FreedomWorks Introduces Come And Take It

Come and take it.  What do you think of when you hear those words?  If you’re like me, I immediately conjure up an image of a cannon with a star above it.  What about the story behind the phrase, though?  It has been used numerous times, but the most memorable time was during the Battle of Gonzales when the Texians had been given a cannon by the Mexican authorities to fend off attackers, but when the tide turned and the Mexican government decided to attack the Texians and the authorities wanted the cannon returned, well, you know what the Texians said.  You guessed it, “Come and take it.”


It is almost a dare, if you will, ‘come and take it’, and that’s why I love it so much.  I love to be contrary and if someone doesn’t think I can do something, well, all the more reason to try.  Now enter from the left, ahem, Battleground Texas.  Who?  You know, an arm of Obama’s OFA group of libtards who think that they are going to turn Texas ‘blue’ otherwise known as a democratic led state.
Thankfully, Freedomworks has beat me to the dare.  They’ve launched Come And Take It, their counter to the Battleground Texas folks.  With it they’ve brought their grassroots leader who is originally from Texas, Whitney Neal along with numerous regional directors and a whole army of volunteers itching at the chance to shut the door on BGT’s efforts.


Need a little motivation to get involved?  Think back to the effort we all put into electing Senator Cruz.  Hours, sweat and more sweat (I mean, it was a July runoff, right?) and energy and think of all of that for naught.  Yep, if BGT is successful, that’s what it will be.  No more Republican presidential victories, no more Republican majority in the Texas House of Representatives OR Texas Senate.  Things could get pretty bleak, so please don’t think that because I called them ‘libtards’ doesn’t mean that there isn’t a reason for concern.
All is not lost, though.  There is time to hold the line and the good news is that you can help, too.  Visit http://www.comeandtakeittx.com and sign up to be a volunteer.  We can all link arms and together with our voices loud and clear say, “Hey, BGT, Come and Take It”!

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Who was famous for saying that there is a "..never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way?"  Was it one of our founding fathers or was it the mysterious man wearing a blue and red cape and a large letter 'S' emblazoned on his chest?  If you guessed Superman, you are correct!

If you haven't been living under a rock you've heard plenty about the three scandals aka 'scandalpalooza'  that have rocked the White House over the last few weeks; the Benghazi hearings, the AP phone tapping scandal and the IRS targeting conservative groups by denying their organizations tax exempt status to stall their efforts during the 2012 presidential election cycle.

I am a new blogger for TexasGOPvote.com and I was lucky enough to be at the IRS hearing conducted by Committee of Oversight and Government Reform which is chaired by Representative Darryl Issa R-CA.  Now, a little background on myself might be helpful here.  I am a tea partier along with being part of the GOP.  I was at the first tea party held here in Houston, Texas in 2009 and all of the subsequent tea party rallies and helped coordinate a few of those as well.  I have personally worked hundreds if not thousands of hours on different projects, strategy meetings and helped block walk for campaigns, as well as run for school board in order to make an impact for the betterment of my community.  I have been shoulder to shoulder with other patriots and felt the sting of the left-wing media when they attempted to mock and marginalize the tea party message.   Don't think it isn't difficult working with others trying to paint you into a corner and trying to shut you down.  Sadly, some of those trying to shout us down have come from within our own party, but that's another story for another day.

So to hear the opening statement from Rep. Issa on Wednesday morning, it brought a little tear to my eye, feeling like someone else had finally taken offense for all of the lies that we had been beaten over the head with since day one.  Here is a quote from his opening statement: "Our democracy was created by people, for the people.  When government power is used to target Americans for exercising their constitutional rights, there is nothing we as representatives should find more important than to take it seriously, get to the bottom of it, and eradicate the behavior.  Since 2010, there appears to have been a targeting of people based on their beliefs.  These people, particularly those who used Tea Party in their name, were mocked by the liberal media, mocked by late night television, and referred to by this administration regularly with disdain..."  I concur.

