California Gives New Life to Texas GOP's Oldest, Lamest, Argument

 

"But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head."
Psalm 3:3

Wow:

OAKLAND, Calif. — Uber and Lyft say that unless a state appeals court decides to intervene Thursday, they will shut down their passenger services across California for at least several months if not more than a year.

Apparently, in the time between when we first saw this story and when we sat down to write this blog post, Uber/Lyft got a reprieve from the courts in California.  So they stay.  For now.

But that doesn't change the point we had orignally intended to make.  Cuz uber and ridesharing was the one time the Texas Legislature actually did something useful.  And, apparently it mattered.

It's not a secret that this website used to bash California a lot.   We've gotten out of the habit the longer we've observed Texas government up close.  But it's not like the argument didn't have merit.

Crazy times.

Bottom Line: Whatever else you want to say about Texas under the GOP, they did address the Uber issue.

Chip Roy will LOSE if he campaigns against "Hollywood and Manhattan elites"

"that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,"
Ephesians 4:14

It's not a secret that Wendy Davis is probably running against Chip Roy; unfortunately, Chip's opening salvo is depressing beyond words:



This is an idiotic strategy that is doomed to fail.

NOBODY.  CARES.

Or at least: No swing voter or soft partisan in CD-21 cares.  CD-21 is Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country.  Swing voters/Soft partisans in CD-21 are the type of people who travel to places like New York City and Southern California.  They might not like the policies of those places, but they will roll their eyes at this sort of nonsense.

Campaigning against "Hollywood" is intellectually-lazy claptrap.  It's a dying playbook.  We strongly suspect that, in Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country, it's already dead.  If anything, it will produce negative returns.

Bottom Line: This is the stupidest political attack since Ted Cruz's campaign went after hair dye....

#TXLEGE: Repeal THIS protectionist racket for a small-ball health care win

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,"
Ephesians 3:20

Did you know that Texas has some of the most restrictive laws on who can provide medication in the country?!?  Neither did we, until we attended this afternoon's TPPF event: "Physician Dispense Laws: Can Texas Make Medications More Affordable?" Texas is worse than California on this.

Currently in Texas, if a Doctor writes a prescription, the patient is required by law to make a separate trip to a pharmacy to fill the prescription.  This despite the fact that it's legal in 46 other states for a doctor to dispense medication in their office.  That's asinine, and it drives up costs to consumers.

In some cases, those cost increases are dramatic: Panelists mentioned cost escalations of 60% to 80% on some drugs.

Fortunately, there's hope: HB 460, by Matt Shaheen, would address this issue.  The bill was heard last week.  It's currently pending in committee.

Shaheen specifically asked the public to talk to members of the Public Health committee.  Senfronia Thompson is chair.  We'll post her office contact info below.

If we're ever going to fix the health care system, this sort of small-ball effort is how you build the credibility necessary for that sort of undertaking.

Bottom Line: Honestly, the fact that California is better than us on this issue speaks for itself.

--------

Representative Senfronia Thompson:
Chair, House Committee on Public Health
(512) 463-0720

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Minjarez Physician Dispense... by on Scribd

Rick Perry?!? Crony Capitalism?!? Surely you jest....

"It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is stablished by justice."
Proverbs 16:12

As someone who watched both the good and the bad of Rick Perry up close for many years, this is one of the least surprising stories of all time:

WASHINGTON (AP) — At a West Virginia rally on tax cuts, President Donald Trump veered off on a subject that likely puzzled most of his audience.

“Nine of your people just came up to me outside. ‘Could you talk about 202?'” he said. “We’ll be looking at that 202. You know what a 202 is? We’re trying.”

One person who undoubtedly knew what Trump was talking about last month was Jeff Miller, an energy lobbyist with whom the president had dined the night before. Miller had been hired by FirstEnergy Solutions, a bankrupt power company that relies on coal and nuclear energy to produce electricity. His assignment: push the Trump administration to use a so-called 202 order — named for a provision of the Federal Power Act — to secure a bailout worth billions of dollars.

....

Miller is among them. A well-connected GOP fundraiser, he served in the past as an adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also a close friend. He ran Perry’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016. And when Trump tapped Perry to lead the Energy Department, Miller shepherded his friend through confirmation, sitting behind him, next to the nominee’s wife, at the Senate hearing.

When Perry came to Washington, Miller did, too. He launched his firm, Miller Strategies, early last year and began lobbying his friend and other Washington officials.

....

Obst says the two began working closely together when Perry and Pence held leadership roles at the Republican Governors Association several years ago. “He’s very influential in Washington, a leading fundraiser,” Obst said of Miller in a brief interview.

Now, after 14 months in business, the 43-year-old has collected more than $3.2 million from a roster of clients that includes several of the nation’s largest energy companies, among them Southern Co., a nuclear power plant operator headquartered in Atlanta, and Texas-based Valero Energy, according to federal filings.

In fairness to Perry, no final decision has been made.  If this article can embarrass Perry into doing the right thing, so much the better.  But the fact that the process has even gotten this far is revealing.

Then there's the fact that this is such a typical Rick Perry move.  This is the Rick Perry of the Trans-Texas Corridor.  This is the Rick Perry of the HPV vaccine mandate.

Bottom Line: We like Rick.  But sometimes he acts like a typical Texas politician.  This is one.

Paxton Does Stuff

"who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."
Romans 1:25

Today's Washington Examiner has a piece about the latest project from the Attorney General's office:

The climate change court fight between California cities and big energy companies such as Exxon Mobil is widening as Republican attorneys general from 15 states filed a court brief Friday opposing the cities’ climate lawsuits.

