San Antonio at Ground Zero

The latest newsletter from Texas State Board of Education member Ken Mercer, whose district covers San Antonio:

Of particular concern, the non-discrimination ordinance, know as NDO, includes the new politically correct term “gender identity.”  Gender identity means “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.”

Eighteen months ago, Liberty Counsel defended Natalie Johnson, a young African-American female employee of a San Antonio Macy’s store.  She was terminated for refusing to allow a male to have continued access to a female dressing room.  Even though Johnson cited her religious beliefs and values, Macy’s management claimed she discriminated against the biological male customer on the basis of gender identity.

Do city council members believe: “If he says he is woman, he is a woman and should be allowed access to female-only facilities?”  If the NDO passes, child molesters and sexual deviants will love this ordinance.

By the way, there is a new gender identity being promoted by the far left defined as Minor Attracted Persons (MAP).  MAP supporters believe it is politically incorrect to use terms such as “child molester,” “pedophile,” “child predator,” or “pervert.”  Instead MAP’s goal is to normalize and decriminalize pedophilia.  May God help our children.

....

If the ordinance passes, San Antonio will have to issue a special “travel advisory” to parents of junior-high daughters who come here to participate in volleyball or basketball tournaments:
 

“Warning: Biological males with gender identify issues will be
allowed in the girls’ bathroom, locker rooms, and/or showers.”

 .....

Again, the words of the NDO may change, but the original intent is clear, it is terribly discriminatory, criminalizing religious beliefs.  This is a direct attack on religion and upon men and women of faith who believe in traditional marriage who, under this ordinance, would be branded as “haters.”
 
The NDO is an outrageous attack on religious freedom – a freedom which is guaranteed by our United States Constitution.  Let me close with this statement from United States Senator Ted Cruz:
 
“Any attempt to bar an individual from public service based on a personal religious conviction is contrary to the liberties guaranteed us under our Constitution and should be emphatically opposed. It is encouraging to see so many Texans standing up to defend their religious freedoms in light of the misguided proposal put forth by the local city council.”

 Read the whole thing here.

Official Endorsement: AGAINST Texas Constitutional Amendment 6 (aka. Joe Straus' Water Slush Fund)

It's amazing how much horse manure the Republican 'leadership' of the Texas Legislature expects us to swallow; just like the Obama administration, Texas Republican 'leadership' won't let a good crisis go to waste.

Faced with an ongoing, exceptional, drought Texas Republicans, led by Speaker Joe Straus, are attempting to hoodwink voters into draining the state's savings account to enrich Joe Straus' cronies without solving our genuine water problems.

Specifically, Prop. 6 would amend the Texas Constitution to create a "water infrastructure bank."  This "water infrastructure bank" would "set up a historic revolving loan program available to local governmental entities." In other words, a bunch of lobbyists in Austin would make "revolving loans" to the same Texas local government entities that have already run up $288 BILLION in debt (principal plus interest).

All this talk of publicly financed "water infrastructure banks" making "revolving loans" to "local government entities" is politician-speak for the insiders getting rich while the rest of us foot the bill.

Making matters worse, the concept of an infrastructure bank was first proposed by Franklin Roosevelt.  It's most prominent modern proponent has been the former Democrat Governor of Pennsylvania, Fast Eddie Rendell.  That Joe Straus and his cronies are pushing ideas originally proposed by Franklin Roosevelt and Fast Eddie Rendell tells you everything you need to know about Joe Straus and his cronies.

Over the next two months, Texas voters should expect a hysterical and disingenuous campaign designed to sow panic.  They shouldn't fall for it.  The Texas "water infrastructure bank" is a classic attempt by politicians to use an alleged crisis for personal enrichment.

The time has come to send a message to Joe Straus and the rest of the corrupt Republican leadership in the Texas Legislature: Vote AGAINST Texas Constitutional Amendment 6.

Glenn Hegar's Asinine Tax Gimmick

The pro-life, second amendment, two-step is alive and well in the comptroller's race:

Tax Holiday Weekend for Sportsmen

I am proposing a new annual "Back to Hunt" tax-free weekend that will take place prior to the fall hunting season. This break from taxes will work in much the same way as the current back to school holiday that has been so successful in helping parents prepare for the school year. My goal is to help sportsmen start the season right and increase the opportunities for new hunters and fishermen to carry on this Texas tradition.

 *SIGH*....Where to begin?!?

The economics profession has something called the Permanent Income Hypothesis, which is a fancy-pants highfalutin' way of saying that people make consumption decisions based on long-term factors, not short-term stimuli; tax-free weekends are gimmicks that merely shift the timing of consumption.

This is the exact same logic that the Obama administration used in the Cash for Clunkers program; so yeah, one of our Republican candidates for Texas Comptroller (the one who deals with all the money) started his campaign with an idea so terrible it could have been thought up by Barack Obama.

Cahnman's Musings believes most second amendment enthusiasts are intelligent enough to see through this economically illiterate pandering.

