Pratt on Texas

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas public college and universities are making a big show of ending D.E.I. programs after such were outlawed by the legislature but, it is easy to see that in many cases it’s all just a rebranding and the use of taxpayer money to promote “progressive” (i.e. Leftist) political ideologies on campus will continue.

‘No one is going to lose a job’ in response to DEI ban, UT-Dallas president says – note that he also says: “We’re going to continue doing those things,” Benson said. “And so it’ll go under a different name. But I don’t think anyone would have a problem with the actual actions of what we do.”
University of Houston’s LGBTQ resource center to close due to DEI ban

And the problem of using taxpayer money to specifically promote Leftist political agendas isn’t limited to colleges, plenty of local governments do the same.

City of Dallas budget to use taxpayer funds to boost homosexual “pride” events in Big D .
Why? Because the alphabet homosexual community couldn’t raise enough to pay for their planned “drag queen” political statement event .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Oil and gas rig count falls again nationally but Texas remains even .

Solid Employment Growth in July Leads to More Records in Texas .

Texas State Library to Cut Ties with Communist-led American Library Association .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: It is another Blacklisting of Americans update from author and historian Robert Zimmerman of behindtheblack.com .

Blacklisted Americans is Zimmerman’s term for victims of what is currently called “cancel culture.”

See all Blacklisted Americans stories here: https://behindtheblack.com/blacklisted-americans/

Find other Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra blacklisting updates here: https://prattontexas.com/?s=blacklist

We also discuss Zimmerman’s latest book: Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space .

This book is a must-read for those who want to understand how wrong the Left is about America’s slavery history as well as how a small part of what became the USA took very wrong decisions which are still at the center of our most difficult societal problems. This book is original, not another rewrite of what others have published. It is also real History written from primary sources.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: The foul stench of local government rises even higher during tax rate and budget setting.

Taxpayers are being abused in so many ways from wasteful spending to promotion of Leftist “woke” ideologies to the easy incompetence that comes when one is spending other people’s money as opposed to one’s own. Here’s just a sampling from today’s press review:

Lufkin ISD superintendent granted paid admin leave for school year

Price tag on Wichita Falls City Hall remodel job jumps by $5 million (almost 50%!)

Fannin Co. Courthouse faces serious fire code violations (they just spent $29 million and ran the job themselves – the Commissioners’ Court!)
Don’t Let Cities, Counties Chip Away at Legislative Tax Relief

The Left’s War on Language Strikes the Lone Star State – look at these graphs and how this has grown. Taxpayer money to implement Leftist political programs in our local governments.
City of Dallas Agency Demands ‘Equity Elements’ in 95% of Projects

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp update: They hit owner on head, he & employee shot & killed 2 of them .

Democrat district court judge rules against key Texas election law (SB 1750) and state immediately appeals to Supreme Court . The judge said the implementation of the law could cause harm to Harris County’s elections office. What!? The rather recently created office has had one director after another vacate the position due to incompetently run elections. That’s sort of the point of passing SB 1750.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: It is all about leadership and responsibility in restraining the growth of local government. All too often officials say they must have more money, must grow local government more than inflation and population growth, but guess what? There are always a few across the state who prove that with better management, leadership, and a remembrance that they work for the taxpayers not for government employees one can indeed fully fund local government without raising property taxes .

No city tax increase expected for El Paso for FY 2024, but adding fire and police
Hats Off to Tarrant County on its ’24 Budget – an actual tax cut and a new county property tax homestead exemption!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp update: Don’t attack armed people in the BBQ joint restroom .

After seeing, and hearing, the video, I’m even MORE with Rep. Ronny Jackson . Too many police at this moment a girl was in medical distress were infected with I’m-in-charge-here syndrome than with let’s help the girl first. Most media leaves out witnesses involved who said :

Two people who reportedly witnessed the July interaction, Chris and Jodi Jordan, said they were at the rodeo and explained Jackson was trying to help the girl before medics arrived and that the deputies aggressively pulled him away. “We were just appalled,” said Chris Jordan, 48, of Hereford. “The slamming to the ground I didn’t understand whatsoever.”

A big Texas victory over the Leftist ESG movement .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Pornographers (Houston Chronicle calls them “adult entertainment” advocates) sue Texas to fight against HB 1181 which requires age verification to enter the online pornography websites. Additionally, in an absurd assertion, the pornographers claim that pornography is not addictive and want the provisions of the bill that require a warning of such to be ruled unconstitutional. I guess we know where the plaintiffs in this case stand: They appear to want children and youth to have access to their pornography . Could that be because they know it is addictive and getting them early is better for business ? That was the claim against the cigarette makers.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Child dies on an illegal alien voluntary transport bus provided by Texas , State Senator Roland Gutierrez again shows his mental deficiency : “This child died because in all likelihood they were on a bus that they could not get out of.” Really? Getting off a bus (she did get off when EMS were called) stops progression of disease? Gutierrez is a joke.

Lawsuit against Rep. Jeff Leach by Texas Nationalist Movement and group member Morgan McComb dismissed . The filing of the case is one of the reasons I have little respect for this TEXIT movement by TNM and why I keep my distance. Gosh, this case shows them as bad as the worst D.C. Democrat on political liberty and free speech.

Lubbock County commissioners need to learn that people don’t need more government per capita but less through economies of scale . County spending has skyrocketed for years so if the D.A.’s office needs more money: First, make sure it is being effectively run before handing it more money (I’ve been told by judges and attorneys it is very poorly managed by the incumbent D.A.) and second, take money that has put into growing the county government beyond basic functions and move it to the D.A.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Houston,, other cities, have sued the state over Rep. Burrows’ Regulatory Consistency Act . They stupidly call it the “Death Star Bill” but it doesn’t kill anything other than city ordinances that attempt to regulate things that the state regulates.

The state has now put forth arguments , in an effort for dismissal of the case, and the interesting thing is how the bill was constructed using the novel enforcement method put forth in the model Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

No Joke: Oregon SecState BARS Republicans From Running For Re-Election . The lesson, with this story and a huge number of others, is that Texas Republican House Speakers Straus, Bonnen, Phelan are simply stupid idiots when they and their backer cabals argue that we must hand power to Democrats and not punish them for leaving the state on the idea that if the tables were turned such across-the-aisle kindness would be given in the other direction.

Oil and gas rig count falls again . Gasoline prices are up, demand is up, but drilling continues to go down.

Leftist media awakens to the effective nature of Texas’ bussing illegal aliens to big Democrat run cities .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Junk fees and false room rates by hotels is a symptom of an absence of integrity in the industry and the moral decline of our society. The feds, the Texas Attorney General, and customers are fighting it but the hotels don’t care and actually seem to think lying to customers is a game.

Hotels are returning fire in the “junk fee” war. Don’t be a casualty.

Office of the Attorney General Sues Travel Reservation Site for Deceptive Trade Practices Regarding the True Price of Hotel Rooms (Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.com)
Paxton Secures Agreement with Marriott to End Hidden Hotel Fees and Ensure Transparency
Paxton Sues Hyatt Hotels for Deceptive Trade Practices Regarding the True Price of Hotel Rooms

I’ve had Platinum status for many years with Wyndham and their La Quinta operator in Brownwood charged us, without advance disclosure, a junk fee we’d have not known about had we not demanded a receipt upon leaving. Terrible lack of integrity.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Is the “political calculus” of finally banning taxpayer funded lobbying in Texas really changing ? My guess is that such might, I stress might, be offered up, and likely watered down, next session as a chosen red meat issue.

Now, because of the Texas House’s impeachment circus we don’t know if this is law enforcement working as it should (which is why impeachment should not have been used – to let law enforcement handle law enforcement) or, a pile-on action to help poison the well just like how magically the securities related suit finally gets a direct court hearing with Paxton present after all these years.

Border Patrol Union rips Rep. Joaquin Castro ‘s criticism of Texas Rio Grande water buoys: ‘unhinged diatribe’ .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Reportedly, there is Houston-region housing development that caters to illegal aliens with a population of over 22,000 that is “partially funded” by a major donor of Governor Greg Abbott . Is it all this profiting off of illegal immigration that keeps Abbott and legislative leadership from doing more than expensive theater on securing the border such as passing a mandate for Texas employers to use e-Verify as Florida has done under DeSantis?

The Rio Grande Guardian is upset that only three of the Valley’s state reps. signed a very stupid MALC letter to Speaker Phelan asking for Gov. Abbott and Operation Lone Star to be investigate. The headline: Only 3 of Valley’s 8 state Reps sign MALC letter criticizing Abbott’s use of concertina razor wire on Rio Grande – Rio Grande Guardian . It is stupid to sign such a letter given that Biden and the feds use concertina wire all the time on the border!

Also this from the border: EXCLUSIVE: Biden Admin Increases Migrant Releases as Border Policies Crumble Under Another Surge .

Biden’s war on Texas border buoys reveals what he really thinks about immigration laws .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp update: Woman fights off forced head shaving with her handgun .

Local sales taxes up 2.8% over August 2022 . Find your city here .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Democrat Leftists and their homosexual and “trans” activists demonstrated in Denton how they are the enemies of civil public discourse and tolerance . No surprise it happened at Texas Woman’s University that, like neighbor UNT, a hotbed for radical leftist action.

Abbott’s ceremonial bill signing of SB15, “Save Women’s Sports Act,” showed just how strongly the homosexual lobby opposes protections for women. It also shows, once again, how Abbott has done little to nothing to use his political power to appoint university regents to rein in the Leftist chaos on our public campuses. TWU police just citing people, or one person, for Class C assault (a ticket) when spitting upon people and blocking exits can carry higher charges just shows where TWU stands on the matter.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

A needed slap down of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (not the firm it once was) in court over its denigration of religious freedom. And someone did a great job of pointing out the “woke” culture at Fort Worth-based American Airlines . Two previous stories on the Southwest Airlines saga:

Pushback: Judge rules flight attendant must be rehired by Southwest, but reduces her award significantly
Pushback: Southwest flight attendant demands Southwest be sanctioned for violating the terms of her court victory

Texas largest county, Harris, has another new mess since the incompetent to govern Leftist Democrats took over the county :

22 Harris County Jail victims’ families sue county
Harris County’s judge and sheriff no-shows meeting with state jail regulators
Chief of Texas’ Largest County, Lina Hidalgo, Takes Medical Leave for Depression

Hawk and snake story and story on why a phone call to 911 is not a weapon .

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Are Aggie jokes true?! If regents are finding it hard to blunt a perception of a Left-liberal agenda at Texas A&M then maybe the jokes are true because, frankly, it’s quite easy to deal with such without getting into the arena of academic freedom, etc. Just stop funding programs that promote Leftist political orthodoxy and campus and you’ll go a long way to solving the problem at A&M, Texas Tech, Texas State, UNT, Houston and so many others. You don’t have to fund conservative-Right programs either – just stop funding and promoting Leftist orthodoxy on campus!

Also on the subject of A&M’s absurd “settlement” with the UT professor it didn’t hire, state Rep. Brian Harrison has it right: “Like hell my constituents should have to pay a DEI activist professor one million dollars for simply not leaving one government job for another government job. She’s still tenured at UT Austin and is getting a $1M bonus? I will demand answers from Texas A&M University, my alma mater.”

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Another all to common example of local media misleading voters on what local government is doing to property taxes out of Lamesa. The local paper says the council “adopts lower tax rate .” The rate doesn’t lower or raise, it gets set anew each year with a different set of base numbers. The truthful and meaningful message would be “Council adopts 2.75 % property tax increase ” – that’s a lot different than “adopts lower tax rate.”

More impeachment debacle news . I discuss several issues and specifically mentioned the section about Paxton and Mindy Montford from this DMN story . Also, deadline for more charges has passed so it appears the ongoing House fishing didn’t land a fish.

Democrat liberal Travis County state district judge has substituted herself for a legislature and tried to rewrite Texas’ law restricting abortion and she used woke language too! Her blocking of parts of the law has itself been blocked by the state’s direct appeal to the Supreme Court.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott, not taxpayers, should pay preposterous A&M “settlement” of $1 million for a job the woman walked away from and had no loss because she retained her tenured job at UT-Austin! Abbott appointed all the A&M regents and he should make good the million out of his huge campaign account because it is beyond unethical that taxpayers are put on the hook for this. See also: Texas A&M reaches $1M settlement with Kathleen McElroy – note how the utter dishonestly of the press on this continues .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

TPPF points out City of Lubbock’s own audited data shows a massive increase in spending over the past decade which far, far outpaces inflation and population growth .

Oil price high but Texas suffers another big falloff in oil and gas drilling rigs .

Ballot order set for the 7 November 2023 Constitutional Amendment election.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: When it comes to the border and illegal immigration, Leftists including many officeholders, decry the “rhetoric” of Governor Abbott and the rest of the country claiming such leads to violence. However, it takes only one quick look to see who are the “godless” proponents of chaos and who use rhetoric in the most base, nasty ways.

