Posts Tagged ‘Republicans’
Tuesday, February 20th, 2024
Today marked the start of early primary voting, so here’s a roundup on Republican state house races.
I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice or who voted to impeach Ken Paxton. Every candidate who voted to kill school choiceretired or draw a primary challenger.
So here is a list of every contested Republican state House race, whether the incumbent voted to kill school choice or impeach Paxton, and who their challengers are:
District 1: Gary VanDeaver:
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dale Huls
Chris Spencer
District 2: Jill Dutton
Dutton is listed as the incumbent because she won the special election for the seat of the expelled and disgraced Bryan Slaton. But she wasn’t in office to vote for or against school choice or the Paxton impeachment.
Challenger:
Brent Money
District 3: Keith Bell
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Joshua Feuerstein
District 5: Cole Hefner:
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dewey Collier
Jeff Fletcher
District 7: Jay Dean
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Bonnie Walters
Joe McDaniel
District 8: Cody Harris
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jaye Curtis
District 9: Trent Ashby
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Paulette Carson
District 11: Travis Clardy
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Joanne Shofner
District 12: No incumbent (Kyle Kacal retiring)
Challengers:
Ben Bius
John Slocum
Trey Wharton
District 14: No incumbent (John Raney retiring)
Challengers:
Rick Davis
Paul Dyson
District 15: Steve Toth
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Skeeter Hubert
District 17: Stan Gerdes
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Tom Glass
District 18: Ernest Bailes
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Janis Holt
Stephen Missick
District 19: Ellen Troxclair
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Kyle Biedermann
Manny Campos
District 20: Terry Wilson
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Elva Janine Chapa
District 21: Dade Phalen
As Speaker of the House, Phalen voted Present on the school choice gutting and Paxton impeachment votes, but is known to be the motivating factor behind both.
Challengers:
David Covey (Endorsed by President Trump.)
Alicia Davis
District 24: Greg Bonnen
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Larissa Ramirez
District 26: Jacey Jetton
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Jessica Rose Huang
Matt Morgan
District 28: Gary Gates
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Dan Matthews
District 29: No incumbent (Ed Thompson retiring)
Challengers:
Jeff Barry
Alex Kamkar
Edgar Pacheco Jr.
Trent Perez
District 30: No incumbent (Geanie W. Morrison retiring)
Challengers:
Bret Baldwin
Jeff Bauknight
Vanessa Hicks-Callaway
A.J. Louderback
District 33: Justin Holland
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Dennis London
Katrina Pierson
District 44: John Kuempel
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Greg Switzer
David Freimarck
Alan Schoolcraft (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 53: No incumbent (Andrew S. Murr retiring)
Challengers:
Hatch Smith
Wesley Virdell
District 55: Hugh Shine
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Jorge Estrada
Davis Ford
Hillary Hickland
District 56: No incumbent (Charles “Doc” Anderson retiring)
Challengers:
Pat Curry
Devvie Duke
District 58: DeWayne Burns
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Helen Kerwin (Endorsed by President Trump)
Lyndon Laird
District 60: Glenn Rogers
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Mike Olcott (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 61: Frederick Frazier
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Chuck Branch
Keresa Richardson
District 62: Reggie Smith
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Shelley Luther
District 63: Ben Bumgarner
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Carlos Andino Jr. (website shows as expired)
Vincent Gallo
District 64: Lynn Stucky
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Elaine Hays
Andy Hopper
District 65: Kronda Thimesch
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Mitch Little
District 66: Matt Shaheen
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Wayne Richard
District 67: Jeff Leach
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Daren Meis
District 68: David Spiller
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Kerri Kingsbery
District 70: Incumbent Democrat Mihaela Plesa
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Joe Collins
Steven Kinard
District 71: Stan Lambert
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Charles Byrn
Liz Case (Endorsed by President Trump)
District 72: Drew Darby
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Stormy Bradley
District 74: Incumbent Democrat Eddie Morales Jr.
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Robert Garza
John McLeon
District 76: Incumbent Democrat Suleman Lalani
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Dayo David
Summara Kanwal
Lea Simmons
District 80: No incumbent (Democrat Tracy King retiring)
Republican Challengers:
Don McLaughlin
Clint Powell
JR Ramirez
District 83: Dustin Burrows
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Wade Cowen
District 85: Stan Kitzman
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Tim Greeson
District 86: John Smithee
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? No
Challenger:
Jamie Haynes
District 87: No incumbent (John Four Price retiring)
Challengers:
Richard Beyea
Cindi Bulla
Caroline Fairly
Jesse Quackenbush
District 88: Ken King
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Karen Post
District 89: Candy Noble
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Abraham George
District 91: Stephanie Klick
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Teresa Ramirez Gonzalez
David Lowe
District 97: No incumbent (Craig Goldman retired to run for U.S. Congress)
Challengers:
Cheryl Bean
John McQueeney
Leslie Robnett
District 98: Giovanni Capriglione
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Brad Schofield
District 99: Charlie Geren
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jack Reynolds
District 108: Morgan Meyer
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Barry Wernick
District 112: Angie Chen Button
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Chad Carnahan
District 119: Incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Campos
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Republican Challengers:
Brandon Grable
Dan Sawatzki
District 121: Steve Allison
Voted to kill school choice? Yes
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challengers:
Marc LaHood
Michael Champion
District 128: Briscoe Cain
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Bianca Gracia
District 133: Mano Deayala
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
John Perez
District 138: Lacey Hull
Voted to kill school choice? No
Voted to impeach Paxton? Yes
Challenger:
Jared Woodfill
Sources:
List of Texas state house races
School choice vote role call
Paxton impeachment vote roll call
Ballot information for the 2024 election.
