focus elected officials on solving problems and working to affect change." Contestants will submit stories of a wasteful spending item or program in either a written essay or in an original creative video.  Winners in each of the two categories will be awarded cash prizes, $4,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. All entries will be included in the Compendium of Texas Government Waste, copies of which will be furnished to every legislative office in advance of the 84th Legislative Session. Entries can be submitted here: www.TexWaste.com "Our aim is to inform, engage, and empower citizens to help promote pro-growth policies of limited government and fiscal restraint," said Ferguson. All entries must be limited to wasteful spending in Texas state or local government and will be vetted for accuracy.  Citations must be included with submissions. The contest will be judged by a panel of well-respected policy experts representing multiple think tanks and activist groups in Texas, including Americans for Prosperity Policy and Legislative Director Peggy Venable, True the Vote Founder and President Catherine Engelbrecht, and Grassroots America Executive Director JoAnn Fleming.    Texas Public Policy Action is a non-profit 501c4 organization based in Austin.

Obama Addresses the Nation About ISIS

America is expected to be the leader of the free world, the torchbearer of freedom.  In this case, with this president, America is slow to defend those being overrun by the brutal forces of ISIS.  President Obama is only now reluctantly coming before the American people and stating his plan of action against ISIS.  He is performing half heartedly at best.

President Obama appears to think that a congressional vote is not necessary for a war carried out by air strikes, only if boots are on the ground.  He is so quick to say there will be no boots are on the ground. That's not the truth, however, as there are the boots of Special Forces and intelligence gatherers on the ground, just maybe not what regular people think of as military boots. War is war, as far as the Constitution is concerned.  One would think that a man who ran as a self-proclaimed constitutional scholar would not make that distinction.

George W. Bush's coalition of 37 countries was called "unilateralism" by anti-war Americans and others but Obama touts a "broad coalition" now of 9 countries - all a part of NATO, except Australia.

President Obama said "This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist. This strategy is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years."  Think about that. Those two places are a mess.  Maybe he hasn't gotten the news from the media where he has stated he gets information in the past.  Is he asleep during presidential briefings?

There is no way that the Iraqi army and the Kurds can protect themselves and defeat ISIS without the help of the U.S. military. Despite all the time wasted as Obama insisted the war on terror was over and that the war in Iraq had ceased and Iraq was now stable, ISIS continued to grow.  This president has been unable to muster the courage to admit he was dangerously wrong about foreign policy and his ideas have been failures.  We are not safe as ISIS grows wealthier and gains more land mass.  Make no mistake, ISIS is truly a threat to our homeland.

THIS ARTICLE sums up the curious inability of President Obama to grasp reality. A mere 34 days ago, he said that ISIS was like a "JV" team.

Americans want to join together and support our president.  Though he said,"we will degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL", he  does not inspire confidence. Other countries no longer trust or respect us. It seems that he is being pulled into action - that the American people are out in front of him, war weary though we are.

This president is seeing the lowest numbers in the polls that his presidency has seen.  This whole revision of his previous stances, now that other nations and the clear majority of American people demand action, smacks of poll watching.  That is no way to protect America. Our president has a 9/10/01 mind set instead of a post 9/11/01 mind set.

HERE is the speech transcript. You can decide if you find clear thought and strategy.  All I really got out of it is more air strikes, no land combat, and he'll ask Congress for money to provide equipment to those fighting the war on the ground. This speech should have been made more than a year ago.

True the Vote Holds National Call

True the Vote President and Founder Catherine Engelbrecht and Logan Churchwell, Communications Director, held a National Call Tuesday night for a maximum crowd of 500 interested listeners.  Held online and also available via telephone call-in, Engelbrecht began with, "It's been a while since we hosted a national call."  Then she set the agenda for the call.  The call was to bring interested listeners up to speed on ongoing litigation and recent litigation as well as to share the tools and programs from the True the Vote "laboratory".  She made it clear that even though the organization was dealing with litigation, the building and growing of tools and programs continued.  It continues today.

Logan Churchwell spoke to the lawsuits.  First on the Mississippi "loss", it was lost on a summary judgement but True the Vote believes it was handed good news in the fine print.  They believe that third party groups trying to enforce voting laws won by forcing recognition of their message, as the court admitted that True the Vote is unique and not normally seen.  The judge admitted that Congress hasn't made it easy to know what information under the law is available and wants Congress to do its job in that area. The federal judge said that True the Vote brought their lawsuit before waiting long enough to file.

Engelbrecht said that True the Vote is moving on from that lawsuit now and considers it closed.  She also wanted to be clear about True the Vote not being a part of the Chris McDaniels campaign challenge.  True the Vote was there to validate irregularity reports.

The federal lawsuit against the I.R.S. is ongoing.  True the Vote filed a brief to expedite the discovery process as reports that emails are disappearing brought about a sense of urgency.  The judge said no to that request but a decision on regular discovery is due any time, as it was to be within 60 days from a July date.

The same day Engelbrecht last testified before Congress, a complaint was filed against Rep Elijah Cumming, Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee.  This is brought about by rumors of coordination between DOJ and Cumming's office and Lois Lerner (I.R.S.).

This story broke just Tuesday: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/09/Letter-Holder-Aide-Accidentally-Calls-Issa-For-Help-Spinning-IRS-Scandal

A Senior Communications Aide for Department of Justice's Attorney General Eric Holder called the office of the House Chairman of the Oversight Committee, handling the IRS scandals, thinking it was the office of Democrat Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member of that committee. It was made clear that the call was to discuss coordination between Cummings' office and DOJ about the IRS scandal investigations, which includes True the Vote. Founder and President of True the Vote Catherine Engelbrecht has testified several times before the committee.