Child from Honduras is one of two people dead on or near Texas’ anti-migrant border buoys – read the sinfully base rhetoric throughout this piece and especially at the end and tell me who engages is “hate speech” and who says things in a manner to encourage violence.

Cops Find Body of Migrant Caught in Texas Border Buoys – graphic photos
Eagle Pass Rescinds Agreement Allowing Trespass Arrests of Migrants
Arrests of noncitizens with criminal convictions at border at record highs

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Abilene homosexual advocacy group among several suing Texas and other local governments including City of Abilene and Taylor County . They don’t like a new law that stops sexually lewd performances in front of children.

Local governments in Texas have shown they cannot stop spending beyond the means of their local economies. To fix this, the Legislature should act – a list of suggestions .

Moses Rose’s Hideout bar owner agrees to sell , resolving Alamo eminent domain case and paving way for new Alamo museum .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: What happened to the liberal mantra that goes “If it saves just one life… or, If it prevents just one accident…” any amount of money, loss of liberty, etc. is worth it? They sure don’t act that way about the lawless chaos at the U.S. Mexico border. They’ve been screaming for years about temporary breaking up families who cross illegally but deny the need to get these unknown children away from the adults who may just be using and abusing them to cross as a family unit. Two stories in today’s stack reminded me of the careless indifference U.S. libs have toward these people:

Texas DPS Has Rescued Over 900 Children from Human Smuggling, Trafficking During Operation Lone Star

Texas DPS separates families at border in apparent policy shift – the last part of this story is de facto evidence of why many of these people should not be let in.

And, it’s not so good for Biden when even the Washington comPost admits his supposed lowered illegal immigration plan has been all but wiped out by a surge .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas sales tax collections look big but Comptroller Hegar points out the trend I have been mentioning: “The rate of sales tax revenue moderated last month, consistent with a slowing pace of economic growth and declining price inflation,” Hegar said.

House impeachment managers want it both ways, unjustly . I add to my less clear explanation on yesterday’s show.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: In the impeachment fight, historical precedent, is 100% on the side of Paxton’s lawyers as to the process requiring basic American protections found in criminal trials. But, House “managers” want it both ways: If it is purely political, not quasi-criminal, then the “prior term doctrine” should apply. If it is criminal in nature, then the House must provide a Bill of Particulars – meaning the defendant must be charged with things that are specifically against a law with specificity.

The House has lobbed a set of murky and non-specific articles of impeachment at Paxton and says this is okay, though certainly not fair in any sense, because this is not a criminal prosecution but a political one – that sure does tie the word politician into truth not being important! But if it is solely political, then the voters settled the matter in the last election and no charges brought can include things prior the last election of Paxton – that is the prior term doctrine.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2023/07/28/texas-ag-ken-paxton-says-impeachment-is-a-criminal-trial-experts-say-he-is-wrong/
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/paxton-attorneys-seek-to-dismiss-19-articles-of-impeachment
https://thetexan.news/paxtons-attorneys-move-to-dismiss-19-of-20-impeachment-articles/

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Only New York and California have more local government debt per person than Texas . Why? Because local officials in Texas, no matter how much their constituents are hurting, cannot seem to stop spending money faster than their local economic growth provides.

Lubbock ‘s city manager should be removed for such a callous proposal as he is making to the city council – a big tax increase .
Meanwhile, Democrat run El Paso just got rid of old Lubbock city hall insider Tommy Gonzalez, now hired by Midland, and that has El Paso planning no tax increase: City takes first steps toward ‘no-new-revenue tax rate’ in proposed budget .

Dallas Fed: Texas service sector growing, retail remains in the dumps .

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Insanity at Texas A&M with regents meeting on Sunday and reportedly wanting to negotiate a “settlement” with the Leftist anti-journalism UT “journalism” prof who walked away from taking the job to run the Aggie journalism school. She walked away – where do the rest of us get on the train for settlements when the parameters of a job offer change and we decide to decline such? Where!?

If anything, A&M should claim that she entered the job negotiations from a fraudulent basis given that her position of what is journalism is more akin to a political propagandist than someone reporting on events . Her position on journalsim is like hiring a math professor who claims that mathematicians don’t need to be able to solve equations correctly to do or teach math!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey show further contractions of output .

Comment on this slight moment of lucidity of the know-nothing Leftist editorial board members of the Houston Chronicle: Jackson Lee wants to be an ‘education mayor.’ But how?

Who is paying, or rewarding, Texan Will Hurd to “run” for President? I don’t buy that he’s a legitimate candidate at all.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Atheist organization sues Fort Worth and while it my infuriate many, the real solution is to stop local government mission creep. If Fort Worth were focused on basic government services, it would not be in the business of renting out advertising banners on light poles.

Additionally, a very stupid civil rights complaint has been filed against the City of Lubbock by a bunch of Leftist community organizers over zoning. The complaint is part of a current national movement by Democrats and the Biden Administration to find racism in just about everything.

What these braying jackasses ignore is: One, these zoned areas came directly from the political party to which they belong when Democrats created segregation by law; two, that no one has been forced to reside in any of the neighborhoods abutting industrial zoning for generations and yet people still choose to do so, and; three, there are more Hispanics, for example, in other parts of Lubbock than live in the old traditional Hispanic area to which they refer. Thus, if you moved industrial zoning to other areas of the city you could numerically be, if you buy their premise, hurting more minorities than the status quo. They also conveniently forget the historic fact that until recent times, people chose to live near where they worked because they walked to work.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

More on the Texas A&M controversy over its offer to hire a UT-Austin prof to run its new journalism program who believes that journalism should be political activism and leave out facts of stories with which the journalist finds disagreeable. I’ve covered this early and in-depth but Sherry Sylvester did a fine job summarizing the problem with all the hand wringing in Aggieland .

State Board approves new A&M Journalism degree starting this fall
Texas A&M Board of Regents meeting to appoint interim president, authorize to ‘negotiate a potential settlement of claims of Kathleen McElroy’

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Former Texas state senator and gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines joins me to talk tax relief, the border crisis and what’s not being done, and about the Huffines Liberty Foundation .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Showing how ignorant are liberal Democrats, a Gallup poll shows 83% of Democrats deny there is a “crisis” at the border with Mexico . Note how soft Gallup spins the story in their own write up versus how another outlet took it to show the real problem with reality today’s Democrats have . The change from 2019 among Democrats to today is astounding given that the border situation has gotten much worse under the Biden administration.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: A big Dallas Morning News story on a trove of messages between a Paxton campaign official and state Rep. Jeff Leach shows, in my opinion, that personal anger over a policy difference, with a desire to strike back at Paxton, is behind the House’s move to impeach A.G. Paxton. It is disgusting and shameful. Is being “pissed off” a legitimate and thoughtful reason to invoke such extreme and rare action as impeachment?

Also, an important story most of the legacy media has chosen not to cover is about just how bad the impeachment articles are from a constitutional perspective . Many of these things I noticed immediately and mentioned when the list of charges was released from the House.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Yesterday numerous Texas press outlets ran positive stories of Leftist Austin Congressman Greg Casar’s “thirst strike.” Today, as of midday, those same outlets had nothing to report. Why? Because “Squad” member and Marxist Casar’s stunt is an embarrassment – it’s funny !

Lazy book vendors : Lawsuit Challenges Texas Law Punishing Book Vendors for ‘Explicit’ Materials in Public School Libraries | The Texan . I read four different media accounts of this today and it seems that what these people, who sell books to public school libraries, are saying is that it’s too hard for them to ensure they are not selling pornography and sexually explicit books for little kids to see in schools. That’s quite an admission by school book vendors – that they can’t and won’t review what it is they sell.

Another Anti-Wimp update : Axe-wielding robber arrested after armed homeowner stops him .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: A very long, about seven page, story is out from the Texas Tribune which has been republished by many press outlets in Texas with a headline that hints at big scandal: Texas A&M put professor on leave for allegedly criticizing Dan Patrick . The problem? There is no big scandal and the only folks who did anything questionable, according to the evidence supplied, are Texas A&M bureaucrats and leaders nervous over budgets and legislation. Reading the giant story, it's as if this part never existed: "Ultimately Texas A&M allowed Alonzo to keep her job after an internal investigation could not confirm any wrongdoing." So for all the writing about freedom of speech, do those who had a problem with her speech not have that same freedom? The same folk who think "investigation" was unwarranted and "chilling" are the same types of people who support investigations of conservative speech on campus often.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

New annual registration fee for electric vehicles (EVs) in Texas goes into place on 1 September. $200 per year on top of existing fees to make up for not contributing to the state highway fund by not buying gasoline.

Rep. Ronny Jackson Calls Paxton Impeachment a 'Witch Hunt.'

Southlake Carroll ISD votes to remove extra protections against bullying homosexual students and adds bathroom-use restriction to actual sex . Whatever happened to "just treat us the same as everyone?" When we do that we get screams of horror because these groups crave attention and special status.

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott tells Biden and his Dept. of [un-] Justice to pound sand over demands to remove the 1000-foot floating border barrier Texas has placed in the Rio Grande. And while Abbott’s bravado on the subject is fun to watch, it is interesting that the Texas governor would pick this particular issue to fight the feds on given it is likely the weakest legal position of the state, by far, of all the complex issues regarding the border, invasion, and states rights. I think it shows that this is still political theater from Governor Abbott. If Texas were refusing to back down to federal threats over actually stopping people from crossing the border, or arresting them all and then transporting them back across the border, this fight would be fundamental and worth it. Instead, Abbott throws the chest out over a thousand-foot floating barrier that is rather insignificant in the larger picture.

Frankly, the only successful action Abbott has taken, and not begun for a long time and billions spent, is the busing of illegal aliens to Democrat “sanctuary city” jurisdictions . That forces the issue into the news cycles of even Leftwing parts of the country and has more chance of moving voters to demand change that much of anything else.

If we’re are not going to actually stand up and physically stop the invasion as a state, why not massively expand the busing programs and save money on all the stuff that doesn’t work? Answer: Because that other stuff pays political dividends to Abbott and others.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Analysis and commentary on the three latest Paxton impeachment stories :

Impeachment lawyers reject Texas AG Ken Paxton’s request to remove Democrats from jury

Ken Paxton’s far-right billionaire backers are fighting hard to save him – how dare he have backers, especially rich folk! What a corrupt idea being pushed in many parts of the press.
Houston GOP activist sues over gag order in Paxton impeachment case

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: “Will Dan Patrick challenge Greg Abbott for Texas Governor? ” I’ve been consciously waiting for this story in the big Texas legacy press and I’m glad it came from Gromer, a good writer.

I’d be on the Patrick side immediately if such happened now but that is because he is the more movement conservative. He’s not perfect on everything, but has proven that he is about moving conservative policy and reform more than he is about promoting a political career – which is the biggest knock against Abbott.

I tend to agree with almost every part of Gromer’s speculation in the later part of the story. Oh, but wouldn’t such a race be epic!?

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Feds will sue Texas over the floating Rio Grande River barrier. IBWC: Abbott does not have permit to erect floating barriers on Rio Grande . Also, more strong evidence Biden’s illegal alien “parole” program is a hoax .

Record jobs and employment growth in Texas , outpacing all other states .

Another big drop in the oil and gas drilling rig count for Texas.

TX19’s Rep. Jodey Arrington cast what I believe to be an “evil” vote – he voted, at the behest of the airline lobby, against requiring airline pilots who lost their jobs for refusing to take the dangerous WuFlu “vaccine.”

Impeachment news : Paxton’s Attorneys Move to Exclude Three Democratic Senators From Impeachment Trial . I don’t think anything will come of this. If fairness mattered the House wouldn’t have impeached as it did!

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: "Woke" D.E.I. and similar, under the original titles and with changed names, is going on in major state agencies , not just on college campuses, under Governor Greg Abbott's watch.

TxDOT has been found to be spending money on, and pushing, D.E.I. with all of its awful ideas such as segregation, pronoun usage, and more - because as we all know, you can't maintain Texas' highways if you don't get the pronouns right!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas cities are engaging in "highway robbery" by spending massive money outside of the areas of providing basic city services . Worse, they are leaving citizens with massive debt. Maybe it's time to push constitutional amendments that forever clip the wings of local governments when it comes to spending and mission to creep.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: In Mexico, journalists are now routinely murdered for reporting on the racist ruling party (Morena) and it’s ties to the narcotics cartels. When eminent people in the U.S. point out the devilish corruption , Mexico’s corrupt Presidente tells people who have fled his country how they should vote in Texas and the U.S. El Presidente is a clown, but a dangerous clown.

See the Conservative-U.S.-Mexico Policy Coalition Statement here .

Has Governor Abbott lied to the people of Texas about Operation Lone Star? He said we were working “with” property owners along the border and placing barriers where those owners agreed. But, in a major Hearst story we learn that Texas is placing razor wire and more on private property for which owners have not given permission AND will not indemnify those owners for liability that arises from injury from such!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

CNBC declares Florida, Texas among ‘worst’ in nation to live and work . It’s a sign of how liberalism is homeopathy for being lobotomized! “Only liberals could think all the liberal places everyone is leaving are inherently superior to all the conservative places everyone is going.”