The attorneys general argue that the cities and municipalities suing the companies in federal court are overreaching in using local “nuisance” ordinances as a way to find a court remedy to the complex issue of global warming.

The 15 states filing the amicus brief opposing the lawsuit include Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, West Virginia, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin.

States such as Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming, and West Virginia are big oil, natural gas, and coal producers. Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general, was often in Washington with then-Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt when many of those states were fighting the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan climate rules.

The brief, filed in the District Court for Northern California, also argues that the nature of the lawsuit clearly makes it a national policy issue that one court is not in the position to decide. If the suit proceeds, it will lead to an avalanche of similar lawsuits all over the country, with conflicting judgments and results in their states.

Read the whole thing here.

Wayne Christian's GLORIOUS response to Schwarzenegger's anti-Oil and Gas Lawsuit

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28

By now, we assume you've heard about Arnold Schwarzenegger's dumb lawsuit against the energy industry; well, Wayne Christian's response is pretty epic....

A Hypocritical “Hero”

By Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian

Arnold Schwarzenegger is undoubtedly best known for his legendary heroics on the silver screen. Covered in mud, he survives the Predator – killing it by exploiting its one weakness. As the Terminator, he protects John Connor from a homicidal shape-shifting machine to save humanity. An unhappy construction worker, he can’t remember who he is, but finally recalls and with his last breath saves thousands of lives by releasing air into the Martian atmosphere.

Like the character he played in Total Recall, Mr. Schwarzenegger must be having a tough time remembering who he is – a former Republican Governor.

In Austin for the South by Southwest festival, he revealed he has hired a team of California lawyers to sue oil and gas companies for “first degree murder” by “knowingly killing people all over the world.” Instead of acting like a Republican, Mr. Schwarzenegger must be trying to play the hero again. The only problem is this isn’t the movies, this is real life, and there is nothing to “save” us from.

Like many of us, Mr. Schwarzenegger had a long commute to work. After he was elected Governor of California, he decided not to move to the Governor’s Mansion at the state capitol in Sacramento, but instead traveled more than 100 miles for seven years from his mansion in Brentwood, Calif.. The only difference: he took a private jet, which cost around $30,000 a roundtrip and impacts the environment about the same amount as a small car does in three years. And when he’s not taking a private jet to work, he’s driving around in a five-ton,12-mile to the gallon Mercedes or going to lunch in a military-grade Hummer.

But now, according to the Governator it’s “absolutely irresponsible” for oil and gas companies to sell their products because they “know [their] product is killing people.” Wait a minute, here. So, it’s okay for oil and gas companies to sell their products to Mr. Schwarzenegger when he needs to fill up his private jet or Hummer, but it’s not okay for them to sell their products to regular folks so they can drive their vehicles to work? This kind of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do hypocrisy is repulsive and offensive. Mr. Schwarzenegger is not a hero, he’s just another elitist Hollywood hypocrite telling you and me how to best live our lives.

The real heroes are the oil and gas workers – the landman, the roughneck, the petroleum engineer – who wake up every day and go to work to support their families and our way of life. Together, these workers produce around 10 million barrels of oil and 96 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day that fuel our cars, light our homes, and make plastics and many other items we use every day. The industry doesn’t just provide the raw materials to make the things we need – it creates jobs and grows our economy. In 2015, the oil and gas industry supported more than 10 million jobs in the United States with an average salary over $100,000 and contributes more than $1 trillion to our economy every year.

Despite what Mr. Schwarzenegger may think, the story of energy before oil and gas was simple – most work was done by human or animal muscle. This caused the vast majority of the population to live short lives of hard labor in extreme poverty. Before oil and gas were used to power the industrial revolution, the global average life expectancy was only 25 years old with 30 percent of children dying before age 15. During the 1800s, 80 to 90 percent of the population of the United States worked in agriculture and spent 74 percent of family income on food, clothing and shelter. Today, the average person lives more than three times longer than the average person in 1800. This is partly because climate-related deaths, such as starvation or hypothermia, have decreased 98 percent in the United States since the use of oil and gas became widespread at the beginning of the 20th Century.

It’s sad – but Mr. Schwarzenegger has gone from superstar hero to Hollywood hypocrite. On the one hand he routinely uses gas-guzzling jets and cars while on the other he sues oil and gas companies. Given this stunning hypocrisy, I have a question. If oil and gas companies are murderers for selling their ­­­­product, does that make Mr. Schwarzenegger an accessory for being such a good customer?

#TXLEGE: Activists apologize for previous support of Capriglione

"He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."
Proverbs 28:13

These are great!!!

Julie McCarty:



Highlights:

• "I'm sorry that I ever helped lead the way for Giovanni Capriglione to ever become a state representative."

• "Gio campaigned as a conservative; we all believed his promises, myself included."

• Had a decent record his first session, and it's been steadily downhill ever since.

• It's not just about the speaker vote two sessions ago; Giovanni's turned his back on a lot of other things as well.

• "We have learned a lot over the past 6 to 8 years about vetting candidates.

• Vote Armin Mizani.

David M.:

Highlights:

• In his first campaign, Capriglione explained the psychological games the lobby plays with new conservative members. 

• "He did exactly what he described, what he was warning about."

• "That's why I'm out working for Armin today."

Steve Waltens:

Highlights:

• "I'm sorry that our state representative, Giovanni Capriglione, has been less than truthful to the people who put him into office six years ago."

• Capriglione campaigns on "limited and efficient government" then votes to raise property taxes.

• Voted for granny tax.

• Voted to preserve corporate welfare for Hollywood.