I’m still missing a few candidate websites, so if you note any errors or omissions, let me know in the comments below.
Tags:2024 Election, A.J. Louderback, Abraham George, Alan Schoolcraft, Alex Kamkar, Alicia Davis, Andy Hopper, Angie Chen Button, Barry Wernick, Ben Bius, Ben Bumgarner, Bianca Gracia, Bonnie Walters, Brad Schofield, Brandon Grable, Brent Money, Bret Baldwin, Briscoe Cain, Candy Noble, Carlos Andino Jr., Caroline Fairly, Chad Carnahan, Charles Byrn, Charlie Geren, Cheryl Bean, Chris Spencer, Cindi Bulla, Clint Powell, Cody Harris, Cole Hefner, Dade Phelan, Dale Huls, Dan Matthews, Dan Sawatzki, Daren Meis, David Covey, David Freimarck, David Lowe, David Spiller, Davis Ford, Dayo David, Dennis London, Devvie Duke, DeWayne Burns, Dewey Collier, Don McLaughlin, Drew Darby, Dustin Burrows, Eddie Morales Jr., Edgar Pacheco Jr., Elaine Hays, Elections, Elizabeth Campos, Ellen Troxclair, Elva Janine Chapa, Ernest Bailes, Frederick Frazier, Gary Gates, Gary VanDeaver, Giovanni Capriglione, Greg Bonnen, Greg Switzer, Hatch Smith, Helen Kerwin, Hillary Hickland, Hugh Shine, Jacey Jetton, Jack Reynolds, Jamie Haynes, Janis Holt, Jared Woodfill, Jay Dean, Jaye Curtis, Jeff Barry, Jeff Bauknight, Jeff Fletcher, Jeff Leach, Jesse Quackenbush, Jessica Rose Huang, Jill Dutton, Joanne Shofner, Joe Collins, Joe McDaniel, John Kuempel, John McLeon, John McQueeney, John Perez, John Slocum, John Smithee, Jorge Estrada, Joshua Feuerstein, JR Ramirez, Justin Holland, Karen Post, Katrina Pierson, Keith Bell, Ken King, Keresa Richardson, Kerri Kingsbery, Kronda Thimesch, Kyle Biedermann, Lacey Hull, Larissa Ramirez, Lea Simmons, Leslie Robnett, Liz Case, Lyndon Laird, Lynn Stucky, Manny Campos, Mano Deayala, Marc LaHood, Matt Morgan, Matt Shaheen, Michael Champion, Mihaela Plesa, Mike Olcott, Mitch Little, Morgan Meyer, Pat Curry, Paul Dyson, Paulette Carson, Reggie Smith, Republicans, Richard Beyea, Rick Davis, Robert Garza, Shelley Luther, Skeeter Hubert, Stan Gerdes, Stan Kitzman, Stan Lambert, Stephanie Klick, Stephen Missick, Steve Allison, Steve Toth, Steven Kinard, Stormy Bradley, Suleman Lalani, Summara Kanwal, Teresa Ramirez Gonzalez, Terry Wilson, Texas, Texas House District 1, Texas House District 108, Texas House District 11, Texas House District 111, Texas House District 119, Texas House District 12, Texas House District 121, Texas House District 133, Texas House District 138, Texas House District 14, Texas House District 15, Texas House District 17, Texas House District 18, Texas House District 19, Texas House District 2, Texas House District 20, Texas House District 21, Texas House District 24, Texas House District 26, Texas House District 28, Texas House District 29, Texas House District 3, Texas House District 30, Texas House District 33, Texas House District 44, Texas House District 5, Texas House District 53, Texas House District 55, Texas House District 56, Texas House District 58, Texas House District 60, Texas House District 61, Texas House District 62, Texas House District 63, Texas House District 64, Texas House District 65, Texas House District 66, Texas House District 67, Texas House District 68, Texas House District 7, Texas House District 70, Texas House District 71, Texas House District 72, Texas House District 74, Texas House District 76, Texas House District 8, Texas House District 80, Texas House District 83, Texas House District 85, Texas House District 86, Texas House District 87, Texas House District 88, Texas House District 89, Texas House District 9, Texas House District 91, Texas House District 97, Texas House District 98, Texas House District 99, Tim Greeson, Tom Glass, Travis Clardy, Trent Ashby, Trent Perez, Trey Wharton, Vanessa Hicks-Callaway, Vincent Gallo, Wade Cowen, Wayne Richard, Wesley Virdell
Posted in Democrats, Regulation, Republicans, Texas, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, February 14th, 2024
Looks like Republican Speaker Mike Johnson will not allow consideration of the foreign aid bill until border security is addressed.
On Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson shut down the $95 billion foreign aid package recently passed by the Senate.
Johnson remained steadfast in his, and most of his party’s, belief that no bill that doesn’t include funding to solve the crisis at the southern border should be considered by the House.
“The Republican-led House will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill that was opposed by most Republican senators and does nothing to secure our own border,” he said. “It’s time for Washington to start showing some love for Americans.”
“On Valentine’s Day, it’s a good day to point this out,” he continued. “We need to listen to the American people and their needs and take action, and that’s why House leadership will continue to govern with Americans’ interests at heart.”
Democrats had been trying to gin up support for a discharge petition, which would have allowed them to bypass Johnson and force a vote, however progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, said they would not sign on, citing the bill’s funding for Israel.
The foreign aid package, which dedicates funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, passed with a 70-29 vote as 22 Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues to side in favor of the bill.
Johnson made it clear even before the votes had been tallied that he had no intention of letting the bill enter his chamber.
While I’m not opposed to Ukraine aid in general, clearly the border is a far more pressing concern, but the Biden Administrations seems to want to throw open the borders at all costs. They need to pay the price for that decision, including no foreign aid being passed. Indeed, there’s a strong case to be made that with the towering Biden deficits and giant mountain of national debt, no foreign aid should be authorized until the budget is balanced. We also seem to get a very poor return for our foreign aid dollar. The Marshall Plan was over three-quarters of a century ago, and the Cold War ended over three decades ago.
Moreover, Speaker Johnson’s position (controlling borders is far more important than shipping billions in foreign aid abroad) is one that’s extraordinarily popular with American voters from all walks of life. Make the globalist foreign policy establishment suffer for the Biden Administration’s illegal refusal to enforce border control laws, no matter how hard the lefty MSM rages.
Foreign aid is a luxury. Protecting the border is an enumerated responsibility of the federal government.
Tags:Border Controls, Budget, Democrats, foreign aid, Foreign Policy, Mike Johnson, Military, Republicans
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Military, Republicans | 15 Comments »
Tuesday, January 30th, 2024
A huuuuuge Texas Republican Primary endorsement just dropped.
Former President Donald Trump has officially waded into the Texas House Republican primaries with his first endorsement, throwing his support behind House District (HD) 21 candidate David Covey, who is challenging incumbent House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont).
In an exclusive interview with The Texan last year, Trump first indicated his intent to endorse Covey, saying, “Well, tell David to get ready,” after slamming Phelan for the House’s role in impeaching Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Now, in a post on Trump’s social media website Truth Social, the former president and leading 2024 GOP presidential candidate made his support for Covey official.
“David Covey is running against Dade Phelan, the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, who led the Fraudulent Impeachment of the recently re-elected, in a landslide, Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton,” Trump wrote. “David is an America First Conservative who will Secure the Border, Restore Election Integrity, Protect our Families, and Military/Vets, and Defend our under siege Second Amendment.”
Covey reacted to the news with a statement, writing that he spoke with Trump and reassured the president that he intends to win the race.
“When I spoke with President Trump, a few minutes ago, I reassured him that for the sake of Texas’s future, we will win this race for President, and my race to unseat liberal Dade Phelan,” Covey said.
Naturally this is big news. Texas House District 21 Republican voters who hadn’t been paying attention to how Phelan has repeatedly thwarted conservative priorities and foolishly impeached Paxton now have no excuse to ignore Phelan’s sins.
Phelan needs to go, as well as every one of his enablers in the Texas House.
The weeds making up the Democrat-backed Straus-Bonnen-Phelan axis must be pulled out by their roots so they can’t grow back.
Tags:2024 Election, Dade Phelan, David Covey, Donald Trump, Elections, Republicans, Texas, Texas House District 21
Posted in Democrats, Elections, Regulation, Republicans, Texas, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Sunday, January 21st, 2024
Well, that was quick.
Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race Sunday afternoon and endorsed former president Donald Trump, announcing the suspension of his embattled campaign in a video posted to social media just two days before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary.
