#TXLEGE: News and notes from Bryan Slaton

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,"
Hebrews 12:1

There been a decent amount of keyboard strokes spilled over Bryan Slaton's recent interview over his discussion of Greg Abbott's negative coattails. That's fine. It's certainly an important topic. And we largely agree with the conclusions.

That being said, there's a lot more there that's worthy of consideration.



Highlights:

• Running the third time is VERY rare.

• Incumbents tend to have accumulated loyalty.

• Decided to run for the third time after the Bonnen/Chris McNutt incident.
• The Bonnen/Sullivan recording confirmed it.

• Dan Flynn was apparently, quite literally, spitting mad in defense of Bonnen.

• Over the course of multiple campaigns, Slaton got know his community MUCH better.

• By the third run, he'd built relationships in the community that hadn't exists five years earlier.

• "The things that helped me most were out of my control."
• Third candidate.
• Delayed runoff due to COVID.
• Abbott's self-immolation.

• Appraisals should come out before the primary.

• Re: next session -- Need a speaker who's "a leader" and "fair."
• "Let the vote happen."
• "Don't try to manipulate everything."

GOP Runoff Quick Takes: Basically A Muddle

"Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."
Exodus 18:21

[Note: We didn't really do that...but what else is new.]

We don't really feel like doing a long analysis of what happened, but some thoughts:

• Abbott had an ok night.  But it wasn't anything special.  He's not really an asset, but neither is he toxic.  Long-term fate remains TBD.

• Dan Flynn and J.D. Sheffield prove that incumbents with really bad records can still get popped.

• Justin Berry and Glen Rodgers prove that, in open seat races where you can pretend to be all things to all people, good ol' boy cash can get you across the finish line.

• Speaking of those two, it's going to be fascinating to see what happens to their districts after redistricting...but we suspect both will have to introduce themselves to a lot of new voters in two years.

• Carrie Isaac and Shelby Slawson prove that good candidates win.

• Kathleen Wall proves that, no matter how much of your own money you light on fire, baseless, over-the-top accusations rarely stick.  Such a waste.  Congratulations Kathleen, you're the new David Dewhurst.

Bottom Line: A bunch of stuff we already knew got proven all over again.

#TXLEGE: Flynn returns to the Lobbyist Trough

"As a dog returns to his own vomit,
So a fool repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:11

Yikes:

Honestly, what else is there to say?!?

The whole knock on Dan Flynn is that he's been going native for about a decade.

Wednesday confirms the trend.

Still kinda gross.

Bottom Line:  Not surprising (but still revealing).

#TXLEGE: Dan Flynn is a gullible fool

"The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools."
Proverbs 3:35

No.  This isn't embarrassing.  Not at all:

An East Texas lawmaker is sponsoring a “March Against Far-Left Violence” at the Texas Capitol Saturday — one of at least eight marches around the country organized by assorted far-right groups. This weekend’s marches are supposedly in response to recent episodes of street fighting in the Pacific Northwest between left- and right-wing activists. Some members of white supremacist organizations have expressed interest in attending the march in Austin.

To hold an event on the Capitol grounds, organizations need a state lawmaker to sponsor it and attest to the State Preservation Board that it benefits the “community at large,” according to Texas law. State Representative Dan Flynn, a Canton Republican who’s carried controversial anti-Islam legislation, is sponsoring Saturday’s march. Last Thursday, he signed a form that states the event is hosted by Texans United for America, and above his signature, the event is described as an “Austin March Against Far-Left Violence … aimed at free speech and a call for peace within the universities, media and other far left organizations that engage in false rhetoric and violence.”

....

Organizers of Saturday’s events are not quite “alt-right” or white nationalist, according to Carla Hill, an analyst with the Anti-Defamation League. Rather, they’re more general far-right activists, drawn from the antigovernment “patriot” movement and the so-called alt-lite. “They’re right-wing extremists; they aren’t all white supremacists,” she said. “But events like this attract white supremacists as well, because these ideologies line up.”