The aide, Brian Fallon, is a former senior aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a well-known personality on Capitol Hill. The letter describes Fallon as “audibly shaken” when he realizes his request to leak documents to help get ahead of news stories about them was mistakenly made to the very office he was seeking to undermine. Issa believes the call was intended to be made to Democratic Rep. Elijah Cumming's staff, the ranking member on the oversight panel, the letter said.According to the letter, Fallon – who is not named in the letter but confirmed he made the call – asked if the aides could release the IRS scandal documents to “selected reporters” to give Fallon an “opportunity to comment publicly on it.”Fallon explained to Issa aides that the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs had not permitted him to release the documents to the public and he wanted to get ahead of the story “before the Majority” – meaning Issa – could share it, according to the letter.Issa aides – who had placed the call on speakerphone – were “caught off guard by the unusual nature of the call and the odd request” and asked Fallon to “e-mail the material for evaluation.”“At this point,” Fallon “abruptly placed the call on hold for approximately three minutes.” When Fallon returned to the call, “he was audibly shaken. He immediately stated that there was a 'change in plans' and that there would be no effort” by DOJ to release the material early.Fallon “proceeded to pitch the idea that the Department and the Committee should 'help one another' while simultaneously saying that 'you need to say what you need to say.'”

So, it sure sounds like the rumors were well founded.

Engelbrecht then spoke about the present concentration on the November 2014 elections and three (3) new tools in the toolkit for those interested in integrity of elections.
1.  Poll Watcher training.  This has been re-tooled from the original launch in 2012.  True the Vote doesn't place poll watchers but trains those who are interested in this.  It is up to the volunteer to get placed at a polling place, "a place to serve", usually through a political party.

2.  True the Vote Research Database.  The original version went live on the website in 2011 and has been modified since.  Recently the database was taken down from the website and rebuilt.  A more stable data platform is being tested and it will go live again soon.

3.  Vote Stand.  This is a new to the marketplace online app.  It is a Voter Fraud Android & iOS App re-release.  It will be found at www.votestand.com when it goes live.  It will definitely be ready for the November 2014 elections.  Volunteers and voters are encouraged to say something if they see something at voting polls, such as fraud or suppression.  This app is a way of reporting it to True the Vote in real time.

Engelbrecht noted that polling shows that over 80% of voters agree with Voter ID laws.

The Texas Voter ID lawsuit is in court now.  For the first time ever, DOJ kept this lawsuit at the district level, not at the federal level.

There is more waiting in the wings, we were told.  Immediately after the November 2014 elections, True the Vote vows to go into full mode for 2016 elections.  There is the promise of a 2015 True the Vote Summit.  "Believe me when I say we are very focused" , said Engelbrecht.

Engelbrecht ended with "Hang on.  There is a lot of work to do and it is going to take all of us."  "We believe we really can True the Vote."

Chris Carmona, Candidate for Texas House District 148, Makes National GOP List

Two Texas races have appeared on an important list, distributed in press release form Tuesday by the Republican State Leadership Committee's Future Majority Project (RSLC) and "Right Women, Right Now" initiative.  The list was made during a regional meeting focusing on the midterm elections.

From their website:

"The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down ballot, state-level Republican office-holders."

Today the Republican State Leadership Committee’s (RSLC) Future Majority Project and “Right Women, Right Now” initiative announced “14 in ’14 Races to Watch” during the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC) Northeast Regional Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. The meeting focused on Republicans’ opportunities to gain ground in the Northeast in the upcoming midterm elections.

Christine Toretti, RSLC Board Member and advisor to the Future Majority Project’s “Right Women, Right Now” initiative, issued the following statement announcing the “Races to Watch:”

“It is critical we ensure our Party reflects the full diversity of America and the RSLC’s Future Majority Project and “‘Right Women, Right Now” initiative has been instrumental in guaranteeing that female and diverse Republican candidates are a part of the political conversation, both nationwide and at the state level,” said Toretti.  “I applaud the candidates recognized today in these ‘Races to Watch’ and thank them for leading the way to help us grow the Republican Party in their respective states.”  

Toretti concluded by announcing the races to watch. 

The Future Majority Project’s “14 in 14 Races to Watch” are:

Darius Foster – Alabama House 56

Anand Dubey – Alaska House 21

Rene Plasencia – Florida House 49

Bob Cortes – Florida House 30

Krishna Bansal – Illinois House 84

Tony Barton – Kansas House 41

Shamed Dogan – Missouri House 98

Victoria Seaman – Nevada Assembly 34

Herman Joubert – North Carolina Senate 22

Ervin Yen – Oklahoma Senate 40

Bryan Terry – Tennessee House 48

Sabi Kumar – Tennessee House 66

Rick Galindo – Texas House 117

Chris Carmona – Texas House 148

Right Women, Right Now “14 in ’14 Races to Watch” are:

Tijuanna Adetunji – Alabama House 78

Michele Reagan – Arizona Secretary of State

Shawnna Bolick - Arizona House 28

Irene Littleton – Arizona Senate 8

Candice Benge – Colorado House 3

Terri Bryant – Illinois House 115

Erin Davis – Kansas House 15

Karyn Polito – Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor

Carol Ann Fausone – Michigan House 21

Jill Dickman – Nevada Assembly 31

Sharon Gamba – Rhode Island House 32

Patsy Hazlewood – Tennessee House 27

Sophia DiCaro- Utah House 31

Tracie Happel – Wisconsin Assembly 94

 Also included were these "Fast Facts":

Fast Facts on the Future Majority Project and Future Majority Caucus

• For the 2013-2014 cycle, FMP announced a goal to identify 200 new diverse candidates as well as 300 new female candidates through its “Right Women, Right Now” initiative, with the goal of electing at least 75 diverse candidates and 150 women candidates.  Earlier this summer FMP announced 244 diverse candidates identified across the nation and 558 women through “Right Women, Right Now.”