There has been a number of findings from the Inspector General and lots of evidence to back up the fact that conservative groups were targeted.  I know my own tea party was targeted by asking for personal information about our volunteers and members.  There were requests made for future rally destinations to be reported, copies of handouts that would be distributed, etc. I personally think it's great that this is being investigated, but a lot of my fellow tea partiers want to know, to what end are these investigations taking place?  So, to find out a little more information, I spoke with Congressman Mike Turner the day of the hearings.
TX GOP VOTE: "What are the goals of this committee in the investigation?"
Rep, Turner: "There's the key issue of who, what, when, where, how and to hold those people accountable who were using an investigative arm of our government to persecute  people based on their political beliefs and their political affiliations."

TX GOP VOTE:" How many more hearings do you think there's going to be?"
Rep. Turner: "We're not giving in so there's going to have to be additional hearings.  We're going to get to the bottom of this whether people want us to or not. This goes to the heart of being able to preserve democracy and we're going to ensure that our fellow government isn't persecuting people."

TX GOP VOTE: "How far do you think this is going to go?"
 Rep. Turner: "We are going to take this wherever this leads.  I think that those who know and were complicit should be very worried."

TX GOP VOTE: "Has this investigation uncovered anything that hasn't been revealed yet?"
Rep. Turner: I think the scope and really the abhorrent actions are certainly giving greater fidelity as we go through this.   We just had, Mr. Shulman just said that he's not certain that this violates our democratic principles.  I was aghast.  Of course it does! This goes right to the heart of freedom and the fact that he doesn't see that, certainly shows an environment in which this could happen."

The other sad thing is that the IRS would have you to believe that the reason for all of this targeting that was going on was due to two 'rogue' agents at the Cincinnati, Ohio IRS office.  Yeah, tell that to the four Americans that lost their lives in Benghazi over a You Tube video. So the never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way wages on and it's us versus them.


  

Priorities: Republicans Haz 'Em

Think about the things that Texas is known for.  Oil, trucks, cowboys, cows and big city life.  Also, a gun loving governor and a booming economy.  Oh, yeah and the myth that everything is bigger in Texas, right?  We've got big trucks, big hair and...big government?  Big government, you say?  Sadly, yes.

Back in 1999, the Texas Legislature signed a bill into law that granted a panel of doctors, appointed by the hospital in which they work, to help with end of life directives.  What does that mean, exactly?  Well, if you wanted to go all Sarah Palin, then, I guess you could call these death panels.

As we all know, the 83rd legislative session of the Texas house is coming to a close.  This year proved to be a fairly quiet one, until now.  The current legislative body has apparently being working on drafting what they would have you believe is an improvement to the law already in place.  My state representative, Bill Callegari happens to be one of the co-authors and he is down right proud of his work on this bill, according to his staffer, Steven, Representative Callegari feels it would be 'morally wrong' not to pass this bill.  They are selling this as an upgrade, if you will.  SB 303 and
HB 303 are up for consideration, and from my own personal research, along with others, this bill is just as bad.  Hey, don't take my word for it, take a look for yourself.  Texas Right to Life is an organization that believes that this bill should not be passed in it's current form.  You can even read their own pro-life stance here. I would tend to agree with their philosophy on life.  Life is sacred.  It's so sacred that it's enumerated in our Declaration of Independence, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Also for your viewing pleasure, I have a side-by-side comparison of the current law and the proposed bill and Texas Right to Life's stand on the bill.

There are other groups here in Texas that have raised some legitimate concerns about the passage of this bill and Texas Home School Coalition is one of them.  You can read their own blog about this bill here.  This bill could also prove to hinder the rights of parents to decide their own child's fate when end of life decisions need to be made.  That's a sobering thought.

I called Representative Callegari's office and I started off the conversation with a question that seemed simple enough to answer.  I asked him that since Representative Callegari is a Republican representative, what does he see the role of government in every day citizens lives.  He tried to roll me with an actual story that he thought would sell me on the idea of this bill needing to be passed.  I thanked him for the information, but wondered if he would answer my original question.  He couldn't.  His answer was that Rep. Callegari doesn't feel that this bill creates death panels. 

