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Good morning,

The bureaucratic state exists to protect the crony establishment. I end the week reflecting on our biblical call to be a disruptive force for good.

But first, this is the Texas Minute for Friday, October 25, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan

Biden-Harris Admin Accused of ‘Quiet Amnesty’ A scathing new report asserts that the Biden-Harris administration has been quietly advancing its open-borders agenda through the immigration courts. Will Biagini reports [[link removed]] on the findings of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

The committee finds that the administration has used the backlog of court cases as an excuse to allow increasing numbers of illegal aliens to remain inside the country indefinitely.

Rather than determining whether foreign nationals’ claims for asylum are valid or not, in accordance with the appropriate judicial proceedings, the Biden-Harris administration forced immigration judges to dismiss, close, and terminate cases. The committee has dubbed this process “quiet amnesty.”

The report also clarifies that these illegal aliens—numbering close to one million—can now remain in the country with no possibility of deportation. Simultaneously, the federal government meticulously worked to silence dissenters in the courts to prevent them from speaking out about the problems created by the administration.RELATED NEWS

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is urging the U.S. to designate the Mexican cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” because of the grave national security threat they pose. Emily Medeiros reports [[link removed]] on the increased sophistication, and escalating violence, the cartels are employing at the border.

UT, A&M Investment Management Company Changes Course on 'Woke' Proxy Votes After a report was released showing asset managers for the University of Texas and Texas A&M University’s investment management company were advancing leftist policy initiatives through corporate governance, the entity's leadership now says it is putting guidelines in place to stop such activity. Valerie Muñoz has the story [[link removed]].

Investments managed by UTIMCO—the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company—are managed by third-party firms, which are allowed to cast proxy votes on corporate governance. Those asset managers cast 159 “woke” proxy votes, according to a report by the American Accountability Foundation.

In other words, the name and money of the State of Texas were being used to push leftist corporate policies.

Testifying before the Texas Senate this week, the head of UTIMCO said he was “not happy with those votes” and would be improving policy guidelines for those asset managers in casting proxy votes in the future.

“We’ve made it clear that any manager who does not agree to vote UTIMCO shares in accordance with these guidelines will lose the authority to vote UTIMCO shares,” said Richard Hall, the president and CEO of UTIMCO. Report Slams Politically-imposed Limits to LNG Boom In a new report published this week, the National Center for Energy Analytics is criticizing politically-imposed limitations on the United States liquefied natural gas market. Luca Cacciatore has the details [[link removed]].

The United States liquefied natural gas boom began a decade ago, but the Biden-Harris administration implemented export restrictions that are estimated to cost 900,000 jobs and threaten $216 billion of economic growth.

The LNG export pause has hit Texas harder than elsewhere, given the state's prominent oil and gas industry.

“LNG is the only way to move natural gas across the oceans, making it globally fungible,” said Scott Tinker, NCEA senior advisor. “To politically limit U.S. LNG is silly.” Texas Strike Force Campaigns for Trump in Battleground of Wisconsin With all eyes on the swing states that are set to decide the fate of the presidential election, a group of Texans recently traveled to Wisconsin to campaign for President Donald Trump. Brandon Waltens profiles [[link removed]] the delegation that made the trip.

“What we see when people come by and honk and thumbs up or give us a hug, what you see are the working men. Plumbers, electricians, truckers. The working people are Trumpers. We’re trying to get that group to the polls,” said Dwayne Collins [[link removed]], who led the group.

Over the last 12 years, the Texas Strike Force has campaigned for candidates up and down the ballot in states like Wisconsin, Louisiana, Iowa, and Georgia. Frisco ISD Wants Voters to Approve Billion Dollar Bonds and Tax Increase Trustees in Frisco Independent School District are asking voters to approve both a property tax increase and more than a billion dollars in bond debt that must be repaid with property taxes. Erin Anderson reports [[link removed]] the district's taxpayers currently owe $3.3 billion in bond debt principal and interest.

With interest, the bonds on the November ballot would cost Frisco ISD property taxpayers an estimated $2.1 billion—almost double the amounts voters will see on their ballot.

Frisco school board trustees are asking voters to approve a permanent increase in the district’s "M&O" tax rate, the funds from which are primarily used to pay for general operations, as well as employee salaries and benefits. This will result in the average Frisco homeowner seeing that portion of their tax bill go up 15 percent—meaning they will pay an additional $759 in taxes. Friday Reflection

Blinded to the Truth [[link removed]]

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

The Reflections Podcast [[link removed]]

The Gospel of Jesus was, and remains, highly subversive. We lose sight of just how subversive with the comfort of two thousand years of hindsight and even the creep of a new status quo. Yet the forces of cronyism, legalism, and establishmentarianism are just as prevalent today—and so is the radical need for Jesus.

Take, for example, the Pool of Siloam, which was discovered early in the 21st century during archeological excavations. This is where Jesus brought sight to a man blind since birth. The Gospel of John, chapter 9, records the story. Jesus “anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ ... So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

The man, as one might expect, was overjoyed. His life was literally changed in an instant, evident for all to see.

Yet the establishment enforcers, the Pharisees—who were universally praised by the Jews of the day as political and religious heroes—were aghast. Their complaint was that the healing had taken place on the Sabbath. But you get the impression in John’s account that they were more upset because Jesus had done it without their permission.

Jesus refused to conform to their rules; He was too busy doing God’s will.

Meanwhile, the formerly blind man was indignant. He could see! Yet the Pharisees were more concerned with enforcing their peculiar interpretation of the law than rejoicing in an obvious miracle. And because the man had not rejected the gift of sight or the One who had given it, they labeled—and libeled—him as one “born in utter sin.”

Things have not changed. Those who would do good often find themselves under assault from the minions of an administrative state operating on behalf of entrenched incumbent actors.

Whether that’s volunteers feeding the hungry without bureaucratic approval or innovators disrupting an industry with lower prices and better services, today’s ruling elite don’t want good things to happen if not done to their liking.

And those who try to tell the truth about the benefits they received from the disruptors? They are attacked with even greater ferocity. They are denigrated as unfaithful, as ungrateful, as cheaters, or worse.

With whom would we side? The blind man couldn’t unsee the world after being given sight; he knew what was true. Should he have backed down? And what will we do?

Will we be even more pitiable men, self-blinded to truth?

We can choose not to ruffle feathers. We can choose to perpetuate the status quo. We can choose to leave people in darkness. Or, we can join in a glorious disruption that brings light to the world.

Quote-Unquote

"Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty."

– Lord Acton

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