Who Are You?

Soooooo, who are you?  No, I'm not quoting the famous The Who song of the same title, I'm actually asking!  This question popped into my head about myself this morning while I was getting dressed.  Who am I?  I guess I could answer that question in any number of ways.  I'm a woman.  I'm a wife.  I'm a mom.  I'm a teacher.  More importantly, though, I'm a Christian.

I was reminded of that fact this morning when I put on my cross necklace.  The cross on this particular necklace is special to me because it belonged to my dad's mother.  She died when I was only ten months old, so I didn't get to know her.  The cross necklace makes me feel close to her.  I was reminded of something with even more significance than my grandmother's memory, though.  I was reminded of who I am.  I am His and He is mine.

I think we forget that from time to time.  We forget that other people are His.  No matter whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or whatever political party you align yourself with, you are a creation of God, and THAT is what defines who you are.  I guess this is technically a message we could have used during the election what with the mudslinging and all.  Now that the mud has ceased to fly and we're headed into the holiday season, I think it's a great reminder for all of us.

Yes, I am The Political Chicken.  No, I am not the Religious Chicken, although I do tend to veer towards stories from the Bible in hopes to encourage you in your faith.  I know I've been encouraged just by writing this.  Have a great rest of your holiday weekend and go into the holiday season with this reminder, "I am His and He is mine, and so are other people."

Nike or New Balance? And why?

Oh, hello out there in internet, social media world!  It's me, TPC!   There's been lots going on lately, but I haven't forgotten about you!  From Kaepernick and Nike to now New Balance and President Trump, there's always something brewing.

Colin Kaepernick.  His name has become synonymous with protest of the National Anthem sung before National Football League (NFL) football games.  He took a knee during the playing and singing of the National Anthem beginning last football season.  Has it really been two years since he started that?  I have by and large stayed out of it, and I really wasn't even going to 'go there', but here I go.

There has been a whirlwind of controversy ever since he decided to protest the National Anthem.  Many regular football fans have decided to boycott the NFL because of Kaepernick's decision to sit out during the National Anthem.  It has incited rage in some.  He's been called a myriad of names because of the protest.  Thing is, guys, IT'S ACTUALLY HIS RIGHT TO SIT IT OUT.

The NFL even supported his decision by saying that, "Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem."  Alrighty.  It's also YOUR RIGHT to not watch football because of the stance of the NFL. Since then, Nike has come out as making Kaepernick their spokesperson.  Conservatives lost their collective minds; burning their Nike shoes in the streets, y'all.  People went post apocalyptic.  SRSLY.

Now comes New Balance, not to be outdone by Nike, I guess, throwing their support behind President Trump.  The VP of Public Affairs, Sara Germano, tweeted last night that, "The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us, and frankly w/President-Elect Trump we feel things are going to move in the right direction."  This is from a Forbe's magazine article published this morning.  And I know what my conservative peeps are all thinking: support New Balance because they support our president!  Not so fast, friends.

The article goes on to say that, "For what it’s worth, New Balance would likely have backed rival candidate Hillary Clinton, too, who reversed her stance on TPP after endorsing it three years ago as President Obama’s Secretary of State. On the campaign trail she, like Trump, opposed the deal, but her so-called flip-flop made some voters nervous that she’d change her position yet again if she made it to the White House." 


As they used to say on Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the other."  Okay, so what's the difference?  One could say that Nike put their support behind Kaepernick for a publicity stunt.  Love or hate, it worked.  I mean, have you SEEN all of the anti-Nike memes out there?  Free advertising, hello!  So will we now see liberals burning their New Balance shoes in the streets?

One could also say that New Balance's decision was based on a business decision as to what was good for the company.  Which one of these reasons will cause my conservative friends to support which company more and why?  Will we continue down the road of emotions and knee jerks, or will we have a more steady hand going forward?  Remember, "Feelings are much like waves, we can't stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf."

Nabisco 'Uncages' Barnum's Circus Animals

Everyone remembers special foods that they ate growing up.  Some of them were prepared with love by family members or neighbors.  Some were snacks purchased at the grocery store.  Case in point, Nabisco Animal Crackers which were more like cookies to me. 

My mom used to buy me a little box of them at the grocery store and I ate them throughout the store while she shopped.  I remember the bright, red box and the folded over bag inside the box aimed at keeping the snack inside it fresh and ready to be consumed by eager toddler fingers.