The Observer found significant evidence of interest in Saturday’s event on the part of self-identified white nationalists. On the Facebook page for the Austin event, Houston-based “White Lives Matter” organizer Ken Reed is listed as attending, as are at least two pseudonymous accounts linked to the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front. Members of Patriot Front attended a pro-Trump march hosted by Texans United for America in Austin earlier this year.

It does not take a genius to look at the Facebook page linked in the article and recognize that this event is bad news.  At best, this would be an event filled with counterproductive, reckless, hotheads.  At worst...well...it certainly looks like the Texas Observer did a good digging up the worst.

Bottom Line: In fairness to Flynn, this is probably a case of genuine stupidity.  Dan Flynn might be a corrupt establishment hack who sold out his credibility attempting to intimidate a political whistle blower, but he probably doesn't harbor white nationalist views.  Still, to even put yourself in a position where the question needs to be asked....

#TXLEGE: Arrogant Flynn illegally uses state office to promote campaign

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate."
Proverbs 8:13

From Bryan Slaton campaign e-mail last week:

Friends, It is with much concern that I share with you that my opponent has been using ourtaxpayer dollars to promote his own re-election campaign. Over the last 7 days, Dan Flynn has released 6 different videos promoting his campaign that appear to have been filmed in his district office, which is paid for by the taxpayers of House District 2. If this is the case, not only is this unethical behavior, but it is also a clear violation of the law. Mr. Flynn would be flaunting Texas law which clearly states that no taxpayer-funded resources may be used for election purposes as outlined in: TEXAS PENAL CODE, TITLE 8; OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION; CHAPTER 39. ABUSE OF OFFICE (link) The taxpayers have a right to know. Has Mr. Flynn betrayed the public trust once again by using taxpayer-funded resources for his own personal benefit? I'm calling upon Mr. Flynn to publicly clarify whether or not he is using his taxpayer-funded district office for his campaign videos. If so, then he must immediately apologize for breaking the law and take down his videos. - Bryan

That's pretty bad; given the way frivolous criminal complaints have been thrown around this cycle, somebody really ought to file one against Flynn (and we might just file a complaint with the Texas "Ethics" Commission).

By beyond Flynn's immediate action, there's also a broader lesson: Arrogance.

It doesn't take a genius to see how using your taxpayer funded office for a political ad would backfire.  It's an obvious no-no.  But Flynn did it.

Over the past several years, as he's gotten closer to Joe Straus, Dan Flynn has grown increasingly arrogant.  It's been obvious since the early days of the Wallace Hall impeachment fiasco, and it's grown more obvious over time.  Now, Flynn reaps what his arrogance has sown.

[Note: Imagine the reaction if Jonathan Stickland had done the same thing.]

Bottom Line:  Dan Flynn is the ultimate case for term limits.  He was a pretty decent legislator in the early years, but this incident symbolizes how far he's fallen.  Eight terms in public office over nearly two decades rots your brain.

Hensarling leaves open seat without Obvious Successor....

"Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly;
For what can the man do who succeeds the king?—
Only what he has already done."
Ecclesiastes 2:12

At this point, we assume you've heard:

My full statement on not seeking re-election in 2018: pic.twitter.com/2mkUIxtAED

— Jeb Hensarling (@RepHensarling) October 31, 2017

This is...unfortunate, at least right now.

We've never been under any illusions about Jeb Hensarling, but historically he's tended to be less loathsome than the average Texas Congressman.  He's usually been pretty good against corporate welfare.  We retain fond memories of the conniption fit he gave to friends of the Texas Association of Business in 2015.

Which is our longwinded way of saying that we wish he'd waited two more years to make this decision.