• In 2011, the RSLC launched the Future Majority Project – a forward-thinking outreach initiative intended to proactively grow the Republican Party. FMP named goals in 2011 of identifying 100 new candidates of Hispanic descent. Successes last cycle include exceeding initial goals by identifying 126 candidates of Hispanic descent in 26 states and increasing the number of Hispanic Republicans in office.

• In February 2013, FMP announced the Future Majority Caucus, chaired by Governors Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada, its leadership is comprised of current elected officials from the first class of last cycle’s FMP candidates – to work to expand the scope of recruitment by the RSLC to include not only candidates of Hispanic descent, but other candidates reflecting the breadth of ethnic diversity across the nation as well. In February of 2014, the FMC added 15 additional state-level legislators representing diverse backgrounds and recently added New Mexico House Conference Chairman Alonzo Baldonado to the caucus.

• As part of FMP, RSLC also launched ‘Right Women, Right Now’ (RWRN), a sustained effort to identify and support Republican women candidates at the state level.  The goal for 2012 was to identify 150 new Republican female candidates with the goal of electing 75 to office.  RWRN successes included exceeding goals by identifying 191 new candidates and electing 84 new Republican women to state-level office in 36 states.

Down ballot races are crucial.  We know that "all politics is local" quote is true.  Future benches for state wide and national races begin at the local level.  

Did Wendy Davis' Abortion Revelations Jump the Shark?

Monday marked the full court press of a media campaign for Wendy Davis, the Democrat nominee running for Governor of the State of Texas. I happened to watch a fluff interview of her on Good Morning America. Pink sneakers! Raised by a single mom! Mom suffered from depression! She herself a single mom! Davis has written a book and quite deftly released it just less than two months before election day. The headline grabbing portion of this book is that Davis writes of two different abortions she had in the 1990's. Her campaign, after all, was launched due to her nationally noticed filibuster during the last session of the Texas legislature.  She gained national exposure as a Texas State Senator for her objection to the legislation before that body setting new demands on abortion clinics in Texas.  Democrats claimed these restrictions would cause women to be unable to obtain an abortion while Republicans insisted that these restrictions would bring accountability and safety measures for the sake of the women and their unborn babies.

She must have been saving her own abortion stories for the book because she didn't mention it as the primary reason she was vaulting herself unto the national political stage. Never once did she mention her own personal experiences.

Here is the irony - by making her campaign largely dependent on her new celebrity as an advocate for unrestricted abortion law, she has to make herself a sympathetic figure to women and has chosen this path.  She probably didn't forecast that voters can now draw a parallel between her and that of former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum and his wife Karen and how each were treated by national media.  During the very same year, in 1996, as Wendy Davis and her husband were having to make a very personal and difficult decision about abortion, the same decision faced Rick and Karen Santorum.  Both women were told that the developing fetuses they carried would be born with severe physical disabilities.  In the case of the Santorums, they were told that their baby would certainly die at birth.

In Forgetting to Be Afraid, Davis describes how she learned in the second trimester that the fetus developing in her womb had a severe brain abnormality. The brain of the fetus had essentially divided—developing without connections between the right and left sides. Doctors told Davis and her former husband Jeff, already parents of two young girls, that if the child survived birth it would be deaf, blind and in a permanent vegetative state.

She went on to explain that she felt the baby wouldn't want to live with disabilities so she terminated the pregnancy.  She explained that the heart beat of the baby was "quieted" by drugs and she delivered via a Cesarean section.  She and her husband named the baby, took photos of the baby and introduced the baby to her two living daughters.  She said she had the baby baptized.

Let's think back to the 2012 Presidential Campaign of Rick Santorum.  The story was told of the tragic death of their newborn baby and the grief process the couple and their living children took to deal with that death.  At the time, the media took great sport in opining that the Santorums were some kind of kooks.  They were appalled that Rick and Karen took the baby home for the other children to see and understand the baby's death.  I will say that I was a bit taken aback by their actions, but who am I to say how a family should cope with such a tragedy?  Abiding by the candidate Santorum's fight against partial birth abortion, the birth of the baby without "quieting" the heart first seems reasonable.  

Karen Santorum was in the 19^th week of pregnancy when a routine sonogram revealed that the child had a fatal defect and was going to die. Gabriel Michael Santorum, the unborn son of the Santorums, suffered from an obstruction of the urinary tract called posterior urethral valve syndrome. The Santorums consulted with specialists who offered several options—among them abortion.Rather than ending the life of their child, however, the Santorums elected to attempt a long-shot intrauterine surgery to correct the obstruction. Despite a high risk of infection through an incision in the womb, Karen underwent rare “bladder shunt” surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. The surgery did, in fact, lead to infection; and two days later, with a 105 degree fever, Karen was rushed to the high-risk pregnancy unit in Pittsburgh’s Magee-Women’s Hospital. Unless the source of the infection (the fetus) was removed from Karen’s body, they were told, she would likely die.Agonizing over the decision whether to hasten delivery for the developing but not-yet-viable child, thus saving Karen’s life, the Santorums had their answer when the antibiotics which fought Karen’s infection also caused her to go into labor. Doctors delivered tiny Gabriel Michael, and Rick Santorum baptized his newborn son. Rick and Karen held his tiny body in their arms, rocking him and singing to him, for two hours until he died. Then they did something rarely seen: They took his small body home so that their two older children could see their brother, could hold him and pray for God to welcome him into his heavenly kingdom.

