Government Overreach vs. Back to Basics

I love it when an organic idea or a Facebook post turns into a blog, don't you?  Well, that's what spawned this blog idea in particular.  Well, that and a city election that just happened this past Tuesday.  Mayor, comptroller and city ordinances as well as Texas constitutional amendments made an appearance on the ballot and trust me when I say there was no shortage of controversy on the ballot centered around one HERO ordinance.

The HERO ordinance, or Houston Equal Rights Ordinance went down in flames, only getting thirty-eight percent of the vote.  Say what you will about the ordinance, or the wording or the good or bad of it, I'm simply of the mind that this is not something that the city government should be dabbling in.  At. All.

So, on Saturday morning, I started thinking about it and here's my 'organic' Facebook post that I posted on my wall: "What is the world coming to? We're now fighting as a city and a nation over whether or not men and women should be using the same public restrooms and now contemplating the need for a transgender bathroom? I never actually made my opinion on the bathroom issue public, but I am glad that the ordinance was shut down on Tuesday. I also think that the City government shouldn't even be dealing in this kind of matter. I endorsed Bill King for mayor and like his slogan, "Back to Basics" seems to fit the bill. Infrastructure, pensions, drainage, is the business of the city. NOT a liberal, leftist agenda by a lesbian, soon to be ex-mayor. And, no, I don't believe that anyone should be discriminated against for whatever reason, but how do we take a small segment of the population and somehow elevate their rights over the rights of a majority? Oh, wait, I'll just go one step further and offend everyone today, you could apply that same logic to black lives matter. ALL lives matter! Is this still America?"

Back to basics.  I like the sound of that.  I'm sure it's been used before in other campaigns, but to me it resonates because we're facing a time when government overreach is at an all time high.  The overreach we see is at EVERY level of government; city, state, and federal.  Here's an idea, governing bodies, if it's not in your wheel house, then you don't need to get involved!  



Another question that we have to ask ourselves, or our governing bodies should be asking themselves, is "..how do we take a small segment of the population and somehow elevate their rights over the rights of a majority?"   It's true that most people overestimate the amount of the population that identify and gay or lesbian.  Most think that at least 20% of the population identify as gay, lesbian or transgender, when it's actually less than 4%.  Less than 4%. 

And speaking of back to basics, I think that Ted Cruz has it right when he refers to the United States Constitution as his 'touchstone'   To quote him, he says, "My touchstone for every question is the Constitution."  It's just too bad that more legislators and governing bodies don't put their own special interests on the back burner in order to better represent their constituents according to the Constitution.