HD87 : Amarillo and parts of the Panhandle will have a chance to elect an actual conservative Republican to the Texas House as liberal Republican Four Price is not running for reelection . It’s another loss for the Amarillo Matters and Kel Seliger crowd. Hopefully voters will deny that crowd’s primary choice.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas border enforcement, what little of it there is, blows up in the national press due to a DPS medic who has made all kinds of claims that Texas is being inhumane, etc . The coverage and incendiary Democrat statements , miss the point: Human responsible agency. No one us cut by razor wire unless they try to get through it breaking into the country. No one is pushed back into anything unless those persons first choose to take an illegal and dangerous action.

Also, as I mentioned earlier the biggest problem Abbott has with his floating 1,000-foot border barrier is that it may violate a treaty . If it does, no amount of Fox News chest-beating appearances will change the fact that it will have to come out.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp update : Armed robber gets surprise from 7-Eleven clerk .

The impeachment debacle brings us a Discovery Order to stop the House managers from more unethical behavior toward A.G. Ken Paxton; a new Gag Order to stop mostly the pro-impeachment team from trying the case in the press (it is a political case after all) instead of in the Senate, and; a fine example of biased press hypocrisy regarding Paxton and political donations. Tons of outlets ran this but ignored this .

Tax relief passed . I explain why much more must be done before we go for the school district M&O tax phase out.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: An organized Leftwing political campaign in Lubbock, including by Moms Against Gregg Abbott PAC, successfully bullied Sandy Henry at the Science Spectrum to cancel the facility rental for an event at which parents and citizens were to be taught how to find pornographic, sexually explicit, and sexually inappropriate books in school and public libraries. Homewood Suites by Hilton in Lubbock also appears to have done the same.

Is it the position of Homewood Suites or the Science Spectrum that it is good policy to have in our libraries pornographic, sexually explicit, and sexually inappropriate books for children? Or, is it simply that Sandy Henry of the Science Sprectrum and the Homewood Suites stand with the Left on the idea that only Leftist expression is to be protected?

And don’t buy the baloney from Henry about cancelling the event because it is “controversial.” First, science itself is controversial and second, the facility has rented its meeting space for many things that the Left would consider controversial including churches, partisan political debates, and more.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

More lawsuits filed against Texas:

Group Sues Texas Governor and Others Over the State’s TikTok Ban on Official Devices
Parents, doctors sue Texas to block transgender minor medical procedure ban

Here’s another big nothing from the liberal press when deconstructed: Attorney General Ken Paxton met with GOP activist he was prosecuting . Oh boy, a politician meets with a political activist for a few minutes two weeks before a primary election – that’s certainly never happened before! The story is classic example of misdirection to the point of being absurd.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Media and White House, all one team, crow about reduced illegal border crossings but it is a “shell game,” says a current Border Patrol agent as well as a former chief of the Border Patrol .

And on the note of the border, will Gov. Abbott and Texas Republican legislators ever bother to pass meaningful illegal immigration legislation such as requiring e-Verify for employment in Texas? They killed just that bill in the Senate during the regular session.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Watchdog files complaint over concerns on top Air Force Gen. Brown’s diversity hire priorities . Brown is a Texas Tech graduate and part of a serious problem in our nation’s military.

Comptroller distributes $1.1 billion in local sales tax allocations for July , 7.5 percent more than in July 2022. Look up your city here .

Paxton’s Legal Team Says Impeachment Managers ‘Withholding Information,’ Asks for ‘Strict’ Deadline s. And related, new PAC Urges Republicans to ‘Stand With Paxton’ .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Two stories in today’s Texas press stack demonstrate the embedded racism in our colleges and universities and those who hold most of the faculty positions. Their desire to propagate a racist, bigoted, victims-forever line will not be stopped by watered down DEI laws; it will only stop when very real, serious penalties are put in place to stop such.

How Texas universities can pursue diversity without race-based admissions – look at the tactics proposed! My gosh, they actually suggest red lining(!) among other ridiculous ideas.

Kathleen McElroy will stay at UT-Austin, rejecting A&M journalism offer – based on her own words and career, her entire focus on so-called “journalism” is race based .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

In-state tuition rate for illegal aliens in Texas is legal , appeals court says – a perpetuation of gross injustice.

Houston’s gunshot alert system isn’t curbing violence, data shows – but libs and city bureaucrats want more of it. Fort Worth is expanding its program despite no positive results.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Thanks to Texas Democrats and the old fossil Rep. John Bryan for stepping in it again and bringing today's good news: House and Senate leaders have reached agreement on a property tax relief deal .

It's largely the Senate's plan and it will likely be voted on this Thursday according to state Rep. Carl Tepper who joins us briefly in the last segment.

If all passes, Governor Abbott and Speaker Phelan lost the insider political battle on this one but taxpayers ultimately win and that's what matters. I give full analysis on the show.

And for all that effort of the Dems on proposing their own plan , which got the GOP leaders to work, they got nothing.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp : ATM robbery doesn’t go well for robbers .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: On the same day Harris County makes a show of suing the state over new elections law designed to help fix elections in Houston, new damning details were revealed in a court case over the 2022 handling of elections by Harris County . The great Holly Hansen has the story at The Texan .

“The county’s call log indicates that the presiding judges for the Klein Multipurpose Center and the University of Houston Clear Lake locations called at 6:49 a.m. and 7:01 a.m. respectively because they had not been given any ballot paper at all. In another instance, the call center failed to denote the location of a precinct reporting no ballot paper, while others began reporting a shortage of paper before 9 a.m…”

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp : Armed car thief shot by armed car owner .

Useless committee hearing and an even worse tax relief plan from Democrats in your do little Texas House of Representatives. Note my comments yesterday about this plan and then note from today’s coverage that what it really does is payoff the teachers unions from now on with money you might otherwise get in future tax cuts through school district tax rate compression. In other words, the Democrat plan takes money in future budgets from the tax relief column and moves it to giant annual raises for teachers .

Oil and gas rig count drops again in Texas , rises nationally.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Republicanism is about dispersing power and opposing its concentration in any one person or institution – so why have Texas Republicans, from legislators to the governor to Supreme Court justices, punted so often and been afraid to act on the clear wrongs in the Texas Disaster Act? Is it political cowardice, ignorance, or a desire to have such power? No matter the answer, we are not well served by all the dancing around the fundamental problems shown by Abbott’s use of the Disaster Act, for many years, to amass centralized power.

Brad Johnson, of The Texan, covers this issue as well as it has been covered in: Constitutionality of State Disaster Powers Remains Unaddressed by Texas Supreme Court.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas House Democrats take advantage of Republican in-action on property tax relief with their own vote-buying plan that will get good press. It’s an effective campaign strategy except for one thing: Renters, as a cohort, don’t vote in nearly as significant numbers as do homeowners.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: If you ever doubted how the legacy media thinks of you as ignorant rubes ripe for manipulation, look no further than a set of near-propaganda stories on A.G. Ken Paxton and the impeachment cesspool Texas House members threw us into in a fit over a budget request. I discuss the following:

Paxton’s Lawyer Says Suspended Attorney General Will Not ‘Dignify’ Impeachment Trial by Testifying . – a straight up story with no bias

‘Outside’ report? Law firm that wrote it to defend Ken Paxton was paid $500K by Texas AG . – It has always been known and was never hidden in anyway that the outside law firm’s report was commissioned and paid for the the Office of Attorney General. This is standard practice across the board.

Embattled Texas AG Paxton secretly went on China junket against advice of staff, docs show . And?! So what, what business is it of staff? That’s where all this stuff began – with staff that thought they were the elected boss and not the actual boss.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Border news shows just how despicable is the situation of our easy-access border that Leftists and the Democratic Party supports.

Biden loses on “ghost-gun” case in a Texas federal court .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas Agriculture Commissioner, and former state rep., Sid Miller talks about his disappointment with the legislature and how is now going on a “RINO hunt!”

Among the key comments in the two-segment interview is this about Governor Abbott failing to get a property tax relief deal done in the Regular Session, then failing in the first Called Session, and then calling a second Called Session for the same thing: “Why call another special session when know you don’t have a deal?” Exactly, and there is much more for Commissioner Miller in the interview.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Oil and gas rig count falls , again.

More key U.S. Supreme Court decisions out today and the Court announced a key Second Amendment case it would take up in its next term:

Supreme Court strikes down Biden student-loan forgiveness program
Supreme Court Sides With Christian Web Designer In Compelled Speech Case
Justices take up major Second Amendment dispute

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Two U.S. Supreme Court ruling today are of importance. The ban on using race for college admissions is a long sought after stop to today’s Democrat and Leftist backed reverse discrimination to try and somehow settle the score for past injustices (mostly created and enforced oddly enough by the Democratic Party in this country.) The ruling matters and will affect UT-Austin, Rice, SMU , and others shat have openly been using a racist admissions policy. Sherry Sylvester of the TPPF joins us to talk how this ruling relates to our fight to get D.E.I. and similar off of our public university campuses.

The second ruling, Groff v. DeJoy, is even more important for Americans of faith and will affect all employers with 15 or more employees. This religious accommodation ruling rights a bad error in 1977 that gutted much workplace protection of people of faith. First Liberty and others did great work in this case .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The news of Abbott’s 2nd Called Session of the Legislature is that there is not much news as both the House and Senate seem to be where they were a week ago. However, the Senate did add a big political weapon to its proposed property tax relief package: a big public school teacher pay bonus .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott calls another special session of the legislature after getting nothing from his first called session. This time, Abbott tries to dictate the specific policy lawmakers should take but, that policy has no long term solid plan to ensure it doesn’t fizzle next time there isn’t an abundance of money to spend and, it gives most of us significantly less property tax relief.
I explain why I support the Senate approach now even though I support more strongly the idea of what Governor Abbott is now, at this late date, pushing for.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Queer homosexual (or alphabet?) group upset that the City of Lubbock will not pass a resolution specifically honoring pride in homosexual behavior . Should we honor swingers, celibates, adulterers, monogamous heterosexuals, fetishists, etc. with resolutions to “acknowledge” them simply because of their sexual behavior? Of course not and we should stop promoting homosexuals and their events too. These people are like all the victimhood grasping people on the Left; they are stuck in adolescence and need constant approval of others to find value with their life (or more likely to assuage the natural guilt they feel from their choices.) Far more concerning than their homosexuality is that these people need the support of politicians to fill fulfilled!

A&M, UNT, UT and others awarding minor degrees in homosexual studies . And don’t doubt that all of these programs are pro-homosexuality as opposed to critical or questioning.

Anti-Wimp: Robbers lose in shootout with armed pregnant woman and her husband .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Polling in Texas shows a massive increase in support for true public school choice with landslide numbers favoring such . And while so many legislators were elected to do little but protect the money flows to the government owned and operated school bureaucracy, people across the nation seem to finally be awakening to the decades of rot that has made traditional public schooling anything but traditional and resulted in it being unpalatable for those with moral and ethical values.

Our friend Robert Zimmerman has penned an essay on this subject that is worth sharing with all: The insidious presence of porn in K-12 public schools .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas named best business climate in the United States . Meanwhile the service and retail sectors are hurting in the Lone Star State.

U.S. Supreme Court stubs its collective toe in yet another muddled decision on states and elections that will only invite more lawsuits .

The Vatican and Lefty-friendly Pope Francis is going after Tyler’s Roman Catholic Bishop who hasn’t surrendered sufficiently to the Leftist secular culture.

Texas college allegedly fired biology professor for teaching sex was determined by chromosomes X and Y . Odd that a public community college, part of the Alamo Community Colleges District , opposed to religious values would be named “Saint” Philips College!

And, other news of Texas.

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Charles "Cully" Stimson , along with co-author Zack Smith , explain how the "pro criminal nuts" behind the "Fair and Just Prosecution" movement are using language to bamboozle Americans in local district attorney races to elect George Soros backed candidates who, once elected, choose to go to extremes to NOT effectively prosecute criminals, in their new book: Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America's Communities (Kindle and paperback editions.)

A very short summary of the problem can be found here: George Soros’s prosecutors wage war on law and order. Leftist prosecutors fulfill Soros’s aims by refusing to go after entire categories of crime .

Texas now has several of the district attorneys in office and the cost to Texans is the same as elsewhere in the country: Rising crime rates. In Travis County it has manifested in rising crime while police face prosecution for working to stop riots from getting worse.

This soft under belly of local district attorney elections is the latest vulnerability the radical Left has attacked to sow danger and chaos into our country.

The first segment of my interview with Cully Stimson aired as a segment of Pratt on Texas on 26 June 2023 and then much more detailed discussion continued in a Podcast Extra. I have included the on-air segment as the beginning of the Podcast Extra for those who did not hear the program.