DeSantis’s departure comes days after his allies began making calls to top donors asking whether the candidate should drop out ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
The campaign continues to tell reporters that their candidate will stay in the race through South Carolina, force rival and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley to drop out should she lose her home state, and hopefully go toe-to-toe with Trump in the event that she drops out.
But behind closed doors, DeSantis allies are of course mindful of the fact that the Florida governor continues to poll in the single digits in New Hampshire compared with Haley, who is still polling behind Trump but is gaining on him in some surveys. As recently as Tuesday, one day after DeSantis finished roughly 30 points behind first-place finisher Donald Trump in Iowa, the campaign insisted that DeSantis still had a path forward to the nomination.
No one outside of the MSM and desperate NeverTrumpers give a rat’s ass about Haley.
On paper, DeSantis should have been a formidable candidate. The popular governor of a large, thriving state, DeSantis had more impressive credentials than Trump when it came to fighting wokeness, pulling it out root and branch in Florida institutions.
But his campaigning has, alas, been anything but impressive. Indeed, he never gained any traction and all the media attention as the “Trump alternative” has been lavished on Haley.
Usually second place in Iowa is quite a respectable showing (Trump himself came in second to Ted Cruz in 2016, and Ronald Reagan to George H. W. Bush in 1976), one that punches your ticket to later primaries, usually to at least Super Tuesday. But Trump won an absolute majority in Iowa, something that hasn’t happened for a non-incumbent in the last half century. (Maybe longer; online records before that seem spotty.) DeSantis and his team seem to have figured, I think correctly, that he had no path to the nomination.
At this point, Trump looks poised to win every primary on the schedule, including Nikki Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where he currently leads her by 35 points.
Now the only question is whether the NeverTrump rump (and I include National Review here) will swallow both their pride and their shame at refusing to fight over the stolen 2020 election and embrace the overwhelming choice of the Republican Party base, or will they go hunting for another Egg McMuffin to prop up in a desperate bid to spoil Trump’s election chances?
Tags:2024 Presidential Race, Donald Trump, Elections, Iowa, New Hampshire, Republicans, Ron DeSantis
Posted in Economics, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors | 15 Comments »
Friday, January 5th, 2024
Happy New Year, everyone! The Biden Recession bites deeper, Israel dirtnaps a top terrorist, Harvard’s chief plagiarist finally steps down, and the crypto CEO who wasn’t there. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Once again, the new job numbers are horrible.
The monthly nonfarm payrolls (from the Establishment Survey) may have been weak at 216K but the far more accurate Household Survey showed that the number of Employed workers actually collapsed by an unprecedented 683K, the biggest drop since the US economy was shutdown by covid!
Even scarier, while the monthly grind higher in the payrolls number (pulled from the far less accurate Establishment Survey) means that US jobs hit a record high every month with bizarre consistency and in December this was certainly the case, the total nonfarm employment number rose to an all time high 157.232 million, the abovementioned collapse in US Employment (per Household survey) meant that there were only 161.183 million employed people in the US, the lowest since June, with the now traditional divergence between these two surveys glaringly obvious.
Israel takes out senior Hamas leader in Beirut.
A senior Hamas leader was killed Tuesday in a drone strike in Beirut, Lebanon, during a meeting between Palestinian factions at a Hamas office.
Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau and commander of the terror group’s military wing in the West Bank, and at least five others died from the explosion, which occurred near Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut, Lebanese state media reported. Several more were injured. Following the blast, Hamas blamed Israel for the “Zionist raid” amid its ongoing war with the Jewish state. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike.
Many Israeli officials declined to comment. However, Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a statement on X shortly after the attack: “Surely your enemies will perish, O Israel.”
In November, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated he ordered the nation’s Mossad spy agency to eliminate Hamas leaders around the world after the militant group’s coordinated October 7 attack. Netanyahu’s office also declined to comment about the explosion.
Al-Arouri, whom Hamas described as “one of the architects” of the terror attack on Israel, had close ties with Yahwa Sinwar, the group’s leader in Gaza. Al-Arouri is the most senior Hamas leader to have been killed since the war began in early October.
Supreme Court to take up Trump’s Colorado ballot case.
A good chunk of the Epstein files have finally been released. Some revelations: Bill Clinton “likes them young” and Donald Trump didn’t have sex with at least one girl who was asked under oath about it.
Harvard President Claudine Gay finally does the right thing and resigns in wake of burgeoning plagiarism scandal.
A three act farce: Act 1: “Ohio governor Mike DeWine (R.) on Friday vetoed a bill that would have banned both transgender procedures for minors and trans student-athlete participation in school sports in the state.” Act 2: Turns out DeWine has taken taken over $40,000 in donations from pro-child-genital-mutilation hospitals. Act 3: “Republican Ohio governor Mike DeWine issued an “emergency” executive order Friday banning child gender-transition surgeries after receiving intense backlash last week for vetoing a bill with a broader but similar mandate.” Ohio’s Republican legislature can and should override DeWine’s foolish veto.