I would also study the outside of the box with the animals on the outside and try to match the cookies to the picture of the animals on the box.  That's a special memory.  Now, Nabisco has gone and ruined it.  I wish this was satire.  Oh, how I wish.

Today's headline reads: "Nabisco animal crackers uncaged after 116 years".  Really?  After receiving some pressure way back in 2016 from those loving, caring people at none other than People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as P.E.T.A, the cracker conglomerate has decided to depict the circus animals on the front of that cute, little red box without the cage bars in front of them.  I can't.  My evens.   My childhood.

Y'all, PETA is the same group that actually KILLS animals.  In fact, they don't want people to 'own' pets at all.  The co-founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, has been quoted as saying that, “In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether."   I'll recognize that there is abuse of animals and that's absolutely uncalled for, but the hypocrisy of this group is just astounding.

What could be even more astounding is that PETA has the kind of influence to change the face of a harmless picture of circus animals on an iconic snack.   Way to go, Nabisco.

Harris County Republican Party Volunteers are Mobilized and Ready for November 2018

GOP Volunteers walking blocks for judicial candidates

Y'all know me.  I'm pretty wild.  You know, sporadic and spontaneous.  I mostly write about stuff that interests me in the hopes that it will interest you.  So, I got another wild hair while reading an article on how the Democrats are more energetic and mobilized than Republicans in 2018.  Here we go.

True, the shoe is on the other foot, if you will, in regard to having a Republican president vs. having Obama in office. That gives the Democrats reason to be fired up, much like the right and the tea party was back in 2008.  However, the Democrats would do just about anything; well, they will do anything to get their guys elected.  They'll use any means necessary, even ones that are illegal.  This is not news, folks, just reiterating the importance of the Republican activist to be on top of their ground game.

Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) IS on top of the Grassroots Ground Game.  They're working with precinct chairs, grassroots activists and candidates alike to ensure Republican victory this November.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  So, take a look for yourself at some of our awesome grassroots activists getting out the vote for our Republican ticket.

There was talk of a 'blue wave'  during the primary and Senator Ted Cruz said that, "Democrats would crawl over broken glass in November to vote."  Now, I personally loathe when politicians use those kind of scare tactics to get their base agitated and motivated.  I'm not saying he's totally wrong, either, about the broken glass thing, but the primary proved that Republican voters are more energized and motivated to go to the polls and vote.   

Still don't believe the Republicans are more engaged and focused on winning than the Democrats?  Take a gander at these stats coming straight outta HCRP  headquarters, from none other than our political director, Donna Stanart.  "Since January, the Harris County Republican Party has been hard at work to elect all of our Republican candidates from the top all the way to the bottom of the ballot.  We've knocked on almost 200,000 doors and we've called about 115,000 voters in order to secure Republican victory."

Volunteers ready to GOTV in CD-7

Good news, right?  Yeah, but we still have work to do.  There are just under 100 days left until November.  There are a number of block walks and phone banks to attend and help out with before then.  Just head over to harriscountygop.com to find a block walk or a phone bank in your area.  We need everyone's help to win in November! 

Can't Chicken Just Be Good Chicken Because It's Good?

Can we just stop?  I know it's the fault of people on the left AND the right, but could we just stop politicizing EVERY issue and every item?  We're politicizing food; most recently with Blue Bell ice cream, and over the past few years, chicken.  Chick-fil-A chicken, to be exact.


Most recently, the company has been ranked number one in fast food for customer satisfaction.  Kind of goes with the corporate purpose that Truett Cathy came up with many years ago which is, "To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive impact on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."  Pretty cool, huh?  Here's a link to the article written by The Daily Caller about our recent accolades.

Thing is, people are STILL politicizing the business.  I'm not even talking about the leftists, and trust me, there are some out there still doing that.  I'm talking about Chicks On The Right.   I follow them on Twitter (rethinking that decision now) and they re-posted the Daily Caller's article with the title, "Sorry, Libs, Chick-fil-A is Officially America's Favorite Fast Food Restaurant."  I mean, really?

Hey, it is totally cool that Chick-fil-A was voted number one, no doubt about it, but I'm starting to wonder if we have to take every chance we get to thumb our noses at liberals?  Then I start to ask myself the following questions: Does this comment or activity win us elections?  Does this convince people to want to vote Republican?  Does this advance our ball down the court any further than it was before we made the comment?

Do the memes of 'snowflakes' and 'safe spaces' help our cause?  Do the words, 'libtard' and 'Demonrats' do any good?   Just because the left does it to us, doesn't mean we have to respond in like kind. It's all a distraction from the issues.  Wag the dog, people. 