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas now has several of the George Soros supported district attorneys in office and the cost to Texans is the same as elsewhere in the country: Rising crime rates. In Travis County it has manifested in rising crime while police face prosecution for working to stop riots from getting worse. This soft under belly of local district attorney elections is the latest vulnerability the radical Left has attacked to sow danger and chaos into our country.

In their new book, Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities (Kindle and paperback editions,) Charles “Cully” Stimson and Zack Smith detail what is happening to America’s criminal justice system one jurisdiction at a time. We visit with Cully Stimson about the issue for one segment of today’s show. A much longer portion of my interview is posted as a Podcast Extra which is the next episode.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Rep. Burrows launches the idea of a limit of 7.5% property tax increase on any one taxpayer over the previous year as the Senate and House continue to disagree on Texas property tax relief.

Governor Ron DeSantis unveils his border security plan while visiting the Texas border with Mexico.

Texas manufacturing sector activity declined in June; rig count falls again, and; SpaceX’s Starlink gets study from Japan’s defense forces .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas Senate sets rules for the so-called “trial” in the Paxton impeachment debacle that House members knee-jerked us into. You heard it here first (last week with Senator Perry ,) it won’t start in August but in September.

The only big surprise is how the Senate split the baby on Senator Paxton , the wife of Ken Paxton. She will not be able to vote but will be on the floor as a member of the “court” and count toward the number of senators present. This is very important as establishment insider Republicans, many long out to ruin Ken Paxton, along with liberal media allies, have been trying to get her seat as well as of another senator not to count so as to lower the number of votes need to get two-thirds to convict.

Read the rules here (pdf) https://prattontexas.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SenateImpeachmentRulesSR00035I.pdf

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Deadly and damaging weather hit Matador , 4 dead, and across Texas Wednesday night – a full update.

Why LULAC, a once reputable organization, is no longer with spit and neither is this KXAN reporting . Texas didn’t end anyone’s water break. The bill in question, not explained, is the one that stops cities from regulating things the state regulates. Read the invective, hateful words of the LULAC chief and then realize that only 2 or 3 municipalities, Austin and San Antonio I think, even had ordinances that the law overrides . And to prove the point that rules are being enforce, including “water breaks” see this story from the Midland paper: OSHA sends inspectors to ensure workers are safe in heat wave .

Much immigration and border related news.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Was Greta Thunberg correct? Of course not, and neither have been the other apocalyptic climate doomsayers been right. Even the models used by the top specialists have been wrong and never close enough to reality in accuracy to justify policy decisions. But it doesn’t matter, the rich West if reordering itself so that the elite few can have control over all and become even richer and more powerful. The rest of the world smiles and plays along but doesn’t really bother other than encouraging the West to bankrupt itself.

The planet’s climate has always been changing, at every moment, and at greatly varying rates of change. All policy should be to enable freedom, free markets, and the innovation that goes with such in order create the technology and wealth needed to adapt to changes, not engage in foolish arrogance of controlling a climate we so little understand that even simple models fail to accurately predict much.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The Texas Senate did not issue impeachment rules yesterday and was still working on the issue this afternoon .

The most Made in America cars are not from GM or Ford but from a Texas company: Tesla . And Tesla is having a big week with its charging interface moving to be the de facto standard over the government plan Biden is pushing. Also, Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas has reach a milestone in producing 10 million 4680 battery units .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: The Texas Senate, still at work unlike the House, puts forth a compromise property tax relief bill that keeps the much larger relief to homestead homeowners and helps business by expanding the Franchise Tax exemption and pushes further school district M&O tax compression Abbott decided he favored at the last moment of the session. Will the House respond favorably? Abbott is still playing with words on the issue .

The House’s version of work is Speaker Phelan creating a committee on property tax reduction ! I kid you not! This is something one does to admit defeat or to do nothing. The House and its committees ARE the committees on the subject, it’s laughable that they need some new outside committee – unless of course they are admitting their own incompetence.

And over at the Capitol-insider Quorum Report, both its founder and its editor echo what I have been telling you for years about Abbott and he works with(?) the Legislature. Your Texas political swami strikes again!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Fresh news from the great Texas impeachment debacle .

The highly accurate legislator right/left ranking guides are out . The Texas Fiscal Responsibility index is here and you can look up each legislator and the bills used in his ranking – nothing is hidden like the politicians would prefer. And here are the rankings for the House from Rice University’s Mark Jones – it’s amazing how closely this academic ranking the media accepts as reliable lines up, each session, with the Texans for Fiscal Responsibility index.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott goes has a veto spree over his inability to get school choice and his promised tax relief ideas passed in the regular session, and now a called session, of the Texas Legislature. It’s all legitimate political gamesmanship but Abbott has vetoed some very good bills that provide serious protections to us. Abbott’s conduct crosses into the line of political petulance and wrongly does harm to the people of Texas. Here is a full list of vetoed bills .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Once elected and are part of the club, you don’t matter much anymore to many legislators and office holders . State Rep. Justin Holland of Rockkwall demonstrates such in his inherently self-contradictory Twitter screed about the Republican Party of Texas executive committee voting 53 to 11 to condemn the House impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton :

“Nobody (in real TX politics) cares about the SREC or its chair. It’s a defunct organization and needs a total re-haul from the top down. Local parties are AWOL. It’s a mess. The good news is that they are all irrelevant and have no local/state respect. We can win without them.”

My how some elected officials are bothered by criticism!

By the way, SD 28’s SREC members, Lynda Hogue and Steve Evans, both of Lubbock, were among the 11 SREC members voting against the resolution .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott is harming Texans with his fit of vetoes and he’s doing it seemingly to ensure we get the smaller of the two property tax cuts that are on the legislative table! Abbott is wiping out key taxpayer protections in order get the Senate to go along with the House plan that does not deliver nearly as much property tax relief (about half) to the average homeowner. What’s the political upside of this?

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Much ballyhoo on the passing and signing of the Texas D.E.I. ban for college campuses but such is undeserved as the bill is without any enforcement . And as if to demonstrate such, Texas A&M hires a radical Leftist D.E.I. proponent to run its “journalism” program .

Texas has a record number of people working ; the May employment numbers are released . Oil and gas drilling rig count is unchanged in Texas from last week.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: A full 88th Legislative Session review with state Senator Charles Perry, SD28 .

We talk water issues; juvenile justice reform; drug pricing work; assistance to rural counties for law enforcement; more support to non PUF university systems; residential treatment for offenders, and the Senate versus the House on property tax reform.

On the impeachment trial, Senator Perry predicts the trial being held in the fall, after August and before the end of the calendar year.

“It [the impeachment trial] will be before January, 1, almost certain but, I’m hoping September if we do it this fall,” said Senator Perry.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Governor Abbott has vetoed one of the most important taxpayer protection bills passed by the legislature and it appears to be an act of panic over his inability to fulfill, as of yet, his biggest campaign promise of record property tax relief – ironic almost beyond belief.

As The Texan reports it :

“In an apparent response to this property tax standoff, Abbott vetoed his third bill from the regular session on Tuesday: Senate Bill 2035 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) that’d prohibit the kind of cheeky debt maneuver deployed by the City of Amarillo to finance a project voters had rejected two years earlier.

“Bettencourt is the author of the Senate’s property tax plan and, other than Patrick, the most critical of the current compression-only proposal.”

It appears the Governor, who has always had trouble working with the legislature, is in panic mode over headlines like this: DeSantis overshadowing Abbott as leading conservative ahead of the 2024 presidential election .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

In a deplorable decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Ken Paxton’s criminal securities-related case will be heard in Democrat-dominated Harris County instead of his home county . On it’s own it is a terrible decision because it sets the idea that the state can venue shop in a criminal case as opposed to the defendant having the ability to be tried by his peers.

The Dallas Morning News reported :

“Judge Sharon Keller disagreed with the majority opinion.

“The Court cites no case supporting its conclusion that a regional presiding judge can vicariously agree to allow the holding of court by a different district judge under the Texas Constitution. Because the law is unsettled, mandamus relief is inappropriate,” wrote Keller, who was joained in her dissent by Judge Mary Lou Keel.

Judge Kevin Yeary also dissented.”

Separately, the case is yet another example of how the wheels of justice were already turning and makes the House’s radical decision to use impeachment in the Paxton case improper . Substituting a bunch of politicians for police and judicial systems, that come with due process and appellate protections, is unwarranted in the Paxton case.

I review more bills Governor Abbott has signed.

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Our Lone Star story of the day: As the odd man out on property tax relief at the moment, Governor Abbott switches tactics and encourages compromise between the Senate and House to get a bill passed giving Texans significant property tax relief . It goes back to what I explained previously: It’s the governor who has the most to lose in not getting a tax relief bill passed, not the speaker or lieutenant governor.

Also, I take a look at bills Governor Abbott has signed . Remember that he doesn’t have to sign a bill for it to become law. If he does not veto a bill and does not sign it after a certain number of days, it becomes law.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

After way, way, way too long, Governor Abbott finally says he’ll let the COVID Disaster Declaration end – Abbott took longer than any other Republican governor AND longer than the Leftist White House!

South Padre Island opens Margaritaville Beach Resort , the first in Texas.

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Our Lone Star story of the day: New developments in the Paxton impeachment debacle should be embarrassing to House members but won’t be . Members haven’t cared about process and doing it right throughout the sordid ordeal.

Paxton’s Lawyers Take Legal Action Against Impeachment Prosecutors

Bank records raise questions about home remodel in Attorney General Paxton’s impeachment – Yes, questions as to why this was not properly addressed by the House so-called investigators. But the important part of this story, glossed over by the writers, is this: “A different Austin contractor — not Cupertino Builders — received a federal grand jury subpoena in 2021 for records related to work on Paxton’s home that started in January 2020.” This shows, in yet another example, that law enforcement has long ago looked into this and found not enough evidence to take action.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Univ. of North Texas funding an office that helps with pseudo sex change : University of North Texas Offers Students Chest Binders and Fake Genitalia .

Much space-related business news , to see those stories and more visit https://behindtheblack.com/

Pratt in Brownwood : How to join me at the Pecan Valley Republican Women’s meeting this Thursday, 15 June.

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Our Lone Star story of the day: State Rep. Brian Harrison , former Chief of Staff at Health and Human Services under President Trump, joins me to talk about how Texas House leadership, and many members, turned their backs on Texans on the issue of banning COVID vaccine mandates by private employers. Rep. Harrison is asking Governor Abbott to put the issue on one of his special session calls.

Also on the subject of COVID, Odessa’s doctor, Richard Bartlett, has been proven right on his early treatment of WuFlu , treating inflamation, for which he was denounced by the medical establishment and censored by press outlets.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

What a letdown for those frothing at the mouth to get Ken Paxton . Today’s arraignment on federal charges of Nate Paul, the man the Texas press repeatedly calls central to Paxton’s impeachment, found the FBI charging him with only 8 charges all relating to “overstating his assets and understating his liabilities while seeking loans .” The FBI has been working Paul since 2019 and that itself is at the center of Paul’s seeking help from the Office of Attorney General. These are charges that almost any real estate developer could be charged with from time to time and, in fact, Trump has been accused of such as have many others. Not much to show, so far, for years of FBI investigation and certainly nothing to do with Paxton in this latest move by the Biden DOJ.

Texas oil and gas rig count drops big again this week .

Border news : Abbott orders a 1000 foot floating barrier for the Rio Grande .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: R.I.P. Pat Robertson , leaves this life aged 93-year. The AP obituary is surprisingly good ; not what you’d expect given its bias against of conservatives and Christians. I have much to say on Robertson including that I think he, as much as anyone else, is responsible for reawakening Christians to the idea that their faith should openly and strongly inform their political, secular decisions. This tide turning was needed because the 1950’s, ’60’s, and ’70’s were decades of indoctrination that religion was not to play a role in our politics.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Impeachment news : Ken Paxton lawyer: AG will ‘never be convicted’ in Senate impeachment trial. Sadly that isn’t so certain as impeachment is purely a political act of opinion; despite the “trial” it doesn’t require any evidence or a commitment to follow any evidence on behalf of senators.

Border and immigration news .

Why the Texas House did not property adjourn for the first called session when it took its toys and went home leaving taxpayers without tax relief.

Meanwhile, showing where leaderships true priorities were, they got the crony corporate giveaway program, replacing the expired Chapter 313, done and Governor Abbott signed it in a closed ceremony. That got that done in the last moments of the session but couldn’t bother with tax relief! It’s better that 313 but its a program we should not have .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick challenges Governor Greg Abbott to a Lincoln-Douglas Debate on which is the better method of delivering property tax relief – Abbott deflects. Meanwhile Patrick and the Senate remain in special session waiting for the petulant House leadership to come back to Austin to work on the people’s business. House staying home will also kill key border security bills.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The impeachment “show” gets more “star power:” Tony Buzbee to work the show trial on behalf of Attorney General Ken Paxton .

Local sales tax receipt numbers : June report .

How the Biden Administration is hiding the number of illegal border crossings – by just declaring many to not be illegal!

FACT CHECK: DHS Touts Drop in Migrant Encounters After Title 42, Ushers 50K in Through ‘Lawful Pathways’
US Expands Slots for Asylum App at Land Crossings as Demand Overwhelms Supply

And then there is this: Migrants Attempt Border Rush at Texas Port of Entry .

Big stack of local government stories (with plenty of stench:)

Fort Worth Mayor Ends Controversial Program Encouraging Kids to Read LGBTQ Books
In Godley, Texas, a mayor’s actions lead to bogus arrest of a council member
Mayor Pushes ‘Pride’ in Rural Central Texas (Taylor)
Harris Co. Judge Lina Hidalgo drops F-bomb during fiery court exchange
Harris County moves to sue state of Texas over election bill
Harris Co. judge suggests illegal immigrants could receive universal basic income

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Our Lone Star story of the day: From the City of Dallas forcing employees, and especially supervisors, to actively support homosexuality and so-called “gender transistions” to family venues like Six Flags hosting drag queen shows all month to actively promote homosexual “pride,” the secular, anti-values Left is on the march to revolution. (Would these same venues like Six Flags include shows and marketing to promote monogamous married sexuality? Probably not.)

Another public school, a rural district, has been caught promoting the sex change agenda to students.

There seems to be no slowing of this revolution of forcing sexual perversion and sinful behavior upon all, especially children . Legislators have acted on some of it but will those restrictions be enough? Likely not but such are still important and needed.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

FBI raids locations in Laredo connected to United ISD school board member and Webb Co. chief deputy sheriff Rick Rodriguez .

Bexar County sheriff pushing criminal charges over Florida’s voluntary flight of illegal aliens from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts – pure political B.S. And more in the border news stack.

LIV an PGA to merge just after PGA opened its new HQ campus in Frisco, Texas .

Houston chef wins Best Chef in Texas .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: The fight between the Texas Senate and House on how to best provide property tax relief is not well understood. The Texan’s Brad Johnson does a better job than anyone of putting it in basic terms .

There are good and bad sides to both. I slightly favor the Senate plan because of the more permanent protection of home owners found in a big increase in the homestead exemption. The House relies too much on appraisal caps which, while capping the rate of growth in appraised value for taxation, do not actually guarantee much of any cap on actual taxes levied on properties. I would like to see, however, non-residential property have the same appraisal cap as residential simply to prevent hidden tax shifting to business properties by local governments.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas Again Leads Nation With Most Fortune 500 Headquarters .

City of Dallas mandating employees express agreement with the transsexual movement or face firing . And, Dallas has long required taxpayers to pay for sex change related healthcare .

Armed Mexican cartel members cross into Texas , arrested . Also, it appears that Texas officials are finally making arrests of illegal crossers in Eagle Pass .

Austin has its first known serial killer in 138 years , but questions remain on Rainey Street deaths .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: The regular session was 140 days and yet lawmakers were unable to pass tax relief but did find time to continue a spending spree growth of government trend that is far greater than Texas population growth . (Maybe the rush to impeachment was to take the focus away from the huge budget growth and a lack of tax relief? I doubt it but one does wonder.)

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Two celebrity lawyers hired to prosecute impeachment against Attorney General Ken Paxton and already they are trying the case in the press and lamenting that some in the A.G.’s office are defending Paxton .

Big fall in oil and gas drilling in the Baker Hughes report this week . Worse, Comptroller Hegar says that while sales tax is up in today’s report , most of the economy is flat or negative.

An interesting piece at Fox News about Senator Ted Cruz’s comments about what has happened to high school and college debate reminds me that we discussed this in a Podcast Extra with Roy Maynard in 2021 .

Texas Scorecard: Starr County Elections Department Raided, Texas Attorney General Investigating Voter Fraud .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: There is much press across the state about the feuding between Lieutenant Governor Patrick, Speaker Phelan, and Governor Abbott over the best way to deliver tax relief . Some stories have quotes about how it has never been this intense, mean, etc. B.S. The feuding between Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Speaker Craddick over the Franchise Tax reform was far nastier. Let’s just hope that whatever avenue of tax relief the House and Senate finally agree upon that it’s better than the debacle that come out of that early feud on the Franchise Tax.

James Quintero has a good piece on “tax compression” which helps explain how the legislature, which does not levy a property tax in Texas, can provide a property tax cut by compressing local government taxes.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

More legislative review of what passed and what did not including the end of the annual car inspection to renew your registration . The Tribune story almost seems to be written by an Austin lib who does not have a car. Yes, you will still pay the $7.50 bit to the state at renewal but you will not have to get an inspection, except for emissions is certain counties, or pay for that inspection which is another $7.50.

Texan, Aggie set to become head of U.S. Marine Corps .

Federal judge in Texas blocks Biden ATF pistol brace rule on day of deadline to register weapons .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: There is a flippant arrogance to Texas House leadership and culture over the last decade (Straus, Bonnen, and Phelan) which is unseemly and causes one to think many of the body do not realize that it is our money and liberty they are playing with and that we only lend them power through our vote. This is not a game, it’s our money, lives, and government and they need to take things more soberly.

The House, yesterday, gavelled in for the first called session of the 88th Legislature, passed its same tax relief plan and some border security bills and then immediately gavelled out sine die . Meanwhile the Senate, taking its work far more seriously and maturely remained in session to reconvene on Friday.

Despite comments from Abbott about the House plan being the only that is germane to the call, he’s wrong and Lt. Gov. Patrick is correct that the guv cannot control the what the legislature adopts policy-wise. He can veto it but he can’t specify it.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

More on impeachment: Phelan’s impeachment game: Bad form, bad precedent, unnecessary and embarrassing .

Gov. Abbott appoints his buddy and former Secretary of State, John Scott, as interim Attorney General .

Texas History , through the Texas State Historical Association, gets a temporary win in district court in Galveston with an injunction stopping nefarious action by far-Left academics who are ignoring the organization’s bylaws.

Dallas Fed’s May report on the Texas service and retail sectors .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Understand this: My primary objections to the use of, and vote for, impeachment of Mr. Paxton by members of the Texas House stand fully without respect to the person involved. In other words, on the face of it this process, this use of the power of impeachment is wrong for many reasons no matter whether Paxton is guilty of things alleged, or not, or whether it was someone else like former Democrat attorneys general Dan Morales or Jim Mattox .

I address a small part of my arguments on today on the show. One of the most important, aside from the terrible tool for a House Speaker to coerce legislators and state officials this precedent sets, is the lack of “inherency” to the argument made by those show spoke for impeachment in the House.

In debate, we define the stock, or fundamental, issue of inherency as: Is there a law, statute, or barrier that prevents the status quo from achieving the affirmative’s goal.

What that means in this case is that to support even the roll out of the impeachment process, it needs be demonstrated that no other part of our existing systems (the status quo) are able to achieve the goal of “protecting the state” from Mr. Paxton. Yet no one has even bothered to put forward the argument that law enforcement, whether state or federal, is being prevented from investigating allegations against Paxton. And remember, despite the moniker “state’s chief law enforcement officer,” the attorney general does not actually run or control the state’s major law enforcement bodies.

Both of the last two Democrat Texas Attorneys General, Mattox and Morales faced criminal charges with Morales pleading guilty and Mattox being acquitted after a long jury trial, demonstrating that there is no fundamental reason that the standard law enforcement and court process should not be allowed to run its course with Mr. Paxton. (Unless of course that reason is purely political vendetta and you don’t think there is actually enough evidence for Paxton to be convicted of a serious crime.)

From the rushed, stacked-deck House debate on impeachment Saturday as reported in The Texan :

Responding to questions from Rep. Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler), Murr agreed that witnesses were not placed under oath and were not cross-examined by members of the committee.

Rep. John Smithee (R-Amarillo) opposed the impeachment resolution on the grounds that he believes the process was flawed and the evidence is not enough, a theme throughout.

“I’m not here to defend Ken Paxton. That’s not my job, I’ll leave that to someone else,” Smithee said.

Smithee asserted the evidence presented to members was “hearsay within hearsay within hearsay” and would not be admissible in any court of law.

“We do not need to be relaxing the fairness and due process concerns,” Smithee said, discussing the precedent the House set with an “indefensible” process.

Smithee said the chamber was considering impeachment in the “worst possible way.”

“What you’re being asked to do is to impeach without evidence. It is all rumor, it is all innuendo, it is all speculation,” Smithee said.
…
Rep. Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) pointed out that all of the investigators that testified before the committee were former Harris County employees and nearly all of them vote in Democratic primaries. Murr suggested he was uninterested in the political leanings of the investigators when considering the articles of impeachment.

“This body gave more time to debating tampon tax relief than we’ve given to impeaching the chief law enforcement officer in our state,” Tinderholt said.

Tinderholt said he was “sorry” Republicans in the House are “being used” to cram through an impeachment against a popular GOP official. He said it is “imprudent at best and gross abuse of power at worst.”

Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Waxahachie) spoke against impeachment, saying the allegations should be “left to the courts and to the voters.”

The only Democrat to come to Paxton’s mild defense on the floor was Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), who said he does not believe Paxton’s due process rights have been respected.

“I don’t have enough evidence that (Paxton) did anything,” Dutton said.

Dutton expressed concern that the chamber was asked to vote on the impeachment articles virtually in the “dead of night.”

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Legislature: Members had time to do secret pseudo-investigations, attend untold number of lobbyist paid events, get drunk (Speaker Phelan it appears and many others for sure,) and more, but they didn’t have time to get to 4 of the 7 “emergency items” put on the agenda including property tax relief during their 140-day regular session .

As a consequence, Governor Abbott has called them back into Special Session immediately with tax relief and border security as the call for this first special. Abbott promises more with limited items each time on the agenda to force legislators to focus on the peoples’ business.

Texas manufacturing sector continues to decline – see the latest Dallas Fed report.

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Why will Texas House leadership not allow law enforcement to do its job? Why insert aggrieved politicians into any process looking at what Attorney General Paxton may or may not have done? Are House politicians better than the Texas Rangers? Or, is Speaker Phelan and crew suggesting the FBI somehow turned a blind eye to Paxton when it looked at his dealings with Nate Paul? That would be odd given how much the DOJ and DC hates Paxton. Or, are the suggesting that the Texas Rangers are corrupt and incapable of investigation Paxton, as well as every other state and local law enforcement agency in the state?

Rather it appears that since years of pressure and investigation of Paxton has not gone anywhere, his political opponents have decided upon a Soviet-style show trial in the House (yes, the impeachment itself is a form of trial for all practical purposes and in Texas, unlike a Federal situation, if impeached Paxton is removed from office until after a Senate trial so he gets punished with just the indictment.)

Want proof of the show trial aspect?

The House proposes 4-hours of debate tomorrow divided between supporters and opponents of impeachment. The supporters have had taxpayer funded investigators working in secret for months and will have stacks of one-sided information to present. Those speaking against impeachment will have had barely over 24-hours to even think about the situation much less be able to prepare contradictory evidence.

Also remember, the House committee doing all of this threw the A.G.'s office official out of their show-trial hearing this month and refused to allow any evidence to be submitted that was in favor of Paxton's position.

Why are we having House members take over law enforcement in this case when the A.G. does not run any of the big state policing agencies? Is our law enforcement corrupt or, is it just our House leadership that is corrupt?

And just to clarify, all of my arguments hold merit even it later we find out Mr. Paxton has engaged in illegal behavior . This is about politicians weaponizing their legislative power to settle scores and ignoring the work of proper law enforcement.

Here Paxton speak this afternoon (more importantly is the man who comes after him):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyNWUqINSPo

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Oil and gas rig count falls nationally but rises 2 in Texas.

State budget presented from conferees appears to be a massive spending spree with tax relief being a relatively small amount. From TPPF : "It will take some time to fully grasp the 1,000+ page document, but a surface-level analysis of expenditure growth is telling. From the 2022-23 biennium to the 2024-25 biennium, the state’s total budget may increase by 21.4%. Spending from state sources is poised to grow by 31%. General revenue-related expenditures are set to increase by more than 20%."

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Our Lone Star story of the day: More bills killed by slow scheduling, working Texas House but some good elements kept alive by Senate action. I review many issues and bills and where such stand at the moment.

Greg Price releases more video, over 6 minutes worth, showing Speaker Phelan to be intoxicated , or something, while presiding over the House. https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1661488194104307715

And for another, non-Leftwing media, perspective on Phelan versus Paxton , give this is try: Paxton Scorches Phelan as Investigation Starts . Even the Statesman admits : “The three-hour hearing Wednesday uncovered little evidence that had not already surfaced in Paxton’s many legal troubles,…”

Most Texas Democrat state representatives oppose allowing only citizens to vote in Texas elections .

DPS Investigating Women Who Complained About Man in Capitol Restroom. This is how extreme and wrong this trans and homosexual movement has become and how far its backers are willing to go.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Huge win at the U.S. Supreme Court against EPA overreach in the WOTUS issue for ranchers, farmers, landowners, and all Americans: Supreme Court Rolls Back Biden EPA’s Expansive Water Regulation .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas House Republican leadership proves that even when it comes to ethics, they are not much better than Democrats, even those in D.C.

You have a House Speaker appearing drunk while presiding over the House , and at a key time, which most likely is the cause of the surprise adjournment last Friday night until Monday which killed tons of bills that were supposed be heard Saturday, who doesn’t answer about his behavior and lack of proper decorum. And then when it all gets noticed and the Attorney General suggests he resign after the session , that Speaker, Dade Phelan, has his henchmen launch a next morning “investigative” theater show to try and ruin the A.G .

Irrespective of anything the A.G. may have done or not done, there was nothing new offered up, just the same old stuff that has been presented in the press ad nauseam for years. This was abuse of the institution again (like being drunk on the dais) to deflect in a political fight.

It’s shameful and all going on while the House demonstrates its unwillingness to get to work early and get the people’s business done.

(No doubt the pro-marijuana lobby will be celebrating and defending Phelan because it seems being stoned is central to their lives.)

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Comments on the Uvalde tragedy that will surely be taken out of context by someone at some time as well as specific comments about Senator Roland Gutierrez and Democrats in relation to the matter.

Governor Abbott confers with other governors about helping Texas on the border. Meanwhile even the barriers Texas has built are not stopping the illegal entry . And, Texas A.G. Paxton files important lawsuit against the Biden Admin. and it’s phone app program for illegal crossers .

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Our Lone Star story of the day: In the middle of a war for the future of our society, it seems many Republican elected officials have no appetite for victory but instead worry more about the back-end bureaucracy. It’s as if they would rather lose at the front if winning takes time and energy away from the trappings of being some type of power broker and, it is shameful.

Texas House Republicans Reject Effort to Fix Watered-down DEI Ban

Texas Public School Administrators Admit to Ignoring Critical Race Theory Ban – read the story, it proves what I said the colleges will do under the watered-down non-ban DEI bill.

Rural Texas Republicans fight school choice and here’s why that’s a surprise (the schools in their districts are bad!)

Senate OKs Medicaid expansion for new mothers – smaller gov’t? helping people make better choices to get off assistance? No. Just more promotion of a Democrat dependency agenda.

Landgraf’s Energy Independence Act goes to governor’s desk – a good frustrate the feds bill

Tenure Reform at Public Universities Passes in Texas House – “…neither eliminates tenure nor changes anything about the tenure process as it exists in the university system. Kuempel agreed…” So why bother!?

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas Land Commissioner Buckingham points out just how bad is the EPA/Biden new power plant policy .

Texas artist gets surprise order from Coca-Cola for his Topo Chico hand painted shoes .

KCBD: Lubbock Co. commissioners ‘excited’ about possible new medical examiner’s office . Why no question or mention of a bond-debt election to cover the other costs? Why no question about the county’s infamous troubles, and costs, in running such a program?

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Our Lone Star story of the day: Where do we get our money back (salary, per diem, and staff and office costs) for a Texas House of Representatives that doesn’t want to work early OR late in the 140 legislative session?

Texas House leaders told everyone to prepare to work Saturday but then, Friday night, decided to close up shop until Monday which automatically killed key bills included restoring to a felony the penalty for illegal voting; stronger penalties for gun-related crimes; banning Leftist and bigoted CRT from state universities, and; other key legislation.

Much other coverage from the last week of the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature:

School Choice Finds New Life in Teacher Pay Bill After Abbott Threatened Veto of Watered-Down Proposal . Sen. Creighton one-ups RINO Rep. Ken King and puts the school choice issue the House leadership killed by adjourning Friday night onto the House RINOs’ big teacher pay boost bill!

Replacement plan for the former Chapter 313 corporate giveaway program gets yet another makeover – demonstrating the best policy is just to abandon these much abused crony programs.

Texas House Passes Ban on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Offices in Public Higher Education . This is a sham of a ban on DEI and it even requires us to keep the people running this Communist stuff on staff. Who with a brain thinks getting rid of an “office” means they get rid of the programs, ideologies, and tenets of DEI? (Oh wait, that’s unfair to put a “brain” test on some legislators!)
Sen. Creighton finds a way to save the ban on public schools indoctrinating your children with pro-transgender and other sexual immorality . The Dallas Morning News headline on this demonstrates the paper’s Leftist propaganda style reporting .
Many have worked on this for at least a dozen years and finally it has passed but, will Governor Abbott sign it? Vehicle Safety Inspections Could Become a Thing of the Past in Texas .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Anti-Wimp Update : Armed Texan puts Beaumont burglar in hospital

Border news: Biden to end familial DNA testing at border , key deterrent to fraud and child trafficking . This is a horrible, nasty move by Biden. And in other border news: Del Rio Border Sector Returns to Number 1 Position in Migrant Apprehensions .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates . www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas House passes a new version of property tax relief putting the ball back in the court of the Senate . Will the Senate compromise on things leadership previously said were not acceptable and you don’t compromise with “fuzzy math?”

Much happening as the House began deliberations at 9am today and plans to work on Saturday. Democrats have fought hard all day to derail ban on the bigoted political (Left) litmus test of D.E.I. on our college campuses. I provide updates on other key legislation including House passage of a bill to stop children from seeing sexually explicit performances .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas History is on the line and in court Monday . Roy Maynard shows us another example of how the far-Leftist “woke” have invaded and then try to dominate our institutions – this time it’s the Texas State Historical Association.

Texas sets another jobs record and oil field drilling plummets , again.

Hans A. von Spakovsky , of the Heritage Foundation, tells us just how damning is Special Counsel John H. Durham’s report on the FBI. It shows sloppy work, ignoring of evidence, political favoritism, and much more. Read Spakovsky’s summary: The FBI’s Keystone Cops According to John Durham .

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Legislature finally passes, sends to the governor, a ban on adults using medical procedures and therapies to change the sex of children . (Maybe now Texas Children’s Hospital will actually stop this evil practice .) Also, the Save Women’s Sport Act has passed barring men competing as women, and vice versa, in public college sports.

Today the House debates a new version of its tax relief plan but will the Senate go along with appraisal caps?

Media keeps on trying to stop the ban of bigoted and fully political D.E.I programs on Texas college campuses. Senator Creighton had it right with this: “if federally funded grants require a DEI statement, which would be compelled speech, I have serious concerns that they are in violation of the First Amendment.”

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

So much for media gaslighting on the border situation : U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz tweeted that during the final 72 hours of April, agents apprehended 22,220 migrants . It’s over 182,000 by month’s end! Also, why are their now so many Chinese nationals being caught at the border ? The current fiscal year number of 9,753 is about the total number apprehended in the past seven fiscal years combined.

RIP: Former Texas member of Congress Charlie Stenholm , Blue Dog Democrat , dead at 84.

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Much from the legislature including gun bills, SB728 and HB2837 ; a vote for more state parks ; stopping cities from acting as states within a state ; E-Verify opposition shows many legislators are not as concerned with the border as they claim; protecting Texas children from on-line pornography , and; more.

Some bills got a vote, and some even passed, in the House before that body bothered with far more important legislation : Bill puts big costs on jewelers, allows warrant-less searches ; Pet boarding safety bill awaits Texas governor’s signature ; Bill to protect against hairstyle discrimination sent to Texas governor , and there are more while election integrity bills and a host of other important items languish – even tax relief!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Go get ’em Attorney General Paxton! Paxton cracks down on hotel chains that engage in the now common practice of misleading consumers with one rate but then tack on B.S. fees such as “resort” or “amenity” fees . Marriott is settling with Texas to fix the misleading nature of this (they should drop the horrible fees) but Hyatt and others are not. Hyatt is now being sued .

24 governors to send help to Texas on the border but don’t get too excited because we went through this before and help dried up when it was clear Texas was not actually using the help to stop illegal crossings of the border. And doing just what our own Texas troops did with its early deployment of razor wire , a Biden-deployed soldier opened a Texas built gate and let illegal crossers through .

And, other news of Texas.

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This Podcast Extra begins with two blacklisting of Americans updates from author and historian Robert Zimmerman of behindtheblack.com . I’ve made this a separate Podcast Extra because of the important discussion which follows about the decline of intellectual ability, flipping of the Enlightenment, and much more about the lowering of our society and how people in it relate to one another.

Blacklisted Americans is Zimmerman’s term for victims of what is currently called “cancel culture.”

See all Blacklisted Americans stories here: https://behindtheblack.com/blacklisted-americans/

Find other Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra blacklisting updates here: https://prattontexas.com/?s=blacklist

www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Former Trump Administration official and Virginia Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli , joins us to talk about the scam that is Ranked Choice Voting. There is a bill in the Texas legislature to ban the use of such in Texas, SB 921 , which passed the Senate but appears to be sitting with no action in the House Elections Committee.

Cuccinelli also explained why he has called out Governor Abbott for “B.S.” repeatedly over Abbott’s misleading claims about what he was doing on the Mexico border with Operation Lone Star.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Abilene’s new mayor, Weldon Hurt, shamefully says churches should be punished for being involved in politics . Is he just ignorant or fully Leftist un-American? His comments, if presented in the correct context, are frighteningly ignorant.

Texas House changes its version of property tax relief agai n but it seems to be cause for more worry than less .

Science writer and space historian Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com , tells us how NASA is now putting woke before quality science work .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Is former Texas Governor Rick Perry looking to launch a campaign for President ? He says he is talking about it. I’d love a President Perry but I think he’s too far detached from his moment in the public mind, like many others thinking about running.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Governor Abbott goes after the Texas House and its latest non-school-choice school choice bill . Abbott threatens a veto, which wouldn’t bother any of these House anti-school choice people, but also threatens special sessions on this issue.

Democrats fought it hard, with lots of crocodile tears Friday, but the House finally, at the last minute, passed legislation protecting children and minors from trans-gender medical abuse .

New York Post editorial board gets it right on media and the border this weekend: Media gaslighting goes to max as US border fully opens .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

Another update on the blacklisting of Americans from author and historian Robert Zimmerman of behindtheblack.com .

Blacklisted Americans is Zimmerman’s term for victims of what is currently called “cancel culture.”

See all Blacklisted Americans stories here: https://behindtheblack.com/blacklisted-americans/

Find other Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra blacklisting updates here: https://prattontexas.com/?s=blacklist

www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Casino gambling bill dead, sports betting passes .

Abilene’s Rep. Stan Lambert tries to have it both ways on gambling votes but claim doesn’t match action.

Bill to protect children from sexually oriented performances is moving after smart changes.

A Pratt told you so and other insight into how the House works, often to fool voters back home. And more from the 88th Texas Legislature.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Border chaos worsens while the White House claims it isn’t so bad. Congressman Cuellar again criticizes the Biden Administration as well as “sanctuary city” mayors .

Oil and gas rig count is down but production and exports from Texas are up and rising.

Reports Show UT Austin and Texas A&M DEI Policies Found in Academic Departments .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas House faces another major deadline tonight, and another tomorrow , and yet leadership prioritized votes on gambling and other matters over critical issues – they haven’t even gotten to tax relief reconciliation. They are getting votes for bad bills before those that affect Texans’ well-being! (I guess on the gambling front it shows that you may not can buy all the votes but you can buy getting a vote on the House floor! )

And on the subject of gambling, Abilene’s Rep. Stan Lambert voted FOR both expanding casino gambling and online sports gambling in Texas!

Texans For Fiscal Responsibility gets this right: The Petulant Children Squabbling Over Property Tax Relief .

And then you have all you need know about today’s Democratic Party: Texas Democrat, the heretic Rep. Talarico, slams Ten Commandments in schools after giving pass to sexually explicit books in those same schools .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

On 11 May 1956 and 1970, Waco and Lubbock, respectively, were hit with deadly, costly tornadoes . Lubbock’s 1970 F5 gave rise to Dr. Fujita’s “Fujita Scale” to measure cataclysmic wind events and led to modern weather technology . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MjcyWk6Yzo

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Good, bad, and ugly from the Texas Capitol as a key deadline for hearing House bills passed last night.

Big victory on ETJ reform returning power to the people
Big moves on a House version of school choice today
Gun control bill that got out of committee misses deadline, appears dead
Dems waste most of Tuesday night to kill Texas Border Force bill, HB20, but Rep. Schaefer manages to pull victory from defeat by hanging onto another bill, HB7
Hearing on Banning DEI in Texas Public Universities Draws Crowd at Capitol

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Finally someone on the national stage with strong border credentials joins me in calling out Abbott’s mistruths: Former Trump official slams Gov. Abbott’s ‘BS’ claim Texas border force is ‘repelling’ migrants . There is hope as one small video this week shows Texas forces stopping aliens from entering in one very small spot. This is the first evidence in years and over 4 billion spent by Texas we’ve seen this. Be aware that many other videos show aliens crossing unimpeded, in huge numbers, elsewhere even in more urbanized areas.

Local sales tax collections reported by Comptroller .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates . www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas House votes to expel a member , Rep. Bryan Slaton, for the first time since 1927. Also, Speaker Phelan shows he is too thin skinned for high political office in using lawyers to try and stop a legitimate political ad running in his district. Those stories and many more from the 88th Texas Legislature:

As I covered Friday: Texas House passes bill to implement pilot program creating mileage tax

Texas House Passes Bill Reforming Anti-Life 10-Day Rule
Bill would place Gov. Abbott over Texas-Mexico border surge, pulling duties from DPS chief
Texas Senate committee considering proposal for new digital currency
Child Gender Modification Ban Blocked for a Second Time by Texas House Democrats
NRA-ILA: Call and email your state representatives urging them to oppose HB 2744 , a gun control bill that got out of committee.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

From the stench of local government stack

Roosevelt ISD, in Lubbock Co., under civil rights investigation
Lubbock Co. District Attorney’s Office dealing with severe prosecutor shortage
Galveston ISD Superintendent ousted over “sexists” remarks

The border crisis worsens but we again read Texas officials saying they will stop illegal crossing between ports of entry – they’ve not done it yet. Gov. Abbott promises to bus thousands more aliens to sanctuary cities in coming weeks. Meanwhile Congressman Cuellar rips the Biden Admin . on the border pointing out that we only see people coming in but none going out. And, Border Patrol union rips DHS for warning of ‘targeted enforcement’ in Texas .

Just How Many Illegal Immigrants Have Entered the U.S. Under Biden? More than the population of 33 states and territories!

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: It is time the credentialed, smarter than the rest of us, liberals explain one off their shibboleths: How does it work? How does the existence or availability of a firearm turn a non-murderer into a murderer? How does a specific style of weapon (that works just like others such as an AR-15 style rifle) magically influence a human being to commit murder? I’d really like to have this explained given that mostly it’s the only answer liberal offer up to murder and mass murder: That it is because (the causal agent) a certain type of gun is available.

Clearly an SUV can kill just as many people as happened in Brownsville Sunday as can a rifle in Allen so why is Range Rover not blamed for those deaths in the Valley while a gun is blamed, more than the murderer it seems, in Allen?

And why are liberals, and the Godless, sin-celebrating, and nihilistic society they have championed never, never at fault for anything? Clearly they despise discussion of God, His law, and His mercy . The anti-gun crowd can’t even allow for a church prayer vigil to take place without an attack .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Rep. Bryan Slaton resigns before the Texas House votes on expelling him.

Voters in San Antonio and El Paso reject far-Leftwing city charter propositions.

Abbott ups border presence with another claim intercept, repel and turn back migrants.” Fine but so far that has not happened despite previous claims.

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

For this Podcast Extra , I invited Reverend Daniel Hinton to discuss the transsexual (transgender) movement and how Christians should react when pressed to approve of the issue at work and in life.

This is Part 2 of 2 .

Hinton is pastor for Christ Lutheran Church in Lubbock (an orthodox Missouri Synod Lutheran church.)

The online audio bible series I mention is found by clicking this link .

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our affiliates . www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Vast majority of GOP state representatives join Democrats to vote to recreate a version of the failed Chapter 313 school district property tax break program . If the problem is school property taxes being so high that such deter economic investment, then work on lowering those taxes. Instead they vote for a scheme that transfers more local burden onto existing businesses and individual taxpayers. See: Chapter 313 Replacement Tax Incentive Program Gets Initial Approval in Texas House .

And worse, in a vote that makes a mockery of any claim to support limited government and personal freedom, enough putative Republican reps joined Democrats to fund a pilot program testing the state monitoring your driving to charge you by the mile . Lubbock’s Dustin Burrows voted for this monstrosity as did Abilene’s Lambert – it’s a program environmentalist-radicals worldwide have been pushing to get take people’s freedom to drive away!

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Oil and gas drilling rig count plummets in Texas.

Colin Allred (Allbad) has another stumble in his effort to take on Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate.

Border situation worsening in Texas :

Mumps, Measles, Tuberculosis and other diseases throughout downtown El Paso’s flood of aliens living on the streets .

San Antonio is bracing for a surge in migrants as resource center is over capacity .

Rep. Gooden blasts Biden’s immigration ‘lies’ after four-time deported migrant arrested for murder .
Border chaos eroding CBP, ICE morale, watchdog warns agency practices ‘unsustainable’

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Travis County’s leftist George Soros-picked district attorney, and the county attorney, refuse to prosecute the person charged in House Gallery protest that resulted in it being cleared .

The state’s media has mostly downplayed what happened but the Center Square reported how bad the transvestite activists behaved.

This two systems – one for conservatives and one for the Left – will lead to more civil disorder if not stopped.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Democrat Allred’s senate campaign against Ted Cruz begins with a stumble .

Border news gets worse and worse . Meanwhile Governor Abbott gets credit for showing the hypocrisy of America’s leftist “woke” mayors .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

For this Podcast Extra , I invited Reverend Daniel Hinton to discuss the transsexual (transgender) movement and how Christians should react when pressed to approve of the issue at work and in life.

This is Part 1 of 2 . The second part will be posted in a few days.

Hinton is pastor for Christ Lutheran Church in Lubbock (an orthodox Missouri Synod Lutheran church.)

The online audio bible series I mention is found by clicking this link .

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Vulgar transsexual backers, those who think it good to attempt to “transition” children and youth from their God-given sex, put on a typical display in the Texas House yesterday resulting in a clearing of the gallery.

The Dems were able to stop the bill protecting children , a high priority of theirs for some evil reason, on a technicality but it has already returned to committee, been voted out again with the fix, and Calendars Chairman Burrows says it will be back on the House floor this week. Will the vulgar people wanting to harm children be back, showing their backsides, as well?

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Polling shows overwhelming support for school choice in Texas as well as support for the illegal idea of denying constitutional rights to citizens 18- to 20-years of age.

Why has Texas A&M getting massive money from the government of Qatar (almost half a billion dollars) and how did it setup a degree conferring campus in the terrorist-tied country without legislative approval?

UT-Austin caught, again, officially pushing Leftwing political dogma. Officials have now deleted the resource.

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Texas House is busy now has stalled on so much that many GOP priority bills will not get a vote. Lt. Governor Patrick continues putting the pressure on for action . Interestingly, the House has found time for some Democrat bills to get through committee and get a House floor vote so why not core Republican-backed bills? Examples:

Election Security Legislation Stalls in Texas House
Texas House passes bill to decriminalize marijuana
Proposed ban on corporal punishment in Texas schools fails again
Texas Lawmakers Slow to Act on Child Gender Mutilation Ban

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas sales tax collection over $4 billion in Apri l.

The Left is doing all it can to kill off capitalist-based private space development and more specifically to kill off Space X work in Texas . You could count on such failing except that the Biden Admin. shares the similar goals. Famed science writer Bob Zimmerman joins us to discuss the latest effort of Leftists suing the FAA to stop all Space X launches in south Texas .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Outrage from Democrats and the Left over the mass murder in Cleveland, Texas but not over the fact that the murderer was an illegal alien and had re-entered the country 3 (maybe 5) times. Nope, Democrats are hopping mad that in offering a huge reward to capture the guy, he used the term “illegal immigrants” in a tweet . They are also angry over the type of gun used as if an AR-15 style rifle works any differently than any other semi-automatic rifle (it doesn’t.)

Also in this story we learn how being unarmed and relying upon a police response in time to stop murder is often fruitless .

And if that was not enough, we see our oh-so-professional FBI put an innocent family at risk by wrongly putting out another Texas man’s photo as the wanted man .

Meanwhile thousand per day cross our border illegally because there is no effective control, people who have been previously deported like this wanted man, and Democrats, media liberals, and other Leftists call us bigots, xenophobes, racists , and more just because we favor a controlled national border!

Biden Admin Releases Migrants into South Texas — Again
21K Venezuelan Migrants in 12 Days Crossed Border into One Texas Sector
El Paso mayor declares state of emergency in anticipation of Title 42 ending
Brownsville Migrant Influx Contradicts DHS Secretary’s Border Claims

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas House passes bill to decriminalize marijuana . The leadership of Speaker Dade Phelan found time for an early vote on marijuana and a host of other Democrat priorities such as last week’s vote on banning corporal punishment in schools , while Republican priorities including stopping D.E.I. on campus, other border security bills, and a host of other key legislation will either not even get a vote or, will be heard at the very last moment and pushed into the calendar so late that much will not get a vote as time runs out .

Meanwhile Phelan talks of vacation and even let the House out early last week because severe storms were forecast for Dallas – when do we not have severe weather all across the state in the Spring!?

Trump weighed in over the weekend against the Texas House’s property tax relief plan and in favor of the Senate plan . Called the speaker “California Dade.”

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Teacher pay; election cheating penalties; crony taxpayer handouts; rogue district attorneys; air conditioning Texas prison; wasteful huge handouts for rural Internet broadband; budget conferees named, and; much more for the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Stories on how promotion of child sex changes and homosexuality are indeed part of our public schools, a very small rural district in this case , as well as in our major hospitals in Texas.

Oh, and there is this: UT Arlington attempts to charge conservative students $26,000 for security over an event hosted last year that only needed security because of campus Leftists .

Border and immigration news including this latest Democrat ploy: Democrats Float Bill To Allow LGBTQ Migrants [Homosexual Illegal Aliens] To Walk Into U.S. Unrestricted . And as if that was absurd enough, note the provision about not being English language proficient!

Oil and gas rig count unchanged in Texas. Exxon ups oil production ; Iran seized Chevron-chartered tanker headed for Texas , and; why a takeover boom looms for the Permian Basin .

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Weak charges against an Abilene candidate for mayor are even more odd given who is making the charges and that little but personal assertions are being give such deep coverage in the local newspaper.

A refresher on Michael Bob Starr :

Starr’s reaction to exposure as bad as what was exposed
Want to see the so-called “malicious” material about Michael Bob Starr?
Starr disobeyed some orders but offered no resistance to promoting LGBTQ’s mainstreaming in the service.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas wins again! Best state for business for record-shattering 19-years in a row.

The hyperbole, already overdone years ago on voter I.D., continues from the Leftist Texas press over having better run elections in the Lone Star State.

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Gun bills, protecting children on-line, armed guards in public schools, and more including a Speaker, who has not moved the House to get much done, is talking about vacation and going surfing !

A Listener Club member from Burkburnett asks me to explain HB 2705 on short-barrel firearms . I spoke with the author, Rep. Richard Hayes , and explain why this bill exists and why its good.

I also comment on HB13 which pays school folk a stipend to be armed and HB3 , the big school security bill.

And in the media malpractice file we have a big Austin American-Statesman piece whining about how Uvalde gun-control backers had to wait so long, just like everyone else, to testify before a committee. Funny how the entire story tries, and fails, to lay it on Republicans including the committee chairman but carries the truth within: The wait was completely a function of the Democrats chubbing a bill on the House floor last week.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Midland’s terrible District Attorney strikes again and fails again . Voters need to sweep this woman out of office soon.

Cuban commies run out of fuel, have to cancel May Day parade !

And, other news of Texas.

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www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: On Saturday, 29 April, all who can attend need to be present for the HOW MANY MORE? rally. This Saturday Texans will assemble at the Texas Capitol in Austin to demand that our elected leaders take action to end the humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

The How Many More Rally will demand that lawmakers take these actions to save our nation:

Declare an invasion of our southern border
Legally. Officially. And completely without reservation.

Define Mexican cartels as terror organizations
Take all actions possible to eradicate the cartels in our country.

Seize cartel bank accounts and assets
American money is their lifeblood. Stop the flow of funds through U.S. banks and financial technology companies that benefit the cartels.

Establish a Texas Border Defense Unit to protect Texans
Make this new force permanent with broad powers to confront the cartels. It’s up to Texans to save Texans and our nation.

South Texas veterinarian, DR. MIKE VICKERS who founded Texas Border Volunteers years ago, speaks with me today about the problem we are facing. He will be one of the guest speakers at the rally along with TED NUGENT, LARA LOGAN, REV. SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ, U.S. REP. CHIP ROY, CJ PEARSON, MARK MORGAN, VIRGINIA KRIEGER, JAESON JONES, CRAIG SAWYER, VICTOR AVILA, SHERIFF ROY BOYD, GEORGE RODRIGUEZ, JEFFREY STAMM, and MARK MECKLER as Master of Ceremonies.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

A 4-in-1 Anti-Wimp Update !

Texas economic news from the Dallas Fed shows a less than robust economy. Manufacturing sector update and service and retail sector update.

From the 88th Legislature: Bill protecting your gasoline tools from local bans moving toward full passage: House passes HB3, the big school security bill that I think is not as wonderful as its backers think; anti-gun rights bills need opposition – a call to voters to contact reps, and more.

From TSRA:

Please CALL AND EMAIL committee members and urge them to OPPOSE bills that deny Second Amendment rights to young adults and track legal firearms purchases by law-abiding citizens. Be sure to put in the subject line of your email or make the point in your call that you OPPOSE HB 22, HB 106 & HB 2744.

