Bob Deuell's HILARIOUS, Whiny, Butthurt

"For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them;"
Proverbs 1:32

Wow:

Outgoing Texas state Sen. Bob Deuell says he’s not angry or bitter. No, but hurt and dismay still register pretty strongly across his face.

In one of the biggest surprises of the political season, the staunchly conservative and widely respected senator was defeated by a virtual newcomer to Texas and politics.

And of all things, Bob Hall did it by branding Deuell a liberal.

“To call me a liberal? It’s just ridiculous,” the Greenville Republican said over lunch in these waning days of his 12 years in office.

....

The disengagement of mainstream conservatives and citizens in general is one of Deuell’s biggest concerns. “I have people talking to me all the time about the next legislative session. I say, ‘But I lost.’ And they say ‘Really? When was the election?’”

Deuell, a 64-year-old family physician, tries to be philosophical about this unplanned change in life. “I have more time to practice medicine, so my income has gone up significantly,” he said.

....

He is troubled, however. “I’m concerned for my district. I’m concerned for my state.”

Knee-jerk, sound-bite conservatism is driving out thoughtful, common-sense conservatism, he said.

A perfect example is needle exchanges for drug addicts. Texas is the only state that won’t pay for them. Deuell repeatedly bucked members of his own party in trying to bring Texas in line with well-proven, life-saving, money-saving public policy.

....

He expects a long, difficult legislative session next year as the new crop of tea party officeholders are caught between their campaign rhetoric and economic reality.

“I think there’s just this angry movement out there,” he said. “The genesis was directed at Washington, which does have a spending problem. But then they turned that anger toward state government. In medicine, we call that displaced anger.”

 Read the whole thing here.

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A few thoughts:

1. We first became aware of Bob Deuell during the debate over the budget last year when we watched Wendy Davis sing his praises; keep in mind, this was a month or so before the filibuster that made her politically radioactive.
2. Deuell filed legislation to expand Obamacare in Texas; credit where it's due (or Dew), Dewhurst killed it.
3. This is the biggest sense of entitlement we've seen from an outgoing legislator since former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett failed to capture re-nomination in Utah.

Bob Deuell resorts to Branch/Sitton Playbook

The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 2:11

We recieved this from a friend in Dallas County; reprinted in full with permission:

May 14, 2014 – Republican State Sen. Bob Deuell has stepped up his increasingly personal attacks on runoff challenger Bob Hall. Since 2003, Deuell has represented Senate District Two, which includes the counties of Delta, Hopkins, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman, Fannin, Rains, Van Zandt and part of Dallas County.

Given the serious nature of Deuell’s allegations that his opponent is a tax cheat and guilty of spousal abuse, conservative grassroots leaders Ken Emanuelson and JoAnn Fleming investigated the charges. Grassroots America’s Executive Director JoAnn Fleming said, “We have reviewed the evidence – court and IRS documents – and can confidently report that Sen. Deuell is being shamefully deceitful in his communications with his constituents and has certainly misled the media.”

Dallas Tea Party co-founder and attorney Ken Emanuelson added, “The primary results clearly show incumbent Bob Deuell has a very big problem in this race. He knows full well he can’t run for reelection on his voting record in Austin. If voters pay attention to Bob Deuell’s failing grades from conservative groups,[1] his support for death panels,[2] his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens,[3] scores of new taxes,[4] contraceptives for children without parental consent[5] and free needles for drug users,[6] the voters of Senate District 2 are very likely to throw him out. He knows this and is pulling out all the stops to distract voters from the issues by dumping all the mud he can on surging challenger Bob Hall.”

Finding #1: Court Documents Prove Florida Family Court Completely Exonerated Bob Hall

Deuell claims the record shows that Bob Hall is guilty of spousal abuse. Deuell bases this allegation on a single document filed by Bob Hall’s ex-wife in the course of a heated legal dispute. Deuell was almost certainly in possession of the full file on Bob Hall’s litigation in Florida, but it appears that he sent only the “complaint” portion of the file to the media. It is also the only portion of the file Deuell mentions in his direct mail attacks on Hall.

The court documents actually contain a single complaint, filed by Bob Hall’s ex-wife in the heat of a dispute four years after their divorce, which made all manner of allegations against Bob Hall. What Bob Deuell didn’t disclose is this – the complaint was completely rejected and dismissed by the court.[7] Deuell’s private investigator surely unearthed the same documents we reviewed – Okaloosa County, Florida, court documents that completely exonerate Bob Hall – but Deuell deceptively withheld those documents from the media and his own constituents in order to conceal the truth.