“President of Illinois NAACP suspended after saying migrants are ‘savages who are ‘raping people, breaking into homes.'” Speaking the truth is now crime
“Border Protection Officer Charged with Human Smuggling. Emanuel Celedon is also charged with bribery and drug trafficking.”
Robert F. Kennedy, jr. qualifies for the presidential ballot in Utah.
Last month, American Values 2024, a super PAC supporting the third-party candidate, announced a plan to spend nearly $15 million to get Kennedy on the ballot in ten states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Texas. All are important to winning the 2024 race.
I don’t see RFK Jr. doing even as well in Utah as Egg McMuffin did in 2016, and of the other states, only Arizona, Colorado, Michigan and Nevada might have any effect on the election, all four of which went (however fraudulently) for Biden in 2020.
“Harris County Criminal Court Judge Arrested for Domestic Violence on New Year’s Eve. Harris County Judge Frank Aguilar is alleged to have assaulted and impeded the breathing of a female victim.” Aguilar is, of course, a Democrat.
“Louisiana sporting goods employees fired for chasing shoplifter who stole gun.” Get bent, Academy. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Crypto hedge fund CEO may not have actually existed. That’s some mighty fine vetting there, investors…
Ricky Gervais has a great idea: He and Dave Chappelle should co-host the Oscars. That would indeed be a smash ratings success, and I would watch the Oscars for the first time this century.
New commie gaming regulations lop $80 billion off Chinese video game company values.
TGIFriday’s just closed 36 locations in 12 states, including four in Texas. Thanks, Joe Biden.
Plus for Sephora “Body Butter”: Smoother skin. Minus: Attracts Spiders.
Mythbuster‘s Adam Savage keeps buying replica torturer baby masks from Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Also, he watched it once a day, every day, for six months while working at a movie theater. Which explains a lot.
“Texas Agrees To Two-State Solution With Austin.”
This is the only way for us to live in peace,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbot. “The citizens of Austin have been at war with the people of Texas for many years now, and to end the bloodshed for future generations, we are willing to recognize Austin as its own separate and sovereign land.”
The resolution brought much-needed relief to the war-torn area, where battle lines had been drawn along the border of Austin. “The weirdo hipsters of Austin can stand down now,” said Texas Senator Ted Cruz in a statement acknowledging the resolution. “The people of Austin can now stop patrolling the perimeter of the city in armored tanks and go back to driving electric vehicles, painting strange murals nobody understands, and hating everything the United States stands for.”
“Detroit Pistons relegated to the WNBA.”
Bluehost is dog slow today, so I should wrap this up.
Hit the tip jar if you’re so inclined.
Tags:2024 Presidential Race, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Adam Savage, Beirut, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden Recession, Bill Clinton, Brazil (film), Claudine Gay, Colorado, cryptocurrency, Dave Chappelle, Donald Trump, drone, Economics, Emanuel Celedon, Frank Aguilar, Hamas, Harris County, Hollywood, Illegal Aliens, Illinois, Israel, Israel-Hamas War, Jeffrey Epstein, Lebanon, LinkSwarm, Media Watch, Mike DeWine, Military, Mossad, NAACP, NBA, Ohio, Republicans, Ricky Gervais, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Saleh al-Arouri, Supreme Court, Texas, unemployment, WNBA
Posted in Austin, Border Control, Communism, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Global Warming, Jihad, Media Watch, Military, Regulation, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Supreme Court, Texas | 1 Comment »
Sunday, December 24th, 2023
I usually note library additions in the other blog, but all of these but two are political or military books. Two are also signed copies replacing or supplementing unsigned copies.
Bush, Barbara. A Memoir. Scribner’s, 1994. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at heel and trace of wear at points, inscribed by Bush: “To Chris Hyatt/With best wishes/Barbara Bush/December 1998. Autobiography by First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of 41 and mother of 43, who died in 2018. Not my usual thing, but I stumbled across it checking for signatures in books by 41 and 43. Bought for $14.48 at Half Price Books.
Hemple, Stuart. Dread & Superficiality: Woody Allen as Comic Strip. Abrams Comic Arts, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight waviness, slight grubbiness to uncoated stock, and a thin scratch across bottom of spine. Received as a Christmas gift only because, many moons ago, I noted to Dwight my incredulity that this comic strip ever existed at all. Yes, Woody Allen’s neurotic nebbish character was so well known in the 1970s that a comic strip based on it (but written and drawn by someone else) appeared in numerous newspapers from 1976-1964. I am equally incredulous that someone found the strip worth of a prestige retrospective collection. Supplements my copy of Non-Being and Somethingness, which contains selections from the strip.
