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.

Kansas City BBQ Tour Review

I heart bar-be-que.  I think most people do, and there's many places in Texas for good bar-be-que.  I have lived in Texas all of my life, but with the dawn of The Food Network and shows like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and other travel/review food shows, it makes one curious about the food featured on those shows.  Enter Kansas City bar-be-que.  Kansas City, MO or Kansas City, Kansas?  YES!



My husband and I had a few free days back in June of 2017 and we decided to use those days to fill our bellies with glorious, Kansas bar-be-que.  The star of the show on this tour; burnt ends.  Meat candy. If you've never had a burnt end, I suggest you try one immediately!  Basically a burnt end is pieces of the 'fat cap' of the brisket cubed and smoked twice!  Seriously delicious.  We tried four different Kansas City bar-be-que restaurants and here they are ranked in order of favorite to least favorite:

1. Joe's KC BBQ- We visited the original location still inside a gas station where you can pump gas and then go inside and get some of their delicious bbq.  They opened that location in 1996 and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.  The line was ridiculously long at 2:00 PM.    Definitely worth the wait.  If you ever get to visit Joe's, be sure and order their world famous sandwich, The Z-Man.  Delish.

2. Q39- This was our first stop on the unofficial bbq tour and, man, it did not disappoint.  The brisket was on point; it was juicy and flavorful and smokey.  Did I mention delicious?  They're also known for their onion rings, so of course I ordered some of those.  Out of this world.  Their assortment of bar-be-que sauces were amazing, but with meat that good, you didn't even need (or want)

the sauce. 

3. Third on the list is Smokehouse Barbeque.  We went there late one night, right before closing.  The staff was extremely friendly and attentive.  The brisket was good and so were the sweet potato fries.  There wasn't anything horrible about the place, but there wasn't anything that stood out to me, either.  I'm not a food critic, so take my opinion with a grain of salt as you choose, but this place was just good, not great.

4. Jack Stack BBQ was last on my list.  I am a brisket girl (obviously) and their brisket left a little to be desired.  The meat seemed like it had been sitting for a bit, not because it was cold, it was just stale. 


We stayed in a quaint little bed and breakfast place a little off the beaten path.  We traveled in the middle of the week, so one of the nights we stayed, we actually had the entire place to ourselves, which was amazing.  I gave it five star review on TripAdvisor, so that means it was a special place.  The Inn on Crescent Lakes was the name of it and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there.  You should go!


Last but not least was our trip to the WWI museum located in Kansas City, MO.  It was more wonderful than I could have ever hoped for.  I'm not a history buff by any means, but this museum made me WANT to be one.  Never having really studied WWI, it seems that would have put me at a disadvantage, but the way they presented the information and the artifacts made it really easy to follow the progression of the war.  Now I'm hooked on learning about the war and history in general.  Now that's a good museum! 

I hope you've enjoyed our virtual trip around Kansas City together.  Now, get off your butt and GO there!  You'll be glad you did!

An Earmark By Any Other Name Is Still an Earmark

You've heard "trust but verify" from none other than Ronald Reagan, no doubt.  The Tea Party movement taught us to do that, and I hope you still are.  Especially in the case of John Culberson, my congressman.

Congressman Culberson has been the star of many a blog posts here on The Political Chicken, and I'm feeling the need to turn the spotlight on him once again.  Not because he's done anything NEW and egregious, but because of things he's STILL claiming to be.  If you visit his website, he touts himself as a Jeffersonian Republican, but anyone who's studied his voting record can dispute that fact.  Something that I did in a post titled, "Is John Culberson A Jeffersonian-Republican...Or Not?

Just like your favorite infomercial, but wait, there's more.  Not only do the votes I highlighted in the blog referenced above prove that he is NOT a Jeffersonian-Republican, the fact that he's been making efforts to bring back earmarks proves it even further.  Not only that, but when you take into account that Jefferson himself was against earmarks and addressed them in a letter he wrote to James Madison, it proves Culberson's claims as laughable.

In the letter, Jefferson writes of earmarks, "it will be a scene of eternal scramble among the members who can get the most money wasted in their state, and they will always get most who are meanest.  We have thought hitherto that the roads of a state could not be so well administered even by the state legislature as by the magistracy of the county, on the spot. What will it be when a member of N.H. is to mark out a road for Georgia?"   Sounds familiar.

The fiscal watchdog organization, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is also, obviously, against the use of earmarks.  Their former director of government affairs Bill Christian had this to say, "For those who rely too heavily on the “Article I” argument (that Congress controls the power of the purse), this is an important distinction that cannot be repeated enough:  Yes, members of the House of Representatives are sent to Washington, D.C. to “represent” their various and diverse districts on issues of national importance; they were not, however, sent to the national capital to demonstrate how much more clever they might be, in manipulating the national treasury at the expense of their less senior and/or less powerful colleagues.  Surely, the Founding Fathers did not intend for the “power of the purse” to be used to “rob Peter to pay Paul.”.  CAGW also named Culberson their 'Porker of the Month' in their December 2016 issue.  

What makes this also very 'funny' is that Culberson is out there campaigning so darn hard for the earmarks to be reinstated all the while claiming to be a Jeffersonian Republican.  Culberson is campaigning for this effort using the Article 1 argument, which Bill Christian has said is another version of 'robbing Peter to pay Paul."  And while Culberson and those that want to return to earmarking funds for their districts say that doing so won't increase spending, it still increases the deficit!   

Another recent development in the effort to bring back earmarks is the potential threat that Hurricane Harvey is posing for the Texas Gulf Coast.  The Houston Chronicle reports in an article that now Congressman Culberson is working to use this potential crisis to his advantage to get earmarks returned, and he's got two local Democratic congressman on board; Al Green and Gene Green.  They offered their support, "when he proposed some loosening of the federal prohibition on earmarks."  Well, now isn't that surprising, that a Democrat would want to spend more of your tax dollars?  What was all of that talk about draining the swamp again?