#TXLEGE: Cruz calls state government a "Swamp"

"They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;"
2 Peter 2:15

New ad in the Jon Francis race:



This is fascinating on all sortsa levels.

As we discussed the other day, for Cruz to stick with Francis despite the recent caterwauling of the phony outrage crowd speaks volumes.

Keep in mind: Cruz worked in state government for a stretch in the mid-2000's, so he's seen it up close.

Then again, lo those many years ago, Ted Cruz was the guy whose original claim to fame was having beaten a sitting Lite Guv in a statewide race.

Bottom Line: The accuracy of the message is obvious, but for this particular messenger to deliver it has all sorts of implications.

Big Cities provoke Conservative BACKLASH across Texas!!!

"There are many plans in a man’s heart,
Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand."
Proverbs 19:21

Yesterday, the Dallas City Council passed a bathroom ordinance similar to the one voters in Houston JUST shot down.  This adds Dallas to the list of urban governments that have recently made myopic decisions.  This will have long-term consequences that are not yet understood.

It's often noted that, while the rural and suburban areas are OVERWHELMINGLY red, urban areas in Texas lean towards blue.  Since 2013, however, local governments in Texas' cities have overreached in ways that undermine their long-term viability.  The issues vary, but they point in the same direction.

Consider the following:

• Austin -- In 2013, the school bond failed.  In 2014, the rail bond failed.  In 2015, the courthouse bond failed.
  
  Austin has been in a property tax REVOLT for the past two years.  That revolt has already killed the three bonds listed above and put Don Zimmerman and Ellen Troxclair on the Austin City Council.  Conservatives didn't create the climate, but it's easy to exploit.  Furthermore, the status quo crowd shows no sign of heeding this lesson.  Unless incumbent elected officials change course next year (which they won't), Austin's tax revolt will grow DRAMATICALLY in 2016.
  
  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.  Property Taxes.

• Dallas -- Dallas had been lagging, but yesterday's city council vote is likely to produce the same backlash we saw in Houston.

• Houston -- The bathroom ordinance got the most press, but Houston's fiscal CRISIS deserves equal billing.  Houston now has more debt than Detroit.  Those issues combined to produce a conservative tsunami on election night that knocked out an alleged 'rising star' of the Texas Democrat party.
  
  Bill King, the conservative candidate likely to win Houston's mayoral runoff, has pledged to fix the pension situation.  Structural fiscal reforms will permanently reduce the footprint of municipal government.  That's terrible news for statists and their rent-seeking enablers.
  
  The soon-to-be third largest city in the U.S. is about to elect a Scott Walker-style reformer as mayor and radical homosexual activists have only themselves to blame.

• San Antonio -- During Julian Castro's final term, voters belatedly woke up.  In 2014, after Obama gave Castro a face-saving exit, the council elevated a Castro antagonist to Mayor.  In 2015, Ivy Taylor won a full term thanks to conservatives.
  
  Furthermore, turnout in the 2015 election was twice the 2013 total.
  
  Now the City of San Antonio is playing with fire over annexation; woe unto them if they're stupid enough to move forward.

Bottom Line: Across Texas, big city governments have provoked grassroots rebellions.  While the triggering issues vary, the underlying dynamics are identical.  This will have long term consequences no one has considered.

S.A. Mayor Runoff: Can Conservatives Make Lemonade?!?

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Romans 12:2

Interesting:

George H. Rodriguez

18 hrs · 

In the wake of the San Antonio mayoral elections, many grassroots conservatives are discouraged because their candidates lost. Sadly, many are saying they will not vote in the runoff between Mayor Ivy Taylor and Leticia Van de Putte. But when life gives you lemons you should make lemonade.

Conservatives need to realize this could be an opportunity for suburban conservatives and blacks community leaders to forge a new political paradigm that could topple the Hispanic/big business coalition that has dominated San Antonio (and Bexar County) since the 1980s. Ivy Taylor carried the black vote and will again carry it in the runoff. But will anti-Van de Putte suburban conservatives join Taylor to beat the SA Establishment’s anointed one?

Conservatives need to lick their wounds and realize this could be an opportunity to upset the Hispanic/big business Establishment that has dominated SA city the 1980s when it forged by Henry Cisneros. Latino political elites like Richard Perez and Henry Cisneros at the Chamber, Richard Romo at UTSA, Henry Munoz formerly at VIA and now at the National Democratic Party, and of course The Castro Twins, all work hand-in-hand with big business in SA to push their agenda. Van de Putte will continue that tradition.

To her credit, conservatives should remember that while Taylor is not a pure conservative (who is?), she held up the streetcar project and voted against the initially Non-Discrimination Ordinance. The Establishment wanted her to move on to another elected office, but she has displeased Establishment because she changed her mind.

We should remind black community leaders that they should be wary of the “Latino” agenda, specifically amnesty and sanctuary cities, which will create competition for services and resources between citizens and non-citizens. Be aware that Van de Putte and her Hispanic political elitist allies support the “Latino” agenda.

But can grassroots conservatives and suburbanites lick their wounds, be politically sophisticated, and vote in the mayoral runoff? Or will they stay just home? Christian voters stayed home in the 2012 presidential election because they couldn’t vote for Romney. How’s that working out now?

The final question is whether Mayor Ivy Taylor will sit and talk to grassroots conservatives to hear (and act) on their behalf?

Can grassroots conservatives and activists make lemonade?

Stay tuned…El Conservador.