I also called a few other representatives and they relayed that they had met with and interviewed a number of doctors and talked to groups like Texas Alliance for Life and after that, they were more comfortable with the bill.  My question is, what about the constituents?  Where do they factor in?  They are the folks who got you elected, are they not?  The answer that the staffer seemed hung up on was that Representative Callegari felt that it would be morally wrong not to pass this bill. 

I also asked where this bill had originated; why it was authored in the first place, and he assured me it was his own constituents.  Well, I'd like to meet some of those liberty lovin' folks!  #sarcasm, people!  He also assured me upon my questioning that Rep. Callegari isn't beholden to any lobbyist groups because he doesn't need their money to win elections. 

One of the other things that concerns me is that Steven told me that these 'end of life' situations usually only crop up two times a year.  Yeah, TWO times a year!  So, let's knee jerk legislate this problem away, shall we?

This is why it's so important to stay active and vigilant when it comes to government on all levels, whether it be local school boards and mud districts, our state government, or all the way to the nations capitol.  It's called tyranny 'creep' for a reason, ya'll.

Believe it or not, I have yet to hear from Representative Callegari himself.  Hey, I'm still waiting....

*This article was originally published on the Texas GOP Vote website and you can view it here.

Happy Birthday, Political Chicken!

Hard to believe, isn't it?  The Political Chicken is officially a year old.  Seems like just yesterday it was an idea 'hatching' to become a reality.  Then before you know it, the egg cracked open and the blog was born.

The blog has been through a lot in a year's time.  It lived to tell about a postponed primary and endorsed candidates in said primary.  It has survived the passage of Obamacare by the Supreme Court as 'constitutional' and the reelection of Obama himself.  It also shared insight from a biblical worldview on the war on women as well as some personal, emotional moments.

The Political Chicken blog to date has been viewed a little over 4,000 times.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.  The most popular blog post was...drum roll, please...Sex, Lies and Politics with 398 views!  See, I knew I should have started every blog title with the word 'sex'.  Damn!  As Iron Sharpens Iron follows in second place with 256 page views.

One of my personal favorites that I wrote just for fun, is titled I Got Nowhere Else To Go, in which I poke fun at a few of my fellow political activist buddies.  Yeah, that's how I roll.

Someone told me today that I like to throw bombs, and I guess I can't argue with that.  So, as you peruse the site, you'll find some of those as well.  One in particular that I like a lot is A Tale of Two Senators.  Check it out, you might like it, too.

Well, that's all for now.  Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement as I've written and vented and expressed and endorsed.  You've been fabulous, but this is only the beginning!  MUAH!

Why I'm Voting 'No' on the Lone Star College Bond

So, okay.  We're facing an election.  Again.  This time it's not dirty, sexy, national level politics.  It's dirty, sexy local level politics.  Politics is always dirty, ain't it?  This time we're talking bond election for a local community college system, Lone Star College System.

What goes through your mind when you hear the word 'bond'?  I always want to put my hands up in front of my face and shrink back in horror to try to hide from it.  I immediately think, debt, piles of money that the tax payer will owe, bondage and no, not THAT kind of bondage.  Come on, now, this is a family show.  Ahem.

So, in order to avoid such a 'knee jerk' response to this bond, I decided to peel back the layers and find out a little about the bond.  First, let's talk dollars.  How much IS the bond referendum?  It's for $497.7 million dollars.  Second question I usually ask is, WHAT are they going to spend it on?  Here is a broad scope of things to start with:

• New instructional and support buildings – 996,000 sf
• Renovations to existing facilities – 252,000 sf
• Increase parking – 5,630 spaces
• Improve campus safety and security
  
• Expand and upgrade technology infrastructure
• Improve traffic flow and campus access

Okay, so we can go to the next question, WHY?  Here is information taken straight from the Bond Referendum website: The 2013 bond referendum expands capacity to meet unprecedented student population growth. In the five short years since the last bond referendum in 2008, LSCS has added 30,000 students, which is equivalent to adding the combined total enrollment of five medium-sized colleges like Alvin Community College, Lee College, Galveston College, Temple College and Victoria College.  Here are a few videos from a meeting that I helped coordinate in order to find out more information.  Forgive me, they are raw, unedited footage. 