One of the abortions of Wendy Davis was due to an ectopic pregnancy. I find it a bit odd that she lumps that in with the other abortion.  Ectopic pregnancy is life threatening to the mother if the pregnancy does not end.  The mother will bleed to death.  She claims this is how the state of Texas labels ectopic pregnancies. I am not the only one to notice that bit of oddness:


So OB/GYNs don’t consider ectopic pregnancies abortions, but what about Texas?  (By the way, I take Ms. Davis to mean induced abortion when we writes about “abortion” and her ectopic pregnancy). While I don’t practice in Texas I was able to find that state’s reporting form for induced abortions and there is no mention of ectopic pregnancy. The way the form is written doesn’t lead me to believe it is meant to include ectopic pregnancies. If there is another form that I’ve missed, please leave a link below.

Was it another play for sympathy in her campaign? I have no way of knowing.  That OB-GYN, though not a Texas practitioner, was puzzled by her terminology.

So, this is where we are.  Abortion continues to be a political volleyball, used by both parties.  Some people are single issue voters.  All of this is one of the reasons we have such personal discord among ordinary people when it comes to voting and social issues. 

Wendy Davis, a Democrat woman running for Governor of the State of Texas, may have jumped the shark on this story.  She is down considerably with likely voters when put up against her Republican opponent. Real Clear Politics has her down 12+ points.  We will soon know if her polling numbers move or not. Republican candidate Greg Abbott issued the following statement:

"The unspeakable pain of losing a child is beyond tragic for any parent. As a father, I grieve for the Davis family and for the loss of life," Abbott said Saturday of the disclosure in her memoir, which also revisited her termination of an ectopic pregnancy, for which there was no other option.

Carl Pittman Addresses Memorial West Republican Women

The featured speaker for Memorial West Republican Women's September meeting was Carl Pittman, author and candidate for Harris County Sheriff in 2016.  He spoke about character building implemented by his mother and of the importance for Republicans to reach out and spread the word of the Republican Party to those who may have never heard the truth of our principles and philosophy.

It is important to spread the word of the Republican Party in a more gentle way than the in your face style used by some.  Pittman used the example of speaking with a 72 year old gentleman several years ago who thought that President Abraham Lincoln was a Democrat because he freed the slaves.  Pittman corrected him tactfully and the man called him a couple of days later to say his grandson looked it up on the Internet for him and Lincoln was indeed a Republican.

Pittman's story is a truly American story - born in a two room home with the help of a midwife, the home had no running water until he was 15 years old, a tin roof and an outhouse.  Born in Fulshear, Texas, his father died when he was 5 years old.  His mother picked and chopped cotton, picked pecans and other local crops as the primary source of income for the family.  His mother had a 3rd grade education.

From his biography I used to introduce him at the meeting:

"Immediately after high school Carl joined the United States Marines, serving with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton, California as an infantry Marine serving under the leadership of President Ronald Reagan.

After being honorably discharged from the Marines in 1985, Carl joined the San Diego Police Department and then served the National City Police Department approximately 17 miles north of the Mexican/U.S. border at Tijuana.  His duty assignments were as a patrol officer, gang and narcotics officer and Patrol Sergeant.  During the early 1990's as a Detective, he was assigned to the J.U.D.G.E. unit, a federally funded task force.  He was a State of California Superior Court qualified expert in narcotics and gangs such as the Mexican Mafia known as La Eme and Hell's Angels.

Carl  left law enforcement in 1993 for the private sector becoming a real estate broker and subsequently founding  The Pittman Company Real Estate and Mortgage Services in 1997 serving as the managing broker.

Carl returned home to Texas in 2001 and joined the Harris County Sheriff's Office where assignments have included detentions, background investigations, internal affairs and currently serving since 2007 as a Criminal Investigator.

Carl is the author of the recently released book titled, The Personal Journey of a Black Common Sense Conservative.  Carl is a member of Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for nearly two decades, which is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research.  Carl will be seeking the Republican nomination for Harris County Sheriff in 2016."

White House Announces Immigration Action Will Wait Until November

Early on a Saturday morning, ripe with the possibility of the least amount of Americans noticing, President Obama's White House announced that his next actions on immigration reform will not be known until after the November 2014 mid-term elections.

A quick sentence from the AP declared the latest blatantly political decision from this President:

"White House officials: Obama to delay immigration action until after November election."

Apparently the ruse that Obama had to fly back to Washington from Martha's Vineyard at further taxpayer expense for a two day round of meetings with his administration officials was just that - a smokescreen used for him to travel to his former chef's wedding.

This comes on the heels of reports that even Obama's fellow elected Democrats don't want the political firestorm of continued Execution Order action from him as it relates to illegal immigrants.


Founder and Executive Director of America's Voice sent out this tweet upon learning of the announcement:

Frank Sharry ‏@FrankSharry  We are bitterly disappointed in the President and Democrats. We didn’t make the reform promise; we just made the mistake of believing it.

Sharry stated recently during a discussion with the a group of conservatives and liberals assembled by a Huffington Post writer :

"I think it's going to be 5 to 6 million [people affected by deferred detention]," said Sharry. "And Obama is going to, he's going to go for it. He's going to go for it. And he's going to be rolling a hand grenade in the middle of American politics that is going to explode."

"I think he is playing to history more than the immediate politics," he added. 