I have decided that I'm laying down my pitchfork and my torch.  I'm still in this fight for liberty and freedom for the long haul, though.  I just wish that more of my friends and colleagues would lay their torches down, too and pick up a walk list and do some promoting instead of demeaning.  As a good friend of mine eight years ago once said, "What 'FOR'"?

U.S. Senator Cornyn Speaks Reason Regarding Supreme Court Nomination

Y'all done gone and done it.  No, seriously.  Y'all, and by y'all, I mean Empower Texans done gone and made me defend John Cornyn.  It's absolutely the last thing I thought I'd ever do since he has been the subject of criticism a few times here on the blog.

John Cornyn, the senior US Senator from Texas had an article, dare I say a hit piece, written about him on Empower Texans about the upcoming Supreme Court pick by President Donald Trump.  In the article he was quoted as saying,..."Cornyn cautioned Trump against selecting any nominee with a publicly stated position on overturning court precedents such as Roe v. Wade.”   He goes on to further explain his opinion, “I think that would be a terrible mistake, for the president to nominate somebody who had that sort of agenda,” he said adding that “we don’t need judges who have either personal or political or ideological agendas, in my view. And I think that ought to comfort all of us.”

Alright, now let's think about this objectively before we get emotional.  I know, it's hard to do in politics, but it's necessary.  Would you want someone with a preconceived agenda, even if you agreed with it?  My answer, NO.  Judges are supposed to be impartial.  They aren't supposed to announce ahead of time on how they would rule on any case.  We as conservatives always cry out about 'legislating from the bench' or that we're concerned that whomever is nominated has an agenda.  That's where our hypocrisy rears its ugly head.  Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to point out the hypocrisy on the 'right' side of things. 

The thing about Empower Texans and, well, ALL of us is that we're writing articles that simply confirm our own bias.  Like in the video Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle Round Two, when Hayek says, "Are they doing real science or confirming their bias?"  I think that's something that we could apply to this situation here.  Read the article that Empower Texans wrote here and decide for yourself.

A Facebook friend says it even better than I could, so I've included his comment here, " Cornyn’s conservative credentials or the lack thereof aside, the headline is misleading. Cornyn did not tell Trump not to nominate a pro-life justice, he “cautioned Trump against selecting any nominee with a publicly stated position on overturning court precedents such as Roe v. Wade.”
Justice Willet has made this same statement time and time again, judges should not declare how they will rule on any case until they hear the case in front of them, just as Scalia did before him. Cornyn was saying that there is a difference between a pro-life judge and one who declares ahead of time that they are actively seeking to overturn any specific precedent, regardless of which one it is."  

What happened to objectivity?  I guess that's gone by the wayside along with manners and civil discourse.  Honestly, I'm writing this as someone who cares deeply for the health of the Republican party and for our unification efforts going forward into November.  Empower Texans seems that they are only capable of attacking Republicans, not ever attempting to bolster the Republican ticket in order to help defeat Democrats.  I guess that's what happens when your group has only a single financial backer and they have an agenda.  Ironic, isn't it?       

The 2018 Texas GOP Convention and Censure

Andrew Breitbart once said, "If you can't sell freedom or liberty, you suck."  Yep, that pretty much sums up my weekend at the Texas GOP convention this weekend.  Let me expound.

I have been a delegate to the state convention every two years since 2010.  This convention marks my fourth convention and probably the most disappointing convention for me to date.  The attitudes displayed by my fellow convention goers was very saddening to me.  It's true what people say about politics bringing out the worst in people.

What I saw on display was the opposite in lots of cases of what we as Republicans and Libertarians claim to be 'for'.  We claim to be for a lot of things, freedom of speech, freedom to conduct your lives with personal responsibility, free markets, etc.  However, freedom of speech was the biggest bit of hypocrisy I saw within the convention and attitudes of convention goers.  When candidates and office holders were on stage, they were at times met with boos and jeers from the audience.  Some of them were shouted down and not even given a chance to speak their mind.  Just because we don't agree with someone one hundred percent of the time doesn't mean that they should be shouted down.

Another problem I have is with the idea of censure. To censure someone means to express severe disapproval  of someone or something, typically in a formal statement.  Apparently, that's what the Texas GOP is all about.  The idea that we need to censure elected officials because we don't like a bill that they voted for or against.  Or the idea that they're not conservative enough.  There was an effort underway at Convention to offer up censure of several different Republican office holders; one of which was John Cornyn.  Now, while I don't agree 100% with Senator Cornyn, do I think he needs to be censured?  NO.  In my opinion, censure is a dangerous habit to start.  Here's why, plain and simple; when do you stop?

