Thursday, October 31, 2013

How Popular IS Abortion Barbie?!?


So popular that Democrats can't get anyone to run for her Texas Senate seat:
Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns won’t run for the Senate seat left open by Wendy Davis’ decision to run for governor, greatly increasing already high odds that the seat will go from the Democrats to the Republicans.

....

Burns was the Democrats’ best hope of holding a seat that shouldn’t, by the numbers, be theirs to begin with. Davis has won twice in the district, both times in years when the presidency was on the ballot and when Barack Obama was the Democratic nominee. In years with a governor’s race leading the ticket and no national election, it moves from a Republican-leaning swing district to a Republican district.

Davis would have had a challenging re-election had she stayed, and the question now is whether anyone else on the Democratic side can make a race of it this year. Burns, who is both well-known and politically plugged in, was their first choice, and now he’s out.
Read the whole thing here.

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Konni Burton is our endorsed candidate in SD-10

How Incest Helps Explain Today's Middle East


[Author's Note: This post isn't about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but about the events that transpired immediately afterwards.]

"It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”  Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

 
Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

....
And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day."


Genesis 19:34-36, 38

"The shameful act of incest led to the births of two sons who would later greatly trouble Israel, Moab and Ben-Ammi."

Nelson Study Bible, Note on Genesis 19:36-38

This morning, we read the scripture and note quoted above.  It bugged us.  Why did the name Ben-Ami sound so familiar?!?

Then it hit us: Jeremy Ben-Ami.

Who is Jeremy Ben-Ami?!?
Jeremy Ben-Ami is the founder and President of J Street.
And who, pray tell, is J-Street?!?
J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans fighting for the future of Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people. We believe that Israel’s Jewish and democratic character depend on a two-state solution, resulting in a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security.

Rooted in our commitment to Jewish and democratic values, J Street is redefining what it means to be pro-Israel in America. We are changing the U.S. political dynamics around Israel by mobilizing broad support for a two-state solution because it’s in Israel’s and America’s interest. And we are expanding support for Israel by affirming — along with many Israelis — that being pro-Israel doesn’t require supporting every policy of its government.

We have the responsibility to fix the broken politics in America around Israel. Only with your help can J Street succeed in our fight for the future of Israel as the Jewish and democratic homeland.
 [Author's Note: J-street is heavily financed by George Soros; they're also buddy-buddy with the Obama administration.]

In other words, the leading Jewish advocate for a "Palestinian" state in the U.S. is a descendent of a shameful act of drunken Biblical incest.

Just seems fitting....

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Austin Housing advocates campaign against...Ted Cruz?!?


Admitting their weakness, the following flyer from Keep Austin "Affordable" just arrived:


Text: Radical right wing extremists don't want our government to succeed -- period.  They tried to shut down Washington.

The same reactionary forces oppose expanding health insurance and education in Texas.

They even oppose Austin Affordable Housing Bonds.
 [Author's Note: That these people believe temporarily furloughing 17% of the federal workforce equals 'shutting down the country' is a topic for another day.]

Normally, these people run touchy-feely, hopey-changey, psuedo-positive campaigns; that they're resorting to terms like 'radical right wing extremists' and 'reactionary forces' demonstrates that they're scared.

Rolling Stone Magazine: Some Girls Have Penises


From our descent into Aldous Huxley territory, Rolling Stone reports on the movement to give radical hormone therapy to young children:
Building upon the gains of LGB activists, the trans-rights movement is having its moment, advancing more swiftly than even its advocates ever imagined. This past May, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was updated to replace its old classification for trans people, "gender identity disorder," with "gender dysphoria," reflecting the new understanding that having a gender identity that doesn't match your birth anatomy doesn't make you mentally ill; only any associated distress is considered a problem. The diagnostic change was greeted within the tiny trans community – gender dysphoria is thought to affect as many as one in 10,000 people – as momentous a turning point as the DSM's 1973 declassification of homosexuality had been for gays. The increasing acceptance also sparked a new awareness of how early in life some people begin to realize they may have been born in the wrong bodies. 
.... 
If the trans movement is the LGBT's final frontier, then transgender youth represents its farthest outpost. Kids are coming out as trans earlier than ever: A survey of the San Francisco school district found that 1.6 percent of high school students and, incredibly, one percent of middle-school students identified as transgender. Children are packing the few U.S. clinics like Olson's, which are at the forefront of a new therapeutic approach, in which children may live as their preferred gender, complete with appropriate clothing, pronouns and often a new name. This so-called affirmative model has found an increasingly warm reception among the worried parents of trans children. And so while most doctors still consider this "social transition" for kids under the age of 10 to be controversial, already these intrepid young pioneers have begun venturing out into the world – including, in rare cases, female-to-male trans kids who undergo "top surgery" as early as age 13.   
As such, the trans-rights movement has speedily moved to a brand-new battleground: public schools. Although 623 American colleges and universities have already adopted nondiscrimination policies to cover gender expression, high schools and middle schools are being forced to grapple with the question of how to deal with trans students in their locker rooms, athletic fields and bathrooms. It's a haphazard fight raging at district, county and state levels; thus far, 2013 has been what appears to be a watershed year. This past winter, educators in Massachusetts, Maine and Portland, Oregon, issued guidelines to accommodate trans students, allowing them to use bathrooms and play on sports teams corresponding to the gender with which they identify. But in August, California trumped them all by becoming the first state to pass legislation spelling out that transgender students can choose which bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams they wish, based on their gender identity. 
.... 
And yet despite all the opposition, the movement toward early transition continues forward, driven largely by a school of thought within the medical community based around the idea of harm prevention. Indeed, studies show that the threat to transgender people is very real: One study showed more than half report being bullied in school; 61 percent are physically assaulted; 64 percent are sexually assaulted. Trans people have sky-high rates of unemployment, homelessness, substance abuse and suicide: Forty-one percent of transgender people attempt suicide, with trans teenagers the highest at-risk group. Given those staggering odds, many clinicians are anxious to try something – anything – that might mitigate that harm. [Emphasis Added]
Try anything, even if it gets cause and effect backwards!

But, dadgummit, common sense won't die:
But despite having jettisoned the old model, few health professionals are comfortable urging parents to let their preschooler pose as a different gender. There is not yet a standard screening model to separate the small percentage of truly trans kids from the merely gender-variant (though studies suggest that extreme dysphoria in early childhood can be a predictor of transgenderism). But gender nonconformity doesn't necessarily mean that the kid will turn out transgender: A 2012 Harvard School of Public Health study found that 85 percent of children who expressed some form of gender nonconformity actually grew up to not be LGB or T, but straight.
In the face of such superior logic:
The bluntness of her answer may have taken them aback: "The best way to explain it is, no bodies are the same. Some girls have penises and some boys have vulvas." 
[Emphasis Added]
Because if we don't normalize this behavior in childhood, it gets tricky:
Unlike kindergartners, who had a gender-neutral bathroom in their classroom, first-graders used the boys' and girls' bathrooms down the hall.... The terrifying prospect of this hypothetical older, maturer student was key to their analysis. As attorney William Kelly Dude would write in the accompanying position paper, while perhaps it seemed acceptable for a harmless six-year-old like Coy to enter the girls' room, he vividly described what a future infiltrator could look like: "a male high school student with a lower voice, chest hair and with more physically mature sex organs who claims to be transgender and demands to use the girls' restroom" – a menacing portrait of an impostor that echoed the threat of Focus on the Family's "Predator" ad. 
....
The prevailing train of thought from the affirmative camp goes like so: If these kids are truly trans, why should they endure the horrific transformation of developing the "wrong" adolescent body in puberty – a trans girl with an Adam's apple and a low voice; a trans boy coping with breasts and a monthly period – with all the wrenching emotional consequences, only to have to medically undo those changes later in life, with less-than-ideal results? Rather, a few clinics have adopted a series of medical interventions to delay puberty and then, later, give kids a smoother gender reassignment. The first step, sometimes as early as age nine, are medications called puberty blockers, which stave off secondary sex characteristics, buying families precious decision-making time until they feel sure of the child's wishes. Though concerns remain about whether kids on puberty blockers develop adequate bone density, pediatrician Olson says blockers are an effective low-risk tool when used for the short term: "The blockers allow us to push the pause button and let kids explore gender during what are really the most difficult years," adding that if kids ultimately decide not to continue the regimen, they could simply stop taking the meds, and anatomical puberty begins.
But it's not like they're showboating for the media:
Their efforts have been made easier by the fact that their discrimination complaint made Coy an overnight LGBT luminary, her story splashed in the pages of The New York Times and on Katie Couric's show. Over the past few months, Coy has stayed up well past her bedtime to appear at the red-carpet GLAAD awards and at a trans-rights fundraiser, events where strangers flocked to the Mathises to thank them, and share their own stories of discrimination. Jeremy has been so horrified to learn about the difficulties trans people routinely face – in the workforce, getting health insurance, in the housing market, and don't even get him started on incarcerated trans people – that he is about to begin law school, determined to become a civil rights lawyer. For Kathryn and Jeremy, their swift rebirth into champions of an underdog cause has imbued their lives with a new sense of forward motion. Thus, in a short time period, necessity and now passion have turned the Mathises into a couple invested enough in trans issues to have packed all five kids into their enormous wheelchair-accessible van for the two-and-a-half-day drive here to the annual Trans-Health Conference, on what amounts to their first family vacation.
All that being said, at least the piece closes with a paean to the Tenth Amendment:
The Mathises have moved an hour and a half away to Aurora, where they hope to get a fresh start in the more progressive Denver metropolitan area.
 Read the whole (INSANE) thing here.

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Personal Thought: It's a free country, and these people can raise their children however they see fit.  That being said, permitting their (obviously insane) choices, and celebrating them, are not the same thing.  We have a sad feeling that, over time, we will learn many of these children were abused to advance an agenda; it's happened before.

Prominent Texas Abortionist using Rusty, Unsterilized Equipment


Detective work from Texas Alliance for Life:
While opponents of HB 2 claim no significant safety problems exist, a review of recent inspection records obtained by Texas Alliance for Life through public information requests gives a different picture: Many abortion facilities are not meeting even current safety standards and are endangering women's health and safety.

For example, Whole Woman's Health, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, operates five licensed abortion facilities in Texas (Austin, Beaumont, Forth Worth, McAllen, and San Antonio). In a recent Texas Tribune article published September 15, the CEO of Whole Woman's Health, Amy Hagstrom Miller, described HB 2 this way: "The point of this legislation was to make abortion inaccessible. It wasn't about safety . . . there is no safety problem around abortion in Texas."

Contrary to her claim, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), which regulates abortion facilities, has cited four of the five Whole Woman's Health facilities for violating current safety laws during the last three years, some dozens of times. Many the violations threaten the health and safety of the patients, including lack of sterilization of abortion instruments, lack of an R.N. or L.V.N. on staff, rusty suction machines, and expired and unlabelled medications.

In most cases, the violations have been acknowledged by the administrator of the corresponding abortion facility indicating that Whole Woman's Health is fully aware that they are operating abortion facilities in violation of the law.

"Whole Woman's Health and Planned Parenthood want the public to believe that abortion facilities are safe for women. A rusty suction machine, faulty sterilizing fluid, a faulty sterilization machine, holes in the floor exposing the facility to rodents, expired and unlabeled medication, and absent or poorly trained nursing staff contradict the abortion industry's rhetoric," said Joe Pojman, Ph.D., executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. "No woman should be exposed to such horrendous conditions. Women deserve better."
 Read the whole thing, with links to the inspection reports, here.

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Update: The local ABC affiliate has more....

12 News KBMT and K-JAC. News, Weather and Sports for SE Texas

What do Dan Branch and Lindsey Graham have in common?!?


Both have received $5000 donations from Dubya this cycle.

See here and here.

OUCH.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Dana Loesch objures Obamacare Monday in Austin


Last night, we attended AFP-Texas' "Obamascare" event in Austin.  The night began with an informative discussion with John Davidson of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Beto Gonzales of the Libre Initiative.  They were followed by Tony Katz of Townhall.com.

The highlight of the night, however, was Dana Loesch; here are her remarks in full:



Highlights:
  • She's moving to Texas "before Christmas."
  • Her cousin and a good friend were recently diagnosed with breast cancer and have lost coverage due to Obamacare.
    • There's a leading-edge cancer treatment center in St. Louis that will no longer accept Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield customers because of Obamacare.
    • If Jay Carney wants to call that anecdotal, he can come to St. Louis and "say that to my cancer survivor friend's face."
  • She knows how progressives work because "I used to be one of them."
  • "It's really easy to be generous with someone else's money."
  • Her Ob/Gyn is leaving the practice because of Obamacare.
    • "Now I'm looking for a new ladydoc."
  • The most spiteful thing you can do to a progressive is to convert them!
  • "My 28 year old, male, single, radio producer now has to get maternity coverage."
  • Obamacare is a Ponzi scheme.

Julian Castro's "Streetcar Named Desire"


Empower Texans Greg Harrison details another corrupt boondoggle from Julian Castro:
Despite their wishes, San Antonio residents will see their taxes raised for a fiscally irreconcilable and entirely unnecessary deal at the behest of Mayor Julian Castro and County Judge Nelson Wolff. And these two elected officials are seeing to it that the city pays for their pet streetcar program no matter what. 
…. 
The streetcar / light rail idea is nothing new, although its proponents would purport that it is the pinnacle of modern mass transit.  Those more grounded by reality though realize that’s nothing more than wishful thinking. According to “The Streetcar Fantasy,” a comprehensive industry appraisal of streetcar programs similar to the one proposed for San Antonio, streetcars and their operating systems (unlike cars, buses and highways) have not improved in any significant fashion in the past 100 years, and remain generally inefficient and ineffective. 
But despite the inherent inefficiencies of such a system, Mayor Castro and Judge Wolff are still pressing for it, ignoring the fact that San Antonio voters shot down a proposal in 2000 – by a considerable 70% – 30% margin – for a streetcar program run by Via. 

…. 

Now, voters are stuck with the extra tax – which still hasn’t remedied Via’s dismal fiscal situation – while the transit agency is poised to completely renege on promises made about the project now proposed to cost $272 million (not including operations, maintenance, or a contingency fee). 
This is just scratching the surface of the entire debacle surrounding Via and the Castro Administrations’s pipe-dream of establishing a legacy of “green” and “modern” mass transit. San Antonio residents will end up paying – metaphorically and financially, if they don’t take a greater interest in those running their local government. 
 Read the whole thing here.

Abortion Barbie fails to discuss...Abortion Ruling?!?


In preparing our commentary on Ashley's interview yesterday, we noticed an interesting detail in the original KXAN piece.

Yesterday, a Federal judge temporarily suspended a minor part of the Abortion law Texas passed last summer.  Planned Parenthood and the Burnt Orange Report both hailed the decision.  So how did the Democrat candidate for Governor, whose candidacy was propelled by her support for late-term abortion, react?!?

Did she hold a press conference?!?

Nope.

Did she make a triumphant declaration about how yesterday's decision is a victory for a bizarre definition of "women's rights"?!?

Nope.

Did she even send out a press release?!?

Nope.

So how, pray tell, did Wendy Davis react to yesterday's ruling?!?

This tweet:


It's like she already knows she's lost.

KXAN's astonishingly fair Abortion piece


Last night, KXAN featured our good friend Ashley Granger in a report on yesterday's abortion ruling:


[Author's Note: New readers can learn about our history with Ashley here and here.]

We can't add anything.

Cahnmans' Musings never hesitates to call out the media (including KXAN) when they fail to report the news.  That's why it's also important to give the media credit when they do a good job.  Kudos to KXAN and reporter Kevin Schwaller for an accurate and honest discussion of yesterday's ruling.

Barry Smitherman gets butt kicked in hometown straw poll -- is he viable?!?


Cahnman's Musings doesn't put much weight in straw polls.  As Ron Paul supporters have proved, straw polls are easy to manipulate.  Occasionally, however, a candidate will lose a straw poll so spectacularly (eg. Tim Pawlenty in 2011 or Sam Brownback in 2007) that their campaign becomes untenable.

Yesterday, that might have happened at the Take Back Harris County straw poll.

Last night, we went out to dinner with ten local conservative activists/bloggers, including Sunshine State Sarah (of Texas), who wrote yesterday:
Both Dan Patrick and Barry Smitherman are from the Houston area, and should have strong bases of support with the Montgomery County Tea Party. I've heard several people who have longer experience in Texas politics mention that Patrick and Smitherman will need to "run up the score" with Houston Republican primary voters to help balance the strongholds their competition has elsewhere in the state. 
So, here we are with two Houston-area candidates in highly competitive primary races needing to get positive press that they do have support in Houston and are viable contenders. Let's look at how this Take Back Harris County straw poll comes into play.

....

Conservative Republicans of Texas is a PAC founded by Dr. Steve Hotze. Hotze has publicly endorsed Patrick and Smitherman, and multiple sources have told me that he is also an investor in Patrick's talk radio programs.
I did a little more digging and apparently the other organizers of this event are also political consultants: Vincent Harris, whose firm provides digital services to Patrick and Smitherman, and Allen Blakemore, who is the general consultant for Smitherman, as well as consulting for Patrick and Comptroller candidate Harvey Hilderbran.
In essence, what we have is some very smart consultants who know that strategically, Patrick and Smitherman need to make a show of strength in Houston to demonstrate viability, who have planned an event and added on a straw poll with limited tickets.
In other words, in an event that was deliberately designed to give Smitherman a cheap win and earned media, Ken Paxton whooped Smitherman's hide.

It's a free country, and Smitherman is welcome to stay in the race, but we wonder if Smitherman's donors will continue to throw good money after bad....

Monday, October 28, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: David Barton "hasn't ruled out" Cornyn challenge


Last night, we were invited to join the Facebook group "Draft David Barton for U.S. Senate."  Putting it mildly, that piqued our interest.  Cahnman's Musings has spent a substantial amount of time tracking this rumor today.

According to multiple sources, last week a meeting occurred between Tea Party leaders and a representative for Barton.  Sources report both sides left the meeting encouraged.  Right now, speculation Barton might run is "legitimate."

This is a major development.  David Barton would be an incredible U.S. Senator.  In 2012, David Barton was an early supporter of Ted Cruz.  Barton is a former Vice Chair of the Texas Republican Party.  Currently, Barton runs "WallBuilders," a ministry dedicated to rescuing the truth about America's Judeo-Christian heritage.

As a United States Senator, Barton would be an ally of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul.  Were Barton to run, his campaign would be a grassroots campaign similar to Ted Cruz's.  Like Cruz, Barton wouldn't owe the establishment anything.

Cahnman's Musings encourages Barton to hop into this race.  Grassroots conservatives across Texas are chomping for a Cornyn challenge.  If Barton gets in, he's instantly credible.

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If readers wish to contact Barton, they may do so via the following social media outlets:

Facebook: David Barton
Twitter: @DavidBartonWB

Saturday, October 26, 2013

UT Administrative Corruption Goes National


Phenomenal summary of the scandals at the University of Texas in October's American Spectator:
IN TEXAS AND across the country, too many college students are paying too much and learning too little, and not much is being done about it. Texas reformers have been pushing transparency legislation, with the hope of cultivating a better-informed public that will vote with its pocketbook for schools and programs that provide a sound return on investment. But if Wallace Hall, a transparency-championing University of Texas (UT) regent appointed by Governor Rick Perry in 2011, is successfully impeached by the Texas statehouse, reformers’ hopes may die with his ill-fated tenure.


Right now Texans are at war over higher education. Tuition prices at public universities in the state have increased around five percent annually every year since 1994. According to the Institute for Research on Higher Education, Texas “students and their families, already burdened by tuition hikes, have been forced to assume more responsibility for funding financial aid, too, through set-asides from tuition increases.” The effect is felt most by the middle class. Lower-income students have access to scholarships, grants, and other need-based aid. Higher-income parents have the luxury of being able to cut a check. Families in between are being squeezed.

....

Meanwhile, as prices rise, the value of a university education is falling. A recent poll found that 90 percent of Texas voters believe we need to measure the effectiveness of the material learned in college, a point underscored by the fact that roughly half of recent graduates are unemployed or underemployed.

....

A genuine crisis exists in the world of Texas public university trustees, who are charged with ensuring, in the words of the American Council of Trustees, “both the fiscal well-being of the institution…and the quality of the education it provides.” For too many years, trustees, both in Texas and nationally, have neglected both of these responsibilities.

While the public is well aware of rising costs—it’s hard not to notice the steadily atrophying balance of your own checking account!—and even grade inflation, the  opposition of the powerful education lobby exists just below the purview of the man and woman on the street.

....

ENTER WALLACE HALL. According to his critics, he is the hatchet man for—at least in the standard and ultimately distracting media narrative—Rick Perry’s war on UT President Bill Powers. This summer, a House committee was formed to investigate whether articles of impeachment should be brought against Hall.

....

In a letter to the impeachment committee, Hall’s attorney detailed the results of his previous records requests. Likely the most incendiary are the following: 
Regent Hall found correspondence on behalf of a [state] Representative inquiring about the admission of the Member’s adult son or daughter to a UT Austin graduate school. Although the dean had previously stated the applicant did not meet the school’s standards and would need to either retake the graduate admission exam or attend another graduate school first, upon information and belief, the son or daughter was in fact admitted without retaking the test or attending another school.

Regent Hall found other correspondence in which a [state] Senator sought special consideration for an applicant who had been rejected, but was strongly supported by another Senator. In the communication, the Senator seeking special treatment reminded the UT Austin official of recent legislative action taken to benefit The University. Upon information and belief, the rejected applicant was subsequently admitted to UT Austin.
Hall’s defenders believe we are looking at something like the Texas doppelgänger of the 2009 University of Illinois “Clout Scandal,” in which a Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that students with connections to politicians and trustees were admitted despite their lack of requisite academic qualifications. The revelations led to the resignation of a number of those involved.
....

Only time will tell how events play out here in Austin. But one thing is certain: While Texans sit enthralled by the coming clamor in the Capitol, too many students will continue to pay too much, and learn too little, and not much is being done about it.
Higher education is a rip-off.  Far too many kids are taking on far too much debt to drink too much beer, have too much sex, and have their heads filled with far too much progressive garbage.  God Bless Wallace Hall for attempting to introduce a modicum of accountability at America's third wealthiest university.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Apologists for Cornyn


Agendawise nails the current John Cornyn situation:
Perhaps in the ruling class it is true that every vulnerable politician gets a challenge. In the ruling class – the establishment GOP and the Democratic Party - elective politics is not so much a science, as Mackowiak surmises, as it is a business. Not so among conservatives, who are 'general interests', not 'special interests'. As such they don’t stand to gain any fortunes or fiefdoms from elective power.

In the conservative ranks political research and infrastructure aren’t business investments so they are therefore less plentiful and less refined, though the gap is beginning to close. In addition, the ruling class tries to destroy the reputations of power-threatening conservatives while they dignify the reputations of power-entrenching establishment politicians. As a result, it is much easier to find people to agree to run for the parties. It takes a special person to run as a conservative – a person who has counted the cost.

The upshot is, vulnerable establishment Republicans go unchallenged all of the time. If nobody files against Cornyn he will only be the latest. Saying all unchallenged establishment Republicans are unchallengable is nothing more than court journalists trying to cast spells.
 Read the whole thing here.

San Antonio reaps their harvest of Apathy


A fantastic piece on apathy and the Castro regime:


Low voter-turnout may be a primary reason why San Antonio residents have been subjected to the ills of liberal policy. Yet that same voter apathy can also provide an opportunity for conservatives to turn things around… if only they mobilize.

….

San Antonio is leading the pack of Texas’ largest cities at $9.4 billion of total debt outstanding.

Local government accountability is important everywhere, but San Antonio residents will especially feel the sting of negligence if they don’t do their due diligence to hold their local officials’ feet to the fire.
….

Bexar County and the City of San Antonio have been in the big bond business recently as well.  Last year, the Castro Administration managed to pass through a $596 million dollar bond, purportedly for infrastructure improvements.  The bond was purported by Castro and the San Antonio Express News to have passed “overwhelmingly” by 72 percent.
But only 6.7 percent of registered voters in Bexar County actually cast a vote on that particular referendum. When you consider who would turn out to vote for such a thing – and why – it becomes increasingly apparent that the sleeping majority’s taxes are being increased at the behest of an attentive minority.

The same is true for city council – officials making decisions that affect the entirety of San Antonio residents are elected by a mere 7.6 percent of the entire electorate.
Only 29,449 people actually voted for Mayor Castro this year in May, and only 46,417 – 7.61 percent of the total 610,456 registered voters – voted in the entire city-council election.  That 7.6 percent of people making decisions affect every San Antonio citizen – electing people who have far more influence over the day-to-day lives of the local citizenry than any state or federal lawmaker.

On the bright side, this same problem of low voter-turnout makes the efforts of engaged citizens seeking to change the status quo that much more powerful.
Read the whole thing, including an alarming rundown of local government debt in Bexar County, here.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Addressing water, not slush funds


Must read web-briefing from the Texas Public Policy Foundation:
While the question of funding is important, it cannot be the sole focus. There remain significant regulatory impediments that are preventing full development of Texas’ water resources. Until these problems are addressed, the state will never be able to guarantee that needed projects will actually be developed.
 
The process of buying or selling a water right can be a
bureaucratic morass. A water right owner who merely wants to change the use to which his water is put may face a long administrative process, which discourages many new projects. 
…. 
Prop 6 deals with none of these problems, instead relying on the premise that more state funding is the answer. But when localities are not fully utilizing available state or private funding, that premise is open to question.
Read the whole thing here.

BOOK REVIEW: Breakthrough, by James O'Keefe


Over the past five years, no journalist has had a bigger impact than James O'Keefe.  From defunding ACORN, to helping to change laws, to forcing staff changes at major media organizations, Project Veritas gets results.  That's why the left despises O'Keefe.

Breakthrough is O'Keefe's memoir of Project Veritas' first half decade.  O'Keefe narrates the roller-coaster ride in riveting detail.  We were astonished how much action they'd seen in such a short time.

Long before Barack Obama made him a household name, O'Keefe was a student of Saul Alinsky (16). Prior to the ACORN sting, O'Keefe partnered with Lila Rose on the original Planned Parenthood operation.  The ACORN investigation, rather than being financed by nefarious 'billionaires', was put on O'Keefe's credit card:
My critics would later insist that right-wing billionaires had to be funding what would prove to be a remarkably successful sting on a notoriously corrupt organization, but they were profoundly wrong.  I was so broke that summer I had to hit up Stan for the gas and take a long route over the Chesapeake Bay to avoid paying tolls on I-95 through Baltimore. (38)
But enough money came in, the investigation moved forward, and the results speak for themselves:



Following the ACORN investigation his luck turned.  A botched operation in New Orleans (105-122) gave the Obama administration the pretense they needed to put the screws on O'Keefe, which they did.  The middle section of the book details O'Keefe's struggles with the Federal judicial system, which ultimately led to O'Keefe pleading to a minor misdemeanor and spending three years on Federal Probation.  During this time, O'Keefe could not leave the state of New Jersey without permission from the Federal government.