James and Christine Welborn:

[Note: We're not going to post a "highlight" list for this final video because the visuals only work if you watch the whole thing from start to finish.  It's only four minutes.  Well worth it.]

Bottom Line: Giovanni Capriglione's political trajectory reminds us of Arnold Schwarzenegger's as Governor of California.  Lots of big talk on the campaign trail, followed by a little action in the first year, followed by falling off a cliff.  Ultimately, Schwarzenegger made the problems he originally campaigned on fixing much, much, worse.  It's not a good comparison.

#TXLEGE: Questions about Unintended Consequences BEFORE we eliminate property taxes

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—"
Luke 14:18

Last week, RPT announced the questions that have been placed on the March 2018 ballot; they include the following question related to property taxes:

Texas should replace the property tax system with an appropriate consumption tax equivalent. Yes/No

We've spoken favorably about this idea in the past. We'd still like to see it happen. But a personal experience from this past week gives us pause.

On Wednesday, this author made a small purchase on Amazon during we we remembered something obvious: STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE PROHIBITED BY FEDERAL LAW FROM CHARGE SALES TAXES ON A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF ONLINE PURCHASES.

That got us thinking:

• Do we really want to move towards a tax system where the fastest growing part of the tax base is already carved out?!?
  
  One of the best arguments for moving to a consumption tax is that, at least in theory, it should broaden the tax base.  But the federal prohibition on online sales taxes is a pretty significant narrowing.  Furthermore, this narrowing is only going to grow over time.

• Are we prepared to ask the Feds to allow online sales taxes?!?
  
  And, if so, for what are they going to ask in return?!?

• If we carve out online sales, will the final result be a tax system that is overly reliant on rich people (with the attendant revenue swings)?!?
  
  The long term trend is that the middle class is moving their shopping online, while brick and mortar retail shopping is becoming a leisure activity for rich people.  Thus, any tax system that taxes brick and mortar purchases while carving out online sales will be reliant on purchases by rich people.  As we have learned from California, a system of taxation that is excessively reliant on rich people can lead to wild swings in revenue when the economy changes.

• If we ask the Feds to permit online sales taxes, and they say yes, what shenanigans would such a move enable other states to pull?!?

• Are the costs of permitting online sales taxes worth the benefits of eliminating property taxes?!?
  
  In the past, we've opposed online sales taxes.  The arguments against doing so remains strong.  Suffice to say, internet sales taxes would be a compliance nightmare for small and medium sized retailers.

• Do we really want to make Amazon the largest tax collector in the state/country?!?
  
  Many people already think Amazon is too big and too powerful.  Indeed, this website has recently expressed significant misgivings about their proposed HQ2 in Austin.  If you think Amazon is too big and too powerful now, just wait until they're the largest tax collector in the country.
  
  Consider one example: Amazon very publicly opposed the Texas privacy act this past session; does anyone think they won't threaten to withhold tax revenue in the future?!?

Bottom Line: We're not saying no, but we are saying lets think this one through.

#TXLEGE: Today's TPPF #SpecialSession Policy Orientation

"Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them."
Ezekiel 38:7

TPPF hosted a supplemental policy orientation today with a mix of speakers and panels; the following is a direct transcription of our notes.

Governor Greg Abbott:

• Teachers are the most important part of the education process.

• Reward the best teachers.

• School finance -- What has been studied previously is not adequate.
• No more "band aids over band aids."
• End Robin Hood.

• Current education structure focuses on "schools, not students."

• Cities have enacted policies that are hostile to economic growth.
• "If we don't stop this, real quick, we are in real danger."

• Taxpayers should have a say in tax increases.
• #1 issue we must address.

• Private property rights are being diminished across Texas.

• "I want a vote" on union dues bill.

• Dallas mail in ballot fraud nothing new.
• Been going on since (at least) Lyndon Johnson.
• Removing paid political operatives from the process.

• Publishing lists of special session items re: who's supporting/who's not "on a daily basis."

Lt. Gov Dan Patrick:

• Points out Straus laying foundation for state income tax in the first paragraph.
• Along with Democrats and school district officials.

• 52% of budget goes to education.

• Teachers only get 32% of education $$$.

• "It's not an unfunded mandate...school districts need to re-purpose the money."

• Teachers unions oppose higher pay for teachers.

• Math is math.

• "Governor Abbott and I do not want Texas to become California or Illinois."

• "Greg Abbott's priorities are my priorities."

• Property taxes #1 priority.

• House has lots of members who will vote the right way "if they get the chance."

• "Texas likes fighters, not quitters."

• "We've shown that big government Republicans are wrong."

• re: Straus: "Don't undermine the entire party and the entire state."

From Left: Talmadge Heflin (TPPF), Sen. Kelly Hancock, Rep. Craig Goldman, Sen. Bryan Hughes, Patrick Gleason (ATR)

State level fiscal policy panel:

• Statewide spending limits needs to go down to (population + inflation).

• Hancock: Abbott created conference committees before the bills were even filed.

• Public sector unions are bankrupting California.

• Hancock: Spending is where you control the growth of government.
• (Population + inflation) is a real cap.
• Note: As this session's budget can attest, (population + inflation) is more of a bare minimum than a real cap...but it would still be a significant improvement on the status quo.

• Gleason: It's easier to pass things in other states when Texas has done it.

• Gleason: Kansas cut taxes, but failed to keep spending in check.

From Left: Sen. Donna Campbell, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, Rep. Paul Workman

Local Liberty Panel:

• Cities are doing power grabs to increase their tax base.

