Posts Tagged ‘Texas House of Representatives’

LinkSwarm for October 30, 2020

Friday, October 30th, 2020

Welcome to the last LinkSwarm before the election! Halloween is tomorrow, and I will actually be handing out candy in the time-honored traditional manner.

  • The economy grew at a white hot 33.1% rate during the third quarter, which is what happens when you lift the counterproductive economic lockdowns Democrats want to keep in place. We’ve still got recovering to do (something that’s not going to happen under a Harris-Biden Administration’s huge tax hikes), but it looks like we’re enjoying the V-shaped recovery that so many economists assured us was impossible.
  • Kurt Schlichter says not to fall for the Psy-Op:

    The next few days will be a Cat 5 hurricane of mainstream media spin and Democrat bullSchiff designed to make you think that you’ve already lost this election. They want your morale shattered, your spirit broken, and you to put a lid on your participation in saving your country from leftist tyranny.

    It’s all a lie.

    It’s a psychological operation designed to keep you on the sidelines.

    We got this.

    All you need to do is vote.

    People reach out to me all the time looking for hope, and I’ve got plenty, because things are breaking our way. You have structural factors like the fact that incumbents tend to win, particularly when the economy is improving and we’re not in some idiotic new war. You have factors like how the Democrat candidate is a desiccated old weirdo who pretty much called a lid on his campaign back in July and whose corruption is being shown to be more corrupting every single day. You have manifest enthusiasm for our guy and tumbleweeds for theirs. You have people moving from Hillary to Trump, but nobody moving from Trump to Grandpa Badfinger. Trump dominated the debate where Oldfinger doubled down on his deeply unpopular program of destroying millions of oil industry jobs, single payer, and Matlock for All. On the inside, the insiders almost unanimously think Trump will win – that’s the real talk behind the scenes among people whose names you know. Early voting numbers are GOP-friendly, and many polls now show Trump moving up or taking the lead.

    We have the heat, we have the momentum, we have this to lose.

    (Hat tip: Kurt Schlichter.)

  • “Wisconsin Republican Party Says Hackers Stole $2.3 Million from Trump Reelection Account.”
  • Another rapper endorses Trump and slams Biden’s tax plan. I do not believe I’ve heard a single song by “Lil Pump,” but that’s because I’m old in and in the way, and Mr. Pump (real name Gazzy Garcia) evidently has some 17 million followers. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
  • Speaking of rappers endorsing Trump, Lil Wayne (who I have actually heard of) all but did that as well:

  • “5 Charts That Show Sweden’s Strategy Worked. The Lockdowns Failed.”
  • Russian Airstrikes Obliterate Turkish-Backed ‘Rebel’ Camp In Idlib, Killing Over 60.” Remind me why S.E. Cupp thinks we should be over there bombing things, again…
  • AMD buys Xilinx for $35 billion in an all-stock transaction. Xilinx dominates Field Programable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and has fingers into a lot of weird verticals I don’t have any visibility into. Like AMD they’re fabless, and like AMD they use TSMC as their foundry. Assuming all the usual merger hurdles (both regulatory and cultural) can be overcome, this is probably a good move for both sides.
  • Leftwingers are really butt-hurt that Joe Rogan interviewed Alex Jones.
  • The owners of a bunch of famous Austin businesses come out against the tax-hiking rail bond. “‘We are not open, we are not going to be open for a long time so no money coming in paying an extra $3000,’ said Shannon Sedwick with Esther’s Follies.” Also opposing the huge tax hike for the bond: Former Democratic State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, who will never be mistaken for a fire-breathing conservative.
  • The Texas House Speaker’s race heats up.

    What GOP insiders hoped would be a quiet race for Speaker of the Texas House got suddenly heated on Thursday, with four establishment Republicans officially in the hunt – and at least one other poised to jump in. Most Texans have never heard of none of them.

    Officially filing declaring their candidacy today are Republican State Reps. Chris Paddie of Marshall, Trent Ashby of Lufkin, John Cyrier of Bastrop, and Geanie Morrison of Victoria joining Democrats Senfronia Thompson of Houston and Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio

    Republican Dade Phelan of Beaumont was also reportedly considering jumping into the race as the “Team Bonnen” candidate.