Here's something else to think about; just like when Margaret Thatcher famously said, "The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.", you could change it to read something like this, "The problem with censure is that you eventually run out of allies in the Republican/Conservative movement."  If you censure EVERY office holder and precinct chair or county chair, for that matter, you run out of people to actually work with.  Some will disagree with me and say that we need checks and balances.  To which I would AGREE.  Here's the 'but'; we already have checks and balances in the form of...ELECTIONS!

It's easy for all of us as activists to focus on the echo chambers of our lives, but unless you actually get out and knock some doors or do some phone banking to help elect Republicans, we'll never win, no matter who censured who.  And remember,  "If you can't sell freedom or liberty, you suck." 

The Political Chicken Endorses Charlotte Lampe for SREC

Dear Texas Delegate,

Congratulations on becoming a delegate to this year's convention!  I hope you're just as excited as I am about all of the activities coming up and the duties that we'll be fulfilling as delegates.

One of the duties that we'll be working on is electing party officers to our State Republican Executive Committee or SREC.  There are two representatives chosen from each Senate District and they do the job of representing us at the SREC meetings which are held quarterly in Austin.

Charlotte and I at Senate District Convention

My good friend Charlotte Lampe is running for the SREC position in Senate District 7.  From her website, "She is a committed grassroots activist that has been fighting to protect conservative principles for over 40 years. Many might agree that politics has a bad reputation which creates only endless conflict.   However, because of your love of our Country, our Texas, and our republican way of life we are connected. She might never have met you, if not for politics that bringing us together to fight for a common cause. She talks with many people and is inspired by your dedication to our political process. For Charlotte, you are the unexpected joy that makes politics worthwhile."

I am personally endorsing Charlotte Lampe for the position of SREC Committeewoman because,  
"I have known Charlotte for the past six years or so. We are both precinct chairs and activists in the same area of Harris County. I have always admired Charlotte for her spirited involvement and her stick-to-itiveness when she works on an issue or a campaign.

Charlotte doesn't take 'no' for an answer. She makes sure that fairness and justice prevail in every situation. She's creative and she's resourceful. She's passionate about liberty and freedom and she's committed to making sure we elect Republicans to office. For these reasons and many others, I'm proud to endorse Charlotte Lampe for the position of SREC Committeewoman to represent SD 7 and the great state of Texas."

The vote for SREC will be held on Friday, June 15, at 8:00 AM.  Please be sure to show up and vote for Charlotte Lampe!  She will be a great representative for SD 7!

Harris County Tax-Assessor Collector Refuses to Purge Voter Rolls

Imagine having an ailment and going to the doctor for it.  The doctor examines you, runs blood work and tells you in no uncertain terms what you have. Great, right?  Then, the doc looks you in the eye and tells you that he isn't going to do a damn thing about it.  Knowing full well what you're sick with, he or she won't help you fix the problem.

Now, think of the 'health' of our elections here in Harris County.  I know that the Republican Party here in Harris County does a heck of a lot to protect the ballot box.  We've set a precedent across the state of Texas with our Ballot Security Committee headed up by former True the Vote stalwart, Alan Vera.  He along with other members of the committee staff the polling places during elections to ensure that integrity at the polling place is maintained.  Alan also drafts legislation to help protect our ability to cast our votes.

There is something else called the voter rolls that have to be kept up with.  The Tax-Assessor Collector is in charge of maintaining the health of the voter rolls.  What ARE the voter rolls?  It's basically a list of names of people who are eligible to vote in our elections.  If you're like me, you think that the only people who should be allowed to vote in elections are American citizens.  Well, Ann Harris Bennett, our current tax-assessor collector would disagree.

Ms. Bennett is aware of the ailments of our voter rolls, and just like that doctor who refused to fix your problem to make you well, she's doing the same thing.  According to a Washington Times article, Ms. Bennett is quoted as saying,
         "Once a person is officially registered to vote, a state may only remove them from the voting list if: the person dies, changes residence, asks to be removed from the list, or becomes ineligible under state law because of criminal conviction or mental incapacity,” Ms. Bennett said in court papers. The National Voter Registration Act “does not create any obligation for a state to conduct a list maintenance program to remove the names of voters who may be ineligible due to lack of citizenship.”