• Annexation: Cities have been unrestrained for decades.
• Campbell's bill expedites voluntary annexation.
• Texas is one of the last states in the country to permit voluntary annexation.

• Property Taxes: Revenue up >30% in all the major counties over the past few years.
• Anywhere you go in the state, appraisals are up at least 15% annually.
• School districts have to hold tax ratification elections past a certain threshold; you need a similar mechanism for cities and counties.
• Current rollback petition requirements "are fictitious nonsense."
• Rollback rates have been >5% since Jimmy Carter.
• Bettencourt supports 0% rollback rate but doesn't currently have the votes.
• Texas currently chasing New York and Illinois on property tax burdens.

• Tree Bill: Heritage trees add value to property, so cutting them down is rare, but in the cases where it's necessary it's none of the government's business.
• Westlake tried to fine a property owner $100k for cutting down a tree on his own property.

• Expedited Permitting: Workman's bill states that cities can have expedited permitting, but doesn't allow them to add strings to the process.

#TXLEGE: Senate hears bill protecting free speech on College Campuses....

"When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them."
Acts 5:33

[Note: The hearing can be viewed here.  The consideration of the free speech bill begins at the 1:35 mark.  Our testimony can be found about ten minutes later.]

As national headlines can attest, the assault on free speech on college campuses has gotten significantly worse in recent years.  In response, several states have passed bills to protect speech on campus.  This morning, we attended a hearing for, and testified in favor of, Texas' equivalent attempt to do so.

SB 1511 (Buckingham) would prohibit "free speech zones" on campuses.  It would prohibit universities from punishing students based on political ideas.  It would also prohibit public universities from disinviting speakers based on the political content of their ideas.

TPPF's Tom Lindsay testified in favor of the bill and recited a litany of abuses against students holding views contrary to the bureaucracies that run these institution.  We largely echoed Dr. Lindsay's views, while also highlighting the mess that occurred with YCT's affirmative action bake sale at UT last year.  To be honest, we think the national headlines speak for themselves.

But there's one point we made in testimony about which we want to elaborate here: The biggest problem is that the Boards of Regents aren't doing their jobs to protect students.  If the legislature wants free speech on campus protected, they've got to stop rubber stamping Regent appointments, otherwise they're going to gut this law the same way they gutted campus carry.  It's not a coincidence that we made this exact point during our testimony for the last round of UT regents.

During dais discussion, Chairman Seliger tried to claim that the first amendment renders this bill superfluous.  Kirk Watson came up with a serious of cute lawyer distinctions designed to show that the bill was unnecessary. Seliger and Watson both chimed in to claim that the bill is toothless and thus unnecessary.

Unfortunately, according to a Senate source, Senator Buckingham had to remove most of the teeth from the bill to get it a hearing in the first place; thus Seliger is talking out of both sides of his mouth on this issue.

Bottom Line: This bill won't get to the Governor's desk this session, but we commend the Senate for starting the conversation because we have a feeling political correctness in public universities is going to get a lot worse.

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Partying with Austin's Future Taxpayer Friendly Leaders

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice."
Proverbs 29:2 (a)

Local Voice Solutions -- Tonight, taxpayer friendly candidates in 6 of Austin's 10 city council districts spoke at an event in East Austin.  The candidates discussed affordability and the role that Austin's massive, boondoggle prone, city government plays in exacerbating that problem.  This website bring you their remarks in full.

Michael Cargill, District 1:



Highlights:

• Proprietor of Central Texas Gun Works.

• Most conservative candidate in District 1 on the subject of firearms.

• Running to obstruct Mike Martinez's gun grabbing agenda.

• "We're going to maintain all of our constitutional rights."

• Plan for traffic: Widen 183, as a free road, to give commercial traffic a viable path around Downtown Austin.
• Austin is one of the few major cities in America where big trucks pass through downtown.

• Sell "Prime Real Estate" downtown and relocate city offices to the outskirts of the city.

• "We don't need that rail, that rail to nowhere...."

 Jay Wiley, District 6:



Highlights:

• "I'm running because we need a new voice for taxpayers at City Hall...we've never had that before."

• The (in)famous Gretchen Gardner quote.

• "Here's the big picture.  The big picture is that the affordability problem we have in Austin is the direct result of a big and expensive local government.  We've seen what big, expensive government looks like.  It looks like Higher property tax bills, and worse energy bills every month, and it looks like worse and worse traffic every day because we've got all the wrong priorities at City Hall."

• "What I want to do is I want to lower taxes, I want to lessen the bureaucratic largesse at City Hall, and ... most importantly change the culture at City Hall to one that's fiscally responsible and respects taxpayers."

• "We are weeks away from putting the first conservatives on Austin City Council in my lifetime; let's get it done."

Ellen Troxclair, District 8 (She likes puppies and Uber):



Highlights:

• Over a decade of public policy experice at the Capitol combined with real world experience in the Real Estate industry.

• Not a day goes by, either in the campaign or her business, where she doesn't hear about how the Austin CC's decision are negative effecting resident of District 8.

•  "Seems like every year in Austin our cost of living is increasing while our quality of life is not improving."

• It took conversations with thousands of voters before she met her first voter who said property taxes weren't too high...and that person was a recent California transplant.
• Author's Note: We welcome California transplants to Austin...as long as you don't vote for the same crap policies that ruined California.

• "I don't think that our goal, as Austinites, should be to be slightly better than California."
• Author's Note: Ellen makes Chuck DeVore proud!!!

Ed English, District 7:



Highlights:

• "I'm running for a lot of reasons that fall under the umbrella of fiscal responsiblility."

• "I want to be part of a council" that ends wasteful spending and gives taxpayers real relief.