To understand why, consider Jeb Hensarling's district:

Compare Hensarling's district to the obvious successor:

While Bob Hall is the most obvious person to run for Hensarling's seat (and, given Hall's military background, he'd be a good fit for a federal position), there's an obvious problem: We need Bob Hall to stay put in the Texas Senate.  If Bob Hall were to jump into a Congressional race, it would leave his Texas Senate seat in peril of being scooped up by Cindy Burkett.  At this time, a Texas Senate seat is more valuable than a congressional seat.

Moving from the Texas Senate to the house, Hensarling's congressional district overlaps the following Texas house districts:

Note: Redline boundaries were done by hand and are thus APPROXIMATE.

Hensarling's Congressional district overlaps the following state reps:

• Lance Gooden.

• Travis Clardy.

• Jason Villalba

• Morgan Meyer.

• Cindy Burkett (open seat).

• Dan Flynn.

• Byron Cook (open seat!!!)

• Cole Hefner.
• Note: We didn't actually realize that Hefner overlapped until we looked it up.  That being said, it's only a tiny sliver.  While Hefner might be a possibility ( *ONLY* if he can cover his state rep seat), it still seems like a stretch.

With the exception of Hefner, none of those names are particularly exciting.  The biggest shame is that a number of those incumbent state reps are facing strong challengers (or, in Cook's case, have already been chased out of the race by a strong challenger.  Which, once again, brings our lament: Our bench in this part of the state is going to be a lot stronger in 2020.

Unfortunately, it's 2018; while we'd love to upgrade this seat, right now almost all of the obvious candidates would be downgrades.

Bottom Line: If you're an ambitious county commissioner with a strong record anywhere in this district, now might be a good time to swing for the fences.

#TXLEGE: Notes on the Mark Jones Index....

"Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:20

Mark Jones is a political science professor at Rice University.  Every odd numbered year, he produces a non partisan index that ranks the members of the Texas Legislature from left to right.  Jones' index is worth investing some time into because, while the methodology is more complicated than some other groups, it's the most comprehensive analysis of individual members of the Texas Legislature.

Texas House Results:

Note: Click on the image to enlarge.

Texas Senate Results:

In no particular order, some personal observations:

• Freedom caucus (predictably) solidify their position as the 12 most conservative House members.

• Kel Seliger is the most liberal Republican in the Texas Senate; over half of the Republican caucus in the House is more liberal than Seliger.

• In the House, we would give every member from Rodney Anderson up a passing grade on voting record; that's 31 members out of a 95 member Republican caucus.

• However, even among those 31 members with passing grades on their voting record, there are three (Drew Springer, Dennis Bonnen, and Larry Phillips) who receive automatic F's based on other shady actions; so 28 members out of a 95 member House Republican caucus ultimately receive passing grades.

• 26 Republican House members have more liberal voting records than Byron Cook; chew on that one for a second.

• Jason Isaac moves significantly to the right from 2015 to 2017; this is consistent with a number of observations we made during the session.

• In the other direction, Jodie Laubenberg, James White, Giovanni Capriglione, Tan Parker, and Phil King continued their multi-session leftward drift.

• Speaking of leftward drift, Dan Flynn is now in the bottom half of House Republicans.

• On Monday, we discussed how the leftward march of the pro-status quo crowd was playing with fire; on that note, we find the fact that in both chambers Democrats from the Valley (which has been trending Republican for a decade) voted to the right of their counterparts in the big urban counties to be fascinating.

• Rafael Anchia and Chris Turner both rank significantly to the left of the average Democrat in the House...are they sure those are the two guys they want to make spokespeople for their entire party?!?

• On the Senate side, all Republicans elected in the past 7 years are significantly to the right of the person they replaced.
• Update: We suppose that technically Paul Bettencourt is about even with the guy he replaced in SD-7.

• Charles Perry and Larry Taylor both have voting records to the left of Bob Nichols; while people shouldn't overreact, this is a trend worth monitoring.

• Joan Huffman as the second most liberal Senate Republican might be flying a little too close to the sun for her own good in her re-elect cycle.

Read the full report (including a detailed discussion of methodology) for the House here and the Senate here.

