Good morning,

The State of California is giving cash to illegal aliens as part of its Chinese coronavirus strategy. That is truly the stupidest place in North America.

But first, here is today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Modify your email preferences [[link removed]].

At the bottom of the Texas Minute you will find coronavirus tracking data from IHME, state, and federal sources.

“Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not been a leader in the coronavirus crisis.” That’s the assertion made by Dallas businessman and former Republican state senator Don Huffines [[link removed]], a popular conservative activist. He adds that Abbott “has not clearly communicated a plan; he relies on Washington for direction and lets local leaders walk in where his lack of leadership creates a void.”

Last week Abbott suggested he would announce a plan this week. The governor’s office announced yesterday that this coming Friday he will announce efforts to allow Texans back to work.

On the latest edition of Texas Scorecard Radio [[link removed]], Tony McDonald visits with historian David Barton of WallBuilders about efforts to strip Texans of their right to vote for judges.

Speaking of which... As elections in Texas have been shaken up due to the government-imposed restrictions in response to the Chinese coronavirus, Brandon Waltens reports [[link removed]] Democrats are advocating for expanded access to mail-in ballots as an alternative to in-person voting. Attorney General Ken Paxton yesterday said “no” to that idea.

“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” – President Donald Trump [[link removed]]

Private universities in Texas are announcing cost-savings cuts, Cary Cheshire reports [[link removed]]. Earlier this week Baylor University announced plans to trim $65-80 million from its budget in the fiscal year that begins June 1, and St. Edward’s University in Austin revealed plans to cut six athletic programs as part of a downsizing exercise.

When will the taxpayer-funded universities – like the University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech – start doing likewise?

The Watauga City Council voted this week to make it illegal for citizens there to record interactions with city officials without permission. As Robert Montoya reports [[link removed]], this action puts the city in conflict with state law – which allows citizens to record any conversation of which they are a part.

“Making it an ordinance where you’re going to have private citizens be guilty because they felt they needed to record a conversation because of past experience is a bit much... I think to punish citizens [with] this ordinance is just wrong on a lot of levels.” – Watauga City Councilman Scott Prescher, the only council member to vote against the ordinance

At 3pm today, you can join me and Texas Right to Life’s Jim Graham for the Jim & Michael Show [[link removed]]. It runs live on Facebook [[link removed]], but the recording is available very quickly after on our YouTube channel [[link removed]] and the Texas Scorecard website [[link removed]]. California is handing out $500 to each illegal alien as part of the state’s Chinese coronavirus response. Yes, seriously. Cary Cheshire has details [[link removed]] of the state’s $75 million plan to hand cash out to 115,000 illegal aliens.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced [[link removed]] the U.S. would immediately halt all funding for the World Health Organization. He accused the United Nations agency of having “put political correctness over life-saving measures” in responding to the Chinese coronavirus.

In a new commentary, Rachel Bovard writes [[link removed]] that the Chinese coronavirus is “putting America’s biggest businesses to the test.” That includes, especially, the actions of Amazon, helmed by Democrat activist Jeff Bezos.

And finally... regarding yesterday’s link to John Davidson’s Federalist article, Keith M. wrote: “The governors and mayors who are blatantly violating the U.S. Constitution are not tyrants, per se, but fit the bill of being ‘domestic enemies of the United States of America.’” Excellent point. Quote-Unquote

“Hardworking Texans are smart and independent, and we know the solutions to our problems come from ourselves. We need a governor committed to those truths.”

– Don Huffines [[link removed]]

Number of the Day

14.67%

Funding from the U.S. taxpayer represents 14.67 percent of the World Health Organization’ budget, the largest contributor country. China contributes. 0.21%

[Source: World Health Organization]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Case Data

Current as of 5:00am, 4/15/2020

​ Texas Data

Population: 28,995,881

Reported Cases: 15,492

Patients Recovered: 3,150

Total Fatalities: 364

Sources: Texas State Department of Health Services;

coronavirustracker.us

​ ​ Federal Data

Population: 328,239,523

Reported Cases: 605,390

Patients Recovered: 36,076

Total Fatalities: 24,582

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

coronavirustracker.us

​ ​ IHME Projections

Projections have not been updated since 1:00am Pacific Time, 4/13/2020.

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

​ ​ Influenza Data; 2017-18*

Total U.S. Cases (estimated): 45 million

Total U.S. Hospitalizations: 810,000

Total U.S. Fatalities: 61,000

* Most recent available.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [[link removed]]

​ Your Federal & State Lawmakers

U.S. Senator

John Cornyn - R

(202) 224-2934

U.S. Senator

Ted Cruz - R

(202) 224-5922

Governor of Texas

Greg Abbott - R

(512) 463-2000

Lt. Governor

Dan Patrick - R

(512) 463-0001

U.S. House, District

Update your address so we can show your congressman [[link removed]] -



Texas Senate, District

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Texas House, District

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Managed / Update Your Email Preferences [[link removed]] Request A Speaker [[link removed]] Contribute [[link removed]] Michael Quinn Sullivan

CEO, Empower Texans

Texas Scorecard & Texans for Fiscal Responsibility

​www.EmpowerTexans.com

www.TexasScorecard.com

(888) 410-1836

PO Box 248, Leander, TX 78646

PO Box 700981, Dallas, TX 75370

PO Box 12862, Odessa TX 79768 The Texas Minute is a quick look at the news and info of the day that we find interesting, and hope you do as well. It is produced on week days and distributed at 6 a.m. (though I'll probably take the occasional break for holidays and whatnot).

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