Seems pretty straight forward at this point, right?  Well, not quite.  You see, there are a few more questions I want to have answered, and I haven't heard back from the college in order for me to recommend a 'yes' vote.  The questions I had and still have are:
-What is the graduation rate of students?
-What number of students are transferring to a four year school?
-What has enrollment been?  (I think the current number of students enrolled is 90,000.)
-What is the current debt load of the district?
All of these questions I called and left messages for the head of the accounting department, Diane Novak.  She then passed my information on to Jed Young and he called me and took down my questions and promised to email me the answers to these questions.  I have not heard back from him to date.  Here are the links to the two videos that I recorded the night of the meeting.  Ray Laughter speaking to a group of concerned citizens.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one with questions.  I found this information posted on Google Plus from a Leslie P.  "Carl Joiner, Treasurer - I'll Google that name, see what I find.  Yeah. Carl Joiner, President of Joiner Partnership, they design buildings. Buildings for school districts, colleges, and fire departments (government buildings, paid by tax dollars). His wife is their VP of Interior Designer. His son is their Director of Construction. So they can design the building inside and out, and build it. How helpful.

And all of the advertising investment he's making to ensure that these bonds get passed. Well, golly, he's just being a good public servant."  She also links to Mr. Joiner's website here. 

There's already another blog out going against the bond and they cite the flagging enrollment rate as a reason to vote 'no'.  Here is a quote from that blog: "However, there is good evidence that recent growth in enrollment may be leveling off. LSCS’s 2011-12 Comprehensive Annual Report is introduced with a letter from Chancellor Richard Carpenter that states, “The next several years will prove challenging with anticipated continued restrictions in state funding and flat enrollments” (Emphasis added).

When I read about the information on Google, I cringed a little because we always seem to find ourselves being pushed to support what I call cronyism.  Also, if there is really a flagging enrollment that's a problem as well.  So I'm saying vote 'no' on the Lone Star College Bond.  The End.

Are You There, God? It's us...the Tea Party.

You know, it just occurred to me that this whole idea of government providing a sense of security isn't a new phenomenon. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun. Think for a second about Moses and the Israelites and how he led them to freedom from the Egyptians.  Talk about 'herding cats'.  I can't even begin to imagine how he must have felt.

 The Israelites grumbled and complained against Moses because of the quality of the food! Manna and quail wasn't good enough for them. They used to say things like, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." Think about how frustrated Moses must have been with them.  Seriously; die?  They would have rather DIED than to have been led to freedom. 

Now, let's think for a minute about the party of politics that believes in bigger government, bloated government, if you will.  The one who believes that the government is there to provide safety and security as it pertains to a way of life.  How it manages to perpetuate this idea that the government should provide, well, EVERYTHING for you no matter how much freedom or liberty you must give up to obtain the 'goodies'.  Hey, I could be talking about EITHER party at this moment because they have both shown tendencies to overreach for the greater good, haven't they?  

We have all banged our heads up against the wall over the last few years at this very idea.  Yet, the overreach continues, and slowly it becomes more egregious each time.  We've seen tyranny creep into our lives and have, except for recently, stood idly by while it happened

I always go the TSA as probably the most glaring insult to the freedoms of Americans and travelers from everywhere...well, almost everywhere.  First there was the shoe bomber, so the solution to make us feel safer?  Take off all the shoes!  Next, the underwear bomber.  Thankfully, we don't have to take off our underwear...yet, but I'm sure it has come up in conversation.  Nah, instead they just feel up our private parts on the outside of our underwear.  Oh, yeah, I feel SO much safer now.  Yet, people still walk through the 'nudi-scanners' as I so fondly refer to them, because they honestly believe it will make them safer.  