  • Is Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush considering running against Ken Paxton for Attorney General in 2022?
  • Remember how the New York Times hyped an op-ed by “Anonymous” slamming Trump? Honestly, I barely do, because all the fake “anonymous” #JustTrustMeBro “sources” “familiar with” Trump just blur together in my mind. Well, turns out the “Senior Trump Official” was a minor official turned CNN staffer, so they, and most of the liberal media complex that trusted them, just straight lied to us to smear Trump. You know, just like all their other anti-Trump “bombshells.”
  • “Hospitals gave Gov. Andrew Cuomo a campaign booster shot“:

    It’s bad enough that Gov. Cuomo presided over the needless COVID-19 deaths of thousands of vulnerable people in New York nursing homes.

    It’s bad enough that he wrote a shameful book praising himself for his pandemic response and now is doing a victory lap of self-congratulation in the worst-hit state in the nation.

    It’s bad enough that he is mounting a pre-election scare campaign on COVID vaccines to stir up anti-vax sentiment for political purposes.

    But now we discover that Cuomo got campaign funds from the hospital organizations that lobbied for his lethal policy for the elderly and which then bought TV ads whitewashing his culpability.

    An exclusive audit of campaign donations to Cuomo by OpenTheBooks.com shows disturbing links with industry bodies which demanded the disastrous order forcing nursing homes to admit COVID-infected patients hospitals didn’t want.

  • Jeremy Corbyn suspended from Labour Party over response to antisemitism report.” Wow, that’s not closing the barn door after the cows have escaped, that’s closing the barn door after the cows have escaped, run off to a different region, been captured, fattened, slaughtered, made into hamburgers, and consumed at a St. Swithun’s Day feast in Wessex.
  • 46 arrested in massive human trafficking bust in Fort Bend County.
  • Commies vandalize Austin Public Library polling place. Because that’s the sort of garbage commies pull.
  • Some uncomfortable facts for #BlackLivesMatter:

  • “$150 MILLION worth of illegal cannabis, weapons, and 3 kangaroos seized by York Police.” That’s York, Ontario, a locale for which I’m reliably informed kangaroos do not constitute native fauna.
  • Old and Busted: The monster in your daughter’s closet. The New Hotness: The pedophile in your daughter’s closet.
  • More APD officers resigning recently, former officer and Austin Police Association say.” #ThanksMayorAdler
  • Jake Tapper still isn’t over Mucho Grande.
  • Deaderheads. (Hat tip: Ace.)
  • James “The Amazing” Randi, RIP.”
  • “Psychic Already Sick Of Spectral James Randi Ragging On Her From Afterlife.”
  • Huge Trump parade…in Beverly Hills:

  • What. The. Hell.

  • State That Just Voted To Reduce Penalties For Pedophiles Not Sure Why God Keeps Lighting Them On Fire.”
  • “CNN Mourns ACB Confirmation By Flying Chinese Flag At Half-Mast.”
  • Swing, you sinners!
  • I sort of like this one:

  • BREAKING: Texas Speaker Bonnen Retires

    Tuesday, October 22nd, 2019

    I meant to do a post on the whole Bonnen/Sullivan tape release issue, but it looks like events have gotten ahead of me:

    Republican Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen on Tuesday announced he will not seek reelection to the lower chamber in 2020 as calls for his resignation reached a near majority among members of his own caucus.

    Bonnen, who for months was dogged by allegations that he planned to politically target sitting Republicans, offered a hardline conservative activist media access to his organization and said insulting things about Democrats in the lower chamber, said in a statement that he respected “the manner in which [House members] have handled this entire situation.”

    “After much prayer, consultation, and thoughtful consideration with my family, it is clear that I can no longer seek re-election as State Representative of District 25, and subsequently, as Speaker of the House,” Bonnen, who is from Angleton, said in a statement.

    Bonnen’s political future was called into question in late July, when Michael Quinn Sullivan, who heads Empower Texans, revealed the two, along with one of the speaker’s top allies, had met at the Texas Capitol the month before. At that meeting, Sullivan alleged, Bonnen and state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, suggested Empower Texans go after a list of 10 House Republicans and told Sullivan his group could have media access to the lower chamber in 2021. Bonnen also disparaged multiple Democrats, calling one “vile” and another “a piece of shit.”

