Posts Tagged ‘Brian Birdwell’

BREAKING: Paxton Acquitted

Saturday, September 16th, 2023

This just in: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been acquitted on all 16 articles of impeachment.

In a dramatic loss for the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate did not sustain any of the articles of impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton, triggering his reinstatement to office after nearly a four-month suspension.

The House Board of Managers needed to convince 21 senators to sustain at least one of the charges. The Senate’s court of impeachment sustained none of the charges, granting a full acquittal to Paxton to resume his position as the duly elected attorney general.

Most of the charges were dismissed by a vote of 14 to 16.

After the vote concluded, Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) made a motion to dismiss the four articles of impeachment that had been held in abeyance and were not considered in the Senate’s impeachment trial proceedings. The motion passed by a vote of 19 to 11.

Paxton slammed the Texas House and Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) in a statement celebrating the acquittals.

“The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt,” Paxton said.

“Now that this shameful process is over, my work to defend our constitutional rights will resume. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us during this time.”

The attorney general thanked his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), and his other supporters.

Patrick had his own criticisms of Phelan and the House after the acquittals were announced.

“Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this impeachment!” Patrick exclaimed from the dais.

The lieutenant governor called for amendments to the Texas Constitution to prevent the hasty impeachment of an elected official based on unsworn testimony, among other recommendations.

A few moments later, Patrick signed the documents reinstating Paxton as attorney general and dissolved the Senate’s court of impeachment.

It became apparent in the trial that the allegations against Paxton were unsupported.

The next step should be that every Republican who voted to impeach Paxton in the House or Senate needs to be primaried.

And Dade Phelan should be at the top of that list.

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Posted in Regulation, Texas | 16 Comments »

Campus Carry Headed to Abbott’s Desk

Monday, June 1st, 2015

Senate Bill 11, the campus carry bill sponsored by Sen. Brian Birdwell, has passed the Texas House. It had already passed the Senate earlier, so now it’s headed to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who has promised to sign it. The only downside is that it doesn’t take effect until August 1, 2016.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Abbott signs both the campus carry and open carry bills today.

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Posted in Guns, Texas | No Comments »

Dan Patrick Sends Three Second Amendment Bills On To Committee

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced that he’s sending three pro-Second Amendment bills to the Senate State Affairs Committee:

  • Senate Bill 11 (SB 11), An act relating to the carrying of concealed handguns on the campuses of and certain other locations associated with institutions of higher education, by Sen. Brian Birdwell (SD22).
  • Senate Bill 342 (SB 342), Relating to providing for the open and concealed carrying of handguns without a license and to related offenses and penalties, by Sen. Don Huffines (SD16).
  • Senate Bill 346 (SB 346), Relating to the authority of a person who is licensed to carry a handgun to openly carry a holstered handgun, by Sen. Craig Estes (SD30).

    • Except for the effectivity date, the campus carry bill is essentially identical to Birdwell’s SB 182 in the 83rd legislative session, which was killed in 2013.

    SB342 provides for essentially unlimited constitutional carry, while SB346 would authorize open carry only for CHL holders. I think it’s canny of Patrick to advance both at the same time. Some squishy republicans may balk at universal carry, but voting for SB 346 will allow them to split the difference and still appear pro-gun.

    One possible snag for any pro Second Amendment bill: the Senate Criminal Justice Committee is still headed by Democrat John Whitmire. However, since Whitmire is considerably more pro-gun than the average Democrat this may not be a problem.

    Will Speaker Joe Straus kill pro-Second Amendment bills in the House? He’s killed some in the past, but he’s also been very careful not to leave his fingerprints on the knife. Given how Straus has crowed about endorsements from the NRA and the Texas State Rifle Association, I’m guessing he won’t go to the mat to kill popular Second Amendment bills supported by a clear majority of senators. Straus is another reason I think SB 346 is more likely to pass than SB 342.

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    Posted in Guns, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Texas Senate Race Update for July 13, 2012

    Friday, July 13th, 2012

    Happy Friday the 13th! The big news this week is Ted Cruz topping David Dewhurst in two separate external polls (none of this internal crap) and Dewhurst not only making a pro-amnesty speech in 2007, but making things ten times worse by trying to scrub mention of it off his website.

  • Here’s the memo for that Wenzel Strategies poll.
  • Paul Burka believes the poll numbers. “I’m buying. The Dewhurst camp ran a lackluster campaign.” And then the usual Rick Perry bashing. (“From Smitty’s BBQ I stab at thee!”)
  • Speaking of Burka, he breaks down Cruz and Dewhurst primary voting patterns. Cruz dominated urban and suburban counties, while Dewhurst dominated rural counties.
  • Dewhurst has lost his edge.
  • Those polls were so good for Cruz, some people are already starting to suggest that Cruz might have coattails.
  • Now on to what some on Twitter are calling #404gate: In a 2007 speech in Laredo, Dewhurst said “I support a guest worker program for those here today illegally.” If not full-blown Amnesty, I think it’s fair to call that “Amnesty light.”
  • However, Team Dewhurst really stepped in it when someone working for the State of Texas pulled the speech down off the website.
  • Pulling the amnesty speech has just drawn more attention to it. I believe in the world of soccer this is what’s known as an “own goal.”
  • Has no one at Team Dewhurst every heard of “the Internet?” One does not simply remove something from the Internet. There’s always going to be a cache of it somewhere. And, indeed, there is.
  • Dewhurst slamming Cruz for being a “Washington Insider” hasn’t kept the Lt. Governor from taking a fundraising trip to Capitol Hill.
  • Cruz slams Dewhurst for breaking his promise to debate.
  • Peggy Fikac at the Houston Chronicle does the usual “Tea Party vs. Establishment” roundup of the race.
  • David Wiegel says that the redistricting fight helped Cruz.
  • Cruz unveils another ad to slam Dewhurst over the wage tax:

  • New Club for Growth anti-Dewhurst ad:

  • Radio host Lynn Woolley endorses Cruz.
  • Meanwhile, team Dewhurst keeps hitting the China issue, despite Dewhurst’s many investments in China.
  • Cruz fined $200 for turning in his personal disclosure form late. Cruz’s form is also available at the link.
  • Dewhurst has the Texas Republican Senate Caucus issue a letter kinda, sorta denying Cruz’s charges against Dewhurst on sanctuary cities, spending, and TSA groping. But if you actually read the letter, it only details the bare-bones legislative maneuvers, and not what Dewhurst did behind the scenes (which made up much of Cruz’s accusations). But give Dewhurst credit: He did get every Republican State Senator except Brian Birdwell to sign it.
  • Dewhurst appeared on KTSA:

  • Also on KSKY:

  • He also appeared on Fox News I would embed the video of it here, but the video quality is stunningly awful. We’re talking “wouldn’t even be acceptable for online viewing in 1997” awful…
  • You know, this Dewhurst Facebook Timeline parody attack video on Cruz might almost have been amusing if they could have made it shorter. But right there at 1:14, when it says “DC Special Interest Groups,” it has very legible icons for Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, and Senate Conservative PAC Fund. Guys, for the majority of people voting in the Texas Republican runoff, those are reasons to vote for Ted Cruz, not against him:

  • And once again, the Dewhurst campaign is slamming Cruz for being…a lawyer.
  • Meanwhile, Democrat Paul Sadler swears up and down he can win the general election. Also says the Astros are a “lock” to make the World Series this year.

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    Posted in Border Control, Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »