Beth van Duyne opposed Jerry's taxpayer subsidies (back when they were popular)

"Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight."
Proverbs 11:1

Some national group is attacking Beth van Duyne in CD-24:

[Note: For purposes of this blog post, the first five seconds are the relevant clip.]



What an utterly, totally, and completely bizarre line of attack.

Obviously, Jerry's taxpayer subsidies have been a bugaboo of this website for awhile. We weren't expecting them to come up in this context. But...well...we can go with it.

Taxpayer subsidies for professional sports franchises have always been a ripoff.  This has been well documented since at least the 1990's.   The website "Field of Schemes" has more.

So...Beth van Duyne opposed Jerry's subsidies back when they were "just" an issue of fiscal policy.

Good for her.

But what makes going after Beth van Duyne over this subject truly strange is the timing.

It's not exactly a secret that the NFL has taken a popularity hit recently.  It's also not really a secret why.   Furthermore, the NFL's current unpopularity has a longer history in Texas.   Thus, to attack Beth van Duyne over this subject at this time is...tone deaf at best.

But you do you "House Majority PAC."

If we were advising Beth van Duyne, we would advise her to embrace this attack.

Something like this:

Hi, I'm Beth van Dunye, candidate for Congress in district 24.  Before I was a congressional candidate, I served two terms as the Mayor of Irving.   As mayor, I opposed taxpayer handouts to Jerry Jones [cut to picture at the top of this blog post].   Back then, I thought that public subsidies for misogynistic billionaires was 'just' a matter of prudent fiscal policy.   I had no idea the NFL would become the anti-American cesspool is is today [cut to picture of Jerry kneeling]. But, unfortunately, the last five years happened. What was a good decision then looks even better in hindsight. Doing what's right, even when it's unpopular in the short term, will always pay dividends over time.

Finally, to introduce this subject the day after a Cowboys loss is just...**CHEF'S KISS**.

Bottom Line: We wouldn't have expected this to become a campaign issue at this time. But, apparently, it is. Beth van Duyne should run with it.

Van Duyne campaign = GOP's opportunity on Housing

"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands."
Psalm 90:17

Fantastic:

Former Irving mayor Beth Van Duyne has left her post at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s office in Fort Worth.

She confirmed she is running for the 24th Congressional District after Rep. Kenny Marchant announced he’s retiring.

Van Duyne said she’ll make a formal announcement soon.

In 2015, we called van Duyne our "Texan of the Year."  It was a one-time award, designed for specific circumstances.  But we've been following her for awhile.

Over the past few years, during her time at HUD, van Duyne has come through town several times.  Thus, we've had several occasions to discuss the dysfunctional nature of federal housing policy.  None of the conversations were Earth shattering, but van Duyne knows her stuff.

It's not a secret that this website has been harping about housing costs for YEARS.  It's the largest item in most household budgets.  Reducing them is one of the lowest of the low hanging pieces of economic fruit.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Republicans are oblivious.

We'll defer to the candidate on policy.  There are a number of worthwhile possibilities.  Off the top of our head: HUD, the Federal housing administration, and Fannie/Freddie could all use significant reform/scaling back/outright elimination.  We're not sure where to draw the line between what we really want and what's realistically achievable.

Bottom Line: It's hard to think of a candidate better suited to address the largest item in most household budgets....

Beth van Duyne gets the last laugh!!! :D

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:9

This is just all sorts of awesome:

Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne is being dismissed from a crumbling defamation lawsuit brought by the father of Ahmed Mohamed, the MacArthur High student who was detained by police in 2015 when a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a bomb.

Attorneys for the teen's father, Mohamed Mohamed, agreed to dismiss Van Duyne from the suit, according to a news release issued Friday from the city of Irving.

The development comes days after District Judge Maricela Moore dismissed Glenn Beck and his network TheBlaze, as well as the Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank, and executive vice president Jim Hanson.

That being said, anyone who reads this website on a regular basis knows the issues we really care about, and we think it's pretty cool that Irving was able to accomplish this in spite of all the stupid 'clock boy' related nonsense:

If your goal for 2017 is to find a high-paying job in an affordable city, you may want to start your search in Texas or North Carolina. Each state boasts two of the best U.S. cities for job seekers, according to a new study.