In particular, Deuell purposefully withheld the “final disposition” court document, whereupon after a hearing before a judge, the complaint against Bob Hall was totally and completely dismissed in less than a month’s time [8] because the judge found absolutely no basis for the allegations set forth therein.[9] The court records show the plaintiff (Bob Hall’s ex-wife) accepted and agreed with the judge’s decision! The Record Search Certificate obtained from the office of Circuit Court Clerk in Okaloosa County, Florida, showed that no other cases involving Bob Hall even exist.

By way of background, the court that issued the temporary order takes domestic violence complaints very seriously. When a complaint (remember, a complaint is not a charge or conviction – it is simply a bare allegation) is filed, a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is automatically issued on behalf of the plaintiff, and a date is set for a hearing before a judge. No evidence or testimony is required from the plaintiff for the TRO to be issued. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if the complaint is valid and warrants a “Permanent” Restraining Order or other action.[10]

Even the threshold for issuing a “Permanent” Restraining Order is very low. No physical evidence or witness testimony is needed to convince a judge of the need for a Permanent Order. If the judge feels there is even a small “indication” that any one of the complaints may have validity, the judge can, and most often does, issue a permanent order. At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge notes his findings on a “Final Disposition Order.”[11]

In this case, the judge felt that there was no evidence whatsoever that any of the allegations were true. The handwritten note by the presiding Judge (on the Final Disposition Order in case #94-DR-2087 S) shows “No Indications,” which means the Judge concluded there was absolutely no indication whatsoever that any of the allegations the plaintiff made on the complaint form had any factual merit.[12] Therefore, the Judge’s dismissal of case #94-DR-2087 S completely exonerated Bob Hall, the defendant, of any wrongdoing

Finding #2: IRS Documents Prove Bob Hall Took on the IRS—and WON!

Bob Deuell also makes much of the fact that Bob Hall has had multiple disputes with the IRS. Bob Hall does not deny standing up and fighting the IRS. The IRS disagreed with Hall on what he owed in taxes. Faced with the difficulty of fighting the IRS, many of us might decide to roll over and pay more than we owe. Bob Hall didn’t. Rather than roll over, Bob Hall chose to stand up against the IRS, and HE WON. In each case in dispute with a taxpayer, the Internal Revenue Service follows a standard procedure in contested cases by filing routine tax liens. These liens are automatically filed to allow the IRS to collect in the event they prevail, or if the taxpayer dies before the contested matters are resolved.

Bob Deuell proudly trumpeted Bob Hall’s tax liens, but was once again very deceptive. What Bob Deuell hid from his constituents and from the media is this – the IRS released every single “tax lien” Deuell referenced.[13] The official record shows there is no history of taxes due from Bob Hall to the IRS. In fact, in 2011, Hall received a refund from the IRS of more than $12,000 dollars. The IRS does not send refunds to people who owe them money.

Emanuelson and Fleming Conclude: “Sen. Bob Deuell has deliberately attempted to deceive both his constituents and the media in a pitiful effort to destroy the character of his opponent and thereby suppress the vote in the May 27 runoff election. The direct mail Deuell is using to spread these disgusting lies is some of the worst we’ve ever seen. He should be ashamed.”

Ken Emanuelson: “What Mr. Deuell doesn’t want voters to know is that he is terribly lacking in endorsements from conservative organizations because of his liberal voting record. He definitely does not want them to know that he was ranked – in a 2012 independent study by Rice University Political Science Professor Mark Jones – as the most liberal Republican state senator in Texas.[14] Mr. Deuell would certainly rather distract with deception than have folks know about his consistently low or failing grades from all of the conservative watchdog groups in Texas.”[15]

JoAnn Fleming agreed, “Mr. Deuell is clearly out of touch with the people of Senate District 2. In the results for the 2012 Republican primary ballot resolutions, 95% of SD 2 voters said they favored limiting any increases in government spending. Deuell ignored the expressed will of his constituents by voting to increase state spending 26%;[16] however, this is not a recent lurch to the left for Bob Deuell. In a 2011 interview with the Quorum Report and YNN, Deuell stated, ‘I’m advocating using the Rainy Day Fund – all of it. I also think we should raise the gas tax 10 cents a gallon and close loopholes in the sales tax.’[17] Deuell’s own words prove everything his opponent Bob Hall is saying about Senator Deuell’s liberal tax and spend voting record. Deuell cannot defend his record in conservative Senate District 2, so he has chosen to try to destroy Bob Hall with abject lies and distortions. Texans deserve better.”