    Possibly more later…

    Bonnen/Sullivan Controversy Takes Down Burrows

    Saturday, August 17th, 2019

    I haven’t been following the Texas Speaker Dennis Bonnen/Empower Texans head Michael Quinn Sullivan meeting controversy due to lack of time (like I’ve said, the past weeks have been a bear), but this Texas Monthly piece provides an overview of the meeting, which took place June 12. “Bonnen appears to have offered to take an official action if Sullivan would use his political organization to go after ten legislators whom Bonnen found objectionable while avoiding attacks on Bonnen.” Depending on the applicability of various statutes, that’s very possibly illegal.

    Here’s Sullivan’s description of the meeting:

    I was surprised when I got to Bonnen’s office to also be greeted by the GOP Caucus chairman, State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock).

    The meeting started off pleasantly enough. And, indeed, there was a little tongue-lashing. The notoriously thin-skinned Burrows didn’t like a tweet from the session in which I wrote he was “moronic” for floating a proposal that would have gutted property tax reform. For his part, Bonnen said he wants to fight the Democrats—offering amusing (if slightly vulgar) comments about Reps. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton) and Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston).

    But the thrust of the meeting took me by surprise. Bonnen invited me there to make me an offer.

    A little context: Given my news background, Empower Texans has long operated as a news-media entity. Our focus on providing information that empowers citizens to exercise their rights as a self-governing people has taken the form of reporting on the actions of lawmakers—especially in exposing the difference between what they say and what they do.

    For the past two sessions, our Texas Scorecard Capitol bureau has applied for House media credentials. Despite falling clearly inside the boundaries of the House’s criteria, and despite being granted credentials by the Texas Senate, those applications have been repeatedly denied. The 2019 session was no exception. We filed a federal lawsuit on the matter, which is going up before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

    Sitting in his Capitol office on June 12, Speaker Bonnen was adamant he wanted to do something for me. I told him I didn’t need anything from him or Burrows. But he really wanted me to listen to what he “wanted to do for me.”

    Bonnen insisted: He would ensure Texas Scorecard reporters received House floor access in 2021 if we would lay off our criticism of the legislative session, not spend money from our affiliated PACs against certain Republicans, and—most shockingly—go after a list of other Republicans in the 2020 primary elections.

    Spending political money was the issue, Bonnen said. Not just refraining from spending it against his pals. He wanted us to spend it against Republicans he saw as not being helpful.

    What strikes me most about this, beyond the rank impropriety, is what a shoddy deal Bonnen is offering. Spend time and money attacking Bonnen’s preferred targets in exchange for…media credentials to the Texas House? That’s it? It’s not only underhanded and unethical, it’s insultingly tacky. “Hey, if you help me whack this guy, I promise there’s a six-pack of Bud Light in it for you!”

    Yesterday, meeting participant Burrows reigned as House Republican Chair. “Following Burrows’ resignation as Chairman, Fort Worth Republican State Rep. Stephanie Klick has confirmed with a North Texas news outlet she has assumed the role of Chairman of the caucus and expects the members to fill her, now vacant, role as vice chair according to House Republican Caucus rules.”

    Cahnman also has some pungent commentary, such as:

  • The hardest part to wrap your head around is that the substance of Bonnen’s ask isn’t necessarily crazy. While he’s doing it for the wrong reasons, Bonnen basically asks Sullivan to focus on rural members instead of suburban ones. There’s a certain logic to that strategy. Unfortunately, there’s no logic that suggests one make oneself a party to a felony in the process.
  • The most surprising part is the degree to which Bonnen’s talking out of both sides of his mouth on his alleged “no campaigning” edict. Bonnen spends nearly a quarter of the meeting telling Sullivan how he plans to vigorously enforce the edict against Democrats, but casually look the other way with Republicans. At this point, the Democrats have every right to tell Bonnen to pound sand.
  • Snip.

    Bonnen, and especially Dustin Burrows, are super thin-skinned about criticisms of the session. They spend a quarter of the discussion trying to spin the results to Sullivan. At one point, Burrows laughably accuses Sullivan of gaslighting the members.