The group was discussing the possibilities of Obama's actions last month, as liberals were chomping at the bit that he go big with something so as to rally the base of the party to get out the vote in the mid-term elections.  The other side of that coin is that big actions taken with Congressional approval via votes will also rally conservative voters.  As usual, Obama took the safest path to save his own skin.


In August, as all the liberal pundits, writers and pollsters were encouraging the president to act and act big, this quote from Democrat pollster Celinda Lake sums it up:

Democratic Pollster Celinda Lake to The Hill — “It would help with Latino voters and we’re in desperate need of higher turnout among Latino voters. Right now they could say, ‘Nobody cares about us, nobody is doing anything for us – either party.”

It cannot be any more clear that President Obama and the Democrats care about little more than the politics of such an important policy.  

Obama Shows Weakness - Admits No Strategy on ISIS/ISIL

Recently President Obama put in an appearance in the White House briefing room for the press corps and said essentially nothing.  He is quite good at that.  He probably didn't count on one particular answer to a question on the U.S. response to the brutality of ISIL in which he said we have no plan of action yet.

Not only was this astounding to the average viewer of this press briefing, it must have rocked our allies in Europe and delighted our enemies abroad.  I can well imagine the leadership of ISIL and other bad actors high fiving each other as they gathered around their electronic devices to hear what the leader of the free world had to say about them.  This sent an unimaginably bad message to everyone, most importantly the American people.  Once again, our president proves he is incapable of making a decision to protect the security of our country and to reassure our allies that America will step up to do the right thing.

ISIS/ISIL has been well known to us for the past four years, with each year bringing them closer to gaining momentum. Since last January, ISIS has made considerable progress in taking over Iraqi provinces. Finally, after months of begging for help, the Kurds are receiving a bit of support from this administration.  This president was unable to complete an agreement for leaving some troops for support in Iraq - a deliberate move, in my opinion - and now we see that this president has snatched defeat from victory in Iraq.  Obama ran on being the anti- Iraq war candidate and has ruled as such. Hillary Clinton recently admitted her votes on Iraq were solely politically motivated, not what she thought was really best for that country.  This is why Democrats are not to be trusted in foreign policy.

Joe Biden ran as the guy to bring heft to the ticket in 2008, as Obama had no foreign policy experience.  He essentially had no experience for the job of president but Americans fell in love with the idea of the first black president and even solid Republicans felt justified in voting for that ticket in 2008.  Sadly, Obama has proven to be an affirmative action kind of president - one who would certainly have never survived the initial Democratic primary races had he not been a black man. This is some hard truth that has been unspoken for too long and now our country is the laughingstock of free nations.

British Prime Minister Cameron interrupted his summer vacation to go back to 10 Downing Street and the British Parliament when the American journalist was beheaded by ISIL to send a message to President Obama and the West to not continue air strikes meant to diminish ISIL advances.  What did President Obama do? He finally issued a weak statement of sympathy over the journalist's death and a quick trip back to Washington, D.C. while contending that he had made no decision or put in place policy to attend to these fresh threats. Today we learn that the second American journalist held as hostage has met the same fate as his colleague.

Obama seems to believe that if he wishes away the brutal actions of ISIL or of Russian President Putin, then atrocities in Iraq and Syria and Ukraine will just not exist.  The evidence is that Team Obama is incapable of leading the free world.  Who can believe that we are where we are as America?

In recent editorials and op-eds, this has been addressed.  Former chess champion Garry Kasparov has written about the situation with President Putin, most recently HERE. Ukraine is falling into going to war with Russia over their sovereignty as a nation. Where is America?  Ukraine doesn't want our American boots on the ground there but are asking for equipment and training to fight Putin's army.

The world changed a bit last Friday as Putin delivered a blusterous speech boasting of Russia's nuclear power and might.  Clearly he intends to continue his march to take land which no longer belongs to Russia. He was allowed to take Crimea without outside opposition and was emboldened by that. What is after Ukraine? Estonia? Latvia?

"What we’re seeing around the world is a revolt of the weak. There are certain weak movements and nations, beset by internal contradictions, that can’t compete if they play by the normal rules of civilization. Therefore, they are conspiring to blow up the rule book."

That is from a piece written by David Brooks in the New York Times. He continues:

"The first example is Russia. Putin is poor in legitimacy. He is poor in his ability to deliver goods and dignity for his people. But he is rich in brazenness. He is rich in his ability to play by the lawlessness of the jungle, so he wants the whole world to operate by jungle rules.

There has been a norm, generally operating over the past few decades, or even centuries, that big, powerful nations don’t gobble up everything around them just because they can. But this is precisely the norm that Putin is brazenly crushing under foot. If Putinism can effectively tear down this norm, more and more we’ll live in a world in which brazenness is rewarded and self-restraint is punished.

Then there are the Islamist movements like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. This movement is poor in offering a lifestyle that most people find attractive. But it is strong in spiritual purity, so it wants to set off a series of religious wars and have the world organized by religious categories.

There has been a norm, developed gradually over the centuries, that politics is not a totalistic spiritual enterprise. Governments try to deliver order and economic benefits to people, but they do not organize their inner spiritual lives.

This is precisely the norm that ISIS and other jihadi groups are trying to destroy. If they succeed, then the Middle East will devolve into a 30 years war of faith against faith. Zealotry will be rewarded, and restraint will be punished.

Putin and ISIS are not threats to American national security, narrowly defined. They are threats to our civilizational order."

Unfortunately, President Obama and his team are looking to be the weakest of all. 