Unbelievable.  I disagree that non-citizens should be allowed to vote in our elections, obviously.  So does our current County Clerk, Stan Stanart.  I read the article and found that he was not quoted in it at all.  So, I sent the article to him to get his reaction.  Here's what he had to say,  

          "This is ridiculous and just plain wrong.  It is her responsibility to investigate and remove all ineligible people on the voter rolls – including non-citizens.  I wish the voter registrar would share with me the names of anyone they know who voted and whom they later found to not be a citizen.   I would quickly turn then over to the DA or Attorney General for investigation and prosecution."

For context, Stan Stanart runs the elections in Harris County and he works to head off voter fraud at every turn.  

More from the article: "Ms. Bennett is fighting a request by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a conservative group pushing to clean up voter rolls, which asked the county to turn over records of people who’d signed up to vote then later admitted they weren’t citizens.

She is one of what appears to be a trend of registrars arguing that groups looking to add more names to the voter rolls are protected by the  NVRA (National Voter Registration Act), but those looking to trim bloated lists of old or erroneous names are not entitled to use the 1993 law to pry loose records."

 To Ms. Bennett, I would say, you have an obligation to the voters in Harris County to keep our voter rolls clean.  There is such a thing as election integrity, and you should be striving to maintain it. 

Parental Rights Deserve Eternal Vigilance: Arizona's SB 1473 Proves It

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few." -Wendell Phillips
Eternal vigilance.  That means you have to keep your eyes on things, right?  For like, a really long time.  As an activist, eternal vigilance over our freedoms is something that comes to mind for me.  One of those freedoms is the right to parent a child the way that you, the parent, see fit.  Fighting for parental rights was actually my first foray into politics back in 2009.  It's a subject that I will always be passionate about.The gubmint don't always agree with that sentiment.  Take a look.

Recently an article on that topic came across my email and I thought it was worth sharing. Texas Public Policy Foundation puts out a daily email about stuff that's happening around the U.S., not just Texas or Harris County.  They published an email about a bill in Arizona about drug addicted babies being removed from their mother's care and their parental rights being terminated.  Now, that might sound logical to you, especially if the mother has proven the capability to harm her child.  As Paul Berlin would say, Now, for the rest of the story..."

The idea of the bill is to actually remove the provision that so many states have which is known as 'next of kin' or 'kinship' law.  The state of Arizona wants the default to be that the child be placed with total strangers, not with grandma or an aunt or uncle.  Say what?!?   
        "When children really must be taken from their parents, study after study has shown the children do better when placed with relatives than when placed with total strangers,” reports Richard Wexler in the Arizona Daily Star  and tucson.com“That’s why 45 states have a preference for kinship care in their state laws. SB 1473 would remove the kinship care preference in Arizona law and set up new barriers to relatives that create a subtle de facto preference for affluent strangers.”

I share this with you because no one's parental rights are ever free from the danger of being removed.  Think it can't happen to you?  Think again.  As I said in my opening quote: 
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few." -Wendell Phillips

Happy Sixth Birthday, Political Chicken!

Happy Sixth birthday, Political Chicken!  Yep, the little blog that could is turning six years old!  Looking back, I think I may have missed writing a fifth birthday blog, so look for this blog to be twice the birthday fun!

Honestly, I haven't been super active on the blog for the last year, but what I have been doing is  physically being active on the local political scene.  To me, that's the most important part, physically doing something instead of sitting behind a keyboard talking about doing something; sometimes termed a 'keyboard warrior', something that I'm not.

Last year found me busy as the Vice Chair on the Local Government Committee, which has been one of my favorite roles within the local party structure.  I think I'm a great fit for that position since I've made it my business to write about almost nothing besides local elections, local taxing authorities and the like.  I have a wealth of information that I've put together right here at The Political Chicken Blog.  Don't just take my word for it, take a look for yourself!

Working on this campaign as we speak, but again, physically doing something AND simultaneously writing about doing it, is the race for District K on Houston City Council.  The late Larry Green left a position to be filled and two Republican party precinct chairs are running to fill that seat along with seven Democrats.  If we turn out just the right amount of Republican voters, we could make into the runoff.

Normally on all of my birthday blogs, I share with you the top performing posts, the ones that have the most page views.  Not this time, though.  I'd like to mix it up a bit and share with you some of the posts that never got published here on The Political Chicken until now.  I'll be opening the vault, much like Disney when they reproduce some of the classics.  I hope you enjoy.

