2016 Texas Republican Runoff Election: YOUR Conservative/Libertarian Voter Guide!!!

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
Proverbs 29:2

With early voting underway in the 2016 Republican Runoff, Cahnman's Musings makes the following endorsements:

STATEWIDE -- Texas Railroad Commission

Wayne Christian:

Read our previous endorsement here; read our endorsement from the 2014 cycle here.

With this race, we have an opportunity to fix the greatest injustice of the 2014 cycle.

Let's take it.


STATEWIDE -- Judicial

Ray Wheless (Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2):

Read our previous endorsement for Ray Wheless here.

In addition, Judge Wheless won't be a rubber stamp for prosecutors.  That's often a problem in criminal cases.  Judge Wheless' record also suggests he will take a sane and rational approach to low level drug offenses.

While the worst candidate for this seat was eliminated in the first round, we remain unenthusiastic about Judge Wheless' opponent.

Brent Webster (Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5):

If we can only communicate one message to voters, it's this: The Governor of Wisconsin is NOT running for a judicial position in Texas.

Richard Scott Walker is an unqualified Dallas-based attorney who put his name on the ballot in such a way that it allows him to coast off of the Wisconsin governor's name recognition.  That's the only reason he made the runoff.  It's also worth pointing out that, at least to our knowledge, Walker hasn't spoken to a single grassroots group during this entire campaign.

Brent Webster, by contrast, is an actual attorney with meaningful criminal law experience.  While his background in the Williamson county DA's office makes us nervous, we've gotten to know him over the past few months and are comfortable he will treat defendants with fairness and respect.  FWIW, he's also been endorsed by every conservative group in Texas.

TEXAS SENATE

Bryan Hughes (District 1):

Let's make it official: We're switching sides.

Obviously, we endorsed David Simpson in the first round.  Heck, we gave David money back in December.  But we cannot support David's actions during the runoff.

Since this campaign moved into the runoff, David Simpson has gotten into bed with the Ratliff family.  He's been endorsed by ParentPAC.  His attacks on Ken Paxton were the final straw.

Fortunately, Bryan Hughes also got into this race.  Bryan is a conventional conservative who will vote in a predictable manner.  In the Texas Senate, at this point, a consistent 20th vote is more important than anything else.

This race was always a close call.  Both candidates are good Christian men, but neither is perfect.  Either one will be mostly good on most issues most of the time, and they have both made bewildering decisions over the years.

Nevertheless, at this point, we're just more comfortable with Bryan.

Sometimes you need to swallow your pride and hop in a life boat.  Stubbornly clinging to a sinking ship doesn't help anyone.  Especially when the ship is sinking due to it's own design failures.

Dawn Buckingham (District 24):

Read our previous endorsement of Dawn Buckingham here.








TEXAS HOUSE

The Stickland Six:

Jonathan Stickland is currently supporting the following six House candidates in runoffs:

• Keith Strahan (Liberty, San Jacinto, Walker counties); previously donated.
• John Keating (Collin, Rockwall counties)
• Briscoe Cain (Eastern Harris County)
• Read King (Denton County); previously endorsed.
• Kyle Biedermann (Comal, Gillespie, Kendall counties).

• Cole Hefner (Camp, Morris, Rains, Smith, Titus, Wood counties). 

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Mary Lou Bruner (District 9):

We don't agree with Donna Garner on everything, but we do agree with her on issues related to the State Board of Education:

"Texas public school students, parents, and teachers badly need Mary Lou Bruner on the SBOE. Mary Lou is now retired; but she worked for 36 years in the Texas public schools as a teacher, counselor, and educational diagnostician. She knows how children think. She also knows the best ways to help them learn the foundational knowledge and skills that parents want their children to know. Mary Lou will not be fooled by those who want to indoctrinate our Texas children into anti-American thinking nor by those people who see no need for children to learn the basic skills needed for success (e.g., phonics, grammar, usage, spelling, cursive, math facts, etc.)."

The fact that Mary Lou Bruner's election will give both Thomas Ratliff and the so-called Texas "Freedom" Network conniption fits doesn't hurt either.

Common Core Lite bills Headed to Abbott

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:6

[Update: Donna Garner has more here.]