• Donated "several thousand hours" over "a two year period" to pass 10-1 in the first place.

• Seize this opportunity to represent the citizens.

• Only candidate in his district that has worked in the private sector.

• Knows how to ask the right questions about contracts.
• No more water treatment plant #4 or biomass boondoggles.

• First candidate, in any district, to oppose the rail bond tax hike...aka. Leffingwell Loser!!!

Erin McGann, District 9:



Highlights:

•  Only non-incumbent in District 9 and only candidate in the District who is against the rail.

• Background in finance, auditing, and budget review.

• "I am running for city council because our budget is entirely too fat, our spending is not very judicious, and we've got a lot of unicorns and glitter sitting around city hall and not very much bricks and mortar."

• "My opponents are being strongly supported by the status quo and by all of the special interests in Austin so I am being seriously outspent."
• Author's note: Donate here.
  
•  Needs blockwalkers and phonebankers.

Bill Worsham, District 10:



Highlights:

•  "It is way past time to just talk about the traffic, the cost of living, and the red tape that we have to endure in the city of Austin.  

• Endorsed by TAG and TFL.

• Specifically committed to reducing red tape for resturant owners.

• "We are right on the issues of this campaign"

• Opponents are imitating their campaign...."we are the rocket that's ready to launch."

Texas: Future Headquarters Of Bitcoin

"The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil."
Joel 2:24

Astonishing and exciting news about the convergence of BITCOIN and good economic policy in Texas:

When it comes to creating jobs, don’t mess with Texas. The state has had stronger job growth over the last 13 years than any of the other 49 states, and even though the state will soon have a new governor, Texas will continue to be poised as a leader in job growth, while other states stifle innovation with regulation.

Here’s why:
Texas has embraced companies with a clear regulatory environment and that is not just for big oil. Texas is home to a large aerospace industry and a booming technology sector that could take bitcoin to the moon. You may think California is the bitcoin capital of the world and it is in terms of investment and innovation, but bitcoin companies are considering moving from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Prairie and Silicon Hills for the lower costs of doing business and tax incentives. Texas is ranked 11th on the State Business Tax Climate Index for 2014, while California is 48th and New York is dead last.

Dustin Trammell, Bitcoin Venture Capitalist and entrepreneur, says that “Given the contradictory guidance regarding Bitcoin regulation that’s been provided by U.S. Federal agencies, and no desire by the Fed to settle the differences, how to handle Bitcoin is being worked out by some states.”

This is where the opportunity lies. While some states have said that virtual currency regulation already falls within the scope of existing regulations, others have suggested the need for new virtual currency specific regulations such as New York Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) BitLicense.

Many prominent figures and businesses in the Bitcoin community have already come out against Ben Lawsky, the unelected superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, for his proposed BitLicense. These industry leaders and companies include Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Xapo CEO Wences Casares, Coinbase and Max Keiser, among more.

While New York seems to be pushing away bitcoin business, others states, like Texas, are seeing this as an opportunity to bring more jobs to their state.

Government:
Texas offers $19 billion in tax incentives to businesses, the highest of any state, and has low taxes. Last year, Texas recorded a 5.5 billion dollar budget surplus.

Greg Abbott, Texas’ Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, who is positioned to be the next governor, is accepting bitcoins for his campaign and will likely be one of the first governors to win an election accepting bitcoin.

“I made the decision to accept Bitcoin because I believe that it represents the free-market economic principles that make Texas a national leader in innovation and entrepreneurship. As Governor, I will keep taxes low, government small and reduce regulations so Texas’ booming technology sector will continue to flourish,” said Abbott.

Abbott is leading in the polls by a 12.6 percent margin, a sizable lead considering there is only one debate left on September 30. Abbott has served Texas as Attorney General since 2002 and knows the potential bitcoin can bring to his state.

Texas has a strong technology friendly history. Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1958. Texas played a large part in the dot com era, and it hosts large technology companies like Dell and Texas Instruments. Texas can also support these businesses with a highly skilled workforce with the roughly 578,000 students enrolled in Texas’s 36 largest universities. These veterans from the dot com era along with a growing educated workforce will play a major role in Texas’s Bitcoin future.

US Representative Steve Stockman (TX-36) is also a public supporter of bitcoin. Rep. Stockman was the first Member of Congress to introduce a piece of Bitcoin legislation back in May 2014. The Virtual Currency Tax Reform Act aimed to treat virtual currencies as currency instead of property for federal tax purposes.

“It’s good to see Attorney General Abbott embrace virtual currencies like Bitcoin. It’s an emerging technology, and one that opens the doors for small businesses to sell globally. Texans have always embraced innovation. We created the modern economy by giving birth to the petroleum revolution, we led the world into the space age and now Texans are at the cutting edge of economic evolution,” said Rep. Stockman.

Bitcoiners:
Regardless of political affiliations, most bitcoiners would like to see the advancement of Bitcoin technology and the values Bitcoin represents. The fact that many political figures are taking their stances on Bitcoin by accepting seems promising.

“As a Bitcoin enthusiast living in Texas, I am encouraged when our leaders and representatives support Bitcoin and encourage the development of technologies based on the blockchain. Keeping regulations reasonable will insure Texas will be at the center of developing this new technology,” according to Paul Snow, President of the Texas Bitcoin Association.

While accepting bitcoin for political contributions is a great first step, what the Bitcoin community really wants and needs is smart regulation that promotes the acceptance and use of digital currencies. After all, actions speak louder than words.