Hill, Doug and Jeff Weingrad. Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Beech Tree Books, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with with one 1/16″ chip at heel, crease to bottom of front flap, slight bumping at head and heel and a bit of pull to top jacket edge. History of Saturday Night Live. Part of a very small collection of books on early SNL. Most people today don’t realize how amazingly funny, daring and groundbreaking the original cast SNL was. Bought for $4.99.
King, Florence. Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye. St. Martin’s Press, 1989. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at head and heel and thrift store stamp to insider rear cover, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Collection of essays. Replaces an Ex-Library copy. Bought for $7.99.
McBride, H. W. A Rifleman Went to War. Small-Arms Tactical Publishing Company, 1935. First edition, second printing (according to Dwight’s bibliography of this press), a Near Fine copy with a slight bit of spine wear and previous owner’s bookplate, in a Very Good- dust jacket with 1 1/2″ wide x 1/2″ deep chip at head, small chip at heel, creasing along front flap fold, and general wear, but no loss of lettering anywhere, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Memoirs of the experiences of an American rifleman who joined the Canadian expeditionary forces during World War I (my second favorite World War). A Christmas gift from Dwight, who collects this press.
Murray, Charles. Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980. Basic Books, 1984. Third printing, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket, with slighting bumping at head and heel, a trace of wear at points, and a touch of surface wear, inscribed by Murray: “To Dr. Harry Schmitt,/with best wishes/Charles Murray/18 July 1986.” (I wonder if this was inscribed to former astronaut and Republican senator Harrison Schmitt.) This is probably the most important book ever written about the American welfare state, in which Murray showed in meticulously researched detail why the welfare state expansions instituted by Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society inflicted lasting economic and social harm to black families in America. Without Losing Ground, the welfare reform act of 1996 never would have happened. It came out back when some Democrats will still willing to look at research and data rather that automatically calling critics of the welfare state racist. Highly recommended. Supplements an unsigned first printing. (I had a second printing inscribed to me that I foolish lent out and never had returned.) Bought for $5.99.
Thorburn, Wayne. Red State: An Insiders Story of How the GOP Came to Dominate Texas Politics. University of Texas Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine-dust jacket with just a touch of wear, signed by Thorburn. This is an interesting book that describes (among other things) how leftists deliberately drove conservatives and moderates out of their own party so they could control the Democratic Party. Of course, they expected voters would simply keep voting for Democrats, but that didn’t happen. Recommended. Bought for $7. Replaces an unsigned copy.
Tags:Barbara Bush, black, Books, George Bush, George H. W. Bush, Republicans, Saturday Night Live, welfare, Welfare State, Woody Allen, World War I
Posted in Media Watch, Military, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 13th, 2023
Over the last month, I’ve posted several times on the need to primary and defeat every one of the Dade Phelan toadies who voted to kill school choice. It looks like we’re off to a good start, as the close of the filing period saw every one of them retire or draw a primary challenger.
Every Republican who opposed school choice in the Texas House now finds themselves facing a challenger in the upcoming Republican primary.
Despite being a priority of the Republican Party of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott, last month 21 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to remove a school choice program from a school spending proposal.
Now each of those 21 members are either leaving the legislature or facing intraparty opposition.
Retiring reps are:
Kyle Kacal
Andrew Murr
Four Price
John Raney
Ed Thompson
Reps who have drawn primary opponents, and the opponents they’ve drawn (plus the opponent’s campaign website, where known), are:
Steve Allison: Marc LaHood, Michael Champion
Ernest Bailes: Janis Holt, Stephen Missick
Keith Bell: Joshua Feuerstein
DeWayne Burns: Helen Kerwin, Lyndon Laird
Travis Clardy: Joanne Shofner
Drew Darby: Stormy Bradley
Jay Dean: Bonnie Walters, Joe McDaniel
Charlie Geren: Jack Reynolds
Justin Holland: Dennis London, Katrina Pierson
Ken King: Karen Post
John Kuempel: Greg Switzer, David Freimarck, Alan Schoolcraft
Stan Lambert: Charles Byrn, Liz Case
Glenn Rogers: Mike Olcott
Hugh Shine: Hillary Hickland, David Ford
Reggie Smith: Shelley Luther
Gary VanDeaver: Dale Huls, Chris Spencer
If you’re a Texas conservative in a position to donate to campaigns (a tough ask for some here in the Biden Recession), now would be a good time to check out these candidates and help defeat some of Dade’s toadies.