SB 313 and HB 2811 are the Common Core lite bills Dan Huberty and Kel Seliger sneaked through at the end of the session; Donna Garner has more:

[5.26.15 – The Texas Senate passed SB 313 on third reading today with an unofficial vote of 125 yeas, 19 nays, 2 present, not voting.  I have highlighted in red the 19 who voted against SB 313. They are our heroes/heroines.  SB 303 now goes to Gov. Abbott for his signature.  Please join with me in contacting his office to register your concerns.  Below, I have posted the link to my article entitled “Open Letter to the Texas Legislature, Education Bills SB 313/HB 2811” dated 5.25.15. Please feel free to utilize any parts of my open letter to help you draft your contacts with the Governor’s office. – Donna Garner]  

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/RecordVote.aspx?LegSess=84R&Bill=SB313&RcdVtNo=1511&Ch=H&Dt=05/26/2015

Legislative Session: 84(R)	Unofficial
Bill: SB 313

Disclaimer:This vote has not been certified by the House Journal Clerk. It is provided for informational purposes only. Once the vote is certified, it will be recorded in the journal according to Rule 5 of the House Rules and made available on this web site.

RV# 1511 — Unofficial Totals: 125 Yeas, 19 Nays, 2 Present, not voting Yeas – Allen; Alonzo; Alvarado; Anchia; Anderson, C.; Ashby; Aycock; Bell; Bernal; Blanco; Bonnen, G.; Burkett; Burns; Button; Canales; Capriglione; Clardy; Coleman; Collier; Cook; Craddick; Crownover; Cyrier; Dale; Darby; Davis, S.; Davis, Y.; Deshotel; Dutton; Elkins; Faircloth; Fallon; Farias; Farney; Farrar; Fletcher; Flynn; Frank; Frullo; Galindo; Giddings; Goldman; Gonzales; González; Guerra; Guillen; Gutierrez; Harless; Hernandez; Herrero; Howard; Huberty; Hunter; Isaac; Israel; Johnson; Kacal; Keffer; King, K.; King, P.; King, S.; King, T.; Koop; Kuempel; Larson; Laubenberg; Longoria; Lozano; Lucio; Márquez; Martinez; Martinez Fischer; Metcalf; Meyer; Miles; Miller, D.; Minjarez; Moody; Morrison; Muñoz; Murphy; Murr; Naishtat; Nevárez; Oliveira; Otto; Paddie; Parker; Peña; Phelan; Phillips; Pickett; Price; Raney; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez, E.; Rodriguez, J.; Romero; Rose; Schaefer; Schofield; Schubert; Shaheen; Sheets; Sheffield; Simmons; Smith; Smithee; Spitzer; Stephenson; Thompson, E.; Tinderholt; Turner, C.; Turner, S.; VanDeaver; Villalba; Vo; Walle; White, J.; Workman; Wray; Wu; Zedler; Zerwas Nays – Anderson, R.; Bohac; Burrows; Geren; Hughes; Keough; Krause; Landgraf; Leach; Miller, R.; Paul; Riddle; Rinaldi; Sanford; Simpson; Springer; Stickland; Turner, E.S.; White, M. Present, not voting – Bonnen, D.(C); Mr. Speaker Absent – Dukes; Klick; McClendon; Thompson, S.

Disclaimer:This vote has not been certified by the House Journal Clerk. It is provided for informational purposes only. Once the vote is certified, it will be recorded in the journal according to Rule 5 of the House Rules and made available on this web site.

 Donna Garner has more here.

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Governor Greg Abbott: (512) 463-2000

SB 19: Ending Thomas Ratliff-esque Conflicts of Interest

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Matthew 6:24

From Donna Garner:

“Actions Instead of Outrage – SB 19 – Dump Thomas Ratliff”
By Donna Garner
4.7.15

ACTION STEP: It is time for action instead of simply expressing outrage. People all over this state have ranted for years because Thomas Ratliff, ignoring the Texas Attorney General’s ruling, has continued to stay on the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). He is a long-time, registered lobbyist for Microsoft and other education-related clients that do business with the SBOE/Texas Education Agency. This is called a definite, in-your-face “conflict of interest.”

Quote from Texas State Board of Education member, Thomas Ratliff, in his 4.1.15 letter to the Texas State Affairs Committee members:

“I continue to believe this section of the bill runs afoul of the First amendment of the United States Constitution by infringing on a person’s right to free speech and a right to seek redress from the government by discriminating against a person who wishes to run for offices based on what they do for a living.”