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[1] See, e.g., www.SenatorDeuell.com.
[2] The Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS) and Texas Right-to-Life labeled Senator Deuell’s SB 303 “The Death Panel Bill” because of the power it gave bureaucrats over life and death decisions.
[3] Sen. Deuell voted for S.B. 1528 (79th Leg.,) providing in-state tuition for illegal aliens.
[4] “We should raise the gas tax 10 cents a gallon” – Bob Deuell, March 5th, 2011. See also Dallas Morning News, “Another GOP senator supports gas-tax increase”; Senate Bill 855 (81st Leg.) would have created brand new taxing powers for transportation projects.
[5] Senate Bill 592 (81st), supported by Deuell, would have usurped parental authority concerning contraception for minor girls.
[6] See Senate Bill 308 (80th Leg.)
[7] See Form 1.998, Final Disposition Form, Case # 94-2087 FD, 7-12-94 http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095477/Final-Disposition-Form
[8] See Certified Dismissal, April 8, 2014 - http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095440/Certified-Dismissal
[9] See Final Disposition Form, supra.
[10] See, e.g., Florida Domestic Violence Benchbook http://www.fcadv.org/sites/default/files/Benchbook%20for%20Judges%202008.PDF
[11] See Florida Domestic Violence Benchbook, supra.
[12] See Final Disposition Form, supra.
[13] See, e.g., Certificates of Release of Federal Tax Liens - http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095505/Certificate-of-Release-of-Federal-Tax-Lien ; http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095443/Certificate-of-Release-of-Federal-Tax-Lien ; http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095445/Certificate-of-Release-of-Federal-Tax-Lien ; http://www.scribd.com/doc/223095457/Certificate-of-Release-of-Federal-Tax-Lien ;
[14] A copy of Prof. Jones study is posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qBhe1NjJYeNH6xs0L-k9WkyF-UjeEE9YJiSre7Qvr_Syeucm0n3Uz5GSpsNP/edit?usp=sharing
[15] See, e.g., www.SenatorDeuell.com.
[16] See “The Great Texas Budget Debate of 2013” - http://www.texaspolicy.com/center/economic-freedom/blog/great-texas-budget-debate-2013
[17] See “Tax increases proposed by Texas Senator” - http://arnoldpublicaffairs.com/2011/03/05/tax-increases-proposed-by-texas-senator/

The Clash of the Bobs

Cahnman's Musings just received the following press release:

Bob Hall Announces State Senate Bid to Unseat Long-time Incumbent
Excessive, misdirected spending and corporate welfare have to go in Austin.

CANTON – During Monday night’s Canton TEA Party meeting, Canton TEA Party Chairman Bob Hall announced his campaign for Texas State Senate District 2. He enters the Republican Primary race against incumbent District 2 Senator, Robert Deuell.

Hall is a graduate of The Citadel; served as a Captain in the US Air Force, Space and Missile Systems Command; holds a commercial pilot license, and is a long-time business-owner with clients in multiple states.

Hall told the excited crowd, “Our Texas government has grown too big and spends too much of the taxpayers' money. The incumbent legislators we trusted in the past have put us on a course that is unsustainable. Our state government is too big, regulates too much, spends too much on things that are not the core constitutional functions of state government, doles out favors to special interests, has too much debt, and relies too much on federal dollars for the state budget. This weakens our great state.

Conservatives must work together to reclaim our state government for future generations. This election is about our children and grandchildren. We must change the legacy we are leaving them, and the only way that will happen is by replacing the incumbents with true conservatives who care more about future generations than they do about just getting themselves re-elected.

I will work to bring real meaning to the core principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, the rule of law and state sovereignty. I am not a professional politician and have never held a public office. However, I once answered the
call to serve my country in the military, and I am now ready to serve in the Texas legislature as the true conservative Senator of Senate District 2.”

Cahnman's Musings has met Bob Hall on multiple occasions.  We've always found him to be a solid citizen.  We do not, however, know him as well as Konni Burton or Katrina Pierson, so this isn't an official endorsement (yet!).

Bob Deuell, the incumbent, is a leading practitioner of the pro-life, second amendment two step.  No one denies that Deuell helped get HB 2 across the finish line last summer, but his record on government spending is atrocious.  That Bob Deuell is an ally of the departed and disgraced Tommy Williams should tell you everything you need to know about Bob Deuell.

This race will hinge on pro-lifers.  While Bob Hall is just as pro-life as Bob Deuell, he wasn't in the Texas Senate to vote for HB 2.  If pro-life groups continue their myopic and short-sited support for pro-life incumbents, the profligate culture of the Texas Legislature will continue.  If pro-lifers stay neutral in a race where either candidate will be excellent on their issues, the Texas Senate could see a major step in the right direction.  Either way, this will be an interesting race to watch.