And, other news of Texas.

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
www.PrattonTexas.com

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: In the legislature, there are even Republicans who do not want voters to be told the truth on bond elections – that each when passed is effectively a tax increase. As Rep. Brian Harrison asked in the Public Education Committee hearing last week: “I hear this, that bonds don’t increase taxes. But I mean, are buildings free? Somebody’s paying for the buildings, right?”

I have long said on Pratt on Texas that many people, including many who should know better, actually believe bond debt money is magical free money because they are so often told by officials that passing a bond debt issue will not raise their taxes. This is simply untrue. It is bothersome, and maybe indicative of a fundamental problem (?), that some Republican lawmakers want mislead voters on the issue.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Behindtheblack.com’s Robert Zimmerman is right to be upset with our horrible press. I noticed the exact same thing about misreporting on the Space X test of Starship/Superheavy in Texas last week.

Texas attains new records in March 2023 with the largest civilian labor force and greatest number of people employed in state history. Unemployment rate flat at 4%. See full report and local numbers here .

Oil and gas drilling rig count up last week in Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day : I interview Representative Brian Harrison on his impressive and highly relevant set of bills filed for this session. From the beginning, Rep. Harrison’s bills have shown him to be among the most informed about the actual political and social struggles in which we find ourselves .

Also, I talk more with James Quintero about the competing property tax relief plans from the Senate and the House. This is a follow-up discussion to our interview on Monday .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Victory! Texas is born! Celebrate San Jacinto Day! Celebrating San Jacinto Day with Battle of San Jacinto from The Silent Generation by The Dimes. Hear the song here: https://thedimes.bandcamp.com/track/battle-of-san-jacinto

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: From the Texas Capitol in the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, I visit with freshman state Rep. Carl Tepper (HD84) about happenings in the legislature, property tax relief differences with the Senate, and his hopes that the House will move on serious bills to end the menace of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in our state institutions.

House Calendars Committee chairman, Rep. Dustin Burrows (HD83,) joins me to talk about the passage of, and big Democrat fight against, his major bill (HB2127 ) stopping Texas cities from imposing regulations of their own in areas where state law is supreme. This fight on the House floor this week was the first major fight with the liberal Democrats of the session.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Thanks to Belle’s Chicken Dinner House in Abilene for sponsoring our week of broadcasts from Austin!

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: From the Texas Capitol in the 88th Regular Texas Legislature, I interview state Representative Jared Patterson about his efforts in leading the cleanup of our public school libraries by removing the sexually explicit smut that has found its way into so many.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Also we talk with Senator Drew Springer (SD30) about a variety of bills including a bill to aid rural law enforcement (SB22 ,) unemployment indexing (SB150 ,) adding fines for certain violations of election law (SB1807 ,) land owner damage bill from illegal immigration (SB815 ,) and SB471 to add a fee to pay for investigation by those repeatedly make unwarranted complaints to TCEQ. Here is the media story about SB471 that I mention in the interview.

In the last segment of today’s show, I speak with Zach Whiting of the Texas Public Policy Foundation about efforts to protect children from online addiction and privacy violations.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: From the Texas Capitol in the 88th Regular Texas Legislature, I interview state Senator Charles Perry , chairman of the Senate committee on Water, Rural Affairs, Agriculture . Senator Perry talks about his major work to benefit securing water resources for Texas’ future (SB28.) We also discuss the budget, differing versions of property tax relief, behavioral health, public school classroom discipline (SB245,) power grid issues, and more.

Representative Dustin Burrow’s bill, HB 2127 , to further prevent Texas cities from trying preempt state law and regulate businesses with differing rules took up most of the House session today. Democrats, the tools of the Texas Municipal League and others, have clearly decided to fight hard on this bill and spent most of the day on obstructionist tactics.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Thanks to Belle’s Chicken Dinner House in Abilene for sponsoring our week of broadcasts from Austin!

Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates .
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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Big issues before the 88th Regular Texas Legislature include property tax relief; public school choice; energy policy, and; court mandated reform of the Texas foster care system.

Today’s show orginates from the Texas Public Policy Foundation and I talk with James Quintero about the competing property tax relief plans from the Senate and the House; former state Rep. Jason Isaac about the Left’s attack on plentiful energy; Mandy Drogin on parental empowerment and school choice, and; Andrew Brown on the progress on reform of the foster care system.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Thanks to Belle’s Chicken Dinner House in Abilene for sponsoring our week of broadcasts from Austin!

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: The panicked media has provided much on the issue of the court rulings related to abortion drug mifepristone but, most reports create a false narrative over the issue and leave out the key elements of the case against the FDA. Julie Marie Blake points out this fight, and FDA stonewalling, has been going on since 2000 .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Texas oil and gas drilling rig count down this week.

Texas House passes it's version of property tax relief setting up a fight with the Senate which has a very different approach. I address one main weakness with the House plan.

WuFlu: International research suggests masks better at causing 'long COVID' than stopping virus .

Biden expanding Obamacare coverage to DACA recipients . More politics using your money.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: New developments in the Austin conviction of Army Sgt. Daniel Perry rejecting his clear self-defense situation. As the Leftist press continues to try and make it appear that the age-old pardon process is somehow a new and novel way to pervert justice, we have learned of what appears to be jury misconduct . We have also learned that the judge prevented items from being introduced into evidence in the case that should have been seen by jurors including the full police investigation report.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish sued personally by private investigative firm alleging he has not paid their bill. The important question is why was Parrish personally hiring private eyes this last October while serving as county judge? It could certainly be something innocent, the bill paying a separate matter. But, could it be why several county office holders seem to be intimidated by him? In general, it’s not a great reflection on Mr. Parrish as even a bill dispute for only about a thousand dollars should be able to be handled short of a lawsuit.

News from the legislature including “ Border Security Legislation Creating New ‘Illegal Entry’ Offense Advances in Texas Senate ” and Lt. Gov. Patrick again saying the House appraisal cap ideas will not advance in the Senate . Also there is good movement on how the state pays community college systems ; it’s more like the success we’ve had with the TSTC system .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: A Texas Tech student from California, who is campus NAACP president, demonstrates willful ignorance in testimony before the legislature getting “Jim Crow” reversed as she pleads for “safe” space and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion on campus .

Also from the legislature, there a slew of gun related bills to be heard in committee this week that need to be opposed. See more here .

I also address a bill filed to place the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Local sales tax numbers released . Look up your city here .

Federal judge places preliminary injunction on Biden’s Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule which is a massive attempt by the federal government, already defeated once under Obama, to claim federal control over a massive amount of private land and regulate the usage of such.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: A not so amazing dirt in your face move from Texas House legislators as they try to re-establish a bad crony tax giveaway program and in so doing, make it worse than the version that we got rid of last session. It seems Democrats want to give your money away to masses of voters and some Republicans are just as eager to give away our money to big companies. Chairman Hunter may not like people saying “Chapter 313” about his HB5 but frankly it is Chapter 313 all over again but worse as is detailed in a fine bit of reporting .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

On handling the conviction of Army Sgt. Daniel Perry in Austin , liberals, which includes the state press and editorial boards, are trying to lead the public to believe that Governor Abbott is somehow acting outside the system and attacking our judiciary on the matter. Of course Abbott’s action requesting the Board of Pardons and Paroles to look into the matter immediately is a bit “unusual ” but it is so because it is unusual to have a District Attorney indict, prosecute, and convict a person for murder about whom the police who investigated the case did not even arrest him because the evidence showed it was justifiable self-defense . The lead detective in the case testified at trial for the defendant, not the D.A. That is what is unusual.

It’s utter hyperbole to claim, as did the editorial board at the Austin paper, that “Abbott’s plan to pardon convicted killer is a threat to the judiciary ” [their original headline.] We’ve always had a pardon process, at both the federal and state level, and usually it is liberals like those at the Statesman press for pardons.

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A Pratt on Texas Podcast Extra with our old friend and guest host Michael Quinn Sullivan about his new, very good , science fiction book Finding the Void .

From the author: “After discovering an unexplainable void in the fabric of space at the edge of the solar system, Ian MacGregor secretly spent his life unraveling the finding. He did not know his discovery would reshape humanity’s understanding of its past and future.

“So when his son, Peter, left Earth aboard the explorer-class vessel Shackleton on an ambitious mapping of the solar system’s furthest reaches, they did not expect to be confronted with a 13,000-year-old mystery.

“Now millions of miles from Earth, Peter MacGregor and his crew must reach into the void to save the survivors of an extinct civilization.”

ORDER YOUR COPY: https://amzn.to/3Mw3SYB

The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Sgt. Daniel Perry was convicted of murder on Friday , wrongly in my opinion, by an Austin jury seemingly convinced that his self-defense was only necessary because he dared turn onto Congress Avenue while driving for Uber when BLM and other radical protesters had illegally taken over the street in a riot. The Austin police detective, their top guy at the time, who investigated it was a witness not for the state but for the defense in the trial. He claims the local Soros-backed Leftist D.A. wouldn’t present the full picture to the jury and hints that such may been witness tampering. Meanwhile, Governor Greg Abbott is asking the Board of Pardons and Paroles to look into it and is talking issuing a pardon for Sgt. Perry . It looks as if we need a true investigation into the District Attorney give that the top cop in the matter is alleging witness tampering. We also need people to learn from Sgt. Perry that it is not wise to post certain things to social media .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Biden plays the public on border policy, again: Biden’s Northern Border Deal With Trudeau Has Major Loophole . And more in the border news stack.

Follow-up on the sordid Capitol rumor mill: State Rep. Bryan Slaton retains criminal defense lawyer for ethics probe .

Rep. Carl Tepper, others have good bills addressing the abuse of debt instruments by local governments .

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: False Republicans in the Texas House, 24 of them , voted with Democrats on a budget amendment to oppose the very concept of school choice – not a specific program, but the concept of having anything but government controlled schools for public education. These people, including many from northwest Texas, are liars when it comes to being Republicans as school choice has been a part of even the nation GOP platform for decades . These liars often claim to be “Reagan Republicans” so take a look at the 1980 and 1984 GOP platforms upon which Reagan ran and you’ll find school choice in both. While House members were voting wrong, the Senate voted for parental empowerment and school choice .

The House budget is a loser in other ways at the esteemed Texas Public Policy Foundation says that it is no long a conservative budget as passed . One good thing: The Democrats failed to strike the anti-D.E.I. part of the budget .

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

I talk about the legislative session with our old friend and former guest host, now publisher of the Texas Scorecard, Michael Quinn Sullivan .

Texas oil and gas drilling rig count up again this week.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: TX19’s Jodey Arrington under attack in DC; said to be called “incompetent” by U.S. House Speaker McCarthy . Caucus divisions explored in a New York Times piece that shows Arrington to be outside of the trust or respect of senior leadership.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The Texas House debates its version of the budget today along with many amendments, some of which are test votes on things like school choice. Additionally, why does the do little early House have to put huge bill debates on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week spilling into Good Friday? I find it offensive especially give how much time they have not spent debating bills before now.
And much more from the legislature including: Why should we repeal the 1973 sodomy laws to appease the Left?

Is a big scandal about to be made known involving a vocal Texas House conservative Republican? I’ll not name names until there is more detail known beyond the rumors swirling everywhere today.

Our old friend Trey Trainor , now a commissioner on the Federal Elections Commission, points out that the FEC has already decided that Trump’s issues upon which he has been indicted in NY are “…not a campaign finance violation. It’s not a reporting violation of any kind . “

I comment on the false narrative present in a new media attack on Justice Clarence Thomas .

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Some House leadership team with Democrats to try to use a budge amendment to stop school choice . Given that Speaker Phelan owes his power to Democrats, and thereby his key chairmen too, why not? That and more from the 88th Texas Legislature.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

The Texas Medical Board back pedals in it’s political persecution of a doctor and reinstates his license to practice – but his lawsuit against the TMB continues.

The Trump indictment and how it happened before in Texas .

Texas Supreme Court rules universities can take back diplomas but I think the dissenting opinion is the right line of thought.

And, other news of Texas.

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The news of Texas covered today includes:

Our Lone Star story of the day: Senate committee moves bill to help Texas Tech and University of Houston systems get more funding but it’s just another drop in the bucket effort. The issue will never be resolved until enough legislators set aside pride, envy, and a host of other sins and agree to let the Permanent University Fund (PUF) fund more than A&M and UT.

Also, Senator Charles Perry has made future water resources in Texas a big priority of his service and the Senate has passed his SB 28 / SJR 75 . However, legislators are making a big long (or short?) term mistake in continuing to add to the clout of the Texas Water Development Board – they are funding, growing, and empowering a Leftist Leviathon that will, at some point, turn on us and do so with little direct political accountability.

Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.

Sales tax collections up but retail is in the dumps .

Trump’s indictment by a local prosecutor isn’t unique – the same was done in Texas to Rick Perry to kill his presidential campaign : Trump Isn’t The First GOP Candidate Indicted By Local Democrats .

And, other news of Texas.

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