In essence, Thomas Ratliff is saying that he believes his First Amendment rights are being infringed upon even though he is a registered lobbyist doing millions of dollars’ worth of business with clients who negotiate contracts with the Texas Education Agency/Texas State Board of Education. In fact, he is on the SBOE committee that decides on these contracts.

Ratliff’s argument is similar to saying that a thief’s First Amendment rights are being infringed upon whenever he gets arrested for stealing from his boss!

• According to the 4.6.15 clarifying e-mail sent out by one of the conservative, self-sacrificing SBOE members, SB 19 authored by Sen. Van Taylor (Section 3) would make it illegal for Thomas Ratliff to run for an elected office (including the SBOE and the Legislature) if he is still a registered lobbyist. If he decides not to run for the SBOE in 2016, he would still be prohibited from lobbying for a period of one full legislative session.

The grassroots MUST take action by contacting the Texas Senate State Affairs committee (members and contact information posted below). SB 19 was left pending in the Committee on March 30, 2015.

Over 6,000 bills have been filed during the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature. We have to separate SB 19 out from the pack and pressure our elected legislators to listen to our concerns.

So far, I have heard of no legislator who thinks it is ethical for an elected official to be a registered lobbyist with a direct conflict of interest; but we have to pressure our legislators to turn their beliefs into a vote.

 Read the whole thing here.

Learn more about Thomas Ratliff's Common Core related conflicts of interest here.

David Barton Wins Million Dollar Defamation Lawsuit

"[R]ejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer"
Romans 12:12

Good for Barton:

David Barton is the founder of WallBuilders; he is is one of the foremost experts on early American history and has tens of thousands of original writings from the Founding Era (http://www.wallbuilders.com/abtbiodb.asp).

Mr. Barton and other history experts helped the SBOE to produce the most fact-based, patriotic curriculum standards in the entire United States. For instance, as part of the TEKS, Texas students are required to spend a week every year (K-12) studying the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. The TEKS standards emphasize American exceptionalism while presenting a balanced view of history. Many American heroes and heroines of character and of color were added to the new Social Studies TEKS.

For his trouble, David Barton was vilified by the leftwing media and such organizations as Texas Freedom Network.

....

During the years that Ken Mercer has served on the SBOE, he has had a number of “questionable” challengers. Among them are Judy A. Jennings and Rebecca E. Bell-Metereau.

While these women were running against Mercer, they leaned heavily on Texas Freedom Network to provide them with campaign rhetoric; and they worked with Scott Garrison, a political consultant, to produce a campaign video. In it, they tried to discredit Ken Mercer by blasting David Barton and WallBuilders as being white supremacists.

Guess what…David Barton/WallBuilders has sued Jennings/Metereau for defamation of character. David Barton/WallBuilders won, and now Jennings/Metereau have to pay him and his WallBuilders $1,000,000! How is that for justice served?

I suspect the next move for Jennings/Metereau may be to counter-sue Texas Freedom Network/Scott Garrison for providing bogus information about David Barton/WallBuilders.

David Barton is anything but a white supremacist. He and other patriots just like him are battling to preserve America’s rich Judeo-Christian heritage so that this and the next generation will be willing to give their lives to preserve it.

....

It is very encouraging to know that “open season” on conservatives has its limits. Good for David Barton/WallBuilders!

ACTION ALERT: Texans Needed To Testify at SBOE Meeting (Next Tuesday)

Donna Garner alerts to the next round of SBOE shenanigans:

To: Concerned Texas Citizens

From: Donna Garner

I believe our position should be that we want no new courses such as Mexican-American Studies or Ethnic Studies to be added to already over-burdened school districts that are trying to cope with the 5 new endorsements, foundation program, and other requirements under HB 5. Even calling the course Ethnic Studies would end up emphasizing ethnic/racial differences among students at a time when schools are trying so hard to create unity among the students and faculty.

I believe this Mexican American course is a direct attempt by the Democrats to turn Texas blue and that we need to stand firmly against it – creating no compromises (i.e., Ethnic Studies Course). The definitions posted below should help keep us all on the same page.