Breakthrough details more incidents than we can do justice with an online review.  The common thread is using unconventional means to discover truths powerful people would rather keep hidden.  Project Veritas' successes inevitably creates a backlash, where the powerful use government to intimidate citizen journalists.  The specifics vary, but the results move the ball forward.  Cahnman's Musings wholeheartedly recommends this insightful, provocative, thrilling, expose of James O'Keefe's Guerilla War to Expose Fraud and Save Democracy.

 Update: Read Twisted Conservative's Review here.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Glenn Beck Meets Mike Rowe


Glenn Beck spent 45 minutes today with Mike Rowe discussing student loan debt and the skills gap in the American economy:



Highlights:
  • Most people who are REALLY successful didn't graduate from college.
    • eg. Bill Gates or Steve Jobs
  • "I'm not against a college education, I'm against debt."
  •  We have three million jobs no one seems to want, with a trillion dollars in outstanding student loan debt, over 7% unemployment and the lowest labor force participation rate in decades.
  • "We're lending money we don't have to kids who won't be able to pay it back for jobs that no longer exist."
  • Since the 2008 crash, we've decided to double-down on 'College for all.'
  • Only 8 to 12% of the 3 million jobs currently available in the United States require a diploma; 90% of them require a skill.
  • "Matt Damon said it in Good Will Hunting: 'One of these days you fellas are going to realize that 150 grand you spent is available at the Boston Public Library for free.


Highlights:
  • There are heavy equipment repair jobs at $120k+ a year that are going unfilled.
  • Let's create scholarships for kids who come in early, stay late, and volunteer for every crappy task imaginable.

Obama Supporting Leftist Running for Mayor in Dubya's Hometown


Alarming read from Empower Texans:
The Democrats have a new tactic to advance their radical ideology: target non-partisan races. Municipal elections in Texas are non-partisan and traditionally experience single digit voter-turnout. Low turnout and the lack of party identification make voters less likely to screen candidates on the basis of political philosophy or ideology. As a result, many of these elections field some of the most ardent left-wing candidates to assume elected office in our conservative state.
…. 
Out west, in Midland, Democratic activist John James is building his resume; running for Mayor of the Tall City after having served two terms on the Midland City Council. According to his rhetoric and campaign literature, James is branding himself as a “Strong Fiscal Conservative” hoping that voters in Midland assume he is a conservative Republican. He has said himself that, “partisanship doesn’t matter in a non-partisan election” and as such has refused to publicly reveal any partisan leanings. 
As a result, most Midland voters are unaware of James’ multiple Democratic credentials. Over the last 12 years, James donated over $10,000 to Democratic candidates or organizations. From 2004-2008, James served on the State Democratic Executive Committee. James supported John Kerry in his bid for President against Midland’s favorite son, George W. Bush. James is also quoted by the Midland Reporter-Telegram, in reference to a Democratic victory in neighboring Ector County, that, “I’m convinced that Texas is going to get back into the ‘Blue’ column one race at a time.” 
Perhaps Mr. James views his Mayoral race as the catalyst in this process? Beyond question, James’ victory would be portrayed as a victory for Democrats. Imagine the headline: “Democratic activist wins Mayoral seat in Bush’s hometown.” This is a major strategic play on behalf of the effort to Turn Texas Blue. 
…. 
Candidates who claim conservative values and defend past service to the Democratic Party have some serious explaining to do to principled conservative voters.  
 Read the whole thing here.

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Concerned Readers Can Lobby the Midland Reporter-Telegram:
@MidlandsPulse

The UT administration's laughable anti-reform case


From today's Daily Texan:
The House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations met Tuesday to hear testimony on the possible impeachment of Regent Wallace Hall. 
The committee is considering impeaching Hall because — among other reasons — he has filed multiple broad open records requests with the University, supposedly placing a burden on the University and requiring the University to hire more people to deal with the large capacity of requests. Some Texas legislators have called Hall’s requests a “witch hunt” with the goal of removing UT President William Powers Jr. On Aug. 15, Hall’s lawyers sent a letter to the co-chairs of the committee, defending Hall’s actions and claiming Texas lawmakers had unduly influenced UT student admissions.  
.... 
[UT Chief Financial Officer Kevin] Hegarty said prior to Oct. 5, 2012, the open records office employed one full-time person and one part-time person, but Hall’s requests increased the office’s workload so much it had to hire more employees. 
“Now, on any given day, we could have as many as seven people,” Hegarty said. “We have three [who] dedicated 100 percent of their time, and I might say we never had an attorney in the group, and now we need [one]. Attorneys are more expensive than other folks.”   
.... 
[UT open records coordinator Carol] Longoria said she and her colleagues frequently worked late into the night to meet Hall’s deadlines, often until 10:30 or 11 p.m. 
Hall’s attorney, Allan Van Fleet, said Hall filed some open records requests as a citizen instead of as a regent because doing so allows him to receive information sooner. He did not request protected information, Van Fleet said.
Well boo-friggin'-hoo, in response to someone finally attempting to get to the bottom of corruption at the University of Texas, a few bureaucrats had to work a few late nights (and even add temps).

Discussing this case, and the role of House Appropriations Committee Chair Jim Pitts, National Review's Kevin Williamson writes:
Mr. Pitts is also one of the leaders of a movement to impeach and remove from office UT regent Wallace Hall, who, among other things, has been making a stink about his belief that Texas legislators having been improperly leaning on the UT law school to give admissions preference to their friends and family. As I argued before, the fact that Mr. Pitts is directly and intimately involved in this case argues very strongly against his leading the inquisition into Mr. Hall. Mr. Hall is being impeached over his investigation into wrongdoing at the university and in the legislature, and the effort is being led by one of the wrongdoers — a political clown-show that is beneath even the lamentable standards of the Texas legislature.
Mr. Pitts here is taking a particularly lame position, maintaining that looking into the question of whether his son was admitted to UT law by substituting political connections for the necessary qualifications is a violation of his son’s privacy rights. Perhaps young Ryan Pitts, if not his father, should have thought about the long-term consequences of having daddy lean on the law school to let him in. I imagine this episode is embarrassing for Ryan Pitts — it should be.
The University of Texas claims "What Starts Here Changes the World"; sometimes, that's a scary thought!

Led by Governor Perry, Texas Blesses Israel


"I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 12:3


Cahnman's Musings just attended an exhilirating conference call with Governor Rick Perry, who dialed in from Israel.

Governor Perry spoke in detail about Texas A&M's new campus in Nazareth (yeah, that Nazareth) and Texas' deepening economic relationship with the Jewish state.

Texas relationship with Israel is based upon our shared Judeo-Christian values of faith, free-enterprise, and prudent stewardship.  Under then-Agriculture Commissioner Perry's leadership, Israel was an early partner in Texas' economic ascent.   Today, the relationship remains strong.

Texas and Israel face similar challenges and opportunities, with energy and water up front.  Yesterday, Governor Perry spoke at a water conference in Tel Aviv.  While Cahnman's Musings strongly disapproves of the proposed water financing slush fund 'infrastructure bank', we concur with Governor Perry's assessment that new technologies currently being deployed in Israel will play a major role in Texas over the coming decades.

Speaking about the new A&M satellite, Governor Perry gave special thanks to Israeli President Shimon Peres and Texas A&M President John Sharp.  The new campus, which is slated to open in two years, is A&M's second satellite in the region.  Texas A&M has committed to raise $70 million in support of the project.

Asked by Cahnman's Musings about the relevance of this project to the Genesis quote listed above, Governor Perry said "to be able to assist a country whose faith is intertwined with our own is deeply humbling and very satisfying."

Amen, Mr. Governor!!!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Burnt Orange Report sells out to enrich #TXLEGE Republicans


From their endorsement in favor of Joe Straus' water slush fund:
 Texas has a crisis in water infrastructure. Our development of water projects has not kept pace with our population growth. While we believe that the Legislature should be responsible enough to pay for such urgent infrastructure out of the general fund, in the meantime we must make sure our water projects get funded and urge voters to cast a ballot FOR proposition 6.

[Emphasis added]
Why make a tough stand when you can enrich Joe Straus, Jim Pitts, Tommy Williams and their big-business cronies?!?

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For more information, read our endorsement against Joe Straus' Water Slush fund here.

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Early voting began yesterday and continues thru Friday, Nov. 1; Election Day proper is Nov. 5th.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Austin/Travis County November 2013 Conservative Voter Guide


The fall 2013 off-year election is here.  Early voting began this morning and continues through next Friday.  Election day proper is November 5.

Off year elections are always low-turnout affairs that maximize the special interest vote; that's why the powers that be use them to sneak through crap that would never make it through if people were paying attention.

With that in mind, Cahnman's Musings issues the following recommendations if you're voting in the City of Austin or Travis County:

State of Texas Constitutional Amendments:
Texas House HD-50 Special Election:
  • Mike VanDeWalle -- Mike VanDeWalle is in no way, shape, or form an endorsed candidate of Cahnman's Musings.  We strongly suspect VanDeWalle is a vote for Joe Straus.  That being said, the Democrats in this race are friggin' crazy.
City of Austin Housing Bond
  • AGAINST Prop 1 -- Last year, Austin voters rejected tens of millions in debt in service of some vaguely worded 'Affordable Housing' initiative.  This year, the same corrupt group of insiders is trying again.  Teach the politicians: No means NO!!!
Cahnman's Musings cannot over-stress the importance of voting in this election.  Off year elections are deliberately designed to be low-turnout affairs that maximize the special interest vote.  Get off your butt and go vote.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Dallas Brewery uses Pun; Feminazi's throw Tantrum


Recently, the Deep Ellum Brewery introduced their "Dallas Blonde Ale."  Dallas Blonde is a comparatively easy to drink hoppy brew.  Given their self-proclaimed drinkability advantage, Deep Ellum chose "Goes Down Easy" as the Dallas Blonde's slogan:
What does it mean to be a Dallas Blonde? Sounds like a
loaded question. So load it up we did, with citrusy and floral American hops, Pale, Vienna and Wheat malts. Yielding a delicately balanced, and shimmering golden ale.

To us, it just goes down easy. 
[Author's note: "Sounds like a loaded question" is defensive; if Cahnman's Musings were in charge of Dallas Blonde's marketing campaign we would have called it "hoppy with a taste for Tony Romo."]
On cue, enter the Burnt Orange Report:

Deep Ellum's Dallas Blonde May "Go Down Easy," But Rape Culture Never Does


by: Genevieve Cato

Fri Oct 11, 2013 at 03:00 PM CDT



Dallas-based Deep Ellum Brewery revealed a new promotional van for their Dallas Blonde Ale on facebook this past week.
The eye-catching hot pink van sports the logo for their blonde ale with the assurance that this blonde "goes down easy." This is not the first time this tired, sexist pun has been used to sell alcohol and it probably won't be the last.

But, shouldn't we expect more of our local Texas breweries than to rely on rape culture to sell their beer?

[Emphasis Added]
 Plus this follow up post:
But, the point of the concept of rape culture is to examine the parts of our culture that play in to the continuing incidence of sexual assault. One aspect of this is the reinforcement of men's entitlement to women's bodies and their attention. Whether it is Belvedere saying that their vodka is better than women because it "always goes down easy," a bar in Brooklyn proclaiming that all beer is better than women for the same reason, or a Texan craft brewery attempting to sell you their blonde ale by asserting that at least this blonde will "go down easy," we are all supposed to be in on this little inside joke. When those pesky ladies exercise their right not to want to engage in sexual activity, at least you can count on your beer.

....

The attitude I encountered in this response and others was incredibly familiar. "Some" women, Reitz and Reardon acknowledge, might be "offended" by this playful marketing ploy. If it is only "some" women who are simply "offended," as opposed to craft beer consumers expressing a specific, well-founded critique of the decisions made by the brewery in marketing their product, then it is much easier to dismiss.

When the bloggers over at Bitch Beer brought up the objectification of women in advertising by craft breweries, the response to their detailed and well-researched argument was not much better. Lady beer drinkers just need to lighten up, OK?
Cahnman's Musings does not find the slogan "goes down easy" clever or funny, but since it gave the feminists a hot flash, we encourage readers to support Deep Ellum Brewery....

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Cahnman's Musings encourages readers to tweet support to the following organizations:

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Planned Parenthood: Is Promiscuity a Bad Thing?!?


Their own words:
So “promiscuity” is a word that can refer to a whole variety of different sexual behaviors. But in general, it’s a word that’s used to judge or shame people. And, again, it’s a term that’s most often directed at women.

Since the number of sexual partners you’ve had doesn’t say anything about your character, your morals, or your personality – or about anything at all really– there’s nothing bad or unhealthy about having a big number of sexual partners.

....

If none of those behaviors sound like you, and if you feel satisfied with and confident about your sexual decisions, you have nothing to worry about – even if someone calls you or your behavior “promiscuous.”

(h/t LifeSiteNews)
 Read the whole thing here.

To learn more about why this mentality is so dangerous, click here or here or here.

Friday, October 18, 2013

San Antonio Recalls Generate More National Attention


Via National Review:
If San Antonio grassroots conservative activists have their way, Julian Castro’s career in politics could be cut abruptly short. Organizers of an effort to recall the mayor say their push is picking up steam, and tell National Review that they’re confident they have a shot at voting the mayor out of office. They’re targeting him because of the passage of an anti-LGBT discrimination ordinance that conservatives worry will hamstring freedom of speech and religion. (Katrina Trinko laid out concerns about the ordinance here.)  
Weston Martinez, president of the Bexar County Conservative Coalition, lays out the strategy this way: To recall a mayor or council member, you have a 180-day window to get one-tenth of the number of voters from the last election to sign a petition. That means, per Martinez, that activists need about 63,000 signatures from San Antonians to have a recall election. They’re also trying to recall city councilman Diego Bernal, who authored the ordinance, and they’ll need about 6,000 signatures from his district to pull that off.  
Martinez says activists have collected more than two-thirds of the signatures necessary to recall Bernal. And he estimates they’ve gotten about 6,000 signatures so far on petitions to recall the mayor. They have volunteers camped out in front of Bernal’s office every day getting signatures, Martinez adds, and the councilman has called the police about their presence there. But that hasn’t deterred volunteers.
.... 
Martinez says that between 80 and 100 people have already put in time gathering signatures. And Gina Castaneda, who’s helping coordinate the recall efforts, says 300 people have signed on to volunteer in the future. Ultimately, she hopes to recall all eight members of the council who voted for the ordinance. 
 ....
 “On a national level, the Democratic party doesn’t really represent the traditional values of the Hispanic community,” he says, “and they’ve just kind of inherited their loyalty even though they don’t deserve it. And so you have a lot of traditional, Catholic, always-voted-Democrat individuals who are signing the petition for the recall and are promoting the signing of the petition for the recall.”
 Read the whole thing here.

Yet again, Texas Toll Road has Credit Rating Downgraded


Sigh:
Moody’s Investors Service Inc. has again downgraded the credit rating of SH 130 Concession Company LLC, based on what it said was inadequate traffic growth on the company’s 41-mile, tolled section of SH 130, the high-speed highway that runs around Austin parallel to I-35.

The road has been called an asset to economic development in towns along the route, such as Pflugerville, but has been hampered by what Moody's called "slow to moderate, yet inadequate" traffic growth. The credit rating agency expects that without a debt restructuring or additional investment, the Concession Company will be unable to meet its debt service payments due in June 2014, according to the rating report.

....

The short-term implications of a default are unclear, Moody's wrote, but a continued payment default could lead the Texas Department of Transportation to terminate the concession agreement.

....

“A yearlong initiative by the Texas Department of Transportation to significantly subsidize truck tolls on the entire length of SH 130 is having a positive impact on traffic and revenue for the Concession Company, and additional long-distance signage is increasing awareness of the road. We remain confident that the recently-opened SH 130 Segments 5 and 6 will benefit our investors and the people of Texas," said Chris Lippincott, a spokesman for SH 130 Concession Company.
Here's a radical thought: Why not allow privately owned and operated toll roads with ZERO financial contribution (including loan guarantees) from the state?!?  If the people who operate toll roads were on the hook when those toll roads lose money, they'd darn sure figure out a way to make sure said toll roads don't lose money.  Only the free market can solve Texas' transportation challenges.