Allred and Fletcher OBLIVIOUS to self-interest

"A prudent man conceals knowledge,
But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness."
Proverbs 12:23

They're joking...right?!?

WASHINGTON — All 13 Texas Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have indicated that they are open to impeaching President Donald Trump after recent reports that Trump asked the Ukranian president to investigate the business activities of Hunter Biden, son of Democratic presidential frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Six Texans jumped on board Tuesday. They were U.S. Reps. Colin Allred of Dallas, Lizzie Fletcher of Houston

....

"This Thursday, when the Director appears before the House Intelligence Committee, I expect that he will comply with the law and turn over the complaint to the Committee," Allred said in a statement. “If he does not, and this Administration continues to violate the law and obstruct Congress’s constitutional duty, I will be forced to conclude that the only remaining option is for the House to begin impeachment proceedings.”

The decisions by Allred and Fletcher to call for impeachment are particularly notable, given the swing seats they currently occupy. Both were elected in 2018, winning seats that had long been held by Republicans, and both are GOP targets in 2020.

Fletcher wrote in her own statement that the president's actions "represent a gross abuse of power and an abuse of the trust we the people have placed in the Office of the President."

"Consistent with the oaths of office we take, it is the responsibility of Congress to investigate these matters, and it is the responsibility of the administration to participate in that investigation: to comply with the law and the Constitution," she said. "The House of Representatives should act swiftly to investigate and should be prepared to use the remedy exclusively in its power: impeachment."

They can't be serious.

This author's feelings about the current president are well known, but we can't see how moving forward on this does anything other than blow up in its proponents faces.

We don't often comment on national stories, and we don't particularly want to do it here, but this alleged Ukraine story is preposterous.  Joe Biden's kid did a bunch of shady stuff with the Ukrainian natural gas company ("allegedly").  Joe Biden, as sitting Vice President, used the power of his office to bully the Ukrainians into shutting down their investigation.  Yet, for some reason, this is supposed to be grounds to impeach Trump?!?

Bottom Line: Good Luck with that, and good luck to Collin Allred and Lizzie Pannill Fletcher if they go along with it.

#TX2020: The NRCC is RETARDED if they think they should run incumbents in Texas

"Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes;
But by a man of understanding and knowledge
Right will be prolonged."
Proverbs 28:2

The Cook Political Report, in discussing national congressional races, drops this nugget:

A key 2020 House battleground will be Texas. Democrats picked up two seats in the suburbs of Dallas and Houston last fall, but came within single digits in six more districts. The NRCC has already met with the six incumbents who survived close calls to secure commitments to run again and raise more money in 2020.

[Note: Emphasis added.]

No.  No.  No.  No.  No.  No.  No.  No.

This type of stale, conventional, thinking is the quickest route to a second debacle in 2020.

We can explain in two numbers from last cycle: Six and Two.

• Six -- The number of open seat races Republicans held in Congressional races.
• Note: Seats now held by Dan Crenshaw, Van Taylor, Lance Gooden, Ron Wright, Chip Roy, and Michael Cloud.

• Two -- The number of incumbent Republican congressman who lost.
• Note: Seats now held by Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and Colin Allred, which were formerly held by John Culberson and Pete Sessions.

That should be the end of this cliched discussion, but since it won't be, we'll go further.

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Chip Roy vs. John Carter:

Nowhere is this phenomenon clearer than in two suburban Congressional districts near Austin.  In the first district, a new candidate with a dedicated grassroots following held his open seat.  In the second district, a mediocre incumbent had a closer call than anyone expected.

On the surface, the results in CD-21 (Hill Country) and CD-31 (WillCo) look similar:

It's only when one compares them to Trump's performance in 2016 that the pattern emerges:

Trump's 2016 margin minus the 2018 GOP candidate's margin follows:

• CD-21: 10% - 2.8% = 7.2% GOP dropoff between '16 and '18.

• CD-31: 13% - 3% = 10% GOP dropoff between '16 and '18.

That 2.8% is the difference between good candidates in open seats vs. lousy incumbents.

This is exactly what we predicted would happen in those two districts, and the data backs us up.

Of course, we also predicted that John Carter was in a lot of trouble in a presidential cycle...but, by all means, let's run John Friggin' Carter in a presidential cycle.

And yes, Chip Roy saved the GOP's bacon in CD-21.

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Dan Crenshaw and Van Taylor:

It wasn't as pronounced as the Chip Roy race, but a similar phenomenon emerged in Dan Crenshaw and Van Taylor's races.

2016 results here.

2018 results here.

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Learning from Pete Sessions:

Last cycle, we wrote the following about now-former congressman Pete Sessions:

Pete Sessions is a liability that should have been dealt with YEARS ago

That specific blog post was written in reference to a scandal surrounding Sessions' abuse of campaign contributions, but the headline doubles as a general metaphor for Pete Sessions.

We warned people about Sessions for YEARS.  Eventually, in a strong enough Democrat wave, he lost.  We should learn that lesson and preemptively address our other liabilities.

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Learning from John Culberson:

One of the open secrets among Republican campaign types last cycle was John Culberson's laziness.    Culberson might have held his seat if he'd simply worked harder.  Culberson approached the race with a sense of entitlement and the results speak for themselves.

Of course, incumbent politicians becoming entitled and lazy shouldn't surprise anyone.

Perhaps we shouldn't run entitled, lazy, incumbents.

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Reminder from 2018:

• Open Congressional seats Texas Republicans held: 6.

• Incumbent Congressional seats Texas Republicans lost: 2.

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Bottom Line: In a competitive general election environment, it's much better to have a good candidate running in an open seat than it is to try and drag some lousy incumbent across the finish line.

Lizzie Pannill Fletcher needs to vote on this so-called "Green New Deal"

"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

Last fall, the Democrats picked up a congressional seat in Houston:

That's important to remember as you read the following detail about the so-called "Green New Deal" we noticed this morning:

Ban affordable energy. GND calls for the elimination of all fossil fuel energy production, the lifeblood of American industry and life, which includes not only all oil but also natural gas — one of the cheapest sources of American energy, and one of the reasons the United States has been able to lead the world in carbon-emissions reduction.

Sooo...the Democrats' federal-level majority hinges on a district in West Houston...and their hot new idea is to ban Oil and Gas?!?

Do they realize what people in West Houston do for a living?!?

Texas is leading a global energy REVOLUTION.  It's still in its early stages, but if allowed to unfold, it will put various global bad guys [eg. Putin and the Saudis] out of business.  Making matters better, this global energy offers the opportunity for a lot of people in Houston to get rich.

All we need is for the politicians and the bureaucrats to stay out of the way.

Given this backgroud, it's imperative that Congresswoman Fletcher vote on the afore mentioned proposal.

Bottom Line: Given the industry in which many of them work, we suspect there aren't too many voters in West Houston who support banning fossil fuels....