“If a politician wants to be serious about promoting and normalizing using Bitcoin, he or she will introduce legislation which allows me to pay for my property taxes and parking tickets with it. That would be much more beneficial to me, the citizen taxpayer, instead of merely benefiting a candidate’s campaign,” said Tod Beardsley, Engineering Manager at Rapid7, Dogecoin Shibe.

Being able to pay taxes in bitcoin would certainly be a game-changer, but is not anywhere on the US government’s agenda. However, the Isle of Man’s chief executive of economic development said that residents of the Isle could soon be able to do just that.

Texas vs. New York
One thing is for sure: New York’s proposed BitLicense companies will look at Texas’ regulatory environment and lower cost of living, and set up business because of the reduced barriers to entry.

“In some cases, the contrast between these various laboratories of economics are becoming quite stark, such as between economically conservative and even libertarian leaning states like Texas versus states like the New-York-nanny-staters and their proposed BitLicense,” said Dustin Trammell, Bitcoin Venture Capitalist & entrepreneur.

....

There are a lot of applications bitcoin can be used for and Texas’s bitcoin community will surely take advantage of them. From financial services to solving problems associated with The Internet of Things, entrepreneurs are finding use cases for bitcoin wherever they can.

“Austin is home to quite a number of Bitcoin startups, and even one of the few established regional Bitcoin conferences, the Texas Bitcoin Conference held every March in Austin, Texas. We have the momentum here in Texas, and we want to build on that, not suppress it with counterproductive regulation,” according to Paul Snow.

One problem bitcoin can solve in Texas is to help the vast amount of the population that is unbanked. Texas is ranked fifth in the country for having the largest percentage of unbanked and underbanked residents: 11.7% of Texas’s population is unbanked and 24.1% is underbanked.

 Read the whole thing here.

Texas' Economic Juggernaut Continues to Dominate California

"Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
Their foot shall slip in due time;
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things to come hasten upon them."
Deuteronomy 32:35

Living well is the best...something....something:

The real action in Texas Tuesday wasn’t the klieg lights on Texas Governor Rick Perry being booked after vetoing funding for Travis County’s District Attorney and YouTube sensation Rosemary Lehmberg, it was that Texas businesses have continued to add more than 1,000 jobs every day over the last 12 months. Despite leading the nation again with 46,600 in July, there was no big celebration in Texas. In the Friendship State, job creation is just business as usual.

But in California, officials were high fiving that Employment Development Department data “showed state's unemployment rate remained flat at 7.4%” last month and that they actually picked up 27,700 jobs in the latest BLS report.

The U.S. economy was hit hard in the Great Recession, but since December 2007, Texas has added 1,078,600 net new jobs versus California’s 69,400 net new jobs. That works out to a ratio of more than 15 new workers added to Texas State’s payrolls for every one worker added to California payrolls.

The Texas Model is alive and well; read the whole thing here.

Revised Numbers: Texas economy better than thought, California worse....

"Consider the work of God;
For who can make straight what He has made crooked?"
Ecclesiastes 7:13

NICE:

The BEA revised California’s real GDP growth downward from 2009 to 2011 in each of three years by a cumulative 2.6 percent, the third-largest negative revision in the nation.

In other words, California’s economy shrank an additional 2.6 percent before it grew 3.5 percent.

So, in the past five years California’s real GDP contracted 0.3 percent, one of ten states where economic activity was less in 2012 than it was in 2008.

By contrast, the BEA revised Texas’ growth upward by 0.5 percent from 2009 to 2011.

Texas’ newly revised real GDP growth from 2009 to 2012 was 13 percent.

From 2009 to 2012, California’s share of the U.S. economy shrank from 13.1 percent to 12.9 percent while Texas’ portion of the American economy increased from 8.2 percent to 9 percent.

Some critics might contend that Texas’ economic boom is wholly due to the revitalization of the Lone Star State’s oil and gas fields through fracking. However, if the entire mining sector is removed from the calculations, Texas’ economy would have still grown at a faster pace than California’s from 2009 to 2012. Further, California has about two-thirds of the nation’s proven shale oil reserves in the vast Monterey Shale formation—that the Golden State makes the political choice not to allow the extraction of this underground wealth can’t be held against Texas.

Read the whole thing here.

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Update (6/20): TPPF informs us that this is actually a year old piece that came out in June 2013; our bad.

Get the Government out of Sex Education

"It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
Luke 17:2

The great frustration of Texas Sex Ed wars is that government schools shouldn't exist in the first place.  Government schools, by definition, erode parental jurisdiction.  By attempting to 'fix' government schools, we're setting ourselves up for failure.  As conservatives, our long-term strategic goals should be to incrementally restrict where government schools are allowed to operate.  Sex education is a fantastic place to start.

Last week, theBlaze reported on a particularly horrific sex-ed program in California.  While this website won't repeat the details, a cursory examination of the linked article illustrates the lie that sex education in government schools is "medically accurate and age appropriate."  Unfortunately, the California case isn't isolated.  Examples of government schools pushing bizarre and perverted sex "education" aren't hard to uncover.  While the specifics of these 'cirricula' are awful, the deeper issue is government coercion.  In terms of long-term strategy, conservatives will fare better if we attack the root cause.

This website's views on sexual morality aren't a secret.  We understand that the sexual revolution has been a catastrophe that has unleashed a half-century (and counting) of pathologies and perversions.  We believe any teachings about sexual morality should be biblically-based.  But we also believe this is a topic on which reasonable people can disagree.  Whatever your views, government schools aren't an appropriate forum for the discussion.