Sean Seibert for Texas District 18

A vote was taken Wednesday in the House of Representatives in favor of suing the President of the United States on the matter of overreach on his part as it pertains to upholding the laws on the books.  The vote mostly fell along party lines, with only a few Republicans voting against such action. The vote, therefore, was in favor of the lawsuit.  (NOTE:  Rep Steve Stockman (R-TX) voted with the Democrats.)

The White House and the Democrats in Washington, D.C. have been promoting the idea that Republicans want to impeach President Obama as an election year distraction from the large number of utter failures this administration is juggling.  President Obama has added the threat of the lawsuit to his repertoire as he delivers fundraising speeches as though he himself is on the campaign trail. So, Wednesday the talking point issued from the White House after the vote was that the Republicans were pursuing impeachment lite.

As usual, in response to the vote, Sheila Jackson-Lee opened her mouth and inserted her foot.

Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee, (D-TX), stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and stated that Democrats did not attempt to start impeachment proceedings against former President George W. Bush.  Unfortunately, this was either a blatant lie or a product of a very strong brain freeze on her part.  Not only did former Representative Dennis Kucinich, (D-OH) introduce such a bill but Representative Jackson-Lee was one of eleven (11) Democrat co-sponsors.  Surely if one was to sign on as a co-sponsor of a bill to impeach a sitting president, one would remember such an action.

On June 10, 2008, H. Res. 1258 was introduced in the 110th Congress.

As noted in this blog, this is the list of co-sponsors:

Oops.

It is as though the Democrats did not realize that all of the horrid stunts and ploys entertained by them during the eight years of the George W. Bush administrations would come back to haunt them one day.  It's called karma.  What goes around, comes around.  Republicans have long memories.

Representative Jackson-Lee has a long history of embarrassing statements.  It is time for her to be ousted from her elected office.  The people of District 18 deserve much better.

I support Sean Seibert, the Republican nominee running against Representative Jackson-Lee.  Seibert had a strong showing against her in a previous election cycle. District 18 has long been held by Jackson-Lee - in Democratic control. He is a decorated Army veteran, currently in the Army Reserve.  Most recently, Seibert served in Afghanistan.

I encourage the voters of District 18 to send a strong fiscal conservative to Washington, D.C. Hasn't Houston been embarrassed enough?

Honorary Consul of Ukraine To Address United Republicans of Harris County

Gregory Buchai, Honorary Consul of Ukraine, will update those in attendance of the upcoming general meeting of United Republicans of Harris County.  This promises to be an insightful and enlightening speech on the events of concern to the country.

On Tuesday, July 29, 2014, join with others concerned about the recent events in the region at the Sosa Center, 1414 Wirt Rd, Houston 77055, at 6:30 pm for coffee and conversation.  The program begins at 7:00 pm.  

Talk about a timely topic and a knowledgeable speaker!  The event is free and open to the public, though if you can come, please RSVP by Friday, July 25, 2014 on the website -  http://www.urhc.net .  

Late Wednesday afternoon President Obama walked to an awaiting microphone in the WH press briefing room and announced he was widening the American sanctions against Russia. He pledged America's continued support for the Ukrainian people. "Ukrainians have the right to forge their own destiny."

Obama Fundraises in Texas But No Trip To The Border

The President of the United States has no time or, more accurately, no desire to visit the Texas/Mexico border Wednesday while he is in the state for two fundraisers.  He will be in both Dallas and Austin to raise money for Democrats.

Governor Perry invited President Obama to tour the border with him to see what the reality is concerning the accelerated influx of those entering the country illegally, in specific the increased number of unaccompanied minors.  Initially the president's people turned down the invitation and claimed there was no time in the busy fundraising schedule for a trip to the border.  Then, when questioned about this lack of time by reporters in the White House press corps, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the White House was not particularly concerned about the optics of refusing the touring opportunity.  Then, when the story would not die down and Democrats began to come forward and criticize the decision, top aide Valerie Jarrett issued a statement that the president didn't need no stinkin' tour (my words, not hers) of the border because he knows everything about all things (again my words, not hers).  Still unable to quell the outcry and as Democrats were beginning to take to the airwaves to express their disapproval, it was announced Tuesday that President Obama would be able to meet with Governor Perry in Dallas for a discussion.

Did I mention that when Team Obama reached out and invited Governor Perry to meet him on the tarmac for a handshake welcome photo op, Governor Perry turned down that invitation and said a tour of the border would be better.  Yeah, that happened, too.

So, welcome to Texas, President Obama.

A couple of quotes from an early morning television appearance by Texas Senator John Cornyn on the subject of the President's trip to Texas for fundraising but not to tour the human tragedy on the state's border:

“It would help him get outside of the bubble that all presidents get in. But this President seems just determined to be tone deaf in terms of the human consequences of the policies that he himself has caused."

“…The President should see what we saw….[He] refuses to take the necessary steps in order to deter people from starting out on this long perilous journey up from Central America through Mexico in the hands of the drug cartels where many of them are kidnapped, assaulted."

And from Texas Senator Ted Cruz:

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has joined Texas Gov. Rick Perry in calling on President Barack Obama to visit the Mexican border personally, with Cruz sending Obama actual directions to the border from the president’s planned fundraiser stops in Austin and Dallas.Cruz took to Twitter to invite Obama to take a look at the border itself amid a growing immigration crisis along the southern border with Mexico.“If President Obama wants to have a real border meeting with @GovernorPerry, here are a couple suggested detours,” Cruz tweeted on Tuesday.