    Snip.

  • Burrows claims the list is about members who voted against the ban on taxpayer funded lobbying, but Ken King and Gary van Deaver also voted against the ban and didn’t make the list.
  • The list: Steve Allison, Trent Ashby, Dirty Ernie (Bailes), Travis Clardy (“the ringleader of all opposition” according to Burrows), Drew Darby, Kyle Kacal, Stan Lambert, Tan Parker, John Raney, Phil Stephenson.
  • Cahnman also thinks that Burrows is a dead speaker walking.

    There was widespread belief that Bonnen would be easier to work with than former speaker Joe Straus (even by Sullivan), but this year’s legislative session seemed to have just as many conservative bills die in the process as they had under Straus.

    With Burrows down, it’s hard to see how Bonnen survives the scandal as Speaker.

    Dear Jason Villalba: Enjoy This Festive Holiday Primary Challenge

    Monday, November 27th, 2017

    With the retirements of Joe Straus and Byron Cook, Jason Villalba might be the least popular Republican in the Texas House. Which explains why Santa (in this case Texas conservatives) delivered a primary challenge as an early Christmas present.

    With a disastrous record in the Texas House and recent calls for gun control, Texans won’t be surprised to learn that State Rep. Jason Villalba (R—Dallas) could face a tough reelection.

    On Monday, Dallas business owner Lisa Luby Ryan, who operates an interior design firm and the antique home furnishings store Vintage Living in Dallas, validated earlier rumors she was considering a run and announced her campaign against Villalba in the Republican primary.

    “I’m simply overwhelmed at the initial support we have already earned and grateful for the caliber of individuals joining this campaign,” said Ryan in a news release. “Today’s announcement sends a loud and clear message that this district believes that we can do better than our current representation. I am running to provide voters a clear choice, and with this great support I intend to win.”

    In her campaign announcement, Ryan also released an impressive list of supporters who are already endorsing her campaign. The list includes a bevy of conservative mainstays and a substantial number of prominent community business owners including Brint Ryan (no relation), a prominent tax consultant and chairman of the University of North Texas Board of Regents, who will serve as Lisa Luby Ryan’s campaign treasurer.

    While Ryan’s background certainly plays into the amount of support she’s receiving in the district, and it’s also true that Villalba’s record has declined even further this session compared to his last, it’s likely that the donor community is supporting his opponent because Villalba has exhausted his usefulness.

    While Villalba was, admittedly, a clownish and useless member of House Speaker Joe Straus’ team, he was a part of the team. But now, that team won’t be taking the field.

    Given Straus’ announcement that he will not seek re-election and conservative efforts to amend the Republican caucus bylaws to ensure a more conservative Speaker is elected, Villalba is likely to be left on the outside looking in regardless of who is elected to be the next Speaker of the Texas House.

    And it’s not just Dallas donors who have made that observation.

    Indeed, at a recent lobby meeting hosted by Straus’ chief strategist, Gordon Johnson, Villalba didn’t even make the list of lawmakers that the group would try to “protect” in the upcoming Republican primary elections.

    Given that Straus’ allies in the lobby were forced to spend more than $500,000 to protect Villalba in the 2016 primary, Villalba will be in serious trouble if the Austin political establishment hangs him out to dry.

    Or if his constituents take a look at his record.

    You may remember Villalba from such hits as I’m A Thin-Skinned Twitter Blockhead, Let’s Make It illegal For Gun Owners and Bloggers To Photograph the Police and I Have A Whole Lot of Stupid Ideas.

    Let’s hope Lisa Luby Ryan succeeds in retiring him in 2018.

    Straus Re-Elected Speaker. And It Wasn’t Close.

    Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

    Sadly, my previous analysis was right on the money. Straus maintained his hold on the Texas Speaker’s chair by a 127-19 margin over Scott Turner. For all the numerous Tea Party endorsements of House candidates (indeed, the North Texas Tea Party said that a vote for Straus for Speaker would preclude their endorsement), it seems that only a tiny minority of Tea Party-endorsed candidates are interested in challenging Straus’ iron grip.