The politics of this approach are also fantastic.  One of the hidden gems of common core is the National "Sexuality Education" standards, which are built upon the ideas of Alfred Kinsey.  Federal bureaucrats pushing weird sex on innocent children should horrify both libertarians and social conservatives.  You defeat this phenomenon by shutting down the machine.  You shut down the machine by incrementally restricting the areas where it's allowed to operate.

In a 2013 interview, Abortion Barbie said: "The other part of that is getting back to a place we once were a long time ago with age-appropriate, scientifically based sex-education courses."  In a couple weeks, the Texas Democrat party will probably embrace similar language in their party platform.  At that time, this website encourages Team Abbott and the Texas GOP to tie Abortion Barbie to the California 'curriculum' discussed above.  Considering her friends, she'll certainly attempt to push something like it.  Over the long run, however, this is a scope of government issue.

One gigantic mistake social conservatives have made over the past 50 years is attempting to fix institutions that shouldn't exist in the first place.  That has produced the status quo where these institutions are bigger and more entrenched than ever.

Government schools are inherently evil.  They undermine parental authority and have no right to exist.  Unfortunately, we can't get rid of them overnight.  To dismantle government schools, you need to incrementally restrict where they're allowed to operate.  Sex education is a darn good place to start

Texas Surpasses California (yet again!)

From Tuesday's Dallas Morning-News:

WASHINGTON–Texas is tops for tech exports, a new report says.

Companies in Texas making semiconductors, telecommunications devices, computers, and other items shipped more than $45 billion in products to other countries in 2012, according to a report by the TechAmerica Foundation, a lobbying and advocacy firm representing the technology industries. That’s a $3 billion rise from 2011.

Tech from Texas most often goes to Mexico– companies in the state shipped $22 billion south of the border in 2012. All that trade supported 331,000 jobs in Texas, the report said, also the most of any state. Texas has 22 percent of the nation’s technology manufacturing jobs.

“Texas is really happy to have this kind of emphasis put on its tech industry,” said Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, who appeared today at a news conference at the Capitol announcing the report with Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. “It’s an incredible accomplishment to be the No. 1 state in the country.”

This is the first year that Texas topped California in tech exports. California exports were worth $44.8 billion in 2012, down nearly 3 percent from the previous year.

Matthew Kazmierczak, vice president of the foundation, attributed the shift to rising manufacturing costs in California and Texas’ business-friendly atmosphere.

He said tech companies in California are focusing more on product design, in part because the state’s higher labor costs makes manufacturing less competitive.

“Texas has done a very good job at making themselves an attractive location for manufacturing,” he said. He noted the dynamic isn’t just about interstate competition; Texas is also competitive with other countries that have traditionally attracted manufacturing.

Gov. Rick Perry touts Texas’ business-friendly approach to regulations and taxes, and its relatively low cost of living, in trying to lure companies from California and other states, for which he has taken some flack.

Read the whole thing here.

(h/t Austinist)

Joe Straus: Painting Texas Purple

Empower Texans has a fantastic new website detailing Joe Straus' collaboration with Democrats to grow government in Texan, some highlights:

Red State, Purple Legislation

Texas may be a red state, but legislation passed this session under Speaker Straus’ watch sure doesn’t reflect it.
Mark Jones, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Rice University, dubbed the phrase “Red State, Purple Legislation” to describe the contrast between the wave of Texas Republican victories at the ballot box in 2012 and the lack of conservative reform in the 2013 legislative session.
According to Jones:
“Texas Democrats exercised considerable influence over the legislative process… House Democrats brokered a tacit alliance with the GOP’s moderate/centrist bloc, led by Speaker Joe Straus… This alliance allowed a relatively cohesive and disciplined Democratic delegation to block the passage of most legislation opposed by its members.”

But it gets worse:

Lack of Conservative Reform

What reforms did Speaker Joe Straus and his lackeys KILL this session? Here’s just a partial list:

• Strict Constitutional Spending Limits
• Zero-based Budgeting
• Franchise Tax (a.k.a. Gross Margins Tax) Elimination
• Property Tax Reform
• Protections from Tax Increases
• Requiring Legislators to Disclose Government Contracts

Ending Gas Tax/Highway Fund Diversions

Eliminating Corporate Welfare Programs

Requiring Transparency Provisions for Local Bond Elections

Eliminating Pensions for Convicted Former Legislators 

Leading to SUCH positive outcomes:

Texas Goes Sacramento

So what did Speaker Straus and his lackeys accomplish while they were busy killing conservative bills? They increased session-to-session spending by 26.9% -- all while increasing their legislator pensions by 12% -- spending down all $8 Billion of surplus general revenue and a portion of the state’s savings account in the process.
State spending jumped so much, it caught the eye of the Wall Street Journal who questioned whether Texas is beginning to make the same fiscal mistakes that California has made repeatedly.

 Kudos to Empower Texans for consolidating this information; read the whole thing here.

Rick Perry, Marijuana, and our first conversation

[Author's Note: This picture was taken at the 2010 event described below.]

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8

Last week, in Davos, Rick Perry made a comment about marijuana that ignited a media firestorm:

“As governor, I have begun to implement policies that start us toward a decriminalization” by introducing alternative “drug courts” that provide treatment and softer penalties for minor offenses"

The only noteworthy aspect of that statement is the reaction.  Perry was discussing criminal justice reforms Texas has put into place over the past decade.  Perry said nothing new.

In January 2010, during his last campaign for governor, Perry held an event with Andrew Breitbart.  This event was the first time we met the Governor.  In a private conversation on the side of that event, Perry described his administration's policy towards low level drug offenses using language that was nearly identical to what he said in Davos four years later.