I bet Texas Rep Henry Cuellar has some suggestions for the president, too.  He has turned up the heat and spoken clearly that this is not a new problem for Texas and the president has turned a blind eye for far too long.  Cuellar, is a Democrat.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who represents the district where the immigrants are crossing the Rio Grande Valley at the southernmost tip of the Longhorn State, said the Obama administration is "one step behind.""They should have seen this a long time ago, because we saw those numbers increasing," he said on CNN's "State of the Union," referring to the rise of undocumented immigrants across the border in recent years.Cuellar said that in 2009, about 6,000 unaccompanied children crossed the border, which jumped to 25,000 in 2013. (The Los Angeles Times estimated 39,000 children crossed last year.) But just in May, Cuellar said the number exploded to 9,700 unaccompanied children who unlawfully crossed the border.Up to 80,000 children are expected this year, most coming from Central America."They knew this was happening a year ago, last year. And ... they're not reacting fast enough at this time, in my personal opinion," Cuellar said.Cuellar has been putting pressure on the administration to more aggressively address the issue, but his blunt remarks on national television Sunday reveals the level of frustration he has as his district is the entry point for many. He says the drug cartels are in part to blame and at an average of $5,000 per person are making hundreds of millions of dollars shuttling mothers with children and unaccompanied children into the United States. 

 Is this Obama's Katrina as we hear pundits mention on television?  No.  Hurricane Katrina was a weather event and warnings were issued from former President Bush at the time to the residents of New Orleans and help was offered to stubborn Democrat elected officials in Louisiana who were more concerned with playing politics than upholding their oath of office to protect the people.  The crisis on the border has accelerated over time, especially after President Obama bowed to election year pressure and tweaked a Dream Act type provision to court Latino votes in 2012. President Bush's flyover of the damage caused to the Gulf coast was bad optics.  He did, however, go and make a speech to the nation shortly after that from the grounds of the St Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square.  He and First Lady Laura Bush made several trips to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of that storm.

War on Women Meme Lives To See Another Day

Annie's List will be hosting Candidate 101 training in both Houston and Dallas in July.  This is being promoted as a first time occurrence in an election year for them, as the Democrats continue on along the path of the War on Women theme.  What better way to inspire and motivate women to run for office and be active in political campaigns than to promote false narratives that further the progressive agenda?  

Annie's List is the Austin version of Emily's List.  The conservative alternative to both of those is Maggie's List.  The big money donor founder of the PAC is married to the trial lawyer who is the major funder of Battleground Texas.

The recent ruling by the Supreme Court on the Hobby Lobby case brought out a renewed enthusiasm among liberal elites hoping to insert the tired War on Women rhetoric as we approach the 2014 mid term elections.  There has been little for Democrats to get excited about and the predictions bode well for Republicans in this cycle.  Will a resurrection of this battle bring out an apathetic Democratic voting base? 

From the Wall Street Journal:

Democrats claim to be distraught over the Court's Hobby Lobby decision, but really they can barely suppress their glee. Allowing some religious objectors in business to opt out of the contraception mandate lends them a campaign theme that isn't the economy, the Middle East in flames or incompetent governance. No agenda, no problem. Patriarchs and Republicans—if that's not redundant—are coming for your womb, ladies.

The three liberal women sitting on the Supreme Court produced a dissent to the ruling.  Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a Clinton appointee) wrote the dissent and both Justices Sotomayor and Kagen (Obama appointees) signed on to it.

Also from the Wall Street Journal:

As Harvard liberal Laurence Tribe said on MSNBC, the majority's opinion is "not as radical" as many are claiming. It applies only to "closely held" companies with owners who have clear religious beliefs, and it explicitly says that companies cannot use the opinion as an excuse to opt out of other legal requirements. The majority merely said Hobby Lobby could refuse to pay for four kinds of contraception because the Administration's mandate violated the standard of religious conscience that Congress wrote into the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.Justice Ginsburg's dissent is so far removed from the legal reality that it doesn't qualify as a judicial opinion. It is a political opinion whose purpose seems to be to mobilize opposition to the Court and perhaps even motivate Democrats to turn out at the polls. Justice Antonin Scalia sometimes unleashes his rhetorical ferocity on decisions he dislikes, but his dissents are rooted in the law. Justice Ginsburg's is a flight from the law.

It was Democrat President Bill Clinton who signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, it should be noted.

Elections have consequences.  Supreme Court appointments are lifetime reminders of that fact.

Thai Shrimp and Human Trafficking

That inexpensive shrimp purchased instead of more realistically priced Gulf of Mexico shrimp is directly linked to human trafficking.  As a rule of thumb, it is best to purchase goods originating closest to your home.  It is best to support local farmers, fishermen, and manufacturing.  Closest to home is best.

That inexpensive shrimp originating overseas - in particular from Thailand - is sent to market by men purchased to do the work.  Yes, human slavery still exists around the world and this is an example of such abuse.

This is a video produced by The Guardian in which a reporter explains the process and the conditions of the transactions in this business.  It is not easy to watch but it clearly explains the reality of the situation.  Take a few minutes and watch it.

Closest to home is best.

Obama Tweets About Birth Control For July 4th Weekend

The President of the United States allowed his Twitter account to be used as an ad for birth control Thursday, as the rest of the country was beginning a long holiday weekend celebrating America's independence. 

Barack Obama @BarackObama · 7h

Throwback to last week when a woman—not her boss—made her own decisions about her health care. #TBT

You can use the link above to see the photo that accompanied the text of that tweet.