This one coming straight to you out of the vault is called "They Didn't Let Us in at First Either" which discusses the struggle that the tea party faced to be accepted into the rank and file GOP.

I also wrote another article shortly after Britain exited from the EU entitled, Does A Brexit Equal a Texit? in which I discuss the plausibility of Texas seceding from the United States and becoming it's own nation. 

Just to mix it up even further, I'll include one of my own personal favorites because it discusses something that I do every day: home school.  The title is We Will Not Conform: Portrait of a Home School Family..

That concludes another trip around the sun for yours truly, The Political Chicken!  And as always, stay tuned to The Political Chicken!  You won't want to miss!

Does a Brexit Equal a Texit?

Texit.  Secede.  You knew it was coming.  After Britain decided to leave the European Union, in my estimation, it may have girded the already enthusiastic secession movement that is alive and well in Texas.

It's also known as the Texas Nationalist Movement, headed by Daniel Miller, (at least he's the one quoted in the articles I've read).  From the articles I've read, most of them from left leaning news sites, they are all poking fun at the 'idiocy' coming from the desire of Texans to leave the United States.  Words like 'treasonous' and 'idiotic'  have been thrown around by the authors of these articles. The conversation is going to have to be had before long.

Since my involvement in the beginning of the tea party movement, I have heard those desiring to restore the 10th amendment and give power back to the states.  Matter of fact, I've even seen and heard my own Congressman, John Culberson claim to want to restore states' rights.  So how's that legislation working out for ya, John?  Not too well, since I haven't personally seen it gain any traction.  Personally, I think it's all talk. 

Thing is, I have heard rallying cries and shouts made by my own compadres about secession, but I have seen no plan put in place to do it.  What would that look like, exactly?  I am no expert on secession, so I turned to my friend Google to find out more about it.

From a Forbes article written in 2012, that discusses the success or failure of the state of Texas after declaring independence, there were a few interesting points made in favor of secession.

"After all, it has in spades everything that made America’s economy so great–lots of land, natural resources, deep human capital (Texas universities are world-class), the rule of law, the “protestant work ethic”/”frontier mentality” (or whatever you want to call it), etc. plus something else that America used to have, which is a political and social consensus which is hostile to regulation.
Thanks to this Texas, already a very healthy economy in its own right, could essentially arbitrage America’s most egregious regulations to suck economic value away from America."
A few examples, and I'll just list them here in bullet point style.  You can click the link here if you want to read them in their entirety.

-Obviously, the biggest room for arbitrage is immigration..."You could also argue that Federal policy has been holding Texas back, and that in an independent Texas a coalition of Latinos and business interests would create a pro-immigration equilibrium."

-With a devalued currency and very little labor regulations, Texas would become a manufacturing haven

-In turn, Texas could become a technology haven.

-Same thing with healthcare..." It’s interesting to wonder whether Texas healthcare policy would be a “free-for-all” or a kind of Friedmanite voucher/HSA utopia, but in either case it’s easy to see how starting a biotech or medical devices company could be made easier in Texas.  

So, IS a Texit feasible?  The author of the Forbes article made the argument FOR an independent Texas merely for fun, for speculation.  Could it work?  That remains to be seen.

They Didn't Let Us In At First, Either: Tea Party vs. GOP

Lots of times I write about my political involvement and my faith and draw parallels between the two.  Well, I'm feeling inspired again to do just that.  I like to get you thinking; share my inspiration with you and hope to get you motivated and involved in some way.

Last Sunday while I was sitting in church, the pastor was talking about how to be a fisher of men.  How to draw others to Jesus and lead them to salvation.  Pretty normal discussion to be had in church, I suppose.  While I was sitting there, however, it hit me that in some ways, those who are GOP or part of the conservative/tea party movement could also be considered evangelists of sorts, spreading the word of limited government and personal responsibility to the masses.

The title of the sermon was "How to Land a Fish".  We could title ours, "How to Land a Voter".  He gives us in step one the instructions, find a pond.  Find a pond?  What does that mean?  It means find a place to fish; not your usual circle of friends or Christians, but those who need desperately to hear the gospel.  Again, same thing with us; find someone who needs to hear the conservative message.

Step two was to develop patience and perseverance.  

The pastor was teaching from Mark 2:1-4.  Here it is for your reference:
"A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  Since the could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on."