MY SUGGESTIONS

First, I have posted some definitions further on down this page that I believe will help in the upcoming SBOE meeting. I believe it is very important for like-minded conservatives to “define the terms” rather than allowing others to do so. The term needs to be Hispanic and not Mexican-American. Mexican-American is very discriminatory and much too inclusive. By defining the terms early-on, those who want to use the term Mexican-American will be identified as being discriminatory and inclusive (which they are).

Second, I hope that an attorney will testify. The attorney needs to build the case that a Mexican-American course would be highly discriminatory to other language groups, races, and ethnicities.

Third, it would be good to get demographic information from Houston ISD. I think I remember reading that HISD has hundreds of different language groups in it. A Mexican-American course would be highly discriminatory to the other language groups. (It should not be difficult to get this language group, demographic information from Houston ISD or from the TEA.)

Fourth, these questions need to be asked and answered: Under state law, can local school districts offer courses for local credit? Do those courses have to be approved by the SBOE and/or the TEA? It could be that if the voters in Ysleta ISD want to offer this multicultural/politically correct course for local credit, then they could offer local credit for it. Does the SBOE need to be brought into this issue at all – either with a Mexican-American Studies Course or an Ethnic Studies Course? The curriculum is already so full now that teachers cannot teach everything they need to teach. Why add any more courses, particularly those that could become a hotbed for indoctrination and controversy? It is evident that there is nothing that we can do to satisfy the left-leaners. If we move a little bit left, they want more. If we go all the way to their side, they still want more. I believe our best position is to make a stand, do not apologize for it, clearly state our position, and then let the chips fall. This is the way to stop the bullying and intimidation that has become so prevalent under the Obama admin. If we keep compromising, then we will keep losing our conservative principles.

Learn how to testify before the SBOE here.

Keep Standing Strong Barbara Cargill!!!

Donna Garner has an excellent rebuttal to the latest rubbish the Texas "Freedom" Network:

TFN is vilifying Cargill because TFN wants publishers to ignore the new Science curriculum standards (TEKS) adopted by the elected members of the SBOE. Nobody knows those Science TEKS any better than does Barbara Cargill because she poured her sweat equity into them for two years during the time they were under adoption.

Barbara Cargill is a certified science teacher, taught high-school biology in the Texas public schools for years, and conducts a nationally recognized science camp in the summer to which thousands of children come. The camp is so successful that children have to sign up early to get their names on the list.

Just as in the past where SBOE members have had special expertise in various content areas, these Members have tried to make sure that the textbook review teams follow the SBOE-adopted TEKS. That is state law. Instructional materials (IM’s) which pass through the SBOE adoption process must follow Texas’ curriculum standards (TEKS), and all teachers in Texas are to follow the TEKS.

We Texas citizens want Barbara Cargill to be closely involved with the Science IM’s. SBOE members serve the people of Texas without receiving any remuneration. If these members take their valuable personal time to meet with the textbook review teams, we Texans should be grateful. We should thank Barbara Cargill and the other SBOE members for their dedication to making sure that the IM’s are sufficiently aligned with the Science TEKS.

Textbook evaluation teams work in public settings; nothing is done behind closed doors. All SBOE members are invited to attend the meetings and to communicate openly with the evaluation team members. Barbara Cargill is not a vendor nor is she a lobbyist.

 Read the whole thing (and join the Ticked Off Parent and Teacher Association) here.

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Update: In a separate piece, Garner addresses the 'substance' of TFN's claim:

At our reviewers’ meeting on July 31, Barbara Cargill (Chair of the SBOE) was active in making sure that Proclamation 14 was carried out correctly and efficiently. She and the TEA staffers went to almost every reviewer’s table to introduce themselves and to thank them for volunteering their time; all seemed grateful for the kind words. There were 3 tables of biology reviewers while there were only 1 to 2 tables for the other IM products.

The process that was used this time was very different from the one used in the past. Before SB 6, there were two lists – conforming and nonconforming. Conforming IM’s had to cover 100% of the TEKS for the subject and grade level; nonconforming IM’s had to cover at least 50% of the TEKS for the subject and grade level. However, because of SB 6, now IM’s only have to cover 50% of the TEKS.

In light of all of the changes to the process, Cargill had asked panel members what they thought of reviewing the materials virtually (in Phase I) as opposed to face-to-face. Of course most would rather have had face-to-face meetings from the beginning, but the cost was prohibitive.