NerdWallet found the top 10 cities for job seekers by identifying the places where Americans will find work opportunities and also stretch their paychecks. The study of the 100 largest cities in America factored in federal data on unemployment rates and workforce growth, as well as median earnings and rent costs.

....

9. Irving, Texas.

 Read the whole thing here and here.

2015 Texan of the Year: Beth van Duyne

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."
1 Peter 5:9

We've never declared a "Texan of the Year" in previous years.  We make no commitment to do so again in future years.  That being said, in 2015 one Texas elected official's grace under vicious fire merits special commendation.

We'd never heard of Irving Mayor Beth van Duyne when the year began.  Then, in February, it was discovered that a Sharia law tribunal was operating in Irving.  The tribunal 'judge' in his own words:



At the same time, American Laws for American Courts was under consideration in the Texas Legislature.  Given the identity of one particular lobbyist working against the bill, we knew Joe Straus would never let it pass.  Still, as part of that process, the Irving City Council passed a non-binding resolution supporting the legislative effort.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Following the support resolution, Beth van Duyne was viciously attacked; at the next city council meeting, Islamists almost provoked a riot:



Following the commotion during the spring, things seemed to calm down...until the stupid clock kid showed up.

In September, the son of an Jihadist operative who had formerly run for President of Sudan (yes, THAT Sudan) dumped the insides of an alarm clock into a suitcase and brought the contents to school.  Given the similarity (at least at first glance) between clock kid's 'invention' and a suitcase bomb, he was detained temporarily while authorities investigated.  When he was released later that afternoon, rather than moving on from the mild inconvenience, clock kid ran to the SJW lynch mob shrieking about 'Islamophobia.'

Naturally, the President HAD to weigh-in.

While clock kid was visiting the White House and genocidal foreign dictators, Beth van Duyne was left to pick up the pieces in Irving.  In so doing, she was subjected to vile abuse.  Nevertheless, Beth van Duyne persevered.  By the end of the year, crime was down, taxes and spending were down, and jobs were up.



Life isn't fair, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune can ensnare anyone.  At the beginning of 2015, Beth van Duyne was an obscure elected official in a medium sized city.  She never sought international spotlight.  Still, when global jihadists thrust that spotlight upon her, Beth van Duyne rose to the occasion.  She refused to be intimidated.  Like this website, Beth van Duyne has ALSO endorsed Matt Rinaldi's re-election.  For these reasons, Cahnman's Musings is pleased to make Irving Mayor Beth van Duyne our 2015 TEXAN OF THE YEAR!!!

CAIR operative makes scurrilous accusation against Irving

"He who speaks truth declares righteousness,
But a false witness, deceit."
Proverbs 12:17

[Author's Note: Full Video here.]

Irving City Hall -- Recently, theBlaze reported on a Sharia court operating in Irving, TX.  For obvious reasons, the Irving City Council subsequently passed a resolution in support of the American Laws for American Courts bill currently stalled in the Texas House.  Last night, the Irving City Council heard a second round of public testimony on the resolution.

For the most part, the event went as smoothly as anything this controversial could.  While the local CBS affiliate gave obnoxiously sycophantic coverage to one disruptive gentleman, that man's conduct was the exception rather than the rule.  Kudos to Irving Mayor Beth van Duyne for keeping the meeting on-topic and professional.

The most interesting part of the meeting came when a woman named Alia Salem testified:



Something about Ms. Salem's testimony didn't seem right to us.  In addition, we were fairly certain we'd previously heard of her.  Thus, we ran her name through Google.

Before we even hit enter, this is what the Google search revealed:

Then, for good measure, we clicked through the first link:

Which makes it official: She's with CAIR.

Following Ms. Salem's accusation of "death threats" the Irving Police Chief and Mayor van Duyne responded:



To summarize: An operative with an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest Terrorism case in American History failed to identify herself as such.  She then made a false accusation in an attempt to elicit sympathy.  That's a very interesting vignette into how Islamists operate (especially in places like Texas).