#TXLEGE: Stickland, Tinderholt, knock 5 bills off Local and Consent!!!

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage."
2 Peter 2:19

In the Texas House, the "Local and Consent" calendar is a mechanism that is supposed to be used to efficiently pass non-controversial bills.  When used properly, it's a good idea.  But, under Team Straus, it is often abused to sneak through special interest bills.

The good news is that any member can knock a bill of the L&C calendar simply by talking about it for ten minutes; Jonathan Stickland has made an art form of this.

The House heard the first local and consent calendar today and, between Stickland and Tony Tinderholt, they knocked off the following five bills:

• HB 92               Guillen
  Relating to the entitlement of spouses of certain veterans with disabilities to a veteran's employment preference.
  
  Tinderholt knocked this off because the term "disabled veteran" was so poorly defined that his own wife would have qualified for the program; Tinderholt wants this bill to come back on the regular calendar so he can offer an amendment tightening the language.

• HB 1264             Burkett / Button
  Relating to the concurrent jurisdiction of certain municipal courts in certain criminal cases punishable by fine only.
  
  Stickland knocked this bill of because it would create new mechanism for municipal police departments to perform traffic stops outside the area of their municipal jurisdiction; it doesn't take a genius to see how this practice could go horribly wrong.

• HB 1355             Wray
  Relating to the enforcement of commercial motor vehicle safety standards in certain municipalities.
  
  Stickland knocked this off because it created a special authority for one city to collect revenues "for the state."  Unfortunately, 90% of the cities that already have this authority don't remit those revenues to the state.  Larry Phillips has a bill to address the underlying issue statewide that Stickland supports.

• HB 1570             Burns
  Relating to the enforcement of commercial motor vehicle safety standards in certain municipalities.
  
  Withdrawn by author after Stickland explained it was similar to the Wray bill listed above but for a different city.

• HB 2413             Burkett
  Relating to certain identifying information regarding career school or college students.
  
  Stickland knocked this off because it was potentially a sneaky attempt to forestall future Wallace Hall-style investigations under new "privacy" protections; Stickland scores extra points for the fact that Dan Flynn was visibly having a fit on the House floor.

LOL; Dan Flynn earns a DISTINGUISHED honor....

"She will chase her lovers,
But not overtake them;
Yes, she will seek them, but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘I will go and return to my first husband,
For then it was better for me than now.’ "
Hosea 2:7

From the indefatigable Jon Cassidy:

Most of the folks on the Scariest People of 2016 list qualify as villains, but nobody has ever mistaken Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn, a Republican from Van, for an evil mastermind.

He does a lot of awful stuff, but in such a clumsy way that you can never be sure he has any idea what he’s doing.

For example, as chair of a committee responsible for one of the state’s most pressing issues – pension debt – he has reliably put his impressive incomprehension on display. He once told a pension expert that a bill to restore local control was actually anti-local control, because some people oppose it, and they… (wait for it) live in cities, too. When he was gently but firmly contradicted, his response was so: “Kinda part of it, but kinda not all of it, is that what you’re saying?”

Read the whole thing here.

Dan Flynn continues to Hypocritically Embarrass Himself....

"Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,"
Romans 1:24

So...this happened:

Six weeks ago, when Flynn attacked political correctness at UT, we wrote:

So the same Dan Flynn who surrendered his dignity in an attempt to impeach the Regent who was pursuing accountability against that self-same "politically correct" university administration now has the chutzpah to complain about a sensationalistic story that made national news?!?

SJW-related nonsense is the natural result of the University of Texas (and higher education in general) having too much money.   When he had the opportunity to do something about it, Dan Flynn instead chose to protect that money.  Nobody should be surprised by what followed.

We look forward to the bevy of Higher Ed. reform bills Dan Flynn intends to file next session but... we're not going to hold our breath.

Bottom Line: Actions speak louder than Facebook.

Time to play Dan Flynn Mad Libs:

So the same Dan Flynn who surrendered his dignity in an attempt to impeach a state agency board member who was pursuing accountability against that self same state agency now has the chutzpah to complain about state agency board members who refuse to do their jobs?!?

State agency board members who fail to perform oversight is the natural result of a go-along-get-along-good-ol'-boy culture in the legislature that fails to demand accountability.  When he had the opportunity to do something about it, Dan Flynn instead chose to protect that go-along-get-along-good-ol'-boy culture.  Nobody should be surprised by what followed.

We look forward to the bevy of state agency board accountability bills Dan Flynn intends to file next session but...it's not up there so far (although has has re-filed his stupid anti-Daylight Savings time bill).

Bottom Line: Actions speak louder than Facebook.

Bottom Line: No one who participated in the Wallace Hall impeachment can ever complain about state agency board members not doing their jobs ever again.

Flynn 'attacks' UT Politburo he's protected for half a decade....

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Titus 1:12

Dan Flynn blocked us on social media eons ago, but a source passes this along:

Seriously?!?

So the same Dan Flynn who surrendered his dignity in an attempt to impeach the Regent who was pursuing accountability against that self-same "politically correct" university administration now has the chutzpah to complain about a sensationalistic story that made national news?!?

SJW-related nonsense is the natural result of the University of Texas (and higher education in general) having too much money.   When he had the opportunity to do something about it, Dan Flynn instead chose to protect that money.  Nobody should be surprised by what followed.

We look forward to the bevy of Higher Ed. reform bills Dan Flynn intends to file next session but... we're not going to hold our breath.

Bottom Line: Actions speak louder than Facebook.

Scoundrels Protecting Scoundrels....

"I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked."
Psalm 26:5

You'll never guess who gave a last minute donation to Dan Flynn:

Bottom Line: There's a certain satisfaction watching the former state representative who abused his office to get his son Ryan got into UT Law despite an LSAT score of 155 attempt to prop up the career of the state representative who led the cover-up into that abuse of office and knowing it's going to fail.

Alvarado Letter RIPS UT System's Houston Expansion

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck,
Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 29:1

We obtained the following letter from the UT system via open records request.  Remember, Carol Alvarado was Dan Flynn's co-chair on the Wallace Hall impeachment committee.  For those unaware, Alvarado is from Houston:

Rep. Alvarado Ltr to THECB Regarding UT Land Purchase in Houston Area (1)

Bottom Line: When you've lost the co-chair of the Wallace Hall Impeachment committee....

Flailing Flynn grasps at Semantics!!!

'Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” '
1 Corinthians 15:33

A couple nights ago, Dan Flynn made the following comment on Facebook:

Using some sort of newfangled technology called "Google" we took a trip in the way back machine all the way to 2014 and this Daily Texan article:

In a 7-1 vote Monday, the House transparency committee voted there are sufficient grounds for UT System Regent Wallace Hall’s impeachment. The committee will meet on May 21 and 22 to try and determine the nature of specific articles of impeachment.

....

Rep. Dan Flynn committee co-chair and R-Canton, said he encouraged Hall to resign, and noted that if Hall were to resign before May 21, the committee would not have to convene.

We pointed this out to Flynn:

To which Flynn responded:

Flynn's reasoning, of course, is a farce; as Tony McDonald wrote at the time:

After a letter Tuesday from UT Regent Wallace Hall’s attorneys accused the House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations of withholding an audio recording that exonerates Hall, Committee Chairman Dan Flynn (R–Van) has capitulated. In a self-serving and petulant letter from Flynn to Eric Johnson, one of the Democratic members of the Committee, Flynn was forced to admit that a report prepared by the committee’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, contained lies about Hall.

The audio recording of the August 22, 2013 UT Board of Regents meeting apparently refutes several of the assertions contained in Hardin’s report. In response, Flynn was forced to walk back the four bases alleged by Hardin to justify Hall’s impeachment.

Dan Flynn should have done the honorable thing and apologized to Wallace Hall.

Instead, Flynn’s letter contains name-calling, attacks against Wallace Hall and continues to call for the regent to resign — despite admitting that Hall was justified in his actions.

In the letter, Dan Flynn attempts to indefinitely delay obligations to report on his committee’s findings by hinging further action on a final decision by the Travis County District Attorney’s office. At the same time, Flynn suggests that the committee should, as its immediate next step, begin investigating a scandal involving $1 Million in contracts given to Accenture by UT President Bill Powers. Flynn also suggests that the University of Texas System should pay his expenses for the whole boondoggle.

In other words, Flynn backed the impeachment fiasco through every step of the process up until the moment Wallace Hall's lawyer threatened to expose the deceitfulness of Flynn's committee in a public setting; only at that point did Flynn back down.

Bottom Line: For Flynn to claim he never voted to impeach Wallace Hall is, at best, semantic silliness.

Everything you need to know about UT's Open Records process in ONE Document....

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."
Galatians 6:7

Yesterday, (in a moment of supreme irony) while we were working on our post about Wallace Hall's appearance in Dan Flynn's district, we received a letter from the UT System:

UT Straus Lieutenant Cost Estimate

Wallace Hall speaks IN DAN FLYNN'S DISTRICT!!!

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
Galatians 6:9

Last night, Wallace Hall spoke in Dan Flynn's district to inform Flynn's constituents of his activities on behalf of Joe Straus' impeachment committee:



Highlights:

• All of his kids have been attending U.T. this entire time.

• "Rot...manifests itself in our political class."

• "I expect to disagree with people on the opposite side of issues, I don't expect to be misled by people on my side who tell us one thing and do another."

• "Texas is a red state, how in the world are we being governed by moderates?!?"

• Straus holds power: "by the unanimous support of the Democrats in the Texas House."

• "I consider a vote for Speaker Straus to be a vote for sanctuary cities."

• "I care deeply about education."

• Nobody criticizes what he's found.

• UT- Austin is the only system institution where he's had a problem, the other 13 system institutions have been fine.

• Flynn's Chief of Staff lied about impeachment committee finding forgivable loan program.

• Spring 2013: "I asked for two sets of data."

Highlights:

• "I had asked for all open records to be put online."
• "I've been working on this since February 2011."
• Still hasn't happened.

• "I made a request for communication between the President [Powers] and politicians."
• "When this happened, some of the most powerful politicians in the state came after me."
• Dewhurst, Jim Pitts, Dan Branch, Zaffirini, Seliger.
• "They trolled Dallas looking for dirt on me and my family."
• "I received some very aggressive e-mails."

• Paul Foster ambushed him and asked for his resignation.

• Straus instigated impeachment: "To protect his members."

• Flynn's impeachment committee: "I was denied the right to council" and other cross examination.

• Flynn refused to subpeona him, which would have allowed him to testify fully.

• "I call what Dan Flynn did a gross abuse of his power and a kick in the teeth to all Texans who are the rightful owners of our government."

• Flynn's committee mostly met in secret.

Highlights:

• Straus offered Perry a corrupt bargain and Perry declined.

• Straus sent the Travis County DA after him.

• Sharphorn found "a huge disparity" in admissions notes to prospective students with letters.

• "If indicted, at least I would have a public trial."

• Investigation only moved forward because a whistleblower came forward to Cigarroa.

• Powers is now the highest paid member of UT law school faculty.

• Vote Bryan Slaton.

Highlights:

• The House didn't have the nerve to impeach.

• Impeachment committee tried to bait him into committing crimes.

• "The fact that they didn't indict me is unbelievable."

• McRaven blew off the Kroll Report.

Dan Flynn BUSTED Lying about ANOTHER Endorsement....

"A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it,
And a flattering mouth works ruin."
Proverbs 26:28

The LOL continues:

Dan Flynn Loses TEA Party Endorsement
Dan Flynn has decided that Austin lobbyists and special interests are more important than the Texans of House District 2. Now it has cost him the support of the TEA Party and many other conservatives.
Posted by Bryan Slaton on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Highlights:

• They said something nice about him "YEARS AGO, before he sold out to the Austin establishment."