Tags:2024 Election, 88th Texas Legislative Session, Alan Schoolcraft, Andrew Murr, Bonnie Walters, Charles Byrn, Charlie Geren, Chris Spencer, Dade Phelan, Dale Huls, David Ford, David Freimarck, Dennis London, DeWayne Burns, Drew Darby, Ed Thompson, Ernest Bailes, Four Price, Gary VanDeaver, Glenn Rogers, Greg Switzer, Helen Kerwin, Hugh Shine, Jack Reynolds, Janis Holt, Jay Dean, Joanne Shofner, Joe McDaniel, John Kuempel, John Raney, Joshua Feuerstein, Justin Holland, Karen Post, Katrina Pierson, Keith Bell, Ken King, Kyle Kacal, Liz Case, Lyndon Laird, Marc LaHood, Michael Champion, Mike Olcott, Reggie Smith, Republicans, Shelley Luther, Stan Lambert, Stephen Missick, Steve Allison, Stormy Bradley, Texas, Travis Clardy
Posted in Regulation, Republicans, Texas | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, December 6th, 2023
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has long been critical of House Speaker Dade Phelan, but this week he stepped up his criticism, saying that Phelan was “impossible to work with.”
The Texas Legislature has ended the Fourth Special Session, with the Texas House once again leaving school choice undone.
At a press conference held this afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick laid the blame at House Speaker Dade Phelan’s feet.
Gov. Greg Abbott tasked lawmakers with border security and education issues during this most recent special session.
While they made quick work of border security measures, the two chambers and the governor remain at an impasse regarding education.
Abbott’s call specifically mentions increased funding for government schools as well as a school choice program. While both chambers appeared to agree in the abstract on increased teacher pay and school safety funding, school choice remained the sticking point.
The plan pushed by Abbott and passed by the Senate would create Education Savings Accounts, by which students enrolled in the program would receive money that they could use to pay for tuition at a private school.
But while the Senate passed that legislation numerous times, the House voted to strip the school choice provision out of their omnibus school spending bill last month.
Since that vote, the House has not considered any additional legislation, leaving the school safety and teacher pay raise proposals to perish.
On Tuesday, the House adjourned sine die, one day earlier than the 30 days allotted for the special session, leaving senate bills on school safety and teacher pay raises unaddressed. The Senate followed shortly after, with Patrick calling a press conference for the afternoon.
Over the summer, Patrick had ramped up his criticism of Phelan, eventually calling on him to resign. While he says he will not get involved in House races, he did say he would personally be making the speaker selection an issue as a voter.
“Republican voters need to ask their House members if they’re going to support Speaker Phelan for speaker, and if they do, there’s a good chance they lose their race,” said Patrick.
He noted that, while he had disagreements with past speakers Joe Straus and Dennis Bonnen, he could have conversations with them. Phelan, meanwhile, has not communicated with him.
“This guy’s just flat out impossible to work with,” he added, saying that if Phelan is speaker of the House next session, school choice and other issues, such as a taxpayer-funded lobbying ban, will die again.
Time after time, Patrick has marshaled the Republican majorities in the senate to pass conservative legislation in a timely manner, only to have it die in Phelan’s house.
Patrick should reconsider his policy of not getting involved in house races, so that he, Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott can present a unified front for defeating not only Phelan, but everyone who voted to kill school choice.
Tags:2024 Election, 88th Texas Legislative Session, Dade Phelan, Dan Patrick, Dennis Bonnen, Elections, Joe Straus, Republicans, school choice, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 1 Comment »
Monday, December 4th, 2023
Ted Cruz has announced he will campaign for the primary opponents of Republican state house incumbents who voted to kill school choice.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he will endorse against the 21 Republicans who voted with Democrats against school choice in the Texas House.
Cruz made the comments during an interview on the Chris Salcedo Show, where he acknowledged that getting involved in state-level races is abnormal for U.S. senators.
“There are 100 senators. To the best of my knowledge, 99 of them do not get involved in state legislative races. And the reason is getting involved in state legislative races in primaries in your state is stupid, it hurts you politically,” said Cruz. “To the best of my knowledge, I am the only one who not only gets involved, but I make a regular practice of it.”
The main factor in Cruz’s endorsements this cycle? Their support for school choice.
“My basic rule is, if you have supported school choice and you are otherwise relatively conservative, you’re quite likely to get my support. If on the other hand, you voted against choice, the odds of getting my support are zero. And I am very likely to endorse your primary opponent. When I do so I don’t do so gently. I cut TV ads and radio ads and I come in and we beat you,” said Cruz.
Earlier this month, 21 Republicans in the Texas House sided with Democrats in killing a school choice proposal. While some of those members have already announced their retirement, Cruz says he is prepared to replace them with more conservative members.
“l’ll tell you this, the 21 Republicans that voted this last session to kill school choice, every one of those 21 I want to make an invitation to their primary opponent: run against them and I will back you.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to beat those 21 Republicans,” he added.
This is not the first time Cruz has endorsed candidates based on their support for school choice. In the 2022 primary, Cruz said it was a “critical factor” in earning his support.
Attorney General Ken Paxton has been endorsing primary opponents of those Republican state reps who voted for his impeachment, a group that includes a lot of overlap with those opposing school choice. Governor Greg Abbott has also started endorsing the primary opponents of GOP reps who voted to kill school choice, but hasn’t announced a blanket policy of opposing them yet.
