Last Tuesday, 8 members of The Fredericksburg Tea Party attended The State of The State presentation by Gov. Greg Abbott. The Governor opened the speech by talking about how many people were moving in to the State, about 1,000 every day! He also mentioned the low unemployment rate and large number of companies moving their businesses to our Great State. There were no great surprises. The majority of the speech was centered on the five items he labeled as “emergencies”. It is important to know that when The Governor designates an item as an “emergency”, it creates a fast track for those items. The timelines and deadlines are changed for “emergencies”, allowing them to move to the front of the line for consideration in committees and on the floor. The first emergency item is already being heard in committee and several members of FTP are testifying as I write this. Property Tax Relief and Reform (SB 2) is in committee right now. An identical bill in the House (HB 2) is in the process but public hearings have not been announced. The best guess is that during the week of 2/18, this bill will come before a House committee. If Read more…
If you look only at the resume of Joseph Kopser the Democrat US House candidate for our district you might think he would hold conservative values, a WestPoint graduate, an Iraq veteran, and a small business owner – but don’t let that fool you. Some of his ads even leave out his party affiliation. He is a card carrying liberal democrat who is endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, Steny Hoyer and Planned Parenthood. He is in favor of bigger government by supporting universal healthcare, paid family leave, surrender of guns , raising the corporate income tax, higher taxes, increased fee on carbon emissions, more federal involvement in water rights and control. The list is even more extensive – but the bottom line is all of these translate into more control and regulation of your lives and businesses by the federal government. • His Republican opponent, Chip Roy also has a conservative, yet different, background, one that demonstrates positions that are for less big government control, enforcement of constitutional rights, securing the border and lower taxes. Chip previously served in several top leadership positions for Texas elected officials, State Attny General Ken Paxton. , Sen. Ted Cruz Texas Governor Rick Perry and Read more…
If it has to be subsidized maybe it is not that great. Charles Blain, Enpower Texans writes (Oct. 10, 2018) subsidies for renewable energy in Texas has cost taxpayers more than $13 billion the last 12 years (Texas Public Policy Foundation). Negotiations for these subsidies are exempt from public disclosure due to Texas Supreme Court decisions. Citizens in Brown, Coleman, Clay, Montague and Val Verde Counties are opposing wind farms since project sponsors like to tie up a few leases and then go after the counties and school districts for tax abatements. These local subsidies are in addition to federal government supported subsidies for wind farms with taxpayer dollars. Anyone who has traveled I-20 through Abilene, Texas, or driven US Hwy 84 between Rosco and Post, Texas couldn’t help but observe the forests of wind turbines trashing our landscapes. (The above photo is a wind farm between Clovis and Logan, New Mexico, courtesy of Al Smith). Numerous other examples can be found in the Southern Plains states. As important as being an eyesore, these wind farms take valuable agricultural lands out of production. Because there isn’t enough population to consume the electricity produced by these wind farms, large transportation Read more…
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established by a treaty via the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court signed 17 July 1998. The Rome Statute established four cases of international crimes; genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression. United Nations, 1999-2003). The statute as adopted July 1998 by a vote of 120 to 7 with 21 countries abstaining. The United States was one of the 7. Bill Clinton signed the Statute on behalf of the United States in 2000 but did not submit it to the Senate for ratification and advised George W. Bush to not submit it. The United States informed the United Nations Secretary General as of October 2017 the United States, along with other countries, no longer intended to become states parties and, as such, have no legal obligations arising from the signature of the statute. John Bolton, National Security Advisor, Speaking before the Federalist Society, informed the ICC at the Hague the US does not recognize the authority of the ICC to trample upon the sovereign rights of American Jurisprudence. (Nemo, Stephen September 1, 2018 and Johnson, Bridget September 10, 2018). Mr. Bolton threatened sanctions against the ICC, as well as Read more…