Jesus, Cleansing the Temple, and Crony Capitalism

"¹⁴ And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business." John 2:14

"The Law of Moses required that any animal offered in sacrifice be unblemished, and that every Jewish male over 19 years of age pay a temple tax (see Lev 1:3, Deut 17:1).  As a result, tax collectors and inspectors of sacrificial animals were present at the temple....So in order to accommodate visitors in need of animals and the right kinds of coins, animal merchants and money changers set up shop in the outer court of the temple.  These inspectors, collectors, and exchangers, however, charged high prices."  Nelson Study Bible, note on said verse.

Jesus' cleansing of the temple is often cited by progressives as evidence that Jesus is some sort of socialist.  Progressives will argue this story reveals Jesus' opposition to productive enterprise.  In reality, Jesus is opposed to insiders rigging the game.

As the note from the Nelson study Bible makes clear, the Temple was dominated by petty bureaucrats enforcing petty rules.  These petty rules created barriers to entry that protected the windfall profits of a few select merchants.  The Temple of the early first century was hardly a scene of robust competition.

Jesus' cleansing of the Temple is a rebuke of Crony Capitalism, not Free Enterprise.

Abortion Barbie Postpones Her Decision

Yesterday's Texas Tribune:

State Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democrats' best hope to run for Texas governor, said Wednesday she is postponing the announcement of her decision so she can help care for her sick father.

“I had hoped to make public my decision about that next week, but with everything that’s going on with my dad, I won’t be doing that,” Davis said. “It’s likely it will be late September before I do.”

Davis’ father, Jerry Russell, has been in critical condition at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth following complications from abdominal surgery. In a Facebook post, Davis said Russell, who has been battling pneumonia, was “continuing to show small but positive steps toward improvement” but was “not out of the woods” yet.

Cahnman's Musings wishes Abortion Barbie's father a complete recovery, his situation can't be fun.

That being said, Abortion Barbie is in trouble regardless of the race.  Whether her opponent is Konni Burton, Greg Abbott, or Tom Pauken, any one of them will give her fits.  Late term abortion isn't popular.

Bottom line: Texas Republicans have been gearing up campaigns for two months; meanwhile, Democrats won't start for at least two more weeks.

A Special Prosecutor for Senator Tommy WIlliams?!?

A VERY interesting article from Big Jolly Politics:

 In a complaint received by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s Public Integrity Office on December 11th, 2012, it is alleged Texas State Sen. Tommy Williams exerted improper influence through the use of his office to ensure the Texas Attorney General reached a decision to file criminal charges against the complainant and others. In doing so, the complaint alleges Senator Williams violated state laws prohibiting public officials from using their office to influence the outcome of a proceeding on the basis of considerations other than those authorized by law.

....

Specifically included in the complaint was a series of emails; all obtained as official responses to a (n) open records request (s). Dated September 15, 2010 from Tommy Williams non-Senate email to or from members of The Woodlands RUD legal counsel, or their agents, representatives or related entities, one email summarizes the results of a conference call he (Williams) concluded with the (Texas) “Attorney General’s office on the voter fraud in the 23 June township election.”
....

The complaint further alleges Senator Williams violated the Texas Open Records Act in regards to an open records request made by the complainant to Patsy Spaw, Secretary of the Senate. Ms. Spaw claims to have made a search of Senator Williams email records relevant to the open records request and found that no responsive records existed. Yet when another entity made almost the exact same request, an email from Senator Williams was produced.

This is a very interesting development.  The Woodlands RUD case concerns a sinkhole of corruption north of Houston.  If Tommy Williams is caught up in this, we could see real change in the Texas Senate.

Stay tuned....

San Antonio: Recall Campaigns Commence....

Via the Recall Mayor Julian Castro Facebook page:

From the event description:

Block walk to Recall Diego Bernal and to Obtain statement of opposition signatures.
Tri-Point Parking lot @ US281
Aug 30,2013 (Sat) 9am meet!
We will be block walking to collect signatures on a petition to recall and remove Diego Bernal from City Council, and to go across SA to obtain signatures on statements of opposition to the "Non Discriminatory" ordinance .

This is bubbling up from the grassroots, which is extremely encouraging; to our knowledge, no statewide groups have discussed recalls yet.

 In other San Antonio Christian persecution ordinance news, there's an extremely one-sided write up of yesterday's city council hearing here.

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Update: San Antonio resident Wayne Allard chimes in:

Left unclear was which problem such a draconian measure would solve. Long before the current controversy, the homosexual-rights blog Advocate.com stated that San Antonio already had the “highest percentage of gay and lesbian parents in the U.S.” If discrimination actually existed in San Antonio, then where was it?

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The Chan lynching may have been just another skirmish in “Battleground Texas,” the well-heeled Democratic campaign to turn Texas from red to blue. Its strategic objective: building a permanent Democratic edge in presidential elections. However, skirmishes and battlegrounds can be unpredictable for Democrats and even for Texas Republicans, famous for exchanging greetings by asking, “What country club do y’all belong to?” Will Democratic overreach on issues like the nondiscrimination ordinance or the recent political fistfight over abortion spawn grass-roots opposition? Can stodgy Republican local parties close the deal with new voters finally in a mood to listen?

The high ground in Texas and maybe elsewhere is not gay versus straight or even sin versus grace. Instead, it involves a fundamental constitutional question: Have our basic civil liberties been eclipsed by social experiments with newer alternatives?