For years the powers behind Joe Straus, Dennis Bonnen and Dade Phelan have constantly thwarted conservative priorities in the House thanks to a small cadre of squishy Republicans willing to buck the party on central priorities. The combination of the Paxton impeachment farce and killing school choice may finally have prodded key Republicans into replacing those squishes with actual conservatives.
Tags:2024 Election, 88th Texas Legislative Session, Dade Phelan, Elections, Ken Paxton, Republicans, school choice, Special Session, Ted Cruz, Texas
Posted in Elections, Republicans, Texas | 5 Comments »
Saturday, December 2nd, 2023
As promised, here’s a second LinkSwarm for your reading enjoyment and edification!
“The chief of staff for Department of Defense Education Activity schools in the U.S. was arrested last week during a two-day human trafficking operation in Coweta County, Georgia, according to local authorities. Stephen Hovanic, 64, of Sharpsburg, Georgia, was arrested Nov. 15 in a sting that netted 25 additional suspects on charges related to prostitution as well as drugs, weapons and warrants, according to the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office and its Police to Citizen Portal website.” Our country is in the best of hands. (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
“NY retailers lost $4.4 billion due to organized shoplifting rings in 2022.” This is your city on Soros prosecutors.
Want to guess who polls show as the clear leader for the 2024 Presidential election?
I missed the announcement in August that Rep. John Raney, one of Dade Phalen’s school choice opponent/Ken Paxton impeachment supporters, is also not running for reelection. (Hat tip to reader David Besly.)
Your government in action: “A traditional Catholic family was allegedly ‘dragged out of their home at gunpoint, handcuffed and locked in a van’ earlier this year after the FBI “goaded” their 15-year-old son to post “offensive memes” online. The teen, a volunteer firefighter and altar boy, was then hospitalized on mental health pretenses, according to his father, Jeremiah Rufini. The FBI’s aggressive “investigation” only resulted in a misdemeanor conviction against the boy for breach of peace, but financially devastated the family with substantial legal expenses.”
Speaking of the FBI: “Inmate Who Shanked Derek Chauvin 22 Times Is Former FBI Informant Who Led Mexican Mafia Faction.”
“Disney on Track to Lose Nearly $750 Million Across 13 Films in Historic Year of Box-Office Flops.”
The Disney Grooming Institute had the worst box office year imaginable in 2023. Couldn’t happen to a nicer den of thieves of children’s innocence.
After losing $106 million on Lightyear (2022) and another $152 million on Strange World (2022) — both of which featured prominent gay plotlines aimed at little kids — the Disney Grooming Syndicate roared into 2023, hoping for a much better year. But…
Thanks to Disney’s cratered reputation and string of terrible movies where good storytelling and relatable characters took a backseat to divisive politics, 2023 was an even bigger disaster.
Snip. Here are his numbers condensed. John Nolte seems to be adding in market cost and going with 2X cost to breaking even, though usually I’ve seen estimates go with 2.5x production costs.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania…Deficit: -$37 million
- Chevalier [unknown, but with a $4.147 million gross, I’m pretty sure we can assume it lost money – LP]
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3…Profit: +98 million
- The Little Mermaid [live action remake]…Deficit: -$40 million
- The Boogeyman…Deficit: -$14 million
- Elemental…Deficit: -$1.5 million
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny…Deficit: -$158 million
- Haunted Mansion…Deficit: -$141 million
- A Haunting in Venice…Deficit: -$39 million
- The Creator…Deficit: -$68 million
- The Marvels…Deficit: -$150 million
- Next Goal Wins…Deficit -$20 million
- Wish… Deficit: -$175 million
Heck of a job, Bob! (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
Sure, people talk about horsepower, but it took Donut Media to dyno a horse. Turns out a horse produces 5.7 horsepower.
Tom Scott travels to Austin to view some of the nation’s last surviving moontowers. I did not know that Austin Energy was actually created to run the moontowers.
Mark Cuban is reportedly selling the Dallas Mavericks to Sheldeon Adelson’s widow.
“Vox Media Lays Off 4% of Staff in 2nd Round of Cuts This Year.” Well, that’s a start. I was unaware they owned The Dodo, maybe because three minute animal rescue videos on YouTube don’t require you to interact with their Coral commenting system.
“The Polar Express Voted ‘Best Christmas Movie’ By Serial Killers.”
Tags:2024 Election, 2024 Presidential Race, Austin, Bob Iger, Crime, Dallas, Dallas Mavericks, Disney, Donald Trump, Donut Media, Elections, FBI, George Soros, Georgia, Jeremiah Rufini, John Nolte, John Raney, LinkSwarm, Mark Cuban, movies, New York City, polls, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Stephen Hovanic, Texas, Tom Scott, Vox.com
Posted in Austin, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Elections, Regulation, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 2 Comments »