Picture it, a room so crowded with people that no one could get in.  People standing shoulder to shoulder and even though they turned and saw the four men carrying the paralytic on their shoulders, they didn't move a muscle.  Hold it right there.  Now, imagine the crowded room is full of establishment Republicans.  They're crowded in there like sardines and they're happy with their stagnant, stuffy ideals.  They love BIG government and the idea that government knows better than the average joe.  Hmph.

Then the tea party comes to the meeting.  Heh.  They've got a heavy load on their shoulders, too.  What is that heavy load, you say?  LIBERTY.  FREEDOM.  AMERICA.  The tea party looks inside and sees there isn't any room being made for them.  Do they give up?  Nope, and neither did the men who came to get Jesus to heal the paralytic.

So what did those men do?  They carried that heavy load, the paralyzed man up on the roof top and they started digging through.  Yeah, they did.  Then they lowered that man on his mat down in front of Jesus.  Right in front of Him.  "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

The tea party did something similar.  We weren't given an easy entrance to the party.  We may have tried to shove our way through the crowd, elbowed a few folks out of the way and began to make a difference.  Then with the heavy load of liberty and freedom on our shoulders, we climbed on the roof top.   That wasn't enough, though.  We started digging.  We started phone banking and block walking, we started running people for office, We elected conservatives to the Senate, Congress and to the state house.    We're not done yet, either.

Now, I realize that by all counts the moniker of 'tea party' is essentially done being used.  I still, however, count myself as a small part of what I look back on as the tea party movement or contingent of the GOP.  Did the tea party make a difference?  I'd like to think so.  Did the direction of the country go exactly the way we wanted?  No.  Does anything ever go according to plan?  No.  I know I'm personally willing to cut my losses and stay involved.  Others may disagree, but that's the freedom that we all share.  The freedom to continue to fight for principals and ideals, as well as the freedom to not.

The pastor also mentioned that fishing is dirty work.  I think we can all agree that the work of maintaining liberty and freedom is dirty work, too.  It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.  Count me in, and I hope I can count you in, too! 

Local May Elections Are Underway...GOTV!

Hello out there all of you beautiful people!  It's TPC back to write about a topic that I could 'write' about with my eyes shut!  Can you guess what it is? If you guessed local, unheard of elections, then you guessed correctly!  And the crowd cheers wildly with excitement...or not.

This is a super timely post for super important elections!  As I mentioned local, unheard of elections are like a gold mine for candidates in said races because of the low voter turn out.  If you follow the Lincoln four-step method to campaigns, that is.
1. Obtain a complete list of all voters.
2. Ascertain with certainty for whom each will vote.
3. Have the undecided spoken to by those in whom they have the most confidence.
4. On Election Day, make sure every Whig gets to the polls.

I happen to be working on one of these low-voter turn out, unheard of races for a Houston City Council position in District K, which I've already written about right here on this little blog.  And we're doing the Lincoln four-step as best as we can on a little budget and an even smaller amount of volunteers.   The beauty of it is, we could potentially win or make it into a runoff!

So, now that I have your attention, the election is happening NOW!.  Like, early voting started last Monday!  If you live in District K and you don't know where to go and vote, please be sure to visit www.harrisvotes.org to find out!

Several other elections are going on besides just the District K race, ones that I refer to as Local Government Matters: Pockets of Power.  I've included the link on the title so I don't have to repeat myself.  ISD's, ESD's, City Council races and many other taxing authorities   So, if you want a small portion of the electorate deciding how your tax dollars are spent, then please, stay home.  However, if you want to have a say, then you've got to show up and cast a vote!  I have faith that you'll choose the latter!  Happy Voting!

What Color Is Harris County, Anyway?

You've heard it before; "Keep Harris County Red".   Or, "Turn Harris County Red."  Some others out there want to "Turn Harris County Blue".  What does all of that even mean??

Well, unless you're completely new to politics, you have probably already figured out that the colors that are being referred to are the colors of each party, red for Republican and blue for Democrat.  What about the 'keep' and the 'turn' part, though?  Glad you asked.

Lots of people that live here in Harris County  know that our county is a battleground for control between the two major parties. To those that say that they want to turn Harris County red, I say--it is!  The county is solidly under Republican leadership; County Judge Ed Emmett and three out of four of the county commissioners are Republican!  Republicans also hold more judicial benches than Democrats do.  So, YES, Harris County IS a Republican county.

