Which Texas REPUBLICAN Congressman Wants to STAY IN THE IRAN DEAL?!?

"Son of men, set thy face against Gog, and against the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,"
Ezekiel 38:2

Wait...what?!?

WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, reaction from Congress fell largely along party lines, with Republicans applauding the move and Democrats warning of grave international consequences.

But at least one Texan – and an important one on foreign policy issues – offered a more nuanced statement, suggesting that the Trump administration should have waited longer to see if the deal could be improved.

"I have no doubt that the [Iran deal] was flawed and that for years Iran has been deceptive about its nuclear and other programs," said U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, who chairs the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. "My preference would have been to give our European allies a few more months to strengthen the deal, but now that the president has decided that the United States will withdraw, we must have two critical priorities."

"One is to further enhance our own military capabilities," the Clarendon Republican added. "The other is to strengthen our alliances. A strong, international effort is required to curtail Iran’s aggressive behavior in a number of areas."

The Iran deal offered nothing good to anyone.  We were essentially bribing the Iranians not to develop nuclear weapons at a time when they were lying to us and developing nuclear weapons.  The only consequence of getting out of the deal is that we stop giving them money.

Bottom Line: It's a bizarre position to take, but duly noted for a future primary.

Four Texas Congressmen REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE in Harvey Hostage Taking!!!

"Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;"
Proverbs 3:9

Signs of life in our congressional delegation?!?

The U.S. House approved $15 billion in aid to support those affected by Hurricane Harvey's destruction in southeast Texas on Friday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump's desk for his signature. Later in the day, Trump signed it into law.

The funding is only meant to serve as a short-term measure, and a much more expansive bill is expected to be negotiated later in the fall. The aid was also part of a larger deal to avoid a government default and shutdown for the next three months.

....

Four Texas Republicans voted against the bill: U.S. Reps. Joe Barton of Ennis, Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, Sam Johnson of Richardson and Mac Thornberry of Clarendon.

....

"I am not against voting for relief programs to help hurricane victims, but I am against raising the public debt ceiling without a plan to reduce deficits in the short term, and eliminate them in the long term," Barton said in a statement. "The money we vote to spend today will have to be paid back by our children and grandchildren."

Thornberry, chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, cited an aversion to short-term funding measures that he said harmed the military.

Good for them.

Hensarling also put out a longer statement:

The term emergency is truly warranted w/ recent tragedy, but another emergency we continue to ignore is that of unsustainable nat'l debt. pic.twitter.com/kzRvVn84Hh

— Jeb Hensarling (@RepHensarling) September 7, 2017

Obviously, what happened this past week in D.C was disgraceful. And, unfortunately, it's probably something we're just going to have to deal with in the coming months.  But it's good to see four members of the Texas delegation (none of whom are typically known as profiles in courage) reject this act of political blackmail.

Bottom Line: Good for them.