Good morning, 

In today’s Texas Minute you get a quick hit of the news and a dash of not-so-subtle snarkiness, then stick around to the end for a mea culpa.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Thursday, January 30, 2020
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• Despite having been caught scheming against fellow Republicans, lying to the public, making an unethical offer, and being under investigation by the Texas Rangers, some of Texas’ most prominent establishment PACs and donors still threw cash to House Speaker Dennis Bonnen in late 2019. Transparency Texas reveals in a new report how the PACs for the Texas Association of Realtors and Texans for Lawsuit Reform are among those propping up Speaker Bonnen even as he exits politics in disgrace.
       
• Apparently they would rather keep their seat at a corrupt table with an even more corrupt politician than stand for ethics and conservative principles.
   
• Last weekend the Wall Street Journal unfavorably compared Texas’ still-rising property tax burdens with the confiscatory taxes imposed on Californians. Word has reached us that some of our statewide officials are a bit miffed; turns out they didn’t want anyone in Texas to find out the WSJ isn’t impressed with their lack of tax-cutting performance.
        
• Maybe if Texas’ Republican leadership had devoted the $10 billion surplus to actual tax relief rather than government bloat... Never mind; we don’t want to upset the fragile sensitivities of politicians unwilling to deliver on the promises they have made.
      
• But speaking of promises... The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board noted yesterday morning that besides undermining Virginians’ Second Amendment Rights, Democrats “aren’t wasting time with their first statehouse majority” and are moving quickly to repeal 70-year-old right-to-work laws protecting employees from forced unionization. When Democrats take control, they rush to enact their agenda. Republicans should take note: when voters put you in charge, take bold actions.
       
• Remember, Virginia was very recently a reliably Republican state. GOP officials there began capitulating to the perceived threat of Democrat incursions, sacrificing key policy positions and ended up losing the state. Sound familiar? If Texas falls to the Democrats, it will be because Republican officials gave it up.

• In this week’s edition of Texas Scorecard Radio, your host Tony McDonald interviews Bunni Pounds of Christians Engaged about their efforts to educate churchgoers about their rights and responsibilities as citizens. You’ll also hear about the endorsements of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and other news from around the state.
       
• Even if Texas Scorecard Radio isn’t broadcast locally, you can catch every edition on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.
       
• Dallas County Democrats clearly weren’t enthused about their choices in the special election in House District 100. Erin Anderson reports turnout “was dismal even by Dallas standards.” Fewer than 2,500 of nearly 87,000 voters in the district participated in the special runoff election—just a 2.9 percent turnout. Lorraine Birabil won with 66 percent of the vote over fellow Democrat James Armstrong III.
     
• Contrast that with Fort Bend County, where the runoff pitting Republican Gary Gates against Democrat Eliz Markowitz saw the GOP candidate not only win with nearly 60 percent of the vote, but do so with 20 percent of registered voters participating.

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