So I'm obviously in the 'Keep' camp.  We've got to keep Harris County a Republican County and the only way we can do that is to challenge ourselves as activists and precinct chairs to get out and meet the voters face to face.  Block walking, phone banking and mailers, when they're afforded, can be great tools to help turn out Republican voters.  (More on that later)

Now the Democrats are obviously those who want to turn Harris County 'blue'.  We won't get much into the ideological differences between the two parties, but unlike most major cities and bigger counties, Harris County remains red while the City of Houston is most solidly blue.  Which brings me to the point of this whole article.

I'm a doer, and if there's anything that I can physically DO to make a change for the good, I usually try to do it.  In following the blue print of wanting to 'do' something, we as Republicans have a real, tangible opportunity to DO something!  What's that?  To begin to turn the tide at City Hall!

Remember that Democrat stronghold that the City of Houston has on it?  Raise your hand if you would like to be part of loosening that stronghold!  (You should have both of your hands raised at this point.)  Then join me and others to help elect a Republican to the city council seat in District K.  The late Larry Greene held this seat and there is a special election being held on May 5th to finish out his term. 

There are two Republican candidates along with a crowded field of seven Democrat candidates vying for this seat.   Gerry Vander-Lyn is one of two Republican precinct chairs running for this position and I'm supporting her candidacy.  I'm also leading the block walking efforts for her campaign, and I'd love for you to join me on one or ALL of the block walks we'll be doing up until election day.

Click the link found here to RSVP for the block walk that's happening this Saturday.  We could sure use your help!   For those of you who dismiss the idea of being able to make a real, substantive difference, then may I say that 'can't never did anything'.  Also, please don't come to me after the election and whine about how the party didn't do anything to get involved in local elections, because, remember:

WE ARE THE PARTY!  

It's often been said that, "As Harris County goes, so goes Texas, so goes the nation"  What do you want your county, your city and your state to look like? 

The Political Chicken Has Body Pride

Serious body pride.  Do you have it?  Well, you should.  I didn't have it until the beginning of last year.  Something about turning forty spurred me on to do something for myself; something that would benefit me and in turn, my family.  I had no idea, really, when I started the process of shedding a few extra pounds that what I was going to get would be so damn powerful.

I am a woman.  I am a wife and a mom and so much more.  I, like many other mothers, did not manage to lose ALL of the baby weight from my three pregnancies.  I wasn't obese or anything like that, I just had a bigger mid-section than I wanted and that, my friends, is what made me decide to finally do something about my weight gain.

I always admired other mothers with flat tummies and was awed by the willpower I knew it took to get rid of the tummy I began to loathe.  It all came down to one word, 'DIET'.  Yep, it's a scary word.  I knew that if I wanted the slim tummy that I admired on other women, that I was going to have to grab hold of that word and stare it in the face and do some damage.

Enter my lifestyle change; the Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy.  I could explain what it is and how it works, but I'm sure you're intelligent enough to click on the link and research it for yourself, if you want to.  The diet is a 30 day metabolism reset whereby you eliminate all processed foods along with sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, wheat and the like.  Hey, I didn't say it was easy, but it was worth it.

The diet came with exercise recommendations, one of which was to get a massage on Friday.  I have not ever heard of another diet plan suggesting a massage as a form of exercise.  Ever.  I loved that part of the diet.  For four weeks, I got a weekly massage.  Now, it was a little pricey, as my husband will vouch for, ahem, but so worth it.

Four weeks later, I was twenty pounds lighter.  Not only was I slimmer, I was much more confident in my own skin than I had been in a long time, if ever before.  That was enough to keep me going.  I have managed to stick with the lifestyle change, save for my weekly burger and beer, and I have continued to lose more weight.  My total weight loss to date is twenty-seven pounds.  I like to say I've lost almost thirty pounds because it sounds like more.  I will get to a thirty pound weight loss eventually.  

Back to the first words I used to start this little story off with; 'body pride'  That is the absolute best way to describe how I feel about myself now.  I'm confident in other areas, too, don't get me wrong. There is just something about looking good and KNOWING that you look good that does something for you that nothing else can.  Zipping up skinny jeans that fit you also does something for you; it just makes you feel yummy inside. 

There's also something about knowing that you can go to your closet and have a full range of choices is empowering.  Same for buying clothes in a store.  Nothing can hold you back from getting what looks good on you except for maybe the price tag.  Heh.

This was an empowering step I took in my life and if you want to do something to improve or to empower yourself, maybe this is what you're looking for. Go on, make 2018 the year you get some 'body pride'.  You'll be glad you did.