• "Mr. Flynn is trying to use our quote as an endorsement for his campaign, but I'm proudly supporting Bryan Slaton in this election."

• "I've known Dan Flynn for a long time and have seen how the 14 years in Austin have changed him."

Bottom Line: Over the past week, Dan Flynn has been caught lying about two endorsements.  Meanwhile, he's gotten campaign donations from the most notorious of all Austin lobbyists.  Dan Flynn needs to leave public office and get right with the Lord.

LOL; guess who's giving DAN FLYNN money....

"Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.”
1 Corinthians 15:33

Steve Bresnen is a prominent Austin lobbyist.  He has longstanding ties to BINGO interests and Trial Lawyers.  As a lobbyist for the Texas Family Law Foundation, he was instrumental in killing American Laws for American Courts legislation last session.

Bresnen is also the driving force behind the Texas "Ethics" Commission's jihad against Empower Texans.

Which makes this item from page 6 of Dan Flynn's latest campaign finance report very interesting:

Bottom Line: Once again, we're impressed by Bresnen's chutzpah, but we can think of no better symbol to encapsulate the degree to which Dan Flynn has gone native in Austin.

DAN FLYNN LIES about Endorsement....

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Titus 1:12

What a guy:

The discontent is so widespread that my opponent is trying to make people believe he actually is the conservative by using false endorsements on his campaign material. As recently as this month, Dan has been passing out material with quotes from Cathie Adams, President of Texas Eagle Forum, without her permission, to make voters believe that he has the support of top conservative grassroots organizations..

“I never gave Dan permission to use my endorsement on his campaign material for this election.” stated Adams. “I supported him in the past because he used to vote more conservatively, until Dan chose to serve the Austin establishment, rather than his constituents."

"I’m proud to support Bryan Slaton, and I’m confident he won’t make the same mistakes Flynn has made,”

- Cathie Adams

Bottom Line: Dan Flynn is a living case for term limits.  No one denies that Dan Flynn was a reasonably decent conservative in a different era.  But that era has long since passed and there's a reason why both Cathie Adams and this website support Bryan Slaton in HD-2!!!

LOL, 17 #TXLEGE RINO's attempting to waft behind Cruz's campaign....

"Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
Matthew 7:20

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Update: It's worth mentioning that, at the beginning of the summer, we were considering keeping a running tally of which Presidential candidates Texas legislators were supporting, but we decided against this because we thought something like this might happen.

-----

Ted Cruz's Presidential campaign released a list of supporters from the Texas Legislature this morning.  It's...an interesting list.  It reveals the degree to which Ted Cruz defines politics in this state.

The overwhelming majority of solid conservatives in both chambers endorse Cruz.  In the Texas Senate, all of the Senators who endorsed him are solid.  In the Texas House, 15 out of the 19 Scott Turner supporters endorsed Cruz.

But this list gets interesting when you look at the Straus supporters who've endorsed Cruz.

While a few of the Straus supporters are middle-of-the-pack House members, the list also features some of the WORST RINO's in the Texas House.

Empower Texans compiles an index to measure legislators on economic issues.  Texas Values has a similar index for Faith and Family issues.  On that note, consider the following from the recently concluded legislative session:

Obviously, these folks think getting their name in a Ted Cruz Presidential press release (and the pictures that will inevitably follow) will obscure their mediocre and worse records in the legislature.

Bottom Line: Ted Cruz clearly attracts support from both conservatives and people who are scared to death of conservatives.

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* - Dan Flynn led the Wallace Hall impeachment fiasco.

** - Larry Phillips helped illegally cock-block Constitutional Carry.

*** - Debbie Riddle almost killed a pro-Life bill in an obscure legislative committee.

**** - Wayne Smith killed the TESLA bill.

***** - John Zerwas is openly pro-Obamacare.