Somehow I don't think that is the same tweet that the founding fathers would have sent, had they the opportunity.

pic.twitter.com/xmQ5e7DFmW

Governor Perry Addresses The New York Meeting

Monday, Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke at The New York Meeting.  His topic was "Red State Solutions to Blue State Problems.  Preceding Governor Perry was Texas Congressman Roger Williams, (Tx Dist 25) who will soon roll out "Jump Start America".  Included in this plan is a 30% Flat Tax on businesses; 20% Flat Tax on the 1st million earned by taxpayers; 30% on the 2nd million; and a 15% capital gains tax. He said that growing small businesses is the answer to a sluggish economy.  A common talking point from each of the speakers was the upcoming 2014 elections are even more important than 2016. Encouraging citizen involvement, he said, "Get off the porch and lead the parade down Main Street."

From the website:

The New York Meeting is a nationally-recognized gathering of elected officials, journalists, business leaders and conservative authors in New York City at The Grand Hyatt, run by Mallory Factor and O’Brien Murray.The New York Meeting identifies leaders and generates ideas for the future of our nation and gets to the core of the most important issues facing the nation.   This monthly hour and half meeting consists of five 15 minute segments with America’s leaders—Senators, Governors, Congressman, newsmakers, journalists and celebrated authors,  Each speaker addresses the meeting and then, answer questions from a panel of noted journalists and the invited audience.  The audience is limited to five hundred invited guests–donors, media, and organization heads.
The New York Meeting is streamed live by a number of large Conservative organizations, and reaches a large monthly audience.  In addition, the individual segments are made available on YouTube and other outlets to reach additional audiences.

The five speakers Monday were William Kristol, Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Governor Perry.

During his question and answer session, Kristol referred to the Texas platform plank on the subject of gays as "not the norm for the GOP".

Rep Blackburn said that she supports Rep Steve Scalise (R-LA) for Majority Whip in the House of Representatives because of those running, he is a southern Congressman and 25% of the caucus is from southern states, yet only two committees are led by southern Congressmen.  "Only two gavels", she said.

"The purpose of a political party is to elect candidates of like-minded philosophy", said Haley Barbour.  He spoke about the need for a big tent.  "We have to win elections that allow us to govern."  In 2014 he said "Our goal has got to be to win."  "In politics, purity is the enemy of victory.  Only one perfect person has walked the earth and he's not running this year."

Rep Issa spoke about pressing on with the investigations of the IRS and of the Benghazi tragedy.  

Governor Perry began by asking a question - "How do we make America work again?"  He said that the place you look is at the state level.  Governors compete with each other.  States have the opportunity to compete against each other.  He said the U.S. has to liberalize energy policy, especially opening federal lands.  He pointed out that since 2000, 37% of all new jobs in the private sector have been created in Texas.  One out of twelve Americans live in Texas.  Three out of eight jobs have been created in Texas.  He credits the success in Texas to continuity of leadership, as light a tax burden as possible, a legal system that will not allow over-suing, and holding schools accountable.  He said this gives people confidence that there will be security and stability in the state.  The formula is the key to success for the rest of the country.  He said the goal is to make D.C. as inconsequential as possible - let states make policy to govern.

When asked why he focuses on economic issues and not social issues in his speeches, he said "Even those social issues that tear us apart need to be decided on in the states."  On his failed presidential run, he said, "I wasn't prepared."  

It was noted by the organizers that this New York Meeting was being live streamed to 19 organizations around world.

Greater Houston Council Presents Judicial Panel

A panel presentation with the subject "How Can Conservative Voters Evaluate State Judicial Candidates?" was featured during the Greater Houston Council's May general meeting.  Gathering at the Sosa Center, a smaller than usual group of attendees heard a very informative talk by three speakers.  The moderator was Susanna Dokupil.  Those not present missed an interesting program.

Ms. Dokupil introduced each panelist - all of whom are members of the Federalist Society, including herself.

Justice Michael Massengale, First Court of Appeals:
 

Judge Grant Dorfman, 334th District Court of Harris County:

Justice Brett Busby, 14th Court of Appeals:

All of the judges spoke to the importance of the upcoming election.  Yes, I know elections are frequently referred to as "the most important" but we are in changing times in the great state of Texas and our elections will indeed have consequences.  It is very important to know the judicial candidates and make wise choices.  Judges must follow and rule on the laws of the state, whether the judge agrees with the law or not.  It is not acceptable to have judges on the bench who rule according to their own beliefs and not the will of the people.  Unhappy with a law?  Then elect legislators who will change it.  Do not accept judges who legislate from the bench, Republican or Democrat.  It is important to look at the ballot and research the best candidates, then get to the polls and vote.  

While judicial candidates will tell you that they are conservative and will conduct themselves accordingly, remember it is not a promise they can make or keep to rule as a conservative.  It is important to elect Republican judges because we see over and over again that Democrats legislate from the bench more frequently than Republicans.  The Republican Party stands with the rule of law.  We should not expect anything less from them when they are elected to serve.

Judges are not able to endorse candidates.  One way to check into a judicial candidate is to look at his/her experience and education.  Look at what kind of law practice is involved and that can tell a voter a good bit about what is close to the heart of the candidate.  Does the lawyer do much pro bono work?  If so, those clients will point in the direction of what is close to that lawyer's heart.  

Experience matters.  Temperament matters.  Age can be deceiving.  Sometimes the older candidate is not the best fit for that position.  

The 2014 election in November is important locally and the 2016 national election is crucial.  Republicans have a one seat majority on the Supreme Court at the moment.  Another Democrat in the White House elected in 2016 means the Democrats and a liberal judicial philosophy will take over that court.  Think about that.  

It is your duty as a citizen in our democratic republic to do a little research and go out and exercise your right to vote.  This is not the time to stay home and pout if you do not get the perfect candidate - or if your favored candidate doesn't win the primary.  Be responsible.  Do the right thing.  Future generations are in the balance.