At the time, Perry was fending off a primary challenge from Debra Medina (who, in 2014, is running for comptroller).  A long time Ron Paul acolyte, Medina is a well known critic of the war on drugs.  While Perry differentiated himself from Medina's position on drug legalization, he also made clear his belief that incarcerating people over low-level drug offenses is a counterproductive strategy that wastes a lot of money.

On a similar note, in his 2010 book Fed Up Perry wrote:

But perhaps most interesting is a movement I disagree, while appreciating the desire of Californians to decide for themselves -- and this is the issue of marijuana consumption.  A few years ago, Californians legalized the limited medicinal use of marijuana, but the Supreme Court struck this law down in Gonzales v. Raich, claiming that the federal government has the power to regulate activity that would have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.  Now, I am not sure the people of Texas would want to go down this road, but it sure seems to me that Justice Thomas got this one right when he said in dissent:..."Our federalist system, properly understood, allows California and a growing number of other States to decide for themselves how to safeguard the health and welfare of their citizens.  (164/5)

 Rick Perry's policy towards low-level drug offences has always reflected his commitment to the Tenth Amendment and the fiscal lunacy of mass incarceration.  Rick Perry said nothing in Davos that he didn't say to us in 2010.  The real story is that the media belatedly chose to cover a Perry administration policy that has been in place for at least half-a-decade.

Budget Realities of the 83rd Texas Legislature

TPPF policy orientation
Panel: Budget realities of the 83rd Texas legislature

Talmadge Heflin (TPPF); Brian Domitrovic (University of Houston); Chuck DeVore (TPPF); Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner (D - Houston); Texas Rep. John Otto (R - ?!?)

Brian Domitrovic:

• Growth has been under 2% since 2007; Texas is an unmatched global economic model in that time.

• Meet the challenge of prosperity by keeping govt. small
• Tax receipts always spike during prosperity; the challenge is not to spend the money
• Taxes have to be cut, considerably, to deny this 'revenue gusher' to the legislature

• Budget masters played games in 2013  

• If there are worthwhile state expenses, then current expenditures should be cut to pay for them.

Chuck DeVore:

• California has, proportionally, 45% more citizens in poverty than Texas.

• When the 83rd lege backfilled the2012/13 budget hole, they blew up the baseline for 2014/15

• Medicaid is crowding out roads in the Texas budget, which is why they play games with the gas tax.

John Otto:

• Made several excuses for 2012/13 budget gimmicks, including a cheap shot at Susan Combs.

Sylvester Turner:

• From time-to-time you need to go back to zero-based budgeting

• Most of the Texas budget is federally mandated spending that occurs before the legislature meets.

• In 2013, Texas had the lowest per-capita 'mental health' spending in the country.
• Personal note: Why is that a bad thing?!?

Fixing the Budget:

• Zero-based budgeting for every state agency every 4-8 years.
• TxDOT will undergo this in the next session
• Budget 'sunset'

• Program based budgeting - Line item visibility for every program rather than conglomerating dozens of programs under some broad heading.

• Eliminate the margins tax - It costs businesses more to comply than the state receives in receipts

• 
  

Texas vs. California: Case Closed

The economic contrast between Texas and California is an old theme at Cahnman's Musings.  This afternoon, we were pleased to attend the Texas Public Policy Foundation's "Competition and the States: Texas vs. California" which unveiled their new paper "How Big Government Hurts the Economy: Texas vs. California."  Former Reagan Economic Adviser Art Laffer and Governor Perry Spoke.

Going first, Art Laffer rattled off an astonishing list of statistics from the TPPF paper (which he co-authored):

• One fifth of all Americans live in Texas or California.

• California has the highest REAL poverty rate in America.
• Adjusted for cost of living and government benefits.

• California's tax rate on marginal economic activity is approximately 65% higher than Texas, but tax revenue is only 25% higher.

• Just the fees (without building a thing) for a single family home are between $75,000 and $100,000 in California.

• One mile of highway construction costs $265,000 in California compared to $88,000 in Texas; despite this, Texas ranks 23rd nationally in road conditions, while California is dead last.

• Of the 5 "mega-states" (CA, NY, TX, IL, and FL), California has the lowest test scores, Texas is (by far) the highest.

• California has 74% more welfare case workers than Texas.

Speaking next, Governor Perry had the best in-person performance we've seen from him in at least a year.  Governor Perry spoke with moving passion about economic growth and the "two competing visions in America."  9 of the 10 states that lead in job creation have Republican governors.  That economic growth enables people to live the lives they see fit.  In the competition with California: "The discussion is over.  The debate is over.  The proof is in.  Texas wins!!!"

In reading the paper, a number of other statistics stand out:

• "California has swung from being one of the biggest net in-migration destination states in the nation to being one of the biggest exodus states." (4)

• "Texas has the fourth lowest percent of population on welfare....while California has the highest percentage of its population on welfare" (4) [Emphasis ours]

• "Texas ranks third fastest in employment growth in the nation while California ranks 42nd." (4)

• "Public welfare employees in California make over $56,000 per year to Texas' $37,000 per anum -- a 52 percent premium." (5)

Another major contrast is the attitude towards energy development and resource recovery.  California has similar amounts of oil and gas reserves as Texas.  The difference is that Texas uses our God-given resources, while California lets the crony-capitalists in the "green energy" racket set their energy policy.

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The most amusing part of the afternoon was an intense men's room conversation on local government debt we witnessed between Texas State Reps Steve Toth and Bill Zedler.  Speaking from the urinal, Representative Toth told Cahnman's Musings, on the subject of local government debt:

"Size matters...and you can quote me on that!"

Consider it done Steve Toth.