Tea party and conservative activists bemoan the fact that we can't get the American people to 'wake up' and take a look around at the freedoms being forfeited by us on a daily basis.  I'm guilty of this bemoaning, too.  Now, hang with me for a minute while we walk in Moses' shoes.  Seriously, think about it.  He heard grumbling and complaining all. day. long.  The people were hot.  The people were thirsty.  The people were hungry.  What did he do about it?  He talked with God.  He prayed about it.  Moses prayed to God and asked Him for help.  If Moses did that, can't we all do it, too?  It seems like a very simplistic approach, doesn't it?  How much better off would be be, as a country, as a movement, if we just humbled ourselves and prayed? 

A Tale of Two Senators

Look, I know you are all probably sick of hearing about voting records and continuing resolutions and funding this or that.  Deal with it.  It's going to get worse.

So, I wrote a little blog, titled Versions of the Truth, in which I document the tale of two stories, one in which it was reported that Congressman Culberson had in fact voted to fund Obamacare, and the other, in which he had not.  Guess who told the version that he had not voted to fund Obamacare?  If you guessed his office, you guessed correctly.

Fast forward about a week or so.  The same CR came up for a vote in the Senate.  Now, mind you, the line item for the Health and Human Services is listed in the summary of the bill and the story I got from Culberson's office was that therein was the confusion.  The line item only funded WIC and not Obamacare.  Via Redstate.com, I read that Senator Cornyn had voted FOR the continuing resolution and that Senator Cruz voted AGAINST the continuing resolution.  Wow.

So, I thought a call to Cornyn's office was in order to find out what really happened.  According to Claire, Senator Cornyn does oppose Obamacare.  He just didn't want to see a government shut down, and I told her I thought it might be a good thing to have a shut down.  She didn't agree.  It gets more interesting than that, because unbeknownst to me, Big Jolly was writing a blog the same time I was, he just got his out first.  Ha!  According to Big Jolly aka David Jennings and a press release from Senator Cornyn's office, Cornyn was able to accomplish the following:

• The Continuing Resolution denies President Obama the nearly $1 billion dollars in additional funding he requested for implementing the health insurance exchanges;
• It lowers spending levels, something that has not been done in years; and
• Keeps the sequester cuts in place

Now, I'm becoming more of a skeptic these days and I don't always believe what I'm told.  When it refers to spending cuts, I'll borrow a question from one of my good friends Felicia Cravens and ask, "What government agency is getting less funding this year than last?" I am also not sure where he saw the information about denying the President the $1 billion in additional funding. 

Not being well-versed in policy and how it's written coupled with being a skeptic I decided I wanted to compare notes with Senator Cruz's office.  I called Senator Cruz's office to find out why he didn't vote for the resolution.  Guys, I gotta tell ya, you could have knocked me over with a feather when these words came across my phone and I'm paraphrasing, of course: "Because it had Obamacare funding in it.  The Senator voted on principle.  He came to Washington to represent the will of the people of Texas and he's not going to vote to spend money on Obamacare."  Wow.

The staffer whose name I failed to get, then went on to say that Senator Cruz is not afraid of a government shut down.  That if the government did shut down, it was only the non-essentials that wouldn't get funded.  He also recalled the result of the government shut down of 1995; say it with me, a BALANCED BUDGET!  He went on to say that what's going to cause a shut down is if we keep spending money the way we are because we are borrowing $.40 on every dollar.  Wow.

So who are you going to believe?  I'd put my money on Cruz every time.

But wait, there's more.  Oh, yes, just this morning, I received a post on my Facebook wall about this very vote that still has folks disputing via Redstate, so of course I felt the need to finish up this blog and share my knowledge.  Erick Erickson stands by his original story, that yes, John Cornyn did in fact vote to fund Obamacare, and now by saying he didn't, he's simply lying.  All we want as constituents is the truth.  Is that too much to ask?