    I would be most interested in hearing behind-the-scenes information on how Straus has managed to continue to procure the votes of so many conservative Republicans despite widespread grassroots opposition to Straus’ Speakership…

    Bryan Hughes Drops Out of Texas Speaker’s Race and Endorses David Simpson

    Monday, December 10th, 2012

    This is big news. Rep. Bryan Hughes has dropped his bid to be Speaker of the Texas house of Representatives and has endorsed Rep. David Simpson in his run against incumbent speaker Joe Straus.

    While conservatives wanted to see Straus replaced, they was worry that Hughes’ background as a trial lawyer could work against him, and there was also worry that Simpson would split the anti-Straus vote. With Hughes out and endorsing Simpson, conservatives now have their best chance ever to oust Straus.

    Expect to hear more about the Speaker’s race in the near future.

    Dick Armey Aims to Unseat Speaker Joe Straus

    Monday, September 24th, 2012

    Well, this is very interesting:

    FreedomWorks, which helped insurgent Ted Cruz snatch the GOP nod for U.S. Senate from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, said Monday it will put its muscle behind toppling Texas House Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio from his leadership post.

    Armey’s one sharp cookie, and he plays hardball. Conservatives came up short when they challenged the moderate Straus before last session, but the incoming Texas House looks to be more conservative, and a lot of Straus’s committee chairs lost in the primary. But Straus is no pushover, and I imagine he still sits on a big pile of legislative IOUs, as well as lobbyist juice and gambling money. Will a disgruntled David Dewhurst throw his still-considerably clout behind his counterpart in the House?

    This promises to be a very interesting fight…

    Update: Here’s the Freedomworks press release, where Brendan Steinhauser says they’re supporting State Rep. Bryan Hughes for Speaker.

    The Texas House Speaker’s Race Religion Kerfluffle

    Monday, December 6th, 2010

    Since the topic has gotten to Fark, I thought I would clear up the whole “Republicans oppose Straus because he’s Jewish” myth, a myth entirely based on one dumbass (or one plant) sending out email. (The truth is, Republicans oppose Straus because he’s not conservative enough.) In particular, I’d like to point out that those who say that Republicans haven’t condemned this religious bating are wrong:

    Reps. Warren Chisum and Ken Paxton, conservative Republicans who’ve launched long-shot bids to unseat House Speaker Joe Straus, on Wednesday condemned campaign e-mails that have introduced candidates’ religions.

    E-mails, some of unknown origin, have surfaced in recent days that mention Straus’ rabbi and underscore the Christian faith of his leading critics in the House Republican Caucus. One e-mail promises that “Straus is going down in Jesus’ name.”

    “I repudiate that in the strongest terms,” Chisum, R-Pampa, said in an interview. “That is not what this is about.”

    Chisum later issued a release saying, “No one working with me on my campaign for speaker has anything to do with such tactics,” which he called “deplorable.”

    Paxton, R-McKinney, released a similar statement.

    “There is absolutely no place for religious bigotry in the race for Texas speaker,” Paxton said. “It is just as shameful for anyone to imply that I would ever condone this type of behavior. My campaign is singularly focused on a message of providing proven, dependable conservative leadership to the Texas House.”

    That was way back on November 18, people. If you’re going to repeat a liberal smear, how about one that wasn’t already debunked three weeks ago?

    Incumbent Speaker Joe Straus Advertising…on Powerline?

    Monday, November 22nd, 2010

    You may have noticed that the race for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is getting hot and heavy. So it’s no surprise to see current Speaker Joe Straus campaigning to retain his role. However, I must say it was something of a surprise to see him advertising (via Google ads) on Powerline. Here’s a capture of the ad I saw there (no doubt triggered by the fact my IP address is inside Texas):

    The irony is that there are numerous voices in the Texas conservative blogosphere complaining that Strauss isn’t conservative enough:

    Ken Paxton seems to be the choice of most conservatives who have chimed in on the race.

    I was going to say that I had not studied the issue enough to be for or against Strauss. But then I came across this Austin-American Statesman piece praising Strauss for being “nonpartisan” and “moderate,” which is pretty much the kiss of death as far as I’m concerned, and a solid reason to vote for someone else as speaker, advertising on Powerline not withstanding.